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Okay, those links help hugely! I think you can do this as an original, and call it a request by the creator of the OC. He seems to love having people write using his characters, and you can certainly tell that he's aware of us over here. The safest thing all around from our point of view here is to keep a record of his permission. I can take that via an email from him, a quick one liner referencing your pen name, the character name, and his okay for you to use them. If he's more comfortable doing it via comments on H-F, link me and I can take a screenshot to show that he was aware of you using his character and approved of it. The "Thans for the story, I'll go read it" sort of thing certainly shows that he's aware and approves. The fake brands and such comes only if the usage is a central feature. Obviously, if you mention a person grabbing a cup of coffee at Starbucks, and then don't talk about Starbucks again, it's not disclaimer-worthy, and for the most part, constitutes a bit of free advertising for that chain. What gets touchier is if you have an ongoing reference, such as a character like Superman making an actual appearance. Saying someone is "...acting like Superman, for fuck's sake!" is not something you should need to disclaim, though. If that makes it clearer than the usual mud I toss out there.

It's no biggie, I guess I just get listed in the roll of the departed, a long and illustrious list indeed. LOL My girls are livid though, so at least there's a humorous facet to this! Nut as for getting banned, I really don't care, I wrote for years and Angie was the only one who ever read any of it

Okay. Question 1. I'm going to assume the artworks portion might be commissioned artworks that the creator of the character paid for, which is fine from our standpoint. The slightly dodgy bit comes with the writers using the character. I would actually have to see what's been done as far as other works using the character, but it might very well become a fanwork. Certainly we treat webcomic fictions as fanworks. Feel free to link me, and I'll look. Question 2 is easier. If you mention a widely known pop culture reference, that doesn't need to be disclaimed or cited in an original work. The resemblance portion of the disclaimer does cover that, along with the acknowledgement that the story is fictional. Otherwise, no one could ever go to McDonald's or have a Starbucks, and fiction would cease to exist as we know it.

I stood here all day and nothing...I'm so depressed

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits! -Albert Einstien