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  • Unusual message from JMS...

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
    From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Citizen=20Vantu?= <[email protected]>
    Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 03:01:13 +0000 (UTC)
    Lines: 50

    Hello Joe, at "alt.sexual.abuse.recovery.moderated" someone has made the following suggestion: I should try writing a story in which I meet Vantu, and sit down, talk. I should forget about sex, not because it's wrong or it's not a part of what's going on between Vantu and me, but just because jumping to this fantasy short-circuits the process and prevents important parts of it from happening. I have to communicative with Vantu in order to reach across the fracture lines of a broken self, a process that may go on for weeks, months, and years. People here have explained to me that there is no legal or ethical problem in writing fan-fiction for non-commercial purposes, which this is going to be and yet I am reluctant into doing so. You are one of the Hired Guns who have fathered Vantu; all I need from you is your blessing to use him into doing something good; he could be the greatest ally and teacher I ever had and I might discover that I have a thing or two to teach him as well. What a cool partnership it could be.

    Until Next Time;
    Jan-Willem "Vantu" Kalk

    =====
    never surrender dreams
    -- J. Michael Straczynski

    No matter how psychotic I were, how warped I am and how instable I may be; I am *still* a fan of J. Michael Straczynski and I am damned proud to be one!
    -- J. Kalk











    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
    From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
    Date: Wed, 5 May 2004 07:36:53 +0000 (UTC)
    Lines: 80

    >Hello Joe, at "alt.sexual.abuse.recovery.moderated" (snip)


    This is going to be a very hard thing for you to hear from me, but it has to be said.

    I cannot give you "permission" on anything like this because there is no permission for me to give. We can do or say or write anything we want, I don't have control over your life. This is why I didn't give you "permission" to read my novel, because that permission is not mine to give.

    Second, and most importantly, I cannot give you permission concerning a fictional character.

    There is no Vantu. I did not birth anyone or anything. It is as fictional a creation as Santa or the Easter Bunny.

    I need you to listen to me very carefully: you are fixated on a fictional character and letting that drive your life. You must, must, must seek professional help. You won't find it in the news groups, even the well-intended ones, because what you are going through -- delusional behavior -- is only really treatable by medicine. I've been down this road with other people, I know what I'm saying...and if you put stock in what I say, then you have to put stock in this as well.

    I wrote some cool stuff for the character of Vantu, but there's one big difference between him, and you: you're real. "Vantu" isn't. We picked the name Vantu because it was close in sound to Vishnu. That's it. That's as deep as it goes. There is no "there" there.

    If, as you say, my words have had meaning to you, then take these to heart: tomorrow, not the day after, but tomorrow, go to a local clinic and find someone to talk to about this. Show them this email, if you have to. Explain the whole situatoin to them, they'll listen.

    The thoughts you have about all this can be moderated and helped chemically, because there is an imbalance at work that is making you believe in something that does not exist, and that someone halfway around the globe has to give you permission to do things that people do every day, otherwise you can't do them.

    If you want the darkness to go away, you have to move away from it and into the light you always quote in your sigs...but that light can't be found here. It will only be found in the office of a caring physician who can help you find your way back to where the rest of the world is waiting for your return.

    This will be my last message to you until and unless you can confirm that you've done this. I don't think it's healthy for you otherwise.


    jms

    ([email protected])
    (all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
    permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
    and don't send me story ideas)
    Last edited by RCmodeler; 05-05-2004, 04:46 AM.

  • #2
    That's strange.....

    .....any one know what this is about?

    Troy

    Comment


    • #3
      Jan-Willem has been posting to the Moderated Newsgroup for over a year now. He's an abuse survivor who fixated on Citizen Vantu of 'Jayce and the Wheeled Warriers' when he was a teen. He's written to the newsgroup quite a number of times asking for JMS' permission to daydream, write fanfic, read JMS' books, etc.

      Several of the newsgroup folk have engaged him in conversation and he regularly asks for suggestions for helping himself but has resisted any that say he's getting insufficient care by only seeing his therapist once per month.

      He seems like a nice, albeit disturbed, person. I hope he takes JMS' words to heart and gets the help he needs.

      Jan
      "As empathy spreads, civilization spreads. As empathy contracts, civilization contracts...as we're seeing now.

      Comment


      • #4
        Well if he's taken such weight in jms's words in fiction so far, I do hope he'll take equal consideration to his words now.

        I do have to give jms some points here for actually sitting down and giving a real honest and good siggestion to the guy. Can't think of a whole lot of other writers who'd take the time to do that.

