#it's also on ao3

[kotonoba]

ISYT (Jushiro/Fem!Reader) Ch. 42

Please do not read in public.

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Halloween was still quite a foreign concept to Soul Society. Especially following Aizen's betrayal, many people were looking for ways to distract themselves. You didn't blame them, and you would be too if the man didn't nearly kill you for getting curious. From what you've experienced before, Halloween is more of a "trick or treat" costume thing that kids enjoy celebrating. You've also heard from your human peers while you resided there that it's when the lines between the living and the dead get a little murky. 

The way Soul Society viewed Halloween was another reason to have a get-together and a party. But that party didn't include you. And you found out the hard way. 

There was a knock on the screen door of the Ugendo; you opened it expecting it to be your husband returning from his numerous meetings since the betrayal of Aizen. But an orange-haired woman greeted you; you've seen her around; she drinks a lot. 

"Matsumoto-san…?" You pondered a little. Did you get her name right, at least? You kept to yourself a lot ever since the incident where people thought you were using Jushiro to climb the ranks. This wasn't the case, but no one tried to understand anything, and you didn't bother to explain further. So, what was left was a huge misunderstanding. Jushiro did try to explain it to everyone, but you've given up on interacting with your peers. You've often kept to yourself. Today was one of those days. 

"Ah, yeah. I'm here to invite you to Ukitake-taichou for the Halloween party. Can you give it to him when he's back?" She handed an orange envelope with a black bat seal to it to you, and you glanced at it: 'invitation for Jushiro Ukitake for Soul Society's first Halloween party.'

A bitter smile painted on your face for a second before masking it with a more joyous one, "of course! He'll be ecstatic to see this. Is there anything he needs to do before joining? Does he need to bring anything?"

"Preferably in costume, but we can provide if he doesn't have one. Everything is written on the invitation for the… you know," she looked a little uncomfortable as she pointed to the envelope. You knew it was an invite-only party; you were omitted, but you wanted her to say it. You nodded, waiting for her to continue, "invite-only party." 

You smiled, "okay, thanks. Enjoy!" Watching her leave hurriedly, you closed the door quickly, placing the envelope on the table to greet Jushiro's return. 

You needed a drink after that interaction. It was uncomfortable for the two of you. 

You wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a small glass cup, and poured homemade rice wine. It's been fermenting for a bit, and you could already smell that it's gotten exponentially more alcoholic since the last time you tried. 

You took a sip from the cup and cringed at the sharp spike of alcohol down your throat. You were not a lightweight. But you don't drink that often, so it surprises you now and again. 

You hid your rice wine in a secluded, dark corner of the kitchen and kept the glass full with you back to your shared room with your husband. Take a sip now and again as you read through your paperwork to revise it. You perked up a little when you heard the doors slide open, and your husband was home. But, a sense of dread drowns your enthusiasm as you recall a party that specifically excluded you from it. You shook your head and focused on the report in front of you.

"Y/n? What's this envelope for?" Your husband called in your general direction. 

"Invitation to a Halloween party. Everything you need is listed in the envelope already, or at least that's what Matsumoto-san said," you tried not to sound irked, but you felt your body heat up at the mention of the lieutenant's name. 

You blamed it on the alcohol. 

The door closes, and you assume it is Jushiro leaving for the party, but what surprised you was that the bedroom door was slid open, then closed; a breeze brushed by the nape of your neck before you were met by the cool embrace of your husband, still in his haori. 

You glanced over your shoulders as he rested his chin on your shoulders, "yes, 'Shiro?"

"I'm not going," he says childishly as he sits on the ground with you, pulling you onto his lap, "I'm not interested in going to a party that doesn't involve my wife." As you were ready to retort to him, a kiss on the neck met you, "I've been waiting to spend time with you all day. No way you'll kick me out of here to spend time with people I've seen all day."

You laughed a bit, "if you say so, but tonight is Halloween, wouldn't you be missing out?"

"No," his embrace tightened around you more; it seemed he'd had a stressful day with how clingy he was getting. You noticed his pout before it was replaced by curiosity. Taking your cup of rice wine in his hands and sniffing it a little, "I thought I smelled alcohol. When did you start drinking it? Is Shunsui a bad influence on you?"

