Merlin fests

[sophinisba]

Hey, only a few more hours to sign up for the Spring Fever exchange at kinkme_merlin. I'm not participating but I have every confidence in the kmm mods and think it'll be neat to see this go forward as a real anonymous exchange. There will also be lots of great fics and hopefully some art!

Conversely, I have no confidence whatsoever in auroraprimavera after the way she let camelotsolstice fall apart. But look! another_mod has stepped in and set up inmidwinter so the participants can repost their work with names, beta credit, etc. I hope everyone does, but especially the ones whose work never got posted at the solstice comm.

I hope the merlinfemfest mod can get things together or ask for some help soon.

I bet the merlin_holidays mods feel pretty good about themselves! :D

Comments

[cat_77]

I'm so torn because I really wanted to give auroraprimavera and camelotsolstice the benefit of the doubt, but there were so many delays and then it fell apart at the end. I don't know if I should repost over on the other site, or sit and wait patiently because, well, it's over a month past the *extended* deadline and there's still nothing.

[sophinisba]

I really can't see any reason to wait at this point. Besides all the time that's passed, she's had other people actively trying to help do the work for her and she hasn't let them. I think the separate comm is the best alternative now.

[swatkat]

I pretty much feel the same way. I'm very 'meh' on the entire thing right now, which is a pity - I did enjoy writing what I wrote (and heck, had I known it'd turn out this way, I'd have taken more time with the story and had it beta-read as well. maybe I will, at least for SPAG errors, hmm).

[sophinisba]

had I known it'd turn out this way, I'd have taken more time with the story

Heh, I hear you there. Last year's solstice was the first time I'd participated in a fest where everybody had the same deadline but some people's fics didn't get posted for another two months. It's not a setup that makes a lot of sense for me. And if I'd known that femfest would take this long I certainly wouldn't have dropped out back in November.

[swatkat]

My story didn't get posted until January - I could have easily spent a lot more time on it, produced something better! The setup doesn't make much sense for me, either, but at least it was a setup of some sorts. The current status of the fest is worse. auroraprimavaera has not only disappeared, but she's refusing to communicate with anyone, including her co-mods. I can't bring myself to give her the benefit of the doubt anymore.

[sophinisba]

And yet she's commenting on other random posts so it's not as if she's abandoned fandom or lost Internet all access or something, just abandoned responsibility for the fest. :/

[swatkat]

It's pretty clear that she's no longer interested in the fest, and to make matters worse, she's not interested in handing it over to someone else, either. It's just... terrible. Argh.

[sophinisba]

Right, we all know what it's like to have a computer or personal emergency get in the way of things we were planning to do. It sucks! But in fandom there is almost always someone willing to step in and help out. In this case there have been many people offering to do that.

[woldy]

I honestly don't understand why someone would offer to mod an exchange if they're not committed to finishing it - it's just bewildering to me. The merlinfemfest mod is on my flist, and participated in the informal HP femslash exchange, and I did wonder how come she was writing for another exchange given that she didn't entirely seem to be on top of the one she was modding. Maybe it's unfair, but I'm kinda putting it down to people being young, flakey, and unused to responsibility of any form.

[sophinisba]

I keep going back to look at each comm and boggling that there's still no word from these folks. Some young fans do fabulous modding and some older people are jerks about it, but I know what you mean about responsibility, ugh. It's also depressing that what a bunch of people are going to take away from this is that signing up for exchanges is a bad idea. :(

[woldy]

Some young fans do fabulous modding and some older people are jerks about it Yes, absolutely - I know great mods under 21, and unreliable folks decades older, but I do feel as though volunteering to do something and then flaking out happens more amongst younger people. Maybe I draw too much on my own experience, but I know that I used to volunteer to do tasks I was half-hearted about & then do a half-assed job at 18, whereas now I tend to be careful not to over-promise.

[sophinisba]

Yeah, I see that in myself too, with being able to say "I want this comm to exist but I am not able to mod it now." And some 18-year-olds are super responsible, but the older/more-experienced mods I've observed, if they have problems it's more likely to be because they're cranky or mean or very set in their ways and unwilling to take criticism. They still don't just disappear.

[timeasmymeasure]

*slips in*

As one of those young fans, I don't quite believe that it's a matter of age. It's more about seeing things through, organizational skills, and being able to ask for help- the great thing about fandom is there's always someone willing to help- when you need it. Age isn't really a factor, older fans can still refuse help and even if they don't disappear a fest or comm can suffer. If you don't have the commitment skills to see things through, no way it's going to be a success especially when expectations are so high.

[sophinisba]

It's more about seeing things through, organizational skills, and being able to ask for help- the great thing about fandom is there's always someone willing to help- when you need it.

Definitely, refusing to accept help is something I've seen from fans of all ages and levels of experience.

[timeasmymeasure]

Also, running a fest/challenge alone is definitely not a recommendation I'd make. It gets overwhelming.

[briar_pipe]

*sneaks in*

As someone who's been saved not once but twice by awesome co-mods, I would agree with this. It takes two (or three, or five) to tango in mod-land.

[timeasmymeasure]

Lots of people have offered merlinfemfest help already. I really do wish they'd take it. Oh, Merlin fandom :)

[sophinisba]

Yeah, I saw your comment on the last mod post. I don't get it. :(

[timeasmymeasure]

I think it may be that many people have offered to help, then the pride comes in. It's human instinct but it just makes everyone less than forgiving in the long run.

[briar_pipe]

I'm confident in the KMM mods, too, since there are 9 of them, and since the meme has continued to function for almost two years. That's a fairly good track record.

I'm thinking of reposting my Solstice fic to AO3 and posting just a link to inmidwinter. I really want everything centralized at this point, instead of scattered through multiple platforms / communities.