Fests and Fests

[argentum_ls]

What an uneven fest year it's been.

I completely failed to signup for retrotvexchange and ficinabox, despite nominating eagerly for both of them. The former's deadline caught me in a failure to read the time zone translation properly, and the latter caught me while I was hip deep in trying to complete an entirely different story.

I also signed up for the first time for fandomgiftbox. Figures that this is the year it would peter out. Did I get anything? Who knows. That's fair, since I didn't produce anything either.

Meanwhile, crossworks caught my attention. While I didn't nominate for that, the tag set had so much of what I would have nominated that I might as well have.

My gift was the wonderful My Cousin Eliot by elegantstupidity. A crossover between Leverage and Psych, the author went to town on one of my perennial requests to explore idea that Eliot and Shawn are cousins by putting Shawn and Gus on the wrong end of a kidnapping. Hello h/c.

In return, I wrote The SHAM Job for tehweechboi. On signups, I didn't think I could pull off a Leverage and Psych crossover of my own, so I deliberately didn't offer the combo. But, unmatchablity required taking a dive away from my comfort zone, and over 11,000 words later, I can cross that combo off my fandom bucket list. (Sadly, I don't think my recip liked the story.)

With that done, I'm now signed up for hlh_shortcuts. I mean, obviously.

And it's looking extremely likely that I'll also be signing up for yuletide_admin, though the final tag set will make that determination. It always comes down to: Are there four fandoms I can reasonably offer? Hopefully, yes.

How are you doing?

Comments

[muccamukk]

Did you check the top post in Giftbox for comments? Someone was running a list of who had filled what box. You might have gotten something there.

[argentum_ls]

I did. Nothing posted was for me, unless the person added it to the list after the last time I looked.

[skieswideopen]

If I'd known you were signing up for crossworks, I would have added some additional offers. :) But I'm glad you got a great story out of it. And 11,000 words--wow!

Good luck with Yuletide! Hopefully with the sheer size, there will be four fandoms you can offer.

[argentum_ls]

So, when I saw so many of "my" fandoms in the tagset, I assumed that you were the one who put them there. :) My signing up was a last minute decision, so I'm not sure you would've had time to add any offers.

And 11,000 words--wow!

It sure shocked the hell out of me! I rarely write stories that long, and to do so for an exchange with fandoms I'm not extremely comfortable with is almost unheard of.

Good luck with Yuletide!

Thank you!

Are you participating? What did you nominate?

[skieswideopen]

So, when I saw so many of "my" fandoms in the tagset, I assumed that you were the one who put them there.

Ha! Yes, probably. I so badly wanted to write your BHUS/The Listener request. I may still, but I make no promises--I've been terrible about finishing fic that doesn't have a deadline attached these past few years.

Were you really unmatchable in your offers? If so, I'm a little surprised they couldn't match you to me, but perhaps I didn't request the right combination, not knowing you were participating.

I nominated some fandoms for Yuletide, but whether I sign up will depend in part on whether there are any requests I want to write. I ended up nominating Covert Affairs, Intelligence (US version) and The Collector (a 15-year-old Canadian TV show no one ever offers). I strongly considered nominating BHUS, but no one ever offers that either, so I ended up skipping it.

Did you get a chance to nominate? What did you go for?

[argentum_ls]

I so badly wanted to write your BHUS/The Listener request.

Obviously, I'm completely on board with this idea. I join enough exchanges throughout the year, that it's bound to land in one of my requests again, for whatever that's worth. Very few fandoms/requests ever fall completely off my interest list, even if I'm not actively pursuing them.

Were you really unmatchable in your offers?

I was.

The problem is always that disconnect between what I'd like to read and what I feel capable of writing. We probably weren't offering the right combinations of the same things to match up.

Did you get a chance to nominate? What did you go for?

Yes! I put The Tomorrow People (2013) in again since I've been making a worldbuilding request for the last few years, and now I can make an official worldbuilding request. Also the TV shows Henry Danger and My Babysitter's a Vampire. I have prompts galore for the former. The latter will be a little more difficult since the show ended on a massive cliffhanger, and "write more" is sucky prompt IMO.

[skieswideopen]

The problem is always that disconnect between what I'd like to read and what I feel capable of writing.

Oh, yes, I've definitely experienced that. I'm glad you found something you could offer. I imagine it's challenging pushing past boundaries that way. I've dropped out of a couple of exchanges recently where no one was asking for something I wanted to write.

I really hope the new worldbuilding tag works out for worldbuilding fans. It sounds like a great idea. I don't think I have any fandoms right now where I'd want to request it, but it might be fun to write.

I don't think there's much overlap between our fandoms this Yuletide, but I hope it's fun.

[argentum_ls]

I imagine it's challenging pushing past boundaries that way.

Very. I'd like to think I pulled it off, though.

I've dropped out of a couple of exchanges recently where no one was asking for something I wanted to write.

Yeah, I've done that too -- though not recently. It's a hard decision to make since it feels like being deliberately excluded from something exciting.

I don't think there's much overlap between our fandoms this Yuletide, but I hope it's fun.

We'll cross Yuletide paths again someday :) I hope yours goes well too and that you get a great assignment.

[brightknightie]

Congratulations on your Crossworks stories, in both directions!

I promoted HLH_Shortcuts on FandomCalendar and Fandom_on_DW this year. We'll see whether that helps any wandering HL fans find their way home.

I have a draft HL sign-up in a TXT file... just not yet happy with the draft, but definitely signing up.

[argentum_ls]

Congratulations on your Crossworks stories, in both directions!

Thank you! The one I wrote was quite a surprise, both in terms of the length and in terms of what the story turned out to be.

...but definitely signing up.

Excellent! I'm excited to see what story you write for the event. (And, to try to guess which one it is ;) )

[impala_chick]

I heard about fandomgiftbox, that's so sad :(

Crossovers are so challenging, so congrats to you!

I'm excited for Yuletide this year! Meanwhile, I really need to make progress on my ficinabox fics.

[argentum_ls]

I've never written a crossover before where one of the fandoms didn't have a supernatural element, so that was an extra challenge. I enjoyed it, and I'd like to think I pulled it off.

What did you nominate for Yuletide? How's your ficinabox coming? The deadline is this weekend, isn't it?

[impala_chick]

Oh interesting, I do think it's easier to come up with supernatural-related plots for fic.

I nominated The English Game, the period drama mini series on Netflix. It got nominated last year but there was no fic for it, so we'll see about this year.

The deadline is this weekend but I asked for an extension.

[argentum_ls]

Did you only nominate one fandom?

Good luck getting your FIAB fic done! I had so much fun last year with that exchange.

[impala_chick]

Oh and I nominated The Flight of the Heron, a historical fiction novel that I'm currently reading/listening to - so much slash potential! I was going to go through people's requests at the Yuletide comm to fill my last slot but I ran out of time.