#I will never repost anywhere

[peachnix]

yea

other people do that thing where u keep a list of all the books movies shows short stories comics graphic novels podcasts radio dramas and articles *inhales deeply* that you've consumed and enjoyed enough to want to be able to one day find again, right? like that is just standard practice...

[thedemonraym]

Do you feel Season 2 is different from Season 1 in any particular ways? (x)

bonus GIF:

you just know what they're thinking about

[myuniverseinabox]

evermore (2020)

[seraph-draws-stuff]

What do you mean too sweet by hozier is a harvey song. Who lied to make that happen. I get the coffee part but drinking whisky and going to bed at 3am?? Who did this

[the-official-account]

Do you love detective stories but hate cops?

Do you love gay detective stories and hate capitalism?

Like disabled main characters who's disability actually comes up?

Like characters of color but not in the mood for stories on racism?

Tempted by the thought of romance at ages of 30+?

Does the idea of stories so queer you'll hesitate before calling any character a "man" or a "woman" make you think "Ah, yes pronoun shenanigans, just like my discord used to make"

And you into an abundance of strong, diverse female and nonbinary characters?

Do you fight for women's wrongs?

I know rep-only recommendations can be annoying, but I'm trying to grab your attention to promote some Indie media. Luckily, though, this post isn't rep-only!

To read my full reccomendation and review of Three of Hearts, click below. ♦️♥️♣️♠️

And if you aren't in the mood for a new thing right now, consider reblogging! Maybe even ping a friend who might be into this! You love supporting queer indie creators!

Note: I am not involved with the making of the show or the game space Kings. I just really like this podcast.

The story

♠️♣️♥️♦️Three of Hearts♦️♥️♣️♠️ centers on two paragovernmental agents in a fantasy, post-war, queernormative 1950s.

Roughly 20 years before the opening, a set of heroes purged magic from the world to turn the tide of the war. But scraps of this thaumaturgic energy still remain. S.U.I.T.S (securing unpredictable injurious thaumaturgic situations) is an agency founded to deal with everything left behind.

When two of the longest standing employees at S.U.I.T.S, Agent Vellum and Agent Felspar, are called onto a new case involving stone crops and a missing person, Felspar isn't surprised (Though Vellum, who's injury had him doing desk work most of his career, is). Things devolve quickly when the Agents realize this case comes from Felspar's home town of Cloven heart, an idyllic magical village that prefers to handle justice on it's own.

Answers yield only more questions, as the Agents realize almost everyone in town has something to hide, and Felspar isn't the only one whose past keeps catching up to him:

How much magic is still around? What's Vellum got sloshing around in there that people think is so juicy? What is Diamond, elven pop star and queer icon, doing in such a small town? Just how big is this case, and how can the Agents balance their legal responsibility, with promises they've made to Cloven Heart?

WHEN. WILL. THEY. JUST. KISS?

(if you're skeptical about central romances, I get it! See notes on aro/aceness and platonic relationships in the rep section for more info)

The combination of magic and newfangled war tech — think telegrams and radios — is somehow just as charming as a rotating cast of characters who will each stake their claim on your heart, but betrayal is imminent and mistrust is rife. The story strikes a wonderful balance between slice of life goodness, and edge-of-your-seat high drama, culminating In a show I highly recommend.

But are they just reskinned cops: my answer has got to be no. While they are technically law enforcement, the main two are entering a commune-like space, where that isn't so welcome. It's a situation they treat with caution and respect. The classic cop-plot of "Should I make myself judge, jury, and executioner because The Bad Guy™ deserves punishment" just isn't a problem. The justice system isn't perfect, in our world or the show's, and the story acknowledges that. But in a social, cultural way, they don't act like cops. They DO act like detectives. But the rules they choose to break and the ones they choose to follow will hopefully satisfy my fellow cop-haters who crave a good mystery

The format

♠️♣️♥️♦️Three of Hearts♦️♥️♣️♠️ is an Indie actual play — this is not DnD, hear me out — podcast in the game Space Kings. All the tension of dice rolls, without drawn out combat or clunkiness, it's a breeze of story-forward listening, even if you've never listened to actually play podcasts before!

If you've tried dnd actual plays, and haven't like the flow of them, I would recommend trying this. A few encounters that may feel random (though they're not) get the story kicked off at a fast pace, but it quickly settles into a story with a tight plot, great pacing, and impactful character development.

The use of a playing card deck to see the outcomes of risky actions means that no matter what happens, success or failure, the tension keeps rising. And the hosts do a wonderful job of explaining mechanics in the show, so it never interrupts the listening experience.

Actual-play connessuires who want to primarily see people playing a game might not be satisfied, as bonuses are given liberally, and I would describe the podcast as more story focused than game focused, But the risks are ALWAYS real, sometimes (often) with thrilling, shocking outcomes.

Also concerned AP listeners should know there's some chaos magic involved! I was surprised when it first came up, and doubtful about how it might affect the story, but it ended up weaving into the rest of the plot really well, and I feel neither like it had no affect, nor like it shook up everything the party was building in an unsatisfying way. Personally I would have preferred to go in knowing it was there, but I also don't think it's major enough to belong in the main synopsis. Now you know, though!

The hosts make a real effort to blend stats and story, and I think the pull it off wonderfully without spending too much time on mechanics. If you want to see that though, session 0 and other details are on the Patreon (where you get the same content no matter how much you pay, at a minimum of a dollar a month).

The pod has all the lighthearted fun and banter of a "friends around the table" show, but never once have I had that "oh my god, I'm not a part of your inside joke, shut up and play!" Feeling.

I think it's a delight for AP and non-AP fans alike.

The episodes: roughly 45- 75 minutes long, with a midtro and some post-end music scenes, so listen through the end music, or check that there isn't extra content by seeing how close the play head is when the end music starts. It's not too long and quite pleasant in my opinion! The midtros always come at a nice moment to step back from the story, and are not too long and not irritating. I enjoyed listening to them! At some point, a midtro starts getting reused, and I was slightly disappointed I wasn't hearing new jokes every episode, but it's a small thing. I skip the repetitive ones with my 30 seconds forward button, and while I haven't timed the Intro, that's worked really well for me. I don't have to fiddle with my play head to make sure I don't skip forward too far. Super convient.

