Whoosh!
| Website | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Whoosh! |
| Owner/Maintainer: | Kym Taborn |
| Dates: | September 17, 1996-last post in winter 2006 (currently inactive) |
| Type: | meta |
| Fandom: | Xena: Warrior Princess |
| URL: | http://www.whoosh.org/ |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Whoosh! was an extensive online Xena: Warrior Princess monthly journal, subtitled the International Association of Xenaoid Studies (IAXS).
It was founded in 1996 by Kym Taborn, who described it in 2009 as "over Twelve Boffo Years of Reading Pleasure, Frustration, and Primo Procrastination."[1]
The journal contains essays, articles, commentaries, episode guides, interviews with fans, interviews with showrunners and other TPTB, historic airing schedules, convention reports, guides to websites, uber fiction, various analyses of genre television shows and cinema, and much, much more.
The IAXS was a tongue-in-cheek meta project -- "a quasi-literate, quasi-academic, quasi-fandom, entirely FUN excuse to write about and share with others your unique obsession with all aspects of Xena: Warrior Princess [...] OR any other TV show that features a strong action/adventure female lead, OR a show or flick that I currently like (who am I? I am Kym, the founder of IAXS)."[2]
A somewhat similar journal/community is Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies.
As of 2017, the website is still online, but the last issue (#102) was released in winter 2006.
From the Introduction
Welcome to Whoosh.orgBirthplace of the International Association of Xena Studies: Whoosh.org is what Whoosh is (I yam what I yam). It's been a fun and wild ride. I am happy it is still here. Here be essays, articles, commentaries, episode guides, historic airing schedules, convention reports, boutique websites, uber fiction, various analyses of genre television shows and cinema, and a plethora of other materials concerning strong women in popular culture, popular women in strong [culture], and other stuff that strikes me as cool, weird, interesting, or fun (in a pleasant or not so peasant way). Welcome, make yourself at home, and stay a while. I'll put the kettle on and please, jump in anywhere. Mi website es su casa.
WHEN POPULAR CULTURE IS NOT ENOUGH ... Whoosh.org Like a cockroach that refuses to die.
Fanfiction Meta and Interviews
The site is comparable in intent to the Fanfic Symposium, and has published several articles about fanfiction, Xena altfic authors, and trends in Xena fanfic. Two issues were exclusively devoted to fanfiction.
The first issue included articles about the history of Xena fanfiction on the internet, interviews with fanfiction authors, articles about uber fiction, fanfic as lesbian erotica, BNFs, acafans and fandom, the sexuality of alt fanfic authors (not straight - surprise!), copyright, and the different genres of altfic.[3]
The second all-fanfic issue focused on the works of individual authors such as Della Street, Vivian Darkbloom, Melissa Good, Bongo Bear, LZ Clotho and Cyclops, and featured an article that gave insight into writing f/f fanfiction from a male point of view. [4]
For the interviews with fans, see Whoosh! Interview Series.
Sections
- Whoosh! Home
- Episode Guide
- Editorial
- Articles
- Air Dates
- Interviews
- Film Studies
- Store
- Donate
- Staff
- Xena WP FAQ
- Message Board & Chat
- Cartoons
- Uber Uber Allies
- On the Road
- Newsflash!
- News, Gossip, Rumors
- Awards
- Whoosh! In the News
- Whoosh! At a Glance
- IAXS Info
- Back Issues
Further Reading
Whoosh! was mentioned and quoted twice in the 1997 article Who Owns Xena?, written by Andrew Leonard for Salon.com: once as an example of how the internet and the "Xenaverse" are intertwined, and once to illustrate the good behaviour and intentions of Xena fans and fan activity.[5]
There is an intimate connection, in every sense of the word, between the Net and the Xenaverse. "The producers are very aware of the Internet and the Internet fan's reaction," says Kym Taborn, editor of WHOOSH, a tongue-in-cheek Web zine that serves as the journal for the "International Association of Xena Studies" and focuses on such issues as the hair color myths surrounding Lucy Lawless (the actress who plays Xena) or Xena as Byronic hero. "I have a whole boatload of honorary members of the International Association of Xena Studies who are production people or actors on the show," says Taborn.
"The Xena fans are for the most part extremely thoughtful, courteous, law-abiding citizens," says Kym Taborn, the WHOOSH editor. "All they want to do is enjoy the Xenaverse. There are many who take great delight in writing their own Xena adventures and even more who take delight in reading them. Who is this harming? If it is doing anything, it is adding value to the property of Xena. The Web activity enhances the product."
The Whoosh! In the News section of the website lists a number of other press features and references to Whoosh!, from 1996 through to 2001.
Community Links
- Whoosh.org Facebook group: The official Facebook group for Whoosh!, which is still occasionally active
- Whoosh.org Proboards: A Whoosh! messaging forum, which is mostly inactive but with a couple of isolated active threads
- Whoosh! Runboard: Another messaging forum, also mostly inactive but with some recent posts
References
- ^ whoosh.org homepage, updated February 2009: See 09 February 2009 and 27 February 2009 versions of the site as archived by the Wayback Machine. Note that the "Last update to this page" date was not changed.
- ^ IAXS FAQ: GENERAL, version 8.0, Release date: 03/29/02, (Accessed 24 October 2008)
- ^ 1st All Fan Fiction Issue, Whoosh! #25, October 1998, (Accessed 24 October 2008)
- ^ 2nd All Fan Fiction Issue, Whoosh! #46, July 2000, (Accessed 24 October 2008)
- ^ Who owns Xena? (Archived version) Salon.com, Published July 21, 1997 (Archived April 14, 2001).