One Wank After Another

[coalcube]

A blank assignment is a funny thing, isn't it? When you have it, you don't appreciate it, and when you miss it, it's gone.

Wednesday 10 December: Default deadline (9pm UTC)
Wednesday 17 December: Assignment deadline (9pm UTC)
Wednesday 24 December: Main collection works reveals (9pm UTC)
Thursday 25 December: Madness collection works reveals (9pm UTC)
Thursday 1 January: Author reveals, end of event (9pm UTC)

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Comments

[(Anonymous)]

If you genuinely in good faith believe this is a real problem, ask the mods.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah I can see both where the recipient didn’t realize the DNW might affect canon genderswapping when all they meant was “keep their canon genders” and also where they mean any story focused on genderswapping is a DNW, so I would just ask the mods.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah I suspect if I asked the mods the answer I would get is "oops, I didn't remember I had that DNW on there, it's fine for canon-level stuff" which is the universal answer I've gotten previous times things like this have come up and why I have 0 patience for people who don't actually look at their own DNWs while signing up.

But I've also had recips take a week to answer mod questions and (my own fault for not getting moving sooner) that would leave me really down to the wire, so at this point I think I'm just gonna have to sit down tonight to write around the DNW. Boringly. At least they did give me permission to just not write those characters.

[(Anonymous)]

Coalie they used their DNWs in good faith, don’t make it their problem. Ask the mods, default, or write a good story, but your interpretation of their DNW does not seem like a logical one.

[(Anonymous)]

They very obviously have copy pasted the same list into signups 20+ times without ever considering if it contradicts their requests. I am genuinely unsure what you mean by "in good faith" here. Yeah, I don't think it was a spiteful trap but I am pretty sure from context they did not even remember they had a genderswap DNW. Most of the coalies seem to agree since they're telling me to just write the character swapping gender because they couldn't possibly have actually meant to dnw all gender swapping.

I'm not going to write a deliberately bad fic but it's going to ignore a whole lot of the main themes and arcs of canon and probably end up pretty shallow. Because I am choosing to take the dnw as if it's in good faith and not a lazy mistake: they actually don't want to see people change from girl to boy to girl, or explore what happens if someone is a different gender in an au world.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel like you’re cherry-picking the advice to arrive back at “my recipient deserves a bland fic, sucks to be them”. When it seems really, really likely that your recipient wants to avoid the trope in which a character was always a different gender than the gender they have in canon. Which is still a DNW that logically applies to your canon.

Please just ask through the mods. If you are planning on contorting your story to avoid the DNW, you lose nothing if they never reply, and potentially gain something if they do.

[(Anonymous)]

I hope your recip sees this and knows you're a jackass who can't read.

[(Anonymous)]

They very obviously have copy pasted the same list into signups 20+ times without ever considering if it contradicts their requests. I am genuinely unsure what you mean by "in good faith" here.

Do you think it's good faith not to look at your recipient's DNWs until December when you got your assignment in October?

[(Anonymous)]

I looked at the DNWs early on, I just offered a fandom that I hadn't reread in literally 20 years and didn't remember just how important the canon genderswap actually was when I first looked at the signup, so I didn't take much note of it. Then I checked back after I scrounged up copies of all of canon, stole book 3 back from my sister over Thanksgiving, did my careful canon reread and realized the issue. Not sorry though because I've fallen back in love with canon and the actual prompts are fun.

Also I still would've come on coal to whine about it if I'd noticed day one and emailed the mods immediately because it's still not hard to actually look at your signup and notice that your request overlaps with a DNW and maybe you should clarify that. It's really easy actually! Most people manage! I would not be complaining if my writer had said "Please avoid mentioning characters' canon gender stuff and focus on other characters", it's manageable and it's what I'm gonna write, or if my writer had said "canon genderswap is fine in this canon, just don't write AU ones". I just want people to actually like. pay attention to what they are DNWing. It doesn't seem like it should be a huge ask.

Possibly the recip also hasn't reread in 20 years and also forgot how important it is in canon but that's on them too.

[(Anonymous)]

Just default and let someone more capable write this.

[(Anonymous)]

because it's still not hard to actually look at your signup and notice that your request overlaps with a DNW and maybe you should clarify that.

I dunno! I think it can be, actually! A lot of people think "but my DNW doesn't overlap with that at all, there's a perfectly obvious explanation" and then here and there you'll have a coalie whining "I can't write Black Jewels without any rape" or "I can't leave out unrequested relationships, there are parents!" This is subjective stuff.

I'm glad you fell back in love with the canon and the prompts are fun.

[(Anonymous)]

There are definitely situations where it's legitimately tricky or a writer does have a question that wouldn't be easily anticipated. You obviously aren't going to catch everything. However, yeah, if you're DNWing rape for Black Jewels, it's not that hard to think "hmm, maybe I should specify if I mean no onscreen rape or no mention of backstory rape, since there's so much backstory rape." If you're DNWing genderswap for the canon with the genderswap MC, it's not that hard to think "Hmm, maybe I should specify I don't mean canon genderswap, only AUs." If you're DNWing animal harm for Watership Down, it's not that hard to think "I really do want only pure fluff after what they went through, I should make it clear I mean even sprained ankles even though canon is much worse". If you're DNWing character death for Highlander fandom it's not that hard to notice you should probably say if temporary death is okay or not.

It doesn't (usually) mean it's literally impossible to write for you if you don't bother with that. It just makes you annoying as a human being.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, it could be!

Or it could also be that it simply wouldn't occur to them to categorise the character's canon magical gender thing as "genderswap" and it doesn't feel like a contradiction or something they should clarify to them.