me

Wolfbird by Opal Apparition, Ch. 12, annotated with AI evidence.

Summary: this fic struggles with point of view, human physiology, and interaction between human bodies. It does this to a degree that we believe is inconsistent with human authorship and is indicative of AI use.

I believe the author has even stated they don’t use AI, they don’t support it, nor approve their works being used to train AI. The anatomy inconsistencies picked here can also be tallied up to human error. I don’t know about others, but I don’t know the back thigh muscle name.

As for ‘siege condom’…it’s a fucking reference to Shane buying so many goddamn fucking condoms. LITERALLY ITS A POINT IN THE FIC.

Chapter 8 “…Inside: two bottles of lube, one still sealed. New? Beside those was a box of condoms of a brand he recognized, the economy size with the shrink wrap still on. Definitely new.

Ilya stared at it. It was a forty-eight count box. Forty-eight.

Canada’s favorite son buying forty-eight fucking condoms for tonight like he thought—what? That Ilya would fuck him eight times tonight? Twelve? It was like they were stocking up for a siege.”

So when they bring up ‘siege condoms’ it’s a reference specifically to the fucking Costco sized amount of condoms Shane bought.

If the author later comes out and admits to using AI, I’ll take back my comments, but calling out consistencies that could also be attributed to human error, calling them AI, is seeing hoofprints and assuming they belong to a zebra.

The author has even taken to saying they don’t plan on updating until the fic is done because people are blasting them needlessly.

As writers, we are not robots. We don’t make perfect sentences. My fucking hoofprint reference is a bastardized version of however that saying should actually go. For a fic that’s 180,000+ words long, we cannot expect an author who is writing this FOR FREE, in their FREE TIME, to be perfect. We don’t always have the time to look up perfect references. We don’t always have the time to reread 17,000 words before posting each chapter (chapter 8 is 17,00+). Even with Betas, things fall through the cracks.

If you cannot enjoy a fic that’s suffers from such errors, then by all means, exit out of it. Don’t read it. No one is making you read it.

But accusing people of using AI, when the inconsistencies are aligned with human error than AI error is what’s making writers not want to write anymore. People do this for free. It’s a hobby. They don’t make money off of it.

Wolfbird by Opal Apparition, Ch. 12, annotated with AI evidence.

Summary: this fic struggles with point of view, human physiology, and interaction between human bodies. It does this to a degree that we believe is inconsistent with human authorship and is indicative of AI use.

I believe the author has even stated they don’t use AI, they don’t support it, nor approve their works being used to train AI. The anatomy inconsistencies picked here can also be tallied up to human error. I don’t know about others, but I don’t know the back thigh muscle name.

As for ‘siege condom’…it’s a fucking reference to Shane buying so many goddamn fucking condoms. LITERALLY ITS A POINT IN THE FIC.

Chapter 8 “…Inside: two bottles of lube, one still sealed. New? Beside those was a box of condoms of a brand he recognized, the economy size with the shrink wrap still on. Definitely new.

Ilya stared at it. It was a forty-eight count box. Forty-eight.

Canada’s favorite son buying forty-eight fucking condoms for tonight like he thought—what? That Ilya would fuck him eight times tonight? Twelve? It was like they were stocking up for a siege.”

So when they bring up ‘siege condoms’ it’s a reference specifically to the fucking Costco sized amount of condoms Shane bought.

If the author later comes out and admits to using AI, I’ll take back my comments, but calling out consistencies that could also be attributed to human error, calling them AI, is seeing hoofprints and assuming they belong to a zebra.

The author has even taken to saying they don’t plan on updating until the fic is done because people are blasting them needlessly.

As writers, we are not robots. We don’t make perfect sentences. My fucking hoofprint reference is a bastardized version of however that saying should actually go. For a fic that’s 180,000+ words long, we cannot expect an author who is writing this FOR FREE, in their FREE TIME, to be perfect. We don’t always have the time to look up perfect references. We don’t always have the time to reread 17,000 words before posting each chapter (chapter 8 is 17,00+). Even with Betas, things fall through the cracks.

