#it's like they've written fanfic of their own works

[seven-saffodils]

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[zepskies]

What Does "Supporting Writers" Mean? ✍️

Apparently it's Fanfic Writer Appreciation Day! To all my fellow writers, I truly appreciate you for bringing me joy, making me smile on rough days, and giving me my weekly/daily dose of escapism and warm fuzzies. (Shoutouts to you personally below.) 💓💓

But what does it mean "practically" to appreciate your favorite writers, especially on Tumblr?

For example, I know some fanfic authors are starting to block "serial likers": people who'll go through someone's entire masterlist and hit the "like" button on 20-something stories without commenting or basic reblogging.

While I think blocking them is extreme, I understand the authors' frustrations. I've actually been asked if I'll ever leave Tumblr, since many of them have dropped off over the past few months, or even the past few years.

I'm still here for two very important reasons:

I love to write about my favorite characters. I write primarily because I love it, not just for the kudos.

I'm friggin' blessed to have a lot of friends and lovely readers on here and Ao3 who support me immensely on my writing and on this blog in general. I love and appreciate each and every one of you! Which is why I do my best to reply to your comments and reblogs. 💖💖

Of course, there are many reasons why a writer might take a break or stop writing entirely, but one of those reasons is also why the #supportwriters tag exists...

And why you'll see us include banners like this on our posts:

(Credits: cafekitsune, me, inklore)

That being said, here's my own rule of thumb on how I try to support my fellow writers when I read something I enjoy:

If I "liked" something, it means I had the time to read a story all the way through and I enjoyed it! (Or I'm bookmarking it for later in the day lol)

If I have the time to read it, I have the time to leave a comment on what I liked the most about it.

If I have the time to write out a comment (anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes), I typically put that comment in a reblog -- maybe even add a gif or two for ✨razzle dazzle.✨ That way I can share it with the rest of my followers, so they can see it and hopefully enjoy it too...

Why? Because Tumblr isn't TikTok or IG. Reblogging is the best way to help a post gain traction on Tumblr. The algorithm doesn't care much about likes.

But on a more human level, supporting writers is just the basic thing of -- if you enjoyed something you read (that a writer shared for free), just let them know what you liked about it.

Remember that there's a person behind the content you enjoy. They might have been working on that story for weeks or months, or even years before they got the courage to post it.

They might really be putting themselves out there, writing about a topic or subject matter that they're not sure people will even like or engage with.

Maybe they're exploring something new, like a character or trope they've never written before.

Maybe they're expressing part of themselves that they haven't even told another living soul.

Maybe they just wanted to write something fun and smutty or angsty or fluffy and want to share the escapism with you.

Whether they've been writing for years or are just starting out, any and all is valid.

For me, as a writer and a reader, supporting my fellow writers often means supporting my friends. And 9 times out of 10, the way we became friends was by leaving feedback on their work and asking them questions, or responding to their awesome feedback on mine.

If you want a little jumpstart on how to leave feedback, whether encouraging or constructive, here's an awesome post about it (not mine).

Shoutout to some of my favorite writers 💞:

(In no particular order)

@waynes-multiverse @luci-in-trenchcoats @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior @thatonewriter15 @rizlowwritessortof

@waywardxwords @tofics @kaleldobrev @deanbrainrotwritings @deanwritings

@jawritter @deanwinchesterswitch @justagirlinafandomworld @ravengirl94 @waywardxwords

@spnbabe67 @deanwanddamons @ejlovespie @kittenofdoomage @venus-haze

@talltalesandbedtimestories @sam-is-my-safe-word @jacklesbrainworms @artyandink @princessmisery666 (I just starting reading your stories, but I'm continuing with Samnesia soon!) -- and I'm sure many more! 💋

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

Hii, do you mind doing a poly!plastics x reader where reader gets hypothermia 'cause she fell on a river during winter while she (or the pronoun you feel comfy writing) was out with the plastics on a date or something and the girls just try to stay calm and help reader get warm, rushing to one of the girls house with Gina's car so they can get a lukewarm bath after helping with body heat (nothing more than bear hugs and skin-to-skin cuddles in my mind tbh but feel free to do whatever you have in mind). They freak out a little when they notice reader isn't aware of what's going on (being lucid and answering things) but everything gets better in the end with fluff and assurance from the reader that she's fine now (since her girls are still on their toes about it) :D

Tysm for your fics, they've been making my days better and your last one is not an exception 😊❤️

Burning but it's Ice Cold ||

|| poly!plastics x fem!reader

(i myself am poly!)

|| Warnings: Regina soft for reader, mentions of panic attack, brief hypothermia descriptions, Reader's hurt, hurt/comfort fic

If I missed a warning lmk

|| Summary: reader and the girls go ice skating at Regina's cottage, reader gets distracted by the northern lights and falls through a thin spot of ice. The girls work together to comfort and warm up reader.

Requests open!

