A Gift. An Heirloom. A
Bequest.
Something left behind for those who come after.
Such is the nature of a legacy.
JAG, created in 1995 by Donald P. Bellisario and
Bellisarius Productions, lasted for ten wonderful years, finally ending
in a manner that attempted to please as many fans as possible - both
shipper and non shipper.
Inspired by the characters and story lines in the show, many devoted
fans have written fan fiction. There are literally thousands of stories
out there. Some are tucked away in private web sites, some hide in the
dusty corners of huge archives, and still others exist only in mailing
list archives or personal collections.
The stories, gifts from the hearts and minds of the fans, float through
the vast expanse of the World Wide Web like jet contrails, fading
gradually as time goes on until eventually many of them disappear
forever, lost to time and inattention. There are those, however, who
fight to keep the memories alive, to save them for the fans who might
come looking for them again. These are the archivists.
It is unlikely that any archivist will ever be able to collect every
story in one place, and we at Legacies know better than to try. Besides,
there are already archives out there that have done an amazing job of
collecting as many stories as possible, and we admire the work that
they've done.
Instead, our goal at Legacies is to enlist the fans' help in identifying
and collecting the very best JAG fan fiction ever written. It's a
challenging task, and in some unfortunate cases may actually be
impossible, as some authors have left the JAG fandom in pursuit of other
interests. We like challenges though, and we hope that you do, too. With
your help, and a little time and effort, we can create a monument to the
show we enjoyed for ten wonderful years.
The Legacies website is divided into two main sections.
The first,
Nominees, is where stories come
when they're first nominated for selection. Each story in this section
has been nominated by a fan, and its addition to the Legacies web site
has been approved by its author. Each nominee is listed for two weeks
and accompanied by a simple web poll. When you visit Legacies, please be
sure to stop here, read the current stories, and place your votes.
Will every story be nominated? Doubtful. If you do the math, at 3 posted
nominees per week, and assume as few as 5,000 stories in existence (a
seriously low estimate, most likely), you can see that it would take
years for the archive to get that large. Add in the wonderful stories
that are still being written, and you can probably determine the odds
yourself.
Do you have a favorite story that you think belongs in the archive?
Nominate it! If people don't nominate
their favorites, this site will be pretty boring indeed.
The second section of Legacies is the
permanent
collection. This is where stories come to live after receiving a
collective thumbs up from the readership. The stories in the permanent
collection are indexed alphabetically both by title and by author so
that you can find your favorites quickly and easily.
Do you have questions about how this project works? Visit the
FAQ page where we've tried to explain everything
you might want to know (and probably some things you don't).
Do you want to meet the wonderful team of fans who are working hard to
make Legacies a reality? Find them
here. If you
know these people, or see them floating through cyberspace, be sure to
give them your thanks. Without the Legacies team, this project could
never have become reality.
If you've already read the FAQ and you still have
questions or comments, please feel free to
contact
us.
We want to hear from you. It'll take all of us to make this site the
best that it can be.
