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relaxxattack · 3 years

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ayo! (wait this might be a bit of a jumpscare dishdks i apologize) i’m op of That Post and was wondering what your opinions were on the whole woobification thing? /gen

because it’s a Tiny Bit widespread within the dream apologists to sort of,, overdramatize stuff like l’manberg hurting him. like they’re not a 100% wrong but if you look at it subjectively you can see some sort of bias going into that sort of thing that makes the character’s mistreatment a bit more blatant and intentional which,, it really wasn’t? and there wasn’t That Much of it either. especially on twitter (tumblr is much better about it) people just jump to conclusions it seems and yeah. since you brought it up i was wondering if you wanted to write a bit about it from your perspective!

we’re kinda from different corners of the fandom but i still notice that once you are too attached to a character you start taking certain evidence and giving it more weight than it actually has. there’s a blurry line between “taking away a character’s humanity” and woobification and it’s extremely difficult to find a balance when said character shows pretty much nothing of his emotional life (e. g. putting up the intimidating villain act in front of only c!tommy, pretty much everything he does making rational sense with no emotional subtext) and a lot of the fandom instantly jumps to one side or the other while it’s like.

we don’t know by far enough to say “he’s traumatized” or “he isn’t traumatized” or “he was villainized and it hurt him” or “l’manberg didn’t affect him at all”

as a very analytical person people constantly jumping to conclusions grinds my gears, but that’s about it for my own view of the situation - sorry for the rambling.

in general i agree with you that both dehumanization and woobification is Bad and i really hope getting Actual Context sorts this out (e. g. him saying he was betrayed by his friends doesn’t mean it wasn’t partially his fault or that they were allowed to leave him, but it also shows that he did care about that happening. mentioning the cat doesn’t mean anything about what happened to c!tommy but it also shows that he did care about what happened to it. it’s just always interesting to get more information about the way he feels because he usually does a very good job at hiding it.) because man.

it’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, especially if you also are attached to the character and are expected to automatically agree with everything the people on “your side” say. it just ends up with everyone being mad and the character being mischaracterised overall.

oh wow hello! i didnt expect the op of the post to find me you’re right lol

and yes i agree! you seem to have a lot of very good thoughts tbh.

and by woobification, i mean exactly what you’ve already pointed out— the people who will say l’manberg purposely villainized dream, the people who will say wilbur faked his mental illness to manipulate dream, the people who are pretty much always talking about how badly dream was treated by people who were acting only fairly for themselves, usually.

for example people who act like dream was a perfect peacemaker before tommy showed up, or that tommy started most conflict. these are just actual lies that are told by c!dream himself to justify his abuse of tommy, and people fall for them incredibly easily because not a lot of people watched early dsmp and know that truthfully it was chaotic even then, and that dream was chaotic too. not to mention wilbur soot tried very hard to secede peacefully with l’manberg and dream jumped directly into war with no warning. and then people say he was forced into their war when, no, he started it.

theres also people who will say like, dream and sapnap for example are such good friends. i’m sure they cared for each other, but dream on multiple occasions has done horrible things to sapnap with no regard for his feelings (like leading fundy to sapnaps pets during the petwar, leading tommy to sapnaps pets during the other petwar and encouraging him to kill them, handing mars over to tommy to use as leverage against sapnap, etc). george he’s been less awful too but he certainly spoke over him and ignored his feelings enough that george felt hurt. he had places in his hall of attachments for beckerson and mars. george and sapnap were right to walk away from being treated like that.

there’s also what you just said here — “dream puts on a villain persona for tommy”— but honestly he acts like that around quite a few people (example: eret) and it’s usually when he’s revealing crucial info, which leads me and many others to believe that ‘persona’ is actually a more truthful version of him.

there’s the fact that he really isn’t safe for people to be around (or at least he wasn't before the prison) because he was planning to come up with ways to control every single person by stealing and threatening their attachments (some of which were not items but were living animals, or a real breathing person).

and then people will say dream was doing exile to enforce rules, or to keep the peace— when it’s very clear in canon it was a deliberate plan to get tommy on his own and into the prison. (from the way he was framing tommy for multiple crimes, and having sam set up the prison, and kidnapping tommy instead of correctly exiling him, all at the same time).

not even going into how he wants to kill and revive people for fun or make tommy immortal.

it’s just— ignoring all these actual facts and saying “oh he misses his friends, let’s get him some friends now” reminds me of like. when people would put flower crowns on pictures of serial killers. and then, there’s hardly anyone on the server who wasn’t subject to dream’s plans, so there’s absolutely no one i would be okay with him interacting with.

just remembered about the torture thing, and wow i still hate it so much. it’s someone’s sick revenge fantasy twisted into a way to get a manipulative villain sympathy, and it’s just gross to me on every account. i do think dream is traumatized-- just not by l’manberg, which was a conflict he started on his own terms. i would think l’manberg did affect him, because he was scared of losing control.

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again— my ideal ending for dream would be for him to be sent far away from dsmp to an island full of therapy animals and super strong therapists who have never met him before. and for him to get a shit ton of therapy until he becomes a halfway normal person. and then eventually he could get integrated into society again; but a different one with new people. (although maybe dteam + bbh + puffy can visit him, they might still like him.)

none of the people on the server (who have all been affected by dream) should be burdened with befriending him or rehabilitating him— look how that turned out with sam! sam had a personal grudge towards dream and it ended with the poor dude being tortured every day; and sam himself falling into corruption and literally cutting off his boyfriends arm. like we can all see thats fucking awful right?

no one who was affected by dream should have to deal with him ever again. and contrary to popular belief, that includes a LOT more people then just tommy. dream isn’t just tommy’s antagonist, hes almost everybody’s.

the only person on the server who might also be able to stand to help dream is techno, and that’s from sheer lack of ability to give a shit. but techno is probably THE furthest thing from a good therapist there is lol, and dream needs better then that.

this kind of just ended up being a rant about my thoughts on c!dream, so im so sorry op. especially since it was probably negative for you. i hope you’re doing very well.

i guess in the end it’s true what you said— people will highlight or ignore things based on what characters they like, and it’s especially easy to do in this fandom, where half the content doesn’t even get watched and then we become a big echo chamber of half-truths.

considering dream has hurt so many of the characters i care about, i almost can’t understand how he could be someone’s favorite or comfort character— but he is nonetheless, and it would be unfair of me to be rude about that.

essentially it just bothers me to see someone who was a perpetrator of accurately portrayed abuse and manipulation (using both those words in their actual definitions, not just as random buzzwords lol) being given the flower crown edit effect. especially since he’s hurt the characters i care about a lot.

