yamiheart - Tumblr blog

[yamiheart]

In CELEBRATION of Fanfiction

AI-generated content seems to be aiming at every possible creative pursuit as of late. Theft of art and art styles has become so insidious that digital artists are being forced to “mask” their posted pieces in ways that human eyes can’t detect yet completely scramble AI art programs. AI “animation,” while currently in a state of fairly poor quality, has proven to be feasible, and thus threatens the status of already precarious and underpaid animators throughout the world. Even photographers and their models are not immune to the pressure of the seemingly “miraculous” output of hundreds of thousands of lifelike, frontpage-ready images by AI programs. 

Of course, the above mentioned are all visual mediums. The art of conversation and the written word has also been in the eye of AI for a long time. “Chatbots” have been around for almost as long as the concept of the computer itself, and The Turing Test is still a popular measure of a successful AI chatting program to this day. Back in my childhood days, “Cleverbot” was a novelty chatbot that was fun to chat with for a few minutes, but quickly became stale. As most of you reading likely already know, ChatGPT, on the other hand, has taken the world by storm. Schools are contending with students submitting AI-written reports (a very futuristic-sounding cheating method indeed), and many writing-based industries, already squeezed by the looming threats of a post-pandemic recession, are in turmoil over the potential of the complete replacement of humans by the machines. 

I myself am in no way an AI expert. I do not know if the current state of AI is just a fad or a true industry disruptor. What I do know about, however, is fanfiction, and it seems that people want AI to write it, too. 

I have been writing fanfiction since 2010, back when I was in middle school. I would write for hours and hours, exploring characters and ideas in ways the original source material (in this case, the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series) never intended. I would then post these works onto fanfiction(dot)net for mostly my irl friends and a few dozen strangers to read and enjoy. Over the years, I’ve cycled through a few different fandoms and made the switch to the currently-preferred fanfic-posting website, Archive of Our Own -otherwise known as “Ao3.”  LiveJournal, FFnet, Wattpad, Ao3 -all of these websites and more have had hundreds of thousands if not millions of fanfictions posted and consumed. Fanfiction isn’t just a small circle of Star Trek fans sharing secret magazines through the mail -and in some ways, it never was just that. 

Many “classics” today are, in some way or another, fanfiction by another name. Consider, for instance, the well-known fact that Disney’s 1994 hit movie, The Lion King, is just a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. When anonymous authors online turn all of their favorite characters into lions or wolves, it’s considered “furry cringe,” but when multi-billion dollar corporations do the same, it’s considered “art.” 

House is a modern-day hospital-au version of Sherlock Holmes. 

All fairytale “reimaginings,” such as the TV drama Once Upon a Time, are fanfictions in every sense of the word.

The current Batman cannon has so many reimaginings that it’s a gag in The Lego Batman Movie!

And these are just some American/European examples. The first “modern” novel, The Tale of Genji, has such a long history of fanart and fanfiction in Japan that there are literal traveling museum exhibitions to display small fractions of what has been (and continues to be) produced. However, in these exhibitions, the words “art” and “fiction” are never preceded by “fan.” These works, though just as “derivative” in content as anything you would find in internet fanspaces today, get to once again simply be “art.” 

What is the difference? Where is the line between literature worthy of “respect” and literature considered worthy of constant derision?

I do not have all the answers, but please allow me to present some for your consideration.

As you may have noticed in my above examples, most of the original works being reimagined are, indeed, in the public domain. This means that no one owns the rights to these original works anymore, and thus they can be reproduced faithfully or completely changed without threat of legal trouble. This also means that all reproductions can make money for the reproducers without hassle. Batman is a somewhat curious case in this instance, since many of his reimaginings are in and of themselves canon while still carrying many of the hallmarks of fanfiction. 

We will return to the curious case of Batman later, but needless to say legality and potential monetary gain make up an important component of the supposed high-literature/lowly-fanfiction divide. If you ever click on “older” fanfictions, particularly those from the 2000s and early-2010s, you will see constant repetition of phrases such as “I do not own X” or “please don’t sue me”. Later authors, including my own childhood self, repeated these out of an abundance of caution without really knowing why. Afterall, no one on websites like FFnet honestly thought the authors owned the “original” works in question to begin with. The problem, as I understand it now, arose from the infamous response of author Anne Rice to fanfiction of her book series, The Vampire Chronicles. In 2001, she made it very clear that her works and characters were protected by copyright, and that she was willing and ready to sue any supposed-copycats. Fanfics were purged by both individual authors and entire websites who were either afraid of the mere threat of legal action or had been notified of impending legal action if there was no change respectively. 