Started: May 13th

Finished: May 26th

~~~

It was a cold, February afternoon. You and your girls were staying up at Regina's family cottage for the weekend, enjoying a much needed break from NorthShore drama. Lately it's been feeling like there's some new fire to put out every damn day. The four of you really needed this break.

You were chilling on the couch, sipping a tea when you remembered something you had seen on your way up to the cottage. Maybe about a seven minute walk from here there was a frozen over lake, you grinned as you got up the from the couch and rushed to the kitchen where your girls had been chatting and hanging out while Gretchen cooks.

"We should go ice skating!" You say suddenly, getting their attention.

"Huh?" Regina blinks at you, ice skating?

"Yeah! There's like a frozen lake maybe ten minutes from here!" You smile, bouncing on your heels as your girls exchanged looks.

"I think my parents might have some old skates in the shed. Gretchen, go check." Regina says, Gretchen nods and quickly goes to look for the skates. (the food was forgotten but its okay because its a fanfic)

"Is ice skating like skateboarding?" Karen asked, you and Regina shared a look.

"Mm... I guess?" You tilt your head, thinking a little too hard on it to find the similarities between the two," though it's closer to roller skating.. only on ice."

"That's like really cool." Karen replied, you gave her a soft smile and walked over to give her hand a gentle squeeze as you kissed her cheek.

Gretchen comes back a few moments later, struggling to carry four pairs of skates. You quickly run over and take a few from her to help her out, she gives you a grateful smile as she kisses your cheek.

"Thank you, Y/N/N. Hopefully these will fit." She looks down at the skates, there's one pink pair which were clearly Regina's as on the side there was a slightly darker pink glittery R written in calligraphy. You handed those skates to Regina, she rolled her eyes but took them.

Gretchen handed a pair to Karen. You and Gretchen held the last two pairs for yourselves.

"Alright! Let's go!" You grinned, running to grab your coat and quickly pulling it on before sprinting out the door.

It was getting darker, but the sky was lit with northern lights that shone bright and kept a soft glow on the ground to light up your way.

Your girls quickly caught up to you, dressed in their own respective winter gear and the four of you marvelled at the lights.

All of you took some pictures, as well as a group photo where Regina had her arm draped around your shoulders as she kissed your neck.

You shivered at the feeling but the smile never left your face.

When you finally arrived to the lake, all of you put your skates on. Gretchen helped out Karen with hers since she was having some difficulty with her laces.

Once the laces were tied, Gretchen stood and kissed Karen's cheek. By this point you were already out on the ice with Regina, Regina showing off some twirls while you cheered her on. Who knew Regina had a hidden talent for ice skating?

Gretchen and Karen soon joined you guys on the ice, Karen recorded Gretchen for tiktok while Gretchen did some of her own twirls and such. You had begun exploring the iced lake, skating further away from the group.

You went a good distance away. Your gaze going to all the colourful lights in the sky, completely distracting you from your surroundings. You don't notice that you're skating over a thinner spot even as the ice cracks beneath you.

Regina had started following behind you, her body tensing when she heard the ice crack.

"Y/N!" She yelled, pulling your attention from the lights and towards her. You stared at her in confusion and were about to ask 'what' when you suddenly dropped. A scream leaving your mouth.

You fell through the ice, desperately grasping for anything to hold. The freezing water touching your body like sharp knives. Your eyes began to close when you felt someone grasp your hand and pull you out.

Regina pulled you out of the water, her arm draping around your shoulders and holding you tight to her side as she helped you stand.

The next half an hour went by in a whirlwind of panic, Gretchen freaking out the most. Karen helping Gretchen through multiple panic attacks. Regina was the most calm, she internalized it all so there was at least someone stable enough to help you. As for you, you barely had any idea what was going on. The cold was making you go in and out of consciousness, you could barely feel any of your body. Did you still even have a body??

When they finally get you to the cottage, Gretchen gets the fireplace going. Adding in some logs then lighting it using some old scrap paper. Regina brings you over to the fireplace, taking a seat on the sofa and pulling you in her lap to keep you warm. Your whole body shook, lips were purple.

Karen frowned at the sight but then suddenly smiled as she got an idea," I'm gonna go make a hot chocolate and start a warm bath!" She says happily, Gretchen turns her head in Karen's direction then glances at Regina.

"I'll go keep an eye on Karen, you okay here?" Gretchen asked, Regina nodded and made a shoo gesture before her hand came and rested on you. Her hands trailed along your trembling body as a feeble attempt to keep you warm while Karen prepped hot chocolate and a bath with Gretchen's help.

You had curled yourself into a ball in Regina's lap, head rested just below her chest as you hugged your knees. You kept you eyes closed; barely able to focus on anything around you. You knew Regina's hands were moving along your body, but you could barely feel anything.

Regina looked down at you and gave your cheek a gentle tap," You still with me?" She asked, having noticed your eyes were closed which made her panic just a little. You made a small grumble in response and your eyes opened slightly to look at her. She was more relieved than she would ever admit," just keep your eyes open, baby. Can you do that?" Her voice was uncharacteristically soft, but then again. Somehow she always had a soft spot for you.

You nodded slowly, not really wanting to keep your eyes open. But you did as Regina asked, you always did.

Karen comes over with the hot chocolate, decorated with whip cream, various sprinkles on top and a swirly straw. She handed you the cup but you weren't able to grasp it, so Regina took it from Karen's hands and held it up to your mouth for you. You took a sip with the help of the straw.

"That's it, good girl." Regina whispered in your ear, a light smirk on her lips. She knew exactly what she was doing. She looked at Karen who was there smiling at them," Is the bath ready?"

"Yep! Gretchen's got it going!" Karen replied.

Regina looked down at you, seeing the soft redness on your cheeks. She couldn't tell if it was because of how cold you were or if it was from what she had said before. Her hand rested on your hip, gently grazing it with her thumb. The feeling made you shiver more than you already were.

"Think you can stand for me?" Regina asked, you looked at her and gently shook your head. Still sipping hot chocolate.

She frowned at that and handed Karen the cup, you pouted a little as your hot chocolate was stolen. "Hold onto that." Regina stated, then stood with you in her arms. She carried you up stairs, Karen following behind with the hot chocolate. She tried taking a sip of some, but the straw went to her nose instead and made her flinch. She did get it to her mouth though after another attempt. Karen doesn't have the best luck with straws.

Regina got you into the bathroom where Gretchen was pacing as she waited. She stopped and looked at you, frowning when she saw you were still shivering.

"I googled best ways to help hypothermia and you're not supposed to put too much heat on them at once, so I made sure the water wasn't too hot or too warm." Gretchen rambled out, Regina didn't respond. She was more focused on you as she started removing your clothing.

Once she had you undressed, she placed you in the tub with Gretchen's help.

"Stay with her. I'm getting her warmer clothes." With that, Regina headed to their shared room at the cottage and started digging through the dresser for anything that looked warm while Gretchen kept an eye on you in the bath.

After all that was done, you were starting to feel better. A little more present at least and less trembly. Regina came back with fresh clothes. The two helped get you out of the tub while Karen was off getting your comfort movie set up in the bedroom.

Gretchen got you dressed and then her and Regina helped you into the bedroom where Karen was waiting. She pressed play on the movie and the four of you laid in bed in a cuddle pile, you in the middle as your girls surrounded you. You made a soft sigh.

"I'm okay now.." You mumbled, Gretchen and Regina looked a little surprised when you talked considering you haven't said a word since before all this happened. Gretchen seemed to finally relax a bit. (Karen's too focused on the movie.)

"You sure?" Gretchen asked, hand coming to rest on your cheek. You leaned into her touch and nodded. You weren't perfect, but you were better.

"Thank you. All of you."

[jtl07]

There's a story behind each trinket, each wrapper, each pebble and Beatrice learns to always turn out Ava's pockets before putting her clothes in the wash. While the machine rumbles, she'll have Ava explain each one, allow herself to lean into Ava's side as she plucks each item from Beatrice's palm. (When they get to the end, Beatrice leaves her palm open and sometimes, Ava will take her hand. And Beatrice will want - Ava; will want to ask what kind of story Ava thinks they'll have, how many chapters, how many novels will it span. It's the same part of her that wants desperately to hear forever from Ava's lips.)

Art for pocketful commissioned from the ever incredible, the incomparable @princington

(More thoughts - about Prince, about their art - below the cut)

Prince has done so many wonderful works of art for the Warrior Nun fandom, especially their fanart for fanfics - there have been countless times I've discovered a new beloved fic through their art. It's even more special when it's your own fic - it's like looking through someone else's eyes, and when it's an artist like Prince, it's nothing short of awe-inspiring. So when I was thinking of getting art commissioned for pocketful, I knew it had to be Prince.

They were very kind and easy to work with, and they took one of my favorite moments I've written and made me fall in love with it all over again. I mean, look at their expressions! If you've seen Prince's work, you know that they have an extraordinary ability in drawing emotion in such a heartfelt way. I love the fondness, the intimacy, the devotion. I just - [goes off to flail and squee for 10 minutes]

And then there's the physical closeness, how Ava's almost in Bea's lap, how indulgent Bea is as Ava is pointing out the different items in her palm (I love that there's a leaf!). There's so much to love in this - the contrasts and "them"ness in their posture, in their clothes. Also the way Bea has her hand tucked between her thighs makes me think about how she tries so hard to keep her hands to herself, yknow? (That theme was one of the things that made me want to write this particular fic to begin with.) And gosh, how comfortable they both are here, in this humble, gentle space they've carved for themselves. It's incredible, seeing this scene like this.

Prince, we're so lucky to have you - thanks for all you do and for sharing your amazing work with us. I'm going to treasure this for a very long time <3

[spyroforlife]

I've had further Emberlynn Pinkle thoughts

I think the best possible life for her in Hell. is for her to become a goddamn Overlord

Because wouldn't that just be so fitting. That the person who writes over the top fanfics, who probably makes her characters utter Mary Sues (affectionate) who are amazing and powerful and beloved, actually HERSELF becomes a person of power and status in her afterlife

