The tiniest of wank
Hi all. Long time reader, first time wanker.

Law and Order: Criminal Intent is a small fandom, closely knit with other L&O fandoms on LJ, and with a couple of mailing lists on yahoogroups. The most active list is Amorous Intent - a list devoted to fanfic about the relationship between the two lead detectives. Because of the shipper nature, NC-17 fic is often posted. A few days ago, the topic of age came up - several list members are around 15 years old, and one or two may be twelve.

Wank ensues. I've been dying for wank in this fandom, it's just ripe for it. So it's little, but I'm posting anyway. As this is all happening on a closed group (archives are not viewable to non-members), I'll be posting extracts here.

Apparently one or two people email the mods off-list with their concern about underage readers having access to "sexually explicit material", and the mods post a public announcement that they'll be discussing the issue amongst themselves; it's a fairly reasonable post about the potential difficulties of monitoring underagers on the list. One list member, Antigone, publically replies, outing herself aw one of the original plaintiffs and splitting some hairs in the meantime:

I don't want to anger anyone, but there is a difference between aiding
and abetting, and plausible deniability. And, I wonder how the concern
for 'age inappropriate material' turned into 'sexually explicit
content'? Personally, I worry more about violence than anything else.
I am not promoting censorship in any form -- on the contrary, this is
about me wanting to express myself in whatever way my muse happen to
sway me.

One of the self-announced underagers, Lee, new to the list, starts playing the world's tiniest violin and posts her intentions to leave the group:

when i was about to post i knew that there would be gasps and
disapproving glares. I myself am slightly shocked to know that there
was actually someone on the list aged 12/13. im really sorry about
any discomfort caused by these facts given. I'd like to clear up a
few things before I go. My mother and I began watching SVU when I
was 12. I realise that seems completely outrageous to some but i
would like to point out there are many like me who watch these shows
not because of an obsession with violence or rape but simply because
the stories, give me a better understanding of...the way things
are.When i was 13 I began reading Authours like Patricia Cornwell
and Kathy Reichs...and of course Grisham

Places like this list and fanfiction.net for example have given me
the relief from the daily stress of teen life. Maybe i haven't been
through enough of life to understand it completely (unlike you older
girls =)) but I have been through more than most 'kids' should have.
TV, internet, books and one faithful friend are my only outlet from
my life and im sad to say im leaving this list to prevent further
conflict. i also urge any other 'underage' members to leave aswell
because i feel so bad ...like we're taking something from you who
are allowed to be here. I hope you will post on fanfiction.net so i
can still read most of your stories.

Last post....

sincerely yours,
Lee

A list mod responds with an email with the subject line "OKAY, COOL IT ... PLEASE!", but despite the promise implied in the subject, is not wanky and makes a fairly decent argument for the idea of having a sister list for Amorous Intent, adults only, and could the underager please not up and leave.

Discussion continues between group members, all well and good, tossing ideas back and forth, with very little wank going on and I only kept following the discussion because I was bored. At one stage, Antigone (see above) posts to say she understands the difficulties, maybe she should have just shut up, blah blah blah, and other list members quickly jump in to defend her right to an opinion, even if they don't entirely agree. Someone questions whether there is a legal responsibility, or a moral one, etc. It's all friendly. In fact, it's all so friendly that the mods' reactions start to seem a little... wanky.
Kiera, with "Group founder and owner" under her name, announces that yes, the group mods have it under discussion. Good for you.

Discussion continues.

At around the same time, two announcements are made from two different mods - the first one (that I received anyway), from Riverstar, goes like this:

Subject: ADMIN: Enough is enough

Dear AI Members,

We the moderators would like to thank you for bringing this problem to
our attention and for voicing your opinions on the matter. However,
now we feel that it is beginning to get out of hand with each new post
appearing on the list.

We are all still working to resolve the issue in a way that will
satisfy everyone and until we do, all discussion of this is to stop
immediately. We would hate to have to start screening members and
their posts.

Thank you all for your patience,

The AI Mods.

And the other post, by Kiera the list owner, basically says "We've decided to make a sister list for adult fanfic." Here's where the fun starts. One member gives a response of, "I don't agree, I don't feel involved in this decision, but good luck." Kiera responds with an offer to contact her.

Riverstar, list mod who felt the dicussion was getting out of hand at roughly the same time as this decision was being posted, apparently in on this discussion, posts this:

Everyone,

I've loved being a part of this fandom and I've been around since it's
very beginning. I've watched it grow and I've watched the love for
Bobby and Alex spread. It was my baby -- well kinda.

But I've had enough.

This group has worked fine the way it's been set up since it's very
beginning, which has included NC-17 fic and I don't really see why
that should stop now. I do not have the time or the want to flit back
and forth between two groups just so I can read everything I want to.

It's a shame to see the group reduced to this but hey, whatever right?

Thanks for being such a great group and I'm grateful for all the new
friends I've made here.

From your now ex moderator,

~*~ RivErStaR ~*~

Kiera replies: All right. The decision's off. You guys work it out. I'm not taking
part in this anymore.

One mod, not identified, posts a poll: Okay, as you can see the group has been thrown into a chaos over age restrictions and so on and so fourth. I've taken it upon myself to open it up to you, the members, to get your opinions since we seem to be having problems deciding on what to do. So my question to you: What do you think we should do to resolve this age problem?

(IMHO, and perhaps you can decide for yourselves, the group wasn't thrown into chaos at all - the discussion between list members has all been firendly and helpful. Methinks there's some behind the scenes wank going on between the mods. Oh to be a stain on that wall.)

A little wank, but I sure had fun. This has all happened in the last few hours, so if any more juicy wank arises, I'll update.

ETA: Riverstar has retracted her statement about quitting, and the mods have posted a new decision with an all caps subject line. After all that, nothing changes, except members will need to state their ages before signing up. the mods, did however, leave me with one last snortle of wank-joy:

We also decided against moving this group into an adult category
because after observing what sort of groups are in those categories,
we decided that Amorous Intent doesn't really belong there.