Better Mashfics Group?

[aura218.livejournal.com]

Hi, group.

Like many older fandoms, stories are all over the place in MASH. And story requests seem to be pretty popular posts around here. Wouldn't it be great to have all the best links in one place?

I'd like to propose a lj comm called Better MASH Fics, based on the esteemed group Better Buffy Fics. Here's how it would work:

1. Any group member recommends a fic, with relevant headers, a working link, and a one sentence reason why it's a Better MASH Fic.

2. The recc gets tagged, so that link is always there.

3. The group reads the fic and by a 2/3 majority, decides if it's really a Better MASH Fic. (Be prepared to back up your opinion.)

4. Here's the best part: If the recommended story is declared a Better MASH Fic, the Archiving Committee contacts the author for permission to archive the story on the Better MASH Fics archive.** No more losing MASH fics to the aether and having to find them with the Wayback Machine!

** Anyone have hosting ideas?

Also permitted in this comm would be requesting fics of a type ("Anyone know good Trapper/Hawkeye/Sidney?"), as we do here with glee. However, those links wouldn't be voted on as Better MASH Fics unless a formal, new post was made. (It's too confusing to have links all over the place.)

I'm aiming for a nondiscriminatory group, slash and het both welcome.

So. What say ye? If I get five positive responses, I'll go ahead and create the comm.

Think I'd need:
An assistant archivist
Someone to do the graphic layout

Comments

[skew-whiff.livejournal.com]

Oh, myself, I'm all for concrit, and honest fic discussion. Other people, however, really aren't - just wanted to know how you were going to head off potential arguments, and you sound like you've got a good idea of how to keep things in order.
There probably wouldn't be much trouble, anyway. It's my experience that smaller fandoms, when they fall out, tend to be much more polite and measured in dealing with things than larger ones where people can get away with stirring up trouble.

And thanks for the offer, but it's best I don't - I've modded before and I'm not much use at it. (I swear, I have the organisational and leadership capabilities of Henry Blake.)

[aura218.livejournal.com]

Yah, like you said, with a small, older (both in terms of age of show and age of fans; I don't think there's a majority of kids like in, say, HP) fandom like this, I don't expect every day to be a wankfest like, say, HP. :D I have seen some feathers get ruffled in this kind of fandom -- Frasier, Moonlighting, i've hung out in some odd fandoms... -- and it just takes a leader who doesn't take no guff. :D I've worked in customer service and i've lead a few online groups, so I'm pretty confident with shutting down a thread, and stepping in to remind people it's about the fic, not each other.

Too bad about not being a mod! You're the first person who's taken an interest in how the joint gets run. Yo wouldn't even want to do some background stuff like keeping track of links or archiving?

[aura218.livejournal.com]

Hey there --- Just wanted to let you know that I decided to go with the Better MASH Fics idea. I just finished setting it up, so I'd love if you looked it over and told me what you thought. The link is betterMASHfics.livejournal.com.