I like to envision her becoming the Overlord of Smut

She gets herself a real nice headquarters, something like a combined library and apartment building, where those who sold their souls to her can live and be taken care of. They've got Internet, they've got food, and you've got the whole big library and lounge area down on the first floor!!

BUT. If she owns your soul. You're gonna work too. Helping out with the Hell-exclusive version of AO3 she created, of course! Responding to support tickets. Tag wrangling. Doing other admin work. Tech support. You get to have your own account too of course and you get extra features, so you can make your own fics even better~ It's very much encouraged for her employees to be fic writers

And she just makes money from demons donating to her entirely because they love her site full of filthy stories, and they want to be able to continue reading and posting their own fics. Non-employees get more basic accounts but there's still plenty they can do.

This isn't even treading on Valentino's toes. It's just written stuff. It's not using real people, there's nothing being filmed. So in Val's eyes, it's two different industries. He does the live action stuff. Hers is meant to be read. So he doesn't really care, and in fact peruses the site himself for inspiration.

I could see him having a deal with her where if he likes a fic idea, she'll get him in touch with whoever wrote it and help negotiate the person allowing Val to use the idea, in return for some of the profits. Emberlynn and the writer of course split their share, and this is all laid out in the site's TOS. As you can imagine, this does attract demons intentionally trying to get Val's approval with their writing, and those guys are seen as squares, but like. Can't really stop them.

Everyone just generally posts what they like and ignores shit that annoys them. And yeah, massively popular website, ran by Emberlynn and her followers, and their headquarters is often visited by others who just wanna hang out and talk about their own writing.

They sell snacks and stuff to guests, and hey, if you like this and want to be part of their exclusive club.. go talk to the boss lady Emberlynn and she'll get you alll set up.

yea idk. Overlord Emberlynn y'all

oh yeah and of course her powers get stronger as she gains souls, idk what all she'll be able to do exactly but I know for sure she can fly, and I can also see her being an emotion reader who specializes in sensing people's turn-ons, which she can use to direct them to the writers she thinks they'll like the most :D she might also be able to mildly hypnotize people using pheromones or something idk. just throwing ideas around haha Emberlynn is fun and I hope she lives her best monsterfucker life in Hell

[blackbird-brewster]

Fanfic Author Asks

Send me some numbers

How long have you been writing fanfic?

What's your shortest fic? What's your longest?

Tell me about one of your fics you think is underrated/underappreciated.

Longest period of time it's taken you to write one fic?

How many WIP do you have?

How do you come up with ideas?

Is there a character or ship you'd love to write for, but haven't yet?

Who are some of your favourite authors in your fandom?

Do you ever look at your stats on AO3?

What makes a fic 'successful' in your opinion?

Share a favourite comment a reader has left you.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

How many works have you published?

What's the average word count of all of your published fics?

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chapter fics?

Is there a type of fic you would never write?

What is your most written pairing?

What's your most used additional tag?

Have you ever participated in any type of fandom challenge?

Has anyone written a fic to gift to you?

What year did you join your chosen fanfic posting platform? (AO3, tumblr, wattpad, etc.)

Do you reply to comments?

Do you leave comments when reading other people's fics?

What are some of your favourite tropes?

Have you written any AUs?

Do you have use a beta reader before publishing?

Does anyone you know in real life know you write fanfiction?

Have you ever made friends with people through your writing?

What's your most popular fic?

What do you struggle with most when writing?

Do you listen to music while writing?

What's a fic you'd love to write, but probably never will?

Do you ever read your own fics once they've been posted?

Are there any common themes you like to explore in your writing?

What's your fic with the saddest ending?

What's your fic with the happiest ending?

Do you have any older fics you would consider rewriting?

Are there any popular tropes/themes you'd never write?

What category do you mostly write for: M/F, M/M, F/F, Other/Multi?

Have you ever written a fic about an OC?

Have you ever written a reader insert fic?

How do you get over writer's block?

What keeps you motivated when working on a long project?

How often do you write?

Wild Card: Ask me something else

[wowowwild]

Ace's All Time Best Fic Rec List (AATBFRL) April 2024: Ace Attorney

It's been a 6 months since my last list so here we go again! (I specified Ace Attorney in case I start doing this for other fandoms.) I originally planned to have all the old recs here as well but the list was too long so here's a link to the previous list. These aren't necessarily in any particular order, but if you can think of a good way for me to organize them, please let me know for future lists!

P.S. Anything rated over T mentions that immediately for your browsing convenience.

Doing more self promotion this year, so check out my pinned post or fic tag (desktop only)!

London, 2021- 7 yg Wrightworth hint of Krisnix. Phoenix is presently in London with Edgeworth. Phoenix is presently knowing that he knows about Kristoph but doesn't want to acknowledge it bc Kristoph has been really good to him and Trucy. But that doesn't matter right now bc they're going to the theatre.

if you leave the light on- 7yg Wrightworth. Nothing can happen until it's over but something Keeps happening. Miles will wait as long as it takes and Trucy decides he's part of the family.

In The Dead Of Night- During the 7yg Edgeworth invites the Wrights to Europe. Trucy has a nightmare and 'Uncle Miles' comforts her.

Phoenix's List- After getting his badge back, Phoenix has some regrets and sets about fixing what he can.

Perfect- I actually found this on another fic rec list and I can see why it was their favorite. Set towards the end of the trial of Bridge to Turnabout. TW if you have memory issues, it might be a little hard to get through parts bc of all the mindfuckery. I have to be really vague here so as not to spoil it. (Wrightworth)

Eo Nomine- Klapollo fake marriage turned real marriage but ig that's what happen when you get fake married while being real in love.

the best you'll never have- Rated M for sex reasons. I love the tagline: "Someone else's wedding is something that can actually be so personal". It's a Blackmadhi complicated relationship, what relationship, they weren't actually dating but also...

Apollo and the Artist (1975 - Oil paint, wax crayon, pencil, collage)- Rated M for mentioned sex reasons. Apollo is not an art person. But to Klavier he is art... and also a person. They've known each other for 8 years and it's probably been coming for just as long. It was a long time coming.

darling i'd wait for you (even if you didn't ask me to)- Wrightworth fake date bc Edgeworth needs a plus one to a wedding for some guy, it's not really important. But the cake sucks.

A Knight in a Loud Red Suit- oh my god oh my god oh my god Klavier gets shot and Apollo stabs a guy. And also love confessions at the hospital. They could have me also if they wanted.

Written- Rated E for sex reasons. Edgeworth moonlights as a Steel Samurai fic writer, and due to it being an obvious coping mechanism for his life and feeling Maya finds out... and accidentally sends a fic to Phoenix who... finds out. Half of the smut is Edgeworth's own fanfic, so we get like... fanfic-ception. That doesn't really work with more than one syllable words, huh...

Lover Be Good to Me- Rated M for implied sex reasons. 5+1 klapollo wooing each other.

Love Love Love- Rated M for implied sex reasons. klapollo is messy in a good way and takes wayyyy too long to call themselves boyfriends. Set from middle of aa4 to past aa6.

delicate- Rated M for sex reasons. klapollo is messy in a bad way (long distance is hard) and they break up but it works out, I prommy. If you don't like angst you'll want to skip this one, though.

(i was) enchanted to meet you- klavquill! I love them, I need to read more fics with them. They meet at the Prosecutor gala for the first time and sparks fly. Actually, they were fireworks, but that's not important.

Process of Elimination- Rated M for sex reasons. One day I will read a fic where Blackmadhi is not complicated as hell. Can they ever talk about their feelings? Apparently I like this, though, bc I keep reading and recc'ing them. Um, Nahyuta is looking for a fuck buddy and by 'process of elimination' ends up deciding on Blackquill but whoops! Feelings.

feel your skin- Rated M for one boner. Klavier is infuriating AND wearing lipgloss and Apollo can't take it. Cue making out in the janitor's closet.

moribund- I keep thinking about this one so I need everyone else to read and think about it with me. Pre Gant busting, POV Lana has to help clean up his messes. This a comedy, mostly of errors.

chronophobia- StarrSkye (AngelxLana) Be forewarned, you are going to cry. Lana has done her time and is trying to find a way to reconnect with the most important people from her past.

Crash! Landing- Junithena, fantastic traumatized autistic representation, if I do say so myself as a traumatized autistic person. It is very sweet and Juniper is a real one. I need me one of those.

In Pursuit of Justice- This one is not yet complete, but I preemptively j'adore'd it. It's a klapollo. Sebastian is great. He says Apollo looks like a frog (accurate).

Witcheln Woes- Secret Santa klapollo and they are cute and Clay is alive and it is sooooo fluffy.

Samurai Swear- Maya making besties with Edgeworth! Maya and Phoenix being besties also! Dash of mutual pining wrigthworth.

Missing You/Missing Time- Ok, hear me out, yes, the mystical bullshit tag is accurate, and de-aging is a weird concept, but !!! It actually serves this story very well! It is a fanfic that feels like a fanfic, but sometimes you want that, you know? Not every fanfic needs to feel like Little Women. Established klapollo first I love yous.

[dduane]

I have only finished writing the first draft of my first novel so I'm nowhere near considering the legal side of writing yet but I'm curious, so if you don't mind me asking I got two questions:

1) Do laws forbidding writers from reading fanfic of their work go over to other mediums, like visual novels for example? Or let's say I wrote a script and was lucky enough to get it produced as an animated short, would these laws still pertain to it? Or do stories outside the written medium have a completely different set of laws pertaining to them?

2) If an author writes a standalone and reads fanfic of said standalone, then goes on to write a series completely separate from their previous work with a different world and cast can the fanfic author still sue if they detect similarities? Even if their fanfic is attached to a completely different story?

Sorry if these questions are weird and rambly, it's 1 AM over here.

Let me clarify this. These aren't laws that I've been following: they're self-designed rules, based on the current legal realities obtaining in the markets where my IP is known and on offer.

