Terrence M Marks wrote:

I, personally, think that you all can write whatever you like.
I ask for discretion on the part of the author.  Some people are going on
about it as if I were asking for totalitarianism.  I'm not asking for
control.  I'm asking for good taste.  Whose standards?  Society's.
(Don't give me that "How do we know what society's tastes are" line.  Some
of you know well that what you have written is far outside the boundaries
of good taste.) 

I have to disagree with that last line.  One person's good taste is
another person's aversion.  The short story about incest raises a
serious issue.  Incest does happen, and can be quite devastating.  The
story is dark, of course, but not unrealistic.  And therefore, not in
bad taste, in my opinion.

Do you see?  You may consider that fanfic in bad taste.  I don't.  So
the question remains open:  whose standards should we try to live up
to?  Not yours.  Not mine.  It is up to each person to write what they
want.  There is no way to establish an objective set of standards about
taste, so don't even try.  Live and let live.

It's not nice to wade through some dude's perviest take
on the series then get told "Well, you shouldn't have read it."  I just
want a bit of judgement.

<shrug>  It's the same thing.  If my judgement disagrees with yours,
what are we to do?  If given the choice between asking people not to
write certain kinds of stories, and having people choose to read a story
and become offended, I will always choose the latter. 

You choose to read a story - no one is forcing it on you.  Therefore,
the responsibility to distinguish stories in "good" taste and stories in
"bad" taste is yours, the reader's.  *Not* the author's.

Again, it comes down to the same issue.  I don't ever want to try to
discourage anyone from writing whatever they want.  The old phrase comes
to mind:  "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the
death your right to say it."  I firmly believe that.  Let people write
what they want to.  They will anyway.  Accept it, and relax.  :)  

Terrence Marks

-Richard Lawson
rlawson@informix.com
sterman@sprynet.com