You shook your head, "this is homemade. I suddenly remembered I made some and haven't finished it, so I might as well start again. Plus, it keeps me warm on such a cool evening today." That was half true, and it was more or less that you were trying to drown your sense of dread. 

"It's strong," Jushiro said, but he returned for another sip.

"And you're not stopping," you pointed out. 

"Well, I thought it was rather cold tonight as well. Might as well warm up a little," he says, setting down the half-empty cup. He drinks more than you ever would. Honestly, you would drink yourself to bed if he attended that party. 

"Have you warmed a little?" You questioned him. His cheeks were getting flushed, and he might be a lightweight. 

"Mhm… what are you doing, love?" His hands began to wander, slipping into your attire, meeting your warm belly with his cool hands.

That earned an airy laugh from you, "that's cold!" You bared your neck when you felt him nuzzling into your nape for a kiss, "I'm proofreading the reports ahead of time for you. That way, you have less work in the mor– ah!" Your surprised yelp came from his hands trailing down your belly, past your waist, and slipping to your wetness to massage your clit gently.

"Instead of alcohol, why don't we warm each other up, love? We haven't done it in a while," his voice purred against your neck; kisses turned into soft nibbles as he rubbed circles onto your clit. Your body tensed up quickly; it was a progression you didn't expect from him. Usually, he'd ask for consent repeatedly instead of doing it while suggesting it. 

"Y-you've already started; you don't have to ask.." you breathed softly. Your breathing quickens as his rubbing quickens. You jolted in his touch when his middle finger slid up and down your clit, heating your core quickly. 

"Relax, or you won't last long enough," his nibbles turned into a sloppy lick. You gripped his sleeves quickly, and it wasn't like you weren't trying to tense up. Like he's said, you two haven't done it in a while, so it was easy for you to melt under his touch. Especially when you could feel him harden behind you, pressing up against you. You two were equally as turned on. 

You have the alcohol to thank for that. It's not rare that Jushiro gets horny, it's just that he doesn't act on it because he tries to be "considerate." 

Jushiro noticed you had quickly shut your legs, grinning against your neck. He moved his free hand to separate your legs before rubbing roughly and speedily up and down your clit. 

Your core flooded with warmth, your vision turned white, your ears heated up, and you twitched against his hold. But even after your climax, he didn't let up his rubbing. Sure, he's slowed down, but he's continuing. Now, he uses his legs to anchor yours open, freeing his free hand to expose your body, freeing it from your clothes and your bindings against your chest.

"Look," he called for your attention, moving to nibble at your ear, flicking his gaze from your exposed body to the mirror before you two. 

You never understood the reason for that mirror to be there. You thought it was for decor. Until now, your face deepened in hue to see your body wholly exposed and reflected in the mirror, "'Shiro-" you were cut off by your moans. You saw his rubbing quicken in pace again. You came not long ago, and he wasn't letting you rest, "I-" he cut you off this time. 

"You have such a nice body, y/n," he purred; you eyed the mirror. You knew he was drunk, but you felt this was liquid courage, not a drunken one-time conversation. "You don't have to worry about me leaving you," he whispered, his free hand finding a way to grope your breast, his index finger drawing circles on your nipples. "I should be worried that you'd leave me instead," he whispered, feeling your body tense up under his touch again; he couldn't help but chuckle. Quickening his pace to a sickeningly quick one. 

You tried to hold on but curled slightly into his pacing and came again. But he wasn't letting up. He pressed your body back up against his once more. Now slip his middle finger and his ring finger from your clit and down to your slit. Rubbing the soaked area gently while his free hand still fondled your breast, "let me smother you with attention tonight," he grinned a little to see your cheeks all flushed and panting against him.

"'Shiro, I-" you yelped when you felt his slender fingers slip into your slit. He didn't offer you time to rest as he began pushing his fingers in and out of you.

"Yes?" He hummed sweetly, moving the free hand from your breast and down to your clit, once again stimulating your clit with one hand while the other worked on stretching you. 

"Ngh… let me rest, 'Shiro," you whined, hands on his sleeves to try to pull them away. 