Re 1): Written or not written—drawn, sung, or performed as interpretive dance for all I care—work created with consent in one's own universe must have come about with underlying binding written agreements in place. Without such agreements existing, viewing work in any format that's based in one's own universe will inevitably expose one legally. If I write a graphic novel and people write fanfic based on it, I will not read their fanfic because it could expose me legally to claims that further work done in my IP was based on their fic. Ditto if I write a script and it gets produced, and people see it and write fanfic about it, I won't read that fanfic either. The medium doesn't matter.

Re 2): If I write what for the time being is a standalone novel and read fanfic based on it, and then write a completely different series per your description, can a fanfic author still sue me if they detect similarities? Even if their fanfic is attached to a completely different story?

Well, if they've got the money, and depending on where they're located (for national laws differ), sure they can. The suit may well be sourced in confusion, or malice, or both, but they can. And the suit may in due time be lost or thrown out of court for being frivolous, but no matter how the cards fall, it's going to wind up costing you, the writer, a fair bit of money to get shut of it. A year's worth of your earnings? Two years' worth? Five? And what will be left of your career at that point?

The whole situation is better avoided by not reading any fanfic based on your work. In any format. Any time, any place. Period.

What's workable, and legal, and safe, is the following approach to derivative works from the IP owner's point of view.

Let's say that (for example) a producer or playwright approaches me and wants to adapt So You Want To Be A Wizard as a stage play. If that happens I have them get in touch with my agent, my agent proposes a license fee for allowing them to do this, and draws up a contract with that person essentially stating that they have my permission to adapt my book. Once that contract's in force (meaning it's been signed and money's changed hands), it's perfectly safe for me to look at those people's material written in my universe, because we're both bound by a concrete agreement on how the creative process will go forward and how the results will be used.

Or alternately: Let's say that some writers I know think it would be fun to write Young Wizards stories, and when I hear about this, I say "Okay, let's do a YW anthology." And I talk it over with my agent and then we call in a crowd of writers whose talents I trust and whom I think would be interested in taking part. Those interested all sign contracts with me that say they've got my permission to create those works using my IP / in my universe, and to get paid for them. My side of those contracts stipulates (as seems fair) that, if they invent something particularly cool while working in my universe, I retain the right to use and expand on that concept or language at a later date if I like. (If they have a problem with that, that's their call: they don't have to sign the contract or be in the anthology.) And I can obviously now read all this work and have it, legally speaking, be perfectly safe for me.

But let's try looking at the situation from a different direction. I open my ask box one morning and find that someone's stuffed the idea for a Young Wizards short story into it, also saying, "And I'd like to publish this as fanfic, if it's okay with you." Without an agreement in place, without my permission, this person has forced me to look at material which potentially infringes my copyright. But that doesn't matter in terms of my immediate legal options, because fanfic is also conditionally protected by copyright. (This is a complex situation, but this article deals with some of it, and links to more discussion.)

My first urge is to simply delete the thing and pretend I never saw it. But unfortunately Tumblr's records of my web accesses will now contain proof that someone logging into my account, from my computer (or iPad, or phone...) has opened and viewed that ask. Should I ever wind up in court with this person, their lawyers will have demanded that data from Tumblr and will use it to prove that I had access to their client's idea.

So now—assuming they've actually gone ahead and done this writing and publishing—I have to get hold of my lawyer and have them contact Tumblr and get that person's identity and contact info from them, so that they can be sent a cease-and-desist letter. I hate having to do this, but evidence that you have not been defending your copyright can be used against you.

Now let me be blunt. Like most writers, I'm not wealthy. And the simple business described in the paragraph above could cost me a month's income or more in billings from the lawyer. What am I supposed to eat, next month, while I'm trying to write? ...It's a good thing I like ramen.

...Though if I was wealthy, things could get much worse.

Let's say that in an access of utter pre-caffeine idiocy, and a weary desire to be nice to a clueless innocent, I just tell that person in the ask box, "Okay, fine, knock yourself out... just don't make money from it and don't do it where I'll see it." And they say "Of course, I'd never want to cause you trouble, your fiction has meant so much to me..." And then some kind of gloriously indescribable series of events occurs that somehow or other raises the Young Wizards series' profile way higher than it is at the moment, and makes its originator even a little bit rich and famous.*

...And a year or two or five later, in these increasingly litigious times, that person from the ask box who was so nice and said they'd never want to cause me trouble... suddenly starts having second thoughts. ...After all, I've got all this money now, and without their contribution, maybe it would never have happened, right? Don't they have a right to some of that? It's only fair!

You can just hear the thought processes, because we've seen this play out elsewhere before now. "Come on, she'll never miss it. She's probably got a castle in Ireland with solid gold toilets by now. She's got a TV series in the works, and when that comes out she'll have lots more money. She'll never miss a few thousand [ / few tens of thousands / few hundred thousand...] out of that!" And shortly they're on the phone to some lawyers, and the tabloids, and Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, with claims that the Young Wizards series in the works is based on their idea. In fact, they can prove I not only read it, I gave them permission to write in my universe!

...And suddenly Hulu/HBO/RandoStartupStreamingNetwork has stopped taking my agent's calls.

(sigh) So, as I said above: just don't read fanfic based in your own universe, mmkay? You'll thank me later.

*Without the universe's originator then suffering some kind of toxic ethical shift after the fact. (shrug) Stranger things have happened.

[coffeecatcraze]

Hello. I like your Chaggie analysis posts and wanted to ask you if you could another analysis on the couple. In this case, a tumblr user, angeltheninth, said they saw an interview of the couple's VAs and one of the highlights include saying that "Chaggie is at the core of the show". I was wondering ig you could do an analysis on what that could mean in the future and how it applies even in season 1. Again, only if you want to, and if not, I totally understand.

Ohhh this was fun!! I took a while to think about it and get it written out for a few reasons (such as working on fanfics and tragically having to do adulting things), and I'm sure I didn't pin down all the little ideas circling my brain about this, but here are my current thoughts on the matter!

To kick off with the obvious, they're the ones who started this. Charlie had a dream, and Vaggie was the only one who believed in her; and even with how hard it's been, they've still been fighting to make the hotel work. And it DOES. They're the first people since Lucifer and Lilith to look at things and say "hm, that doesn't seem right, let's try this" instead of just going along with it. Lucifer and Lilith led everyone into a new era with their dream of freedom, and with the Sir Pentious being redeemed and ascending to Heaven even after Sera said it as impossible, a new era looks to be exactly where Charlie and Vaggie are heading with their dream of protection. Yes, protection, because Charlie's goal to redeem demons comes from a desire to save their lives, not for the sake of making them better people. Protection has been a MASSIVE theme this season, expressed in song, dialogue, and action; and Charlie and Vaggie are the ones who kickstarted it in the first place.

And as far as "redemption" goes, using "redemption" as a term to encompass personal growth, Vaggie was the first person Charlie ever redeemed. She found her badly injured and took her in, helping a complete stranger out of the goodness of her heart; and Vaggie, a former participant in annual genocide, threw her whole self into Charlie's dream of redeeming Sinners to save Hell. Vaggie's redemption didn't come in the form of active encouagement towards it as a goal, but just as a result of being around Charlie. Charlie redeemed her without even trying. Vaggie was her first redemption story and she didn't even realize it until Rosie pointed it out. In other words, Vaggie was always walking proof that Charlie could redeem people who did horrible things. She never wanted to get back to Heaven; she was after redemption for her own sake, and for Charlie.

Choosing redemption for redemption's sake is the core of it all. Pentious wasn't trying to get into Heaven when he sacrificed himself; Angel had no way of knowing Charlie could see what he was doing at that club, so he very easily could have fallen back into old habits and called it a cheat day. But because they were genuinely becoming redeemed thanks to Charlie and Vaggie's efforts, they made selfless choices. Vaggie's redemption was real, and now these other souls Charlie took in are following in her footsteps. In other words, Vaggie was the original redemption story, and if she could become a better person even with all that blood on her hands, she knew other people could too; she supported Charlie's dream because she knew it worked, and she stayed by her side no matter how hard things got for them. Their relationship is what set the first ever real redemption into motion; they're at the core of redemption itself.

Themes of protection and love are also INCREDIBLY important in this show, and I'm not gonna cite my assorted Chaggie posts like a bibliography, but I feel like I've talked quite a bit about them being loving and protective. Their relationship is steady and stable, and there's an implicit understanding between them that comes from years of being together. They have rough spots but they get through them. They love and protect each other fiercely. Angel, Husk, Pentious, and Niffty have been learning to love and protect as well. How could they not, when they have such a great example to follow? If not for Charlie and Vaggie being such a united front, things would have turned out much less favorably for everyone.

Working together is what gets them through the hard times; they can't do this on their own. Look at what happened when they were off on their own missions in 1x07! Charlie was struggling until Rosie helped her sort through her conflicted feelings and realize that even though she was hurt, she still loved Vaggie and knew Vaggie believed in her; Vaggie was absolutely getting her ass kicked until Carmilla reminded her what (or more specifically who) her reason for fighting was, at which point she held her own, regrew her fucking wings, and impressed one of Hell's top Overlords. They succeeded because even with things so tense, they knew they had each other and they weren't alone. And isn't everyone supporting each other what that hotel is ultimtely all about? It's basically rehab, and for that, a strong support system really pays off. Their relationship essentially embodies the concepts that guide the hotel.

