Draft copy for SGA_Guide's McShep page, feedback welcome!

[skaredykat]

Hi/help! For the new community sga_guide, The Alternative Guide to SGA Fandom (see the comm userinfo, the announcement at sga_noticeboard, and my previous post for more about the comm), I volunteered to draft a page of especially McShep-focused resources. If you're willing to join the comm and leave feedback on the post there, where the active discussion thus far is

Comments

[pinkdiamondsq]

I think you've clearly stated that your focus is on McShep, without saying anything negative about other pairings, or no pairing. Your passion for this pairing shows.

My comments on things found here as a newbie to this fandom:

I love the giant AU list, and I've been very lucky so far, but I can see where it might be hit or miss at some point. One of the more useful sites for newbies (at least it's been so for me, is sgagenrefinders. I find it well organized and the people who answer there are really helpful.

I think these guides are terrific. The most helpful thing though, are the people within the fandom. It's great that they are so passionate and willing to share that passion with new people.

I stumbled into this fandom while reading Jack/John slash and got sucked in (happily), but the fandom is large, with thousands of stories, so this is all helpful in getting people started. Where they go once their feet are wet, depends, but these guides and the sites you've linked save a bunch of time.

pink

[skaredykat]

Thank you for taking a look and commenting! (Yes, I love McShep, especially since it was my entrypoint to the fandom -- though by this point I think I'd call myself a multishipper with McShep bias, hee.)

Hmm, yes. In my Reader's Guide I put a lot of emphasis on reclists and reccers/reviewers because as a newbie I discovered relatively quickly that I didn't necessarily want to read all McShep (or de-aged gen, or...) fic, but figured out that I was happiest to start by reading some of the most-recced -- most widely and/or by different people with seemingly varied reccing/reviewing interests and styles -- fic of such types. (Until I figured out whose recs I often really liked.) So yes, themed lists are by their nature more comprehensive, and in the Guide post at my LJ I feel comfortable heading that section with something that boils down to "of the fics listed, YMMV quite strongly" -- but at the sga_guide post aimed towards McShep fans I'm trying to keep it more neutral and offer less of a personal POV.

At the same time of course my love for sgagenrefinders

[pinkdiamondsq]

Glad I could help. And, BTW, I love the reclists also. Often, the classics of any fandom can be found on list after list, and being new in a fandom, it's good to read those classics.

pink

[skaredykat]

Thanks again, and on finding/reading fandom classics, that's my opinion too. :)

[lilyleia78]

Looks like you've covered all the major ones to me as far as primers and rec lists.

There's also daily_mcshep for other media if you're looking for pic/cap comms.

[skaredykat]

Thanks, I'll add that!

[popkin16]

Nice focus on the McShep pairing.

Everything looks fantastic to me. Are there guidelines on what should be included and what should not? Just asking, because the first thing I do when I join a fandom, is look for rec lists. It's a quick, great way to find fantastic fic/authors, but I don't know if it can't be included or what.

What about sga_santa? It has a lot of McKay/Sheppard fic.

[skaredykat]

Thanks, and yes there are guidelines at the comm about what to include on specific-pairing and character pages.

I've asked to have "reclists/reccers" included as a category for guide writers there to consider/include whenever possible, but (tl;dr) the consensus of some of the people initiating the comm, before it got started, was that they wanted the McShep page to be a little different from the other pairing pages and not as comprehensive, as they felt there were already a bunch of strongly McShep-focused resources out there (and here) that include links to reclists and reccers, etc. -- e.g., my SGA fic readers guide post. So I suspect that several of the people most active at the comm will prefer not to have a McShep Recs/Reccers subcategory specifically added to (the more final version of) this page, but will prefer to stick with their initial idea of pointing out some of the more general McShep-focused guides that include recs and reccers and links to more on the more final version of this page...

But as for me, same here, I

[popkin16]

I thought there might be. I tried to do a quick check before submitting my comment, but I didn't see anything against rec lists.

I suppose it makes sense to exclude reclists then, if you want the McShep section to be a little different. I was just thinking about what I look for when joining a new fandom, so I thought I'd suggest it. I love your readers guide, it's a gorgeous post ♥

It seems I wasn't much help at all, so I'll just end this comment with a "Great job!"

[skaredykat]

IIRC, I don't think there was anything specifically for or against rec lists in the obvious places over there until a few of us just very very recently said something like "Oops/ack -- classic rec lists! active reccers for a character or pairing! Please let's specifically call out to add if possible!" :)

Anyhow, I added a few more words in some of the entries about if they include recs, if you think that helps?

Thank you very much for the very nice words, also about my readers guide. (*blushes*)

[omg_wtf_yeah]

I love what you've done here. It looks great. I like using Polyfandomrecs for McShep recs.

I don't know if it's just me but I actually kind of find people compiling a specifically nonMcShep fandom intro a little...dunno. No one feels compelled to do that in any other fandoms I'm in.

[ailurophile6]

I don't know if it's just me but I actually kind of find people compiling a specifically nonMcShep fandom intro a little...dunno. No one feels compelled to do that in any other fandoms I'm in.

ITA

I have a real problem with the name of this community. How can it be an SGA Guide when they are excluding the largest part of SGA fandom? I don't care if they don't like McShep, but they can't just ignore that it's the most popular pairing in the fandom. It doesn't matter that they state it in the user info or that they plan to have this reference page.

IMO, I think they should change the name, then I would have no issues with the community.

[omg_wtf_yeah]

Yeah, I feel like it's a little weirdly exclusionary and divisive.

[skaredykat]

I rambled (tl;dr) a little upthread (and in a previous post) about some of the origins of this project, insofar as I know them, but I did actually tell one of the initiators that to my mind choosing sga_guide over sga_alt_guide or sg_atl_alt_guide or some such variant would be preferable -- by virtue of being short, easier to remember, and avoiding some almost certain potential confusion/mistyping between "alt" and "atl" -- if "The Alternative Guide" was prominent in the comm's tagline/header. Basically I'm a big fan of findability and easier to remember/type correctly in as few guesses as possible comm names -- so if my two cents on the topic when it was being discussed carried weight, you can in some part blame me for the name, sorry!

[zellieh]

I agree with you on the "by username" point -- I was going to suggest exactly the same thing!

Oh, and also, you could standardise the way you treat your links to archives: with Crossroads, the name of the site is a link to the homepage and then there's another link to specifically McShep stuff; you could do the same for Wraithbait, Area 52, and AO3.

[skaredykat]

Hee, that's how I had them originally, but someone at the draft post at the comm was in favor of removing them. However, looks like consensus at the comm is shifting towards more links, so I'll add the general archive links back in (though those are/will also be on the comm's general List of Resources page). And thanks for your feedback!

[skaredykat]

That seems reasonable to me, will add!