If you cannot enjoy a fic that’s suffers from such errors, then by all means, exit out of it. Don’t read it. No one is making you read it.

But accusing people of using AI, when the inconsistencies are aligned with human error than AI error is what’s making writers not want to write anymore. People do this for free. It’s a hobby. They don’t make money off of it.

And this blog! Even admitting "we might be wrong!" and then equating the seige condom line to AI when its cleary an inside joke within the fic. Youre super comfy being on anon and throwing accusations which is gross. I could not agree more with bonumcor.

its people like you that are why people don't want to write anymore, and why I doubt we'll ever see the end to this story

Wolfbird by Opal Apparition, Ch. 12, annotated with AI evidence.

Summary: this fic struggles with point of view, human physiology, and interaction between human bodies. It does this to a degree that we believe is inconsistent with human authorship and is indicative of AI use.

EDITED TO ADD: Apparently the siege condom is a reference to something earlier in the fic that we didn't remember, so please disregard that one.

The issues with physicality and blocking are an issue on their own (simply put, when human writers mess up blocking, they don't do it this way), but it's especially notable because the spelling and grammar in this fic is impeccable, and in human-written fics, that suggests a very high level of care and attention to detail.

That level of care and attention to detail is very, very incongruous with gravity not working or Ilya having three hands. Spelling and grammar this pristine suggests that someone read it over carefully at least once, and probably several times--but in all those careful reads, they missed that Ilya has three hands?

And it’s not even the parallel of someone being talented enough for people to look for crack. It’s the doubt that is plastered in people’s minds and once planted can’t be unpicked. It’s Orpheus leaving the Underworld and doubt coming in. The question of the AI use is absurd. No one expects perfect blocking from fanfiction, and trust me good language does not prevent this. And not many people care. Things like this happen in official published writing and worse. This is someone’s hobby project, shared for fun, not any profit or even popularity considering Opal totally withdrawing from the internet.

Wolfbird by Opal Apparition, Ch. 12, annotated with AI evidence.

Summary: this fic struggles with point of view, human physiology, and interaction between human bodies. It does this to a degree that we believe is inconsistent with human authorship and is indicative of AI use.

EDITED TO ADD: Apparently the siege condom is a reference to something earlier in the fic that we didn't remember, so please disregard that one.

The issues with physicality and blocking are an issue on their own (simply put, when human writers mess up blocking, they don't do it this way), but it's especially notable because the spelling and grammar in this fic is impeccable, and in human-written fics, that suggests a very high level of care and attention to detail.

That level of care and attention to detail is very, very incongruous with gravity not working or Ilya having three hands. Spelling and grammar this pristine suggests that someone read it over carefully at least once, and probably several times--but in all those careful reads, they missed that Ilya has three hands?

And it’s not even the parallel of someone being talented enough for people to look for crack. It’s the doubt that is plastered in people’s minds and once planted can’t be unpicked. It’s Orpheus leaving the Underworld and doubt coming in. The question of the AI use is absurd. No one expects perfect blocking from fanfiction, and trust me good language does not prevent this. And not many people care. Things like this happen in official published writing and worse. This is someone’s hobby project, shared for fun, not any profit or even popularity considering Opal totally withdrawing from the internet.

Human writers forget what they wrote last week, skim through edits, add extra hands (done that one myself) and forget things like "is character A on their back or their side or lying face-down in this scene." Sometimes a human writer might transplant a piece of one scene to another and forget to stitch up the edges.

AI on the other hand commits the crime of being technically correct but emotionally vague. You're not going to feel anything but flat if AI wrote that scene. It would skimp on the details because when AI gets too detailed, it hallucinates and starts making things up like weird metaphors that are meaningless, or deepities that at first seem maybe poetic but on closer inspection are largely bullshit. It takes the easy way out and it is stealing from other writers. AI has been trained on AO3 writing and it's been human trained (at least in English) by human writers putting in intensive hours of work in places like Kenya and Nigeria to the point where AI writes like them.

