Composed Writers + Fanfiction: My true OTP

Hello everyone,

What with all of the entertainment material that is being released, a quick glance on social media can tell you that some, if not all of them have some sort of following. There are those that are simply interested in the subject matter, and then there are those that furiously passionate about their love for the material.

These people are called "the fanbase," by most, but can also be given a more specific name, such as Lady Gaga's "Monsters," or American anime fans referring to themselves as "Otaku" (that's Japanese for nerd).

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has a massive fanbase that dominates the internet. This is spearheaded by a primarily male fanbase known as "Bronies" (a combination of "bros." and "ponies")

 Something present in most of these fanbases are obsessive fans that write fanfiction. Now this doesn't apply that often to superstars, but many shows, books, video games, and even toys with a cult following have hordes of fans that write these story expansions based off of what they believe. Such beliefs include telling the story of a forgotten character, to having two unlikely characters have... *ahem*... sexual interactions (these unlikely characters are typically referred to as a person's "One True Pairing,"or "OTP," the namesake of this post. Another term is "shipping" characters, using the analogy of setting these characters off on a boat into what lies ahead. As a noun it is referred to as a "ship.").

The issue here is that some of these fans (let's refer to them collectively as "Dave")... Dave is so unbelievably passionate about his fanfiction, that nothing else stands. His stance: This is the story, and how it ends. You nor anyone can change that.

This usually leads to other fans (many of which have conflicting fanfictions of their own) to absolutely destroy Dave's fanfiction, often done by either waving their own "OTP flag" to outright threatening Dave's life.

Legend of Korra, along with it's prequel, Avatar: The Last Airbender is full of lush characters that fans adore to pair up together, some a bit more outrageous than others...

Dave's passion for his fanfiction can also lead to him being absolutely enraged that his fanfiction has been destroyed by how the official canon (storyline) of the official show, book, etc. has turned out. This again leads to other fans wanting to rage war on his self esteem.

The issue, is that Dave is a little too passionate about his story, and that there are others like Dave who are as well. All of the Daves out there need to be a little bit more composed when it comes to their fanfiction, because, if they are flagrant with their story, they will ultimately be defeated by those who have no interest. If Dave presented his story as a possible storyline, and posted his fanfiction where composed fanfiction writers gather, he may just find that although he is passionate about his source material, just as many, many others, he may find constructive criticism that may blossom into something totally new.

In all honesty here, we all will have our own little fanfictions, but why not develop that into something more, create something out of that and accept the criticism of others. That's how I developed my love of writing (not the sexual kind, mind you), and I even touch up some old fanfiction fossils to this day.

Rooster Teeth's RWBY has a fanbase that is also susceptible to pairing characters up. The issue at hand is that Rooster Teeth loves to poke fun at these pairings and fuels the OTP fires.

Just be passionate, but don't get out of hand. It's okay to love these stories with a passion. That's why most forms of entertainment are created, right?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Thanks all,

-Peter

NOTE: All of my examples are shows from the animation industry. A fanbase, and fanfictions are not limited to only animations, but even branch to live-action programs, such as The Walking Dead, that have massive followings and a fanfiction writing fanbase to boot!

Amiibo Scalpers: Like the Plague

Hello everyone,

  Sorry for the little hiatus. I'm sure many of you can understand how hectic the Holiday Season can be. I'm back now... back with a grudge.

  You see, while I was away, the little nerd within me got into something new. Something to collect. Something in extremely... extremely high demand.

  Odds are, those of you who owned a Nintendo 64 gaming console have heard of Super Smash Bros., right? I'm sure some of you don't, so allow me to explain. Super Smash Bros. was a fighting game developed in 1999 by Nintendo for their Nintendo 64 gaming console. Over the course of 15 years, 4 sequel titles would release: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

  The two latter titles, were just released last year. Both of them are similar in design and layout, but the version for Wii U is the more complete version (the handheld one for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console is mobile and a lot smaller in comparison). Despite the unbelievably original name (sarcasm), the game is fantastic.

  One of it's many features is the integration of Nintendo's "toys-to-life" figurine line called "Amiibo."

  A "toys-to-life" figurine is a toy character figurine that uses a Near Field Communication system built into its base. Scanning the NFC system, or tag, digitally activates the character in the video game the figurine is tied (advertised) to.

Confused? This video should help!

  Now Nintendo isn't the only one in this industry. Activision has a line of toys-to-life figures called Skylanders. They have been unbelievably popular these past few years.

  Realizing this, Disney created Disney Infinity which uses the same technology, but rather than featuring gimmicky monsters, the game features popular Disney and Marvel characters (and eventually Star Wars!).

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 1

  Nintendo, however is the first developer to have their toys-to-life figures be available for multiple types of games. For example, I have an Amiibo for Mario. I can tap that Amiibo onto my Wii U GamePad while playing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, or Mario Kart 8. Both of them do something unique to enhance gameplay, but I'm not here to promote the lovely features these little guys offer.

  You see, like many types of figurines, the Amiibo are highly collectable. This makes them popular, and highly desirable. I'm one of those people who are hooked. So what's the big deal?
  "You like toys, and you want to collect them. Way to be a man!"
  ...Sure, I see how it is. But you see, I'm not as obsessed as I could be.

  In this day and age, the internet literally gives us instant information regarding availability. Due to the high demand of Amiibo, this has opened the gate for scalpers, or resellers as they are often referred to. These people exploit the demand of Amiibo to buy as many of the figurines as possible, and sell them for over quadruple the price of retail ($12.99), because parents and collectors don't care how much money they spend. "If little Timmy wants it!" as they say...

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 2

  The amount of money these scalping hoarders make allows them to buy out entire stores just to make a quick buck, thus making children (the target age group) and collectors suffer for being only two minutes late for a store's opening! Yes. That's right. People make lines for these suckers. Nearly every time it's a disappointment, because some gentleman, who has no better thing to do with their time, was standing in line in front of you.
  Sure there are pre-orders for these things, but guess who pre-ordered several hundred of these figures before you did? That's right. A scalper.
  It's getting so out of hand, that some stores liquidate their stock as employees call dibs on the product before the product is even shelved! And what do they do with that? Sell it of course!

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 3

  Yes, folks, this is what the world has come too. Exploit rich parents  make money. Sounds fun right? You couldn't be more wrong. Scalpers are hated with such a passion by fans. All out brawls and complaints to management to enforce limits are made daily. I'm not one of those people, but I sure as heck despise that people think that this is an okay thing to do!!!

*Sigh*

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 4

  Sorry for the mini-rant, but this is a real issue that I'm dealing with here. Well technically I'm not the only one. There are so many fans of Amiibo out there. Sure I'm only after the Amiibo that are based off of the Super Smash Bros.video game, but there are so many characters that I have lost from right under my nose, some of which have been reported as "discontinued." Never to be restocked again... Well phooey!!

  So if you ever consider, or are currently in the reselling business, beware! If it has a fan base, people will hate you. Consider what you are doing first. Don't be selfish. Chances are, you'll make a collector, or maybe even a little kid very, very happy.

Super Mario Amiibo Wave 1

  Of course, I'm the person who tries to look for the best deals, so somehow I'm always out of luck...
so if any of you have either a Marth, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer or Pit Amiibo you are willing to sell for MSRP, I'm your guy.

I kid, I kid...


But seriously, I'll pay MSRP.  ;) :) (other positive looking emoticons)


Thanks all,

-Peter