Animation Source Forums

Agreed. Not to step on your point, Lunawings, but Roxas is right.

Ok this all of you think of it like this:

Its a huge choice, Baltosapella who is not only a living breathing human being, but he is also an awesome friend and a part of this site/forum

Next choice is a big bunch of lifeless words that give balto a bad name?

Basicly it's a choice, Baltosepella or fan fics? think about it, and I would most have to definatly chose Baltosepella because he is not just important but he is also a great friend and I will stay with that choice...... so im not sure what you will chose, but I hope you chose the right over the wrong.......

Baltoseppala is an important member of this forum, a forum in my opinoin should be like an intrenet family, be able too trust and be honest without having too get yelled at, so despite my sexuality, I am behind Baltosepala 100%. And I hope others will agree with Eclipita and I.

Well I see there is another person who agrees^^

People...please understand something: I'm upset that this topic sparked a whole new round of arguments and flaming about gay fan fictions, and homosexuals. My intent was not to bash on homosexuals AT ALL...nor was it to fuel a new debate/argument/flame war. It WAS only to point out that I have been (and still am) facing a moral dilemma...a crisis of the heart.

I have been given, by Steet, the authority to check over and even delete fan fictions (and approve them). That gives me a great deal of power over the status of peoples' fan fictions. And while I am not the FINAL authority (only Steet is), I still feel it's a problem, given my own morality and personal beliefs. As I tried to specify in my original post (and a few subsequent ones), I cannot reconcile my own beliefs and morality against the protections offered to even MILD fan fictions containing homosexual, bisexual, incestual, violent or profane themes. I have felt like, by passing them over, instead of banning them like my HEART tells me should happen, I am betraying my own beliefs. And my logical side dictates that it is quite ILLOGICAL to maintain that authority given this moral conflict.

The last thing I wanted to do was spark a new war over homosexuals, or a "choose BaltoSeppala or controversial fan fictions" debate. While I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of support by friends here (including my gay or bi friends), I just don't want that decision to be made based upon whether or not I leave Balto Source. That isn't right. And you know my mind regarding ego issues...I have NEVER been about getting my ego stroked by everyone else. I'm just glad to be here helping others, sharing my love of the Balto cartoons (and the real history), and learning stuff myself. And having a place to socialize in a relatively safe, comfortable environment (despite having to occasionally deal with idiots who just don't like me very much because of my opinions or stated beliefs - that's just the breaks, I guess).

It's not about hating gays for me. Not at all. It's about protecting the CLAIM that this is a kid-friendly site. Right now, it is NOT. And no matter what some of you liberal-minded, unworldly teens and kids (and even college-aged folks) might think, those themes are STILL inappropriate on a site which calls itself "kid-friendly". Am I afraid of the internet, as TikTac suggested in a related (and now locked) topic? No. I've seen much worse, and I know that there are PLACES for this kind of thing. That's been my point all along. That THIS site is NOT the appropriate place for that kind of material, anymore than it would be the right place for explicit fan fictions about heterosexual relations. ANY fan fiction which goes beyond the boundaries of good form set by the Balto cartoons, or most Disney cartoons, is a violation of the whole "kid-friendly" concept (and you uber-defensive writers need to DEAL with it...because this issue is NOT going to go away even if I do).

However, folks...please do not use my original topic as a catalyst for a renewed war over this...or even for a renewed effort to remove these things. While nothing would make me happier than to see them GONE ENTIRELY (no matter WHO wrote them), the issue has been decided. Steet is allowing fan fictions of a mild nature...which simply are not too descriptive or violent. But basic homosexual, bisexual and violent themes (I'm not so sure about incestual ones though) are permitted (even mild profanity, apparently, which is a very sad thing indeed). What's done, I guess, is DONE.

Look. To me, the main problem is that you seem to not be sure if one specific fanfic should be really allowed or not.
When I wrote rules, I said that it included these rules, but there are also rules that can't be written.
So it all depends on the mod's opinion. There are many ways of telling the same thing, some are offending, some are fine.
So if you hesitate and think it's wrong to accept one fanfic because you find it offending, why don't you just NOT accept it and show it to me? I will be the one deciding if it should be allowed or not. If it's only for a small number of fanfics, it won't be a problem.

Nope. It's more than just about one. It's about any of them. All of them. I have a moral issue with the fact that there are any fan fics of that kind still here...from the very first ("Buried Secrets", if I'm not mistaken), to the very latest (whichever that may be).

