Post Toasties:

When it's canon, it seems odd to think a ficwriter would be in more danger than Joss himself.

And that's just it. At least in the Buffyverse, how can we hold a fic writer culpable when we don't Joss? But, then, some people do hold Joss culpable, I'm just not one of them and they weren't powerful enough to get Joss banned from network TV. Who knows what we'd find in fic today if Joss had ultimately got yanked from TV thanks to the parent groups that protested?

There are a LOT of Snape/Harry stories out there, and the concept of Snape fancying 11 year old Harry and being vile to him from the word go because of displaced desire is sufficiently commonplace to pass unremarked, as far as I can gather.

Though, I hasten to add, not all Snape/Harry stories have anything at all to do with 11-year-old Harry. Not to say there aren't issues of age and power being dealt with, just that they're not usually pedophilic issues (so to speak).

I hasten to add, not all Snape/Harry stories have anything at all to do with 11-year-old Harry

Sorry, yes, should have said that.

And that's just it. At least in the Buffyverse, how can we hold a fic writer culpable when we don't Joss? But, then, some people do hold Joss culpable, I'm just not one of them and they weren't powerful enough to get Joss banned from network TV. Who knows what we'd find in fic today if Joss had ultimately got yanked from TV thanks to the parent groups that protested?

Of course, network TV has money and lawyers behind it. It's much easier, comparatively, to hold fic writers culpable. Particularly in more pairing-oriented stories, where the 'literary merit' argument is harder to make.

It's much easier, comparatively, to hold fic writers culpable

I don't think (witness my naivete, if you will) that laws get to do that.

In theory, if Joss had been a crap writer (no literary merit doesn't seem to prevent folk from mass media), he should be no more or less culpable than a brilliant pro writer, or a brilliant ficwriter.

It's much easier, comparatively, to hold fic writers culpable. Particularly in more pairing-oriented stories, where the 'literary merit' argument is harder to make.

Yeah, gotta agree with that. Hell of a shame as far as I'm concerned.

I don't think (witness my naivete, if you will) that laws get to do that.

I'm just as naive. I don't think they do here in the US, but it sounds like Australia has taken steps to put certain forms of literature under ban that I'm not sure that the US has. Our pornography laws deal with photographs/drawing/pictorial representations of child porn, not literature that I know of. Emily might be able to fill in the blanks there, since she's the one who posted the Australian links.

Am I right that the word "chan" is Japanese? I've seen it appended to names, like a diminutive of -san. I think it means, like cute-little-thing or something. I was not aware the word had been appropriated to mean adult/child sexual fic; although I gather that older/younger pairings are rather common in manga. (Not usually parent-age/child-age, unless I miss by guess, but for some reason many of the pairings have a substantial age-differential.)

Am I right that the word "chan" is Japanese?

Ah! That's why I couldn't make sense of the why "chan," in particular?

Am I right that the word "chan" is Japanese? I've seen it appended to names, like a diminutive of -san. I think it means, like cute-little-thing or something. I was not aware the word had been appropriated to mean adult/child sexual fic; although I gather that older/younger pairings are rather common in manga. (Not usually parent-age/child-age, unless I miss by guess, but for some reason many of the pairings have a substantial age-differential.)

Yep. It comes from Star Wars TPM fandom, and per the fanfiction glossary, has something to do with aspects of samurai culture:

Chanslash: Slash stories wherein one member of the pairing is under the legal age of consent (usually between 13-18 years of age but can also be under 21). When George Lucas based the Jedi upon Samurai warriors, he neglected the fact that the Samurai expected apprentices to "service" them in return for training. Many Phantom Menace slash writers have thus interpreted this into Jedi tradition.