"Y'All Jus' Jellus!" The Scary World of Fandom

[roseland]

What is weird about angel slash is that aren't archangels supposed to sexless, like literally without sexual organs?

That's up for debate.

Genesis 6:2

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Genesis 6:4

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

There are people who interpret the phrase "sons of God" to mean "angels."

[Deleted]

Are some of you really that grossed out by this? If so why?

You know, I believe people are entitled to use whatever turn them on, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody. So even though I can't understand the fascination with biblical slash, I don't actually mind it. I'm not at all easily offended, and even though I'm a christian, I don't take sites like that personally. There are worse things to worry about on the web, like child porn.

I'm not as much grossed out as I am weirded out. Even though I'm not into S&M myself, I can see why people like it. This? Wouldn't have occurd to me in a million years. It's just weird.

[Deleted]

I think part of the strangeness for me has to do w/ the fact that I've enver thought of Biblical characters in a sexual sense. Even though I know people in the Bible have had sex, in my mind, I've always seen it as happening in a dark room (or tent), missionary style w/ no pleasure involved. So, hearing about them in this new light (that would never in a million years have occured to me) threw me for a loop. It's not that I'm shocked to think of anyone having sex - I'm more shocked that anyone would make sex such an important part of a Biblical character's life.

It's almost like thinking about your parents having sex. Can you imagine finding real person slash online about your own parents? Gah!

[pepper67]

I'm not as much grossed out as I am weirded out. Even though I'm not into S&M myself, I can see why people like it. This? Wouldn't have occurd to me in a million years. It's just weird.

I totally agree, ane. It's mind-blowingly bizarre to me. Who on earth thinks of the Last Supper and decides that Judas was totally hot for Jesus in spite of the 30 pieces of silver? (A friend of mine who gave me the link pointed out that Judas/Jesus is a popular favourite - and yeah, she's weirded out too.)

It's almost like thinking about your parents having sex.

Or that sweet elderly couple who live next door - and then you find out they're swinging from the lightshades on a regular basis. There's nothing wrong with that...it's just that it takes some mental adjustment to get your head around it.

[rattlerbrat]

Ahhhh, finally a place where I can unleash my HATRED of Marvin Gaye supergroupies. Now, I don't mean the people who just loved the man's music - hell, my whole family are Marvin fans. I mean the ones who jump down your throat if you dare to say that he wasn't the greatest vocalist/piano player EV-VUH. I mean the ones who, over 20 years later, still say hateful things about his wives (particularly his 2nd wife Jan. I'm thinking it's because she's biracial that she gets the most venom.) I mean people with signatures like this one. Unfortunately, since I run a fan site for Nona Gaye (Marvin's daughter), I have to deal with these obsessed little fucks on a regular basis. On our old forums, back when we couldn't individually verify accounts, we'd wake up and suddenly have a SLEW of new accounts with posts like "JAN GAYE IS A (fill in the blank)" and so on. I mean...why? It's not like Marvin's coming back from the dead to marry anyone! I liked the psychos better when they didn't have access to computers. For those who are involved with music fandoms, is bashing the wife of a dead man a common thing? I know people still hate Yoko Ono, but that's the only one I can think of.

And GOD HELP YOUR ASS if you bring up the fact that 1) Marvin was a pretty serious drug addict, 2) his first child's mother was 15 (I believe Marvin was 26 when his first son was born), 3) he was sleeping with his 2nd wife at 16 (or 17) while married to his first wife, and 4) he was abusive to his second wife (and possibly his first). And those are the stone cold FACTS - the fiction is even worse. Don't get me wrong - I don't mean to bash Marvin. In fact, I think that he may have had a severe mental illness back in a day where we knew so little of them and self-medicated himself. But Lord, if you say anything less that Marvin was a walking god among men and his farts smelled like the sweetest perfume, you...will be...destroyed. Marvin - he was like Jesus, in a way.

