Taylor

Went through a bunch of AI fics that just got exposed, and it turns out I hadn’t actually come across most of them before. But imagine my surprise when I found a few that I’d already tried reading and had given up on because they were either confusing as hell or the writing was just… exhausting.

For me, the characterization in AI fics is always lacking and the logical inconsistencies are rampant, but beside that they’re just… so boring.

A lot of them have this thing where chapters or conversations just go round and round in circles. You know what I mean? Like, nothing is actually happening. The story isn’t progressing. It’s just… words. So many words.

It’s endless internal monologues that don’t really lead anywhere. Characters repeating the same feelings over and over. Why did I read about Ilya making circles on Shane’s hip with his thumb for the 15th time in one chapter? 😭 Or two characters are having an argument and they quite literally just talk past each other. Nobody actually responds to what the other person said. They just launch into another paragraph of vaguely emotional introspection until eventually the scene ends.

The stories are so wordy, but in the most boring way possible. They’re incredibly long and somehow say absolutely nothing. You get the obvious AI tells (the silly similes and overly polished phrasing) but honestly those aren’t even what bothered me the most. It feels like a word salad made out of the most boring words imaginable.

And the funny thing is, real people absolutely can write poorly. The pacing can be rushed, the dialogue can be clunky, the prose can be awkward, the grammar can be a mess. But it’s rarely boring. Fanfic exists because someone got obsessed with an idea or a pairing or a scene and couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even when the execution isn’t great, you can usually feel that enthusiasm on the page because you’re reading something someone genuinely wanted to write. With a lot of these probable AI fics, I just don’t feel that. There’s no sense that someone was excited to tell this story. It just feels like text generated to resemble a story.

I’m trying to be as vague as possible because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but I read so much fanfic and so many headcanons where every emotion and romantic moment has to be turned up to 100. (Why are they always crying about EVERYTHING?)

I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum but it’s gets so corny and cringy VERY fast here! 😭

A lot of fandom seems to have collectively decided Harris is fat, but if you actually go back and read the books, he’s not really described that way. Rachel literally posted the model she based Harris on, and he’s more of a slightly pudgy guy. And honestly, standing next to a bunch of professional athletes, “slightly pudgy” is going to look even more noticeable. That’s very different from what a lot of people seem to be picturing.

And then there’s Bood. A lot of people fancast him as 100% Black. As a Black woman, I want to be very clear that I have absolutely no problem with that. But I’ve always assumed Bood was probably Indo-Trinidadian because of the last name Boodram. Maybe he’s mixed Afro-Trinidadian and Indo-Trinidadian, maybe not, but I’ve never understood where the certainty that he’s just Black came from.

It feels like fandom has spent so much time looking at fanart and fancasts that people have started treating those interpretations as canon.

And look, maybe I’ll be completely wrong. Scott Hunter is a 28-year-old blond guy in the books and look what happened there. Svetlana isn’t biracial in the books. Adaptations are allowed to make changes. They may very well do their own thing with Harris, Bood, Troy, Wyatt, or anyone else. Maybe Harris will end up being fat. Maybe Bood will be played by a Black actor. If that happens, I’ll be a happy camper.

I just think some people are setting themselves up for disappointment because they’re expecting casting choices based on fandom headcanons rather than what’s actually in the books. And when the announcements finally drop, I can already see people acting shocked when the actors don’t match the versions they’ve had in their heads for these past couple months.

At first it’s just one of those dumb things couples bicker about. Shane texts him and gets a response three hours later because Ilya’s phone died while he was out. He’s late to their scheduled movie watching over FaceTime cause his phone needed a little bit of juice.

Then they’re having phone sex and the phone keeps falling over every five seconds. Shane is trying to be sexy and Ilya is laughing because all Ilya can see is his ceiling (this is why Shane gets so fed up that he just says fuck it and buys them both tripods). But after Shane finally figures out how to get the camera steady and when they’re getting to the good part? Ilya’s phone dies.

Then maybe later in the season at the Halloween party Shane texts Ilya that he’s on his way over. Except Ilya’s phone is dead, so he never sees the text. Shane uses his key, walks into Ilya’s house, and DOES scares the shit out of him.

“Jesus Christ, Shane!”

“Charge your fucking phone!”

Then the plane scene happens.

Ilya texts Shane thinking it might be his last words. Then they land. Ilya immediately goes to text Shane that he’s okay and everyone is safe.

And his phone fucking dies.

So now there’s this period of time (however long it takes for Ilya to get off the plane, find a charger, plug his phone in, and get enough battery to turn back on) where Shane truly thinks Ilya might be gone.

So Shane calls. Straight to voicemail. “Hello, this is Ilya, and I’ll never listen to your message.”

Shane hangs up and calls again.

Voicemail.

