The official blog for the Fanart Frenzy event
Create all kinds of art for your favorite fanfiction, encourage fellow artists, and fight to eradicate the art commission scammers
Our spring mini event is now live! Check out our event post here to join us!
Tune in to @fanonradio's marathon broadcast full of fandom-related shows starting at 10am CEST on July 4th on their site here. You can also go straight to the broadcast here.
We'll be on the air discussing the origins of Fanart Frenzy and how the first round went, our upcoming event in January 2027, participation in fandom and the restoration of the gift economy, and how you can start your own event!
Our show will start at 5pm CEST on July 4th. Find out what time that is for you here. Check it out on fanon.radio!
Tune in to @fanonradio's marathon broadcast full of fandom-related shows starting at 10am CEST on July 4th on their site here. You can also go straight to the broadcast here.
We'll be on the air discussing the origins of Fanart Frenzy and how the first round went, our upcoming event in January 2027, participation in fandom and the restoration of the gift economy, and how you can start your own event!
Our show will start at 5pm CEST on July 4th. Find out what time that is for you here. Check it out on fanon.radio!
Hey everyone! On July 4th, a few of us will be on @fanonradio talking about the event! We'll have more details about the times and how you can tune in soon, but in the meantime...
If you have any questions about the upcoming event in January 2027, the event in general, or how running a fandom event works, please drop them in our ask box or this form by Wednesday, June 24th and we'll answer them on the air!
Hey everyone! On July 4th, a few of us will be on @fanonradio talking about the event! We'll have more details about the times and how you can tune in soon, but in the meantime...
If you have any questions about the upcoming event in January 2027, the event in general, or how running a fandom event works, please drop them in our ask box or this form by Wednesday, June 24th and we'll answer them on the air!
Hey everyone! On July 4th, a few of us will be on @fanonradio talking about the event! We'll have more details about the times and how you can tune in soon, but in the meantime...
If you have any questions about the upcoming event in January 2027, the event in general, or how running a fandom event works, please drop them in our ask box or this form by Wednesday, June 24th and we'll answer them on the air!
Hey everyone! On July 4th, a few of us will be on @fanonradio talking about the event! We'll have more details about the times and how you can tune in soon, but in the meantime...
If you have any questions about the upcoming event in January 2027, the event in general, or how running a fandom event works, please drop them in our ask box or this form by Wednesday, June 24th and we'll answer them on the air!
And with that, we are getting things started! As a brief reminder for those new to the event -- AU Roulette is a casual fic-writing challenge encouraging fanfic authors to play around with different types of alternate universe stories, which will be randomly assigned to each participant regardless of the fandom they sign up with.
Writers will be able to sign up from May 10th-31st with a fandom of their choice. At the start of June, each participant will be assigned three AUs from a masterlist using a random number generator. Each author will then have the choice of completing the challenge one, two, or all three of the AUs. Any fic exceeding a 500-word minimum will be considered a completion, so long as it employs the AU premise. Fics can then be posted at any point during the month of June.
As a reminder: The fandom you signed up with is used to filter AU assignments, in order to minimize re-rolls! (For example, someone signing up with "The Lord of the Rings" will not be assigned a High Fantasy AU). Please only sign-up with one fandom.
The sign-up link can be found here. Please feel free to spread it around and get the word out about this year's event!
Announcing Fanart Frenzy's first mini event! Our first theme is: Tropes!
Sick of spam comments and fake art scammers hassling your favorite fic writers? Join us in reinforcing the fandom gift economy and make some real art!
Can't draw? No problem! Any kind of art is welcome - moodboards, graphics, gifsets, podfic, playlists and mixtapes, dioramas, 3D modeling, baked goods, animation, zines, embroidery, tea blends, perfumes, and more, not just digital/traditional art! Check out our Art Type Spotlights for ideas, guides, and tutorials!
Not into art? Join us as a commenter!
Grab your prompt via our picker wheel here, find a fic in your (or any!) fandom that includes your assigned trope, and make some art!
Add your art into a comment on the fic using our comment guide, and post anywhere you normally would using our posting guidelines - please tag us or use the hashtag #fanart frenzy. You can also share your art on our subreddit, on our discord server, or add it to our AO3 Collection! Please follow our event rules and check out the FAQ for quick answers.
Creating web art can be super fun! Make something yourself, learn a new skill, or just edit a template to suit the fic you want to create for! You can make fic rec pages on a personal website, design a tumblr theme or AO3 skin, or even make an online quiz themed to the fic. HTML, CSS, and other coding languages can be used for all sorts of interesting art!
Potential ways to connect to a fic:Â
There are a few things you can do with HTML and web art related to a fic. Here are a few ideas:
A web page - this could be a page on an existing site (your personal site - see below for recommendations for this - or we may be able to host your project on our domain). What you put on this can vary pretty widely. You can make a fic rec page, with your own art, things you like about the fic, and a recommendation to read it - essentially an old school web shrine. If youâre working with a coffee shop AU, or an office AU, or something that in some way involves a fictional business, you can create a mock-up of a website for that business.Â
AO3 skins or tumblr themes based around a fic, using significant colors, symbols, and art to translate what you love about a fic into a new web format.Â
Online Quizzes - Buzzfeed and uquizâs formats can be easily customized to relate to, or even recreate the ideas and themes of a fic - feel free to get weird with it. Working with an inescapable tragedy? Trap quiztakers in the inevitability of the ending. You can also make a quiz assigning quiztakers a significant object, plot point, or other aspect of a fic. For example, a âwhich pastry from this coffee shop AU are youâ quiz, or âwhich quote from [FIC] that made me lose my mind are you?â If youâve found a lot of great fics for the event, you could even make a âWhich fic I [made art for/commented on] for Fanart Frenzy should you read?â quiz to recommend them to your friends and show off your work in the results.
Making things for various websites, like discord emotes of an OC in a fic, or web stamps depicting an object or symbol from the fic.
There are many other (more complicated) options, we've just covered the basics here - get creative and see what you can come up with!
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
Examples:
Personal websites are making a bit of a comeback, which is excellent news for those of us who long for a decentralized web free of the control of the various billionaires who prod at us as we scuttle about their social media empires. You can make your own website easily on Neocities - check out their tutorials to get started and have a look at some personal websites in your fandom by searching here for some inspiration. You can add pages to your site for anything you like - fandom-themed personal sites often include rec lists for fanfiction, and making a themed recommendation page within your site for a fic is a great way to fill the web art and HTML prompts!