ANYWAY all of that being said (this got LONG im so sorry op) i am so so excited to get dream’s pov, because although i disagree with his actions strongly i actually find dream’s character very interesting and cool, and watching his POV is going to insanely fun. i cannot wait to see what theories get confirmed or denied

ALSO incase it wasn’t clear this is all /nm at you! you seem lovely and smart, and neither of us can help what characters we get attached to :]

#c!dream critical #dream meta #og post #hey guys i would actually like some feedback on this one since i worked hard on it #rbs are okay and encouraged :]#my meta

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masterthespianduchovny · 3 years

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1/2: Hi! Just caught and really appreciating your commentary/review of Mystphile/Syntax/Iolokus. Have you done more of these for XF fic, and if so, were they tagged? (I see you tag ur X-Files content, but then it brings up ALL ur XF content, rather than separating out by XF Meta, or XF Fic Commentary/Review, etc) I LOVE fic reviews. But these days it’s more common to get a sentence or two on a fic. I've literally gone back through WebArchive for rec sites from original run, as well as the

2/2: old XF Book Club run by Wendelah, and then take good reviews/comments and put them together with the story so that when I read a story, I can also read their reviews and think more on things! So, when I saw your more-than-2-sentence commentary on 3 different stories I’ve read, I was VERY excited!! Tell me there’s more! BTW, also enjoy your general commentary on show/David/Gillian, etc! Trying to figure out how to find it all within your account!

________

Thank you for your kind words! :)

Unfortunately I don’t have metas/reviews on other fics, but you make me interested in doing more.

There are various reasons I love certain stories even if the characterizations aren’t necessarily consistent for Mulder and Scully. I’m more forgiving if I understand what the writer was aiming for and if I believe they executed it well.

For instance, The Games We Play by Winter Song. The “epilogue” doesn’t work for me I guess due to expectations. Everything else up to that point is really captivating. I know some are put off by Mulder and Scully singing and stuff, but personally, it adds a layer to their oddball dynamic and how they’re viewed by others.

What intrigues me most is the anger: Scully’s breaking point and Mulder’s instant realization and empathy behind Scully’s behavior. I’ve always said if The X-Files had been on a different network (and had a different show runner), it would’ve been a darker show. The main characters have so much unexplored grief and trauma. They are each other’s safe place and the shadow government violates that in a subtle, but major way in this fic, which Scully gets the message loud and clear.

Why Winter Song also does well in her fics is explore how other governmental agencies see Mulder and Scully. Either the fandom focuses the colleagues thinking they’re fucking or completely ignoring them, however, Mulder and Scully have been involved and get into way too much shit for there not to be any intrigue behind them. I believe they are the reason I explore this idea as frequently as I have recently.

I haven’t read everything Syntax6 has written, but I do think everything she writes is gold regardless. She wrote a fic called Split the Lark that was really thought provoking. If you haven’t read this fic, I should warn you that the fic deals with rape of a main character. I literally haven’t read it in years, but if I ever revisit this I believe the quality of the fic will only rise, IMO.

Personally, I haven’t read many recent fics due to poor time management and impatience. Truth be told, despite there still be quality fics out there, it’s also hard for my to read current fics. I have an issue with the characterization and perception of mainly Mulder in these stories. As mentioned earlier, doing something different with the characters aren’t the problem, but Mulder either lacks a backbone or is an asshole in a way that is inconsistent with his character. Some writers have ambitious goals except they care about the idea and not the execution.

The stories themselves at times lack teeth. Good ideas without the boldness. Or something is missing.

This isn’t to say that current stories are bad. I know some stories released during the show were bad as well. However, I also don’t think current stories don’t have the same highs as the original run.

To be clearer, this is all my personal taste. Some most likely disagree with me and that's perfectly valid. And its likely I’ve forgotten some really good fics released post original run.

There’s Seven Days in May, which is a prequel and it’s original story. The fic makes me sad, but it does challenge me in a way that makes me uncomfortable in a good way. I believe this was written by Prufrock’s Love--that might be wrong. These two fics are something I’d be open to revisiting unlike her other fics, which aren’t bad I just don’t like post colonization fics. She also has another fic, I think its her, where the break down of Mulder and Scully’s relationship deeply bothered me. I got why it got there, but it felt unfair to one of the characters (and was acknowledged as embarrassing in the fic) and I’m unsure if this was discussed during the story.

Arizona Highways felt satisfying to me, but I can’t recall a lot about the fic.

Hope you enjoyed the response!

P.S. I’m a lazy tagger. lol

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orionsangel86 · 5 years

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Ah the sweet smell of statistics on a hot summer evening...

@dotthings shared the latest AO3 shipping stats with me on Twitter and I am fascinated (and not surprised) with the numbers presented, because they provide a truthful outlook on fandom trends and ship popularity that silences all screams from hateful factions. Basically AO3 is dishing out some truly delicious tea over there...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19963579/chapters/47258239

Destiel of course is once again the most popular ship on AO3 with 79,650 fan works. It has 20k more fan works than the next most popular ship. Let that sink in. The even sweeter tea is that the next most popular SPN ship only has 26,287 fan works on AO3. Destiel has 53k more fan works than W*ncest.

Chapter two of the AO3 link presents us with the most popular ships of 2017-2019 which I find even more interesting. This is showing us active ships. How many fan works have been created for that ship over the past three years. In this list, Destiel is in third place. Again, let that sink in. This is a 14 year old fandom, and in the past three years alone Destiel fandom created 13,537 fan works. So still a very active very popular ship basically.

Comparing those figures to that of W*ncest - 3,493 fan works on A03 in the space of 3 years. This is actually far lower than even I would have expected, baring in mind how loudly that side of fandom likes to scream about how popular their ship is... I guess that’s what happens when you waste all your time attacking people/actors/writers etc on social media, and not spend it actually doing what you love...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So if you ever get some asshole on social media screaming at you that you are delusional for shipping Destiel, are a loud minority, and are told that incest is a popular and acceptable ship in Supernatural fandom, just link them to the actual facts to shut them up.

Also, the 2017-2019 stats indicate that whilst Destiel has only dropped 1 place, W*ncest dropped 30 places. From this I think we can conclude that the show in the past three years has kept Destiel shippers engaged but put off W*ncest shippers. This also gives a nice indicator for how fandom in general sees the source content at the moment. It probably helps that Destiel shippers tend to be a very active and encouraging bunch, with several writing bangs throughout the year and a general focus on encouraging content creation and nurturing new talent. I would consider this at least somewhat proof that no matter what haters say, Destiel fandom is a welcoming and encouraging place for fans to meet like minded people and it inspires us to share our work and our passions.

So I consider that another blatant lie crushed by the stats - Destiel fans are by FAR the least problematic of Supernatural fandom - When we are loud, it is because we are passionate and excitable. But we are not hateful, if we were really all that bad, we wouldn’t still be churning out new content at such high volumes because we’d be putting people off.

Something to be proud of anyway guys. :)

Disclaimer: I am well aware that the purpose of these statistics is to draw attention to how M/M orientated fandom shipping is, and the huge lack of femslash and female character shipping that exists in fandom - however I personally consider this less about misogyny within fandom and more about misogyny within the film/TV industries where male characters get more focus, are better developed and whose male relationships have more emotional weight, compared to female characters who are perpetually forced into stereotypes or bland pretty Barbie dolls and don’t get deep and meaningful story lines or relationship arcs. This is a completely separate topic of conversation and not one I plan to get into right now, so please no one come at me with your lectures.

