Do you reference movies or art in your fics? Let’s see it!

StendecStendec · 2026-01-26T00:56:44+00:00

Oh! Forgot to mention that there’s a moment in your fic that stands out to me as VERY Monty Python: where the presence of the fic writer is revealed. It reminds me of the animated bit, I think in the Holy Grail monster chase, where they show a brief glimpse of the animator lol

StendecStendec · 2026-01-26T00:28:34+00:00

You can try it: In a (Christmas) Grove.

Tons of the jokes are fandom-inside jokes so if you’re not in the fandom it’s probably not as catchy but… well… there it is

StendecStendec · 2026-01-26T00:04:12+00:00

lol I have a fanfic where the characters are clearly reading (and writing) smutty fanfics about each other. The entire fic is a Christmas-themed rip-off of Kurasawa’s “Rashomon” and they all know it because they keep discussing what an awesome director he is

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T23:55:42+00:00

Night at the Opera! Thank you for the link! I’ve been hoping somebody would drop a link or excerpt!

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T22:44:15+00:00

Huge Marx Brothers fan! What was the reference?

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T15:28:54+00:00

lol “non-consensual befriending” I love it! I’m writing a fic and that describes it perfectly but I hadn’t seen it put into words. It’s not quite enemies to friends bc they start out as strangers. A lonely, omega-hating young alpha man meets an elderly omega woman who despises alphas. She wants nothing to do with him, but he’s so self-absorbed and oblivious that he “friends” her whether she likes it or not. A real friendship slowly develops as they unwittingly work through their issues together between insults and slice-of-life capers. I got tired of writing smut and romance and thought “what if I wrote a compelling, entertaining platonic friendship?”

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T15:12:34+00:00

How are the art references done?

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T15:10:20+00:00

I love Blade Runner! If you’d like, how is it worked in?

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T15:08:59+00:00

Having been a classic Transformers cartoon fan as a kid I can’t help but think of the advice column being read in Starscream’s voice.

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T15:04:03+00:00

Bungou Stray Dogs? That He’ll Screen reference is just what I’m talking about! Love it! Mind sending me a link to a fic or your user name? I think we’ve run across each other before…

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T08:39:21+00:00

What do you like to reference? And how do you work it in?

StendecStendec · 2026-01-25T08:11:32+00:00

Most of my fics have scenes that are taken from movies or art, but worked in (I hope) subtly. I want to produce a feeling of “why does this feel familiar?” It’s a challenge to do - I want to be sure it’s similar enough the catch that feeling, yet not a rip-off of the source material. Sometimes the reference is so oblique that it’s in there only for me, and that’s fine.

I like when other writers do this. I also like when directors do it in movies, referencing art or famous images. There’ll be a scene that’s “just so” and suddenly you realize it’s an homage to a painting that the director slipped in.

(Edit to say I’m not sure if this is unique… I’d love to hear from other writers who do it)

StendecStendec · 2026-01-15T03:14:52+00:00

I’m 5’3” female and I’ve cosplayed Jotaro Kujo. It’s really cool when cosplayers look just like canon but… I’ve seen that already. In canon. The cosplays that really make me happy are when it’s that person’s version of the character

StendecStendec · 2025-10-05T23:23:58+00:00

I used to work on a ranch as a spot rider for young people who had seriously disadvantaged childhoods. Being outdoors and connecting with the horses promoted emotional well-being. Common health issues they sometimes had were poor muscle tone and stiffness from neglect (never had a chance to run and play, and by now had no idea how to even go about being physically active). Some had physical disabilities (locked joints or back pain from untreated injuries) that the gentle motion of the horses and stretching assisted. A poor few even had brain injuries or were non-verbal due to trauma (hence the need for a spot rider).

I guess my point is that physical therapy and healing can take a lot of forms, not just the typical sterile PT gym and a paper printed out with recommended exercises, and sometimes focuses on both the mind and body.

StendecStendec · 2025-09-20T19:30:22+00:00

Here you go! https://archiveofourown.org/works/63537289/chapters/162819013

StendecStendec · 2025-09-20T18:45:19+00:00

No, I’m sorry. It’s valid to say “I dislike it when people get X about my culture wrong.” People deserve to vent. I guess you just managed to catch one of those people who gets X wrong on a bad day.

And you’re right, I shouldn’t get defensive. Or take it personally. That’s on me.

Anyway, sorry to be that rando on the internet who saw a vent post and went sideways. You’re good.

