On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Ratbat wrote:
: Just what the header says. What's one of these BL thingies? They looks kinda
: fun, but I'm not completely sure what's going on here.
The contest refers to Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton, a 19th
century author, whose book _Paul Clifford_ was the origin of the
infamous opening line "It was a dark and stormy night", made
immortal by Snoopy in the _Peanuts_ comic strip.
There are several "Bulwer-Lytton" contests on the internet and
IRL, with varying rules. Some call for the worst opening
imaginable (Whether one line, paragraph or unlimited in size),
some call for the best followup paragraph for the original line.
In this case the contest is just to write an opening that hints at
a truly horrible fic experience to come, although some have
actually written complete short-short spamfics that fulfill the
promise... :6
Sebastian