Also - I don’t give a damn if you ship W*ncest. Do what you do. This isn’t about shaming W*ncest shippers. What I care about is lies, and hateful bullying in fandom, and a constant false narrative being pushed by a few loud assholes that I have seen first hand. The manipulation of new fans by certain big accounts in fandom run by W*ncest shippers to encourage this notion that Destiel is a minority ship is laughable, but unfortunately new fans won’t realise they are being lied to until it is too late. Hence my sharing this and my sassy tone. Anyone trying to claim Destiel isn’t supported by a majority of SPN fans must actually be living in fairyland. We even have our own official T-Shirt now (technically, we have two). Get over it.

#destiel #fandoms #ao3 stats #fandom drama #anti antis #the truth is right here #it lies in the stats #and that is some delicious tea

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starberry-cupcake · 4 years

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It’s the end of Aro Week and I decided to throw caution to the wind and talk about something that can potentially be a polarizing topic. I’m putting it on read-more not only because of length but also because in 2020 this blog turns 10 years of age and I’ve learned to leave a window open for retreat when it comes to Opinions, so I don’t know how long I’ll dare to have this up.

This is going to be about the aroace experience, fandom, ships, representation, fanservice, amatonormativity, allosexual normativity and transformative fanwork.

So, basically, a minefield, so tread with care.

Since the dawn of fandom time, there has been an aspect of it that is known (nowadays) as transformative. There are studies, dissertations and essays about this, and most if not all agree on the fact that the portion of fandom that is transformative tends to belong to the less represented portion of it in the media they consume.

It’s mostly people whose identities are rarely represented those who tend to transform, making a space in their favorite pieces of media for themselves and others. That has, in tow, created a scene in which authors and content creators are born within fandom and get exposed to these types of content and reproduce them as well.

The cornerstone of transformative fandom, to the point of being one of the main organizational elements in fandom-driven platforms, are ships. And when someone mentions the word “ship”, it most often comes with the added non-said descriptive of “romantic” and “sexual” attached to it.

Now, like I said, a lot of those who are involved in transformative fandom tend to go for less represented types of identities, and heteronormativity tends to be questioned often. Sometimes, it is legitimately for representation purposes, sometimes it’s for objectifying reasons.

On the other hand, in the media-creating sphere, there is a thing known as “baiting”. This word is used when pieces of media hint towards non het relationships that end up not coming to fruition.

This issue has reached paragons of shamelessness with creators using fandom for their own purposes, like making a series win an award, getting renewed or gathering numbers in cons, to then turn against the same portion of fandom by banning transformative fandom from cons, meet and greets and having actors and crew members publicly shame fanfiction or fanart. It became serious shit.

This, in tow, brought another problem. Baiting (and what used to be considered “queer-coding”) started becoming an immediate red flag for people, a warning to whether getting engaged or not with a piece of media.

In the mostly legitimate pitchfork and torches march against baiting, canonically aroace characters were caught in the fire, and queerplatonic relationships suffered the price of not fitting in the amatonormative and allosexual normative space fandom created.

It’s a standard for fandom that one of the most necessary reasons for transformative work, for fanfiction mostly, is to make characters confess the love they never did confess on screen/page and, most often than not, fuck each other senseless as a sort of “necessary guarantee of their bond”. Consummation, if you will.

Statistically speaking, explicit fics tend to be much more popular than non explicit ones and romantic relationships are what move the main search engines of fanfic platforms.

Headcanon-wise, anyone can do what they want. If a character is interpreted one way or another, that’s not for anyone to police.

With aroace characters, though, it’s a bit tricky, because it’s incredibly rare the amount of times a character is explicitly in the spectrum, and any evidence you can gather, which isn’t outright hearing it, is a lack of something.

A lack that fandom interprets in another way.

You can have a character be sexually attracted and romantically attracted to another and have that be enough for an audience to understand their orientation, to an extent, but an aroace character seems to have to explicitly state it because the lack of romance or sex in their narratives will be interpreted by fandom as “incomplete”.

It’s more frequent for fandom to interpret a character who is not in a romantic or sexual relationship as “lacking” it and “fix” it in fic than for it to be headcanoned as aroace.

An adjacent issue happens with this and the old notion of “queer-coding”. Audiences tend to sometimes interpret that lack as the incapacity for a media creator to explicitly state that the character is homosexual.

The unintended consequence of years of coding, baiting and censorship of non het relationships in media was the invisibilization of relationships canonically in the aroace spectrum.

For example, the first reaction to Elsa from Frozen not having a romantic relationship in the movie was that she was an amatonormative and allosexual lesbian rather than somewhere in the aroace spectrum. Not that there aren’t a myriad of overlaying possibilities between the two things, but you get my point.

The lacking, the incompleteness that fandom most often sees in characters is filled in, most often than not, with gay romantic and sexual relationships, as a result of the years of queer-coding in media. You know, the good ol’ “if she doesn’t have a boyfriend, she must be a lesbian” stance. Fandom is, sometimes, like a family dinner with a 60+ year old uncle.

This is a problem because it creates, within fandom, instances of tug of war between two under-represented factions who both deserve the due representation and which sometimes, very often, overlay in the same people, who fall in both spectrums. It creates arguments and fights for one or other character between the two, as if they were mutually exclusive at all times.

I recently came across different levels of discourse and comments on two pieces of media for this reason, in two different sides.

One concerned Mackenzi Lee’s A Lady’s Guide To Petticoats & Piracy, in which the lead is aroace and there is a girl who is romantically attracted to her and there is a hint of a potential qp relationship. After reading it I found in some review spaces opinions that considered the author hadn’t “gone all the way” with it, as if it was “cop out” for a potential lesbian romance, taking into account that the first volume of the series was centered on an mlm relationship, which gave people certain expectations.

The opposite happened in the webcomic Go Get A Roomie, in which a female lead character who seemed to be aroace for years ended up in a romantic and sexual relationship with the protagonist and there isn’t so far much of a descriptive of where her identity lied to begin with, but with some meaningful conversations that seemed to imply the spectrum after having suffered trauma. And this can be perceived as a sort of “deception” and to the problematic notion of aroace-ness as a “treatable phase”.

Both stories are valid. Both roads towards self-discovery are valid. There isn’t an immediate denial of the spectrum for one or other possibility and both narratives are experiences that happen to people, even maybe the same people at different times in their lives.

But the two happen to include female relationships and boy are those underrepresented. Like I said, it isn’t that both things can’t overlay in a myriad of places, Lillian could be a demisexual demiromantic, for all I know, Sim could be homoromantic and asexual, we don’t know the specifics.

It’s likely and valid to have a gut reaction when you think you’re being represented and then you’re not entirely. And that’s understandable. But it’s a pity that we have tugs of war for scraps of representation.

So, on the one hand, with headcanons, we tend to get fandom fights, most often than not between underrepresented identities, because we’re fighting for the little there is, when in reality we should be uplifting each other...but anyway, moving on.

That’s all in the realm of interpretation, up until the moment the author makes the characters explicitly make choices and take action. That’s someone having a headcanon because of things the piece of media was doing and then having it proven right or wrong, or never having it proved at all.

The other thing, where it gets nasty, is when fandom “fixes” canonically aroace characters. This is also incredibly frequent, most often than not with mlm ships, or what fandom considers mlm ships.

