New group - Sleepovers · 2:13pm Dec 22nd, 2014
There are many concepts in fiction that I like. Bodyswapping. Amnesia. Alternate universes. Time loops.
And sleepovers.
Okay, it's not quite as high-concept sci-fi as the others, but it's still something I love seeing. I've always found that sleepovers have a certain magic about them, a way for characters to relax their social boundaries in a comfortable setting and open up in ways they might not otherwise. The episode "Look Before You Sleep", featuring not just a sleepover, but a sleepover in a tree-library with Applejack and Rarity was basically the writers saying "here you go, hawthornbunny, this is our Christmas/birthday/Easter gift to you, now please stop sending us letters"[1].
In the UK, there's not much in the way of 'sleepover culture' as there seems to be in the US. I certainly never heard anyone over here use the term 'slumber party'. We have sleepovers, of course - most people will have at least one at some point in their childhood - and while they are a rare treat, they don't seem to be as well-defined, even ritualised, as the one we saw in "Look Before You Sleep".
Of course, maybe that was the point of that episode - that Twilight was doing it by the book - but even so, I don't think things like Spin the Bottle, Truth or Dare, ghost stories, smores (isn't that a camping thing, anyway?) are very British, because the whole concept of a slumber party isn't. And if so, that's a shame, because I think it's awesome.
And you know who else thinks it's awesome? Fimfiction writers, because sleepovers feature in a ton[2] of stories. Equestria is particularly conducive to sleepover stories, because it's a relaxed society where I imagine ponies don't lock their doors, there's not much crime, and ponies are generally just happier to host each other.
And from an author's perspective, we just love seeing our favourite ponies interact, and sleepovers are basically raw interaction with a dash of intimacy and a smidge of experimentation. What I'm saying is, there's a lot of romance.
I'd been meaning to make a group for sleepover stories for ages - there had already existed one, but it never did anything and the founder abandoned it - so now, I've finally got around to it, and here it is:
I'm happy to see that a bunch of authors I recognise from the various sleepover stories I've read have joined up. If any of the five readers of my blog know any more such stories, feel free to point me to them. We're accepting any story that features a sleepover, even if it's not the focus of the story.
Happy Hearthswarming!
[1] I didn't actually send them letters asking for a Rarijack episode. This is the twenty-first century, after all, and we're more civilised than that in this day and age. I emailed them.
[2] Well, at least 150 so far.