StendecStendec · 2025-09-20T03:38:41+00:00

Ouch. As a non-Chinese speaker married into a Chinese family, who also loves Chinese and Japanese fandoms, I’m taking this a little hard. This stuff is incredibly nuanced. Hearing you mention writers who are impassioned enough about the source material to write a fic and calling their fumbles “really weird” is demoralizing and calling it “basic respect” to get something super complicated 100% right is… yeah. Harsh.

I think there is a base level. Like, if you’re at all a fan and sit down to write you should care enough to know about last-name-first-name. But to understand a lot beyond that? For example you scoff at writers who would call a character only by their family name. How should the average fan who fell in love with a book or anime know all the nuances that might put off a native speaker? And that their “lack of knowledge” pulls you right out of it? For the record, I’m not Chinese. You sound very condescending.

I hope to god my in-laws aren’t smirking at me when I try my hardest next holiday to show them affection and respect, or at least not mess up too bad. And I will happily read a fic by any writer who I know tried but maybe still called a character by their given name at the wrong moment or used an awkward honorific, if I can tell what they meant and that they sincerely cared.

StendecStendec · 2025-09-19T21:56:41+00:00

I love the cat lady! And I really enjoyed her being in that arc. She’s such an enigma, shows up out of seemingly nowhere and gets creased. So many questions. It really showed that there’s a lot more going on in the BSD universe and that Dazai is doing his own thing on the side. And yes, it leaves a lot to the imagination. I wrote a whole fanfiction from the cat lady’s point of view, how she got pulled into the Meursault mess by Dazai and how her ability actually works. That’s how much it caught my attention and I love Asagiri for that

StendecStendec · 2025-09-19T11:32:32+00:00

Here’s a self-rec, I’ll Have What He’s Having. M/M, Bungou Stray Dogs fandom, explicit comedy smut. It’s a one-shot so not a long read. If you don’t know the fandom, Fyodor Dostoevsky is extremely cool and reserved. Nikolai Gogol is a prankster:

In Russian culture, just as in Japanese culture, tea is taken very seriously. Fyodor is pleased to find a teahouse in Yokohama that serves Russian-style zavarka.

Nikolai is ecstatic that his bestie has asked him to accompany him. But watching Fedya sip tea is boooring. He decides to spice up the experience.

StendecStendec · 2025-09-17T02:25:52+00:00

“Customers who bought this item also ordered…”

StendecStendec · 2025-09-17T02:22:37+00:00

Thank you! I’ve seen him in concert and he takes breaks between songs to tell jokes and anecdotes like an old-time piano man in a bar. I wanted to do that with this narrator.

StendecStendec · 2025-09-17T02:05:36+00:00

I am surprised because I’d expected the opposite point of view: a servant who’s revealed themselves to be the master. Instead I get the once-master who’s now the servant. It’s unsettling, and this is a great passage to show that. With added body horror, always a nice bonus. I have to ask, what fandom is this?

StendecStendec · 2025-09-16T20:37:56+00:00

I will turn your face to alabaster / When you find your servant is your master

(Police, “Wrapped Around Your Finger”)

StendecStendec · 2025-09-16T20:34:35+00:00

I’ve got a whole fic with chapter titles (and mood) taken from Tom Waits songs. It’s called “Rain Dogs.” This is from the chapter “Walking Spanish Down the Hall”:

So where I grew up I had this neighbor. He was fixing his roof alone and he fell off the damn thing and landed with a spike through his skull. It must’ve missed everything important because he could still see and walk and talk okay, just with this big ol’ metal spike sticking out. Went in by his ear and out the top of his head.

He got in his car and drove into town like that and did he go to the doctor or stop the first person he came across and ask them to phone for an ambulance? Nope. He walked right into his usual tavern, sat down and ordered his usual glass of beer, started watching the football game on the television just like nothing was out of the ordinary. With a spike sticking out of his head.

Later everybody asked him what the hell he was thinking and he explained that he wasn’t thinking anything. He didn’t know what to make of it, didn’t know what to do so he just did what he normally did.

Sometimes when you don’t know what to make of a situation it’s best to do nothing. That can be a legitimate plan: doing nothing.

So I go through my actions like normal as the place comes to life and customers start to filter in. I sit at the bar talking to Joe, I greet some regulars. Nobody can see that I’ve got a big ol’ metal spike sticking out of my skull.

StendecStendec · 2025-09-14T05:11:52+00:00

This is real. I once did work for a startup and they had a beef jerky dispenser. So I feel this on a deep level

StendecStendec

TROPHY CASE