New B7 community?

[vilakins]

hafren and several others of us think that a community where we could discuss B7 would be a great idea. We could set up tags for each episode, season, and character (any other suggestions? Perhaps pairings too?) so that each person could tag their own post appropriately. I'm happy to set this up today because it's raining anyway and Greg paid for a whole day of access because he's having to work.

I will also post links there to my existing ep reviews.

So what's a good name for this comm? b7crit? b7discussion? b7forum? Any other ideas?

Oh and I forgot: One of the past mayors of Napier was called Carnell. I took a picture of a monument with his name on it.

Comments

[kindkit.livejournal.com]

I like "b7discussion" myself. To me, "b7crit" sounds a little intimidating (like only carefully-wrought critical essays are welcome) and "b7forum" makes me think of online forums, with their usual flamewars and badness.

Pairing tags wouldn't be a bad idea, in case someone wants to write a ship manifesto or link to an existing one.

I dunno if you're looking for rules suggestions, but it might not be a bad idea to have a rule that saying "slash is out of character" or "slash violates canon" is not allowed. That leaves room for people to argue against particular pairings, if they want to, but it should nip certain kinds of wankbait in the bud.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

I'd go for 'b7discussion', too.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

OK, two votes is good enough for me!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

OK, b7discussion it is! I was going to make you and hafren (if she agrees) co-mods so you'd be welcome to update the rules. How about something like "Both discussion of canon and free speculation (e.g. about pairings etc) is allowed. No flaming or denouncing of any character preferences or pairings based on personal taste is permitted; people can always can avoid the posts so tagged."

There's never been a problem in the other B7 fic communities I set up and co-mod. :-)

[kindkit.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear it hasn't been a problem on other comms. No doubt you know why I was concerned about it!

The rule is good, I think, particularly so in that it's about general character or pairing bashing and doesn't single out slash as a controversial topic. It could be a little clearer, though; right now it kind of sounds like no disagreement is allowed. Maybe sometime like:

No flames, character bashing, or pairing bashing allowed; polite and reasonable disagreement is fine. In other words, "X/Y is disgusting" is not okay, but "I don't think X/Y would work because their personalities are so different" is fine. If you really loathe X/Y and know you can't stay calm discussing it, please avoid posts so tagged.

ETA: And yes, you can go ahead and make me a co-mod.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've changed the wording to yours and added you as a maintainer. :-)

[kerravonsen]

Huh? This does not compute.

That leaves room for people to argue against particular pairings, if they want to, but it should nip certain kinds of wankbait in the bud.

But if they're arguing about certain pairings, I would think that they are saying that "slash is out of character". Huh?

I'm surprised that you felt that this needed to be brought up at all -- or have I been hanging around the Lyst too long?

[hafren.livejournal.com]

But if they're arguing about certain pairings, I would think that they are saying that "slash is out of character". Huh?

No, I don't think so. There's a difference, surely, between saying "I don't believe in Vila/Avon because I think Vila, the individual, is attracted only to women" - which would be perfectly acceptable - and saying "the whole idea of slash pairings is out of synch with the universe and annoys me for irs own sake". It's the difference between saying "this slash pairing doesn't please me! and "slash per se offends me" (in which case don't read it).

[kindkit.livejournal.com]

Yes, I meant what hafren said. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

ETA: And I thought it needed to be included because there have been a couple of recent slash-related discussions (not specific to B7 fandom) where people have argued that all slash is out of character.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

What even for a certain Captain Jack?

[hafren.livejournal.com]

Oh, that goes to the old argument about whether you *can* slash a canonically gay character!

[kindkit.livejournal.com]

Well, no. What I've seen is people saying that slash is OOC for any character who isn't explicitly shown in canon to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

I really don't want to get into the whole discussion again, especially not on somebody else's journal. But if you're curious, have a look at the comments on penknife's post here (http://penknife.livejournal.com/315355.html), and then at the follow-up on my journal here (http://kindkit.livejournal.com/231342.html) and here (http://kindkit.livejournal.com/231741.html).

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pointers!
I'd just like to say though if we stuck to canon in every detail what would be the point?

[piemancer]

b7discussion is much better than my idea, b7yayyayyay.

Blake's 7! Yay! Yay! Yay!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

LOL! You know about the page I set up (http://community.livejournal.com/newbieguide/16134.html) with all the links I know of on LJ for B7, I assume? :-)

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Any reason why the existing B7 group (which is kind of quiet) won't do? I'm scratching my head as to why...

ETA: blakes7, that is.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I suggested that too but some thought it might not be slash-friendly. Anyway isn't it mainly used for news and links rather than discussion? Also we have no control over it.

Plus we were going to set up tags so that people can find topics that interest them.

If you think that comm would be fine, then I'm happy to use it.

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, okies. I was wondering if it was that, because other people were running it. I mean, I was just curious, not suggesting a new group would be a bad idea or anything. It's just that there are so many comms on LJ for similar subjects, sometimes even the same exact subject, that are as quiet as hell, so I always wonder *why* people keep forming new comms. But those reasons sound good enough.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

There was some discussion on hafren's post about it. I suppose we could use that comm if we can tag our posts. I haven't tried.

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

She's not on my flist, so I wouldn't know. But dude, if there's any suspicion of that comm being anti-slash (being anti-manip is wanky enough, IMHO), then no point in staying there if they can't handle it. Plus, the ability to use tags as much as you like and however you like=win. I was really pissed off at one comm recently for just silently scrapping their tags after I'd crossposted loads of stuff there. These days, a comm doesn't make much sense if it doesn't allow tagging--so much easier to find what you are looking for and you can find everything under one link. Also saves comms from those "where can I find more of x" posts... well, cuts down on those posts, because people still want someone else to do their Googling for them, grr.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I guess I'll set up the comm then. :-)

[ultrapsychobrat.livejournal.com]

b7discussion is fine by me, and I totally agree with the suggestion kindkit made--leave the 'slash isn't canon' argument somewhere else.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Another vote; excellent!

[kalinda001.livejournal.com]

b7discussion sounds good to me

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

...and it's done! :-)

[kerravongenius.livejournal.com]

It won't let me join because you have the community flagged and LJ for some reason refuses to believe I am an adult.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

You need a birth year (even if you don't display it to the public). I'll change that setting.

[kerravongenius.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I have my full date of birth, but for some reason it doesn't make a difference.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I changed the comm setting' it should be fine now.

[kindkit.livejournal.com]

I wanted to say, about the tags, that it should be possible to either list all the tags in a sidebar or, at least, to provide a link to the tags page. That will help people find the appropriate ones for their posts.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They should be on the side bar! Yep, under 'links'. Maybe your style doesn't show tags, but they certainly show on the comm in its style. People are welcome to add more as pairings/eps/whatever get discussed.