John/Paul Slash Uncensored
| Journal Community | |
|---|---|
| Name: | "John/Paul Slash Uncensored," also "John Paul Slash Community" |
| Date(s): | created on 5 March 2007, first post was mid-July, last updated on 6 November 2007 |
| Moderator: | Melody C (for six days), then Kah (kahendorphins) and IrishMacca |
| Founder: | Melody C |
| Type: | |
| Fandom: | Beatles RPF |
| URL: | John/Paul Slash Uncensored |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
John/Paul Slash Uncensored - the moderated J/P slash community was a journal community "for open, free discussion of real-life and fan fiction themes."
A self-description: "This community is for John/Paul slash fiction and the open, candid discussion of a hypothetical gay relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It is not for slash-antagonistic people. It is not for homophobes. Anti-slash people are not welcome here and will not be allowed to sneak in to "inculcate the heathen"."
The Posts
This fandom was fraught with turmoil regarding another John/Paul site, MACCA-L, as well as the original mod's tangles with Godawful Fan Fiction.
As a result, this journal had only 13 entries before it ceased. Most of the entries were about the site's creation. There were a couple of other ones as well. One was about the history of slash fanfic and the nature of explicitness. See Question for the group mind and An extended reply to (melody c's) question for the group mind.
Creation and Mods
It was created by Melody C [1] in March 2007 (according the page's profile), but the first post wasn't until July 16, 2007. Melody C was the mod for six days.
New mods, kahendorphins and IrishMacca, took over on July 24, 2007 after Melody C decided to step back from this journal site, as well as other places. [2] [3]
Meant to be a Moderated Refuge
Some mid-July, 2007 exchanges referenced past turmoil in this fandom and on another community. Fans discussed how to best go forward:
July 18, 2007 at 13:30
From Okay, here we go, Archived version:
[Melody C]: I'm just posting this to get things started. Until they have the bugs worked out of the invitation system, we'll have open membership, but once that is done, membership will be restricted (the anons will be able to lurk and read, just not post). Welcome, one, welcome all, we have no rules except no flaming or personal attacks. And all discussion will be pro-slash.
[abromeds]:Perhaps I am just a rotten bitch, but here goes. To be perfectly frank, I was delighted to hear you were going to operate on an "invite-only" basis, because I thought this would allow for member screening...
Okay, gonna try the "perfectly frank" thing again. A big part of why JHP went downhill was because there was a massive influx of people who weren't particularly insightful or articulate...
Uhhh. Dumb, okay? Dumbness. Dumb-ass dumbosity. I'm sorry for being mean, but I would really, REALLY like not to see history repeat itself that way.
...?
Do I need to shut up?
[melody c]:lol -- No, no one needs to shut up here(except for the John-and-Paul-could-never-have-been-gay-so why-question-it continent)
I really, really wanted to keep the group restricted, but only half the invitations I sent out made their way to the intended recipients. We can keep it open and just watch it closely or, conversely, wait till the bug is figured out and close it. I can't find a way to add members directly to the group and I'm not sure what to do.
Maybe by just actively grooming the group in terms of steering direction? Any other ideas?
[749 penny lane]:[quote from deleted comment that was possibly from melody c] “I started a similar Beatle comm because of all the drama at JHP a few months back, and it's worked very well. We just have a few select members, and every entry is "friends locked" so that only members of the comm can read them.”
So that explains the absence of smart people at JHP recently. You've all gone off quietly and left the riff-raff behind. Nice! (sulks)
July 18, 2007 at 14:55
From Okay, here's what I'm thinking, Archived version:
[Melody C, mod]:I'm going to try sending out the invitations again. If someone can email me people who'd like to join at [redacted]. I'll try the invite system again. If it's working now, I'll restrict access and require some kind of upfront request.
The old Macca_l way (to keep out the bashers and there were many) had us recommend people to the group. Others could apply and then explain in 50 words or less, that kind of thing. What does everyone think of that idea?
As soon as I'm sure the invite system is working (IrishMacca, did you EVER receive the invitation?), I'll restrict us.
[minds opaque]: Question for you: I never received an invitation, either on LJ or in e-mail form. If you restrict membership, will I be kicked off?