Trigger warnings: the show is pretty lighthearted! Listeners sensitive non-graphic mentions of needles, blood, and/or guns might want to skip on this one, but most episodes don't get heavy. The few that do have pre episodes notes that warn you things get dark, how they get dark, and how to skip the darkest bits. Personally, I listened through them and enjoyed those parts a lot! But if that's not your thing, I agree with the warning that they're very skippable, and I think trigger-sensitive listeners will be pleased. As an indie pod, there are no fan made, super specific lists of triggers. However, my DMs are always open if you have particular concerns, and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

I try to emphasize the balance between lightheartedness and drama, but if you mental health is sensitive to grim & dark media, i think this one is pretty safe. Please always exercise caution! But I'd describe 30♥️s as emotionally restful.

Transcripts: transcripts are in the works, but do not currently exist. Three of Hearts is a non-scripted show, so those are also unavailable

The rep

Don't you hate when someone raves about rep and you go in expecting something good and get like. One dog-boy described as having "chocolate colored skin"? Or when people make a "watch for rep" post and then mention like. Gay and maybe trans people and that's it, even when shows DO have disability and POC rep? Yeah that's not me. Here's the spoiler free rundown, race is at the bottom because I get into more detail with it, not because it isn't important:

Edit: For more on some of these topics from a hosts perspective, see the reblogged addition by @/citrusandsalt

MLM characters: Main characters, one confirmed bi the other unknown

Wlw characters: Reoccurring side characters (present or mentioned in every episode I think) Married. Orientation unspecified.

Enby love: LOTS. It's actually hard to really categorize mlm and wlw stuff because almost every character is nonbinary. Anyways— it's VERY queer

Women: I...I don't know exactly which characters are women 😂. But there are many feminine characters, and they're badass as fuck. Some are compassionate, some are cold, some are chaotic, most are a mix! The two main characters are...masculine...(I say with much hesitation) but you will not feel robbed for your woman-ly content.

Non-traditional family structures: All of the families in the story, pretty much, are non-traditional. Adoption is super common. (You want some wlw who just KEEP adopting kids? You got em) Found family is a MASSIVE force in the story. Also, It's a post-war story.........which is to say almost everyone's parents are dead.

Edit: an MC had poly parents, which may not be obvious but is true!

Polyamory: to my knowledge so far, there are polyam characters, and it is definitely present in the world! But no poly relationships in the forefront. I am about 2/3 through the current episodes, so there may be a present polyamorous relationship later, but also if I confirmed it that would be a spoiler. This may be that "playing it by ear" thing that happens with ttrpgs. I wouldn't listen for the hope of polyamory alone, but I don't tell you it's not there/won't happen.

Trans characters: almost all of them. Might think "oh there are only a few!" And you are wrong. You are so wrong.

Neopronoun users: yup! To my knowledge, minor characters. A handful who use at least he/she/they or they/them and may also use neos in a manner im forgetting

Plurality: no system characters yet, but the creators are friendly, I asked ;)

Platonic relationships: YES. As an aro person who hates so many romance tropes this one gets my stamp of approval. There's no real jealousy drama, exes who communicate and are supportive, and romance doesn't kill friendships. There's a central sibling relationship and non-familial platonic ones that have conflict, drama, resolutions, and a deeply satisfying significance in the story. If you don't like romance at all, this one might not be for you. If you just don't like stories exclusively about romance, I think you'll enjoy this. Genre wise, I'd definitely describe three of hearts as a mystery primarily with a strong romantic subplot, not a romance itself, and that comes through in player and character's additives and priorities.

Aro/ace characters: none confirmed yet to my knowledge. Romance is very central, sex is joked about on occasion but it isn't at the forefront of the story at all. There are many, single characters who are thriving.

Edit: Actually! There is one character who discusses demiromanticism in cannon that I forgot, and another confirmed out of cannon character who is ace. Both are non-main major characters!

Age diversity: the youngest characters in the show are older to middling teens, and the oldest are in their 400s. Okay but the oldest in human terms are roughly 60-70. The most common age range, and the ones the central characters are in, is 30-40. The second most common is that 60-70, then some ~40-50 folks here and there, with people in their 20s being probably the rarest (no named ones off the top of my head?) And there are a small number of teens. This is not a story about youth and youthful beauty. Generally, the older a character becomes the most bad ass/spooky powerful they are, and older characters are very involved in the plot.

Mental illness and neurodivergency: to my knowledge so far no characters are in cannon confirmed to have a specific mental illness or ND, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was part of a character or the main characters, and just hadn't come up. Listeners with cluster b or "scary" disorders, or with conditions that may cause them to lash out, will find satisfaction with how compassionately the narrative treats werefolk. To say more encounters spoilers. I would also say that depression, while the word isn't used and it is not central to the story, is present as a narrative force, and also treated wisely and with compassion. Still, as is usually for a good story, all of these bitches need therapy.

Disability: LOTS. There's a lot of "different, not broken" themes that disabled listeners are likely to love, but both of the main characters are disabled! One is a cane user, the other experiences migraines. These have a genuine, pressing, mechanical impact on the story. It's COMES UP. It's a real joy. For a magical world, there is no magical healing! Or there is, but it isn't a perfect solution, which in my opinion is just a magical version of real healing, though yours may differ! Also, there is a minor, reoccurring character who's a wheelchair user, and I think he's really fun.

Disfigurement: Excuse me if I am not prepared with the most sensitive way to speak about this, but I'm doing my best! There is a character with no eyes or nose, who is central and lovely. To my knowledge, there are no amputee characters or characters with limb differences (of the wheelchair user I'm not sure if it's specified whether or not he has legs). There is a character of questionable morality who has significant facial and bodily disfigurement. In as few spoilers as possible: this was not injury or genetic related. The disfigurement is treated with a firm compassion, and does not exist as a "this character is evil" signal. It's a long arc, but I imagine people who relate will be satisfied, though I cannot speak for anyone.