Ah, and speaking of fiction? Don't get me started on the Marvin Gaye fanfic that floats around on Motown/soul message boards. Egads. Either the year is 1970 so and so and Marvin falls for some Mary Sue and they live happily-ever-after (Hello? Second marriage? Two children? DEATH?) or Marvin has come back to life, and falls for some Mary Sue. And there are a faction of fans - small, though not small enough, in my opinion - that like to 'ship Marvin with Nona. I've even seen a few photomanips. I don't understand it at all, seeing that Marvin was killed in '84. Mercifully (if you can call it mercy), most of the "writers" tend to bring Marvin back from the dead to fall in love with his grown daughter, but...

Man, getting all that off my chest was better than sex. *rubs my head* I'm actually dealing with a coupleof supergroupies right now, so that's why I sound so pissy. Seriously, though. If you want to sit back and watch wank explode, go to a Marvin board or wait until the old Motown boards come back up, and write something like, "Was Stevie Wonder/Donny Hathaway/Otis Redding a better singer/musician than Marvin Gaye?" Then just grab some papcorn and sit back.

Oh! The faking illness thing. I remember on an Alicia Keys board when someone posted to say that another poster (who was the same poster) was dead. It became a big deal, with people wanting to send flowers and whatnot to the "dead" poster's family. Then the poster had to come on and admit that she was alive. GRRRR. Why oon earth do people do that? I can understand faking illness to an extent. But DEATH? Hello, chances are you're coming back!

[Camille]

Bible slash is an aesthetic, if not moral, abomination.

[Deleted]

rattlerbrat, that was one interesting and disturbing post. The crazy is just fucked up. I'm wondering: Why do pepople become that obsessed? How does it happen? Are they hiding from something in their own lives? Living through someone famous and talented so they don't have to face their own boring or fucked up lives? I just don't get it.

No matter how much I love something; a tv show, an actor, a singer, an author etc, I couldn't care less if other people hate those things I'm a fan of.

[brinksteria]

My contribution is all those miseducated, class-prejudiced crazies hellbent on proving that William Shakespeare did not write all those plays, sonnets, etc. They don't even call him by name ... they prefer "that guy from Stratford." They get overlooked for their craziness -- maybe because it's about the rarified Elizabethan past. But they live in a myopic, conspiracy-filled world as scary as the DomLijah tinhats. They're like cults with fancy accents.

Most of the arguments against Shakespeare's authorship say that he was too humble in origin to have written such brilliant plays. Or that the fact that he abandoned his wife for a time showed that he didn't have the character to write such amazing stuff. These arguments are just plain illogical. I don't know the formula for genius but none of those things precludes it.

Here's a nice refutation of various conspiracy theories. They call the fanatical disbelief in Shakespeare's authorship a psychological aberration.

Snerk.

[ldhenson]

Real People Fic and Bible Slash bother me for the very simple reason that the writing of it reduces a real person and/or a figure of religious significance to nothing but a handy character template for a writer to slap his/her story into. Turning persons and beliefs into plot conveniences, fer cryin' out loud, is just mind-blowingly shallow.

And yes, I'm saying this as someone who's read slash for over a decade. And who's an atheist.

A handful of years ago, stuff like this wasn't even an issue. RPF, Bible Slash, whatever...just plain wasn't done. Kids these days...get offa my lawn...

[Auroranorth]

Ah, and speaking of fiction? Don't get me started on the Marvin Gaye fanfic that floats around on Motown/soul message boards. Egads. Either the year is 1970 so and so and Marvin falls for some Mary Sue and they live happily-ever-after (Hello? Second marriage? Two children? DEATH?) or Marvin has come back to life, and falls for some Mary Sue. And there are a faction of fans - small, though not small enough, in my opinion - that like to 'ship Marvin with Nona. I've even seen a few photomanips. I don't understand it at all, seeing that Marvin was killed in '84. Mercifully (if you can call it mercy), most of the "writers" tend to bring Marvin back from the dead to fall in love with his grown daughter, but...

I want a drink. A great, big whiskey. A LOT of great, big whiskeys. Also a bottle of bleach for the minds of the creators of this. It's his DAUGHTER, people. I already felt bad enough today, and this is just the topping on my nuclear cake. (shudders, hits the chocolate stash since she's at work and they frown on people slugging down whiskey at their desks)