Found in the library

[jadesfire]

A student, lying in the middle of an aisle, flicking through a book. So far, not so unusual. Except that he had his laptop with him and was wearing headphones. When I went behind him, he had the tennis on full-screen on the computer, while 'reading' the textbook. Honestly.

---

In completely other news, the SG Awards have just opened for voting. The category system makes the librarian in me twitch, and I only clicked through the Gen section. It was actually an interesting exercise, since it reminded me just how small the Gen portion of SGA fandom is. In a fandom-wide award system, I would not expect to recognise most of the author's names, and yet. Most of the SGA-Gen writers on my flist seem to have been nominated, as well as lots of friends of friends and people whose fic I'm startled to be on the same list as.

Because finding these things is labyrinthine and I am shameless, allow me to point you to the lists where I'm nominated. At least in the Gen category, these also make pretty handy rec lists. I had trouble with direct links to lists (please tell me if any links are broken), but the menu system works, even if it did remind me of those endless automated phone systems. I kept waiting for it to tell me to press '1' for Slash, '2' for Het, '3' for Gen...



Seriously, I'm chuffed to bits at seeing so many of my friends with nominations. This makes me very happy.

First Contact and In Memoriam are under Gen-Duet-Mckay/Other-Episode-based. I don't know anyone else in that category, so am going to do some reading before voting.

Bibula Harena is in Gen-Duet-McKay/Sheppard-Action/Adventure, and if there's ever a list that was heady company, this is it. Also on it are Dead or Alive and See No Evil by greyias, and Ghost in the Machine by friendshipper. The latter two in particular, I couldn't choose between if you prodded me with sharp sticks.

The three of us are also nominated in the Gen-Duet-McKay/Sheppard-Hurt/Comfort category My story Some Assistance Required is there, along with Fault Lines by Grey and Cold Comfort by Sholio. Oh, AND there's Safekeeping by xparrot and To Extricate from an Undesirable State by leesa_perrie. I recognise other stories in this category and man, is it stuffed full of good stories or what?

Difficulties in Mathematics is up in Gen-Team-Action/Adventure, as is Mea Culpa by kristen999.

My personal favourite is the Gen-Team-AU category, where Port Call is up against Eildon Rhymer's The Pirate's Prisoner. I think the best way of drawing the contrast is to say that my story is 'Pirates of the Carribbean' to her Patrick O'Brien novels and I'm tickled pink to be there, along with Blue Colorado Skies by xparrot, Shock to the System by naye and The Great Pegasus Train Robbery by Sholio.

Finally for me (as far as I can see/remember), Rise up and Fight has been nominated in Gen-Team-Drama. Considering one of my all-time favourite SGA stories, Who's Left and Who's Leaving is nominated in this category, I'm immensely flattered just to be on this list.

The very last story I'm nominated for is mine and Grey's game-fic-graphic extravaganza Board Wars, which is in the completely separate Graphic Fan Fiction section. Again, one of my favourite pieces ever, The Long Way Home is up there, and I'm currently working my way through the rest of the list.

Why yes, I did start with the stories with pictures. Why'd you ask?

ETA: Friends who I've missed, please drop me your links! I'll link to everyone in a huge massive post before nominations close. :)

ETA 2: I've compiled a list here of all my flist in the Gen section of the awards. Please let me know if I've missed you! It's also worth pointing out that these things are dependent on people to nominate and vote, which explains why the Sheppard/McKay section is so small! Apparently it didn't hit the slash side of the fandom in a big way, but it did reach the Sheppard/Weir part. Very interesting...

Comments

[taffimai.livejournal.com]

Oh, today's students. *sigh*

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Heh, they never change, not even the graduates :)

[naye]

I'm glad I'm not the only one twitching after attempting to navigate the site! Thank you for this handy list. ♥ (And I'm on it! That makes me irrationally happy. \o/)

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I also had password issues (it sent me a reset link that it then claimed was invalid. Go figure) so yes, very twitchy.

There's so many good stories that I'm thinking I'll just use it as a rec list for a few weeks :D

Although I was amused at how many lists Grey and I are up against each other on, when we're *also* up for one together and writing together this summer. It's a very small world, this LJ thing.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

I had to hunt to find my one nom: Missing Breath is in Gen/Team/Hurt-Comfort. Which is a little weird, to me, but whatever. :)

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I have this vague plan to go through and find all my flist's stories, but the menu system is making me cry... Maybe I'll just link to them when people point them out to me ;)

Go you, though! So many good names up there :D

[caersmane.livejournal.com]

Board Wars is one of my favourite fic in any fandom. \o/

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Grey and I both have pretty cracky brains, so it was a great chance to throw everything into the pot. Plus she makes very shiny graphics :D

Thank you! There's some great reading on these lists if you're looking for good Gen :D

[caersmane.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have ..many tabs open now.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*g* I'm working on compiling a list of all my flist's nominations, so that might form a good rec list for you!

Seriously, this could be the awards list that ate my life...

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

YAY congrats on the noms!!

I got nommed too, but the story is not in the category I placed it in and it refuses to let me log in. :(

Anyway- in the gen, sheppard, angst category- Being There (http://www.sg-awards.com/p/wrap/wrap.php?3).

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Woot! I might put a note in encouraging people to tell me where they were nominated, so that I can go round and scoop them all up.

I'm having the same log-in issues - it's not just you! I think it must be the site...

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Eventually I'm going to put up a post too. We gen writers need all the love we can get!

*phew* I'm glad the log-in issue isn't just me. Although, now I do feel bad about contacting the site about the issue.

And YAY for Board Wars, I always go to that fic/art when I need a laugh.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to see what you pick! I want to go through and do a sort of 'this is what I'd vote for' in each category, but the way they're split up makes it kind of confusing and complicated. Plus, I counted and there's 181 stories to go through! That's a little ambitious, even for me. Probably...