Characters of color: many! The main two are Hispanic and Asian. Terms like "dark skinned" are used for characters, but in the fantasy world race doesn't exactly translate, and I wouldn't call it "important" in this story. Read more about race below:

Fantasy racism: sort of! The word "race" is used to mean "humanoid species" and I know some folks don't like that? None of these fantasy races are oppressed, but specific people (Magic versus non-magic people) have conflict about that aspect of their identity, and policing is a related concern. I would place the allegory more in the space of transness and disability/neurodivergency if pressed to choose, but it doesn't feel like it's trying to tell a story about real-world oppression, primarily. I have more complicated thoughts on exactly what I'm trying to communicate here, but they involved some spoilers. DM me for more info!

Hosts/creator identity: out of three hosts, two are white, one is not! They are very queer, and disability is also...a thing! These are real life people, so I'm not going to get into detail, but check out their twitters plugged in the show for more on how they self-identify.

Okay but are they racist: Real talk! As a black person who thinks I keep my ears sharp, I would say no! Not at all! This is one of those situations where I was like "YOU'RE WHITE?" And shocked about it, (if you listened to TSCOSI, same vibe) which is a very good thing in my books. The hosts are open and sensitive, and I have no complaints, however, this is just one perspective! This isn't coincidental, race is an active consideration in how the story is told — just not a central theme.

Edit: One of the hosts, Essay (@/citrusandsalts) discussed more on hosts identities in a reblog! If this concerns you, and you want less of me walking on eggshells about other people's identities, read her addition too!

Edit 2: Jordan, the GM also has commented additions!

Minor but worth mentioning: A minor character has a name with what I believe is the Nahuatl "tl" sound in it, which is not pronounced correctly. It's a really hard sound! I can't really do it! But if that really irritates you this might not be the podcast for you.

People who might be interested in this post, as always let me know if you don't want to be pinged (I rarely ever do this) and it won't happen again: @citrusandsalt @fyeahaudiodrama @boombox-fuckboy

[chalkkskull]

*rolls on the floor*

[arsenicflame]

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR - AMAL EL-MOHTAR & MAX GLADSTONE

[ultramarine-spirit]

I'm sorry, Mari, I know you don't want to talk about it anymore, but why is it so problematic to repost other photos? I feel like one of the biggest reasons people do it is because they don't know why. I understand that you can't publish images of chapters that have to be paid for like webtoon or merch (although I don't know why either) but wmmap has already ended years ago so I don't understand what the problem would be.

Yeah, it's as you've said, firstly, because most of it is paid content. That's why you'll see that manhwa accounts on Twitter almost always post proof of them having purchased the chapters. Secondly, because this fandom has a huge reposting problem in general (art, fics, translations, edits, etc). For "regular" pictures I have less of an issue, but if it's "exclusive" content, I feel like I'm already edging the line of what is respectful to publish/leak. Yes, there are hundreds of illegal uploads of the manhwa, but that's not something I wanna promote. I wanna encourage people to support the author. Spoon has also spoken about this a bunch of times. But I guess some people might disagree with my stance.

Let me put it like this. When I stay up until 5am to watch a Chinese stream and get news about the donghua, and people immediately repost the pictures without keeping my @, it's tiring. When I spend my own money to attent Spoon's art class (at 3am), take notes, work with Japanese and Chinese fans/friends to provide English fans a translation and summary, and people immediately repost it without asking, it makes me wonder why I even bother. The last thing I want is to sound all "oh, woe is me" though, that's why I haven't spoken about this many times (I believe this is the second time in 4 years I bring it up).

For pictures that have translated content (such as what Lithi does), I think it's way worse, because you are basically "stealing" their labor without any credit. Fan translators already operate in a grey area, legally speaking. There has been a lot of drama in the fandom around this subject, and in general, translators hate to see their work reposted. Most of them have deleted their translations because of this (Ever wonder why you can't find fan TLs of the novel very easily anymore? Lithi has also deleted a bunch of her novel posts and I don't blame her). Sure, reposting a single picture/page might not be big deal, but this has happened a million times.

And then there are instances when people straight up copy posts word for word, pic for pic, which is just kinda annoying/comes across as clout-chasing. Not reposting other people's posts is kind of online etiquette.

[alexturner2005]

i can’t believe i messaged someone on ig months ago asking if they would delete one of my own concert photos that i don’t want online, and they ignored me, and i just saw they MADE IT THEIR PROFILE PICTURE

[substituted-shinigami]

Prompt from @recurring-polynya

Working Title: Takiyaki Is NOT Communication

Characters: Rukia, Orihime, Renji (RenRuki)

Rating: G

Genre: Humor/Romance/Fluff

Prompt: Rukia presents Renji with some food she has made. I tried to keep it very open bc I'm more interested in where you might go with it!

Story Summary: When Rukia recognizes her feelings for Renji, she works with Orihime to figure out how best to tell him. Their plan is tasty, if not a little dangerous. Post TYBW, some spoilers.

Author’s note: I had a lot of fun writing this prompt, but man was it a roller coaster ride! At first, I was writing a completely different fic, a Prestigious Private School AU Part 2, where we meet Renji’s study group and Rukia bakes a cake. Buuuut, that one was getting way too long in the tooth, and was riddled with problems that I’ve just begun to solve. Then I remembered I had a fic I wrote a beginning for, but no middle or ending because I just couldn’t figure it out. And I realized that this would be perfect for it! So sorry if that’s a cop out, I didn’t realize the other fic wasn’t going to work within the timeline until friday, so I needed to find a shorter solution. It still took awhile to make the two ideas work together and actually write the middle and ending if that counts! Also, you get a free Orihime out of the deal, so that’s nice! This is my first time writing for her so let me know what you think! Also, I all admit this one is a little crackish, especially for Rukia.

Takiyaki Is NOT Communication

Inoue Orihime was very much enjoying sleeping in on her day off from the bakery, when she heard a knock at the door. Who could be here this early in the morning on a Sunday? She wondered, as she tried to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes. She had just begun to yawn rather loudly and stretch out her limbs when she heard yet another more vigorous knock.

“Coming!” She yelled, throwing on a sweater over her pajamas. She went over and looked through the peep-hole on her door.

"Rukia!” She exclaimed, throwing the door open wide, “I didn't know you were in town. Come in, come in! What brings you here?" Kuchiki Rukia stood in the doorway looking more serious than Orihime had ever seen her.

"Orihime….” she said with great gravity, “There is something serious I must tell you. Something so serious that I couldn’t tell you over the phone."