One of the nastiest last year was the Good Omens debacle.

Neil stated that Aziraphale and Crowley weren’t “homosexual men” because they weren’t “men” and they weren’t sexual beings (the whole “making an effort” thing that explicit fic writers like to latch onto). Neil also said they love each other, however that wants to be interpreted, opening it up enough for it to be platonic or romantic or anything you want.

Fic writers have written more GO fics in the last year than ever probably, because of the show, and they’ve experimented with a lot of places of the spectrum. I’m not here to judge anyone because a GO fic was my favorite ace explicit fic I’ve read, so interpretations can be fascinating, I’m all here for them.

The problem arose when people (mostly cis het women) on social media (mostly twitter) started calling Neil a homophobe for not making them pretty much fuck on screen or explicitly state that they were fucking offscreen in canon.

That’s where we need to draw a line and reevaluate our life choices.

I can’t count the amount of posts, tweets and reactions I saw rejecting the possibility of Aziraphale and Crowley not being a) cis men and b) allosexual. The two things created a gutted reaction, to the point that you have to consider the nature and intended result of those comments and, in that case, who’s being an intolerant asshole.

There was a point in time in which fake woke rep discourse became the excuse for people to demand fanservice from creators, especially in the cis het women + mlm media overlay, and this is a problem. We need to separate the discourses, we need to figure out why we’re here and what we’re demanding.

Another similar example I saw recently, yet less overwhelming, was with Banana Fish and the queerplatonic relationship between Ash and Eiji in canon.

I came into BF later than most, but when I read the epilogue manga I found one of the earliest descriptions of a qp relationship I’ve seen, and there were a lot of interesting comments made by the author and other people interviewing her about why sex was never a part of their dynamic and how the bond they had was more of soulmates than romantic lovers and why it was meaningful all the same.

Still, even if the author doesn’t, Banana Fish is considered among the key “BL” animated series of the last few years, alongside stuff like Doukyuusei, Yuri On Ice, Given, etc. And fandom likes to “fix” that “lack of” situation often, apparently.

This case isn’t as feral as GO but it is, however, deceptive. Coming into BF I never would have guessed their relationship was to be qp because fandom let me believe it wasn’t.

And, in this case, the author explicitly stated that this was her intention, this was the story she wanted to tell, it wasn’t her adjusting to censorship or having to code her characters, it was, at heart, what we now can consider a qp relationship.

And, in all of these cases, in which there are aroace characters or relationships involved, or at least somewhere in the aro spectrum or the ace spectrum or both, there’s one main issue behind it: the lack of belief that relationships that aren’t romantic and sexual can be crucial.

That they can be storytelling worthy.

In media-creating and in fanwork-creating, it seems to be the norm to have an endgame romance, or at least for romance to be a key part of your content. It’s the expected box to tick for a fulfilling story, it seems, and the lack of it is the “problem” fandom likes to “fix” the most.

This is also mirrored in the platforms we use. There is a lack of possibility to tag qp relationships as something separated in ao3: the / is for romantic/sexual relationships and the & is for all-encompassing platonic relationships (described by the guidelines as family, teammates, friends, etc.). In order to write a qp relationship you have to tag it & as per guidelines but you have to add another descriptor because you’re not writing family or teammates, and in the case of fandom-polarizing ships, it can be a problem.

And all of this influences us as creators, to the point that it’s easier to write something we’ve never experienced, like romantic attraction, than it is to write without it, because we’ve heard the romantic stories all the time, we’ve grown up reading them, and we’ve learned that no kudos will come to your fic if you don’t have them in there, because it’s that / what’s gonna move the search engines towards your stuff.

Maybe, hopefully, with time and more media around us, we’ll learn different ways of exploring transformative fanwork. Maybe while knowing ourselves and others, we’ll start believing that a lack of romantic relationships doesn’t necessarily mean someone was “too much of a coward to not make these two explicitly x or y”.

Maybe we’ll learn to coexist because, after all, some of these things coexist within our own spectrums sometimes, and it’d be nice to see the capacity for us to not fight for the scraps of rep that media throws at us but be able to understand each other and ourselves enough to create the media that we need.

#long post when expanded #Opinions #aro awareness week #i'm not gonna tag the examples I'm already risking to much by mentioning them in the post #i don't know how long this will be up tbqh

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merilly-chan · 5 years

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I am so done with a part of this fandom.

I’ve had it and I’m getting more frustrated by the second to the point where I simply stopped engaging in discussions.

First of all, before there are any misunderstandings, Kingdom Hearts 3 is far from perfect. I have quite a few gripes with it, especially with the pacing, and I am not denying anyone the right to voice their criticism in a civil manner.

But what is happening in a part of this fandom is not civil nor is it criticism, it is something I’d consider flaming. And worst of it all, it is so hypocritical that I want to smack my head repeatedly against a wall so I may forget I ever saw it.

Over the course of the last few days and weeks, I’ve continuously come across people saying that fans should not accept KH3’s faults and demand them to be addressed. Demand.

First of all, neither SE nor Disney owe us anything, no matter how much we wished for things to be different. We have no right to demand anything since they delivered a game that was not falsely advertising anything. Betrayed expectations are our problem alone and not theirs.

But what upsets me about all those entitled comments isn’t that they completely disregard the positive aspects of the game but that they completely neglect the circumstances of KH3’s development.

Some of the following is based on speculation but it’s a very good reason why some things are not satisfactory and why people are so hypocritical.

●To start it off, this game has been in development for a little more than 4 years after the engine was switched in 2014. Now some might argue that it’s a long time but it’s actually not. I’m not a game developer but some of this is just common sense.

The team working on KH3 had to deal with a completely new engine. They had to build everything from scratch when they’ve only worked with their in-house engines before. Previous KH games (except for KH1and perhaps the original CoM) had the luxury of being able to recycle a lot of assets and just polish it and change/add new components. With an engine they were familiar with. Now some might say that other games also manage to be made in such a short amount of time but let’s face reality here: most of them are copy and pasting lots of their previous work and, once again, are already familiar with the engine they’re working with.

I think we all noticed how much they struggled with the new engine up to the final year where it finally started to stabilize a little. It’s impressive what they managed in that time where they had to focus on lots of different things. And it’s also the reason why some may think the combat isn’t as smooth as in KH2FM.

●Disney/Pixar were much more involved in KH3 than in any other title. This may just be an assumption but judging by the interviews regarding their work together, they weren’t easy to please and hung up on the details more than the overall integrity or the original plot. Disney seemed to care more about its own properties (although KH technically also is) than the original plot which was written by someone else. But since they own the franchise, they decide where the focus is and I dare assume the developers didn’t have as much time as they would have liked to add more original content and the stuff die-hard fans actually wanted.

It stands to reason that a certain song we’re all way too familiar with likely wouldn’t have made its way into the game in the quality that it had without Disney demanding it. (Because they actually have the right to demand stuff.) All that nit-picking and the focus on ridiculous details may be pleasing in the end but not anymore when something else has to suffer in return.

●There is only so much you can add if you take all these factors into account with the team they had at their disposal. KH3 doesn’t actually have that big of a development team compared to other game franchises. They can only do so much in 4 years while still adjusting to new technology and trying to keep gameplay, story and graphics somehow balanced.