The state of fanfiction legality has come a long way in 20+ years, but even Ao3, which has lawyers on hand to defend both its own existence and the rights of its authors, does not allow authors to talk about taking commissions (ie, getting paid) or post links to websites such as kofi or patreon. The idea of “making money” off of fanfiction still exists in a dangerous gray zone that not even the lawyers of Ao3 can protect you from. 

Still, one of the stereotypes of the true artiste is that they do not create with money in mind to begin with, so this cannot be the only factor in fanfiction’s discrediting as an art form. Another consideration, then, is the content of fanfiction itself. So far, I have not endeavored to try and define the word “fanfiction.” Everyone reading this surely has their own conception of the word in mind either from first-hand experience or cultural osmosis. To me, defining fanfiction is as fruitless a pursuit as trying to define any other medium of artistic expression. What is sculpture? What is painting? What is documentary filmmaking? Definitions require limits, and limits breed exceptions. 

Perhaps the broadest stereotypical definition of fanfiction is that it is derivative work containing sexually-explicit love stories of a primarily homosexual-male variety. Many of the most famous pairings -KirkxSpock, SasukexNaruto, DanxPhil- would seem, to the distant observer, to fit this stereotype. A related stereotype replaces the homosexual-male romance with a heterosexual romance between a male celebrity/fictional character and a female oc or “original character” who is thus presumed to be the author’s self-insert (meaning that the female oc is a one-to-one reflection of the author herself). Think of all the most infamous One Direction fanfiction for a taste of this stereotypical form. 

However, as you may have guessed, these stereotypes lead to a superficial understanding of what fanfiction can be. If you go to Ao3 right now, you will find that there are five content ratings that can be attached to a fic: General Audiences, Teen and Up Audiences, Mature, Explicit, and Not Rated. By definition, there is no way to know what sort of content is in a “Not Rated” fic, but putting that aside, let us for a moment be ultra-conservative and assume ALL “Explicit” and “Mature” fanfictions have sex (as an author who has used this system, I know for a fact that they do not). Even with this ultra-conservative assumption, going to any popular series with over 200,000 archived stories will reveal to you that sexually-explicit fanfictions make up less than half of what is published. What types of stories are contained in the majority of fanfictions, then?

Well, let’s take a moment to look at the chat fic as just one example. Chat fics are not the most popular type of fanfiction, but they often attract a fair amount of readers. Chat fics are meant to be, well, group chats between fictional characters. Some may have suggestions of romance, but many of these fics would be better described as chaotic, humor-driven affairs (the humor in this case, as in all cases, being somewhat subjective). Authors often have the freedom to play around with each character’s screen name, as well as what other characters might have someone saved as in smaller or private chats. Details like these reveal that, while chat fics may appear on the surface to be some of the most simple and easy-to-write fanfictions, they often require in-depth knowledge of not just canon facts but also fanon (“fan canon”) tropes to be accepted and enjoyed authentically by readers. The implementation of this knowledge is doubly impressive when the original source material exists in a world without cellphones and the internet, and thus the author must find a way to strike a balance between referencing the original character/trait/meme/etc while making it seem congruent in the new setting. Indeed, the achievement of a particularly impressive “reference” in any fic is often met with high praise by readers in the comment section of the story.   

I should say now that none of this is meant to stigmatize or label sexually-explicit fanfiction as somehow “inauthentic.” It is authentic and it is important, but it is not all that fanfiction is. One of the greatest beauties of fanfiction, as has been observed in pieces like Dan Olson’s breakdown of the Fifty Shades movies on the Folding Ideas YouTube channel, is that it lets both authors and readers get to the “good stuff” without having to be bogged down by character introductions and worldbuilding. In the contract of fanfiction, both the author and the reader have already done some amount of prior “research” so that everyone is more or less on the same page about certain aspects of the work. This is why the many iterations of Batman work no matter the change in scenery or storyline: both authors and readers are bringing assumptions to the table that they are ready and willing to see both reaffirmed and challenged. 

