Em City
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| Archive | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Em City |
| Date(s): | c. 1999 - mid-2001 |
| Archivist: | Shug/Sugaree |
| Founder: | Shug |
| Type: | Fanfic |
| Fandom: | Oz (HBO) |
| URL: | http://emcity.slashcity.net (via Wayback), https://sugaree.simplenet.com/ (via Wayback) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Em City was an adult fanfic archive for HBO's prison drama Oz.
printed in the 1999 zine, Contraband Oz
It was part of The Adult Fan-Fiction Webring, the Slash Fan Fiction Webring, and The Oz Ring.
The Em City archive was closely associated with the Em City Mail List.[1]
It was hosted at slashcity.net.
Flamewar and Closure
EmCity used to be the fandom's largest archive. It was abruptly closed shortly after a flamewar erupted on the affiliated Em City Mail List. Conflict arose over the predominance of Beecher/Keller fic, primarily because many fans believed that stories not featuring B/K or stories featuring other characters, period, weren't welcome or appreciated by the fandom:
Basically, the Third Season finale brought a flood of fresh Beecher/Keller converts, many of whom had barely watched the show, only watched it for B/K and/or never watched it and just modelled their fic on popular fanon. These people were mainly interested in A/Us that took place outside of the prison itself or domestic fluff that took place after both characters were (somehow) released. All other ships dropped away; rarepairs disappeared; the already slightly bitter divide between gen, het and slash-oriented fans became toxic very quickly. The main Oz email community blew up in a flamewar that lasted months. Eventually Sugaree, the creator and maintainer of the Em City archive, flounced and took the site with her over the way that B/K shipping had "deformed" the original gritty, multiracial, super-political canon source into something she no longer recognized. It happened so fast that it amazed me, and I was there from the start, so I got to see it all go down. Never before or since have I witnessed anything of the same magnitude, but that may be attributable to the fact that I've never been in a fandom quite as passionate since, and also no longer allow myself to get quite so attached to anything. [2]
References
- ^ Posting and List FAQ
- ^ Re: ITT: Your first and/or more memorable ship wars (Accessed Feb. 19, 2013. Thread started 2013-02-19)