I know I could "guarantee" a gift for one of my rarest fandoms by just asking for them, but I personally am not comfortable with that method.
I always do that, because I know I would be disappointed with a gift in my bigger fandoms. I tried it a couple of times, and I realized the method wasn't working for me because I was so much more critical of those gifts than gifts in my rarest fandoms. I'd rather be a frequent IPH and receive gifts that make me happy than to mentally be "oh wow, this is so much worse than the average fandom output" about my large fandom gifts.
Re: Venting
I know I could "guarantee" a gift for one of my rarest fandoms by just asking for them, but I personally am not comfortable with that method.
I always do that, because I know I would be disappointed with a gift in my bigger fandoms. I tried it a couple of times, and I realized the method wasn't working for me because I was so much more critical of those gifts than gifts in my rarest fandoms. I'd rather be a frequent IPH and receive gifts that make me happy than to mentally be "oh wow, this is so much worse than the average fandom output" about my large fandom gifts.