coaltide | C.R.E.A.M

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2021

C.R.E.A.M

Coal ruins exchanges around me - spitey spitey fic y'all.

Sign-ups: Fri 15 Oct to Sat 23 Oct (~~Countdown~~)
Assignments out by: Mon 25 Oct
Default deadline: Sat 11 Dec
Assignment deadline: Sat 18 Dec
Reveals: Sat 25 Dec

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Yuleporn | Make the Yuletide Gay | Jewltide | Three Turtle Doves
YuleBuilding | Two for One | Crueltide | Yuletunes | Yule Be First
YuleSwaps | IF | Wrapping Paper | Yumadrin | MultiLingYule
....and a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

Yuletide Discord for Hippos & Exchanges After Dark Discords for Namespace ~~drama~~ 18+ discussion. Google Group for PHs.

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If you could give one piece of advice to a Yuletide newbie, what would it be?

Don't fuck up.

Thanks

Don't overthink it! Just respect the DNWs, and fuck the coal mine quibblin'.

Trust your own judgement. I mean, yes, if you're unsure of something, ask and try to get a consensus. But, sometimes your gut is right and coal is wrong.

Signed, coalie who asked about including a stealth crossover and was told "No, for the love of god, don't do it!" did it anyway and it was probably my biggest YT hit.

If your recip says, "I'll love anything for these characters" they mean something somewhat canon compliant, not scatplay toddlercon.

DC

Good LORD that sure is an example.

don't go to coal. or do.

Well that ship has sailed

tongue meet cheek

Have fun! Read the DNWs and follow them, but other than that, do yuletide however is fun for you. If this is your first exchange, I'd probably minimize time on coal and FFA because the wanking that they do is pretty silly and likely to get into your head when 90% of it doesn't matter.

Seconding this. But it also depends on the year? There have been years where coal, a supposed hot bed of scum and villainy, was mostly positive and supportive and a genuinely good place to be.

+1

But even in its more iniquitous years, coal can be helpful. I've gotten great ideas for titles, and even the core plot idea for one of my best YT fics, from coalies.

AYRT I definitely agree--I mean, I love coal and have always enjoyed being here. I just think that if it's your first time doing an exchange, some of coal's more...pedantic arguments can feel a little overwhelming. There are just a lot of contradictory opinions and it can feel like a no-win situation (I don't want to read anything longer than 6k v. why bother reading if it's over 10k).

SA *why bother reading if it isn't over 10k.

It would probably help if I could type haha

+1 I like hanging out asynchronously not in chat and coal's the only place I can do that! I find it a chill and fun experience; I just ignore hater coalies and engage with excited coalies.

Hanging out on coal is fine. Just recognize that we are neurotic overthinkers who are 50000000% invested in yuletide, and most people who sign up are a lot more casual and won't care about most of the nitpickier stuff we discuss here.

Stay the hell away from coal until you have the context to know which 95% is utter bullshit.

Also, if you wrote 1000+ words that you aren't ashamed of in your assigned fandom and wrote your write a comment that passed for enthusiasm, you won yuletide! Congratulations!

Don't take it too seriously.

Treat! Not saying you should overextend yourself, but I've found that my enjoyment of Yuletide is improved when I write at least one treat on top of my assignment. It's a combo of spreading the joy around, with having more of an opportunity for comments/kudos/the dopamine that comes from a fic I wrote getting a good response.

Assume the first comment you leave on your gift is going to be your only chance to comment i.e. don't leave placeholders

I was a newbie recently.

I got betas through the yuletide discord. Ymmv, I ultimately felt I would have been better off sticking to feedback from friends, who knew how to be meaner, my betas gave me very anodyne feedback. But for a second pair of eyes for SPAG I think they're fine. And definitely do get someone.

Go ahead and contact recips through the mods about anything you want clarified...

I definitely got useful advice from coal and it being anonymous and relatively low speed was nice, but there was also some really nasty unpleasant wank. I suggest keeping your engagement here strictly on your own terms and don't go wandering into threads that have blown up in size that's usually a sign of wank. The writing post is usually supportive and wank free vs the general discussion post.

I strongly, strongly second the suggestion to write treats. It really helps. It takes the pressure and obsessive fretting focus away from the assignment and spreads it around.

Good point about betas. It surely depends on the person, but I've found it's good to tell a stranger-beta that I'm open to pretty candid/honest/blunt feedback. When the shoe's on the other foot, I know I'm often hesitant to be too mean unless I know the person or am given outright permission (and I'm pretty good at being a mean beta once I feel like I can do that!)

Yeah I haven't had great luck with chat betas. They're fine for spag check or if you desperately need a check for canon facts, but if you want general "is this story any good" you're better with a friend even if they don't know canon or aren't an experienced beta.

Avoid coal like the plague.

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