Of course that doesn’t excuse every mistake or every decision they’ve made. (I certainly could have done without all those mini games for example.) But let’s be realistic here. If we take all “demands” from all the fans into account, add to that the demands of SE and Disney/Pixar, the game simply couldn’t become all that with the time/money/developers they had at their disposal.

Please get real, people. Not everything is SE’s/Nomura’s fault.

Which is where the hypocrisy comes in and I want to call some of the fanbase out on that.

People demanded this game the moment it was announced. Demanded a release date without them daring to delay the game, regardless of whether the game was even in a state to plan a set release date, and the prevalent emotion in a lot of comment sections beneath official statements/accounts was “finally release the damn game” and “what’s taking you so long?”.

Those very same people are now demanding that the game should have been everything they desired and much more than it actually could manage in 4 years. Some even claim now that they should have taken more time. A lot of them are in the faction that views that game extremely negatively due to exaggerated expectations. It doesn’t work that way. You cannot complain about a lack of content while demanding that they should hurry up before its release.

And this frustrates me. This utter sense of entitlement that SE should be thankful to them and their overblown demands. But sure, that is legitimate. Because they want the game, they want it perfect and within a year of its announcement. Who cares about how many people they would actually need for that and how much money that would consume? Because all companies who want to make money are evil!

I’ve got news for those folks: We can’t have everything. It’s impossible. If everything is so terrible, try creating your perfect KH3 in 4 years with limited resources and demands all over from those actually owning the franchise and the fans without wanting to lift a finger themselves. Kingdom Hearts may have become a fairly big franchise, but it can’t compare to extremely large franchises (yet) and the financial situation likely didn’t allow for more money to be spent.

Jeez, I’m so annoyed by a large faction of this fandom right now. It’s not even about legitimate criticism but rather that it’s the only thing you see from some without them even looking past the product. The gameplay should be perfect, the graphics better than ever, the story should be everything they ever desired and more (who cares what other people think as long as my own are fulfilled, right?), bigger worlds, more to do, livelier worlds, more endgame content, more riddles, more cutscenes (and less for others), more of this character, more playable characters in general, more worlds, etc. Do people even register the things they demand and whether that’s all possible in 4 years with a completely new engine and Disney meddling as well?

Seriously. So many fans only know how to demand things nowadays without actually sparing a thought on the people working on these games. But sure, let’s continue thinking all of them owe us for spending 70$ on their game and that we can demand them to cater to all our individual needs. That’s so much easier than actually showing at least a little appreciation toward what the developers managed to achieve.

I’m not saying to glorify everything with a fanfare, chanting how perfect it is. It’s far from that actually. But you can criticize a game without coming across as an entitled fan who did nothing more than buy and play the game and suddenly thinks that their headcanons and their believes are all that matter. There’s more to see than the final product, even if it comes down to that in the end.

The game isn’t all negative. If someone really thinks that then there’s no helping them.

#kh3 #kh #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 7 years

Text

Once upon a time a certain big name within the Spider-Man fandom spoke upon issue #500 and how it wasn’t a good issue, specifically talking about the ending involving Uncle Ben and how it was ‘banal’.

This is my rebuttal to that.

First lets look at the scene in question and give a little context. It’s Spider-Man’s birthday and he’s spent his time on a trip through his life.

He’s seen a possible future where his identity has been compromised, where he’s wanted by the law and where he is ultimately killed in a last stand with the authorities. Then he’s witnessed his origin as a teenager and had to essentially sporadically hop to random points along his timeline in order to get back to where he started and avert a demonic invasion.

In typical Spider-Man fashion the moments of his life he finds himself returning to are far from pleasant ones as he finds himself in the midst of his battles with various foes, or trapped under machinery in Doc Ock’s underwater base, or even at the Brooklyn Bridge trying and again failing to save Gwen Stacy.

All of this is courtesy of Doctor Strange who inspires Spider-Man to keep on fighting after the latter incident.

And when I say he has to keep fighting...I mean he has to do all of this:

Bad ass.

Anyway by the end of the issue Spider-Man opens up a box from Doctor Strange with a note saying he has just five minutes. And its a doozy!

Okay so the main points of contention from this particular Spider-Man fan, when commenting on this issue, boiled down to:

1) This was underwhelming for a 500th issue of a historic title, with ASM #600 being better on that front

2) It’s almost like another Doctor Strange story because Spider-Man is up against Dormammu and Doctor Strange is involved

3) You expect a big ass battle, perhaps with all of his villains as the cover depicted

4) You never feel like its a personal enough story for Spider-Man because its cluttered with other stuff

5) The conversation between Peter and Uncle Ben is banal and says nothing of importance, not addressing Peter’s role in Ben’s death. Particularly this Spider-Man fan notes how if his father was alive again their conversation would be a lot more substantial.

So let’s address these criticisms one by one.

1) This was underwhelming for a 500th issue of a historic title.

I don’t entirely disagree with this.

For a $3.50 comic book in 2004 that was almost (despite the cover’s claim to the contrary) double length the story was mostly just a clipshow. For an issue which is a milestone amongst milestones (being halfway to issue #1000) something more seismic should’ve been in order. As was though the issue was something of a clipshow comic book which isn’t really acceptable when you consider other centennial Spider-Man issues have had stuff like a rematch between Spidey and the Burglar, the death of Harry Osborn, the death of Aunt May or even in ASM #700’s case a big status quo shift. Okay it was shifting into a bad status quo but that’s not my point.

My point is a centennial issue should carry weight to it. it should either be the culmination of something or the beginning of something that’d matter going forward. ASM #500 was the end of a three issue arc that had only one consequence thereafter, the setting up of another short arc involving Loki. Really the story was fairly skippable which for a centennial issue isn’t good enough.

However that being said the story should be evaluated unto itself and not just on the basis of how it marks a milestone.

2) It’s almost like another Doctor Strange story because Spider-Man is up against Dormammu and Doctor Strange is involved

Arguably, this point might be true of the three part story overall. However it is not true of ASM #500 in isolation.

Yes the main impetus is to stop Dormammu and yes Doctor Strange is involved and the one sending Spider-Man on his journey down memory lane.

However they are nothing more than the excuses to get the story going. The story being a highlighting of Spider-Man’s struggles, the cost of the costume and how Peter feels about that at the end of the day.

That’s what the story is really about and it’s not only squarely based on Peter but it is also most definitely by it’s introspective nature a Spider-Man story.

Really Dormammu and Doctor Strange could’ve been switched out for Doctor Doom and Reed Richards and it would’ve amounted to the same thing. Stopping Dormammu is the destination Doctor Strange is the vehicle getting us to that destination but the story is about the guy in that vehicle and his journey to reach that destination and what he feels about the journey once it is over.

3) You expect a big ass battle, perhaps with all of his villains as the cover depicted

We got that. See the splash page above. More poignantly seeing Spider-Man be thrown into all of his old battles at random with little respite and endlessly fight and fight and fight some more, triumphing over each of them and getting back home to help save the whole damn world is a pretty big feat of Spider-Man’s strength and willpower. It’s yet another ‘lift the wreckage off your back’ moment but done differently.

