Yuletide assignments! \o/

[sholio]

[Poll #1647490]

This is my third year doing Yuletide, and the first time I've gotten my assignment and gone "OMG! I CAN TOTALLY WRITE THIS!" rather than "AAAAAAAA! I'M DOOOOMED!" What about you guys? :) (No fandom-identifying specifics, obviously; unlocked post is unlocked.)

My Yuletart assignment, on the other hand ... aaaaaaaa. And it was going so well earlier in the week, too. /o\

Comments

[senri.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of surprised I matched with the fandom I matched with!

[sholio]

I think this is the first year that I haven't been matched on one of the fandoms that I just put in because I have some passing familiarity with it and nobody else is signing up to write it! Not that the stories I've done for those fandoms have been bad -- I've actually been pretty proud of the Yuletide stories I've done -- but this is the first time I've gotten matched on a fandom and character(s) that I'm genuinely excited to write.

[senri.livejournal.com]

I'm a little weirded out because I feel like my matched fandom is one of the more... popular fandoms I offered? lol sorting algorithm. But I just rechecked my requests, and all of them are very rare and requests I would be very excited to receive, so I feel good! x)

[sholio]

*nods* This is the first year I've requested a fandom that was on the popular end of the small-fandom spectrum (Dresden Files) so I figure odds are fairly good that it's the one I'll match on ... but I don't mind, because I'm totally into those books right now and would love to get fic for them. And if it's one of my rarer fandoms, then that's just extra super-awesome, of course. (I know the one it's probably not gonna be, because no one but me offered it, but I haven't always written for my recipient in the fandom that we matched on, so even that is not totally out of the question ...)

[senri.livejournal.com]

I wish Xiaolin Showdown had gotten into the potential fandoms this year. I really reeeeeeeeeeally would be excited to get fic for it, and it would have rounded me out to four requests. ._____. Maybe next year...

[sholio]

Awwww ... yeah, I was a little surprised at some of the Yuletide perennial fandoms that did not get much love this year. But on the other hand, there were a LOT of fandoms, including a bunch of really super-rare ones, which was nifty.

[senri.livejournal.com]

Hnnngh it's just a little frustrating, because.. well, readability is not a legit argument I guess, but there are bigger fandoms that have made it in for years and... I am just dying to get good fic for it as per one of my requests, lol.

SOMEDAY.

[sholio]

Oh, durrrr, when you said that I thought it hadn't been nominated, but I guess that's sort of silly.

Yeah, I was actually really surprised that Dresden Files made it in, because it's really not a tiny fandom -- it's not huge, but it has a pretty decent-sized fandom presence, and I feel vaguely guilty about requesting it when there are so many fandoms that only have one fic to their name, or none at all. But it's what I want, though ... >_>

[skieswideopen]

I was matched on the most popular fandom I offered, which is a bit unexpected given that they said they try to match on the rarest fandoms first. But I suppose popular fandom is popular, and I certainly don't mind. It's not a fandom I've written before, but it's one that I'm excited about right now, which is kind of nice.

[sholio]

One of the things I love about Yuletide is how it challenges you to write in new fandoms! All of my previous Yuletide fics (I've done it two years, and done treats both years as well) were in fandoms I'd never written before. This year, I actually have several to choose from in my recipient's requests -- I've never matched on multiple fandoms before, and three of their four requests I think I could actually enjoy writing, even if I didn't offer all of them. :>

[skieswideopen]

Yeah, it's probably a good challenge to write in a new fandom. And I'm happy with my prompt, which is good since I've never even heard of my recipient's other three requested fandoms. (I was a bit afraid I'd receive one of those any/any prompts where they give you nothing to work with except the fandom. Or a request to write a pairing I absolutely hate. I realize optional details are optional, but if that's the only thing they give you, well...)

[sholio]

Yeah, last year for me was pretty much the worst-case Yuletide scenario -- no details (beyond a couple of really vague ones) and no letter, got matched on a fandom I wasn't especially enthused about + three other fandoms I'd never read/watched at all. I spent most of the time leading up to the deadline flailing about it, then I read one of the other books in my recipient's request and tried to write for it, but failed on that with only about a week to go before deadline. After all of that, I managed to crank out a pretty decent 9000-word story right before deadline, but THEN found out that my recipient had dropped out and never came back to comment on the afore-mentioned 9000-word fic I wrote for her. It wasn't a total wash because I was really happy with the fic and got some awesome feedback on it, but this year is the TOTAL OPPOSITE of that, which is nice. :D

[skieswideopen]

I'm glad this year, you got prompts (several, even!) that you really like. It sounds like last year was a bit of a nightmare, so it's good to know things balance out. And I'm sorry your recipient never bothered to comment--that's really quite rude, even if they did drop out. I had that happen once and I'm still a little bitter over it. ;)

[sholio]

Yeah; I got the impression that she was really new to it, and possibly rather young, so maybe she just didn't know that there would be a story for her if she dropped out. But it's awfully hard not to feel neglected when that happens.

[skieswideopen]

Yeah, the whole combination of things does sound like someone who was new to ficathons and perhaps didn't quite know what she was getting herself into. She may even have thought it was kinder not to request too much, and there are quite a few ficathons where if you default, you don't get a story. But that doesn't really make things easier for her writer, though it does perhaps help manage one's reactions.

[snarkydame.livejournal.com]

It's not as intimidating as last years! I'm not going to say I'm jumping for joy, because it's for a fandom that wouldn't have been my first choice to write, but there are a few hazy ideas starting to form. I think I'll be more excited after I reacquaint myself with the canon material -- it's been a while since I read them, and the characters that have been requested weren't the ones I paid the most attention to.

[sholio]

Yeah, one thing I love about Yuletide is how it gets me to go back and revisit books, movies and shows that I loved once, but haven't thought about in years. :D Good luck!

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I'm happy with the fandom I got, but I really wish I hadn't requested it, too. I hate writing and receiving in the same fandom and I'm afraid that will happen this year. :-/

[sholio]

Hmm, I guess you could write something very different from what you asked for, if it fulfills your recipient's request ..? :D (Yeah, I dunno. It hasn't come up for me so far; I guess this could be the year when it does, but I suppose that I generally consider more fic in my various small fandoms a "win" all the way around.)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

It's my first Yuletide, and I got matched on the fandom whose canon I'm most familiar with, so that's helpful :) I'd offered all characters in it, but my recipient made life easy by picking my favourites.

I've even got an idea! Which is a bit of a pain, frankly, because my idea is so far outside my usual writing comfort zone, but it's so totally what these two characters would wind up doing together.

*happy*

[sholio]

Oh yay! :) Isn't it good when things all fall into place? (I'm so looking forward to working on my assignment this year! Except I have a bunch of other things to write before I can get to it, darn it ...)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

It is! And I've been poking around the DYW letters, and have favourited a few I think I can do stocking-stuffers for if I find myself with the time.

I've also discovered a few fandoms that I'd never even considered. I'm flabbergasted at the Hockey RPF. I'm a giant hockey fan (go Habs!) but it had never even occured to me.

But then, RPF's not my thing in the first place, so I'm not geared to have it occur to me, I suppose.