        Comment


        • #5
          Brave of jms

          JMS did what, in my opinion, is a brave thing. He potentially alienated a fan of his work in that person's best interest.

          The person may take JMS's advice, in which case things may be better. But it is also likely that the person will, if as unstable as the post made it seem, to the other way, and begin to attack JMS and perhaps even stalk HIM rather than his fictional character.

          I shudder at the possibilities, but hope for the sake of all that this person does indeed take JMS's advice.
          "Ivanova is God!"

          Comment


          • #6
            Not many things give me the chills -- I do have acute ophidiaphobia -- but that post scared the hell out of me. This person is the type to have his walls covered in JMS stuff like a teenaged girl with NKOTB in 1990.

            ::Looks at room with posters and other memorabilia::

            Wait...I mean...well, you know the type. This is the scariest thing about celebrity. Many times people of this type have to stop their obsession by destroying the object of the obsession. Offhand, I can think of an assassination involving a Beatle. There is this guy on AOL that used to post on some boards I frequented that would make all of the T's in the word "it" capitalized. And he would IM the teen girls from the boards and if they did not respond, he would flip. It's just scary.

            I remember Jayce and the WW (especially the toys with their tiiiiiiny figures) but I do not remember Vantu. Man...is it possible that JMS is TOO good a writer?

            Also, and not to take anything away from JMS, could this all be a sick joke of some kind?
            Recently, there was a reckoning. It occurred on November 4, 2014 across the United States. Voters, recognizing the failures of the current leadership and fearing their unchecked abuses of power, elected another party as the new majority. This is a first step toward preventing more damage and undoing some of the damage already done. Hopefully, this is as much as will be required.

            Comment


            • #7
              Also, and not to take anything away from JMS, could this all be a sick joke of some kind?
              Possible, I suppose, but if so it's pretty elaborate. Jan-Willem has been posting for well over a year and has posted links to pictures and artwork. IIRC, he lives in Northern Europe so I don't think he's likely to be stalking JMS in person and I'm sure JMS knows how to block him from his email if needed.

              He honestly seems to want to get better but the concensus of opinion is that the treatment he's getting is very inadequate (seeing his therapist only once a month).

              Jan
              "As empathy spreads, civilization spreads. As empathy contracts, civilization contracts...as we're seeing now.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Jan
                Possible, I suppose, but if so it's pretty elaborate. Jan-Willem has been posting for well over a year and has posted links to pictures and artwork. IIRC, he lives in Northern Europe so I don't think he's likely to be stalking JMS in person and I'm sure JMS knows how to block him from his email if needed.

                [...]

                Jan
                I got the impression he is from The Netherlands.

                /IamS
                Interstellar Alliance - Sweden's largest Babylon 5-club
                http://www.babcon.org/

                Comment


                • #9
                  Speaking of unusual jms postings......

                  try this one on for size

                  ---------------------------------------------------------------
                  BTW, and appropos of absolutely nothing...

                  I heard recently from a fellow who's in the process of archiving my postings
                  about B5 during its 5 year run.

                  He's still tracking stuff down, but so far he's tracked down SEVENTEEN THOUSAND
                  posts I wrote during that period in answer to questions from viewers and fans
                  and general stuff.

                  The breakdown so far, he said, comes out to:

                  usenet 5084
                  genie 3525
                  compuserve 8029
                  aol 547

                  If we figure an average of 100 words per message, less than half a page --
                  sometimes it was less, usually it was more -- that works out to 1,700,000
                  words.

                  Now, divide THAT by 100,000 words (whihch is a goodly length for a novel or
                  nonfiction book; you can get away with as little as 80,000 words but 100,000 is
                  a good, hefty novel), that works out to...

                  SEVENTEEN FULL LENGTH BOOKS.

                  That's writing a little over 3 full length books per year for five years on the
                  net, this in addition to the show itself, which in wordage meant writing the
                  equivilant of one novel every five months or so.

                  So the writing, all in, for those five years, scripts and postings combined,
                  equaled about 5 books per year.

                  I'm gonna go lay down....

                  jms
                  ---------------------------------------------------------

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Speaking of unusual jms postings......

                    Originally posted by CRONAN
                    try this one on for size

                    ---------------------------------------------------------------
                    BTW, and appropos of absolutely nothing...

                    I heard recently from a fellow who's in the process of archiving my postings
                    about B5 during its 5 year run.