4) You never feel like its a personal enough story for Spider-Man because its cluttered with other stuff

See my rebuttal to point 2) and also take another look at those conversations I posted between Peter and Doctor Strange and Peter and Uncle Ben, not to mention these scenes.

This isn’t personal?

Also amongst the 38 pages of this issue do you know how many feature the Mindless Ones, Dormammu or none Spider-Man characters (exempting instances like the Juggernaut) and have mostly not been about Spider-Man’s main personal journey in the story? 7 tops. And two of those was setting up the mechanics of the story to allow Spider-Man to return to his own timeline.

So the story is cluttered by all those things being in...less than 19% of the story? So...egregiously less than even ¼ of the overall story?

Okay.

This is probably my biggest bone to pick for various reasons because it speaks to frankly looking at the story far too superficially and also allowing personal life stuff to cloud your judgement. And also because, as you will hear me repeat going forward, this scene was ingenious.

First of all let’s get a little messy here and talk about the commenter and their father. I do not know the commenter very well and know even less of their father. But I do not need to in order to make my point because it is incredibly basic and obvious.

The commenter isn’t Spider-Man, their father wasn’t like Uncle Ben and their relationship with one another wasn’t like Peter and Ben’s.

I know this because

a) No one in real life is like Spider-Man or Uncle Ben

b) No one’s life experiences is like Spider-Man’s, not even police officers who have maybe the closest equivalent to Spider-Man’s life (and from what I know of the commenter they have never been a police officer)

c) No two people are identical on this earth in their personalities which by definition means no two people’s relationship will be identical to any other two people’s relationship. Especially when it comes to a relationship between a parent and child which is about as personal as you could get.

All of which renders the criticism that they would’ve said something different or more substantial to their briefly resurrected father entirely invalid.

Frankly, anyone seeking to truly analyze the scene or critique it should not be asking what THEY would’ve done in Peter’s position and instead be asking what made sense for Peter in the context of his life, personality and history would do. And at the same time what BEN would’ve done, something the commenter entirely neglected.

Which is in fact the real genius of the scene. It flips the script quite a bit to instead of having Peter seek a lot of answers from Ben, it actually shows us that Ben has somethings he wants to ask Peter.

Which is ingenious because after 40+ years we are entirely aware that Peter misses uncle Ben and wants to see him again. But the scene in ASM #500 makes the point that actually Ben would miss Peter too and would need to get a certain amount of closure from him, which I will get into a bit more shortly.

I think if Uncle Ben returned we’d all expect Peter to want to confess and ask Ben for forgiveness for his part in Ben’s death. And the thing is...he did that, or rather he tried too. Because JMS opted to take things a step further. He had Peter begin to ask Ben for forgiveness and for Ben to cut him off before specifics were said.

Which is again ingenious. Let’s be real here, based upon everything we’ve ever known about Uncle Ben (and putting aside how the Ben in this story clearly is aware he’s dead), he’d obviously forgive his nephew for his lack of action when he was 15 years old, especially in light of all he’s done since.

What JMS did was subvert that expectation and have Ben not forgive Peter, but go so far as to say that he doesn’t even consider what Peter did as something his nephew needs forgiveness for, not from him anyway. In one stroke Ben conveys to Peter and the reader that Peter is not atoned for his original sin but rather he never needed that atonement in the first place. Which had writers really paid attention, should have ended any BS guilt tripping Peter visited upon himself going forward when you think about it.

So off the top the issue not only addresses one of the major points of discussion everyone would’ve envisioned for this sort of scenario.

In fact, really as far as Peter is concerned what else is there really to talk about with Ben?

Remember by all accounts Peter and Ben had a very positive and fulfilling parent/child relationship. Peter and Ben’s last interaction wasn’t an argumentative or negative one from what we know. So there is no ‘unfinished business’ left to settle between them like there was between Harry and Norman when either of them were depicted to have died.

What else does Peter, within the mere five minutes he has with Uncle Ben, really got to say to his Uncle? Especially when you consider from his experiences with this stuff Ben is probably able to know or observe the stuff that goes on in Peter’s life. Like Peter really doesn’t have to tell Ben he’s married, or that he’s a teacher or even that he’s Spider-Man.

What else from a storytelling perspective does the specific character of Peter Parker (not you, me, the commenter or anyone else) need to say to Ben once the issue of his guilt over his death has been addressed? The answer is nothing really, at least nothing that we the readers really need to see him saying.

Returning to what I said above, JMS further subverts the expectations in this scenario by having Ben be the one who asks the questions. Cleverly though the focus is still on Peter. Ben is shown to be the one with concern for his son but in asking the questions we get to examine Peter.

Now this is not only brilliant for the reasons I’ve outlines, but because it is also touchingly realistic despite the fantastical scenario.

Whilst there are some shitty parents out there, most parents love their children, regard them as the most important things in their life and make their well-being their top priority.

In this issue we have a man who was the adoptive father of this kid who involuntarily had to leave his son when he was just 15 and still in need of parental guidance as he grew up. Now for a mere 5 minutes he gets the chance to see his son again when he’s all grown up. Even ignoring how he’s literally dead, Ben’s window of opportunity to raise and shape Peter, his son, closed a long time ago.

So instead (as discussed above) he does assuages Peter’s concerns and proceeds to do what frankly MOST parents in that situation would do. He seeks reassurance. Not for Peter’s sake but for his own.

He asks Peter two questions, the first of which boils down to

Have you tried to live a meaningful life?

Now granted Peter somewhat lies in his answer because when Ben asks if he ever walked away from what he believed ‘even once’ he says he never has when ASM #50 and ASM #100 alone are proof that that isn’t true. But then again earlier on Ben did comment that we all stumble and I suppose when you get right down to it, it’s more important that Peter kept coming back to his responsibilities as Spider-Man than the fact that on occasion he walked away from it for, at most, like a few months.

So Peter’s life is reaffirmed as one of meaning, which is a poignant question for a parent to have answered of their child. And also a poignant one for anyone to have to dig deep and answer of themselves as Peter did in that moment.

However it is not as poignant as Ben’s second question, one which goes to the heart of essentially every human being who’s ever lived.

Are you happy?

Let me break that down for you a little bit.

Uncle Ben is a man who never got to finish his job as a parent to his son Peter and never got to see the specifics of how his life unfolded.

Now in a very brief window of time he has the chance to find out first hand from his fully grown son if his efforts as a parent paid off.

And more pressingly he has the opportunity to know the thing virtually EVERY parent across the planet and all time has wanted to know.

Is my child happy?

Is the person whom I love more than anyone in my life or in the whole world, the person whom I can’t help anymore after years of trying to help them, are they happy?

Can I go back to where I came from, where I can’t see them or interact with them, with my mind at ease knowing that they are okay?

This is an entirely realistic thing for Ben to ask and something that fans probably considered a Hell of a lot less than Peter’s side of the scenario.

But the real brilliance of the scene is not in the fact that Ben as a parent would ask the question. But that it makes Peter ask it of himself.

Keep in mind the context of the scene.

