Snowflake Challenge #3

[pensnest]

I figured I'd pretty much included prompt #2 with my self-intro in entry #1, so I haven't reiterated. It has been interesting reading the fandom histories of a few people who are of my generation — I've been reminded of the penfriends phase, newsgroups, zines, going to conventions and having awesome conversations there, but never mind. If anyone wants to ask, go ahead!

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Today's challenge is to Pimp Your Favorite Communities, Fests or Challenges!

Well. I can't exactly pimp my favourite communities, fests and challenges, because they don't exist any more.

However…

There was a popslash community on LJ called Fic Requests which gave me 40-50 story ideas, no kidding. Around four dozen stories which just wouldn't have existed without that community—and one of them spawned a series, an 'episodic' which I very much enjoyed writing.

The idea was very simple: anyone could request a ficlet—usually asking for pairing+situation/prompt. Trickyfish, with snark, coffee and underwear was one I did, Joey is carefully avoiding the festive mistletoe was one I asked for, Joey/Nick, always falling for the easy was another fertile inspiration, which got two ficlets. There were so many!

This comm was a lot easier to navigate than giant posts with a multitude of prompts in comments, and the mods would do a weekly round-up linking to new stories and to unfilled prompts. It worked very well for a long time, and I think would be a nice format for a different fandom to pick up. I miss the days when fandom happened on LJ, because it was all part of the joyous experience that was popslash, for me.

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The best Secret Santa challenge ever was the popslash one. I am not prepared to dispute this, for it is so. It began with Don We Now Our Gay Apparel in 2001, and was huge for a while. Not Yuletide huge, obviously, but still. Too many to read them all before the author reveal. I didn't arrive in the fandom until 2005, but did get two years of DWNOGA before the original mods fell out of the fandom and the mantle was taken up by a new challenge, Make The Yuletide Gay.

DWNOGA last six years, MTYG managed *eleven* and ended in 2017. It was very well run, and I became privy to a number of hair-tearing incidents the poor mods had to endure (was a mod myself near the end). But, like its predecessor, MTYG always managed to bring out some really quality stories. I think that writing for a specific person, trying to get details and tropes in to please that particular individual, generally made stories more interesting than writing a story without a recipient in mind. And of course there is something about a REALLY hard deadline (stories went live on Christmas Eve) that concentrates the mind wonderfully. One year, I wrote a story *on* Christmas Eve.

Also, and I don't know whether this is common to all challenges, perhaps it is—some really great titles come up in the popslash SeSa. 'Pulp Friction', and 'the kisses ain't cheap but the hugs are free', and 'The Fellowship of Misery', and 'Nothing Says Love Like A Pincecone In Your Seat (Or A Frog In Your Pocket), and 'My Big Gay Disney Courtship', and 'And You'll Notice My Smile (Is Like Kool Aid)', and 'Slightly Used Angel For Sale', and 'The Earl of Rothinghamtonfordshire' (BEST STORY EVER), and 'The Neurological Disorder Elf'. I mean.

Eventually the code broke down and participants weren't able to complete and the mods became disillusioned (mostly with the antics of certain Backstreet Boys) and it was no more. But the stories are still there, and if any erstwhile popslashers ever feel like having a look at how the fandom developed after they left, it's an interesting journey. Certain pairings rose, others fell, Chris remained the LBD, threesomes became increasingly popular… really, while the SeSa challenges are online, it's possible to get a damn good flavour of the popslash experience.

Comments

[wenchpixie]

There definitely is something in that hard deadline improves quality, I think.

[pensnest]

For many years I seemed to have an uncanny ability to start writing at the point where I had just enough time to finish the story. Occasionally I did manage to finish early, and then I'd get twitchy and have to pick up a pinch-hit.

[tangeriner]

DWNOGA was pretty much my introduction to fic exchanges, and I am fairly confident I can blame it for my deep and abiding love of them. It was such a good challenge (the best!). Just reading this post has brought back such great memories. Thanks!

[pensnest]

It was such a huge Thing when I first found popslash. I remember that in my first year, I was quite bemused by all the SeSa Angst across my friends list. My assignment was easy! I understood it the next year, though....

[turps]

What a lovely look back about two amazing challenges/places.

[pensnest]

I wish we could have kept it all going for longer, but I guess every fandom passes eventually.

[dine]

this makes me so nostalgic! you're right, The Earl of Rothinghamtonfordshire may qualify as the best story ever - if not #1, then certainly in the top three

[pensnest]

Popslash was such a vibrant fandom, and for so long!

[sperrywink]

I totally found all my first friends though the popslash announcement community on LJ. I remember it fondly and it's friendsfriends list where I lurked around reading people's journals and maybe working up the courage to friend them.

*nostalgia* indeed.

[pensnest]

Oddly, I don't remember that one at all... I think I found out most of the news from turlough!

[teigh_corvus]

Getting pieces of the fandom's history like this is AMAZING. Popslash was never really my thing - and I did try, repeatedly, to change that - but it was such an important fandom for several dear friends. I feel like I'm getting a bit of their past too, with your retrospective. Thank you!

[pensnest]

It's a bit astonishing to find out how long ago I found popslash—and I was late, too. It was a wonderful fandom for me, as much for the change from newsgroups to LJ, which worked *so* well for the fannish conversation.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

You could always launch a Fic Requests community here on DW. Now would be the time -- you could promote it in Snowflake.

Re: Well ...

[pensnest]

Eh... my heart is still in popslash, and I don't think it has enough life in it for that. A more general fic_requests comm might work, but fandom seems to be so fractured these days, and I'm monofannish by nature. Though I dare say I would join such a comm, if it came along.

[brandywine28]

That's funny -- I always think of Lance as the LBD!

Gasp! A name check for my free hugs AU! I have such a hard time coming up with titles and even when I do, I always feel like they're nothing special, so...thanks for that. :)

I can't even think about The Earl of Rothinghamtonfordshire without feeling like a hack. God.

[pensnest]

Ah, check the SeSa stories, particularly MTYG, Chris is *always* there! I suppose there are some writers who find him difficult to do, but I always find he livens up a story nicely! The Justin+Chris golfing scene in my Little Dustbuster That Could story is the best thing in it, or at least, was by far the easiest thing to write.

I know. I remember pod-recording TEoR — I had to keep pausing to inform the cat that this was the Best Story Ever, and to giggle.

Also, titles can be *hard*. I have been pondering a post on the subject.

[turlough]

It's wonderful that both SeSas are still online! I always worry that old challenge archives like that will just disappear one day. I really hope they will both be imported to AO3 before it happens to either of them.

[pensnest]

You're right - I agree. It would be so sad to be unable to find the stories again, but I don't know if it would be possible to chase up the authors. I'll ask nopseud about it sometime.

[chalcopyrite]

It was the BEST challenge. ♥

I confess, I sniggered to myself for a bit when I came up with Pulp Friction. *g*

[pensnest]

I think the titles in DWNOGA and MTYG are generally a cut above the more general run. Possibly because with so many (in DWNOGA) to read, you had to make your story stand out! Not so much a problem in late-era MTYG, of course.

Pulp Friction is brilliant.