Again, a common reason for praise in the comment sections of fanfictions comes from the perceived accuracy of a character’s depiction within the story. In this case, it doesn’t matter if the creator of the original work would actually agree with the characterization in the fanfiction, just that the fanfic author and the reader agree that it is authentic. It is understandable, then, that creators like Anne Rice would feel threatened by fanfiction. In some cases, this fear is legitimate: no well-intentioned creator would want their work altered in order to spread hateful messages, afterall. Additionally, when characters in a story are not merely fictional but are real, living celebrities/singers/idols/youtubers/etc., there are some reasonable questions about ethics and consent to consider. However, what I have mostly found throughout my years as a writer and reader is that the fanfiction contract allows for a deeper exploration of themes that mainstream media simply does not or will not explore.

This brings us to the final consideration today for why fanfiction is so often belittled and mocked, and to put it quite simply it is the creators and audience themselves. Returning to stereotypes once more, people often imagine that fanfiction is written by and for heterosexual, teenage, cis-gendered girls. The social trend of shitting on the interest of teenage girls is another topic for another time. For now, I certainly will not deny that these people exist within the space, but I also would not say they are necessarily the majority. I can only speak from my own experiences, but I have found is that fanfiction holds a strong attraction for individuals of queer genders and sexualities. These individuals, searching both to express their own feelings and to find a community, can use fanfiction as a means of attaining both. This is partially why sexually explicit fanfiction, while not the majority of what is written, can be some of the most powerful and subversive content that is produced. Fanfiction written about men is almost never fanfiction written for cis-gender men, and the truth is that pornography written by gender/sexual minorities for gender/sexual minorities just hits different. 

And when it comes to minority or disadvantaged groups, queer individuals are by no means the only ones who find freedom in fanfiction. Taking characters “everyone” knows and writing them with depression, anxiety, ADHD, Autism, etc., allows authors and readers to feel fully realized in fiction for the first time. Fanfiction can be just as, and sometimes even more, resonant than traditional fiction because of just how strong people’s feelings are for their favorite characters. If those favorite characters were dismissed or betrayed in the source material, they can be given a second chance at “life” in the fanfiction. Even when this is not the case, there may be elements to characters that simply resonate with minority voices and inspire further creation even after the canon story ends.

Fanfiction is not perfect by any means. There is quite a lot to be said about problems such as the misogyny and racism that can “slip by” or be fully adopted by a fandom uncriticized. Once again, however, this is true of any artistic medium, and that’s what fanfiction is: a medium of expression, not a genre. Fanfiction can be romance, but it can also be sci-fi, mystery, comedy, thriller, historical drama, adventure, and more. It is creation constrained only by the written word itself. 

Now let me tie this all back to the beginning. As I alluded to, there has recently been an increased interest in allowing ChatGPT to “write” fanfiction. I am here to say that AI fanfiction is not real fanfiction. While it is true that AI is by its very nature derivative in its outputs, AI is hollow. It has nothing to say. Fanfiction is a rich and flourishing medium which takes characters the dominant powers in society have “allowed” us to have, and it breathes into these characters fresh, minority voices. Fanfiction is art, and it is worthy of celebration, not derision and cheap imitation.

[yamiheart]

All I’ll say is..............perhaps there is more in the works ;3c

[yamiheart]

Any new EM fics in the works? I only ask bc I love your writing so much; I can’t hardly get enough of it

I do have quite a few erasermic fics in the works at the moment! Since it’s mer-may at the moment, I’d actually really like to contribute a fic to it for once, so keep an eye out for that on my Ao3! If you haven’t been keeping up with me since I left tumblr, I think you’ll be pleased to find all sorts of new Erasermic content there! 

[yamiheart]

Your writing is god tier 😩

Ahhhhhhh, thank you, thank you!! Who knows how long this message has been sitting here, but your compliment is still greatly appreciated!! <3 <3 <3 

[yamiheart]

I see that you and Nart (Nartothelar) make stuff for each other a lot. Are you two just those friends that constantly give each other gifts bc that’s really cute

Yep, that’s Nart and I! >w</ @nartothelar a wonderful artist and an even greater friend, so making her gifts (and even collabing on projects sometimes) is always so much fun! 

[yamiheart]

I haven’t been on here in, like, two years??? I think?? I don’t remember, haha. But I figured out how to log back into my account, and I actually have some asks sitting in my inbox, so I’ll answer them! 

