Prospect-L - Fanlore

Prospect-L (P-L, PL) is a mailing list for The Sentinel. It's slash-focused but gen-friendly, and specifically encourages fanfic discussion of all sorts. It was founded by Merry and Margie, who have served as co-moderators for the list since its creation.

The list was started in 2000 in response to a perceived need for an open forum for TS fic discussion that included criticism as well as praise. It was designed to be a place where readers can talk to each other about what they've read, rather than to give authors feedback or help them become better writers.

Unlike many mailing lists, P-L has a firm rule against metadiscussion, or "discussing the discussion" -- no one is allowed to post into a discussion suggesting a better way to phrase things, or "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", etc. The result is a list where discussions stay on topic, without getting bogged down in endless arguments about who should be saying what, and how.

The acceptance of critical discussion made many people in the fandom deeply uncomfortable, and in some corners of TS fandom P-L is considered a "mean" list. For others, it was a breath of fresh air, and especially in its first few years, P-L was extremely active.