"Mmm… no, I want to see you come undone for me," he teased; it was easy for that to happen. Persistence was the key to everything, after all. "So, what were you trying to say before, y/n?" 

Your moans grew louder as the stimulation began to overwhelm you. You eyed the mirror to see what he was doing; rubbing fast circles on your clit while thrusting in and out of your slit slowly wasn't helping your case, "'Shiro, I-I would never leave you.. I–!" your breath hitched once again, tightening against his fingers to climax once more. 

Jushiro paused; you took this precious few moments to catch your breath, "you won't?" He sounded uncertain.

You shook your head. 

"But I'm–"

You cut him off. The alcohol not only gave him liquid courage. But it also dragged out his deepest fears, "I don't care, I love everything about you, your sickness doesn't define you, 'Shiro." 

There was a moment of silence before he buried his face against your neck again; you felt him harden even more, and as you were about to comment something snarky about it, his rubbing and thrusting continued. This time, both were erratically fast. That shut you up for good, and incoherent moans left your mouth as your toes curled at the intensity; your clit couldn't handle that much attention in that short amount of time. You felt tears form in your eyes. 

"Ah, fuck, I know you're telling the truth, y/n. Hearing it makes me want to eat you up," you panted heavily, curling into his pace again, "I hope you're ready for a long night." He purred, watching you climax once more. 

"L-let me rest for a bit," you whispered between spasms; even with him pulling his fingers out of you, you jolted to that. Your eyes felt heavy, but sleep wasn't on Jushiro’s mind when he laid you on your shared futon, on your back. 

He kissed your lips gently like a summer breeze, trailing ghost kisses from your lips to your neck, down your breast, around the curves of your body, down your waist, scooting himself between your legs. His hands pressed against your inner thighs as he placed butterfly kisses on them. Your body shook in anticipation as you tirelessly peered downwards a bit. His soft but ravenous gaze met yours; he held your eye contact boldly before spreading your cunt open to kiss your clit softly before diving in to grind his tongue against the bundle of nerves. 

Your body jolted at the intensity once more; you gripped the futon tightly as a moan escaped your mouth breathlessly. He didn't give you time to react when he shoved his fingers back into your cunt. You came not long ago only to be met by the cruelty of his pacing once more; it was like a blissful torture to your clit. On one hand, it was the attention you craved; on the other, it was a constant attack on your nerves. He was sending shockwaves of pleasure up your spine. You tried to close the gap between your legs, but his hand held it down for good, exposing your crying cunt to the assault.

You applaud him for his technique if only you weren't repeatedly attacked at the same spot, and you weren't overly sensitive that even the lightest of touch made you scream his name. You arched your back once more. The overstimulation of the lower half of your body made you cum once more. Your body shuddered as he pulled away, now reaching to undo his attire, exposing his cock. You shuddered at the sight, and last you recalled, he wasn't that big. 

"...won't fit, 'Shiro," you whispered, watching lather up his cock with your juices. He flushed at your comment as he knelt closer, hands guiding his member to your entrance. 

"You'll find a way," he grinned, pushing the tip into your cunt; your toes curled. You were already too sensitive. His hands found their way to your legs, separating them from his slender body. He knew you were overly sensitive from his repeated onslaught to your clit, but that didn't make him any less eager as he pushed into you as gently as he could control himself. Watching your eyes widen at each inch thrust in. Your mouth gaped open; your head tilted back as he bottomed out on you. He was giving you time to adjust. 

“You okay, love?” 

You nodded, teary-eyed, but you were doing your best. There were soothing gestures that Jushiro did that always calmed you down: a kiss on the forehead, a caress of your cheeks to reassure you that everything was okay. And that he did, as he noticed your breathing steadied. 

He smiled gently, “I will move now, love.” 

He warned you, though it wasn’t much of a warning as you barely recovered from being overly sensitive. With each thrust, you moaned and whined in between, tears flooding your eyes with pleasure that he could tell. Despite his body heating up from the alcohol, as far as you’re concerned, his movements didn’t show that he was anywhere near being drunk. 

Your toes curled, nails digging into his shoulders, and your breath hitched. You were close to your breaking point again. But you <i>knew</i>, this was your breaking point, and you did your best to hold back in the heat threatening to overpower your core. 