I know that's a lot more overall analysis than specifics about the future or season 1, but I feel like there are some implications in there, and it's hard to lay them out more explicitly in a frame of temporal reference. (Thanks for running out on me with no refills, ADHD meds, that's sooo helpful for getting coherent thoughts together...) They are indeed, in so many ways, the core of both the Hazbin Hotel and the show itself. I'm flattered you like my analysis posts enough to ask me about this, and I hope it was a satisfactory answer!!!

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

just wanted to pop in and thank you for all that you contribute to the arcana community! your posts always feel like they were written with love (not to mention closer to canon than whatever dorian's pumping out these days haha)

also in modern day, asra and portia would absolutely love gacha machines

asra going for the odd/funny ones mainly and portia aiming to collect all the cat figurines that look even a little like pepi

Thank you so much anon friend!! it means so much to me to know that you enjoy what I write, and that I get to share my love for these characters with so many other people :D

And you are so right about the gacha machines - especially when they're inevitably out of cash and need to resort to other forms of trickery to get the prize they need. Asra and Portia with the same goal in mind are a terrifying team xD

Under the cut, I do have a friendly neighborhood fanauthor reminder about what to keep in mind when you see Arcana content on Dorian (no hate to you anon, of course!)

It's been said before, but Dorian as a platform has stated that they are not going to change any of the canon content released by Nix Hydra and they're not going to add anything to the canon content. In fact, they as a company don't produce story content at all because they're a platform, not a producing studio. The few times the company itself has dropped new Arcana content, it's been commissioned sprite edits to add to outfit selections, which fell under alternative character designs (like the merch NH used to partner with artists for).

All the Arcana stories being released on Dorian by fan creators are just that - fan tales. It's easy - it's so, so very easy - to feel like fan tales on Dorian have an "edge" that fan content doesn't have anywhere else because they get to use official assets from the game and get promoted by the company that owns the IP. I also know it doesn't help when promotions for that content on the official socials consistently fail to specify that the content is fanfic and not official additions to canon. However, the fault for that lies with whoever is managing those socials, and not in any way with the creators who put their fanwork on Dorian.

I'm bringing this up because it's easy to attribute decisions made by creators in their fan tales on Dorian to decisions made by Dorian about the Arcana. It leaves those creators and their work open to critique and scrutiny on the level of officially-endorsed, professional content produced by a studio, when the stuff they've made in their free time is just a fan making a fanwork like any other creator in the fandom. If it's not the quality of the original or written differently than canon, that's because it's someone working with their interpretation and imagination, not Dorian as the IP owner adding to the story.

All that to say, you don't have to like what other fan authors and artists make! And you don't have to like how Dorian handles the Arcana! I'd just like to lovingly request that we don't conflate the two and saddle someone with a level of critique/scrutiny that they haven't earned.

[quillthrillswriting]

do any other fanfic writers ever look back at something they've written and just wanna cry because you want what they have 😭 bcos same 😭😭 this exerpt is from my fic where i take the common zutara trope of zuko saving katara from a loveless relationship with aang and flip it on its head until it becomes kataang hehhee :) also new aang au fic coming soon!!!

---

Once she closed it, she turned to leave, but… hesitated. The wind, it seemed, had blown one of Aang’s cupboard doors wide open. But that wasn’t what gave her pause. No, what confused her was the glint of ice blue stone that seemed to shimmer inside. She stepped closer, then, silently apologizing to Aang for definitely invading his privacy, she reached in. 

And drew out what looked like a traditional Southern water tribe proposal necklace. 

For a moment, she was sure that her mind was playing tricks on her, that she was somehow misinterpreting something, but as she turned the necklace over, back and forth in her hands, she knew that this was unmistakably a proposal necklace. One she’d never seen before. The pendant itself, in style, shape, and material, mirrored her mother’s necklace, but the combination of carvings on it was different- two that were water tribe, that in fact matched her mother’s necklace perfectly, and two that looked distinctly air tribe. 

Before she could puzzle it over for much longer, she heard the clearing of someone’s throat and a gentle knock on the doorframe. She whirled around, feeling as though she’d been caught red-handed, only to see that it was Aang. He grinned at her, opening his mouth to ask her what she was doing snooping around his office, only for him to feel the words dry up in his throat when he saw what she was holding. 

She panicked, interpreting his expression as disappointment. “I found it by accident, I swear, I-”

“It’s okay, Katara,” Aang assured her, and he meant it. Maybe it was better that she’d found it this way. Spirits knew that it would’ve taken him much longer to work up the nerve to broach the subject with her.

“Who-who’s it… for?” Katara asked, trying not to make the tremble in her voice too obvious. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep it together if he told her that he’d found a lovely water tribe girl who wasn’t her to settle down with.

“She’s beautiful,” Aang smiled softly, shaking his head lightly. “She’s stubborn, opinionated, with a short temper at times, and I love how passionate she is about what she believes in. About helping people. She’s an incredibly talented and exceedingly humble bender, and she’s so, so kind, and, did I already mention how beautiful she is? Because spirits, she is. And I’m so in love with her. I have been since I was twelve.” He took a deep breath, his hands shaking now.

“I’m so, so, so in love with you , Katara.”

Katara suddenly could no longer form sentences.

“Do you want to know when I made that necklace?”

She nodded, staring up at his eyes, her own welling with happy tears. 

“The moment we arrived in the Northern Water tribe, years ago, I found a carver to teach me the significance of the symbols. Later on, I had Toph help me find an earthbender who specialized in teaching the skill required for etching tiny symbols in rock. I’ve carried it with me every day since.”

Katara’s tears were flowing freely now.

“I don’t want to rush you, don’t want to pressure you, and if you don’t want me the way I want you, then just say the word, and I’ll never mention it again, but Katara, I need you to know that I am head over heels for you. I meant what I said in my letters.

I am forever yours, always, if you’ll have me.”

---

♥ the rest of the (completed) fic can be found here!! ->

[sodasa-was-taken]

I'd like to address some misconceptions I've seen floating around recently.

If a ship is canon people write less fanfics about it

Let's start with the idea that a ship's status as canon has any effect on how much fanfiction it gets. First of all, while the top 100 ships of all time contain a lot of non-canon ships those ships have in more recent years either plummeted down the yearly ship stats list or left it all together as seen in the AO3 ship stats 2023:

Meanwhile newer ships have taken their place several of which are canon. People don't abstain from writing canon pairings because they're canon but for other reasons like not being too interested in their dynamite. There's often next to no canon-complacent fics about the characters in question getting together because that story already exists in the source material. That doesn't mean there's no au's of them getting together as many fic writers find it to be a great exercise as they need to figure out how to keep the elements that attract the characters to each other in differing circumstances. Furthermore, characters getting together are far from the only stories fic writers want to tell.

Secondly, the amount of fics that's tagged with a ship is not the same as the amount that focuses on that ship. A great example of this would be a ship like Lumity where a good amount of the fics they're tagged in don't focus on their relationship. These fics often take place after they get together and make references to them being a couple so people use their ship tag. This means that unlike back when the show had first started airing the fics that doesn't revolve around their relationship still adds to the fics their relationship are tagged in.

Lumity is also a funny case of becoming more popular after it became canon as the fandom for The Owl House itself increased a great amount during the second season. Because of how often their relationship was a secondary element in several fics the amount of fics their relationship was tagged in increased along with the amount of all Owl House fics not just the ones that focused on them.

M/M is often the most used relationship tag in general

This is just nonsense. Every fandom whose source material heavily features the development of a romantic relationship is as good as guaranteed that whatever relationship tag the main couple are tagged is the most prominent. They also often make up around sixty percent of fics within their fandom. In the case of f/f specifically here's a shot list of fandoms on AO3 where f/f is the relationship tag that's used most frequently: Supergirl, The Owl House, She-ra and the princesses of power, Avatar: Legend of Korra, Arcane: League of Legends, RWBY, Wednesday, Amphibia, Steven Universe, and of course Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.

The amount of fics on AO3 are indicative of the size of a fandom

The actual thing that has an effect on how many fic a ship has on AO3 are a combination of how many people within a fandom writes fanfics about them on AO3, how many fics each writer has written and how long they've been people posting fic about them on AO3. The amount of fics writing within a year is all that's shown on the yearly stats which doesn't say anything about how many people are writing fics or how long they are. When the total amount is all someone has to go by there's nothing that explicitly confirms that all the fics weren't written by a hundred people who each wrote a thousand dabbles.

A way to calculate the total amount of fics for a ship and easily see increases and decreases in amount of fics per year throughout the years would be with a script that would look something like this:

This is for Sulemio as there isn't a lot of data I'd have to find and add since people have only been writing fanfics for them for about two years. Since AO3 either doesn't allow someone to search for fics published within a given timeframe or I just don't know how to do that the numbers are fics updated from August 2022-August 2023 and from August 2023-now. This does mean that there are two fics that got counted twice. Oh, well.

If g-witch is so popular shouldn't it have more fics on AO3?

While the number of fics doesn't say anything about the minimum amount of fanfic authors it does say something about the maximum amount. Even if there was one fic per author that would still be a maximum of about a thousand authors. So what gives?

Well, there appears to be two main reasons for this. One is that the Gundam fandom in general is more a discussion and art orientated fandom. We just don't have that many people whose main thing is writing fics.

Another thing to note is that most of the fics on AO3 are in English and the English speaking part of AO3 skews towards a North American and European demographic.

