(no subject)

[yuuago]

Good god, writing up Hetalia requests for exchanges gives me the same feeling of dread that I get when trying to put together a sandwich order.

Except instead of "no ketchup or mustard or relish or mayo, no tomato, no pickles, but YES PLEASE to mushrooms and red pepper sauce and banana peppers and olives", it's "no AUs plz, and also for the love of god don't use human names, and I like historical stuff for THESE pairings but NEVER for this other one thanks, and then for this other-other one history stuff is OK if it's set after 1950 or so, and if you are able to throw in some breathplay and consensual temporary death that'd be great".

Or something.

It's all perfectly reasonable if you take it in bits, but when it's all together, it makes me look like one picky motherfucker, geeze.

Comments

[slashmarks]

I have definitely had the same problem.

[yuuago]

I'm glad someone understands my pain. xD

[kanadka]

Oooof, this so much, I feel like I could write a novel on precisely how I like certain things.... On the other hand, having a precise and well-defined set of guidelines makes it so helpful to prospective creators, so rather than being a really picky eater, you're doing your sandwich artist a giant favour! I know I'd rather have the essay :'D also it's nice to get to know the other person too, if a slightly one-sided conversation...

[yuuago]

Ahhh you're probably right... Since the min for chocolate box is so short, I've been trying to keep my requests brief, but when it comes to the really fussy bits, it's probably best if I just write it out rather than trying to keep it short. :|a

[gramarye1971]

Yep, I could easily write the same thing.

[yuuago]

Perhaps it's a more typical problem than I thought. ;p ;p

[chartini]

Haha, I totally understand.

Every year for the rare pair exchange I can't just list 5 generic prompts, cause I got different prompts and wishes for each of the 5 pairings I put up!

What works for one doesn't work for the others, I tell myself it at least gives the other person more options to choose from haha

[yuuago]

True, true. xD More options is always good! Better to be specific with this kind of thing, I guess.

[thymolphthalein]

People ask for that stuff? It's hard enough for me to write out a prompt without re-writing it a few times so it actually follows the prompt, but how can people ASK for that much? It's community service, not earthquake-strengthening, geez.

[yuuago]

I'm a little confused about the question!

If it's for an exchange, then of course people should ask for what they actually want.

[thymolphthalein]

Yeah, I think I went wayy too deep. Sorry. Now, looking back, I mean it's great to have pairings and stuff, but all the specifications sometimes blow my mind. I mean, this is also where my metaphorical "Sandwich" has about five ingredients, and yeah whoops. 99.99% of people are amazing, it's just the other 0.01% which I felt compelled to bitch about.

Of course though, people should.

[yuuago]

Ahh I see. If somebody lists a bunch of stuff and expects ALL of it to be included, that would be a little bit weird... Usually I'm like "here are a bunch of things I like, pick one of them". xD

Mostly I feel a little weird about the Do Not Wants. Because on the one hand, if that stuff was included, it would ruin the fic for me. But it's stuff that's so common in this fandom (human names and AUs) that asking for it to not be in the fic makes me feel like I'm a big weirdo.