What Is This Pornish Pixies of Which You Speak?

[icarus]

What Is This Pornish Pixies of Which You Speak?

We fanfiction writers and readers wish that people who stumble on this odd thing we call "fandom" would take their time to learn what it is. Look around. Read some of our better stories (instead of selecting something at random, and really, would that even work in a book store?). Get to know us before you pass random ill-informed judgments.

Now that pornish_pixies has come into the limelight because of Strikethrough 2007 to a variety of fandoms, I'm going to ask other non-Harry Potter fandoms to do the same. I'm seeing pornish_pixies used as an example of "fanfic I wish didn't exist" in some fandoms, and I find that distressing, given pornish_pixies's history in the Harry Potter fandom.

But you don't know that history yet, do you? Give me a moment of your time.

First, Harry Potter is a megolith of a fandom that has kept the hecklers at Fandom Wank entertained for half a decade. The political infighting (a.k.a. "wank") has been in proportion to the size and variety of the HP fandom: immense. It became a by-word. Whenever a new fandom had a lot of wank, the folks at F_W gloated, "This could be the next Harry Potter."

If you wish to understand the history of Harry Potter wank, this well-written editorial (set aside an afternoon), The MsScribe Story: An Unauthorized Fandom Biography, covers 2001-2006 and will give you a Ph.D. in that darkest aspect of Harry Potter fandom history.

But it doesn't seem to mention pornish_pixies. Well, what was fun for the hecklers wasn't much fun for the participants.

Enter switchknife and pornish_pixies.

After a series of inter-related wanks that embroiled many friends, the prolific slash writer switchknife, who maintained the popular Switchknife Recs website waved a flag (red? white? pink?), calling for a halt to all the battles. "This is supposed to be fun," switchknife insisted. "Let's get back to the porn -- the good kind of wank."

Switch created pornish_pixies, "The Community You Wank Off To," kicking it off with a series of "write your favorite kink" challenges. Switch's terms (made somewhat solemnly, with a wink):

- Respect other people's squicks. Since this is a pr0n community, there will be depictions of various kinds of sexual practices. Please state warnings clearly before the fic/poem, or place your story behind a cut-tag (as advised above), if you feel that some of your subject matter could seriously upset people. (Examples: chanslash, bloodplay, rape.)

- Respect other people's kinks. Do not tease and/or abuse someone for their particular proclivities, or what they choose to write in a fic. Everyone here reserves the right to perv unchallenged.

It was intended to be short fics only, lunch hour length, but that went by the wayside very early on.

Since that time, pornish_pixies has been a sort of Japanese bathhouse of R and NC-17 Harry Potter fic. HP fans take off their fandom affiliations and politics and leave them at the door. "Fluffy Harry/Ron Christmas morning romance" appears next to "Werewolf BDSM Non-con" without a qualm. Slash, (Other?), are all welcome, so long as it's sexually explicit and you leave each other be.

So to stand outside of pornish_pixies and use it as an example of "that" kind of fic that "I would never read," misses the point of the community entirely.

Comments

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

I've never really understood the horror over the "stuff I'd never read" mindset. Not because I'll read anything, but because if I hit a story that fits into the "stuff I'd never read" category, I JUST DON"T READ IT. It really is simple. My kinks are my kinks, and your kinks are yours and if we can both find stories that satisfy our kinks good for us. I have never stumbled into a community and had someone jump out of my computer, hold a gun on me and make me read a story I didn't want to. And if I've stumbled into a story that squicks me I just hit the back button.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*test click* Yep. My backbutton works pretty well, too.

I'm learning to preface any response I have about, "I'll never read that" even with friends with, "I'll never read that -- at least for now." In time, all of my "I'll never reads" have fallen by the wayside.

First it was Ron/Draco. No, no, it was a pairing so impossible it could never happen.

Then it was non-con. Oh, no, I'd never read that... unless it was written by Rushlight, oh, and this author handled it really well here.

Then it was MPreg. Never in a million years. Except this one was well done, and a fascinating story.

Then it was Het. No, I didn't like het at all-- oh, you say Maya wrote it? Hmm. This looks pretty good.

But of course, I'd never read incest. Well. Except for this one Weasley twins incest story, and this one wasn't bad, hmm, I think I'll write my own.

Still, I managed to hold onto my bias against AUs. What's the point of an AU? If you're going so far against canon, you might as well write original-- oh, hey, these SGA AUs are great.

Finally, the last hold out: Crossovers. I hated crossovers.

Then I found that Supernatural/Numb3rs crossover....

Squicks are like bowling pins. All you need is the right story and they fall over easily.

Icarus

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

I'm learning to preface any response I have about, "I'll never read that" even with friends with, "I'll never read that -- at least for now." In time, all of my "I'll never reads" have fallen by the wayside.
That pretty well describes me too. I had a lot of lines when I came into fandom, but give me the right story and the right author and I can and will jump in. SPN blew away both my incest sqick and my RPS squick. Really good writing will do that.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It's always the writer, isn't it?

Icarus

[iroshi.livejournal.com]

My "I'll never read that"s tend to be phrased as, "I'm really not interested in that" because one never knows what one will -become- interested in, over time.

I seem to have spent a ridiculous amount of time googling for Numb3rs crossovers today, and this entry popped up during the search. So you got me curious - *what* Numb3rs/Supernatural crossover? :D

Thanks in advance.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I found it a couple months ago at amothea's recs, but man, I'm having trouble finding it now. I'll have to ask her about it tomorrow. I believe it was by derryderrydown? It's unfinished thus far, two of three parts done, but excellent. Still interested?

Icarus