This is Yuletide, everybody make a scene

[coalcube]

I am the sock with the tear-away face

Low-effort with your gift and gone without a trace

I am the "who" when you call, "Who does an exchange without acknowledging their gift?"
I am the wanker blowing through your fics comments
I am the coalie dragging your letter at night
Filling your exchange to the brim with fright!

This is Coaltide!

Nominations: Tuesday 22 September to Thursday 1 October

Sign-ups: Friday 16 October to Monday 26 October

Assignments out: between 26 & 28 October

Default deadline: Friday 11 December

Assignment Deadline: Friday 18 December

Yuletide Discord for Hippos. Google Group for PHs. F_F wiki for history.

NYR Info | 2020 NYR Collection | yuletide_admin | yuletide

 

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Comments

Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

Do I seriously need to have a Tumblr, a DW and an LJ, as well as an AO3 account, all of which are fairly frequently updated, to keep people happy for YT?

It's not that I wouldn't love to have the time for Tumblr and DW, but I struggle to grab the time during the year to take part in Yuletide. (I only know that I have time for YT this year, after having to sit out 2019 and 2017, due to the pandemic grinding everything to a halt. But that halt has only just happened for me.)

This is probably a dumb question to ask, but two out of my last three writers have complained that not having a Tumblr or DW/LJ made me "difficult to write for".

What's wrong with my essay-length YT letter? Does that not give enough of an idea? I've been told I write good letters. (Coal has used more than one of my letters as an example of a "good" letter, if that counts?)

And why is it relevant if most of the fic I post to AO3 is for fic exchanges? Again, I don't have anywhere near as much time as I would like to write, and if my fanfic doesn't have a deadline and expectant recipient who isn't just me, I'm not going to be able to find the time to finish it.

I don't mean to whine, but seriously, has anyone else experienced this "complaint"?

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

I've certainly heard this complaint from some Yuletiders, including some adults with busy lives who really should know better.

Then again, I know someone who insists that people should use their real names for Yuletide and fanfiction, which is just...no. (And no, this person doesn't use their real name for their fanfiction.)

The complaint that your recipient doesn't spend enough of their time endlessly re-posting nonsense on Tumblr, or spilling their guts on DW/LJ, has never made sense to me, especially in the Facebook/Instagram era. Same for if they haven't posted much, if any, fanfic outside of exchanges, recently or ever.

It doesn't say anything other than this person is probably busy a lot of the time, but wants to take part in Yuletide. Which is great! And if you have a great YT letter from your recipient, why the hell are you complaining? ffs.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

You really should not be taking people bitching on coal as fonts of objective truth.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

OP. Sadly, this isn't just people bitching on coal. Both these writers went out of their way, after reveals, to tell me this.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

This sounds like a fandom thing. Maybe your fandoms are popular on Tumblr and that’s where your authors are being sourced from, so they expect that from you.

Regardless, if your letter is long then they just need to suck it up. If you want to meet them half-way, maybe lurk the tumblr tag and link posts with gifs/meta for your favorite moments or add some tumblr-tag style AHHHHHHHHH THEY’RE JUST SO SMART AND CUTE AND??? KISS ALREADY. I LOVE HOW X STARES AT Y’S LIPS LIKE OMG WE SEE YOU FROM MARS id rants in your letter that I guess they feel like they’re missing by not being able to lurk your tumblr tags?

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

OP. Thank you. That's a really helpful suggestion to link some related Tumblr posts in my letter, or to at least use some Tumblr-style speak. I really appreciate your reply and suggestion! :)

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

If anyone needs more than a good letter to write something for someone, they probably shouldn't be doing exchanges. I do like to take a look at recips' tumblrs if they have them, but it's never actually helped me write a fic, it's more "hey this person likes my fandom/ship/character, I wonder if they like more things I'd be into?"

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

If anyone needs more than a good letter to write something for someone, they probably shouldn't be doing exchanges.

