moral dilemmas

[kindkit]

Say, hypothetically, there was a very needy fandom on the Yuletide signups, with several requests and no one offering to write it. You have a hammer could write this fandom; in fact, you're written it before in a non-Yuletide context. But you don't really want to write it this Yuletide; then again, you feel guilty about those people who'd like a fic in this fandom, especially since a couple of your own fandoms are needy and you know how frustrating it is.

What would you do?

Comments

[ellen_fremedon]

I have been having that exact dilemma, and I have decided that I will not offer any more fandoms at this stage, but that if pinch-hits come up I will look on them more kindly.

[kindkit]

That makes sense.

[lilacsigil]

I'm doing the same as the previous commenter - remembering that the requester has at least two more fandoms and keeping an eye out for pinch hits later.

[kindkit]

Yeah, that's a good solution, I think.

[senmut]

I am bad and evil and do not let my sign up be affected by stats like that, I will admit.

However, that was under the old way, when I could offer EVERY fandom I knew I could write, so I had already hit the chances of hitting anything I could write.

Now? I think the only reason I am not editing my sign up is how irritating the whole sign up and time out procedure was the first time around.

[shadowvalkyrie]

Write what you want to write! Otherwise the result will be dutifully but dispassionately written fic. And that helps neither your nor the recipient's Yuletide enjoyment.

[lemposoi]

Hah, I snerked at the hammer.

I always put in one pity/favour fandom in both the request and offer. Yeah, I'm basically a fantastic human being. (This isn't my first Yuletide, but I wrote under a different nick in previous years.) I've never yet done so in a situation where I know they'll be the ones I'm paired on, though... Hmm.

It would certainly make me tempted to sign up twice. But, if I can't sign up twice and I'm not particularly fond of the people requesting this fandom - as in, none of them are friends of mine - I would not offer that fandom.

[franzeska]

I would not offer it because offering it means you're bound to get it and the person who requested it will be thinking: "Yay, someone else loves my obscure fandom with all of their heart and is dying to write it! SQUEE!" and then they will get your story, which will be more like: "Stuff happened. Meh." And they will realize that you had a miserable time writing it and then they will feel bad because, no, no one likes the obscure fandom of their heart after all, plus they've clearly ruined your yuletide. (Or, you know, the same general feeling but with less melodrama.)

If you always feel like this about most of the fandoms you write, fair enough, but if there are other fandoms you're dying to write in and you can be easily matched, there is absolutely no reason to feel guilty or add more to your signup. Besides, have you seen how fierce competition is for pinch hits? Sometimes even when nobody knows the fandoms?