Little bits of scribbles

The reason he still has the reputation of being the one with the most unhealthy habits is because he's super pale so any blemish (eye bags, blotchy skin, etc) shows up like a neon light and he's a workaholic that hammers things out as efficiently as possible. Boy just gets triple the work done in half the time when compared to Bruce or his brothers.

This has been sitting in my drafts for a while, but in light of all the bullshit attacks on queer and nsfw creators lately, here it is I guess 🤷

I had been wanting to ditch Google Docs for years, but most "Google docs alternatives" weren't a good fit for my needs: A good mobile experience, and the ability to sync my work across devices. Most of the common alternatives people throw around are either iOS only, desktop only, or not free to use.

So it wasn't until I found @ellipsus-writes that I finally made the switch back in September 2024. The app is well-designed, works across devices, supports collaboration, AND they're staunchly anti-AI, queer friendly, and fanfic friendly! 🌈

It's not perfect (yet!) mind, but it's pretty damn close for me. Some caveats:

Formatting options are a bit limited at this time. Your font choice applies to the whole document, and things like subscript and superscript aren't available. (This is my biggest gripe atm, as my current writing project involves a lot of research and footnotes).

Ellipsus does not have a native app, so you won't find it on the AppStore/Play Store. Instead, it is a web app. It runs in the browser. But on mobile devices, you can get a more "app-like experience" by adding it to your home screen. (More on that later)

You cannot 'magically' import all of your work from Google docs into Ellipsus. You'll have to import them manually. One at a time.

But uh... One cool thing Ellipsus has that Google Docs does not? An "Export to AO3" feature! No more fixing formatting issues or having to use that "Format for AO3" user script that can be laggy as hell!

Part 1: Getting your work into Ellipsus

As of this writing, Ellipsus can only import Markdown (.md) files. So in order to get your work imported, you'll first have to export it from Google Docs (or whatever you currently use) as markdown.

The shitty thing is, Google Docs only lets you do this on desktop 🫠

By metatext I mean like tagging, summary, and authors notes (especially initial authors notes at the beginning of a fic). The means by which we communicate to our readers what they’re getting into.

Because we kind of all have to learn it by osmosis and there are conventions but nobody’s really taught them at the start, so there’s inconsistencies and misunderstandings or people just not knowing things through no fault of their own.

This ends up breeding frustration and confusion and in the worst cases resentment, hurt, and aggression.

I’m severely tempted to make such a handbook and get it circulating.

Go here for the PDF, or here to view the whole document as a tumblr post.

I recommend the PDF.

Now Elena knows she’s not exactly skilled. Shes an apprentice not a journeyman or master, and to a blacksmith to boot, not some grand weapons maker. Most of her time is spent making nails and doing repairs for the various farm equipment thats used in the surrounding area.

But this star shard… it calls to her. She doesn’t start crafting with it right away, no it stays wrapped up in some old rags for the time being. When she asks for some tips, her master givers her an odd look and a short lecture about how they were blacksmiths none of those fancy artisans, but with a little bit of explanation he relents shares what he knows.

There’s a lot of mess at first. Metal mangled so poorly it’s tossed back into the scrap heap to be melted down again. As she gets better however, she ends up with a few pieces to sell at market for the occasional buyer.

Elena knows it’s time now. Working the fire just so, the already incredible sheen of the shard takes on an unworldly glow, fitting for something from a star. And with many hours of work, carefully following steps that she’d practiced hundreds of times, she finished the blade quenching it and letting it cool.

Next came the polishing and honing. Again she was ready, carefully sharpening the blade from the coarsest stone to the scrap of silk that she had managed to get her hands on. Finally the blade was finished.

It gleamed in the light, almost seeming to have a glow from within, and was mounted on a sturdy handle made to fit her hand perfectly.

I understand that as I do not own the characters in those prompts I do not have the right to copyright strike them, but I will consider it a form of harassment.

It's getting to the point that I'm considering stopping writing fanfic altogether in favor of focusing on original works I CAN copyright strike your asses for.

The reason for my issues with it is simple; I don't own those characters. DCU and Nickelodeon do.

You're using my posts (and others) to artificially raise your follower count so you can open a TikTok affiliate shop.

By using those posts to boost your numbers and make money, you're tying my name, my fanworks, to income based off of characters copyrighted by very big companies.

That puts me at risk of being slapped with a lawsuit, even though I'm not actually making money from it. Lawyers could argue that I was complicit.

Could I get out of that lawsuit? Yes, after money I don't have gets spent on taking it to court to argue that my shit was ripped. Which I don't want to do, because again, money I don't have.

For my own safety, it might be better for me to stop considering it and just not post anything prompt or fic related on tumblr anymore.

But I'm going to start covering my bases instead, because I do like the tumblr community, cursed as it is.

I'm gonna have to go by the early 2000s rules on fanfiction.net; every single fanfic or fanprompt will be heralded with "I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS OR THEIR WORLDS. I DO NOT INTEND TO MAKE MONEY WITH THIS POST. IF THIS POST IS ON TIKTOK I DID NOT CONSENT TO THAT. IF THIS DISCLAIMER IS MISSING THEN THE POST WAS EDITED TO NEGATE IT.".

Personal writing, especially fanfiction, has to be free with no one making money from it otherwise it is a huge lawsuit.

I can’t remember her name but back in the early 2000s a lot of works were being copyright stricken because the owner of the work hated fanfic and almost ruined it for everyone that’s why we have Ao3 now to stop that and protect writers.

But tumblr has nothing protecting us besides the regular copyright laws so having anyone posting them on another platform to generate revenue is dangerous.

And going back to writing on every work “we don’t own the characters or show” is going back to early writings of works to not get sued. Even though it is almost guaranteed that none of the fanfic writers own the show/characters, it’s the only way to protect ourselves from prosecution.

Especially because we write fics for ourselves and others to enjoy and we do not want that to go away.

Clark slowly waiting and watching the group chat, collecting the information and avoiding Bruce, just doing his job and hoping no one in the organization sees they added an investigative reporter to the gc long enough for him to write a lengthy exposé.

That and when Lois finds out after Clark is unsuccessfully assassinated by a GIW sniper because the bullet just bounces off of him? Oh she’s pissed. He has the scoop of the century and didn’t tell her, his wife, and now she owes him $50 now for getting the CIA award before him. He’s sleeping on the couch tonight.

I am CACKLING this is hilarious and legit the perfect plot for a fic. I would read fifty yes please and thank you.

The Jimmy side plot is essential. Every time he tags along to take pictures he gets his own wild adventure. Sometimes he gets transformed or teleported or rescues a princess.

I propose this time Jimmy gets get the Pulitzer for the very first non-fuzzy picture of the ghost zone. It’s because he uses an old film camera that belonged to an old uncle that died in the same room it was stored, so it’s got natural ecto radiation imbued in the lenses or something.

And while sprinting through the GIW base (got separated from Clark) he’s snapping pictures of all the horrifying things the government has done to these beings - and a portal opens in front of him. Jimmy can’t slow down in time so he accidentally tackles Phantom, the ghost hero who came to help because someone somehow (Clark) destroyed the anti-ghost shield around the base.

Phantom and Jimmy fall backward into the ghost zone and Jimmy is still snapping pictures like crazy while this kid starts yelling and asking questions and then shoves him back through the portal. Phantom goes off to fight and help save ghosts with Superman (when did he get here? where is Clark?) and Jimmy changes out the roll of film for a new one to keep going.

Once the day is saved and he’s back in his dark room developing film he finds crisp clear photos of a very different dimension.

Your honor he’s a secret fourth thing and that’s called Being Jimmy Olsen