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New SessKag Site

Hello Everyone,

As many of you already know, I have taken on the endeavor of building the community a new SessKag site, and I wanted to share some of the details here with you as a matter of transparency.

First things first, this idea did not sprout up overnight. In earnest, it has been an idea that has been festering in my brain for several years now. It wasn’t until recently though, that I had the wherewithal to attempt to take on this project. You see, I’ve been a lurker within the community for over a decade, quietly supporting the fandom without actively taking part. It wasn’t until December 2020 that I decided to take the leap and become an active member of the SessKag fandom.

That leap is what really opened my eyes to the general struggles of the community at large.

The sequel, for example, seems to have opened up a can of worms for the fandom as a whole. There’s a distinct divide between the groups, with many of those in support of the sequel acting aggressively towards other ships. It makes for websites (such as tumblr, which has always been a haven for most fandoms) a metaphorical battlefield - where cruising down your feed gives the same feeling as attempting to avoid landmines.

It’s anxiety inducing.

It makes the fandom feel unsafe.

Now, unlike other ships, we - as a SessKag community - have been absolutely blessed with our very own website that has been around since 2008. It’s been a staple within the community and has provided one of the few, true, safe spaces for us. It offered a sense of community, a place where you could go to see things especially curated for our OTP. It was, and still is, a wonderful place!

But, over the years, there has been a definite decline in user involvement, and updates to the site have been almost nonexistent since 2014. This is not my opinion on the matter, these are irrefutable facts. The platform is outdated in terms of functionality and has had significant data loss.

For instance, last year there was a major loss of fanart from the community. All fanart between April 2010 - August 2020 was lost. That’s about 40% of the collective fanart created by the community - gone.

This is the issue with having a sole source provider - if anything goes wrong, that’s it, there’s no additional entity to support the cause.

This is my field of work irl - I’m a Senior Program Manager and I deal in the defense industrial base. I literally work with companies who go through this very issue on the day to day, and try to help mitigate these types of risks. Having sole source providers is seen as an unnecessarily high risk that we try to avoid if at all possible. I deal with massive projects that span multiple years - so I find myself highly qualified to take on the project of creating a new space for us - and in the unique position of having resources and professional contacts to help this project come to fruition.

Many of you have voiced concerns about the validity of the project and have asked “ Is Dokuga going to disappear? Why isn’t Dokuga being updated? Are the works going to be ported over? ”

Here is the immediate answer to those specific questions:

Is Dokuga going to disappear? I honestly can’t say. Dokuga and the new website (The Pink Moon Observatory) are not affiliated with one another. They are two separate entities that are functioning within the same fandom. I’ve spoken to Wiccan about the creation of a new site and I have her support. She had a list of very reasonable requests that I follow and I was more than happy to oblige. However, I have no control over what happens to Dokuga, nor am I responsible for its care.

Why isn’t Dokuga being updated? Again, Dokuga belongs to Wiccan and her mod team - I am not going to speculate as to why the site hasn’t been updated in all these years. The addition of a new site provides opportunities for a community as a whole to broaden their horizons, and maintain content continuity.

Are the works going to be ported over? No, not at this time. Again - the PMO and Dok are two separate entities entirely and currently are not affiliated with one another. Under no circumstances will I be taking anyone’s work and post it on the PMO without their permission. I do plan on keeping open communication with Wiccan and the Dok team in case they need support in the future. If at any point they need a place to store the history of the fandom - the PMO’s doors will always be open.

Maintaining our history is something I feel very passionate about.

And please, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions, comments, or concerns about this issue or others. I understand that the realization of a new site felt abrupt - I kinda kicked the hornets nest when I announced - but that was me saying “Hey, this is happening, it’s already in progress and now is your chance to contribute on the ground floor before too much development gets under way”.

I am a creator of change - it’s what I do. With that title I know that change can be scary. People don’t want to be left behind but the idea of the unknown is also terrifying. I want everyone to feel included in the project and feel that they have a voice. Everyone’s voice matters! Not just the big players within the community, but every reader, every artist, everyone who loves SessKag deserves a voice.

But, with these types of projects, discussion is the death of progress. I have a dedicated timeline already set, milestones that I need to reach within a certain time frame to meet my estimated launch date, and other individuals who are waiting for inputs before they can proceed with their parts. This means that things need to get done in a timely manner, and I reserve all administrative and executive decision rights.

So! Let’s start talking about the new website and let me share some of the background and resources for the community to use:

Firstly, the wonderful @EchoHuntress has put together a detailed FAQ Page and a Community Wishlist based on the conversations that have already happened within the fandom. Feel free to take a look at them and see what we have so far!

