Newsgroup

A newsgroup is a Usenet-based discussion board. rec.arts.comics.creative, the home of the LNH, is a newsgroup.

Newsgroups In-Character

Within the continuity of the LNH, each newsgroup is, in a way, its own world, created and populated by the posters and the articles they post.

"The appearance of a newsgroup, or section of a newsgroup, is largely dependent on the type of articles that are posted to it," Librarian Lady began didactically. "Fanfiction newsgroups have a high level of detail, both actual and implied, due to the amount of description written into the stories. That level of detail only increases if one has a shared universe with many writers posting stories taking place in one consensual setting, such is the case in the Looniverse in alt.comics.lnh. In such cases the details contained in the individual threads merge to create the appearance of a landscape, with varying degrees of integration.

"A similar effect occurs in those newsgroups or parts thereof devoted to particular works of published fiction, although in such cases the setting tends to be a wholesale duplication of the non-net template. These regions are usually 'whole' and 'seamless', unless there are gaps in the original, in which case those faults will be duplicated in the net as well. [...]"

"General discussion areas within newsgroups often don't have such 'natural' looking settings. They tend to be blank voids through which the threads of posted articles pass, since very rarely does article content mesh together to form a coherent landscape."

—Limp-Asparagus Lad #7

Real-life goings-on in newsgroups are often reflected in the Looniverse. For instance, the plot of Retcon Hour was kicked off by the approval of rec.arts.comics.creative, causing the cosmic beings known as the RACelestials to move the Looniverse to its new position in the fabric of internewsgroup space. Due to this, newsgroups have appeared in LNH stories for the purpose of the plot that never existed in the real world.

In recent years, Usenet has suffered a steep drop in activity (apart from the binary newsgroups where various kinds of media are illegally shared), with many people predicting its death. However, a (comparatively) small band of valiant posters (including the RACC Writers) have been keeping it alive. In-story, this lead to the Crossover Queen conquering almost all that remains of Usenet, and plotting to begin the Ultimate Crossover, involving every site on the Internet, to restore life to Usenet.

See also the Usenetverse.

List of Newsgroups

Newsgroups that appear in LNH stories include (but are probably not limited to):

• alt.alien.sheep.baa.baa.baa
• alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die
• alt.comedy.british
• alt.comics.lnh
• alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo
• alt.cynosure
• alt.dev.null
• alt.drwho.creative
• alt.fan.bugtown
• alt.fan.dan-quayle
• alt.fan.diane-duane
• alt.fan.dragons
• alt.fan.lemurs
• alt.fan.monty-python
• alt.fan.pratchett
• alt.fan.suicide-squid
• alt.flame
• alt.games.torg
• alt.greener.pastures
• alt.horror.cthulhu
• alt.lwaxana-troi.die.die.die
• alt.music.progressive
• alt.obituaries
• alt.out-of-body
• alt.pub.dragons-inn
• alt.pub.havens-rest
• alt.sex.prudish.prudish.prudes
• alt.toys.transformers
• alt.transgendered
• alt.tv.friends
• alt.tv.x-files.creative
• comp.sources.unix
• net.food.drink.liquor
• net.general
• rec.arts.anime.creative
• rec.arts.anime.mahou-sensei-einstein.creative
• rec.arts.comics
• rec.arts.comics.creative
• rec.arts.comics.dc-universe
• rec.arts.comics.info
• rec.arts.comics.misc
• rec.arts.comics.xbooks
• rec.arts.manga
• rec.arts.movies.b-movies
• rec.arts.prose
• rec.humor.funny
• rec.humor.oracle
• rec.games.frp.dnd
• rec.org.sca
• rec.pets.dogs
• sci.math
• sci.physics.plutonium
• vuw.events