“You’re doing good,” he whispered, his smooth voice trembling, hinting at his lackluster momentum; although fast, he did not last long, hence why his foreplay was so long. At least, that’s what you think for now. 

You pulled him into a desperate kiss, spotting his reddened-tipped ears from your blurred vision; you could tell that your attention overstimulated him. It made you proud, so proud that you lost focus, reaching your breaking point quickly, climaxing, tightening your walls around his cock. Perhaps your tightening around him aroused him further; a few more thrusts caused him to bottom out in you, releasing his load into you. 

As to what happened next, you couldn’t recall; your stamina gave in as it pulled you from your consciousness and into a deep slumber. The last you remember was Jushiro whispering he loved you before you passed out.

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Don't expect me to write too much smut; I'm not a fan of writing them because I don't think I'm good at describing them in a smutty way. I'm more of someone who likes to describe feelings above anything.

Cloudy's AO3

[outtoshatter]

Sea

The sea wanted to keep him. The tides shushed in his ear, Stay, stay, stay. The brand on his chest was cold and puckered. Stiles fought free of the cool, loving embrace of the waves and into the city that had discarded him. The night was warm, the sky lit with fires and coiling towers of smoke.

Stiles could hear the sea begging him to return, could feel it in every jagged breath he took. Salt water weighed heavy in his lungs as he walked, one shambling step at a time, following the desperate howls of a wolf in chains.

[bardofavon]

not to be controversial bc I know this is like…not in line with shifting opinions on fanfic comment culture but if there’s a glaring typo in my work I will NOT be offended by pointing it out. if ao3 fucks up the formatting…I will also not be offended by having this pointed out…

‘looking forward to the next update’ and ‘I hope you update soon!’ are different vibes than a demand, and should be read in good faith because a reader is finding their way to tell you how much they love it. I will not be mad at this.

‘I don’t usually like this ship but this fic made me feel something’ is also incredibly high praise. I’m not going to get mad at this.

even ‘I love this fic but I’m curious about why you made [x] choice’ is just another way a reader is engaging in and putting thought into your work.

I just feel like a lot of authors take any comment that’s not perfectly articulated glowing praise in the exact manner they’re hoping to receive it in bad faith.

fic engagement has been dropping across the board over the last several years, and yes it’s frustrating but it isn’t as though I can’t see how it happens. comment anxiety can be a real thing. the last thing anyone wants to do is offend an author they love, and that means sometimes people default to silence.

idk where I’m going with this I guess aside from saying unless a comment is outright attacking me I’m never going to get mad at it, and I think a lot of authors should feel the same way. ESPECIALLY TYPOS PLZ GOD POINT OUT MY TYPOS.

[gentil-minou]

Everytime I see posts like this I get filled with such profound sadness

Cause you know who has the same brainrot as you? The same unhinged feelings as you after you've read the fic? The person who always wants to scream about the fic with you?

THE PERSON WHO WROTE IT

I never used to leave comments but since I got into the habit of commenting on everything i enjoy it's been incredible. Especially when the author gets back to me about it and we get to have a discussion of what other ideas they had. One writer replied to my comment with a 5 paragraph essay detailing the Floorplan of the building the characters lived in and it was incredible

Anyways this is all to say that if you find a fic that just makes you want to scream from the rooftops, leave a comment saying that to the author and maybe they will join you and you can scream incoherently together

[kkshowtunes]

google citing ao3 as a source is so unhinged

[xcometstarx]

Storm Of Fire

Chapter 1: Lost and Found

It was a peaceful day on the Tapops station. To much surprise, it was calm and the cadets didn't have to do anything. The Kokotiam gang were in the library, 5 of the 7 elements with them. Our elemental boy was sitting on a bean bag, talking to Thunder, who was in another bean bag, and Quake, who was on the floor. Blaze was hanging upside down in a chair, talking to Ice, who was behind the chair, and Thorn, who was beside Ice. Fang, Gopal, and Qually were all engaged in a game of Uno, Yaya and Ying were looking over books of different planets and power spheras, and Octobot was charging in the back corner.