AO3 skins and tumblr themes are another option. Tumblr theme making is unfortunately a dying art, as many users no longer opt to have a theme at all, but with your help, we can do a bit of fanfiction-themed necromancy and bring it back from the brink. For some great examples, check out memorizingthedigitsofpiâs github repository of their ao3 site skins, including a couple fandom-specific examples like this Game Changer skin.Â
In terms of quizzes, thereâs a lot of variety out there and many excellent quizzes you can take inspiration from. You may have seen this incredible nightmare of a quiz, try to find your way out of my wizard maze, floating around tumblr - its freeform weirdness recreates the feeling of being trapped in a cursed labyrinth. On the more normal side, find out which Muppet you are and get some inspiration for a âwhich ____ are youâ quiz here. For another example, check out our quiz - Build your ideal fanfic and find out what kind of art to make for Fanart Frenzy.
Read on for more information on how to get started!
What is HTML?
HTML in and of itself, as you can see, is quite ugly. That is why in web design itâs always paired with two other languages: CSS and JavaScript. You donât need to worry about Javascript for now (it defines interactivity on websites, like what happens when you click on a button), but CSS is very important: it defines what things look like.Â
Check out how I changed colors here (and colors are just the start!).Â
And those are just colors! You can do tons of stuff with CSS.Â
Note: In the example above, the HTML and CSS are automatically linked, Normally you need to make sure the HTML you write is linked to your CSS file. Check out this page for more info.Â
Where do I do this?Â
In order for your HTML to show up as a beautiful page instead of a taggy mess, you need to put it somewhere it will be interpreted as such. This can be locally, on your computer, but there are also plenty of places online where you can preview what your HTML would look like as a webpage, or even write it!
Codepen is a reliable place to quickly write HTML and CSS, and it will immediately preview it as such (thatâs what was used for the screenshots above). You can also share links to your codepens and explore what others have done!
W3 schools has one with a simpler interface if you want to play around without an account!Â
AO3 has a HTML mode when youâre publishing a work! Do make sure to check out which HTML tags are supported though by AO3 though.Â
You can also do it without internet. Write some html in a local file (eg: Hello world! in your notepad), save the file as .html by using Save As, selecting all file types in the dropdown, and adding .html at the end of your file name. Then you can open the file with your browser. You will see the text as a website there!Â
If all of this stresses you out, you can also go to an existing website and just edit the underlying HTML to (temporarily) display what you want it to display! Just follow this tutorial, take a screenshot, and youâre done!Â
How do I share my HTML project?Â
That depends! You have a few options:
If you can publish it on AO3, do so!
Create it in an online editor that lets you share it, like CodePen.
Hit up @Clara (on discord) or @pallasandthepeople (on tumblr) to see if we can host it on our website!
Resources, tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
For tutorials, and any question you may have about how to use HTML or CSS, check out W3 Schools or Mozilla Developer! They have information information and tutorials on all HTML and CSS functionality and tags, and all W3 Schools tutorials come with an editor that you can use to try things out.Â
Browse CodePen for examples of what other people have put out for others to use. For our website, for example, I searched for âpaper effect CSS,â and found the HTML / CSS for the notebook effect that comprises most of the page.Â
For AO3-specific HTML, check out their guidelines.
If youâre particularly interested in the style aspect of web programming, have a look at AO3 skin creation tutorials as well!
For some AO3 coding examples, check out this collection of Coding Guides, this collection of AO3 skins, and this overview of social media post templates you can edit.
For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about coding and web design that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Your local library likely also has computers, software, and other resources which may be helpful with web art. They may also offer free or low-cost classes on computer skills and coding.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants (@Clara in particular) if you need any help!
Good luck! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!Â
Fanvids are fan-made video edits, often set to music or other recorded dialogue. This is a broad category with lots of great options. Fanvids can be short, like edits on TikTok or Instagram, or they can be full-length music videos. They can be a series of clips over music or recorded dialogue, or you can harken back to the old days of slideshows and slide projectors by using still images instead. Videos can use clips and stills from one source or mash several together. They can even be done with animation in a variety of styles ranging from sketches to silhouettes to fully illustrated productions.
Potential ways to connect to a fic:Â
You can recreate your favorite scenes or adapt the story into video form. Do a short edit that represents the main character at a pivotal moment. Make a trailer for the fic. Include quotes you liked, symbols, writersâ unique interpretations of the characters, etc. Is there a funny moment that reminds you of a Vine? Make an edit using that sound!Â
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
Examples:
As mentioned above, fanvids come in a variety of lengths and styles. You may be familiar with classic YouTube fanvids like Grable424âs Glitter & Gold or fanedits like weew1kaâs Your Idol Victuuri edit. Examples of fan trailers made for fics can look like tigerofpaperâs Leave No Soul Behind or xk_s_readsâ Take My Breath Away. Then I Met You by Death of Apocalypse West Vidders uses stills instead of clips to mimic the old-style slide projector vids of the â80s. For those of you who may want to combine more traditional art with video, animatics like zephyrine-galeâs Who Broke It and izbnartâs Batman Animation may interest you.
Resources, tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
So, where to start with making fanvids? This Vidding Primer by kuwdora both goes over some ideas of where to start and lists a wide range of guides and resources. Some of those guides include the wiscon-vidpartyâs Vidding Workshop on Dreamwidth, the videlicet vidding zine, and this playlist of YouTube editors showing their vidding process from beginning to end. You could also refer to this Beginnerâs Guide to Making a Fanvid or its video version for a step-by-step guide.
OBS Studio is a free video recording software for Windows, Mac, and Linux with a dedicated subreddit, help page, and forums to answer questions and troubleshoot. In order to screen record off streaming websites through your computer browser, youâll have to disable your browserâs hardware acceleration to avoid just recording a black screen. You may have to also disable hardware acceleration in your video recording software of choice as well.Â
Both Apple and Android have a screen recording widget you can add to your phone.
Shotcut is a free and open source video editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux with a dedicated subreddit, forums, and tutorials to help you get started. Alternatively, DaVinci Resolve is a robust video editor by Blackmagicdesign for PC that comes in both paid and free versions. The free version of Davinci is quite extensive, coming equipped with many different transitions and video effects, as well as giving you the option to build your own effects from the ground up. Both versions also come with a detailed audio editor called Fairlight as well as a detailed color editing panel. Blackmagicdesign provides tutorials on their website but you may also find these videos to be useful:
DaVinci Resolve Beginners Tutorial 2025: Edit like a PRO for FREE! By Ben Claremont
DaVinci Resolve | AMV Beginner Walkthrough By PeeJ ENT
Learn Fusion in 10 Minutes! - Beginner Tutorial for Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve By Casey Faris
If you want to edit on mobile, you may want to consider apps like VideoStar, Alight Motion, or even iMovie if youâre on an iPhone.
For general fanvidding community resources and help, checkout r/AMVS and the fanedit forums!
As with any craft project, instructables is a great place to look for inspiration and detailed project tutorials - search for the specific thing you want to make or browse by category to get some ideas.