Just so everyone knows, though, I’m mostly only active on my Twitter these days! Oh, well, and Ao3, too, of course! <3 

[yamiheart]

I don't have anything specific in the works at the moment, but I would also love to write more Soul Eater AU stuff, so if there's anything specific you'd like to see, let me know! ;)

PLEASE MAKE MORE ERASERMIC SOUL EATER AU PLEASE! I love it so much😍 I really want someone to write more fanfics about it!

AH! Thank you so much :’D! I’m so happy you love it!!! Expect some Soul Eater content in the near future, since I’m already drawing some answers to some asks, as well as releasing Aizawa and Mic’s outfits back in their high school days owoAlso, tbh ME TOO! Soul Eater is one of my fave aus and I hope some of my art will perhaps inspire people to write more of it? I’d just die of happiness if that ever happened fkfnwkfwneOne other thing! @yamiheart, the person who wrote One in a Billion, the only Erasermic Soul Eater au fanfic right now, now OFFICIALLY, co-owns this au with me! This was a decision made by me since they always give me so many ideas and is as excited about the au as me ^^ So keep an eye on them in case they make some more content owo!

[yamiheart]

I think about Madness Mic 23 out of every 24 hours a day. It’s a serious condition, but Nart’s art helps to alleviate it some. <3

“Anyone can succumb to madness; some are more susceptible than others it seems.”

More SE au doodles birthed from me and @yamiheart talking about Mic and madness

[yamiheart]

LOOK AT THESE CUTE LITTLE BABY BOYS!!!!! READY TO KICK ASS AND TAKE NAMES!!!! 

some quick doodles based on @yamiheart’s fanfic, One in a Billion, for our soul eater au!

[yamiheart]

Another art dump (B/W edition, I had too many to post so I divided them, next post will have the other doodles that I have with colors) …. of mostly Present Mic doodles…. also the pieces I made for the @erasermicweek but sadly never finished…I still want to tho…. time is just a tricky thing hahaha

The days I made were: Memories, pining, surprise/revelation and risk!

A quick doodle of my mans because I just love drawing his dumb face

Some more fanart doodles of the fic The Master and The Hound by @yamiheart and @peachylixir

An out of context doodle of an AU! civilian!Mic, he is the owner of a record store and sometimes he gets into trouble because he is a loudmouth and other times  because he tries to play hero when he sees someone in trouble (Peachy and I came up with it for fun!)

Lastly, a doodle of my BNHA Herosona bullying Mic, because that’s what they do lmao

[yamiheart]

If you look through Nart's Soul Eater AU tag, you will see that I am one of the most embarrassing die-hard fans for the whole concept. To get to write this fic for Nart is a real dream come true! Thank you Nart for this absolutely heartwrenchingly good art, and thank you to everyone who has been enjoying the fic! ❤️❤️❤️

Part of an art/writing trade with @yamiheart, who wanted Aizawa protecting Mic from my Soul Eater au! Even a meister can protect their weapon, though, how they do it varies doesn’t it ;) Be sure to check out their AMAZING fanfic, One in a Billion, to see the boys as teens and pairing up for the first time!

[yamiheart]

I didn’t even know fanfic author appreciate day was a thing! I know I’m quite late in my reply, but thank you for including me! Days of My Future Husband’s Past was a real sweet treat to write, and I’m glad so many people have enjoyed it. <3 <3

Fanfic recs

Because it’s Fanfic Writer Appreciation Day, I thought I’d make a list of a few of my favorite fics. These are all BNHA and all safe, because if I added NSFW I’d have to give my entire bookmark folder.

——

Evolutionary, endpoint by @tony-stark-has-a-heart

It’s got Izuku with a quirk, Dadzawa, DadMight, TodoDeku... fantastic.

——

All My Stumbling Phrases by @ill-go-with-that-then

Ugh this EraserMic is just so sweet?! Jealous Shouta is fantastic. All of this author’s fics are amazing, but I love this one the most.

——

Turntables by wancemcwain

Another EraserMic story. I love the flipped roles, with Shouta being the one who flirts.

——

Days of My Future Husband’s Past by @yamiheart

Hey guess what. It’s more EraserMic. Because time travel and fluff make me weak. Fantastic.