Peter has just relived his life, or rather all the crazy super hero parts of it, i.e. the parts which have caused the most pain and problems in his life. The parts which do mostly amount to violence that’s gotten under his skin and threatened to break him. The parts which he has recently learned might possibly lead him down a dark path where he is falsely accused of a crime and killed by the very forces of justice he’s striven to help throughout his career.

And now Uncle Ben, his father, the man who’s death set him down that path which has cost him so much, the man whom miraculously he can see again for a mere five minutes and whom he would deny almost nothing to is asking him this question. The same question which, if you take a look back above, Doctor Strange was hinting at.

And it’s a question I think we’ve all asked of ourselves at one point or another. Hell you could go so far as to say it’s a question which hits right at the heart of life itself.

And in this milestone issue set on the anniversary of his very birth, Peter Parker tells the one man he could never lie to (and by extension the readers as a whole) that...yes.

Actually, despite all his suffering and talk of the ‘Parker Luck’, he feels he is very lucky and ultimately happy.

And that my friends is why the commenter was so very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very wrong in his assessment of this scene being unimportant and banal.

How on Earth could a scene which forces Spider-Man to take a hard look at his life, a life which he’s just revisited the worst highlights of, a life which has been published across 40+ years, and emerge saying that he is deep down happy and content, be meaningless?

How could it be anything even resembling banal?

That my friends is why for all it’s flaws and despite maybe not being enough of a milestone, Amazing Spider-Man #500 is most definitely a GOOD Spider-Man comic.

#Spider-Man #Peter Parker #uncle ben #ben parker #marvel #marvel comics #Doctor Strange #stephen strange #Dormammu #mindless ones #j michael straczynski

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 4 years

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Writing Commissions - New Flat Rate Price!

Craving a particular story that you don’t want to write but that you definitely want to read? You’ve come to the right -- or write -- place! I am open to countless forms of writing that range from one-shots and drabbles to long-term multi-chapter stories; for both original work and fanfiction! I’m an author who’s been writing professionally for over half a decade and I’m currently studying for a degree in Creative Writing with experience in multiple writing classes and workshops.

If you want to look at some of my writing I’ve already done, you can find it at:

ibelieveinahappilyeverafter on Tumblr under the tag my writing ibelieveinahappilyeverafter on Archive of Our Own and ibelieveinhappilyeverafter on WordPress

I have experience in multiple genres and fandoms as well as different writing styles. The default for my writing is 3rd Person Limited and focused on a specific character when it comes to Point of View, but I can cover many other types depending on what works best for the story or what you might like most. I’m also happy to write for a fandom I have no knowledge of as long as background research to write the story does not take more than a few days. Further discussion can be had depending on the story or fandom.

★★★

Prices and Payment Information

Below are the pricing options and word count tiers that I currently have available. If you wish for a higher word count then price is available upon request (although generally expect +$5 per 1,000 words). I will not typically go above 15,000 words.

*500-999 words = $5 *1,000-1,999 words = $10 *2,000-2,999 words = $15 *3,000-3,999 words = $20 *4,000-4,999 words = $25 *5,000-5,999 words = $30 *6,000,6,999 words = $35 *7,000-7,999 words = $40 *8,000-8,999 words = $45 *9,000-9,999 words = $50 *10,000-10,999 words = $55 *11,000-11,999 words = $60 *12,000-12,999 words = $65 *13,000-13,999 words = $70 *14,000-14,999 words = $75 *15,000-15,999 words = $80

*Complete Story: 30,000 - 40,000 words = $200 *Complete Story: 40,000 - 50,000 words = $300 *Complete Story: 50,000 - 75,000 words = $400

For a longer word count story please ask upon email and further discussion can be had and price negotiated.

I also have available editing and rewrite prices. Editing would cover extra proofing or the changing of certain scenes after the story has already come to an end and been sent to you as a complete story. Rewriting would cover either a full rewrite of a commission I’ve already completed or a rewrite of a story of yours that you want to see done in a new style or that you have permission to work with.

*Editing: <15,000 words = $15 *Editing: >15,000 words = $30

*Rewrite: Available upon request (typically half of whatever it would be if priced as a normal commission).

Please note, as well, that there is a difference between a rewrite and what would essentially be a new story. Details can be discussed upon request.

Another option is available as well. I will now offer a reduced price for any stories, drabbles, or ideas that you wish to have written if they belong to a story I’ve already written (or even an idea/AU I’ve simply talked about on my blog) or run along the themes of a simple plot with a specified fandom or pairing (such as ‘Character A runs a flower show while Character B runs a tattoo parlor. Write how they first meet.’ or ‘Write about this idea for this fanfiction you wrote a few months ago.’)

*2,000-5,000 words = $10 *5,000-10,000 words = $20

Taking into account the time it takes to plot, write, and proof a story, these prices cover what would roughly be minimum wage for my living area. All payment is done with PayPal invoices which means payment is received BEFORE the story is written and sent to you in a PDF format. With invoice you are able to pay in a variety of ways depending on what works best for you. Please keep in mind that while I do not expect payment in the plotting stages over email, I do expect payment before work on the story itself begins.

Full refunds are allowed and will be given if work on the story is minimal or has not yet begun, but once the story is underway, there will be NO REFUNDS.

★★★

Basic Information

All correspondence can be had through the email [email protected]. When emailing me, please specify that you are seeking a Writing Commission piece and share with me the projected word count you wish for, the maximum you are able to pay, and a basic plot, prompt, or summary of the story you wish to see written. Upon acceptance of your request, I will email you and further discussion can happen about the piece.

Replies can typically be expected 1-3 days after the initial email is sent. The story will then be completed typically within 1-2 weeks or by the end of the current month once the details are worked out over correspondence and payment is sent. Please keep in mind that the longer the piece, the more time it will take.

If you need the completed piece done by a certain time, such as needing the story to gift to a friend for a birthday or other occasion, please tell me so and I will do my best to get it completed by the date you need it by.

★★★

Information Needed for Story

While you may approach me with a basic idea or prompt and a projected word count, upon acceptance I will ask for things such as characters you wish to be in the story, more details on what sort of story you wished to see written, any background or main relationships you’ll want to see, what Point of View preference you have, if any, and so on until a basic rough draft is completed.

★★★

Content Guidelines

I will do my best to write along whatever guidelines I am given, but I retain the right to refuse to accept a commission if I find myself unable to write for the content - whether due to a lack of knowledge or moral standing. I will also not write:

*Music or Poetry: While I can write a short poem within a piece that a character might have written for another character, I have limited experience in Poetry and no experience in Music or writing music.

*Out of Character (OOC): I will not write characters who would act wildly outside of how they are portrayed in the source material. While changes to them might be made depending on the story or AU, I will do my best to keep to how they come across in the source material (unless fanon is better).

*Overpowered Original Characters: I will not write Original Characters that have skills outside of what they could conceivably have, meaning I won’t write for a character that is gifted at everything, utterly perfect, and is attractive to everyone around them. (I will, however, be happy to write for a character who thinks they’re gifted, perfect, and a gift from god before finding out the horrible truth.)

★★★

Please keep in mind the following information before ordering:

*All stories, whether fanfiction or original work, have the possibility of being uploaded and cross posted to my writing accounts to serve as examples of my work.