For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about video editing and animation that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Many libraries in larger cities offer additional resources such as studio space, recording equipment, and video editing software, like the Toronto Public Library.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
Finding Additional Tutorials:Â
When looking for instructional content, look for guides and videos made by dedicated individuals. A good tutorial will usually be longer, include lists of materials and resources, and show the full process with tips and tricks to ensure your success.
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!
Good luck with your videos! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!
There are a few different types of stamp art, all of which are great options for the event.Â
Rubber Stamps - These are traditional stamps, often designs carved into rubber, plastic, or another carvable material, used with ink, paint, or other materials to press designs onto paper or other surfaces.
Postage stamps - These are stamps either used for official mail or informally designed to look like them. There are a few forms of postage stamp art, including scrapbooking, stamp collection, and more. See the examples below for details!Â
Web stamps - These are small digital stamps made for decorating web profiles. You may have seen them on Deviantart or forums.
Potential ways to connect to a fic:Â
You can carve fic-specific designs into rubber or potatoes, and use your newly-made stamps to create art using ink or paint. Stamp out and heat emboss your favorite quote on a mini notebook. Make a portrait of the main character out of stamps shaped like a prominent symbol or item from the fic. Take inspiration from a fic and design a postage stamp collection that represents it! Or, if youâre reading an epistolary fic (a narrative made up of letters sent between characters), you could design the stamps they would use. You could use web stamps to advertise the fic on a fic rec page of a personal website like an old-school webshrine, or display them in a social media post. The possibilities are almost endless!
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
Examples:
So, what do all these different stamp arts look like in practice? You could carve your favorite scenes into rubber like citruslucyâs Good Omens stamp or you could carve specific characters or references instead like flowsygonemadâs Five Nights at Freddyâs stamps.Â
For art made with stamps, consider possibilities like le-tas-d-artâs David Bowie portrait or mousedouglaspageâs tweet-inspired zine spread. Alternatively, heat embossing can create designs like mtworld852âs Christmas cards or be used in calligraphy like on papersquirrelsâ Christmas cards.
Art inspired by postage stamps can look like stoiclatteâs D&D character stamp, solilokiiâs sketchbook stamps, or st-coraxâz Lockwood & Co. stamp collection. Web stamps can take the form of memes, aesthetics, or include fandom references. They can be both static images and gifs. Many collections contain a variety of all categories, as seen on this personal site, but they can also be curated to fit a siteâs themes like on this Evanescence fan site.
Resources, tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
Pre-made stamps, or delving into carving rubber, can be a bit of a commitment. If you just want to give stamping a try, or you want a quick, custom stamp, a good starting place for beginners is potato stamps! All you need is a potato, a knife or a cookie cutter, some paint and a surface to stamp on. Hereâs a potato stamp tutorial using cookie cutters as a design template, and hereâs a video tutorial for freehanding your design.Â
Flat ink and paint arenât your only options for stamping. Heat embossing is a great way to make polished-looking stamp art with minimal effort. While it does require some special equipment and materials like heat guns, embossing powder, and watermark ink pads, once you have these, theyâll last a long time and will be good for years of projects. Hereâs a quick written tutorial and a video guide to get you started.
If you do choose to carve your own rubber stamp, many stamp carvers use Speedball for their carving tools and rubber supplies. You may be able to find them at your local craft store or in online shops. This website has a stamp carving tutorial divided into sections, starting with gathering your materials. Alternatively, Karagami has a stamp carving tutorial for beginners video over on YouTube. For community help, r/crafts is a general crafting subreddit with lots of experienced stampers. You can also find these folks hanging out on r/cardmaking and r/scrapbooking, as rubber-stamping and heat-embossing are frequently used in both artforms.
If youâre interested in making postage stamp-inspired art and perhaps even going above and beyond, consider this DIY postage stamp sticker tutorial. For inspiration, consider scrolling through r/stamps or r/philately, which are stamp-collecting subreddits people post their stamp collections to.
For web stamps, neosprites has a digital stamp making tutorial using Ezgif to make gif stamps. Whereas this tutorial by Mr-Stamp goes over making stamps in photo editing software like GIMP. Both of these tutorials use stamp templates, which are commonly found on DeviantArt.
As with any craft project, instructables is a great place to look for inspiration and detailed project tutorials - search for the specific thing you want to make or browse by category to get some ideas.
For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about stamping and stamp-making that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Many libraries in larger cities offer additional resources such as 3D printing, laser cutting, or a âlibrary of thingsâ where you can rent tools and crafting equipment.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
What to avoid:Â
Be very careful on pinterest, tiktok, and youtube shorts - avoid â5 minute craftsâ style âwhoa, it really works!â videos and other clickbait-y content designed to trick you. Many of these videos are deliberately short, sped-up, feature deceptive cuts, and recommend techniques that are both ineffective and potentially dangerous. These are often made by content farms, not individuals, and their goal is clicks and views, not to help people make anything real. When looking for instructional content, look for guides and videos made by dedicated individuals. A good tutorial will usually be longer, include lists of materials and resources, and show the full process with tips and tricks to ensure your success.
Additional notes:Â
Be sure to follow any safety guidelines listed on materials such as glue, resin, and paints. Use recommended protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and safety glasses. Work in a well-ventilated area and donât use hazardous materials in ways not recommended on the packaging. Be very careful with any kind of blade, and donât use knives not designed for your intended purpose. If youâre on the younger side, get an adult to help!
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!
Good luck with your stamps! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!Â
Most AI protections are unfortunately either minimally effective, time-intensive, difficult to access, or visibly damaging to the piece. However, as pathetic, talentless ghouls like Sam Altman continue to haunt the art world, artists will continue to find ways to evade them. For now, your options are as follows below the cut:
Glaze
Glaze is a program created by University of Chicago researchers which you can run your art through. It adds artifacts that will stop AI programs from being able to correctly interpret your image. You can access Glaze here.Â
If youâre a professional artist with an online portfolio, you can email them for access to Web Glaze and use the program in your browser. It can take quite a while before youâre given access as they have an immense backlog.
Alternatively, you can download the program and use it on your computer. This can be a little troublesome if your computer is older, relatively low on storage, or generally slow.
Note: their site recommends using a version of Web Glaze on Cara.app. This option is currently unavailable and has been for well over a year. There is no messaging in regard to Caraâs version of glaze returning. Regardless, Cara is a great art site and well worth posting on.
Downsides:
Depending on how intense of a Glaze you add to your work, it can be visibly damaging to the piece
This is very time-consuming, even with Web Glaze.
Your computer may not be able to handle the program, or will need all other programs to be closed while it works on your piece. If your computer is older, it will likely make sounds like itâs dying that may make you feel guilty in ways that defy logic.
Nightshade
Nightshade works the same as Glaze, but instead of making your image illegible, it inserts false information that can poison AI models. (This is very funny and exactly what they deserve for the irreparable harm theyâve done to the world.) You can access Nightshade here. There is currently no web-based version of Nightshade.
