What is too far when it comes to fan fiction?

I've seen a couple of posts on Gateworld today about people having their fics taken down on fanfic.net and even their whole accounts. As such, there doesn't appear to be a reason behind it so far and people are starting to wonder what the cause of this sudden purge is. Is it due to adult/mature content? Not enough disclaimers or something else?

Being fairly new to this whole world of fanfic, I haven't really seen one of these purges before. Apparently there was one a little while ago on ff.net to do with mature content in stories, but things have backed off a lot lately.

But how does the argument go when it comes to fanfic about what is acceptable and what is not?

I think the outside world sees it as a dark, seedy world of slash!fic and desperate teens writing scenes full of lust and sex. But I think the reality is quite different to that. My personal experience with it certainly is. I ventured into the world of fanfic (as I've already mentioned in a couple of posts) due to a lack of confirmation when it came to Sam and Jack at the end of season 8 of SG-1. I'd seen a couple of vids showing the moments between them but there was still a big question. So when I discovered hundreds of stories from different people around the world showing the possibilities of what could/might have been, I was blown away. There were some that were better written than others. In the end I wrote my own fics, finding it let me express my creativity in a way I hadn't been able to do since university. And I met some lovely people too. So in my eyes, fanfic is definitely not a bad thing. Most people just want to explore their favourite shows/books/films in a different or their own way.

There is a lot of mature stuff out there. A LOT. But there's a lot of it that is very well written, whether it be violence or sex. I think it could be seen as a little weird to people outside of the world but with the rise of graphic sex and violence on television and in films, is it really that surprising that it would pop up in fandoms as it has been, I suspect, for years? The internet is surely the one place where we should be able to express ourselves fully without fear of reprisal from anyone. There is of course the question of intellectual property when it comes to fanfic, but I think most studios are happy enough as long as people don't claim that characters are their own. Most people will put up a simple disclaimer at the beginning of their stories or on their profiles. However, there have been worrying cases of people writing stories about actors as opposed to characters that they portray. I say worrying as people seem to be unable to grasp the difference between reality and the imagination. Can we judge this though as taking things too far? For me the answer is yes. Fanfic is about putting characters in situations and seeing how they would react. It's pure imagination and taking a show/film's universe to places that probably aren't possible on TV or on film. The stories about the actors in reality include their families, friends and in this particular case, sex.

So how is this stuff monitored? How is it censored? Well, mostly it is down to the author to self-regulate. On ff.net, the author sets their own rating and this is the case on most, if not all, sites. On ff.net, M-rated stories don't appear in the normal lists unless you specifically search for them. So if adult-themed stories are the reason for this latest purge, surely it is up to the site administrators to set better guidelines or better safeguards when it comes to the very graphic content. Are they trying to protect kids? Because I think that whole idea is a bit of a fallacy. Kids, teenagers particularly, will find this stuff if they are really looking for it. It's curiosity and I think a lot of the time they will scare themselves with what they find and back off. If not, then maybe the parents should be keeping a closer eye on what their children are looking at online if they don't want them to have access to that kind of content. Having come to fanfic later than some, I think I've approached it with a level head and been able to judge for myself when something has been taken too far. But I would worry that some teenagers might not be able to see the subtle line between taking an obsession beyond that land of make-believe.

I realise that it must be weird for actors to see characters they have brought to life being used in some of the ways they are in the world of fanfic. Books are obviously less of an issue as the characters are just that, characters. But what if that book is made into a film or TV series? The actors are then linked with these characters and it could be that that is how a fan would picture that character. Said fan then writes a really graphic sex scene involving that character. The actors face/body is then what the readers imagine in that scene. Wouldn't that be strange? But people have sexual fantasies about celebrities all the time. They are, mostly, seen as beautiful people and men and women alike will fantasise about them. So how is fanfic creepier or more sordid? If anything it's surely less creepy if the story uses the character as opposed to the actor in 'real-life'. And so we come back around to that story I heard about that was written about two real actors. At best it's slander and at worst it's behaviour indicative of someone who blurs that line between reality and imagination.

So, to sum up, I don't have an issue with fanfic that's graphic. Life is graphic, as are a lot of the films and TV shows we see at the moment. I do have a problem with fic that confuses reality with imagination. That could cause offence to people who are just working, trying to portray a character in the best way they can.

