The 1996 Legion mailing list drinking game

Just to show you how things come and go and come back again...

Back in the olden days of the 1990s, before the web was a thing, you had Usenet newsgroups and mailing lists and that was pretty much it if you were online. The longest-lived lasting mailing list was called LSH-L and was hosted in various places over the years, eventually dying out with the rise of web-based message boards. But just like today, people liked to argue about who or what was better, and we'd hear the same arguments over and over. And to make fun of those people, you'd have a drinking game. Here is the "official" LSH-L mailing list drinking game, which has a time stamp on my computer of 2/12/96. I've highlighted the ones that are STILL coming up today, especially with the upcoming Rebirth Legion under Bendis.

Recall that the Peyer/Stern/McCraw/Moy/Boyd Reboot started up in August 2004, so this is only a year and a half later. Come with me to those thrilling days of yesteryear of AOL and IRC chats, of flamewars and in-jokes. You can see what a typical month looked like - all 2113 messages in February alone, or an average of 75.5 messages per day! - on the mailing list via the Wayback Machine (here's January through October 1996, and you can even see the subject line of this post in the February archive), but you can only see the subject line and none of the contents.

(And relatedly, here's an Omnicom post I wrote back in 2005 covering what I knew of the history of online fandom up until then, including the mailing lists.)

Drink every time:

• The Floating V4 Flamewar starts up.
• The Floating Legion Racial Diversity Flamewar starts up.
• The Floating Sexism/Objectification Flamewar starts up.
• Someone's Anti-Defamation League is mentioned.
• Twice, if a new ADL is started.
• Someone says a Legionnaire should be gay.
• Twice if it's Jan, Ayla, or Vi. 
• Three times if it's Lyle or Condo. 
• Chug if it's Gates.
• The LSH team says there's no plans for a particular character in one of Troy's reports.
• Twice if someone asks when Tinya or Ferro is coming back.
• Twice if the team says that Marvel's afraid of the Legion.
• Three times if the team says there are no plans for a third Legion series, but a miniseries is a possibility.
• Finish the keg if the Legion actually teams up with Marvel characters.
• Somebody follows up a 50 or more line article to just say "Me too!"
• A simple comment ignites a flame war.
• Someone tries to make head or tails out of LSH Science.
• Twice if the use diagrams, equations or cite books.
• Michael Grabois brings up the "Klordny" quotes.
• Someone de-lurks.
• Someone misspells Ayla, Luornu, Imra, Cargg, Bgztl, or Shvaughn.
• Twice if someone mispronounces Ayla.
• Someone tries to think of a way to bring back the preboot version.
• Dr. Mayavale is mentioned.
• Tom Peyer, Roger Stern, or Ron Boyd posts a message.
• Twice if Tom McCraw or Jeff Moy show up.
• Three times if KC Carlson shows up.
• Chug if RobRaza shows up.
• Someone comments about a character's tongue in a Moy story.
• Chug if they're keeping a list.
• Someone thinks of a way to keep the "Mon-el" name.
• Someone says "This isn't my Legion".
• Mordru's Vaudeville career is discussed.
• Twice if Glorith is mentioned as his partner.
• Three times if any other villain is mentioned.
• Someone mentions "Deathboing", "Arm-Fall-Off Lad", or "Fortress Lad."
• Yeechang Lee's IRC announcement shows up on time.
• Someone takes a poll.
• Someone mentions one of the Anal Retentive lists.
• Someone disparages the "Timber Wolf" miniseries
• Three times if they try to defend it
• Someone wishes Chris Sprouse or Adam Hughes would take up the art chores.
• Someone starts an X-Men vs. Legion thread.
• Three times if someone posts in a non-flammatory manner
• Buy a round for the group if your name is Tuckerized into a story.
• Chug if someone mentions your new "Legion number."
• Chug if someone claims that the "Wanderers" series is what got them into the Legion.

(And of course, for those not of legal drinking age, please substitute milk, Coke, fruit juice, or your non-alcoholic beverage of choice.)

Originally posted Feb. 11, 1996 by Michael Grabois <orbit@ix.netcom.com>
Updates and suggestions by:
T. Troy McNemar, Esq. <troyesq@indirect.com>
Mike Morris <MykePM@aol.com>