Downsides:
It is time consuming - if you want full protection and poisoning, youâll need to run your piece through Glaze separately, and then Nightshade.
It can be visibly damaging to the piece.
Your computer may not be able to handle the program.
Watermarks
Watermarks are translucent overlays you can add to your art in order to make it harder for AI models to steal your art. This can be a patterned image used as an overlay or a large signature/other visible image. While this has the benefit of being free, quick, and easy to do in a multitude of ways on a single image for extra protection, there are many downsides.
Downsides:
AI can now easily remove watermarks. This technique, if deployed properly, can (potentially) protect your art to some degree from being correctly integrated into a model by random web crawlers or anyone dumping the entirety of AO3 into an AI model as they unfortunately have been doing, but it canât protect you from dedicated individuals set on adding your art to their model.
It is minimally effective at best. In some cases, it is completely ineffective.
Depending on how visible your watermark is, it can be damaging to the artwork.
NOTE: Avoid any sites, apps, or programs that ask you to upload your art to apply a watermark. These are often AI, and by uploading your art, you are simply feeding it directly to an AI model. Do not relinquish control of your art in an attempt to protect it.
Posting low-resolution versions of your art
Another technique is posting your image low-res enough that viewers can enjoy it, but it wouldnât be as useful to an AI model looking to steal your style. This is cheap, quick, and easy to do even by accident.
Downsides:
It is unclear how effective this actually is.
It is often visibly damaging to the artwork.
While this can be disheartening, and it's frustrating to have to jump through hoops to protect your art from misuse by the absolute dregs of humanity, the options above can at least give artists back a sense of control over their work. Please keep sharing your art, in whatever form you're most comfortable, as the art community continues to navigate this new situation. Don't let the scumbags win.
If you have any questions about any of the above methods, please drop a reply here or send us a message!
Announcing Fanart Frenzy's first mini event! Our first theme is: Tropes!
Sick of spam comments and fake art scammers hassling your favorite fic writers? Join us in reinforcing the fandom gift economy and make some real art!
Can't draw? No problem! Any kind of art is welcome - moodboards, graphics, gifsets, podfic, playlists and mixtapes, dioramas, 3D modeling, baked goods, animation, zines, embroidery, tea blends, perfumes, and more, not just digital/traditional art! Check out our Art Type Spotlights for ideas, guides, and tutorials!
Not into art? Join us as a commenter!
Grab your prompt via our picker wheel here, find a fic in your (or any!) fandom that includes your assigned trope, and make some art!
Add your art into a comment on the fic using our comment guide, and post anywhere you normally would using our posting guidelines - please tag us or use the hashtag #fanart frenzy. You can also share your art on our subreddit, on our discord server, or add it to our AO3 Collection! Please follow our event rules and check out the FAQ for quick answers.
Art Type Spotlight - Tea Blends, Candles, Soap, and Perfumes
(and other scent/flavor-based art)
The art of fandom-related interpretive tea blending took off in the early days of tumblr with Cara McGeeâs use of Adagioâs custom blend feature to make a collection of BBC Sherlock blends. This involves taking aspects of a subject (often a character or a ship, a piece of media, or a fanfic) and associating them with flavors and scents to create a tea-based interpretation of the subject. This has also been done with perfumes, candles, baking, charcuterie trays, and many other art mediums involving customizable flavors and scents.
Potential ways to connect to a fic:Â
The obvious one here is designing a tea blend based on the fic using any unique aspects of it to connect to flavors. This could involve blending up loose tea yourself, designing a drink that can be ordered at a coffee shop or made at home, or simply designing a label and describing the flavors. In addition to tea blends, you can make (or simply design and describe) fic-inspired candles, perfumes, other drinks, or various foods (see our culinary arts post for more food and drink-related ideas) - anything with scents or flavors you can connect to the fic. Feel free to get creative!Â
Does the fic feature an enemies-to-lovers ship? Make a tea blend with a bold, smoky flavor that finishes sweet, like a strawberry/lapsang souchong combo. Is the main character a little sharp and sour? Something with citrus would exemplify those traits! You can choose flavors that represent a setting - a huckleberry candle for a fic in the American west, or a pecan pie-flavored hot chocolate mix for a story set in Kentucky - or work off a ficâs genre and general vibe - something super sweet for a tooth-rotting fluff fic, or something bold and overpowering for a dramatic, action-packed fic.
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
Examples:
This is not an endorsement or a recommendation to purchase anything, but you can find a lot of great examples of tea blends based on media, characters, and even fanfics in Adagioâs fandom blends section, including Cara McGeeâs Sherlock blends that started the trend. This excellent post by hyururirapappa lays out exactly how they connected the flavors to the characters that inspired their Rick & Morty blends. Sharing the recipe, like this post with an Our Flag Means Death-inspired tea blend, is an excellent way to present your tea blends. You can also design themed labels like these Eerie, Indiana blends or these Star Trek teas. (Note: If youâre using Adagio to make your blends, direct links to your blends on their platform should only be offered on request. Please present your tea blends using text and images in your post vs linking to the blend on Adagio. See our guidelines for commercial sites below!)
Perfumes are also a fantastic option, either making your own or simply designing a label/bottle and describing the scents, like these Transformers Perfumes and these perfumes inspired by The Terror, or rely fully on description like this perfume collection description based on a Katekyou Hitman Reborn fanfiction, or this Ghostbusters-themed perfume line.
You can use color, scent, and shape to evoke various aspects of a fic in both candles and soaps. Check out these Demon Slayer-inspired candles by BaloogaBrett, this soap themed around a D&D character, this Doctor Who soap, and this candle based on a Criminal Minds fic by blackbird-brewster. Decorated labels, interesting shapes, or added elements, like in this adorable pokemon candle by MysteriousAvocado550, are great ways to work in aspects of the fic. Another way to tie soaps or candles into a fic are themed candle holders, like this 3D-printed Litwick candle holder, or soap dishes, like this Star Wars soap dish.
You can even make soap or candles that look like various foods, like these super cute cake soaps - a great option if you donât enjoy cooking and the fic youâre working with is a restaurant or coffee shop AU, or otherwise prominently features food or drinks.
Resources, tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
Donât know anything about tea or how to brew it? Start with this video guide and this article on Serious Eats. For getting started with tea blends, check out this quick beginnerâs guide from Martha Stewart. This video tutorial and this very thorough written tutorial also cover much of what youâll need to know about flavor combinations and how to make a good blend. Specifically on the fandom side, this Fandom Tea Blend Tutorial covers how to connect flavors to different aspects of a piece of media. You can also find help and support, information on various types of tea, inspiration, and ideas on reddit at r/tea.
