By Slanted Light

The best thing about doing something as intensely think-y as my current second-job is that I seem to have woken up wanting to read and think about nothing but Pros and our lads today, and I've not felt like that for aaaages, so yeay! And yeay for a day job where I can... *g* So just to get us started...

They're a bit good, aren't they? *g* They just fit together!

So... think-y things! I recced a story over at ci5hq last week, From Here to Eternity by Ginny and Hestia (from Gryphon Press, which links at palelyloitering I've just realised are down, looks like the pages have been moved... and Doghouse too - gargh, must fix that when I get home!) and I ended up chatting a bit with sc_fossil about comedy and "crack", and it got me... thinking. *g*

( Think-y things about crackfic... )

So, here's an even further expanded version of our Pros history, with information and memories and stories from some of the earliest Pros fans - inamac, lil_shepherd, Felicity Parkinson, and most recently from Sebastian! Thank you very much to those people, and to everyone else who's been helping with this - it's looking good! *vbg* I think I've included all the information I've had so far - I'm hoping for a few dates from some people, so that I can include what they've said too, and I'm looking forward to promised Paul's-location-spotting info, hopefully scans of the original Weekend in the Country minicons, DiaL letterzine dates, info about New Pros meetings/fandom... all sorts of things! And of course any new thoughts and memories that people have...

I'd love to include information about the South California gatherings, for example, hosted by Lily Fulford, and I believe M.Fae Glasgow too - does anyone know about these? Oh, and what about fandom in Australia - what was going on there? When did Jane appear? The very-prolific Nuthatch Press? What happened in Germany? In France?! There was fandom in France because I have a copy of a 1993 fanzine! And I know there are lists in Germany, but... Can anyone tell me about those, so that I can include them? And I've just remembered the Japanese website too, that I seem to remember comes off the OpLewC website there... When were the Zebracons that featured Pros?! When did M.Fae do her readings? Someone out there must know - please help! *g*

( Pros Fandom History So Far Known (expanded!) )

Post One and Post Two are here, and I've added some more information this morning so that everything from Felicity Parkinson's article has now been included, and most of the information from Post Two. Now I need to go back and add in the extra info from Post One . Looking forward to the various pieces of promised info too - this is looking good, thank you!

As I mentioned the other day - if you have any information or memories from earlier days in Pros fandom (and really, I mean anything pre-today - the year 2000 is history, now! *g*) please, please comment below so that I can add it to the tale of our history! Did you go to a con sometime? Remember anything particularly wonderful about it? I believe M.Fae Glasgow used to do readings, Sebastian and HG wrote fic in bunk beds (ETA - confirmation here! *g*), and what did you get up to? Anything that's Pros fandom as a community, or that we've enjoyed as a community - as one of the many little communities that make up Pros fandom - I'd love to hear about it, and I'm sure everyone else would too. Let's not lose the history of what we've loved, of what's made us us! If Fanlore Wiki wants a page on Pros fandom history, then let's make it accurate, and not just good but bloody brilliant... *g*

( Pros Fandom History So Far Known )

There is much, much fabulous information and many gorgeous stories here at the original thread but as we're concertina-ing like mad, I thought I'd make a new post, with lots of the information added into the post itself. I'm still adding it - though I'm about to escape for the day and head south to Windsor, to see MS on stage tonight - wheeeee - so it will probably be tomorrow before I can add more, though I'll be peering in to see, cos lappie comes with me!

I'm loving the whole story to this though - if you have any information or memories from earlier days in Pros fandom (and really, I mean anything pre-today - the year 2000 is history, now! *g*) please, please comment below so that I can add it to the tale of our history! Did you go to a con sometime? Remember anything particularly wonderful about it? I believe M.Fae Glasgow used to do readings, Sebastian and HG wrote fic in bunk beds, and what did you get up to? Anything that's Pros fandom as a community, or that we've enjoyed as a community - as one of the many little communities that make up Pros fandom - I'd love to hear about it, and I'm sure everyone else would too. Let's not lose the history of what we've loved, of what's made us us! If Fanlore Wiki wants a page on Pros fandom history, then let's make it accurate, and not just good but bloody brilliant... *g*

( Pros Fandom History So Far Known )

So, was chatting with inamac over at ci5hq about Pros and Pros fandom history (just a wee bit... *g*) and for various reasons I wandered over to the OTP's Fanlore page for Pros, and was reminded yet again of why I try to avoid it... I'm not sure how many people have contributed to it (two at least, I can see that) but... it's so American-based! And so innaccurate in places (Palelyloitering is not a list!! I wouldn't mind, but I know that one of the wiki editors knows this!) and blurry/fudgy in others (a "chippy" is a fish and chip shop anywhere, not just in central London)! And so difficult to do anything about, because you have to sign up and figure out and become an "editor" and blah blah blah... and I know, if I'm going to complain then I should do something about it, but... I've not had time to work it all out, and...

Anyway - unless I'm missing something, the very first mention of Pros fandom goes straight into American fandom with mention of the American paper circuit library. The rest of the paragraph is more general, but because it all follows that first statement about American Pros fandom, the implication (intended or not) is very definitely that that's where Pros fandom is based. There is a single sentence in a new paragraph mentioning that the UK-based paper circuit was still active in 2008...

In the Discussion pages, there seems to be a defence of using Close Quarters as an example of a Pros-specific convention too - the argument being that Nattercon (which is the UK-based Pros con that celebrated its 20th anniversary this year) isn't Pros-specific. Which also caused me to blink. It's been a Pros-specific con ever since I've been - yes, there are people there who are into other fandoms now (because you know, presumably when approaching 20 years in a fandom you might glance elsewhere) but it's always been based very specifically around Pros, as far as I know... (I suspect the statement was made in response to the slight controversy caused when other fandoms were introduced two years ago to the Saturday Night Pros Trivia Quiz...)

I might be mistaken about this, but I've definitely not had the impression that Pros started off as an American-based fandom - and it doesn't seem very likely, since it was barely aired over there... Of course, there's not alot of information around (online) about the start of Pros fandom, so perhaps it's not surprising that there's such a headdesk-y entry...

So... I was wondering, what do people know about the start of Pros fandom? In the UK? In America? Australia (somehow completely left out too, and yet look at Jane, major part of Pros fandom, like her or not!)? There are French Pros zines too, and presumably a big German contingent still, and I think there's at least one German-based "group" where fanfic is written - what about that? How much is being missed from the OTP's wiki pages, that purport to be about all of us?

Anyone got any info/snippets they'd care to share here? For the sake of more accurately recording history?! *g*

ETA - I think perhaps I'll start editing this to include information that people have (or that I can glean accurately from t'interweb, like when the_safehouse was founded, for example... *g* Each piece of info sourced so it can be traced back... Let me know what I'm missing, especially the non-lj stuff! (Working on it right now, so a little messy - sorry! Will tidy up, I promise!)

( Pros Fandom History So Far Known )