It's more than about a question of whether or not any specific one I might be checking at a particular moment is acceptable (and whether or not I should forward it to you). It's that I have to consider it at all. It's the fact that, as I have already said, my heart tells me that there is never, EVER an excuse for accepting this kind of material (no matter how mild it is). That is because of my moral, ethical AND, yes, religious beliefs. The problem is that I cannot, in good conscience, allow ANY of them. And that's not the kind of power I want, because Balto Source is not MY site. I'm simply a participating member. I don't have that kind of authority. If I did, I would not allow even a single mild fan fiction containing ANY homosexual, bisexual, incestual, violent or profane material. But hey, that's me. And you're you.

Your site, your rules. I happily acknowledge that. But I cannot be a party to allowing such fics to continue to exist and be approved for this site. So, by stepping out of the fan fic mod circle, I absolve myself of the responsibility and complicity.

As pretty much everyone here knows, I'm a big supporter of the Kodi+Kirby thing and have stood by it ever since there was the first debate about it. I think that these types of fics should be able to remain on the site. I'm a Christen, but I still fully support the Kodi+Kirby fanfics, fanart, fanvids, and everything. I'm not afraid to tell people I suport that couple.

I accept that.

What I wish is that you had seen, from the beginning of this topic, I was trying to make things EASIER for folks who like to post this kind of material, like yourself. I also apologized to everyone for what I said...right smack-dab in my opening statement. I further reconciled the fact that most of the members of the site don't seem to have a problem with this, and that I am in a small (but none of us really can say or know HOW small) minority. I felt that resigning my position was the only way to be fair to both myself, and to the writers of controversial material.

I realize I typed a ridiculously-long missive...however, had you taken more time to read it, you would have seen those things, and perhaps not become so defensive. I know it's tough to sit and read through long posts...but what I had to say was important (and still is), and worth it.

Resolved.

My original post also contains the answer there (and my subsequent posts as well). To put it another way, let me posit this question:

Would you be okay with Disney World or Disney Land having sections of those properties devoted to homosexual literature and paraphernalia? Rides? Shops? How about incest themes? Or violently-dark themes (say, a "4-D" ride where Ronno, the deer from the original Bambi movie who challenges Bambi for Faline's attentions, skewer Bambi with his antlers, and slice him with his hooves? Or for the forest fire to graphically consume the animals running for their lives?). Or the animatronic characters in the Hall of Presidents spouting off profanity-laden speeches? (Can you imagine the animatronic Abraham Lincoln ending a section of a speech along the lines of "I kicked the F**K out of those redneck Cornfed B*ST*RDS! YEAH! W0000T! The Union PWNS! SH*T!")

How do you think parents and parent groups and children's advocates would respond to that? And what do you think would happen to Disney's profits? (And they earn GOBS of money off of those two parks.) And how would it affect their movie business and other properties?

How, then, is that any different from a proclaimed "kid-friendly" Balto fan site allowing fan fictions with homosexual, bisexual, incestual, violent and profane themes? Both the Disney properties, and this Balto fan site, are noted to be "kid-friendly" (and, thus, "kid-safe"). And no matter the liberal mindset, these themes (including homosexuality) are NOT child-appropriate. Traditional nuclear heterosexual family life is. That is the very biological nature of our species, ever since pre-history.

Sure, I fully realize that MOST of the membership of Balto Source is composed of teenagers. But even then, we're talking about fandom of a beloved child's cartoon and its characters. We have an obligation to respect those characters and what they represent. Why does it follow that, to be creative and spark new and challenging ideas, people HAVE to write fan fictions containing this kind of material? WHY? What does that say about the creative process? That you shoe-horn yourselves into so narrow and controversial a place in order to be "creative"? The REAL challenge is to be true to the original stories and themes, and the characters as they ARE. The true mark of a good writer is to work within those bounds, and still tell a compelling and challenging (and entertaining) story. And some people do achieve that here.

So, of course, even conceiving of a section of Disney, for example, devoted to homosexuality or incest or whatever else is just plain absurd. So it is here, on a supposedly "kid-friendly" fan site dedicated to what are REALLY three kid-oriented cartoon movies (which were marketed SOLELY for a child audience).

Does that explain it better?

(Sorry for the double-post, gang)

Well, they didn't much for me as a teenager either...though I've always had a bit of a softer spot than usual for g-rated stuff. It's my inner child. Even when I was a teenager...though I had to not be too open about that with my friends when I was a teen. They would have killed me for it. lol

By the way - I've edited that post since you quoted it. Have a look...