*Upon the story’s completion you will receive a PDF read-only version of the story that will be emailed to you. Please let me know in advance if you are unable to work with PDFs and I will instead send you a file that will be easier for you to work with.

*You are allowed to share and re-post the work to your own accounts as long as credit is given back to Andrew Anderson and my tumblr at ibelieveinahappilyeverafter.

*With original work or work written for fandoms with source material in the public domain I retain all intellectual rights of the piece and can, as such, choose to redistribute, self-publish, or sell to a publishing company.

-In regards to copyright and intellectual properties, I would hold the rights to the original stories I write and be able to publish them as I wished, but I would not use any Original Characters that you personally commissioned me to put into the story. I would instead rewrite those scenes with different characters so none of your work would be claimed as mine in any situation.

-Original Characters here would mean detailed characters with profiles that you send to me to be written about and not characters with only a name, vague description, or small role within the story itself. An example of a character I would keep versus a character that would remain yours would be: Bob the blacksmith who likes blueberries versus Robert Tiller who works as a local blacksmith in his town, is quick to anger, maintains a garden, and lives three towns away from his parents.

-In regards to any commissioned story that would be all of your Original Characters, I might take the idea of the story (such as the plot and what happens to the characters) and use it again in future work, but your characters, as always, would remain yours and yours alone.

★★★

Final Information

Thank you so much for your interest and reading everything here and I look forward to working with you in the future! Remember to contact me at my email or here on my blog for any questions you have about the commissions, even if it’s a simple price check.

#writing #commissions #writing commissions #creative writing #signal boost #my commissions

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 4 years

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Writing Commissions (NEW PRICES)

(Please note that the new price update does not apply to commissions currently in progress.)

Writing Commissions are here and I am open to countless forms of writing that range from one-shots and drabbles to long-term multi-chapter stories; for both original work and fanfiction! I’m an author who’s been writing professionally for over half a decade and I’m currently studying for a degree in Creative Writing with experience in multiple writing classes and workshops. If you want to look at some of my writing I’ve already done, you can find it at:

ibelieveinahappilyeverafter on Tumblr under the tag my writing ibelieveinahappilyeverafter on Archive of Our Own and UrbanFantasyBlogging on WordPress

Whether it be fanfiction or original fiction, I will write OC’s as described by you as long as I am given a complete or semi-complete character profile to work with.

★★★

Basic Information

Replies can typically be expected 1-3 days after the initial email is sent. The story will then be completed within 1-2 weeks (or longer) once the details are worked out over correspondence and payment is sent. Please keep in mind that the longer the piece, the more time it will take.

★★★

Prices and Payment Information

I now have a price option for a fuller, complete multi-chapter work and editing prices as well! The editing would cover any extra proofing or the changing of certain scenes. Rewrites or advanced editing can be asked about upon request.

*Complete Story: 30,000 - 40,000 words = flat rate of $250 *Editing: flat rate of $10

Another option has been added! I will now offer a reduced price for any stories, drabbles, or ideas that you wish to have written if they belong to a story I’ve already written (or even an idea/AU I’ve simply talked about on my blog) or run along the themes of a simple plot with a specified fandom or pairing (such as ‘Character A runs a flower show while Character B runs a tattoo parlor. Write how they first meet.’ or ‘Write about this idea for this fanfiction you wrote a few months ago.’)

*2,000-5,000 words = $10 *5,000-10,000 words = $20

Full refunds are allowed and will be given if work on the story is minimal or has not yet begun, but once the story is underway, there will be NO REFUNDS.

★★★

Information Needed for Story

★★★

Content Guidelines

★★★

Please keep in mind the following information before ordering:

*All stories, whether fanfiction or original work, have the possibility of being uploaded and cross posted to my writing accounts to serve as examples of my work.

*You are allowed to share and re-post the work to your own accounts as long as credit is given back to M.J. Anderson and my tumblr at ibelieveinahappilyeverafter.

★★★

Final Information

#commissions #writing commissions #my commissions #boost #signal boost #i am uh desperately low on funds as i try to search for a job y'all #so just throwing that out there

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 5 years

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Writing Commissions (Updated)

(Just a few updates and a new price tier.)

I am now opening Writing Commissions and am open to countless forms of writing that range from one-shots and drabbles to long-term multi-chapter stories; for both original work and fanfiction! I’m an author who’s been writing professionally for over half a decade and I’m currently studying for a degree in Creative Writing with experience in multiple writing classes and workshops. If you want to look at some of my writing I’ve already done, you can find it at:

ibelieveinahappilyeverafter on Tumblr under the tag my writing ibelieveinahappilyeverafter on Archive of Our Own and UrbanFantasyBlogging on WordPress

Whether it be fanfiction or original fiction, I will write OC’s as described by you as long as I am given a complete or semi-complete character profile to work with.

★★★

Basic Information

Replies can typically be expected 1-3 days after the initial email is sent. The story will then be completed within 3-6 days once the details are worked out over correspondence and payment is sent. Please keep in mind that the longer the piece, the more time it will take.

★★★

Prices and Payment Information

Below are the pricing options and word count tiers that I currently have available. If you wish for a higher word count then price is available upon request (although generally expect +$6 per 1,000 words). I will not typically go above 15,000 words.

*500-999 words = $5 *1,000-1,999 words = $10 *2,000-2,999 words = $18 *3,000-3,999 words = $24 *4,000-4,999 words = $28 *5,000-5,999 words = $30 *6,000,6,999 words = $36 *7,000-7,999 words = $42 *8,000-8,999 words = $48 *9,000-9,999 words = $54 *10,000-10,999 words = $60

*Complete Story: 30,000 - 40,000 words = flat rate of $250 *Editing: flat rate of $10

*2,000-5,000 words = $10 *5,000-10,000 words = $20

Taking into account the time it takes to plot, write, and proof a story, these prices cover what would be minimum wage for my living area. All payment is done with PayPal invoices which means payment is received BEFORE the story is written and sent to you in a PDF format. With invoice you are able to pay in a variety of ways depending on what works best for you. Please keep in mind that while I do not expect payment in the plotting stages over email, I do expect payment before work on the story itself begins.

Full refunds are allowed and will be given if work on the story is minimal or has not yet begun, but once the story is underway, there will be NO REFUNDS.

★★★

Information Needed for Story

★★★

Content Guidelines

★★★

Please keep in mind the following information before ordering:

*All stories, whether fanfiction or original work, have the possibility of being uploaded and cross posted to my writing accounts to serve as examples of my work.

*You are allowed to share and re-post the work to your own accounts as long as credit is given back to MJ Anderson and my tumblr at ibelieveinahappilyeverafter.

-Original Characters here would mean detailed characters with profiles that you send to me to be written about and not characters with only a name, vague description, or small role within the story itself. An example of a character I would keep versus a character that would remains yours would be: Bob the blacksmith who likes blueberries versus Robert Tiller who works as a local blacksmith in his town, is quick to anger, maintains a garden, and lives three towns away from his parents.

★★★

Final Information

#writing commissions #writing #creative writing #short stories #fanfiction

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