There was two people missing from this cluster; the youngest, light element, and the second oldest, wind element. Finding Solar would be simple: he was probably in his lab. Cyclone..thats a little bit of a challenge. He could be anywhere, doing almost anything that involved fun and pranks. Still, it was unusual for Cyclone to not be with the rest of the elements, or the gang. But, everyone needs their alone time, right?

In the main control room of the Tapops ship, was Solar. He sat there, looking at the 7 different screens he had pulled up on the main panel. He had his goggles on over his eyes as he looked at all the screens. He seemed to be focused, staring at the screens with a determined look on his face. His hands moved over the keyboard with ease, letting out a annoyed/frustrated sigh whenever he got a error message or the screen glitched.

"Cadet Solar?" A voice said, and Solar flipped his goggles up and turned around quickly in his chair, his finger tips already charged with his light beam. He lowered his hand when he saw Commander KoKo Ci and Admiral Tarung walk into the control room. He quickly did the Tapops salute, before Commander Koko Ci said, "Solar, what are you doing in here?"

Solar paused, unsure whether to cause panic over something that couldn't be true at all, or to get help because the situation was dire. Well, he was going to go with the second, because he needed all the help he could get.

"Noticed how we haven't seen Cyclone in..over 5 hours?" Solar says, resting his head on his hand, and his elbow on the chairs arm rest. He looked at Commander Koko Ci and Admiral Tarung, waiting for their responses.

"It is strange, but how do we know he just isn't somewhere hiding on the ship as a prank?" Koko Ci asked, and Solar turned around, moving a mouse to a screen, and saying, "Look."

He pulled up a screen with 13 icons on it; a red carrot donut, a blue tornado looking swirl, a red lightning bolt, a brown mountain, a green tree, a light blue wave, a red and orange fire, a yellow star, a green and yellow chocolate bar, a dark green spatula, a pink glowing book, a blue and yellow shoes with feathers on the back, and a orange lightning symbol, the shape of a B. "These are all trackers I put in everyone's watches, just in case." Solar said, Koko Ci and Tarung exchanging looks behind him. "Watch the blue tornado, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴-" Solar said, tapping it, the symbol glitching, before the screen goes black for a few seconds, then turns back on, the 13 symbols still on them. Koko Ci and Tarung seemed slightly suprised, and Tarung said, "Could it be a glitch on The tracker?"

"No, because if it was the tracker, his symbol wouldn't even be showing up." Solar replied, turning back around in the chair. Solar tapped another symbol, the orange B shaped lightning, and it came up, perfectly fine, with a dot blinking in the library on a map. Solar gestured to the screen as he turned to face Koko Ci and Tarung with a face that said, 'See?' "Solar, what are you suggesting?" Koko Ci said, stepping forward. "I didn't want to cause panic over nothing, but..I think Cyclone might be in trouble."

[cilil]

So today I got a rather unkind comment on AO3 (one could call it hate), but I believe it to be a bot for several reasons:

Guest account, but username attached

Said username exists but person is unlikely to be reading Tolkien fic (according to their Tumblr and AO3, they are in other fandoms)

Two grammatically correct sentences

Super generic text that could apply to any fic:

"I've seen better fanfiction written by a toddler. Get it together!"

I'm curious, did anyone else get comments like this? Let me know.

And to those who have gotten rude comments and are now worried/upset: Maybe it was just a bot too. Either way: You're awesome for putting your writing out there for others to enjoy and you don't deserve to get rude comments for it. If you want feel free to message me to compare cases and discuss details :)

[flowercrowngods]

when ao3 is back up i want all of you to leave comments on the fics you were interrupted from reading, the fics you were looking to find, the fics you were thinking about re-reading, and the fics left open in your tabs for months now.

when ao3 is back up, i want you all to show some love to your favourite writers, favourite fics, or even just the 600 word one-shot that brought a smile to your face that tuesday three weeks ago.

when ao3 is back up i want you all to remember that comments and explicitly voiced appreciation are what keep writers going.

