Can thank a mousey at wank_report for this as well. And because I am lazy the write up is copy-pasted with links inserted.

So Untherius has a reputation as being someone you don't want to get fic from at Yuletide--background as to what he does here.

("Shout out to Untherius for the lowest of the low. At least the Gay Dragon fic was recognizably set in Pern.")

("I honestly don't think anyone deserves Untherius as a writer, unless you've maybe committed genocide or something.")

This year, he writes another Howl's Moving Castle fic for abluestocking...one that includes a crossover with two fandoms that the recipient is unfamiliar with, as well as graphic violence (blood drinking, consumption of raw organs).

This after abluestocking politely indicated that she would prefer not to receive a crossover.

People on fail_fandomanon collectively go "oh my God", and it's posted to yuletide_coal as well.

Then, someone who appears to be the recip, based off of their comment, comes forward:

So I got a primary fic that I...can't read?

That sounds funny. It's not in another language or anything. It's just that the author 1) did a crossover with a fandom I have absolutely no familiarity with, 2) wrote my requested character as an OC, and, most importantly, 3) wrote the entire thing around something that is a complete squick for me (and probably a lot of people).

A little further downthread, we have someone defending Untherius, calling other Yuletide writers/recips "entitled". The same anon appears again, and the end result is that someone posts a critique to the work on AO3 and the defender!anon flounces from Yuletide.

And all of this happens before reveals.

Another year, another Yuletide wank.

On November 8, a provisional list of fandoms and characters eligible for Yuletide went up. Some 4000 fandoms are listed.

Discussions about what fandoms count spring up pretty quickly. Discworld has too much fic on AO3 to be eligible, but rachaelmanija notes that it's mostly crossovers and Yuletide fills. P_zeitgeist argues that her fandoms should be included because even though there's a lot of fic, it mostly sucks. But the real wank starts when people start noticing the presence of huge anime/manga fandoms on the Yuletide list. Franzeska brilliantly tells everyone that to prevent megafandoms like Hetalia and Fruits Basket from being eligible for Yuletide, "go lure people from those fandoms onto AO3 so it properly reflects their non-deadness."

And so the annual celebration of internet arguments begins!
Let's talk about eligibility and large fandoms, says birchsalt.
Let's not, say the mods. "Frankly, for us, this is a non-issue. We aren't terribly concerned that some participants might be "getting away" with something or that some fandoms that aren't truly rare/obscure/inactive are slipping through, or even that all the corrections get done, especially if that lets us open signup earlier and keeps us relatively happy and as unstressed as possible...Note: I'm leaving comments turned on, but I will not be arguing, defending, or explaining our policies."

There is nothing fandom loves more than being told they can't argue. Cue grumbling about basing eligibilty on AO3 content, bnfs, and favoritism. 

ETA: The final list is up.  Some of the big anime fandoms are out (Pokemon is still in, for whatever reason), Discworld is back in, and all the comments thus far are very reasonable and helpful.  Alas!  Even fail_fandomanon isn't wanking about it.  

Looks like the frooforah is over.  I can't wait to see what happens next year!

There once was an archive for Yuletide
and when it died every other fool cried
stop thief
in erroneous belief
that their fics were about to go worldwide

( background )

( the set up )

( coda )

OH ETA: melodyclark is here to show us all that even older women like to wank like horny thirteen year olds, but if she doesn't give it a rest I'm worried she's going to go blind, develop hairy palms, AND come down with a raging case of carpal tunnel syndrome.

thanks to inquisition for the heads up.

eta 3.1415 The abyss is looking into us... and it's fucking stupid. :D

bonus lulz: tzikeh point out to me that melodyclark tried to edit her fanlore page.

( text for anyone who can't or doesn't want to load fanlore )

Dearest, beloved, Fandom Wank.

I know you were looking forward to great excitement today. Some of you said words to me that indicated you anticipated fiery 'judgement' upon those who remained fresh and dewey white, those you call n00bs.

Anyway, you got today instead.

Stop anticipating things, we'll just break your hearts.

Sincerely,

Sepia P. Magpie, Esq.



PS: Use this post to reflect on how you could be better people. Or just fuck around in the comments.

mamadeb is very very upset. "Was there a reason that the sign-ups for Yuletide were announced on a Jewish holiday?" she asks. Apparently the Yuletide mods began the two week sign up process on the last night of Sukkot. This mild inconvenience is a clear sign of anti-semitism from the Mods- and don't get her started on the name itself!

The fact that the stories themselves are posted on Christmas Eve is not as inconvenient to Christians - after all, Christmas is merely a "big dinner and maybe gifts".

Others are not amused.