My Thoughts on Late Gifts in Fandom Exchanges
A disclaimer -- I am an individual participant in fandom events and do not run them, nor am associated with any of them. These thoughts are my own, independent perspective on fandom etiquette.
TLDR; If you require timely or high quality fan works, you can always commission them. Stay grateful and patient for free labor and freely run spaces, and maybe grow the garden instead of stomping on it.
When you see entitlement, call it out. It's way past uncool.
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The person who took on my prompt in the Sonadow Exchange is running about a week behind -- and I'll be happy to receive anything, at any time -- even if they drop and a pinch hitter fills in during July, I will be grateful. The mod communicated what they knew back to me as soon as they did, and I went "bet, I have a million other things to do, too."
I realize not everyone feels this way on late gifts.
I say that maybe, if you don't feel this way, you're better off purchasing commission work to ensure you are getting the quality of work you desire on a timeline that fits the needs of your anxiety. Maybe community garden vibes aren't for you, and you'd prefer a country club.
Me? I'll roll in some dirt and enjoy chatting with other worms and lady bugs. Maybe some quality ain't perfect -- we get some daisies and fancy mosses to go along with our dahlias and artfully pruned shrubs.
Now, just going to leave thoughts below for posterity as I am sure they were deleted by the originator of the post (I'm blocked and I count that as a win), and I stand by what I say verbatim. Quote me on it, go ahead.
Seeing someone blast a mod and share private DMs because the weather was too hot and their anxiety is everyone else's problem (a therapy topic we actually cover in Acts 2-3 of Rediscovering You through Sonic) when the original poster was provided visibly fair, consistent, and fluid communication just set my burners off.