[iamanartichoke]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but as a creator -

I am fine with "the audience" -

downloading my fics

printing my fics

copy/pasting or screenshotting my fics

sharing your saved copy of my fics with anyone else who might want them in the unlikely but never impossible case that my fics are no longer available on ao3

making a book of my fic(s) and running your fingers across the pages while lovingly whispering my precioussss

doing these things with anything I create for fandom, such as meta, headcanons, au nonsense like 'texts from the brodinsons,' etc

I am not fine with "the audience"

doing any of the above with the purpose/intent of plagiarizing my work or passing it off as their own in any capacity

feeding my work into ai for any reason whatsoever

Save the fandom things. Preserve the fandom things. Respect the fandom things.

Enjoy the fandom things.

[kotonoba]

ISYT (Jushiro/F!Reader) Ch. 45

Renji & Rukia’s arrival to help Ichigo get Orihime back, Jushiro prepping to fight Aizen in Fake Karakura Town.

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After Jushiro confronted Ichigo’s group and told them that Orihime had been taken, you noticed some suspicious movements from Rukia and the Sixth Division Barracks. Still, Jushiro smiled and told you to keep quiet about it. But when the news of Renji and Rukia leaving for Hueco Mundo arrived for your husband, he acted surprised despite knowing what was happening. As the two of you headed home from a long day at work, a Hell Butterfly came in to inform you there would be a meeting in the morning regarding the “Fake Karakura Town” that the Twelfth Division had been working on.

You glanced at your husband, who seemed to know everything was happening. But he smiled, “don’t worry, I’ll tell you what the meeting is about once it’s over, okay, love?” You nodded, fingers entwined together as you two strolled back to the Ugendo.

“Speaking of which, ‘Shiro, why did you act surprised when the Messenger came to deliver news of Rukia-chan and Renji-kun’s departure to join Ichigo-kun’s rescue attempt in Hueco Mundo, even though you knew that they were planning so?” You glanced up at him as the night came around, and it was just the two of you along the path to the Ugendo. 

Jushiro hummed a little, thinking about it as he took his haori off to place around you instead of as the breeze blew by. “That way, there would be less suspicion. The messengers are under the command of the new Central 46, First Division, and Second Division since they also train them for a short period. If I did not act surprised, it would be reported to them, and they would do a tedious investigation. I'd rather not go through disputing that ordeal since I’ve gone through it twice already.” 

“Twice? When was the first and second time?” 

“Your memory fails you, love. The first time was when we first met. I wanted to give up my captain role to be with you, no matter how little you had left, but situational scenarios beat me to give up the role. They did a whole investigation but found nothing because the town and evidence were no more,” you nodded a little as you spotted sadness in your husband’s eyes. You offered his hand a little squeeze, and he squeezed your hand back gently to thank you. “The second time was when I went to offer my help to stop Rukia-chan’s execution,” he paused to see if you recall.

“Oh, was that why you were called into Central 46 the following day?” 

Jushiro nodded.

“It was tedious, but by the time I had been called into Central 46, they were in a huge mess because Aizen slaughtered the previous group. So I decided to help them sort the mess out, and they picked a whole new group that just dismissed my ‘wrongdoings–”

“I don’t think it’s wrong for you to stop the execution of Rukia-chan. She did nothing wrong, and it was a plot by Aizen,” Jushiro sighed as he led you into the Ugendo. You two worked pretty late, catching up on paperwork for the weekend to follow since Jushiro wanted to spend some quality time together with no hindrance of work in hindsight. 

“I agree with that, but destroying the Sokyoku is still an offense; sure, it didn’t take long for them to rebuild it, but it was still a lot of money,” Jushiro laughed; his clan was taxed heavily. You recall looking at its records as you helped them sort it out. 

“Hopefully, something like that doesn’t happen again.”

Jushiro nodded in response. You two spent the evening cooking together before eating and going to bed since he had a morning meeting to attend. Morning came around in the blink of an eye. As you were helping your husband dress, he proposed an idea.

“Why not, instead of my two third-seat officers accompanying me, you come with me and wait until the meeting ends. How does that sound?”

You hummed and nodded but decided to tease him, “You forgot to tell them last night, didn’t you?”