I contacted the web-team too ;) don't feel bad - if there's a problem, they need to know!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

The way of breaking down the subcategories was terribly confusing to me. Oh well.

I thought it was interesting that in SGA there were 181 gen stories to the 168 slash/ship ones. More gen than not? Eerie! SG-1 was different 189 to 196+80. Oh and crossovers were 21 gen to 13+8=21 ship/slash.

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

Not to mention the colour scheme is terrible on the eyes and they don't list pairings (xover fandom) on the nom list, which is quite annoying. How do I know what I want to read if you I don't know who's in it? (it's all about me & my pr0n! *grins*)

Congrats on the noms and good luck :)

Nate

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Most of the SGA-Gen writers on my flist seem to have been nominated, as well as lots of friends of friends and people whose fic I'm startled to be on the same list as.

*whistles innocently*

Apparently it didn't hit the slash side of the fandom in a big way, but it did reach the Sheppard/Weir part. Very interesting...

I have my suspicions that the timing of the nomination period didn't hit that portion of the fandom at the greatest time. But that's just an opinion...

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

I'll be honest, I knew nothing about it so they don't seem to have pimped it around fully, in my opinion. Maybe the Shep/Weir & Shep/McKay comms got the most pimpage?!

Nate

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*nods* I think it's one of those 'natural bias' things. If I start something, you're likely to get lots of Gen and some slash contributions, because that's what my flist is like. If it's started by people who are stuck into the Het pairings, it might have trouble migrating to the Slash ones.

*shrugs* I guess these things can't be helped, but it does feel odd.

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

*nods* You're right. People tend to advertise within their comfort zone I guess. There'll be a few who ship that pairing who are multi-shippers and so passed on the pimpage that way and that's how it spread into the other areas, but slower and later. Interesting thought though.

Nate

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Heh, I should have known there would be a cunning mind behind it all ;)

That's an interesting opinion, though, and one I would like to hear more of. It just...doesn't feel like the awards reflect the fandom in that respect. I know sheafrotherdon turned down all her nominations, but while the Gen side came off quite well, the slash guys don't seem to. It's all very odd.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I think Grey's right that the nominations period hit the fandom at a bad time for the Sheppard/McKay people; it would've been like trying to get Sheppard/Weir nominations at the beginning of season four. I also think the Stargate fan awards are really heavily weighted towards the Old Skool side of the fandom -- the ff.net/mailing list fans and the ones who used to be active in SG1 fandom -- as opposed to LJ fandom; it's certainly not deliberate, but, like you said, selection bias. Even the website design screams Old Skool Internet Fandom. And while LJ fandom is *really* heavily weighted towards Sheppard/McKay by volume, ff.net/mailing list/archive fandom is a lot more evenly distributed, maybe even weighted in the gen & het direction. It's actually very interesting to be reminded that the dominance of McKay/Sheppard is not a fandom-wide thing; I really noticed the difference when I switched over from primarily ff.net-based SGA fandom to LJ-based fandom, but now I've been in LJ fandom long enough that I tend to think of it as the whole fandom ... which it isn't, of course. And the SG Fan Awards tend to represent the other side, not deliberately but just because that's where it's hyped and spread.

Anyway, thanks for the links. :) There's some very stiff competition! I also have a story over in het-ship; it's my McKay/Keller one, Night Ops.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

The 'tribal' nature of fandom does give us odd boundaries, doesn't it. That all makes a lot of sense, and thanks for the background. I've pretty much only been on LJ, so I knew my view was skewed :)

Ooh, awesome! The competition is definitely stiff, but it feels more... It doesn't feel like it's going to be rancourous or 'fierce' - it's felt like a friendly awards thing, and we're all in good company with each other, if that makes sense. It's so nice when fandom can get on with itself for a change ;) Whoever wins, I'm going to know they deserved it!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not sure how accurate my impressions are, but that's how I see things, anyway. *g* Of course, I've also tended to hang out in areas that are dominated by certain pairings. But I think on LJ you can get the impression that SGA fandom is all about the McShep, whereas when I first got into it via ff.net, I had an entirely different view of it.

I agree about the awards feeling friendly and nice. :) It doesn't feel like a cutthroat competition so much as just a for-fun thing, which is how it should be!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hey, nifty!

I'm pretty sure some McSheppers ignore the SGAwards because there are already the (now probably defunct) McShep Awards (http://www.mcshepawards.com/news.php) (and some people probably get confused and think they're the same thing, so only vote in one?)

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm...certainly those awards haven't been updated since January. That can't be a good thing! I think you're right about the timing, though.

Have fun looking through the lists! It's so cool clicking links and seeing all my friends names :D

[darsynia.livejournal.com]

I definitely hadn't heard of these until just now! I see what you mean about the McShep part--I looked at the two (!) categories and then the stories nominated in them and thought to myself... 'how do I pick one among all my children?!' This is definitely going to be tough. On the other hand, I haven't delved into the Sparky side of fandom before (though I recall asking someone once for recs and then promptly losing the message, so woe on that!), and this might give me a chance to see what the good fic is in that pairing :D

Plus, I always forget how much I love gen fic and from your recs here I know I have some reading to do! *hugs you tight*

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Always happy to help! If you want a good Sparky story, last year's Big Bang by Irony Rocks is very good (can't remember the title off the top of my head).

Otherwise, have fun exploring! I picked out some favourites on my list here (http://jadesfire2808.livejournal.com/398870.html) so they might be a good place to start :)

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

Recs *glazes over, dreamily*

TpOday was meant to be my 'readIng day' but I was too tired :(


ETA I am also too tired to be coherent, or spell properly.