Orihime gasped, “Oh Rukia, are you in danger? Do you need me to call Ichigo?” Orihime immediately reached for the phone in her pocket.

"No!” Rukia said quickly, frantically waving her hands in front of her, “No danger. No physical danger anyway… And I’m afraid this is not something he can handle,” she crossed her arms again, “Plus he'd probably just make fun of me, anyway…"

Orihime looked at her friend kindly, "I'm sure that's not true,” then she tapped her chin in thought, “Well, okay, it's probably a little true, depending on what the problem is… But he would still help you out afterwards!"

"I'm afraid it's beyond his skills. You see, Orihime, I...” Rukia paused for dramatic effect, “...have a dark secret…"

"Oh my… Um… Do you want to sit down?" Orihime asked, waving her hand towards the couch.

"Perhaps that would be best," Rukia nodded seriously, entering the apartment. Rukia sat down heavily on the couch. Orihime shut the door, and sat down gently next to her. She patiently waited while Rukia worked up her courage. Finally, Rukia spoke.

"Orihime… I think… I might be in love with Renji."

Orihime continued to sit with anticipation. When Rukia said no more, Orihime realized that she was finished.

"Oh? I mean, oh! Really?! W-what a surprise! I never would have guessed!"

Rukia turned towards her friend and began speaking rapidly, “I know, right? I mean, I know the guy's hot, I do have eyes, and it’s pointless to pretend otherwise,” she stated matter of factly, “And okay, maybe I had a crush on him before, and maybe MAYBE I dreamed about him occasionally even during the separation… But!” she crossed her arms now, “It was a pointless and silly little crush! I told myself as much, so I did my best to forget about him,” Rukia looked down, her brows knitted together, “But ever since we got back together again, the feelings came back little by little. So even when I tried to push them down, tell myself it’s pointless to get wrapped up in a silly crush again, he would do something or say something that was just so him, that I would find myself falling all over again. And finally all those moments kept piling up, so that my feelings kept getting stronger and stronger until… Uuuuugh…" Rukia covered her face with her hands, "This is so stupid…"

"No, no, Rukia! It’s not stupid!” Orihime said, waving her hands quickly. She began to rub her friend on the back soothingly, “I think it's great that you are able to admit your feelings to yourself. I think it is very mature of you."

Rukia looked up at her friend between her fingers, "Really?"

"Yes, really. It can be…hard to face your true feelings, and I think you are very brave to do it. And… I'm glad you told me."

"Oh…Oh Orihime…” Rukia said, putting her hands down again, “Thank you, Orihime, but…"

“Anyway, now that you know, what would you like to do about it?” Orihime quickly asked, pushing the conversation along. Rukia gave her friend an unconvinced look, and Orihime returned it with a pleading one. Rukia sighed. She’d let it go for now.

“That is the question…” she said slowly, “I’m not entirely sure. S-should I tell him?”

"Well,” Orihime began, “that's completely up to you. Do you want to tell him?"

"Normally, no, that's why I didn't tell him before,” Rukia said quietly, “I… I like what we have, and I don't want to mess it up by getting greedy… but… and I know this sounds absolutely crazy…"

"Yes?" Orihime asked patiently.

"I think he might like me too," Rukia finally said.

Orihime was more ready with her exaggerated reaction this time. "Ooooh! You think? Wow! Amazing!"

"Right?!" Rukia exclaimed, she began talking rapidly again, "I know it's a long shot, especially with all those girls over at the Sixth Division fawning over him everytime he so much as walks by in that flower bath robe of his…but…" Rukia got a little quiet, "he's been acting differently lately. He gives me compliments now. Not just when I wear something extra special for a festival, but even when I so much as wear a new hair clip, he notices. In the past, I would sometimes see him staring at me out of the corner of his eye for no reason at all. I would look up at him, and he used to immediately look away…but now he just doesn't?! I look up at him, and now he just stares me straight in the eye, smiles a little, and then slowly turns away. We would always meet up at events, but now he offers to walk me there and back. It's almost like…it feels like he's trying to tell me he likes me, without telling me."

"Oh…" Orihime said slowly and thoughtfully, "why do you think that is?"

"I don't know! Maybe he’s not sure I like him back. Or maybe he still feels like he needs to impress my brother. But maybe…” Rukia sighed, “maybe it's because I've been so busy and in a bit of a slump since Captain Ukitake died, and he doesn't want to push me into a relationship before I'm ready.”

Orihime thought about this. While it was pretty clear to her, and the rest of their friend group that Renji liked Rukia, she did have to admit that it had taken them awhile to figure out that Rukia liked him back, so that was a possibility. Rukia showed her affection in less than ordinary ways, ways that usually involved shouting. However, Renji knew Rukia a lot longer than any of them, so it’s unlikely that her unorthodox way of showing affection would faze him.

Orihime thought some more. It could be the brother thing… Orihime didn’t get it fully herself, but she had heard about it a bit from Rukia. Apparently Soul Society had this whole class system thing that didn’t allow Renji to even talk to Rukia until he was made Vice Captain. Still… from what she saw, Renji got along quite well with his captain/Rukia’s brother, so she doubted that this would be a problem anymore…

The last one was….hard. Rukia had been very busy since her Captain’s death. Her texts had become pretty sparse, so much so that Orihime and Ichigo barely heard from her anymore. The slump thing could easily be connected. Rukia often became a work-a-holic when she was trying to avoid things like thinking about her feelings. But if Rukia was here, presently with her, and asking Orihime’s advice on her feelings about Renji, then that means she isn’t avoiding them anymore. She’s ready to move forward.

“All of those are possible of course,” Orihime began, “But if you’re ready to talk about it, then perhaps that means you are ready to tell him.”

Rukia thought about this, “Yes. Yes, I think so too. Thank you, Orihime.”

“Of course! So how do you want to go about telling him?”

“Yeah, that’s the other problem… I’m not sure I’m ready to say all my feelings for him out loud yet. I think I would just jumble them up.”

“Okay, that’s no problem! You could just write them down!”

“Y-yeah! I could do that!” Rukia agreed. Then she deflated again, “But I don’t just want to hand him a note though, that’s pretty embarrassing too…”

“Maybe you could put it with something else? Like sort of a gift and card combo?”