If youâre not a fan of tea, or if another food or drink would fit the fic better or be more thematically relevant, there are plenty of other options you can use the same techniques for. Hot chocolate or coffee drinks, ice cream sodas, cakes, charcuterie trays, spice blends, compound butters, flavored sugar cubes, pickles⊠Pretty much anything with flavors and scents you can apply to a fic can work. Check out our culinary arts post for more ideas, tutorials, and resources. Additionally, you can also simply draw any of these options - make a label for a spice blend, paint a charcuterie board, or design the packaging for a flavored coffee.
For hot chocolate mixes, this is a good base recipe to work from and can be easily modified to include different flavors based on your needs. Add spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, or cardamom for a warmer flavor, or various chili powders if you need something with a bit of a kick. Replace a bit of the milk powder with pudding mix for a creamier texture and added flavoring. Working with a coffee shop AU? Add a little espresso powder! You can also use ground candies to add in different flavors and extra sweetness, like caramels, peppermints, or fruit-flavored candy (though you may want to reduce the sugar and/or boost the salt if going this route). Pick flavors that fit the fic youâre working with, and get creative with it!
Scents work similarly to the flavor-based options listed above. If youâre making or designing candles, soaps, or perfume blends, pick scents that evoke the vibe of the fic, or those that exemplify the themes, settings, characters, etc. You can design perfume bottles in the shape of significant objects in the fic, or use those same objects to add ornamentation to your candles or soaps.
If youâre new to perfume, I recommend clicking around on fragrance sites and forums to get an idea of how it all works. Basenotes (a forum for perfumers) and Fragrantica (an online magazine with active forums, reviews, and more) are great places to start, and both will be helpful down the line if you decide to get into perfume making. If youâre just looking to design bottles, labels, and describe your blends, head to the reviews and look for perfumes that fit the vibe, themes, or genre of the fic youâre working with. This will help you find a good base to work off of, and an idea of which scents evoke the emotions and themes youâre working with. The subreddit r/perfumes is another great spot to look for ideas, advice, and inspiration.
If youâd like to make your own perfumes based on your ideas, this guide, So You Want to Make Perfume?, is a good starting point, as is this extremely thorough video tutorial, which will walk you through all the materials and information you need to get started. Check out r/DIYFragrance on reddit for quick help from other perfumers, examples, guides, and inspiration. Their resource list is a good jumping-off point, and I highly recommend reading their advisory against the use of fragrance oils. The site they suggest, The Good Scents Company, is an in-depth, searchable database of fragrance materials, supplies, and formulas - an absolute goldmine for anyone working with fragrances.Â
This tutorial from Clayton Candle Co is a good place to start for candlemaking. Youâll also want to check out r/candlemaking, especially their equipment list, walkthrough, and troubleshooting FAQ. You can also find inspiration and ideas at r/candles!
Soaping 101 on youtube has thousands of video tutorials and lots of great information for beginner soap makers. This playlist by Bramble Berry also covers much of what youâll need to know to get started. RoyaltySoaps, whose food-shaped candle tutorial we linked above, is a fantastic youtube channel for candle and soap making that features loads of in-depth tutorials, guides, and more. I highly recommend her video on making custom molds, which is super helpful if youâre looking to make shaped soaps or candles for the event.
Both soap and candlemaking can be a bit intimidating for beginners - if youâre completely new to it, you may be able to find classes you can take offered by local art or community centers, soap or candle shops, or local candle/soap makers thatâll help you get started.
As with any craft project, instructables is a great place to look for inspiration and detailed project tutorials - search for the specific thing you want to make or browse by category to get some ideas.
For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about tea blending, as well as perfume, soap, and candle making that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Many libraries in larger cities offer additional resources such as 3D printing and laser cutting, or a âlibrary of thingsâ where you can rent tools and crafting equipment.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
What to avoid:
Be very careful on pinterest, tiktok, and youtube shorts - avoid â5 minute craftsâ style âwhoa, it really works!â videos and other clickbait-y content designed to trick you. Many of these videos are deliberately short, sped-up, feature deceptive cuts, and recommend techniques that are both ineffective and potentially dangerous. These are often made by content farms, not individuals, and their goal is clicks and views, not to help people make anything real. When looking for instructional content, look for guides and videos made by dedicated individuals. A good tutorial will usually be longer, include lists of materials and resources, and show the full process with tips and tricks to ensure your success.
Additional notes:
Be sure to follow any safety guidelines listed on materials such as oils, chemicals, and lye. Use recommended protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and safety glasses. Work in a well-ventilated area and donât use hazardous materials in ways not recommended on the packaging. Be very careful with any blades and other sharp equipment, and anything involving heat or fire. If youâre on the younger side, get an adult to help with anything hazardous!
Adagio and other commercial sites:Â
To avoid being mistaken for a scammer, if you are creating your tea blends or perfumes on any kind of commercial website like Adagio, please do not share the link in your comment to the author or your art post. Include images of the blend, your illustrations, and/or descriptions instead. Please do not share any commercial links on posts directly associated with the event. If you would like to share links to anything youâre creating for sale either by you or a commercial site, please post these separately and without fanart frenzy tags. If the author or anyone else asks for the link, you are welcome to share it with them privately.
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!
Good luck with your teas, perfumes, and other flavor/scent-based art! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!
Art Type Spotlight - Papercut Silhouettes, Stained Glass, and Lightboxes
All three of these categories boil down to the use of light, shadow, and color to create a cool display.Â
Papercut silhouettes are exactly what they sound like, though you donât need to use paper to make them - any thin material will suffice. These can be used to create displays in lightboxes, fold-out cards and pop-up books, 2D art, animation, and more.
Stained glass can be done with glass, of course, but also with thin colored paper, paint, resin, plastic, or sugar/isomalt for edible stained glass, and is often displayed with or near a light source to show off the color and cast designs into a space.
Lightboxes are boxes constructed with layers of a design and often lit to emphasize depth and shadow. These often contain elaborate scenes, but can be a more focused display of a symbol, person, object, or lettering. They can be made with papercut silhouettes, metal, plastic, or a variety of other materials. You can make them as large as you like, or as tiny as you can manage.
Potential ways to connect to a fic:Â
You can recreate your favorite scenes or notable settings. Get a little abstract and do an overall representation of a fic. Include quotes you liked, symbols, writersâ unique interpretations of the characters, etc. Found a fic with a cool final battle? Recreate that fight in a lightbox with red lighting for dramatic effect. Reading a detailed historical AU? Showcase the costumes described in your favorite setting with an accordion or tunnel card! Love the scene where your ship finally gets together? Make a stained glass version to share the moment with the illiterate masses like the churches of old!
This isnât an exhaustive list - there are so many different options for these varied art forms. The only limit is your creativity. Go nuts!