Calls again.

Voicemail.

Over and over and over.

And suddenly that voicemail greeting isn’t funny anymore.

Because for the first time, Shane genuinely doesn’t know if he’s ever going to hear Ilya’s voice again.

Like I said in the original post, it’s honestly hard to prove any of this one way or another because so much of Rachel’s old social media is gone.

Hello, you don’t know me. But I have been talking about this in my REAL LIFE to other fans of the book for 4 to 5 years now. 😭 I have had discussions about Rachel Reid being racially insensitive in heated rivalry for years before you ever knew these books existed. So yes im very well aware that you can be a fan and critique it! LOL And I think that’s why I’m getting so irritated at the poor criticism and the engagement in bad faith. Cause I know it’s possible to not do that since I WAS DOING IT! I was fighting the battle alone 😭and now yall here just saying kinda stupid stuff. We look super unserious now when half the critiques don’t even make sense.

I would like to know why I’m supposed to be upset that Rachel called Shane stupid. Seriously.

Because every time I see someone bring this up, it’s presented like it’s self-evidently awful, and I just truly don’t understand why.

I’ve been in fandom and reading fanfic since I was 10 I’m 26 now. And to me? That’s a very normal way for writers to talk about their characters.

Go into the notes section of basically any slow burn, mutual pining fanfic on AO3 and you’ll find authors calling their characters idiots, dumbasses, disasters, oblivious morons, and every variation in between. Usually they’re saying it with nothing but affection because the characters’ stupidity is what’s driving the plot.

What really confuses me, though, is when people make the jump to “Rachel ONLY calls Shane stupid”, “Rachel ONLY talks negatively about Shane.”, and “She never talks about his positive qualities.”

How do you know that? Genuine question. Who told you that? What are they basing that on?

I’ve been a fan of the GCU for 4-5 years. No disrespect but a lot of the people repeating this have been in this fandom for maybe 6 months? And in those 6 months most of you have been obsessing over the actors (no judgement same) and reading and writing nothing but fanfic (again same). I highly doubt you’ve gone back and digested 8 years of Rachel Reid content lol.

In fact it’s impossible to do that. Rachel deleted her Twitter and discord a while ago, which was where years of comments, interactions, jokes, and discussions lived. Unless someone was personally archiving every tweet for a decade, nobody has a complete record of every time she talked about these characters.

And if they heard it from someone else, who did that person hear it from?

At some point, it starts to feel like fandom telephone. A person makes an interpretation, someone else repeats it, and after enough repetitions it gets treated as established fact.

Because Shane is absolutely not the only character Rachel has ever called stupid. I know that because like I said I’ve been in this fandom for years. Do you even know the other characters to make this claim? Surely you can tell me how she talks about Kyle and Eric if you believe this? Do you even know who the fuck Kyle and Eric are? 😭

Personally, I don’t care if Rachel calls Shane stupid sometimes. It never crossed my mind to even THINK about being upset about that. Not only because it’s pretty normal writer behavior for me but also because I’ve seen her talk about lots of her characters that way. It’s not a unique criticism directed at Shane. It’s not something she reserves only for him. (Now IF it was I would completely understand!)

What bothers me is seeing people take a handful of comments, strip them of context, and then present a conclusion as though it’s an established fact. Making claims about Rachel’s feelings toward Shane with a level of certainty that I don’t think the available evidence supports.

You can absolutely argue that a particular comment rubbed you the wrong way. That’s a matter of opinion.

You can absolutely say, “I don’t like the way Rachel talks about Shane.” Or , “This comment made me uncomfortable.”

But “Rachel only calls Shane stupid and never says anything positive about him” is a factual claim. And if you’re making a factual claim, I think it’s fair to ask where that information came from, what evidence it’s based on, and why everyone else should accept it as true.

And before anyone says it, no, this isn’t me arguing Rachel can never be wrong or never fuck up.

I have my own critiques of her writing. There are things she’s written that I disagree with. There are things I think she could have handled better.

Part of what makes these conversations so frustrating, though, is that it’s difficult to have an actual discussion about those critiques when half of the criticism isn’t based in good faith.

Edit: Also if we’re going to criticize her, the critique should at least make sense! People use Rachel calling Shane stupid as evidence that she’s being racially insensitive. As I’ve said in another post, that critique doesn’t really make sense to me because “stupid” is not a stereotype that Asian men have ever historically faced. Now, if someone wants to make the argument that calling Shane stupid is ableist because Shane is autistic, that actually makes sense lol! It should be based on things that actually happened and stereotypes that actually exist, not just whatever accusation sounds the most serious.

(Also just to be clear I’m not saying Rachel can’t be racially insensitive- OBVIOUSLY NOT LOL! Just this isn’t a great example and like I said poor evidence ruins a good argument. