This and that, and also: your prompts, give me them?

[amatara]

I'm curious: how many of those of you who've done Yuletide, either now or in the past, have made it a point to request and offer entirely different fandoms? Because on one of the Yuletide comms I spotted a comment that surprised me. Basically someone was stating "I would never request fics for fandoms that I offer; what's the point? If you can write in that fandom, why bother asking someone else to write for you? Just write it yourself!" Which... wait, what?

Now I can see where it makes sense to request the kind of fic you couldn't possibly pull off yourself. But the inverse, i.e. to consciously refrain from requesting fic you could write yourself? Really pings me as strange. To me, a huge part of the fun is exactly in getting to see others tackle those fandoms that I'd be tempted to write in, or have already written in, myself. Even if I do re-read my own stuff occasionally (if rarely, and only those stories that don't make me cringe in retrospect), comparing that to the joy of having something written for you... To me, at least, in terms of sheer reading pleasure, a self-written fic can never compete with a well-crafted fic written by someone else. And that's not even talking about different writing styles and takes on canon, and how being able to write in a certain fandom doesn't guarantee you can write that precise situation in that precise way.

So, yeah, the question of requesting and offering, and writing your own fannish desires as opposed to seeing them get written by someone else? I'm really interested in hearing others' opninions on this.

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In other news: I'm really in the mood for having some prompts bounced off me! Anybody game?

Yuletide has definitely helped me slip back into my regular writing routine, but inspiration remains a bit of a sore point. If any of you have a prompt or theme or a type of story that you'd like to see me tackle, please let me know! I'm thinking of familiar fandoms (Star Trek, Babylon 5, Twin Peaks) primarily, but if there's something in another fandom that you think I could manage, feel free to hop in and talk about what you'd like. It doesn't have to be smack in my comfort zone, a bit of a challenge is always nice as well; I trust most of you know me well enough by now to have a pretty good idea of what would or wouldn't be realistic for me to pull off in terms of pairings, themes, genre, etc.

In short: go wild, flist (but not too wild, okay? :) )!

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Also, I have a new Cooper icon! Shall I tell you how I love it? *happy Dale makes flappy hands*

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Back to work tomorrow - dang. And just when I was getting the hang of this holiday business. Forgive me if I pout for a bit. (Still: flappy hands Dale! Makes everything better!)

Comments

[selenak]

My Yuletide requests tend to overlap with the fandoms I offer usually only in one, but that's not because of the reasons that bemuses you. In fact, I agree that reading someone else's well crafted story is more satisfying than your own tale. Of course I ask for stories I for whatever reason feel I can't write myself, which tend to be in fandoms I haven't written in at all or rarely. (In this particular ficathon. In other ficathons - say the recent Xmen ficathon - this is obviously different.) Whereas I tend to offer fandoms I feel experienced enough in to write.

Prompt: Dale Cooper meets Mystique. I dare you.

[amatara]

Dale Cooper meets Mystique. I dare you.

OH. That is... verrrry tempting. Great prompt, and one that had never even crossed my mind, but yes, these two would make a fascinating combination! The only potential caveat (apart from the little fact that I've never tried writing a crossover before, but there's a first time for everything) is that I've only ever seen First Class and the first X-Men, and have no idea how much about Mystique has already been established in other parts of canon? Is it doable at all to write an okay version of her based on just those films and no knowledge of the comic books, you think? *ponders*

[selenak]

Comicverse Mystique is very different, and I was asking strictly for movieverse Mystique anyway. (Seriously, in X-Men fanfic you write either movieverse or comicverse but unless some intermingling is declared in the disclaimer, not both, because the characters have sometimes completely different backstories.) You should be fine with what you know.

[dueltastic]

In other news: I'm really in the mood for having some prompts bounced off me! Anybody game?

Oh! Oh! Me!

Snape/McGonagall, cold Scottish winter. What do you mean, that is definitely in Star Trek, Twin Peaks, or Babylon 5. Gen is fine if you're just not feelin' the pairing, but based on what I've read from you so far, I think that's within shouting distance of your comfort zone. :)

[amatara]

Haha, well, I did say I was open to requests in other fandoms as well, so no worries! (Also, I'm so sorry for the late reply - things have been a wee bit hectic around here.) I've definitely entertained the thought of writing more HP, and you're right about Snape/McGonagall being not too far from my comfort zone - while I don't think I could write HAWT P0RN for this pairing, something mostly platonic should be doable, so... yeah. It's definitely on the list of stuff I could try! Thank you!

[dueltastic]

I don't tend to read hawt p0rn anyway, it often reads a bit too much like Ikea assembly instructions. :) (Which, gosh, ought to be a fanfic rant of some sort - "How to Assemble Your SNÄGØNAGALL".)

I saw that post, and meant to comment on it! I hope things settle down and become less hectic.