                    He's still tracking stuff down, but so far he's tracked down SEVENTEEN THOUSAND
                    posts I wrote during that period in answer to questions from viewers and fans
                    and general stuff.

                    The breakdown so far, he said, comes out to:

                    usenet 5084
                    genie 3525
                    compuserve 8029
                    aol 547

                    If we figure an average of 100 words per message, less than half a page --
                    sometimes it was less, usually it was more -- that works out to 1,700,000
                    words.

                    Now, divide THAT by 100,000 words (whihch is a goodly length for a novel or
                    nonfiction book; you can get away with as little as 80,000 words but 100,000 is
                    a good, hefty novel), that works out to...

                    SEVENTEEN FULL LENGTH BOOKS.

                    That's writing a little over 3 full length books per year for five years on the
                    net, this in addition to the show itself, which in wordage meant writing the
                    equivilant of one novel every five months or so.

                    So the writing, all in, for those five years, scripts and postings combined,
                    equaled about 5 books per year.

                    I'm gonna go lay down....

                    jms
                    ---------------------------------------------------------
                    My point exactly! How can anyone ever doubt this man's tenacity and passion. Nor his loyalty to his fans. Thus my argument for what I believe will be some of his best work to date...B5:TMoS.

                    As for Jan-Willem, I too hope he heeds JMS' advice. He comes across to me as somewhat schizophrenic.

                    And I recall very little about "Jayce and the WW," can someone please remind me what this was and especially can anyone give a personality and character description of Vantu? I'm curious about this character and what exactly it is about Vantu that Jan-Willem would be so attracted to and comforted by.

                    As a writer myself, it's very intriguing.

                    CE
                    Anthony Flessas
                    Writer/Producer/Director,
                    SP Pictures


                    I have no avatar! I walk in mystery and need nothing to represent who and what I am!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I can tell you that there are a LOT of AOL posts missing, too, because that's where I first 'discovered' JMS. On the other hand, there are also quite a lot of duplicated posts so I don't doubt the number of posts at all.

                      I agree, JMS is *very* generous to his fans. And a genuinely nice person.

                      Jan
                      "As empathy spreads, civilization spreads. As empathy contracts, civilization contracts...as we're seeing now.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        <<And I recall very little about "Jayce and the WW," can someone please remind me what this was and especially can anyone give a personality and character description of Vantu?>>

                        WW was a cartoon about people in these car-tanks that fought...I don't remember who or why...I just remember Jayce.

                        Hey...you know what was cool? M.A.S.K.
                        Recently, there was a reckoning. It occurred on November 4, 2014 across the United States. Voters, recognizing the failures of the current leadership and fearing their unchecked abuses of power, elected another party as the new majority. This is a first step toward preventing more damage and undoing some of the damage already done. Hopefully, this is as much as will be required.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          An unusual message for JMS

                          "...there's been a really startling lack of adultery, fornication,
                          kinky sex, overt blackmail and the sort of tangled family tree that
                          makes Sinclair/Valen/Delenn look absolutely pedestrian."

                          Damn, I knew I was forgetting *something*....

                          jms

                          ------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Its perceptions like this that put me ill at ease. Unlike soap operas, which play upon the more demeaning aspects of human nature to advance the plot, B5 does the opposite, using themes such as integrity, honor, nobility and courage. I could elaborate, but in this place, what would be the point?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: An unusual message for JMS

                            Originally posted by CRONAN
                            [BIts perceptions like this that put me ill at ease. Unlike soap operas, which play upon the more demeaning aspects of human nature to advance the plot, B5 does the opposite, using themes such as integrity, honor, nobility and courage. I could elaborate, but in this place, what would be the point? [/B]
                            You mean it would be 'preaching to the choir'? Actually, I'd enjoy seeing a thread that discusses the positive aspects of B5 since so many are about the things that went wrong sometimes.

                            B5 tells us that individuals DO matter; that we must fight for what we believe and many other important messages. What JMS tells us is that dreams can come true if you work at it and want it enough.

                            In fact, I'm looking forward to hearing if JMS will have a 'spotlight' session at the high school tomorrow. I'm interested in what he says to the kids there.

                            Jan
                            Yippee! I'm going!
                            "As empathy spreads, civilization spreads. As empathy contracts, civilization contracts...as we're seeing now.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Say, whats the best way to travel long distance across the states? Train, bus, car, or plane? If it were me, i think I'd prob go with the train.
                              Last edited by CRONAN; 05-07-2004, 07:40 AM.

                              Comment

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