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
Examples:
These can seem like very complex and intimidating art forms, but there are a lot of ways to go about it thatâll get you a great result without too much effort. Check out this tutorial for Mario and Legend of Zelda tissue paper stained glass and these cute paper sun catchers - they can be made in any shape, and you can use mosaic techniques or even combine it with your own drawings/paintings/etc. or lettering to easily connect it to a fic. You can also make more realistic-looking faux stained glass with this technique that uses basic Elmerâs glue and paint, or if youâre feeling ambitious, try out this more complicated version that uses acetate sheets and resin.
Silhouette art can be just as simple. You can use this technique to easily make silhouettes out of existing photographs or your own drawings/paintings. (Make a copy of the image and work off that, of course, donât use originals!) Add a few interior cuts to suggest shape and dimension, and add detail.Â
You can make designs that fold out to create a scene, like this forest-themed card, or these accordion and tunnel cards. You can also show off scenes and characters with layered papercut art, like this one and this one. This type of layered paper art can also be turned into lightboxes to emphasize the depth and shadows. While these examples are all portraits, this style of layering can be used for anything, including full scenes or lettering, or you can keep a narrow focus with just one character or a symbol from the fic.
Though I wouldnât necessarily recommend making anything lengthy for this event due to the time it would take, you can also use papercut silhouettes for stopmotion animations like legendary animation pioneer Lotte Reinigerâs work (check out her 1922 adaptation of Cinderella here and a short doc showing her techniques here. Note: contains some offensive depictions as Reiniger was a white person born in the 1890s.) Lightbox Life on youtube has a great tutorial for this here.
If youâre more into traditional or digital art, or all the paper cutting seems intimidating, here is a tutorial for using paintings, drawings, or other flat images as a base for an adorable glowy lightbox, with just a few strategic cuts for a light source.
Traditional lightboxes are very versatile and can show off a scene, like this Avatar lightbox, showcase a character and vibe, like this Mandalorian lightbox, or use symbols, shapes, and a variety of different scenes/elements from a story like this Stranger Things lightbox.
If youâre particularly daring, you can make an edible version with a cookie shadowbox, or if you have access to a 3D printer, you can make customized plastic lightboxes like this Fallout lightbox by Factory of Fun.
Resources, additional tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
While expensive tools like Cricut machines and more specialized cutting tools like x-acto knives can be very helpful, unless your details are very fine, most papercut art can be done entirely by hand with just a pair of scissors and a bit of precision, as seen with Lotte Reinigerâs work.Â
This short video series by Strathmore covers everything you need to know to start out with papercut art, and here is another good introduction for using the tracing method
For lightboxes, Lightbox Lifeâs beginnerâs guide is a great place to start, and their youtube channel is full of fantastic tutorials and guides for making lightboxes.
Lightboxes often use pre-made shadowbox frames or other boxes as a base. These can be purchased at craft stores or online - but you can also construct your own container using paper or foamboard (many of the tutorials linked here show how to do this), cardboard, wood, or anything you like. Make interesting shapes, or stick with a reliable rectangular shape. Hereâs a quick tutorial for making a box in any size from cardstock, and if youâre into woodworking, hereâs a guide for making your own shadowbox frame out of wood, but you can also use any existing box you may have lying around, including matchboxes if youâd like to make a pocket-sized lightbox.
For added lighting, most tutorials will recommend LED light strips, but you can achieve similar results with cheap strings of fairy lights, which can often be found online, at craft stores, or big box stores for just a few dollars. While youâll have less control over the angle and brightness, you can also place your box in a window to use natural lighting, or use lighting solutions you already have around your home, like flashlights - though due to the potential fire risk, I would only recommend using flashlights or lamps for the time it takes to photograph your art.
Lightboxes are a deeply underrated and overlooked artform desperately in need of a revival. There is currently only one subreddit specifically for lightboxes, lanterns, and other related papercraft - r/papercutlightbox - run by a single prolific and talented crafter. If you get into these, please do share your work there, Iâm sure theyâd be thrilled to see more examples posted! You can also check out their tutorials (largely for kits, but the techniques and materials shown can easily be applied to your own works) on youtube here.
Lightboxes share a lot of their DNA with dioramas - check out our diorama spotlight for other tutorials and resources that may be helpful for lightbox projects.
Other great options for paper-related art are papercraft, which uses cut paper, glue, and folding to create paper sculptures, and origami, which does the same usually without any cutting or adhesive.
Papercraft can be used to create elaborate structures like this model of Pokemonâs Canalave City by pokecreation, or simple creations like this Minecraft lantern by lyon, or even interactive models like this spinning, blinking Tardis by lmperkins. You can find a good beginnerâs guide to papercraft here.
Origami can be a great way to make something impressive if you donât want to do any paper cutting. You can make things like this adorable Pikachu by lucerosmiles, or something incredibly complex like this model by jkonkkola_art. Hereâs a great series of tutorials thatâll help you get started. Check out r/origami for help, inspiration, and resources!
There are many different kinds of paper-based art that would be great for this event - these are just a few! You can find quick answers, ideas, inspiration, help, and support for all kinds of paper-based art on r/papercraft, or on r/crafts.
As with any craft project, instructables is a great place to look for inspiration and detailed project tutorials - search for the specific thing you want to make or browse by category to get some ideas.
For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about paper art in its various forms and lightbox/shadowbox-making that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Many libraries in larger cities offer additional resources such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and other specialized equipment like the St. Paul Public Library, or a âlibrary of thingsâ where you can rent tools and crafting equipment, like the Boston Public Library.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
What to avoid:
Be very careful on pinterest, tiktok, and youtube shorts - avoid â5 minute craftsâ style âwhoa, it really works!â videos and other clickbait-y content designed to trick you. Many of these videos are deliberately short, sped-up, feature deceptive cuts, and recommend techniques that are both ineffective and potentially dangerous. These are often made by content farms, not individuals, and their goal is clicks and views, not to help people make anything real. When looking for instructional content, look for guides and videos made by dedicated individuals. A good tutorial will usually be longer, include lists of materials and resources, and show the full process with tips and tricks to ensure your success.
Additional notes:
Be sure to follow any safety guidelines listed on materials such as glue, paints, resin, and any kind of lighting. Use recommended protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and safety glasses. Work in a well-ventilated area and donât use hazardous materials in ways not recommended on the packaging. Be very careful with any kind of blade, and donât use knives not designed for your intended purpose. If youâre on the younger side, get an adult to help with anything hazardous!
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!
Good luck with your paper and lightbox creations! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!Â
Playlists and mixtapes (songs curated in a list to represent, be played alongside, or embody the vibes of a fic, either digitally or on physical media like a tape or CD) are great options for this event. Iâm sure most of you have made playlists and have favorite sites for this already, but weâve compiled some resources, tutorials, and information you may find helpful regardless, including information on making mixtapes/CDs, as well as a comparison of a few alternate playlist-making sites if youâre looking to expand beyond Spotify and Youtube, and places to find new music.