OP. I can't help but agree with you on that one! :)

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

This is actually something that genuinely concerns me. I haven't taken part in Yuletide since 2010, but am hoping to come back this year. My AO3 hasn't been updated since 2012, and I don't have other accounts in the same username, which I'll refer to as "CD".

But I'm hesitant to use the "CD" name again, and am thinking I should just start over with a new AO3 account? But would a brand new AO3 account with no stories posted, together with no other accounts in the same username, cause me problems for Yuletide?

I have always kept my fandom and personal lives separate, but I something I experienced years ago now has left me gun shy: years ago, I joined a small fandom-related online group, using my "CD" username and (accidentally) my work email. A few other participants, who I'll call "EFG", became convinced I was actually someone else, who they hated. I'll refer to the person "EFG" thought I was as "AB".

"EFG" somehow got my work email address, and managed to work out how to email my boss, telling him to fire me. "EFG" were banned not long after, but while it was a small group, and "EFG" didn't make their grievances public before being hit with the ban hammer, I was terrified because "EFG" had my real surname and first initial, and they knew where I worked.

I have never been more grateful to have a name which is (almost) as common as "Smith". But I deleted my LJ, my DW, my Tumblr, my DeviantArt and my LinkedIn because of this. I also made significant changes to my FB account, including the display name. I still don't have a LinkedIn, which is unusual for someone in my field.

I still have no idea why "EFG" were convinced I was "AB". (And yes, it did create problems for me at work. I changed jobs a few months later.)

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

No one will care. Completely new people show up for Yuletide all the time. At worst you’ll look like a sock, but if you put effort into a sign up/letter then you’ll already be better than ⅔ of genuine, repeat Yuletiders so those who know what socks are won’t care if they think you are one, because you’ll look like a Good Sock.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, my God, Coalie - that is absolutely fucking awful! I'm really sorry you went through that.

Years and years ago, I had the experience of being on the receiving end of an online witch hunt. I was mistaken for someone who had been accused of plagiarising someone else's fanfic and fanart in a Russian-language fandom, all because our usernames started with the same letter.

Thankfully, it fizzled out after a few days when it became clearly apparent that I can't draw or paint for shit, and also can't speak, read or write a word of Russian.

But it was still really scary to have a bunch of strangers trawling the internet trying to find out anything and everything about me. I've always kept real life and fandom separate as well, but the amount of information they were able to dig up, and in such a short time, was frightening. It was years and years ago, but I've been a lot less active in fandom ever since.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

Ugh, that's so awful. I'm really sorry that happened to you!

I agree that it's okay to sign up to Yuletide as a clean AO3 with no social media, though. Obviously you should make sure to write requests/a letter that are detailed enough that your writer will be able to write to your preferences without any outside reference... but really, everybody should be doing that anyway as a part of basic exchange etiquette. Anyone who gives you trouble for not having a presence beyond that is just being a weird asshole.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

I did something similar a few years back and let me tell you, no regrets. No lingering worries that maybe this is the time that one wanker will decide to out me because who the fuck knows why. My new namespace name has a pretty decent rep now and I have zero regrets about leaving the old one behind.

Yuletide is, if anything, the best exchange to reinvent yourself in. Some people may wonder if you're a sock, but nobody's going to hold it against you. (If you're very worried about people thinking you're a sock, you can create a Discord account, DW, whatever and drop that you're coming back to fandom after a while away, but honestly, I don't think it's worth the effort.) And once you're through Yuletide, you'll be an established account.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

I'd just start a new fandom identity. I've had to do it a few times now because of an IRL stalker so I definitely get where you're coming from. Each time I do my first exchange on a new account I know some people will think I'm a sock and avoid me, but it's never prevented me from getting a gift.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

As long as I live, coalie, I will never understand this response from some people, and I've been participating in YT since basically the start.

