yuletide_coal | The Dirty Energy Source

The Dirty Energy Source

Do you want to make a spreadsheet about spreadsheets?
Do you still need to figure out what two other fandoms you should request beside the only one you really want fic for?
Or are you trolling ALL the letter posts for placeholders, just so you can write those people some nice, dry coal?

We want to know all about it.

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See any coal-to-be in the letters or sign-up summary? Are you desperately hoping someone writes you that trans headcanon getting complained about across your fandom? Tell me of the lumps of coal in your plans.

I saw one letter with such terrible spelling and grammar that I already feel sorry for their recipient, unless said person gets a really good beta reader. Fortunately we don't share any fandoms, so I doubt that person will write for me.

Would you mind sharing a few of the fandoms?

ayrt I'm sorry, I don't remember. I only clicked on random letters to get a bit of an idea of how other people wrote their letters. I think it had some anime/manga fandoms, but I don't remember the names.

So basically ... ESL person doing Yuletide, so lets go point and laugh?

Why would you assume bad spelling and grammar = ESL?

Only esl people are allowed to like manga now??

Why would you assume that they were ESL? Also it's not like they linked to the person.

ayrt I'm not a native speaker of English either? Knowing spelling and grammar has nothing to do with whether it's your native language or not. Lots of native speaker write like five-year-olds. Lots of ESL speakers write excellent English. I just think it doesn't make a very good impression if your letter for a writing exchange makes it look like you can't write for shit.

I hope that wasn't my letter, b/c I requested a bunch of anime and manga fandoms and just posted last night. I admit I'm guilty of writing a lot of run on sentences and odd turns of phrase, but I've always tried to make sure my gifts are readable if not perfect.

ayrt It wasn't a case of run on sentences, more of people who can't be arsed to look up the difference between your and you're, its and it's and so on. And not just a little typo here and there, but a lot of things like that.

I've seen a few letters where people have typo'd a character name (do you look at your own letter at all before/after posting it?) And one where San Francisco is misspelled, in which case I wonder why their browser doesn't have spell check built in.

Yeah, there was one letter I really like (and still kind of desperately hope to get assigned to) that misspelled my favourite character's name. It's a common misspelling of that name and not a big deal, but I still kind of winced because, between the typo and the way she was only mentioned offhand in one parenthetical in the middle of an "any" request, it suggests that the letter writer probably really doesn't care about her all that much.

NA

I listen to audiobooks a lot, and I have to remember to go check spellings before I request. Last year (or maybe the year before?) I nominated Camicazi from How to Train Your Dragon as "Kamikaze", because that's what I thought I heard, and only realized it once signups were underway. I was too embarrassed to request it after that, lol.

And if it's a common misspelling, it could just be a brainfart.

Re: Yulefail already?

(Anonymous) - 2014-10-23 21:39 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Yulefail already?

(Anonymous) - 2014-10-23 22:06 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Yulefail already?

(Anonymous) - 2014-10-24 05:05 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Yulefail already?

(Anonymous) - 2014-10-24 06:21 (UTC) - Expand

da

My brain has been trained to ignore spellcheck squiggles in fandom because so many fannish terms/names aren't in the dictionary and I can't be assed to add them all.

/coalie who checks her letter obsessively before and after posting it, however

Re: Yulefail already?

(Anonymous) - 2014-10-23 21:31 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Yulefail already?

(Anonymous) - 2014-10-23 21:31 (UTC) - Expand

FWIW, I know more than a few ESL fans who might not get their letters intensively beta'd but will absolutely do so for their assignments, although I'd call their unbeta'd writing more 'confusing' than 'terrible'....

I imagine the same goes for native speakers who struggle with mechanics.

In a canon where there are canon supported (and fandom seems to like them to) pairings of A/B and C/D, someone has requested B/C and only wants tales of B/C's "epic love". I pray I'm not matched on that, because they're either getting a sweater that borders on coal or one of their other fandoms.

As a fervent B/C shipper in my fandom, a letter asking for B and C's epic love would make my Yuletide, and I'd struggle to write something nice for A/B. I'd suggest not offering either B or C, that way you can both get matched with a better fit.

But I'd happily write A/B or C/D or B&C friendship, or A&C, A&D, A&B&C&D( hanging out, or C&F etc. I just think this person is setting themselves up for disappointment, and feel bad for their future assigned author (which the universe will probably decide is me) because there isn't even a hint of a gen out.

If fate chooses you, write a close B&C friendship fic so the recip could squint for ship intimacy or whatever, if you're ok with writing friendship fic?

I'm game planning for it, but I feel bad because it won't be what they actually want. I'm also eyeing the other fandoms they've requested, because brushing up on a TV show I half watched might be easier.

Someone requested the movie Interview with the Vampire and wrote a letter for the book series. Magical breasts fic might be in their future.

Magical breasts fic?? Deets, please.

The pinnacle of shitty writing and backpedalling on the gayness in Anne Rice's vampire novels is widely considered to be Merrick, in which all male vampires fall in love with some new character and can't shut up about her hypnotic breasts or something. Magical breasts's become a meme since then.

SUGAR TITS.

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