Yuletide sign-ups are open!

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Wassail! Wassail!

Yuletide sign-ups are open until Sunday 26th October at 6pm UTC!

Details on how to sign up, including a link to the sign-up page. You need an AO3 account to sign up, but those have a very short waiting list (of less than a day now) I understand. You don't have to have nominated fandoms in order to sign up.

Both the 10 20th-century set Marlows books and the two historical novels are eligible, as two separate fandoms. Characters that are eligible are shown below.

The Marlows - Antonia Forest
Pomona Todd, Giles Marlow, Janice Scott, Lawrie Marlow, Miranda West, Miss Cromwell, Nicola Marlow, Patrick Merrick, Peter Marlow, Robert Anquetil, Rowan Marlow

Players - Antonia Forest
Nicholas Marlow

You do need to make 4 offers and 3 requests to participate in Yuletide, so it's not possible to participate in the main exchange on a Forest-only ticket, but there are lots of shared-interest fandoms that have been nominated this year. The full list is here.

Alternatively, you can write treats for people who've requested the fandom, which is a low-pressure way to participate if you'd like to write a story but don't want the risk of an official assignment at what is a very busy time for a lot of people. Anyone with an AO3 account can write treats.

Lots more Yuletide info can be found at the FAQ.

In due course I'll put up a post linking to Dear Yuletide Writer letters from people who've requested the Marlows: please comment below if you've requested the fandom. I will look at the DYW spreadsheets regularly (you betcha!) but there is a chance I might miss people. My own letter is here. Around assignment-time I'll also put up a post for people to volunteer to beta-read: please wait for that one to go up before commenting with your offer to beta, so the offers are all in the one place.

Wassail, wassail! (*cue Patrick and Rowan giggling*)

Comments

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Wassail! My letter is here: http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/580403.html

(I'm also Naraht on the AO3)

[highfantastical.livejournal.com]

Your letter's f'locked!

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Sorry; it's a cross-posting oddity: if I edit at DW then it reverts to default status at LJ regardless of the DW security level. Should be fixed now.

[highfantastical.livejournal.com]

Aha! That makes sense. I wasn't exclaiming reproachfully, btw, just letting you know; exclamation point arising from an access of Yuletide feels. I have now read your letter, so hurrah. :)

[schwarmerei1.livejournal.com]

If anyone doesn't have an AO3 account and the queue suddenly swamps because of Yuletide, I have spare invites -- so just ask and I'll be happy to email you one.

[scarletlobster.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all this. I think I am beginning to get it all. :-/ Am I right in saying the letter starts with general comments - what you like and what you don't - then deals with each request saying what you would like best? I didn't quite grasp the and/or thing; is the default position that people choose any of the nominated characters or is there some rule about putting x with y?

Help at the number of books I haven't read - practically all of them, it felt like. And who would dare to try Jeeves and Wooster? I am almost tempted to request The Very Hungry Caterpillar just to see what on earth is being asked for. "Got up. Laid eggs. Died."

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

The letter is actually totally optional, but most writers do appreciate guidance.

I hope I've got this right about characters: it can be confusing:

If you request characters, technically your writer must include all requested characters in the story. Some people use their DYW letter to waive this rule, and say that these are a selection of the characters that they like, and they'd be happy to get fic about only one of them.

If you offer characters you will only be matched with someone who has requested all those characters.

So basically, don't offer characters you're not confident writing, and to be absolutely orthodox and merciful to your writer, don't request characters who it might be difficult to get into a room together. (Now I'm tempted by getting Giles and Miss Cromwell into a compromising situation over a pound note.)

If you offer Any characters that means you might can be matched with someone whose request is for any of the nominated characters in the tag set for that fandom.

If you request Any characters, that means your writer can write about any of the nominated characters in the tag set for that fandom or about the world in general. I've usually requested Any and then provided a variety of prompts.

You're not allowed to use your DYW letter to demand fic about unnominated characters, but no-one seems to mind if you offer polite suggestions.

But the main thing to remember is that optional details and DYW letters can be ignored; the only absolute rules are to write a story of 1000+ words in one of your recipient's nominated fandoms, including the characters (if any) they have requested. That said, taking note of named triggers and squicks is a guideline that has very nearly the status of a rule, so it is worth looking out DYW letters to make sure that your recip doesn't say categorically NO ANIMAL DEATH before you put hours of work into Daks' plangent demise and Esther's inconsolable grief.

I hope I've got all that straight, but I'm still a relative newbie--please do correct me if I'm wrong, folks.

[scarletlobster.livejournal.com]

Giles and Crommie! I KNEW it!

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Blood for breakfast. The poor boy wouldn't stand a chance.

[schwarmerei1.livejournal.com]

I am almost tempted to request The Very Hungry Caterpillar just to see what on earth is being asked for. "Got up. Laid eggs. Died."

I'd write a Caterpillar/Molecular Gastronomy crossover. With a background slash romance between Wylie Dufresne and Heston Blumenthal. #half-tempted

[schwarmerei1.livejournal.com]

If you request characters, technically your writer must include all requested characters in the story. Some people use their DYW letter to waive this rule, and say that these are a selection of the characters that they like, and they'd be happy to get fic about only one of them.
That I didn't know! I thought it was writ that if the characters were requested one *had* to include them. That said, I've only been in once, and my recipient didn't write a letter or add optional details.

[schwarmerei1.livejournal.com]

My letter is here: http://schwarmerei1.livejournal.com/14407.html

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Duly entered on the DYW post!

[nnozomi.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! My letter is here:
http://nnozomi.livejournal.com/15532.html

[scarletlobster.livejournal.com]

I am SERIOUSLY not worthy. *insert awe-struck but slightly downcast smiley here*

I did fill out the form, but without any kind of charming letter at all because there is obviously some media stage that I have not reached that involves having somewhere to put a charming letter. I obviously take after my father, who keeps putting mobile phones in the bin because the battery has gone flat.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Most people just post their letters on their LJ, and since you obviously do have one, I think you're fully supplied with the necessary tools if you choose to write a letter. :)

[schwarmerei1.livejournal.com]

Just in addition to emily_shore's advice, you can also add "optional details" in the description field of your signup form if you'd rather not write a letter and post it on your LJ. If you post on the signup form the details you write will remain private to everyone but the person who matches with you to write your story.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Private for a while. Full request details all become public a few days before Christmas; and if a request goes to pinch hit it will be visible before that to everyone on the pinch hitters list.

(Yuletide: it r complicated.)

[schwarmerei1.livejournal.com]

See! Newbies like me don't know what the eff we're talking about! :-)

I mean yes, of course they must -- how else do treats get written?

[scarletlobster.livejournal.com]

Thanks for further advice. I realize that I have not the faintest idea how to use the site to write a letter or attach it to the form. I hope my writing is better than my understanding of websites.

Not to worry - I didn't have an awful lot to say, and have put it all in the boxes on the form.