I think that's a good idea. The way things seem to work is, the stupids see smart people having a great group (aka JHP). They think, "wow, I want to be part of this." The smart people see they've been inundated by stupid people and run away to start new groups. The stupid people blink, go "huh, why did our community die?" discover the new communities, and drive the smart people out of those. Basically, we need to restrict our membership, and letting people apply is a good idea. I like the macca-l way because some good people might find us whom we don't know well enough to recommend. An application will let us discover those people and weed out the pointless picspammers and the "slash sucks" posse.
[Melody C]:No way will you be kicked off. None of the people I know or those you guys recommend to me, will be.
You know, I wasn't so much chased away by "stupid people" but by the attacking ones. I can always skip over the bubblegum squee posts, but the constant need to walk on eggshells around various people (we all know which ones) in the community is what drove me away. I do this stuff for fun. If I want to be insulted and judged, I'll go to my mother-in-law's house. lol I didn't go to another group, I just gave up on Beatleslash fandom period.
When all of that conflagration happened, I realized I missed it, so IrishMacca and I discussed doing this place and so here we are (or we'll be where we end up, whatever we decide ... did that give anyone else a headache?)
[irsishmacca]:I agree -- I don't mind spirited discussions -- even fervent arguments! -- but I just have a low tolerance for people who resort to being insulting because they can't formulate a coherent argument. I have to confess, I also found the bad fics a bit disappointing -- just a quick perusal of the jp-archive shows how high the standard was.
And I am SO looking forward to our new "home!"
As for the application system, it would probably weed out the crazies, though we won't know if people are sincere until they start taking part in discussions. But I'd hope that imposing a small measure of accountability would discourage the flamers.
And I mostly agree with you, Minds_Opaque -- though I have to confess that I enjoy a good, well-edited picture spam from time to time. Particularly as I'm far too lazy to put them together myself. :D
July 18, 2007 at 17:58
From One possibility, Archived version:
[melody c]:It seems like the invitation system is still buggy. I tried to invite my friend Rob and she hasn't received it in three hours. Here's an idea --
I've created an "enigmatic" journal. :) It has no description beyond "nothing" and no other identifying information. No one would find us in the directory. What say we post to this one and use the other for those seeking J/P info. If they email us and pass muster, then they'll get the secret URL. If someone joins who has not been okayed firsthand (or if we don't know them), we can email them the rules and then delete them, suggesting they go through the entry process.
Isn't it ridiculous we have to go through this kind of annoying stuff?
Anyway, I put Lennon McCartney through an anagram program and got Mannerly Connect. lol
Take a look and lmk ideas, thoughts, etc.
[minds opaque]:LOL, nice. I love the anagram and the icon.
Do you think any of the posts this community has already accumulated are worth transferring to the other url?
We should probably friends-lock this post or anyone can just migrate over immediately to the other journal. Which would defeat the purpose.
[749 penny lane]:I love our motto: "We don't know who we are. We don't know what we're doing."
Truly inspirational!
[pauls left hand]:mannerly connect is entirely appropriate, as is the motto. splendid stuff.
I've just had a thought, won't any old Tom, Dick and Harry be able to get to it should they happen to browse our user info?
References
- ^ "First, a big round of applause for Melody for taking the bull (or is that, sacred cow?) by the horns and creating a new comm!" - Well hello, Beatle Peoples!, Archived version, by irishmacca (July 16, 2017)
- ^ "I've already asked IrishMacca to be one of the moderators and I'd like to find another to help her. I'll be paying for the membership that'll give you guys the full range of stuff, but as I've said via email to a couple of you, I am stepping back from every fandom but a couple of them frequented by fanosaurs and even that participation will be off-line. I've taken VJL off-line and it won't be going back on. I'll not be writing anything else in this fandom. This isn't a drama queen thing but a careful, thoughtful choice based not only on events over the last few days but recent trends in online fandom. Writers are drawing a lot of hatred from a lot of quarters. I'm stepping back from the line of fire. If you'd be able to serve as moderator (I'd also be handing over the other group I started), let me know here or via email. Thanks." -- Shout out for another co-mod, Melody C (July 23, 2007)
- ^ I'm one of the new mods, by kahendorphins (July 25, 2007)