Your borderline fic recaught my interest in being in the batfandom rn! I just keep seeing all those posts criticizing characterizations and lack of accuracy in fanfiction and posts in the fandom at large and it kept stressing me out, I’m here to have fun and play around. Your fics in general are awesome and you’re one of the authors my boyfriend suggested that helped pull me in originally, so it checks you’d make me want to stay around. <3 I hope this was okay to say! Keep up the awesome writing and I hope your day is going good <3

Hi anon! Thank you so much! I'm glad you're sticking around in the fandom, we're happy to have you here <3

Look, I've seen those posts too, and I can't lie -- they stress me out too. I've never claimed to write canon-accurate characters or straight from the comics plotlines. There are some authors who do that, and they're great! There's also a ton who don't, and they're also great.

Fanfiction isn't about being accurate to the canon source material. It's about writing your takes on characters, events, what-if scenarios, etc. This idea of "accuracy" only hamstrings writers, creators, and artists.

If I was being "accurate" to some DC source material, my Bruce would be very different. He would be meaner, and much more likely to hit/abuse his kids.

Do I like writing that? Hell no! And who's saying I have to?

This idea that fanon is somehow "ruining" canon and/or canon fanfiction is ridiculous to me. I keep seeing this kind of comics elitism pop up here and on TikTok, and it drives me nuts.

Fans have always, since the dawn of fanworks, taken characters and put their own spin on them. They've done things to your blorbo you hate, or that your friend hates, or your friend's friend really hates.

There was a comment by one TikTok creator on a similar post who asked people to stop telling her to "let people enjoy things" because she felt that that phrase was harmful to her involvement in and appreciation for the Batfamily/DC fandoms.

Well, I disagree. I think we should absolutely let people enjoy things, above all else.

So yeah. Write the OOC Bruce Wayne fic. Put together a Tumblr post about a chat between the Batfamily members that would probably never happen in canon. Draw Dick Grayson in short shorts with a boob window, which now that I say it, they might actually do in canon, but oh well.

Fanon/Fandom enjoyment of stuff like the Batfamily, Batman, Superbat etc is not somehow magically ruining canon. If your understanding and appreciation for canon can't handle when buttfucker69 on Tumblr woobifies Bruce for a mini a/b/o fic, then you need to challenge your understanding of fandom.

We don't gatekeep here. I certainly never will. And I will keep fighting on this point until I eventually leave this godforsaken hellsite.

You are a valid fan even if you don't read the comics. You are a valid creator even if your fic/posts are OOC. Your fanon and fandom experiences are VALID.