Unlike some other fandoms the Gundam fandom is anything but centralized in the west so it's only maybe a third of the fandom that would even use AO3. The Chinese part of the fandom sure doesn't as the website has been blocked since before g-witch started airing.

You can get a good idea of how popular Sulemio is by only looking at the fan works that are in English

This is a big one. Like I pointed out before only about a third of the fandom makes fan works in English. We're also in a situation where we have two versions of the same ship name. One is writing in the latin alphabet, the other スレミオ is writing in katakana and is also the more commonly used.

Thousands of Sulemio fan art on twitter is tagged exclusively with the one writing in katakana and therefore wouldn't show up if someone used the one writing in the latin alphabet. Likewise, on the Chinese website Bilibili there are videos about Sulemio that have views in the thousands and ten thousands and let's just say that site is a bit of a challenge to navigate if you know little to no Chinese. Even using a translator will sometimes give you such gems as "Too many barrages" and only leave you more confused.

In conclusion the Gundam fandom is huge and the number of fics on AO3 is an unfair way to determine its size.

Also a quick aside to that one person who tried to be dismissive of the amount of fics Supernatural has on AO3 by saying a lot of it was Omega verse. G-witch has 44 fics tagged as Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics and Supernatural has 8105. That might seem like a big difference but percentage wise it's about the same amount. Let's make sure we don't live in a glass house before we start throwing stones, please.

[sumiink]

Sumi's Fic Recs

I've been saving a list of fan fiction I like for years now and thought I should share it!

Fandoms include Danny Phantom, DPxDC, Batman, DCMK, BNHA, and Miraculous Ladybug, Legend of Zelda (Linked Universe), Mob Psycho 100, and Genshin Impact. Links, summaries, and comments under the cut.

Danny Phantom

Phantom of Truth by Haiju

NOTE: An edited/updated version of the sequel (Shadow of a Doubt) is also on AO3, but not finished. The finished, unedited version can be found on FF.net here.

Summary: Locked away in a secret government lab with Phantom as her sole object of study, nothing stands between Maddie and the truth... except, perhaps, herself.

Review: You can’t talk about Danny Phantom fanfic without bringing up Phantom of Truth. This one defines the vivisection genre. It’s written in Maddie’s perspective and you can see her character in every little detail of the writing.

Treading Water by TheFullCatastrophe

Summary: "This is the story of why we had to start calling Danny Fenton, Danny FINton. Get it, Danny? 'Cause you have FINS? Oh, I kill me." - a summary by Tucker Foley.

Review: Mermaid AU! Another classic fandom fic, this one with great worldbuilding and some dark, realistic vibes that make the ghosts (well, mermaids) really feel dangerous.

Modern Day Ghost Girl by MemoryWriter

Summary: Wendy Manson, 14-year old freshman in Casper High. Recently she's been able to sense ghosts, and on the day Wendy's paranormal curiosity gets the best of her, her project partner and ex-best friend Shane happens to follow her. When she meets a mysterious ghost in the abandoned apartment, what of her identity will she be discovering?

Review: One of the first fics I ever read, so it holds a special place in my heart.

Outside Looking In by Ellen_Brand

Summary: Casper High's new psychiatrist has some interesting interviews ahead of him.

Review: A great outside perspective into Danny. Also I just like Cade!

Phantom’s Sketchbook by AkoyaMizuno

Summary: Mr. Lancer finds himself in an unparalleled situation, he has access to something which can give him incredible insight into the personal workings of Amity Park's local ghost teen hero, Danny Phantom.

Review: Another fandom classic! A must read for the student/teacher relationship between Mr. Lancer and Danny.

You Should Be Dead by SapphireDragon11

Summary: Dash and Kwan are horrified to discover they've accidentally killed their classmate, but perhaps even more so when he shows up at school the next day. With his secret on the line, Danny soon discovers Dash and Kwan are the least of his worries.

Review: An epic story of Danny going up against incredible odds! One of my absolute favorites!

DPxDC

But I Want to Be Let In, Not Out by TheWritingOwl

NOTE: Actually a series of one-shots!

Summary: Growing up with the Fentons, Danny resigned himself to the fact that he would never see Damian again. However, when he gets summoned to Gotham after becoming the Ghost King, he finds himself reuniting with his long lost twin.

Review: Some nice demon twins au with batfam elements- all the stuff I like in a DPxDC fic.

close enough to be whole again by hailsatanacab

Summary: “If you ever find yourself in danger, go to Bruce Wayne. He will help you.”     His mother had loved him, in her own way. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have helped him escape. If she hadn’t, she would have dragged him back to the League of Assassins, to Grandfather. If she hadn’t, he’d be dead.     She loved him, but she loved the League more.     Jack and Maddie Fenton loved him too, they did, but they loved their work more.     They loved their work more.     --     After his parents react poorly to his reveal, Danny escapes to the only person he thinks can help him - Bruce Wayne. He doesn't know what to expect when he gets there, but it has to be better than where he is, surely? He certainly doesn't expect to be reunited with his long lost twin brother Damian. It's funny how things work out that way.     Danny is 16 years old, not Phantom Planet compliant

Review: More angsty demon twins AU with secret identity shenanigans, what’s no to love?

Recognized by AgentIanLegend

Summary: When they heard the fateful words "Recognized: Robin - B01," nothing could have prepared them for the web of secrets which would unravel as Daniel Fenton and Richard Grayson search for answers.

Review: An epic story will all kinds of twists and turns. Very will written with great pacing and tight storytelling!

Batman

hand in unloveable hand (a chokehold) by britishparty

Summary: Tim Drake is eleven years old when he’s grabbed off the streets of Bristol while he’s on his way home. It will be okay, he tells himself: they’ll call his parents, and they’ll pay the ransom, and he’ll get to go home.

There are pictures of Batman and Robin on the camera he was carrying. A lot of pictures.

They don’t call his parents. They call Black Mask.

- or: the one where Black Mask kidnaps Tim and tries to groom him into a ruthless heir, and Tim tries to figure out how to destroy him from the inside out.

Review: Tim is great in this. This one is full of scheming and mind games and all that good stuff.

From When He Sprang by WereDog15

Summary: January 2012. For the last four years, Jason Todd has been living on the streets of Gotham, doing whatever he can in order to survive on his own. But one night, as he emerges from his dwelling in Gotham’s underground tunnels, he encounters the legendary dynamic duo of Batman and Robin.A little bit of help can go a long way, but Jason's world is ripped apart as he is unintentionally put in the path of one of the deadliest secret societies that the world has ever known.Discover the story of the event that changed their lives forever, and put Jason on the path to becoming the second Robin.

Review: THIS FIC. It’s creative, it’s dark, it’s gory - this one makes me feel like I’m back in middle school reading The Hunger Games for the first time. This fic does not pull any punches.

Liminal Spaces by Calamityjim

NOTE: A multi-part series with some extra one-shots too

Summary: Bruce's habit of collecting strays is not limited by dimension. Or When Young Justice Batman comes across an angsty, seemingly abandoned by his Batman Tim Drake, he decides to step up to the plate and parent the crap out of him.

Review: Oh this one is a long, epic story with all kinds of twists and turns. And lots and lots of emotional batfam moments.

A Gentlekid Thief by Blazonix

Summary: Tim didn't mean to become the notorious thief Red X; it just sort of happened. Just like how he somehow wound up being Batman’s greatest nemesis - his therapist. He would like to remind whatever higher forces are out there that he is still only 12.

Review: Funny and clever!

From the Shadows by Wolfsbanesparks

NOTE: Shazam crossover

Summary: All Billy Batson wanted was to survive a particularly rough week living on the streets of Fawcett City. The last thing he was looking for was a new family. All Bruce Wayne wanted was to learn a bit more about his upbeat teammate under the guise of official Wayne Enterprises business. But he could never turn his back on a child in need. Especially one as surrounded by mystery as Billy. OR   Billy gets adopted by the Batfamily while trying to deal with a strong magical enemy.

Review: I’m always a fan of gen fic that also has an overarching story and great villain!

Shutterbye by katiesparks

Summary: The more I research it, the more I know it has to be true. Dick Grayson is Robin. And that means Bruce Wayne is Batman. All the pieces fit. I move my Dick and Bruce Wayne things into the Batman and Robin box and buy an extra lock for it.

Review: One-shot written from a young Tim’s perspective. The writing style really brings his character to life.

Surveillance by smilebackwards

NOTE: A multi part series

Summary: Tim knows antagonizing Lex Luthor wasn’t exactly his safest move but the point is really driven home by the bullet to the shoulder. Or: The AU where Jason never died and Tim is a civilian who contributes to crime fighting by taking surveillance photos and leaving them on the desktop of the Batcomputer.

Review: Gotta love some ‘stalker Tim gets involved in hero stuff without actually wearing a cape’ stuff.

Detective Conan & Magic Kaito

(Don’t) Believe What You Know by discordiansamba

NOTE: This fic is actually a rewrite, buuuuuut I saved the older, longer version if you want to read that one instead. Available here (I just copy and pasted it, so formatting may be a little weird)

Summary: For as long as he's known him, Hattori Heiji has always seemed to gotten mixed up in cases with a sort of... supernatural touch. Honestly, Conan's never thought much of it- it's not as if the things that go bump in the night are actually real, and they've got countless cases behind them to prove just that.But after getting mixed up in a strange case in Osaka and learning a disturbing secret from Heiji's past, its left Conan wondering if there's more his friend isn't telling him. So he does what any good detective would- investigate.He's just... not sure he was ready for the answers.

Review: I am a huge of discordiansamba’s writing! It very descriptive and the stories tend to have a lot of interesting moving parts. This fic in particular is great for its worldbuilding and the magical, dangerous adventures Heiji gets involved in. And Heiji trying to hide stuff from Conan always makes for some good tension.

Blood and Snow by discordiansamba

Summary: Heiji Hattori has never believed in the supernatural. Things like vampires have always been a bunch of nonsense to him. But the supernatural is about to prove itself very real.

Review: If you like the last one, you’ll like this one too – another supernatural adventure focusing on Heiji!

Unprofessional Opinion by Ellen_Brand

Summary: A series of psychologicalpersonality profiles of our boys... with guest shrink Cade Maboroshi!

Review: I just like Cade! And an outsider’s perspective is always fun, especially in this writing style.

The Case of the Magic Bullet Murder by MirrorandImage

NOTE: Technically a sequel, but I didn’t read the first one and wasn’t lost. There’s also a third fic that’s good too!

Summary: As always Conan stumbles across another body; and this time the prime suspect is this high school kid named Kuroba Kaito. Sequel to The Case of the Hidden Epidemic.