I agree with @buzzybee92 that there is jealousy here. There is catastrophic rumour mongering and the destructive need to tear someone experiencing success down in order to justify one's own lack. But most of all

Skill Issue

It's a skill issue that you can't see a popular fic by a popular author and enjoy it without looking for (completely erroneous) AI tells

It's a skill issue that you called something out that was a reference to an earlier scene because you weren't paying enough attention to what you were reading to remember the reference

It's a skill issue that you don't know enough about writing to actually gauge which tells are human and which are AI

It's a skill issue that you're running a blog that tries to tear writers down by name without actually understanding AI writing at all or even having a shred of decent evidence

It's a skill issue that you accused the author of using AI without taking the time to read and compare other samples of their writing. Which is also excellent. Some of us are just really good at spelling and grammar. It doesn't mean we're editing our fics with a fine-toothed comb.

Update: the reason is below. I cannot STAND some of the people in this fandom for running off talented authors. You should be ashamed of yourselves whoever you are.

Update: the reason is below. I cannot STAND some of the people in this fandom for running off talented authors. You should be ashamed of yourselves whoever you are.

rachel reid these discord screenshots… you’re a DUD.

like…

she’s getting awards for inclusion and “elevating underrepresented voices” btw, she’s fucking ridiculous.

even her editor was weirded the fuck out but i’m not supposed to think she hates shane?

like no wonder people hated shane before the show even aired when she was encouraging and enabling that shit with them at any and every opportunity she had. she switched up quick once shane got popular and people were giving her kudos for autistic rep she didn’t even write with purpose in the first place.

don’t get me started on her giving shane and ed to make him look selfish because he’s not focusing 100% on ilya’s problems and letting ilya and everyone else make fun of shane for his struggles and anxiety. she clearly sees shane’s fear of coming out as selfish which is crazy cause then she literally proves all of his fears right the moment he is outed.

(This isn't Troy OR Hayden hate, I just think these dynamics are super juicy to play with)

Here we have two men with a history of hating their best friends partner. I've seen a hell of a lot of (justified) fic and meta about Shane telling Hayden off for how he talks to/about Ilya, but it is juicy to put that next to Troy

Hayden hates Ilya specifically for his intentionally obnoxious persona on the ice, whereas Shane bore a lot of Troy's homophobia (and probably racism) before he Reformed, and I think there's some really interesting depths to be plumbed around who is asked to hold who accountable and when/why

Meanwhile, Hayden is white, cis and straight, and neurotypical (I’m assuming). Yet he is the one who is probably the most aware of how wrongly Shane has been treated because he’s actually /seen/ it. He knows Shane is treated differently by the others and goes out of his way to be a support for Shane because of it. His dislike of Ilya is born of ignorance of Ilya’s 1) own lived experiences with abuse and how targeted queer people are in his home country and 2) Ilya’s own outsider identity due to his nationality in the US along with his PTSD and depression.

Then there’s Ilya who has those aforementioned experiences but ultimately lacks insight into the actual racism and discrimination Shane faced among his teammates because Shane has been taught to keep it to himself. So he knows Shane was treated poorly, but not to what extent. And he knows that Hayden is Shane’s main support, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he felt that Hayden didn’t do enough for Shane in that locker room since Ilya wasn’t there to protect him himself. Plus there’s the possible resentment for the trauma that came with Ilya and Shane being outed so publicly.

And lastly there’s Troy, who is likely tied with Hayden in terms of social privilege (or he was until he came out), but he didn’t tie himself to someone as vastly different as Shane. In fact, Troy was deeply tied to someone who had a high amount of social power before he ended up on the Centaurs and Reformed. Troy knows how othered he is partly because he’s been on the top of the social ladder and has a comparison for how differently he’s treated first hand. But he still is ignorant to how different his own experiences with discrimination are in comparison to Shane’s.

People with higher social privilege tend to misread their own discriminatory behavior because a lot of it is socialized into them- they’re not always acting with the formed thought of “im going to hurt them because they are worth less socially than I am”. A lot of it is done with the idea that it’s just “normal”- and a lot of what Troy did was camouflage to assimilate in with the socially “superior” group as a survival tactic- so now he’s wrestling with the guilt of what he’s said and done, but he still is lacking the knowledge of just how much pain his words and actions have affected others, especially in terms of racism and ableism.

