Virgule Mailing List
| Name: | Virgule-L |
| Date(s): | 1992- |
| Moderator: | Sandy Herrold, lizj, Morgan Dawn |
| Founder: | Sandy Herrold |
| Type: | mailing list |
| Fandom: | slash multifandom |
| URL: | |
| Click here for articles related to this site on Fanlore. | |
This is distinct from the Virgule convention run in Seattle in '94, '95 and '96, and Virgule (LiveJournal) community which was created a decade later.
Contents |
Beginnings
Virgule-L was the first Internet slash mailing list. (There were some small online discussion groups in the early '90s on GEnie, and local BBSs.) It was created in October 1992 by Sandy Herrold (who had no listserv-fu), and almost immediately, lizj volunteered to host the list on her private listserv on the East Coast. From then on, the two of them admin'd the list together, until 1995, when Morgan Dawn was added to the moderators. At that time, broadband at home was rare, and most of the original Virgule members joined on work accounts. Probably because of that, membership was originally quite restrictive. Members were asked not to mention the list anywhere online. To join, you had to be recommended by someone already on the list, and you had to give your real name to the list admins (although pseudonyms were allowed on the list).
Early years
Oddly, the early 1990s were a relatively dry time for fandoms. There weren't a lot of slashable shows airing; in fact, it was common for fans on the list to proclaim that they didn't watch TV. On the other hand, there was a lot of recruiting fans of older fandoms (usually Star Trek or Blake's 7) into slightly newer fandoms (usually The Professionals at first).
It wasn't all guns and lube, of course. Many of today's wanks had easily identifiable proto-versions back then. There were memorable fights over membership: should men be allowed to join? can men be 'real' slash fans? should slash fans, who are also academics, who might want to write about slash fandom, be allowed to join? Another joyous fight was over the creation of a second slash mailing list, CI-5, dedicated specifically to slash conversation about The Professionals. Many of the Virgule members didn't see why fandom needed two mailing lists. After all, that way lay madness.
Golden Age
The list spawned some interesting meta: The Wave Theory (Needs more here)
Later days
After the CI-5 list, other specific fandom lists spawned, encouraged by free list software offered by ONElist/eGroups/YahooGroups until every possibly splinter of fandom had its own list, and the need for a rather controlled private list grew less. The Virgule Mailing List ceased operating sometime in 2003.