Sites shouldn't be censoring fic. Yes, there should be accurate and timely warnings about what is featured in a fic and in part this is up to the authors themselves. If a complaint is received by the site admins about a fic, then it should be followed up and the author should be included in the discussion. Not all fics are going to please everyone. But the wonderful thing is that people can also choose NOT to read something. And so although I find the "real-life" fics disgusting and degrading and it would be very interesting to speak to the author about their motivations, I realise that they are out there but choose to not read them or support them in any way. The internet is full of crazies. It doesn't mean you need to interact with them.

I think I learnt my morals from sci-fi...

The last few days haven't really been much fun. I've been wrestling with the unpleasant situation two of my closest friends have put me in and it's made me realise a lot of things not only about them but about myself too.

Friend one is my flatmate and closest friend. Friend two is a fairly new friend but also close. Friend one and friend two have hooked up on a couple of occasions now. Not a problem. Except friend two has a girlfriend already and friend one knows this. Yet she's let this continue knowing full well that friend two is unavailable. Not cool, I said. Not cool at all.

I don't want to bore you with any more detail (there's a lot of detail). My main problem with this is the cheating bit. Yep, it makes me pretty angry. Not "Hulk smash!" angry. But angry enough. And the reason for this? They don't really see too much of an issue with it. And don't really want to do much about it.

This all led to a big argument between me and friend one. I mean an hours-long argument. It sucked but did make me realise how different my morals are from other people's. Especially friend one's morals as it turned out. And I came to a conclusion as to why this might be. I seemed to have learnt my morals from sci-fi.

I tend to see things in a very black and white way. Right and wrong. If you doing something right - YAY, the Earth/universe is safe again! If you do something wrong, you need to fix it. If you've wronged someone, you need to fix things with them, either with the truth or by finding some way to right it. These are simple rules and if you look at a lot of sci-fi this is what you see. Even if the righting part isn't easy or means some sort of self-sacrifice. In Stargate, the main characters are forever sacrificing themselves so the world can stay saved. In Star Trek, Janeway enforces the Prime Directive even when her crew is thousands of light-years away from the Federation. In comics, superheroes stand for everything that is right and yes they get it wrong sometimes but they will always endeavour to right that wrong. In Doctor Who, the Doctor is always urging us to do the right thing.

So I guess my question is, why is it so wrong to think like this? Why can't we apply these kind of rules and morals to our real lives? People will say that things aren't as simple as that, that you can't be that naive but I say why not? If you do something to hurt someone, make it up to them. Be honest as much as possible. Don't intentionally set out to hurt people in the first place.

Of course we always have our morally questionable heroes in sci-fi - Mal Reynolds for one. But isn't he always as honourable as he can be? He does bad things but he either rights that wrong or owns up to it. The example that's really sticking in my head at the moment is Kara and Lee in Battlestar Galactica. We are desperate to see them get together but when they eventually do get some action it's when Kara and Sam are together and Dee and Lee are too. So they are both cheating. Is it ok for them to be together because we know they're in love? No is the short answer but we're happy for them none the less. Until Kara gets an attack of conscience and runs off and marries Sam. She does the right thing so I'm happy for her, there's even a bit of sacrifice we all know it's wrong for her and Lee. But it doesn't stop there, they carry on cheating until it comes to the point of them needing to leave their partners to continue their relationship guilt free. Things do stop though when Kara admits she doesn't believe in divorce and Lee won't cheat on his wife anymore. We want them to get together but understand that their morals won't let them. And let's face it, BSG was about the best sci-fi show around for showing humanity in all its glory. Or not.

This question obviously extends into other areas as well, not least religion. And it has been dealt with in various ways but that's not my point.

I want to know why friend number one thought I was being judgmental for thinking about what they'd done by my own set of morals. I think I was waiting for some sort of reaction from them that would show me that they regretted what they'd done and had realised what a horrible thing it was. But I haven't got that reaction from either of them. And because of this, my view of them both and their morals has shifted. Probably towards the worse. 

I'm sorry for the ramble but I needed to say this. I will continue to try and do the right thing in my life. I hope you do to.