“Oh yeah! That could work! In fact…” Rukia began, getting a scheming look on her face, “Maybe I could cook him something and then stick the message inside of it! Like a hidden message!”

“Wow!” Orihime exclaimed, “That’s a great idea, Rukia!”

“Yeah!!! Oh, but…his favorite food is takiyaki… Can you stick a message in that?”

“Hmmm, maybe but…takiyaki has a filling for a center,” Orihime reasoned, tapping her chin, “Your message might get lost in that.”

“Oh…yeah…I guess that’s true.”

“Although….” Orihime began, thinking hard.

“Yeah?”

“What you could do is make a bunch of mini takiyaki, fill all but one, put the message in that one, and then stick that one on top. Then when he opens it up, he gets the message!”

“Oh!” Rukia exclaimed, smiling. She hopped up off the couch, “Oh that could work! Thank you, Orihime! I’ll try that!”

Orihime smiled happily along with her friend, “Glad to help, Rukia!” She got off the couch too. “I actually got some supplies to make takiyaki if you want any help.”

“Yes please! This is going to be great!” Rukia said, with newfound determination as they headed towards Orihime’s kitchen, “Renji better look out, because these are going to be the best takiyaki he’s ever seen! He may or may not love me, but he WILL love our takiyaki!” Orihime laughed.

“Yeah!” She agreed.

__________________________________

"I present to you,” Rukia began dramatically to Renji, whom she met up with later that day. They were in the Sixth Division mess hall which was nearly always empty in the mid afternoons, “homemade takiyaki, made by yours truly!"

Renji raised an eyebrow at her. While he had tasted Rukia’s cooking since the separation, and it wasn’t bad, it was also clear she did it extremely rarely.

"With help from the wonderful Orihime!" Rukia finished with a dramatic flourish.

"There it is," Renji said, "Well that does boost my confidence in the quality, if not the flavor."

"H-hey! I could give it to someone else you know!" Rukia said, reaching to remove the plate, but Renji grabbed ahold of it, and held it securely closer to him.

"Uh uh! Nope! You said they’re mine, so they're mine!" Renji picked up the top takiyaki and examined it carefully, “Hmmmm…. Crispy on the outside, and soft in the center, good good…”

“But of course!” Rukia said triumphantly.

Renji gave the takiyaki an experimental sniff, “Nice aroma as well…”

“The nicest, I’d say!”

“Hmmm,” He said thinking, “but…”

“W-what is it?” Rukia asked with a sudden sense of dread.

“You went kind of light on the filling, especially on this one,” Renji said, giving the takiyaki a light squeeze, “Did you forget to fill it, maybe?”

“J-Just try it already!” Rukia said with nervous frustration.

“Okay, okay!” Renji chuckled. He took the mini takiyaki in both hands, and shoved the entire thing into his mouth. He then immediately choked.

__________________________________

“It was very nice of you to leave a note for your friend, Rukia, but this is why it’s important we tell people before we put non-edible items in food,” Captain Isane said.

“How was I supposed to know he was going to stuff the entire thing into his mouth?!” Rukia exclaimed, while rubbing Renji’s back. They were sitting in the Fourth Division Emergency Room since Rukia had used shunpo to get them both there after Renji had started choking.

“Why wouldn’t I? How was I supposed to know you had stuffed a wad of paper in there? What’s it say anyway?” Renji asked, reaching for where it had fallen on the floor after it had been successfully hacked up.

“W-wait! Don’t touch that!” Rukia said, snatching it up.

“What? Why not?!”

“B-because! It’s dirty!

“Then why did you grab it?”

“I…I….” Rukia suddenly looked very uncomfortable. She stared at the note, crumpled and wet, in her hands. She went very quiet. Isane took the hint and decided it was high time she excused herself.

“Well, I have other patients I need to check on, so I’ll be going now. As long as you're feeling better, you’re free to go, Vice Captain Abarai. I’ll send in someone to give you your emergency room dispatch papers.” And with that, she was gone. Renji stared at Rukia. Rukia continued to stare at the wad of wet paper in her hands, looking a little defeated. Renji sighed.

“I guess it was probably pretty important, huh? What you wrote on that note?”

“Yeah…”

“Something that's kind of hard to say out loud?”

“Something like that…”

“Ah…” Renji said, looking up at the ceiling, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked back at her again, “Sorry, I ate your note, Rukia.”

“It’s okay…it…was a stupid idea anyway.”

“Yeah, maybe not your smartest plan," he chuckled, "but it was definitely one of your tastiest! The takiyaki surrounding the note was really good, even without the filling!”

“Really? You liked it?”

“Oh yeah! For sure! Heck, if the rest of the division didn’t eat them while we were gone, I’d love to finish them!” Renji said.

“Oh yeah? Yeah, hopefully they didn’t…” She finished quietly. Rukia continued to stare at the note in her hands. It was utterly ruined. Renji sighed and walked over to her, He cupped his hands around hers.

“Hey…” He began gently, soothingly. Rukia finally looked at him, “It’s okay, y’know? You can try again,” he said, his thumbs gently caressing her hands, “I’ll still be here. I’ll always be here, whenever you're ready. So don’t worry about it, alright? We can try again.”

Rukia stared into Renji’s eyes, and he stared right back. They were soft and warm. Rukia felt her heart drive straight up into her throat, drop off its bags and settle down. Clearly it lived there now, hung up curtains and everything.

“Renji…I-"

"A-alright, Vice Captain Abarai, here are your dismissal forms," Hanataro said as he entered the room. He looked up, "O-oh Rukia! You’re here too! It's nice to see…" his eyes fell upon their joined hands, "Waaah! I'm sorry! I'm interrupting!" Renji sighed and let go of Rukia’s hands.

"Heh… Your timing is impeccable as always, Hanataro," Renji chuckled derisively, "here give me the paperwork to sign."

"Ah, okay, sorry!" Hanataro said. As Renji signed the paperwork, Rukia felt the tension building inside her. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to steel herself for what she wanted to say. Finally, Renji finished signing his paperwork and handed it back to Hanataro who apologized profusely again. Rukia had enough of her mind left to remember to tell him not to worry about it, and that she will talk to him later. He thanked her and left. Then she and Renji were alone again and the tension jumped through the roof.