So Troy looks at Shane and sees someone he has hurt on , from his POV, a surface level that has caused harm to his best friend. This leaves a lot of room for misunderstandings to develop between Shane and Troy, especially since Troy is lacking the context for basically everything. Which can lead to Ilya being frustrated at Troy for imposing his own POV onto his and Shane’s relationship. Or it can lead to Shane feeling even more insecure in himself and his place in Ilya’s life.

Meanwhile Shane looks at Troy and sees someone who has, from his POV, actively targeted him and harmed him and sees him as worth less due to his race. Someone who is best friends with the person he loves most- which leaves Shane conflicted and upset because how can Ilya be friends with him and also because he doesn’t want to cause Ilya pain by not being on okay terms with Troy. There’s a lot of opportunity here for resentment aimed at both Troy and Ilya and also for Shane to minimize and disregard his own comfort and security.

And Hayden is looking at Ilya and seeing someone who, again, from his own POV, has always gone out of his way to make Hayden and others (including Shane in his mind) feel uncomfortable. Hayden lacks the context of what Ilya has been through and how this has caused him to develop a mask as a coping mechanism. Hayden sees someone so different than Shane and he cannot bring himself to believe that there’s anything the two have in common- which can also create issues with resentment and frustration. This might make Hayden resent and even dismiss Shane’s feelings because he’s convinced Shane is the one who is misunderstanding the situation- which can also just lead to Shane feeling ignored and infantilized.

And Ilya looks at Hayden and sees someone who did not protect Shane enough on the Metros. Someone who has been a vocal antagonist to Ilya and Shane’s relationship since he found out. Someone who can’t possibly understand what it feels like to be on the outside looking in. Which could make Ilya even worse with his mask of obnoxious disregard as a protective measure against someone he knows will never approve.

And then for Ilya to latch onto Troy of all people, Shane definitely feels like he can't say anything about it after keeping Ilya in the closet so long - he doesn't want to go from preventing Ilya from coming out about them to controlling who he's friends with, but the resentment about Ilya being frankly pretty dismissive of his fears and simultaneously becoming besties with one of the people who made Shane afraid of coming out would eat Shane alive if he ever let himself think about it.

And to come back to the Hayden piece, I can definitely see an argument where Ilya brings up the way Hayden treats him and while YMMV on how good a friend Hayden actually is, it does start to feel like a false equivalence between "guy who can't see behind the public mask to the good person underneath being overprotective of his best friend in a way that tips over to condescending and problematic" and "former active bigot and person he was actively bigoted to" but to your very excellent point, Ilya, like Troy and Hayden, has enough social capital that he doesn't see the full damage that Shane just had to absorb

Like, Shane is keeping his mouth shut on how Ilya’s dismissal and subsequent friendship with Troy (who, like you said, is one of the reasons his feelings were actually substantiated in TLG) is affecting him negatively, but it’s a growing pressure of resentment and helplessness at being forced to interact with a walking representation of privilege he will never be granted.

And on top of that, he’s having to manage the interactions of his best friend and his husband because neither know how to be adults about each other. There’s also a subtle sense of entitlement about Hayden- like Hayden thinks he knows Shane better than Shane knows himself and is therefore expecting Shane to listen to him. Shane and Hayden are dealing with the difficult situation of having to suddenly impose boundaries after a long established dynamic that barely had any to begin with. It’s a lot of pressure to suddenly walk the thin line of reminding your best friend of your autonomy while also reassuring them that you still value their opinion. It can get very touchy, especially when you’re autistic. Suddenly you’re navigating a sensitive social situation while also being the driving force of change where you were most comfortable with not challenging a relationship you depend on.

