the delphic expanse

I'm reading this that you can't opt out of any pairing, right?

Right. So if, say, as I've requested Trip and T'Pol and you get my name and you're all "ew, I don't wanna write TnT, I might get the cooties!", tough toodles. The only way to get out of mine is if you're a "no smut" author, since I've specifically requested smut.

I know it sounds all harsh and rigid, but really, it's the only way to keep it fair and not make it a raging nightmare for the admin running the activity (me).

Has to be shippy? Can't write only gen w/friendship?

entkayjay wrote:Has to be shippy? Can't write only gen w/friendship?

It depends on what your giftee asks for, honestly. If they ask that a certain 'ship be represented, but don't ask for smut, then my interpretation is that yes, you have to represent them as a couple--which, depending on the other items requested, you don't have to do with anything you might feel gratuitous and squicky, like making out or something...such things can be communicated subtly, with a look or a touch.

There are some 'ships I'm personally not a fan of. If I end up with someone who asks for Soval/Amanda, for example, I'm gonna be a little "WTF?"--I personally don't see it. -BUT- I've entered the activity knowing that this is not about me, so I am going to write the best Soval/Amanda fic I can produce and see that it at minimum meets the standards I've set for myself in everything else I write.

Otherwise, I would just remind everyone that A) participation is optional, B) the activity is a way to use the selfless act of giving to challenge ourselves as writers, and C) writing someone else's 'ship doesn't make you a traitor to your 'ship (as I recently learned into my own first baby steps into slash), your 'ship is just as awesome and cool as it ever was.

In short, you don't have to "believe" in it, you'd just have to write it for the sake of making someone else happy. Like I said, participation is going to require some flexibility.

If you have a specific issue, you might want to PM me about it?

crystalswolf wrote:Festivus celebration? Was that in an episode?

LOL, no, though I did reference it in my Holiday fic "...And the Stockings Were Hung by Garters With Care..." last year. It was actually popularized by an episode of Seinfeld, and you can read about it here.

I'm certainly not making waves here, I'm just trying to see if I can work within the guidelines, that's all!

No, not at all--you're cool, kayjay. As with all things at this site, it's a new way of doing things, kind of experimental.

I apologize if it came across like I thought you were making waves--that wasn't my intention. At the same time, though, I sort of feel like I'm blindly trying to overcome/soothe a possible objection that I don't know what it is, so I'm just trying to keep it all in perspective.

I'd be happy to act as a beta for most fic, so I can participate that way!

I'm also happy to serve as a beta for gen or friendship fic or of course for fic within the ships I can write. I'm one of those who simply cannot write some particular pairings. I know that's my limitation, but it's real.

Perhaps everyone signing up could list a backup non-ship option? That would cover the off-chance that their preferred ship wasn't going to be possible with a given writer.

Edit: I don't know how to make this come across right. You mention writing something that meets your own standards for quality. I know from experience that I can't come anywhere near my own standards if I don't understand and feel what I'm trying to write. It ends in blank pages, repeated deletions, and ultimately more stress than I can deal with. At best it's just words with no emotional content, which isn't fair to the recipient.

I'm not trying to make waves either, but I would love to be able to participate.

mareel wrote:I'm also happy to serve as a beta for gen or friendship fic or of course for fic within the ships I can write. I'm one of those who simply cannot write some particular pairings. I know that's my limitation, but it's real.

Perhaps everyone signing up could list a backup non-ship option? That would cover the off-chance that their preferred ship wasn't going to be possible with a given writer.

Edit: I don't know how to make this come across right. You mention writing something that meets your own standards for quality. I know from experience that I can't come anywhere near my own standards if I don't understand and feel what I'm trying to write. It ends in blank pages, repeated deletions, and ultimately more stress than I can deal with. At best it's just words with no emotional content, which isn't fair to the recipient.

I'm not trying to make waves either, but I would love to be able to participate.

mareel--I appreciate your concerns, and I think I understand what you're saying.

Please try to understand my position. I am trying to come up with a cool activity to coincide with the spirit of gift giving that comes along with many of the various winter-time holidays.

I want to make it abundantly clear that the activity is not meant to be exclusionary. I don't want anyone to feel left out. However, I was up-front about the need for flexibility. I was also up-front about the need to keep it simple--I've got a lot going on and the minute we start placing all kinds of restrictions on me or what people can ask for or what we're willing to do, it starts getting more complicated--and therefore more time-consuming for me. If I have to keep going through everyone's "won't" list or matching up Plan B or Plan C, it's going to make it a little harder for me to get anything done.

Plus, I don't really agree with restricting what people are allowed to ask for. If we get too far into the "I will write this but I won't write that or that or that..." then at that point, we might as well not have an activity and just write for ourselves, because that's about what we'd end up doing in that case, any way.

Plus--maybe it's the future educator in me--I've never seen anyone grow (either as a writer or in any area of their life) by staying safely tucked in their comfort zone. They're called challenges for a reason. If they weren't supposed to be kind of difficult, they'd be called "easies" instead.

That said, I don't want anyone to feel like they can't participate, so I'm going to take about a day and think on it, see if I can come up with a compromise that'll make everyone happy...or at least as many as possible. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be stubborn, but restrictions and exceptions kind of negate the need for the flexibility element.

In the meantime, I'd just like to ask everyone with doubts to try to put it into perspective: there is nothing going on here worth having any kind of anxiety about. It's just a TV show (albeit one that's extremely meaningful to us otherwise we wouldn't be here), and we're just a bunch of fans having fun using our writing to do something nice for someone else. It'll be whatever you make it. You can either relax into it and try to have fun with it, or you can let it keep you awake at night. And ask yourself what the odds really are that you'll be asked to do that thing you're worried about any way?

In regards to what I said about maintaining my personal standard of quality--yes, I will apply that to anything I'm asked to do, because I've committed myself to keeping an open mind, and because I know that anything I have doubts about only has power over me if I allow it. Two years ago? I would've gotten freaked out if someone asked me to write T'Pol/Archer, or slash. Now? I see each as a potential growth experience. There is just nothing anyone can throw at me that's worth getting upset over.