Finally Renji said, “Okay, well we better hurry if we want to be able to eat the takiyaki before someone else does.” He gathered up his paperwork and started heading towards the door. But Rukia stood firm.

“R-Renji!” Rukia said as firmly as she could. Renji stopped and turned towards her. She was standing very rigid, but was also slightly shaking with nervous energy.

“Yeah?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I- What if- We should go eat! Together!”

“Yeah, we’re going to go eat the takiyaki…”

“No, I mean….” Rukia stopped and closed her eyes. She slowly breathed in and out, calming herself. She opened her eyes again and glared at Renji.

“Renji!” she nearly shouted at him.

“Y-yeah?” he asked nervously, taking a step back.

“Will you go out with me to a fancy restaurant in a romantic way?!” She demanded while pointing her finger at him. Her ears burned. Renji blinked.

“I-”

“If not, that is okay!” she continued just as firmly, “Our friendship is very important to me, and I hope we can remain that way!”

“Good, but-”

“If you need time, that is also okay!” Rukia said remaining firm, but she was starting to shake again, “Being friends with someone who you know has romantic feelings for you when you do not feel the same way back can be stressful! So if you need time away, I…I…underst-”

“Rukia!” Renji said, closing the distance between them and stilling her shaking shoulders with his larger hands, “Rukia…” He said again, more gently, one of his hands moving up her neck, his thumb gently caressing her cheek, “Of course I’ll go to the restaurant with you.”

“In…in a romantic way?” Rukia asked, uncertainly.

“Uh yeah, idiot,” he chuckled warmly, “What other way would I mean?”

“I mean…we’ve eaten out a lot before so I…just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. That this is romantic and that you are okay with that,” Rukia said firmly. Her face was going a little red too now.

“Of course, I’m okay with it! I’ve…always been okay with it. Are you okay with it?” he asked, looking at her with some concern, “You’ve been through a lot within these past couple of years, are…are you sure you’re ready?”

“Of course, I’m sure! I’m the one who asked you out, idiot!” Rukia said, sounding resolute again, “I wouldn’t ask, unless I was sure!” Rukia put her hands on top of his, “I- I want to go out with you, Abarai Renji, and to do romantic things with you specifically!” She said, nodding firmly.

“Oh! I uh…good! That-that’s good!” Renji had become fully aware that his ears were now burning. He coughed, “So um…did you have anything in mind? For the restaurant, I mean!”

“Well, I’ve been to a couple with Niisama, but they all tend to be pretty stuffy. I don’t know if I could relax in those…”

“Hmmm, good point,” Renji said. He thought quickly, “Oh!!! Kira took me and some of the guys to a bar once that was pretty fancy! Not the captain’s level of fancy, though.”

“Sounds perfect! It’s right in between, “Rukia nodded, “Now more importantly, how was the booze?”

“Oh pretty good. Fancy enough to have some of the more fancy drinks, but not so fancy that you can’t get wasted on others.”

“Oh nice! You should have shown them to me sooner!”

Renji laughed, “Yeah probably, I was just waiting for a special occasion…” He said, looking at her warmly. Rukia nodded. She gave his hands a meaningful squeeze before removing them. She then gave his arm a tug.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” She said, enthusiastically, “That booze ain’t going to drink itself! Plus I want to try out the fancy drinks too!”

“Alright! Alright!” Renji chuckled. They exited the room together and began to walk down the Fourth Division Emergency Room halls. When they made it outside, the night sky was crisp and clear.

“Hey,” Renji began.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for asking me out. To be honest, I’ve liked you for a long time, like a really long time. And I figured out more recently, that you liked me too, but well…” Renji sighed and looked down, “After what happened to Captain Ukitake…well I saw how that affected you. How busy and tired and sad and stressed you were, and I…” he turned to look at her again, “well I wanted to support you anyway I could! But I wasn’t sure that romance was what you needed from me,” he looked down again and began rubbing the back of his neck, “And I didn’t want you to feel bad if you didn’t want or just weren't ready for a romantic relationship. So I tried to do my best to be there for you but also let you know that if that is something you did want,” he took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes, “that I’d always be here for you.”

“Ah…” Rukia breathed, “So that was it. That’s what I thought.”

“Yeah…sorry, I didn’t say that before.”

“Idiot, what are you apologizing for? You were trying to be considerate!” Rukia fussed at him, “Still…know in the future, you can always just talk to me about it. No more of this beating around the bush, alright?”

“Yeah…” Renji smiled, “Thanks, Ru.”

Rukia felt her ears burn a little at the nickname, “Idiot, w-what are you thanking me for! Now come one before there isn’t any booze left!” She said stomping off.

Renji chuckled, as he followed after her, “It’s a bar, Rukia, I doubt they are going to run out.”

“They are if I get there before you and drink it all!” Rukia said, breaking into a sprint.

“What?! Hey, you don’t even know where it is!” Renji said, sprinting after her.

“My shinigami alcohol sense will tell me!”

“That’s not even a real thing, Rukia! Hey, get back here!”

They raced each other all over the Seireitei. Soul King only knows if they ever even made it to that bar. But it matters not, for they were together.

[skitskatdacat63]

Reposting is so grrrrrr. I just saw some artist get informed their art was reposted, so I went to stalk on Twitter to go see. And it hurts me so much, bcs the op's twt of the drawing has ~20 likes/5 retweets, and the repost has ~2.3k likes/300+ retweets. Is that not fucking evil?

That's why I will always be so outraged at reposting, so often it ends up that the repost gets way more attention. And yeah they often "credit," (usually in a follow up tweet not on the main repost ofc 🙄) but that does literally no good imo as people will always just up retweeting/liking the repost instead of making the effort to go to the original. Not that people shouldn't credit, bcs its just even worse that way, but idk, it always seemed to me like a bandage on a gaping wound lol

[wanderingmind867]

I'm good with concepts. Really good with concepts and ideas. But ask me to make something with these concepts, and I simply can't. Partially because I can only overthink and feel my writing isn't good enough, partially because I'm actually atrocious with dialogue and description. Let me ramble on for 15 paragraphs about a bunch of random opinions, facts, etc. And I'll be able to do that. I'm even doing it now. But ask me to actually write vivid descriptions and normal dialogue, and I just can't. It's depressing. Why was I blessed with an overthinking brain if I can't even do anything with the ideas it provides me!? Why!?