Lastly, there’s Troy. Shane isn’t an idiot- he knows why Troy behaved the way he did and he knows that his anger /should/ be aimed at society for putting Troy and Shane in these situations to begin with. But that’s one thing if Troy had just been acting homophobic- but Troy didn’t have to include racism in his assimilation attempt. It leaves Shane questioning the legitimacy of Troy’s “good guy” status. And he also can’t help but still remember the way Troy treated him- he understands why but that doesn’t negate the impact. Add on the actual resentment of Troy getting a loving team and a boyfriend and having the perfect coming out when he admitted his sexuality while Shane made one mistake and lost everything because his team had been actively looking for a reason to get rid of him- that’s a heady cocktail of resentment and envy and anger that is actively at odds with the knowledge and gratefulness of Troy caring for and being there for the person Shane loves most. Every interaction is fraught with irritation and confusion and frustration- all coloring a social interaction, which we know is already not Shane’s forte.

Shane is the one who tries to connect with Ilya after their first time and is ghosted and rebuffed in Sochi for his efforts, Shane tries to hold Ilya accountable in Vegas for that and Ilya once again pulls back while Shane tries to figure out the rules, when Ilya changes the rules AGAIN with the tuna meltdown and once Shane works through his own shit with Rose he's the one to apologize to Ilya for running, he's the one to push Ilya to give him an answer about what he wants instead of what he can have, he invites Ilya to the cottage, he sets the "let's be honest" rule, he's the one up all night trying to make it work. The running thread of HR is Ilya chasing Shane physically and Shane chasing Ilya emotionally.

And then in Long Game, Shane is trying to balance his friends hating his boyfriend and his team hating him being gay with a boyfriend who is pushing for them to come out but insists he's fine every time Shane asks, and then at the end he has to swallow literally all of his feelings about being outed so he can keep his friendship with Hayden, about the trip because he can't crash out at JJ/his team, about Ilya's failure to communicate about his mental health because he wants to be supportive, and about the trade because Ilya is so obviously happy, and honestly laying it all out Shane is bearing the brunt of a LOT of the emotional labor in this relationship.

I’m really hoping RR will surprise me and actually try to flesh all of this out in Unrivaled. Like. TLG was one big long lesson for Ilya that he needs to communicate his own wants and needs to his partner and that he needs to reflect and relearn what it means to love and trust someone. I need it to be Shane’s turn to learn to express his perspective to his partner.

This is also why I absolutely cannot stand it when people characterize Shane as cowardly or “not as committed” as Ilya. That boy was STUPIDLY brave and down bad for Ilya the whole time. If someone took my gay virginity and then ghosted me for half a year, I would have to be physically held back if we were put in the same room. And then, if they told me to suck their dick??? I’m cutting that shit off.

And then to run out due to being overwhelmed and yet still come back and apologize?? I once ran out on a date because we moved too fast after my divorce- I had to sneak back into my brother’s house with my bra in my hands and mascara tracks on my face. I never spoke to her again- because I WAS a coward. Shane is so brave and able to hold himself accountable and willing to bare his heart to a man who has repeatedly rejected/avoided emotional intimacy with him. His need to be honest and his core earnestness is the glue that kept them from actually breaking apart several times.

and noone if their teammates would get suspicious even if they do that regulary because these are the fucking star forwards of their respective teams, they can't risk it getting hurt in a fight, and actually they are so strong holding back even if they have their enemy in their faces (and yes that also applies to Ilya because he might be a more physical player he is weapon of choice is more chirping and antagonising that actually fighting).

Ilya would want to play the role of trophy husband and be shown off to Shane's former classmates. Ex-girlfriend Jessica will be there? Hollander, I have to see her face when I show up on your arm. (No, I am not jealous over high school relationship. But does she know you shook my hand TWICE while you were still with her?) Classmates who are jealous you went to the NHL while they could not shoot a goal if their life depended on it? You are hockey god, Hollander. You MUST brag about all your trophies and cups.

Not to mention all the headcanons that every closeted gay classmate had a crush on Shane. Ilya would sniff them out in less than a minute. Oh, you think you would have had a shot with Shane Hollander if you knew he was gay back then? That's adorable. I had him obsessed with me since before you graduated with him. You Never Had A Chance.