One YT acquaintance of mine was whining about this to me last year. When I asked her why it mattered, she told me that if the person was active on Tumblr/DW a lot, it meant they were more likely to give feedback on a gift fic.

As someone who doesn't have time for Tumblr and DW for much of the year, I took more pleasure than I probably should have in reminding her that the best recipients I'd had over the years didn't do anything in fandom other than YT, and that the three recipients of mine who NEVER left feedback for the gift fics that I wrote for them were ALWAYS on Tumblr and DW.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

Not to me personally, but I've seen vagueing in the wild.

I think anyone seriously complaining - particularly in the way you describe - is an entitled brat and needn't be catered to. Even if you had more fandom presence, they'd probably complain there isn't enough for fandom/characters they matched on in there (very likely for YT fic in particular, considering). Probably fishing for excuses for their own struggles with coming up with a story. Mark them as people to avoid and move on.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

DC +1

If you had a Tumblr/DW/whatever, they'd complain that there wasn't enough on it, or that you weren't reblogging the shared fandom enough, or what-the-fuck-ever. They're finding it hard to get into the assignment and they think that's their recip's fault for [insert reason here] instead of just something that happens sometimes, or not putting in the time on their own end.

Ignore them. You're fine.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm in a similar spot as you, OP. I haven't had the time to write non-exchange fanfic since I was in college, which was several years ago, and my DW was never frequently updated in the first place. I've never had a Tumblr.

I'm an adult with work and family responsibilities. Unfortunately, this doesn't leave me with much spare time for anything, including fannish pursuits. It's not my preference, but it is my current reality. I'm glad that other people do have time for it, and wish that I still did.

I know my second-to-last YT writer made a similar complaint about my AO3/Tumblr/DW presence, which honestly really confused me. I wasn't even sure of what they were accusing me of, but I suspected they were either very young, or enjoy more spare time than I do.

I was also told one of my previous YT writers defaulted on me because I wasn't an active enough fan for their liking. I don't know if it was true, but if it was, what do you even say to that?

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

There was wank in about 2012/13 over people who thought stalking their recips were a fun Yuletide tradition and others that were seriously creeped out. I think stalking has gone out of favor and tbh I think wanting to know someone is publicly active on twitter/dw/tumblr/twitter comes down to then wanting to see your genuine reaction or have some way to know you’re alive. See “my recip hasn’t commented but they’re reblogging/tweeting up a storm so I know they’re online!!!!” wank and “omg my recip recced me all over discord” euphoria 24h after a collection opens.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

No, you don't.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

People may also assume you're a sock without a social media presence, especially if you only/mostly post fic for exchanges.

It doesn't mean there's something wrong with your letters or your requests, but it does make it hard to get excited about writing for you.

Especially since AO3's social functionality begins with bookmarks and ends with comments.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

Having SOMEthing is all I ever want. AO3 is enough, as long as it actually has content. It's hard to tell nuance on likes and preferences if you have no fic, no bookmarks, no retweets/reblogs, no content-producers that you follow, no fandom presence whatsoever. Like, everyone wants "good fic" but I don't know what your definition of good fic is if I have no examples to follow. So personally, no, I don't really find essay letters that helpful enough in that regard? But it's not like you're breaking the rules or anything, it just means you're more likely to get something closer to the writer's taste than yours.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

You don't. I don't look my recip's fics or bookmarks, never mind going through their social media accounts. What's in the sign up is what I'm working with.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

All I care about is my recip's letter. I have found that if my recip has a fandom presence, it is rarely centered around the fandoms I'm writing for them for Yuletide, so it doesn't really matter anyway.

Re: Is an AO3 account not enough?

[(Anonymous)]

Just to add another data point, my AO3 is technically a sock in that I don’t link my fannish identity and social media with it, but it’s the only one I write on, and it only has exchange fics because I haven’t posted anything else in years. My DW is just exchange letters (well, those and recipes that are set to me-only visibility).

I have some of the same concerns as you, but it shouldn’t be a big deal.