[ineed-douma-sobadly]

ok

[dulcewrites]

If you thought you saw something I wrote… no you didn’t

[ekingston]

SO HERE IS THE WHOLE STORY (SO FAR).

I am on my knees begging you to reblog this post and to stop reblogging the original ones I sent out yesterday. This is the complete account with all the most recent info; the other one is just sending people down senselessly panicked avenues that no longer lead anywhere.

IN SHORT

Cliff Weitzman, CEO of Speechify and (aspiring?) voice actor, used AI to scrape thousands of popular, finished works off AO3 to list them on his own for-profit website and in his attached app. He did this without getting any kind of permission from the authors of said work or informing AO3. Obviously.

When fandom at large was made aware of his theft and started pushing back, Weitzman issued a non-apology on the original social media posts—using 

his dyslexia; 

his intent to implement a tip-system for the plagiarized authors; and 

a sudden willingness to take down the work of every author who saw my original social media posts and emailed him individually with a ‘valid’ claim,

as reasons we should allow him to continue monetizing fanwork for his own financial gain.

When we less-than-kindly refused, he took down his ‘apologies’ as well as his website (allegedly—it’s possible that our complaints to his web host, the deluge of emails he received or the unanticipated traffic brought it down, since there wasn’t any sort of official statement made about it), and when it came back up several hours later, all of the work formerly listed in the fan fiction category was no longer there. 

THE TAKEAWAYS

1. Cliff Weitzman (aka Ofek Weitzman) is a scumbag with no qualms about taking fanwork without permission, feeding it to AI and monetizing it for his own financial gain; 

2. Fandom can really get things done when it wants to, and 

3. Our fanworks appear to be hidden, but they’re NOT DELETED from Weitzman’s servers, and independently published, original works are still listed without the authors' permission. We need to hold this man responsible for his theft, keep an eye on both his current and future endeavors, and take action immediately when he crosses the line again. 

THE TIMELINE, THE DETAILS, THE SCREENSHOTS (behind the cut)

Sunday night, December 22nd 2024, I noticed an influx in visitors to my fic You & Me & Holiday Wine. When I searched the title online, hoping to find out where they came from, a new listing popped up (third one down, no less):

This listing is still up today, by the way, though now when you follow the link to word-stream, it just brings you to the main site. (Also, to be clear, this was not the cause for the influx of traffic to my fic; word-stream did not link back to the original work anywhere.)

I followed the link to word-stream, where to my horror Y&M&HW was listed in its entirety—though, beyond the first half of the first chapter, behind a paywall—along with a link promising to take me—through an app downloadable on the Apple Store—to an AI-narrated audiobook version. When I searched word-stream itself for my ao3 handle I found both of my multi-chapter fics were listed this way:

Because the tags on my fics (which included genres* and characters, but never the original IPs**) weren’t working, I put ‘Kara Danvers’ into the search bar and discovered that many more supercorp fics (Supergirl TV fandom, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor pairing) were listed.

I went looking online for any mention of word-stream and AI plagiarism (the covers—as well as the ridiculously inflated number of reviews and ratings—made it immediately obvious that AI fuckery was involved), but found almost nothing: only one single Reddit post had been made, and it received (at that time) only a handful of upvotes and no advice. 

I decided to make a tumblr post to bring the supercorp fandom up to speed about the theft. I draw as well as write for fandom and I’ve only ever had to deal with art theft—which has a clear set of steps to take depending on where said art was reposted—and I was at a loss regarding where to start in this situation.

After my post went up I remembered Project Copy Knight, which is worth commending for the work they’ve done to get fic stolen from AO3 taken down from monetized AI 'audiobook’ YouTube accounts. I reached out to @echoekhi, asking if they’d heard of this site and whether they could advise me on how to get our works taken down.

While waiting for a reply I looked into Copy Knight’s methods and decided to contact OTW’s legal department:

And then I went to bed.

By morning, tumblr friends @makicarn and @fazedlight as well as a very helpful tumblr anon had seen my post and done some very productive sleuthing:

@echoekhi had also gotten back to me, advising me, as expected, to contact the OTW. So I decided to sit tight until I got a response from them.

That response came only an hour or so later: 

Which was 100% understandable, but still disappointing—I doubted a handful of individual takedown requests would accomplish much, and I wasn’t eager to share my given name and personal information with Cliff Weitzman himself, which is unavoidable if you want to file a DMCA.

I decided to take it to Reddit, hoping it would gain traction in the wider fanfic community, considering so many fandoms were affected. My Reddit posts (with the updates at the bottom as they were emerging) can be found here and here.

A helpful Reddit user posted a guide on how users could go about filing a DMCA against word-stream here (to wobbly-at-best results)

A different helpful Reddit user signed up to access insight into word-streams pricing. Comment is here.

Smells unbelievably scammy, right? In addition to those audacious prices—though in all fairness any amount of money would be audacious considering every work listed is accessible elsewhere for free—my dyscalculia is screaming silently at the sight of that completely unnecessary amount of intentionally obscured numbers.

Speaking of which! As soon as the post on r/AO3—and, as a result, my original tumblr post—began taking off properly, sometime around 1 pm, jumpscare! A notification that a tumblr account named @cliffweitzman had commented on my post, and I got a bit mad about the gist of his message :

Fortunately he caught plenty of flack in the comments from other users (truly you should check out the comment section, it is extremely gratifying and people are making tremendously good points), in response to which, of course, he first tried to both reiterate and renegotiate his point in a second, longer comment (which I didn’t screenshot in time so I’m sorry for the crappy notification email formatting):

which he then proceeded to also post to Reddit (this is another Reddit user’s screenshot, I didn’t see it at all, the notifications were moving too fast for me to follow by then)

... where he got a roughly equal amount of righteously furious replies. (Check downthread, they're still there, all the way at the bottom.)

After which Cliff went ahead & deleted his messages altogether. 

It’s not entirely clear whether his account was suspended by Reddit soon after or whether he deleted it himself, but considering his tumblr account is still intact, I assume it’s the former. He made a handful of sock puppet accounts to play around with for a while, both on Reddit and Tumblr, only one of which I have a screenshot of, but since they all say roughly the same thing, you’re not missing much:

And then word-stream started throwing a DNS error.

