Remember this?

[brigdh]

Deep Fanfic Thoughts, by Jack Handey. Oh, man. I'd almost forgotten about that site. So much good stuff. My favorite one is:
People think it's fun to write fanfic because you get all those readers. But they forget the negative side, which is the psychosis.

It's funny because it's true. And then:

I don't think I'm alone when I say I'd like to see more and more planets fall under the ruthless domination of Prospect-L.

Prospect-L! I miss Prospect-L. That was so much fun. I was too scared to ever actually post, but I read all the messages religiously. I learned a lot on that list. Mainly things like 'don't piss off the moderator', but occasionally actual information would sneak through, too. We need another Prospect-L. I suppose fandom_wank is similar, but it's not the same.

And also check out: Life Cycle of the Bitter Old Fanfic Queen.

Comments

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I've often thought we needed an anime version of Prospect-L. I'm still on the list but nothing ever happens any more.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Me too. There hasn't been a post in... god, probably over a year. It's so sad.

I'd start one, but I'm not really all that good at the 'bitchy fandom queen' thing. I prefer to sit on the sidelines and admire other people's anger.

[gamera.livejournal.com]

If anyone starts something like that, I am so in. I'm no good actually starting bitter old fandom things, but I'm all about jumping in once the discussion's going. :p

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hee. So we're all decided that we'll join if someone starts it. We just need someone to, you know, do that. XD

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I'm good at the bitchy but not so much with the fandom queen part. Really, I was much better at it when I had only one fandom and was...god, eight years younger. Dude.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

*sighs* One fandom... I remember those days. That was back before livejournal. Before any of the various incarnations of fandom_wank. Before RPS was okay, or Anne Rice went crazy, or Buffy ended, or Smallville became the gayest show on television.

Man, things were kinda boring back then, huh? ;)

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

They totally were.

[childofatlantis.livejournal.com]

What's Prospect-L?

(I'm terrible at "bitchy fandom queen". The one or two occasions I've posted on F_W I've felt guilty afterwards...)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

It was a maillist for the Sentinel Fandom. The homepage is still up here (http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prospect-L/), but there's not much to see. The idea behind it was to provide a place for open, honest fanfic critique- with or without the author's consent. Anything anyone posted publically was fair game, for response anywhere to 'This was okay' to 'This fic sucked and here's a list of reasons why you should hate it' to 'This fic is the perfect example of a current trope in the fandom that can be explained by the sociopolitical ramifications of the state of minority rights in American culture'. Since anything other than personal attacks was allowed, it quickly got the reputation of the 'mean list'.

It was terribly fun to be part of, and not just to see badfic authors get ripped to shreds. The majoirty of the people on the list were funny, eloquent, and unbelievably intelligent. It didn't seem like there was a single topic of discussion that could come up that wouldn't have someone saying something like, "Actually, I did my doctoral thesis on this very subject..."

Of course, there were constant fights, when someone whose story had gotten negative reviews would sign on to complain about the list, or with the fairly constant trolls who tried to provoke people into vicious, personal attacks. But in the end I loved it, and it's so sad that it's now defunct. I swear that the only reason I stayed in Sentinel fandom was for Prospect-L; the show itself was stupid.