Review: We get to see Conan interact with Kaito, and that always makes for fun secret identity shenanigans. And we even get to see Kaito get involved in solving a case!

Insanity, Apparently by Taliya

NOTE: A series of one shots

Summary: Takagi Wataru would like to register a complaint to whichever deity thought it would be hilarious to toss him into odd situations with Kaitou KID. Repeatedly. Because this was far beyond his pay grade.

Review: A fun story with a mix of characters you don’t see very often.

Be a Better Me by Lisa_Telramor

Summary: Kaito thought that the Robot Incident ended with the destruction of his copycat robot. He couldn't have guessed how wrong that assumption was when he is injured months later.

Review: Wonderfully angsty and doesn’t shy away from the horror of Kaito’s new reality.

Guide you home by Tobina

NOTE: Uses Guide & Sentinel tropes, which I’d never heard of before but I guess it used to be popular in fanfic in the 90’s? Basically Sentinels have superpowers and Guides help them control it. The two tend to be lifelong partners, but it can be romantic or familial or platonic.

Summary: As a Level 5s Sentinel and skillful detective, Kudou Shinichi helps the Tokyo Police Department whenever they get stuck with a case, his Guide Ran at his side to ground him when needed. After a KID heist, it becomes clear that Guides are dissapearing and Shinichi and his western counterpart Hattori Heiji are knee-deep into the case, especially because this one hits far too close to home for comfort. When then even phantom thief Kaitou KID gets involved, things are bound to get... interesting.

Review: A GREAT story that does a good job with worldbuilding and characters’ relationships. While it focuses on Conan, my favorite part of this fic is the arc the Kaito goes through and the way this story takes a look at his motivations and moral compass.

It's Raining Men, Hallelujah by Asuka Kureru

Summary: Conan already has some kind of corpse magnet power, but when Heiji is in his orbit the corpses actively come to them. From above. Witness.

Review: A fandom classic! Short and hilarious.

Inconceivable by joisbishmyoga

Summary: In the face of a DNA analysis Kaito can't deny, he begins uncovering the rest of his family's secrets. Too bad he's not the only one looking.

Review: An epic story that has a takedown of the Black Org AND twin AU, what’s not to love?

Secrets in Indigo by Sinnatious

Summary: A throwaway comment about Kaitou KID’s eye colour sets Kaito on an uncomfortable path of discovery.

Review: I can’t give too many spoilers! An overall great story with great writing as Kaito discovers secrets and also tries to keep them hidden.

The Young Royals of Deduction by joisbishmyoga

NOTE: One shot

Summary: The Exclusive Interview with Four Children Taking the Investigative World by Storm

Review: Short but fun!

My Hero Academia

The Thin Gray Line by A_ToastToTheOutcasts

Summary: The beauty of the era of quirks wasn't the amazing abilities; it was that nobody sane would even entertain the thought that Kuroko, the most wanted vigilante in all of Japan, was Quirkless.

Review: A vigilante AU with a badass Deku (or, in this case, Kuroko) who puts the whole Hero Commisison to shame. The rivalry between Deku and Bakugou is so intense in this fic, I love it.

Yesterday Upon the Stair by PitViperOfDoom

Notes: When you’re done with this, there’s also a fun related one-shot by another author called U.A. Unsolved by kabukichou (ameliafromafairytale)

Summary: Midoriya Izuku has always been written off as weird. As if it's not bad enough to be the quirkless weakling, he has to be the weird quirkless weakling on top of it. But truthfully, the "weird" part is the only part that's accurate. He's determined not to be a weakling, and in spite of what it says on paper, he's not actually quirkless. Even before meeting All-Might and taking on the power of One For All, Izuku isn't quirkless. Not that anyone would believe it if he told them.

Review: An epic story full of secrets and ghosts!

Hero Class Civil Warfare by RogueDruid (Icarius51)

Summary: Heroes lead by Bakugo. Villains lead by Midoriya. Seven days prep time. Three days for Izuku Midoriya to show why they should be glad he's not a real villain.

Review: Badass Deku going all out and scaring his classmates. This one uses nearly every character from class 1-A and 1-B and manages to make everyone have an impact on the story!

Tales of the Jade Mantis by Chess_Blackfyre

NOTE: A multi-part series

Summary: The adventures of Inko Midoriya, Number One Vigilante in all of Japan, and her complicated relationship with the Number One Hero, All Might. However, it's not all about kicking butt and taking names, watch as the telekinetic in the leather jacket struggles with things like brutal mentors, working in customer service, and trying to be a good single parent.

Review: The only fic I’ve found with Inko as a vigilante! Quite the journey, this one goes over her career as a vigilante and what comes after when Izuku suddenly has a quirk. I love the weird adventures Inko gets up to and the interesting people she meets. One of my all time favorites!

Monochrome Skies by QuantumPoint

Summary: Midoriya Izuku died four years ago. Midoriya Izuku dead in a housefire when his mother didn’t notice him come home early. Midoriya Izuku dead because heroes failed to hear the screams of a scared child. Midoriya Izuku dead alone and scared.His mother mourned him but went on with her life. The heroes swore to be better, but still made the same mistakes. And for four years, everyone believed he was until Aizawa caught sight of a well-known vigilante and decided to investigate. Everyone believed it until Yagi bumped into a kind child on the street and tried to give him hope.

Review: I can’t say much because spoilers, but if you’re an artist, read this.

brilliant lights will cease to burn (by my hands i’ll reignite them) by novalotypo

NOTE: It’s a Card Captor Sakura crossover, but honestly I’ve never seen that and as far as I can tell this doesn’t have much to so with that show. It’s BNHA characters and world with some Card Captor magic elements.

Summary: Midoriya Izuku is quirkless. This, he knows very well.This is also what he knows:Weekends and vacations are reserved for walking neighborhood dogs. The elderly are the most powerful people on Earth. Local gods are picky eaters. Trust is a feeble, feeble thing. Magic cards are incredibly difficult to seal, especially when the world thinks you're a vigilante. Heroes are not magicians, but magicians can be heroes.Becoming a cardcaptor wasn't on Izuku's bucket list, but he'll be damned if he doesn't make the best out of it.

Review: Deku doesn’t have a quirk, so he gets sucked up into some magical card captor responsibilities and goes all out, as he does. This one has an analytical Deku, otherworldly magic, creepy villains, and some tension between a vigilante Deku and hero society as a whole. One of my absolute favorites!

Quirk: Knife! by brightredwings

Summary: Izuku Midoriya is unlucky, to say the least and life hasn't exactly been kind. Things weren't so bad in the beginning, but once he was diagnosed quirkless, well, it all went to shit. Everyone grew to hate him, even his best friend and own father.Was it really that impossible to become a hero without a quirk? It doesn't really matter because to Izuku, the term hero is flexible. He'll be his own hero because he's learnt from his own experience, people are selfish and the only one he can rely on is himself.Left alone to fend for himself in the world, Izuku goes out to change things on his own terms, despite his methods being slightly illegal. Keyword, slightly. It's only illegal if he gets caught, right?

Review: A long story with great arcs for a lot of League of Villains character, and a beautiful ending. Some pretty intense angst with happy endings for everyone.

Roses are red and they taste like shit by Unbreakable_Red_Riot

Summary: Katsuki was really fucking sick of the smell of flowers.

Review: Ah, yes, KiriBaku with hanhaki disease. Mostly from Bakugou’s point of view, so you get to see all his frustration and a ton of drama. Also looks into some other characters like Midoriya and Todoroki, which is a nice touch.

The Beauty of a Beast by starofgems

Summary: Once upon a time a lonely beast lived in a manor deep in the forest. He dreamed of the day his true love appeared to break his curse... When a beauty finally appears in his life, it is not quite as he imagined. For who could have thought a beauty would be more of a beast. Or The beauty and the beast AU nobody asked for but here it is.

Review: A very sweet love story. (KiriBaku)

The Deaf Hero: Deku by BeyondTheClouds777

Summary: His whole life, Izuku was told that he couldn’t do it. That he should give up while he still had the chance. That someone like him—Deaf, Quirkless—could never become a hero.But Izuku wasn’t going to give up. Not now and not ever. (OR, the one where nearly everything's the same, but Izuku is Deaf.)

Review: Right what it says on the tin. Deku’s added deafness creates more tension between Deku and Bakugou, his classmates, and even other heroes. Things get angsty but Deku always stays determined, which I love.

Miraculous Ladybug

Where Have All The Heroes Gone and Where Are All The Gods? by Anthemyst

NOTE: This is actually part 5 of a series, but I just started with this one and didn’t feel lost. Just know that in this story, Gabirel isn’t Hawkmoth. Most of this was written before Season 1 ended, I think.

Summary: On their fourteenth birthday, the Agreste triplets' world is turned upside down. Their government has been overthrown, their city taken, and superheroes all over Europe have suddenly and mysteriously vanished-including, to their shock, their parents. They'll need to work together, and become the heroes Paris needs, if they're going to save both their parents and their country.

Review: A next-gen fic that got me into ML fanfic in general! It’s got a fun dystopian vibe and the Agreste kids are all fleshed out very nicely. One of my absolute favorites!

Not A Bit by CaptainOzone

Summary: "Sometimes, being a brother is even better than being a superhero," says author Marc Brown. Félix Agreste has been both, and he can't have said it better himself. (AKA The Brothers AU I wanted to read but had to write myself when I realized this AU has a depressing lack of fic to its name)

Review: I’m always a fan of fic that has Marinette and Adrien AND Felix and Bridgette.

Legend of Zelda (Linked Universe)

Looking for Group by Tashilover

Summary: People want to be a Hero so badly, they're willing to bribe, lie, cheat, and beg. Twilight knows there's a Hero amongst the people in this college town. It's just a matter of finding them.

Review: The modern setting keeps things fresh, yet this story is still full of legends, danger, and a fight of good vs evil!

Mob Psycho 100

tomorrow isn’t always another day by suitablyskippy

NOTE: One shot

Summary: It’s like Reigen’s been waiting for the question. He stops dead on the pavement, grips Mob by the shoulders, and stares down into his eyes with an expression as haunted as though every ghost the pair of them has ever exorcised has taken up residence behind it. “Mob,” he says. “Mob,” he says again. “Tell me, Mob. Look at me and tell me. Tell me truthfully. Do I look cursed to you?”Mob looks at him, and tells him truthfully. “No.”“Well, you didn’t look very long,” says Reigen. “Let’s just stand here for a moment, like so, and you can have another look, a nice long look, and really think about it...” (There's nothing strange about being called back to exorcise the same haunted photocopier six days in a row. It must just be a very haunted photocopier.)

Review: THIS WHOLE CONEPT IS HILARIOUS

Genshin Impact

Traveler’s search for Scaramouche by Scuriel

NOTE: A choose your own adventure story!

Summary: Ei wants Traveler to search for Scaramouche and get back her gnosis. They have many decisions to make along the way.