“M-maybe,” you laughed a bit; he followed along as you took an early leisure stroll towards the first division meeting room. You waited with the other lieutenants and stand-in lieutenants. There wasn’t much talk, but you didn’t jump in, even if there was. 

Maybe it was about an hour to two before Jushiro and the rest of the captains left the meeting room; you supported yourself, pushing yourself up from your former meditating position, “training with your Zanpakutou?” You glanced at your husband, smiled, and nodded, “Was it fruitful?” You nodded once more, “Achieved Bankai in that process?” He joked, holding his hand out to you; you took it happily. You grinned at your husband in response, “Oh, you did?” 

“Half of it, at least” was hard to explain; it was simply because your ability was divided into two halves, and doing half was good enough. 

“Want to show me?” He hummed, leading you to the training grounds behind the division barracks. You didn’t let go of his hand, almost as if you were shy. 

“Not particularly; I can’t control the power burst it carries. I don’t want to wound you somehow, ‘Shiro.”

“I can help you; I didn’t become a captain from pity points,” Jushiro teased. You know he’s strong, but you couldn’t shake off the thought when your Zanpakutou spirit repeatedly reiterated that you should only use it when you’re in danger. 

“I–” 

“I know, I won’t force you. There must be a reason why you’re reluctant to show me, and I’ll let you and your Zanpakutou deal with it; I believe in you, love,” Jushiro smiled, lightly kissing your forehead.

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This is so long overdue, so I did write this earlier this year, it's just that school has been tough. Did I pass all three of my classes? No, I failed 1 by 1 point, I'm upset, so I channeled that into writing fanfics. So, expect updates this month.

Cloudy's Ao3

[avaantares]

Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!

[gingiekittycat]

I forgot how lonely it is to write original fiction.

Where are the kudos? The subscriptions? The comments? The people cheerleading me chapter to chapter? Where are the kind words and compliments and reassurances that what I'm writing isn't complete crap? Where are the unhinged emojis? The asks on Tumblr? Where are my mutuals in my dms apologizing for not reading the latest chapter right away (side note, you know you don't have to apologize at all, right??). Where is the fanart? Where are the recs?

Where is my motivation to keep going?

It's something I've been thinking about a lot, actually, lately. How the experience of writing fanfic is so unique. How you already have an audience, willing and waiting and captive. And that's really it, isn't it? You have an audience. It's almost performative, writing fanfic. It's being on a stage, a one-person show (or two, if you do it with a friend); it's getting live reactions to your performance, it's feeding off the energy of the crowd and informing it back in a feedback loop; it's improvised, sometimes, in almost-real-time. It's building something that you couldn't have built by yourself. A thing that takes on a life of its own.

It's an experience you can't get writing original fiction, and, honestly, not having it is making it hard to write something original at all.

[jade-jupiter]

no people come together quite as fast as ao3 readers when the site is down

[elexuscal]

squinting at the 'fix it fic' tag on any given story on Ao3, trying to discern if it's intended in the sense of:

I genuinely think the story had bad writing and I am taking my toolbox and improving it [and i the reader agree]

I genuinely think the story had bad writing and I am taking my toolbox and improving it [and i the reader disagree]

The story's ending was Tragic and I Respect that but also i just want to read about my faves having some kind of joy and fulfilment okay?

The story's ending was Tragic and I do Not Respect That please God Damnit Let Them Be Happy

We Are Literally Fixing The Canon With The Application of Time Travel or Reality Warping or some other Wild Plot Device

I am going to fix one obscure detail or plot element that 95% of the fandom has never thought about in their life

(because these are all extremely different vibes)

[bizarrelittlemew]

i can't wait to be 30+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 40+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 50+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 60+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 70+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 80+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 90+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to look back on my life and know that i loved things deeply and passionately and was inspired to create and was part of communities with incredible people from all over the world brought together by the stories that touched us

[imfinereallyy]

you can pry happy endings from my cold-dead hands. It can be the most heart stopping, gut wrenching fic that has every existed and I will read every drop of it if I get my happy ending. I have had enough painful endings in real life, give me happy in my fantasy world. It can be at the last second, it can be a single sentence, even a single word. Give me all the angst and hurt in the world for 500,000 words, but please give me the comfort I need in the ending. please and thank you.