That lasted for a good number of hours, which was unfortunately right around the time that a lot of authors first heard about the situation and started asking me individually how to find out whether their work was stolen too. I do not have that information and I am unclear on the perimeters Weitzman set for his AI scraper, so this is all conjecture: it LOOKS like the fics that were lifted had three things in common:

They were completed works;

They had over several thousand kudos on AO3; and

They were written by authors who had actively posted or updated work over the past year.

If anyone knows more about these perimeters or has info that counters my observation, please let me know!

I finally thought to check/alert evil Twitter during this time, and found out that the news was doing the rounds there already. I made a quick thread summarizing everything that had happened just in case. You can find it here.

I went to Bluesky too, where fandom was doing all the heavy lifting for me already, so I just reskeeted, as you do, and carried on.

Sometime in the very early evening, word-stream went back up—but the fan fiction category was nowhere to be seen. Tentative joy and celebration!***

That’s when several users—the ones who had signed up for accounts to gain intel and had accessed their own fics that way—reported that their work could still be accessed through their history. Relevant Reddit post here.

Sooo—

We’re obviously not done. The fanwork that was stolen by Weitzman may be inaccessible through his website right now, but they aren’t actually gone. And the fact that Weitzman wasn’t willing to get rid of them altogether means he still has plans for them. 

This was my final edit on my Reddit post before turning off notifications, and it's pretty much where my head will be at for at least the foreseeable future:

Please feel free to add info in the comments, make your own posts, take whatever action you want to take to protect your work. I only beg you—seriously, I’m on my knees here—to not give up like I saw a handful of people express the urge to do. Keep sharing your creative work and remain vigilant and stay active to make sure we can continue to do so freely. Visit your favorite fics, and the ones you’ve kept in your ‘marked for later’ lists but never made time to read, and leave kudos, leave comments, support your fandom creatives, celebrate podficcers and support AO3. We created this place and it’s our responsibility to keep it alive and thriving for as long as we possibly can.

Also FUCK generative AI. It has NO place in fandom spaces.

THE 'SMALL' PRINT (some of it in all caps):

*Weitzman knew what he was doing and can NOT claim ignorance. One, it’s pretty basic kindergarten stuff that you don’t steal some other kid’s art project and present it as your own only to act surprised when they protest and then tell the victim that they should have told you sooner that they didn’t want their project stolen. And two, he was very careful never to list the IPs these fanworks were based on, so it’s clear he was at least familiar enough with the legalities to not get himself in hot water with corporate lawyers. Fucking over fans, though, he figured he could get away with that. 

**A note about the AI that Weitzman used to steal our work: it’s even greasier than it looks at first glance. It’s not just the method he used to lift works off AO3 and then regurgitate onto his own website and app. Looking beyond the untold horrors of his AI-generated cover ‘art’, in many cases these covers attempt to depict something from the fics in question that can’t be gleaned from their summaries alone. In addition, my fics (and I assume the others, as well) were listed with generated genres; tags that did not appear anywhere in or on my fic on AO3 and were sometimes scarily accurate and sometimes way off the mark. I remember You & Me & Holiday Wine had ‘found family’ (100% correct, but not tagged by me as such) and I believe The Shape of Soup was listed as, among others, ‘enemies to friends to lovers’ and ‘love triangle’ (both wildly inaccurate). Even worse, not all the fic listed (as authors on Reddit pointed out) came with their original summaries at all. Often the entire summary was AI-generated. All of these things make it very clear that it was an all-encompassing scrape—not only were our fics stolen, they were also fed word-for-word into the AI Weitzman used and then analyzed to suit Weitzman’s needs. This means our work was literally fed to this AI to basically do with whatever its other users want, including (one assumes) text generation. 

***Fan fiction appears to have been made (largely) inaccessible on word-stream at this time, but I’m hearing from several authors that their original, independently published work, which is listed at places like Kindle Unlimited, DOES still appear in word-stream’s search engine. This obviously hurts writers, especially independent ones, who depend on these works for income and, as a rule, don’t have a huge budget or a legal team with oceans of time to fight these battles for them. If you consider yourself an author in the broader sense, beyond merely existing online as a fandom author, beyond concerns that your own work is immediately at risk, DO NOT STOP MAKING NOISE ABOUT THIS.

PLEASE check my later versions of this post via my main page to make sure you have the latest version of this post before you reblog. All the information I’ve been able to gather is in my reblogs below, and it's frustrating to see the old version getting passed around, sending people on wild goose chases.

Thank you all so much!

[viro-lil-goat]

I really hope this reaches more people, I'm only reposting this information from Instagram, the least that I can do. (Update: I changed their upbringing as it appears to have been listed wrong) Wiki page

When I just saw this information I couldn't stop crying thinking about it, and now my heart aches. They were the same age as me, I know for a fact like any other teen they dreamt of their future, who they would want to become, what to achieve, create, wondering if they meet those in the future they can call friends, wondeting if it'll get better when they grow up, maybe wished to leave that terrible place or maybe wanted to stay. How could anyone let this happen, why were they discharged from hospital so easily? And the school, we all know why. I hate to think about how, even with all the progress made, these things still happen.

"murdered schoolgirl Brianna Ghey on February 16, 2023. Candlelit vigils are being held across the UK this week for Brianna Ghey, 16, who was stabbed at Linear Park in Culcheth, Cheshire last Saturday. Brianna was a transgender girl and police are now investigating her killing as a hate crime. A boy and girl, both 15, have been charged with her murder"

An article that explains trans hate crime murders as on 2023

I hate everyone who have ever committed such vile hate crimes, I wish them in prison and hell. But i would never go down to their level. But I also blame the government, the school, and even those bigoted online accounts that teach their followers hate. In this case LibsOfTikTok, who targeted the teacher of this school, who supports lgbtq+, so they had to leave their position. It must have been the push for this to happen. I think their tiktok account has been thankfully deleten. But i have no idea about Twitter or any other. Please check and mass report them if it still exists. (Link to Instagram reel that this information is from)

ADDITION, PLEASE MASS REPORT THESE ACCOUNTS