Review: Don’t see something like this very often! There are actually a lot of different outcomes.

[welcometololaland]

🤍

thanks harley! and for @cha-melodius @rmd-writes and @sarnagati who also asked for this one.

🤍 White: What's a fanfic scenario or idea you'd like someone else to write so that you can read it?

OH BOY. there's a lot. there's so many actually. i think the simple answer is that i love reading fic that has been written by someone who really cares about the subject matter. there's nothing cooler to me than reading a fic which the author has clearly LOVED writing - whether that's because they're really invested in the character or because they've incorporated a bit of their own life experience, or otherwise. i think, as writers, we pour more of ourselves into our work than perhaps we even realise, and when that shines through i find it so incredible.

for example, if someone is super passionate about science or something - give me sexy firstprince in a lab. give me tarlos as marine biologists. give me a love story based on formulas and experiments and math that i don't understand. i will gobble it up.

SPORTS AUs - when people are super passionate about particular sports. @everwitch-magiks writing a damn figure skater au. do i know a single thing about ice skating?? NO! did i love it?? absolutely! do you know how little i know about baseball? do you know how many baseball AUs I have read??? it's obscene!

when people write a love story set in SPACE. i barely know all the names of the planets! but i love reading a fic in which world building is clearly very important to the author! same as mysteries or sci fi or mythical creatures (am i unhealthily obsessed with vampires?? probably!! @strandnreyes i'm going to blame YOU).

ART!!! i'm not an art historian but the knave verse by @liminalmemories21 is brilliant because I can feel how passionate lim is about the subject matter and the world.

give me anything - tarlos as allied health professionals at the same hospital, firstprince as undercover journalists, hangster as bartenders who moonlight as rival gamers. the world is our oyster!

idk. i know this is not a very useful answer in terms of giving people actual ideas (i do have an ideas list you can always hmu if you would like to steal one hehe), but i just love reading stuff that's a bit left of field and also just full of passion. i love when people are like hey i inserted some things i know about life and made these beloved characters react to it.

YUM.

thank you for the ask! sorry for the spiral!

from this ask game

[ellecdc]

hihi!! i really love ur writing and all your series (CBBH, drink snob, AMWAP) and all the rest. they’re just so beautifully crafted and it shows you put a lot of of thought into every fic.

i was just wondering what are your boundaries with minors on your blog? i didn’t see anything about it so i’ve refrained from interacting to make you comfortable but, i just thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

thank you! <3

*update as of may 4th, 2024*:

I swear, I can be vulgar, and I make inappropriate jokes/comments at times; so do many of my characters - please do expect to find both profanity and perhaps lewd comments/jokes in my works.

I always ensure to properly tag my fics in order to notify followers and readers that there is mature content, smut, or otherwise explicit material; what you do with that warning is ultimately up to you, however, I ask that anyone under the age of 18 please not like, comment, or otherwise engage in discussion with myself or any of my followers regarding mature, smut, or explicit themes or works whether written by myself or other writers on this app.

I am not anyone's mother and I will not be telling anyone whether they can or cannot read what I've written on an app that is free for all to use, however, I expect you to also respect my boundaries on my blog.

This is my main takeaway:

All-in-all... I think you are responsible for the content you consume on the internet. I don't like the idea of restricting access to my works to a demographic on the off chance someone may find it inappropriate or uncomfortable - so I won't, but I'm also trusting that minors will be responsible and knowledgable when it comes to the kind of content they may find across Tumblr.

TL;DR - you are welcome to interact with my blog so long as you're safe, aware, and mindful of both yourself and those around you.

Uhm wow, first of all - I love you! Thank you so much, and I'm very glad you've enjoyed my works!

Second of all, I think this is a really good question and I appreciate you bringing this up

I posted the first part of The Drink Snob & Come Back, Be Here when I had zero (0) followers. I was enjoying reading fanfics by writers on the platform, and I had some of my own that I figured I'd share. I never really imagined my fics would get any attention - let alone the amount of attention they've since received! I've also gained a lot of followers since then, so I do suppose it would be good to acknowledge the fact that not all Tumblr users or Marauder's fans are over 18.

I swear a LOT. Like....a lot a lot....and so do my characters (specifically our werewolf mcswearwolf). I think to in order to remain authentic to myself as well as who I believe these characters to be - I won't stop that. Some of my jokes/content/references may be a little mature or slightly 'inappropriate', as well.

I haven't posted anything particularly steamy/smutty - I've never been requested nor have I ever tried. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to trying - however, if I do post something like that I would put the appropriate content warnings on the post.

All-in-all: I think you are responsible for the content you consume on the internet. I don't like the idea of restricting access to my works to a demographic on the off chance someone may find it inappropriate or uncomfortable - so I won't, but I'm also trusting that minors will be responsible and knowledgable when it comes to the kind of content they may find across Tumblr.

TL;DR - you are welcome to interact with my blog so long as you're safe, aware, and mindful of both yourself and those around you.

Thanks for asking, my love 🫶

[rollercoasterwords]

your fanfic doesn't need to be Content

ok so thanks to this lovely anonymous message i've been motivated to organize my thoughts on the increasingly common phenomenon of fanfic writers treating their own fics like Content for consumption, the way an influencer on social media might (all of this is in the context of the marauders fandom specifically -- no idea how or whether it might apply elsewhere)

what i mean by that is, essentially, instances of fanfic writers playing into the idea that fanfiction is a product created for the consumption of readers (and thereby the idea that fandom is a community that can be clearly divided between "producers"/writers and "consumers"/readers).

some examples i've seen: people "advertising" their fics on platforms like tiktok, sometimes even before they've started writing said fic ("hey guys i'm going to start writing a fic with x y z who's interested??"), or making posts asking outright "if i wrote a fic with x y z would people read it??" i've also seen people share concerns that if they write a certain thing they want to write (i.e, heavy smut, heavy angst, etc) then it will make their fic less "accessible" to a broader audience ("i want everyone to be able to enjoy my fics!")

another recent example that comes to mind is the "jegulus strike." while i'm sure it was largely well-intentioned, a strike is a form of protest tied inextricably to a consumer economy, and positioning writers as laborers who are standing in opposition to readers demanding that labor reinforces the framework of a consumer economy in which fanfiction is a product for consumption.

something i want to make clear here--i'm not saying that any of these behaviors are like....Moral Failings deserving of Ridicule. i think we are all very much conditioned by late-stage capitalism + algorithmic social media to view everything, even our hobbies, within the framework of a consumer economy. this is just me observing some of the ways i see that mindset creeping into fandom spaces.

like. i think there's this unspoken assumption that art is only worthwhile if it has an audience; that creative pursuits only matter if you can profit from them. if people are applying this mindset to fanfiction, then it makes sense to see this impulse to advertise fics the way authors advertise their books on tiktok, or twitter, or whatever. it makes sense for writers to become preoccupied with audience perception, perhaps changing their stories to make them more palatable for a certain audience or even going into the writing process with the audience already in mind--an overhanging and ever-present anxiety, asking yourself "how will this be received?"

the problem is that fanfiction doesn't fit into this model. it has always been meant for a niche audience, never the mainstream, and it has always existed outside the profit economy. trying to turn fanfiction into broadly consumable content is antithetical to the medium itself, and, in all likelihood, will fail. the vast majority of fanfiction is never going to be read by hundreds of thousands of people. if you go into writing it with an audience as your end goal, you will likely be disappointed.

what makes fanfiction so wonderful and unique is that it is meant to be written, first and foremost, for the writer. fanfiction as a medium grew out of personal joy in creation, out of individuals who thought "I want to see this story for myself" and then wrote it. because fanfiction is specific, catered to individual tastes and niche audiences, it lends itself to a unique sort of community in which your work attracts other people with that same niche taste, making it easier to strike up a conversation or start a friendship by saying, "hey, i love this story you wrote for yourself! it just so happens to be the exact sort of thing i wanted to read."

so i guess at the end of the day, my question for other fic writers is: if nobody was ever going to read this, would you still want to write it?

and if the answer is no...i think that's something that calls for reflection! where is your motivation rooted? is it rooted in a desire to create, in the joy of creation? or is it rooted in a desire to be seen, to be validated? wanting to be seen and validated is entirely natural, and it is by no means a bad thing. oftentimes, both these impulses--creation and validation--will be part of the decision to write + post a fic. but if validation is your primary motivation, and if you have internalized the idea that validation means getting as many people as possible to look at the thing you're making and click a heart button, then you will probably end up disappointed. you will probably end up feeling like your writing isn't good enough, no matter how many people end up reading it--because no audience will ever be big enough to validate you if you aren't able to take pride in your creation independent of any metrics of consumption.

i'm not saying that you should never share your fics on social media. like i mentioned above, community is one of the best parts of fanfiction--but are you posting in search of community? or are you posting in search of an audience? i know the line can get blurry sometimes, but i do think those two things look different, and i do think it is productive to look inwards and ask what you are truly seeking when you throw your writing into the void of social media posts. and i think as writers it's important not to fall into the trap of acting like our fics are a product intended for audience consumption, because to do so contributes to the deterioration of a fandom culture that is separate from the profit economy. plus, i just think all of us would be happier if we started trying to actively unlearn the idea that art is only worthwhile if it manages to amass a huge audience.