Potential ways to connect to a fic:Â
There are a few different ways to connect a playlist or mixtape to a fic. You can pick songs that fit the general vibe or remind you of the authorâs interpretation of the characters, or songs with lyrics that relate to the plot or how the relationships in the fic are developing. You can create a playlist meant to be listened to in order while reading the fic, that progresses along with the plot as a formal soundtrack, or use all instrumental tracks to create a score. You can make a playlist for a specific scene or relationship within a fic, or make something inspired by the fic as a whole.Â
You can make a massive, hours-long playlist or one just long enough for the time it takes to read the scene that inspired it. You can make a digital playlist with cover art, or a physical mixtape with cute packaging. You can write a whole essay laying out your thought process or just write a few sentences explaining each songâs inclusion. There are loads of great ways to make a playlist, get creative and have fun!
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
Examples:
Everyone is likely pretty familiar with playlists in general, but thereâs a lot of variety in terms of presentation you may want to consider. For maximum customization, you can make physical mixtapes or CDs, like these or these with digitally designed labels, or these with fantastic hand-drawn labels.Â
Digital playlists have their advantages as well, and are great options. This fanmade playlist for the TV show Heated Rivalry is an excellent example of how to post on AO3 - the playlist is posted on spotify and embedded directly into the work, followed by an annotated copy of the song list explaining why each song was included and how it relates to their inspiration.
Resources, tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
As fun as it can be, building a playlist from scratch can be a little intimidating. Check out this video for a quick guide to getting started.Â
While the exact method of curation will depend on your format (see instructions for tapes and CDs below), a few general rules apply for any kind of playlist. Things youâll want to be aware of are flow, variety, tone, and relevance to the fic serving as your inspiration.
If your playlist is meant to be listened to in a specific order rather than shuffled - a playlist designed to follow the plotâs progression or the development of a relationship, or a playlist meant to serve as a soundtrack or score for the fic â flow will be key. This refers to how all of your songs fit together and transition from one to the next. Ideally, youâre aiming for a smooth transition that makes sense logically and feels natural. This is also something you can manipulate and use as a storytelling tool: go against the grain and use a jarring transition to show a twist in the narrative or a sudden shift in the ficâs tone, for example.
To ensure your playlist flows well, think of the songs like a color gradient. A playlist that shows a progression moves the listener from the starting point to an ending point via music, in the same manner as the plot, character, or relationship development youâre trying to mirror does with prose. (If the journey that youâre adapting isnât smooth, your flow doesnât necessarily need to be, either â aim to match the source!) You can use changes in tone (light and cheery to gloomy and reflective, then back again, for example), genre, lyrical content (or absence of lyrics) to translate the ficâs progression to music. As with a gradient, the starting and end point can be entirely different. You can start with bubblegum pop and end with death metal and still have a cohesive playlist if the transition is gradual and each song leads into the next in a way that makes sense sonically and thematically.Â
With mixtapes and CDs, you have much more control over flow than with digital playlists - you can add longer spaces between songs or drop the listener immediately from one to the next, cut songs off at just the right lyric, duplicate a chunk of the song for emphasis, or add in static and other sounds between songs. You can even drop in recordings of quotes from the fic that fit with the songs youâve compiled.
If your playlist is designed to be shuffled - an unstructured playlist thatâs simply a compilation of songs that remind you of the fic, for example - flow goes out the window. Instead of worrying about how songs transition into each other, your main focus can be on finding songs that fit the vibe, themes, and tone of the fic, and making sure they fit together however they might be shuffled.
Variety is key in all cases - try not to lean too hard on any one artist, and make sure youâre mixing it up a little to keep things interesting.
There are a lot of things you can draw from to find the right songs - a ficâs themes, characters, genre, tone, settings, symbols and important objects, etc. Making a playlist for a fluffy coffee shop AU set in Ontario? Find some lighthearted pop by Canadian artists, and maybe some songs that reference coffee shops and romance, songs with a cozy, comforting feel. If youâre making a playlist for a long, dramatic, plot-heavy fic with lots of twists and turns, you may want to lean more on orchestral and instrumental tracks, gloomier rock and metal. Look for songs that feature lyrics referencing similar themes, events, or emotions. Is the fic set in a certain year or time period? Pick songs that came out during that time period or otherwise evoke the feeling of the era.Â
Try to keep things relevant and stick to your artistic vision over your desire to share certain songs that may not fit. Be prepared to kill your darlings here - does that song you love actually fit the playlist, or do you just really want people to listen to Toilet Rats? (I really want people to listen to Toilet Rats.)
Not sure quite what youâre going for yet? You can find a lot of great examples, inspiration, ideas, and help on reddit at r/playlists.
If youâre looking to find new music for your playlists, or songs with specific themes, Bandcamp is a good place to start. Their desktop site allows you to search by genre (and subgenres), artist location, and theme tags. Typing related terms into Bandcamp.com/discover/INSERTYOURWORDHERE can yield useful and interesting results. Writing a fic that prominently features a specific symbol, object, theme, or color? Drop that in and see what comes up. Click around until you find something that fits the sound and vibe youâre looking for. Found a song you like thatâs not quite right? Scroll down to see both related artists/albums and sometimes a few recommended by the artist youâre listening to.
Looking for songs with something specific in the lyrics? Plug the terms you need into the search at Genius and check the lyric matches for some options. If youâd like to use music in other languages, you can do the same kind of search at lyricstranslate to find songs and artists you may not have considered, but are perfect for your playlist.
Reddit is also a great place to discover new music - the music lovers over at r/musicsuggestions and r/listentothis can be very helpful, and both subreddits have an impressive backlog of recommendations - search related terms/symbols/vibes or anything else youâre looking for and you can likely find a thread with some ideas.
Digital Playlists - Commonly-used platforms and other options
Depending on the type of playlist youâre looking to make, different sites and formats might be better options for you - all the available options have their own strengths and drawbacks. If the themes and vibes of the music that connect to the fic are also present in the music videos/visualizers, Youtube is a great option, but you may need to add some warnings for strobing/gore/etc. depending on the content of the videos in your playlist. If youâre making a playlist that follows a progression or is designed to be played while reading the fic, a physical option like a mixtape or CD that locks the listener in to your order and vision is a great choice. Similarly, if you want to add a lot of personal flair/art into the cover art/packaging, physical media is a good way to go. Digital playlists are generally best in terms of accessibility and ease of distribution and often allow for customized cover art, but the available platforms all come with different drawbacks.
For playlist sharing, the most commonly-used platforms are YouTube, Spotify, and Soundcloud as they are easily embedded into various platforms, including Ao3. Each of these platforms now come with the downsides of allowing AI-generated content, offering generative AI tools for creators, limiting music listening to account holders in the case of Spotify, and in the case of Youtube, your listeners may be required to verify their age to access certain videos.