——

Skyscraper by Say_Jay

EraserMic. Like. Oof I can’t even talk about how much I love this because I just babble and give away the entire plot.

——

Toil & Trouble by @letaizawarest

More EraserMic. This is a witch/magical beings AU and it’s fantastic. Shouta is a gay disaster and I love it.

——

I Would Understand by @deafmic

Shinson fic that honestly makes me cry whenever I read it and takes all my uwus because it’s so good??

——

Comfort I by modernmint

Hey guess the pairing. If you guessed EraserMic you’re right. Another soft fic where those two are in love no matter what.

——

Yesterday Upon the Stair by @pitviperofdoom

If you haven’t read this yet you should. It’s so well written, I get chills sometimes. Izuku has a quirk that lets him see ghosts, which is cool, but then it gets better and better and better. 11/10 I reread often

——

No Good Deed by Notsogoodwithwords

This has got smol Izuku and Dadzawa. The timeline is a little funky, but Aizawa is so well written that it makes very little difference.

——

Useless Monster by MuteCrows

God where do I even begin. Izuku has amazingly cool powers of healing and shapeshifting. It’s god DadMight. It’s fantastic what more do you want from me?!

——

Children of Fate by lucky1025

Another 11/10 fic that I reread often. TodoDeku, and Izuku gets an amazing quirk. This fic really is one of those “It made me laugh, it made me cry” fics.

——

I’m sure I missed a few people’s tumblrs, and the descriptions aren’t the best... but here they are. A few of my favorite fics!!

[yamiheart]

I can’t believe you consider I can’t help falling in love with you as one of your favorite fluffy Erasermic fics! To be included in a list as wonderful as this is a truly humbling compliment. Thank you for enjoying my stories so much!! <3 <3 

I have an urge to read some soft EraserMic. Like, super romantic, calming, gentle fluff.

Recommendations?

[yamiheart]

What an early scene! Seeing this drawing really brought me back to the beginning of the rp. Hizashi and Shouta were so different back then! 

Thank you for taking the time to draw this for us! You make Hizashi look beautiful!

I drew a scene from @yamiheart and @peachylixir fanfic The Master and the Hound you should check it out!!,

[yamiheart]

In the master and the hound is mic shorter or taller than Zawa??

They're about the same height actually with Hizashi maybe an inch taller if he stands just right! Despite Shouta being a bit wolfy and Hizashi having a bit of horn, we just imagined them with their canon BNHA heights. Thank you for asking, though! ❤️

[yamiheart]

Again, Mistic, thank yoooou. 😭❤️💗❤️💗❤️💗❤️💗❤️💗❤️💗❤️😭😭😭😭❤️💗😭❤️😭💗❤️💗😭❤️😭💗😭❤️💗😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️❤️😭❤️💗💗💗💗💗❤️❤️😭❤️

Shouta and Hizashi from @peachylixir and @yamiheart ‘s amazing fic (Check it out~)

[yamiheart]

I’m sorry again for my late reply the first time around, but WOWZERS!! Look at this lovely drawing you’ve done for me. QwQ It’s wonderful and I’m so grateful for it. 

Also!!! All the kind words you wrote in the description are too much!!! Thank you for such a generous comparison to a writer from a serious I’ve also enjoyed! 

I feel like all I want to say is thank you for the art and the compliments, yet no matter how much I say it, I feel like it won’t be enough! Still, thank you, thank you, thank you!

“Hizashi, you’re bleeding.”

So I was initially gonna draw this for erasermic week, but i kinda missed my opening (I have, hang ups about drawing fanart with explicit permission, and I asked really late and got a similarly late response). I was saddened for a bit when I suddenly remembered: I don’t need an event to draw fanart. I can just fucking draw whenever I want (I am not the smartest cookie in the tin).

So! Turn Off the Mic!! Written by @yamiheart!! In a short and gross understatement: I absolutely love this fic. The writing is up there with my friend Star’s (an author for bendy and the ink machine, one of the most stellar writers I’ve encountered in my life) and between her skill and how much I like her, that is not a comparison I make easily or lightly. I have no words of my own that can do it justice. It’s just so visceral and deeply touching in the picture it paints, and no matter how many times I’ve reread it I get chills all over again. It’s fucking beautiful and if you ship this go read it now! Here’s a link!! Go go go!!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15083426