I started this project officially 14 Oct and have been working endlessly on getting the base site built and mapped. The goal is for this to be a one stop shop for all things SessKag and we’re partnering with members of the community to bring their unique contributions into the fold.

Thus far, we’re working with @deadlyglacier who’s done a wonderful job revitalizing the SessKag awards! She has so many plans for future SessKag awards and has agreed to make the PMO her “home base” for the awards in the future.

I’m also working with @chierafied to figure out how we can incorporate the SessKag Tumblr Archive into the website!

Recently, her and I have been working the SessKag Events page as well and I have already built into the new PMO site an all-encompassing community calendar for events. In it, you’ll be able to see every SessKag event in an easy to view format with detailed info (who’s the event runner, where can you get more info, what dates does the event take place, etc).

The forum has already been built as well! Giving the community a designated place to communicate easily with one another - with plans for a new discord server to be launched congruently with the site.

We have plans for a detailed fanart gallery that has a tagging system, comment system, and filtering options - as well as private NSFW folders.

And of course, our fanfic database will be the backbone of the website - with me highlighting user functionality and ease of use. I already have the web dev working diligently on this task and we’ve spent many hours outlining which aspects we’d like to cannibalize from sites like AO3 and FFN to create a unique user experience for us.

I also have a wiki page in the works that will provide the community with step-by-step instructions on how to use the new site as well as: fandom terminology, generally accepted head canons, and writing/artist resources.

I’d also like to implement a writer/artist spotlight highlighting members within the community. Not just the big well known names - but newer creators as well! I want everyone to feel included and have their works seen by everyone!

Finally, I plan on hosting a rotating group of bloggers to post pieces hosted on the PMO. They’ll be writing on anything and everything - from SessKag opinion pieces, resources and advice, to how different styles of writing effect different people. We are in the process of creating some interesting topics for the community and are open to suggestions.

If you’re interested in being a blogger - please reach out!

As you can see - I have big big plans for the community! Lots of parts and pieces in the work; but, I can’t do it all by myself - I’m only one person and I still have irl responsibilities that I need to attend to.

Within the coming weeks, I’ll be finalizing and announcing the mod team. These are vetted individuals who I trust to not only support my lofty goals, but have been reliable pillars within the community.

Many of you have reached out with your support and have volunteered to help! Echo has been great and made a list for me so I can keep tabs! It’s these types of actions that are going to make us successful - having the ability to delegate tasks and spread some of the responsibility of success amongst the community. So thank you to those who have volunteered and I look forward to the amazing initiative you bring to the table.

Finally, this part is never easy, but I humbly ask for a bit of financial support.

Creating something of this size has a hefty, initial, financial burden. I’ve already purchased the hosting server, the domain, premium features, and a web developer for this. I’ve paid for it using my own funds but am looking for a bit of support from those who will be benefiting from the site’s creation.

You can find the gofundme page here: https://gofund.me/c484fcdd

My pledge to you is that ABSOLUTELY NO FUNDS will be used for personal gain or profit. The $2k I am raising was a very purposeful number. I did quite a bit of interviews with web developers/designers to get a plethora of estimates prior to selection. This price was on the higher end of the spectrum - but included many of the “premium” features that the community wanted such as: mobile/dark mode friendly, ability to download to an e-reader, and continued support from the web dev after launch. I am a very firm believer of “You get what you pay for” and want this site to be both professional, atheistically pleasing, and - most importantly - functional.

The web designer I chose has years of experience, and builds websites for many large companies. I’ve viewed his work and he does a fantastic job. Not only are the sites he builds pretty but they have purpose and functionality. The icing on the cake is he is also part of a fandom community (not IY), so he knows the working of sites like AO3 and understands the features we are looking for.

Throughout the process I plan on having full transparency and keep the community up to date to the site’s progress. As of right now, we are slotted for having the site up for beta testing early January 2022 with launch end of Jan/beginning of Feb.

This date may slip a bit because of the holidays (which isn’t unusual for projects of this nature - people need time to spend with their families, myself included). But if that does happen, the community will be the first to know. There is a link to the website discord server posted in the already established SessKag servers. Or, you can PM me directly for a link.

All ideas, thoughts, and opinions are welcome.

Just know that we are looking for individuals who are actively looking to contribute, and provide solutions to make this a successful endeavor. If that is not your strong suit, I politely ask that you find other means of contributing (such as a donation or volunteering) to the cause.

Again - please feel free to message me here or on discord with any questions you may have.

Thank you and I look forward to your continued support within the community!

<3FF

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