Alternative free (and partially-free) host sites include Deezer, Bandcamp and Audiomack, which have similar UI designs to Spotify. However, Deezer requires a paid account to listen to full songs, and Audiomack restricts full access to their music library to paid accounts only. We also tested Freefy, a newer option, but it was so riddled with issues that we can't in good conscience recommend it.
For a quick comparison of the available options, we tried making the same playlist on multiple sites. Hereâs our base playlist on Spotify and Youtube, and the alternates - Deezer, Soundcloud, and Audiomack.
Spotify is relatively easy to link in a tumblr post or on embed AO3, see below:
The others, being newer and less well-known, can be a little trickier to work with. Of the options we tested, only Spotify, Soundcloud, and Youtube embed properly on AO3. This image shows how these options look in an AO3 work.
Deezer had everything on the base playlist, but without a paid account, users can only listen to 30 seconds of each song. However, this is still a decent option for building your playlists because of their universal sharing option - anyone who opens your link can easily port your playlist to Spotify, Youtube Music, or Apple Music, depending on which service they use. It offers embedding options, but these are not tumblr-friendly and do not appear to work on AO3, either.
Soundcloud had 90% of the base playlist - one missing track, and one track for which we had to opt for a live version. Due to its murky AI policy, many artists understandably skip Soundcloud for distribution and have removed their work from the platform, so this may be an issue if you choose to use Soundcloud.
Audiomack is even worse in terms of song availability - it only had about 60% of the base playlist, several tracks appear locked to paid accounts, and in one case we had to resort to a live version of a track. While it does allow for extensive customization of the playlist, including the URL, and is one of the better options in terms of artist pay, their library is quite limited, so depending on what youâd like to include on your playlist, Audiomack may not be your best option. It also doesn't offer an embed feature that works on either tumblr or AO3.
Bandcamp may be the most socially-responsible option in terms of artist pay and lack of AI, but itâs also the most expensive option as songs can only be added to a playlist if you own each one. This is a great choice if you already have an extensive library on Bandcamp to pull from! (Note: While this isnât necessarily a cheap option if youâre starting from scratch, many artists, especially smaller ones, often offer albums and in some cases, their entire catalog, for just a few dollars or pay-what-you-want. Many record companies and distributors on Bandcamp also offer free/pay-what-you-want samplers featuring their artists which can help you build out a library.)Â Here are Bandcamp's instructions for making a playlist on Bandcamp.
For shorter playlists, you can upload a total of 10 MP3 files under 10MB to Tumblr or link to 10 website URLs per post (it is unclear if thereâs a per-day limit for URL linking). You can then embed each individual audio file from your Tumblr post into Ao3. This is not particularly recommended, though we do have a guide in our Uploading Audio and Video to Ao3 tutorial.
For sharing playlists on Ao3, there are a couple of other options. The first is directly embedding the playlist (see our example here) or playlist songs in the work itself, so people can listen to the playlist without leaving Ao3. (Clicking âshareâ on your playlist on any of the larger music platforms should give you an option to grab an embed code which you can simply copy and paste into Ao3.) This may not be your best option as some platforms, like Spotify and Soundcloud, require an account to listen to full songs. You can also list out the songs with links to an outside platform, or simply list the songs without links. With any of these options, you should include analytical commentary explaining why these songs are on this playlist and reference the fic throughout. Simply posting a list of songs without providing additional commentary or links to a place to listen to them is not significantly transformative and will likely result in your list being removed by Ao3 for violating their terms of service.
Physical playlists - Mixtapes and CDs
While digital playlists are the usual option these days and a great way to fill the playlist prompts, you can also make a physical version with either CDs or cassettes (or 8-tracks, vinyl, etc. if you happen to have a more complicated set-up.)
If you have a computer newer than a few years old, you may need to get an external disc drive in order to burn CDs, however, you may also be able to do this at a computer center at your school, university, or local library. Your local library may also have external disc drives that you can check out via a library of things program, or your school/university may have an AV department/club from which you can rent equipment. This video is a pretty thorough guide for creating a mix CD. This one has instructions for making a mix CD using iTunes, and this one has instructions for using Windows Media Player.
For making a mixtape, youâll need some form of cassette player with a record function. Any of the resources mentioned above may work for acquiring this if you donât already have one, but you can also find good quality cassette players online, in thrift stores, or at local garage sales if youâve got time to trawl those. New tape players do exist, but there is currently only one option for the internal mechanisms for anyone manufacturing cassette players, and itâs not a very good one. The new players are not great quality, generally canât be repaired easily (if at all), and may eat your tapes. Youâre much better off buying an older or refurbished model if youâre looking to get into tapes or make mixtapes with any frequency. If you only want to make a few, or just want to try it out for the event, the above-mentioned resources are likely your best bet. You may also have a local AV nerd in your community who will make you a single mixtape for a fairly reasonable price, but the process of making your own is very fun and I highly recommend trying it yourself to get the full experience. This video outlines the easiest method, and this thread on r/cassetteculture details a few more you may want to try.
You can get blank tapes, CDs, and cases for both online, at thrift stores, and local record shops if theyâre cool. Most big box and warehouse stores still sell blank CDs, and you can also get them at office supply and electronics stores.Â
Half the fun of making a mixtape or CD is designing the look of your tape/CD and the packaging - adding your own art, decorations, and flair. This is a great place to add further connection to the fic youâre working with - themed cover art, stickers or little doodles of significant symbols/objects from the fic, characters, settings, etc.
For tapes, there are a lot of options for packaging styles, from the traditional plastic case with a J-Card to cassingle sleeves and more. This site has all the templates you need for designing your covers digitally or on paper once printed. I recommend printing on thick cardstock if youâre making a sleeve or U-Card style packaging. For CDs, your options are a bit more limited but no less fun. You can find some options and templates here. Once youâve picked a style, all you need to do is load up your design program of choice, or pull out the colored sharpies and stickers, and go nuts.
Here's an example from us featuring our sample playlist:
If you run into any problems burning your CDs or recording your mixtapes, drop a reply here, ask on our subreddit or discord server, or check out one of these helpful reddit communities -Â r/cassette and r/cassetteculture for tapes, and r/CDs or r/CD_Collectors for CDs.
For other resources, never underestimate your local library. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding CDs and any devices or equipment you may need! Many libraries offer additional resources such as computers with disc drives, audio software, laser cutting, or a âlibrary of thingsâ where you can rent stereos, cassette or CD players, and other crafting equipment.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
What to avoid:Â
AI-generated and AI-modified content are not allowed in Fanart Frenzy. Please do not include any AI music in your playlists or use AI in your cover art/packaging. You can read more about our AI stance in our FAQ here.
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!
Good luck with your playlists, CDs, and mixtapes! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!Â
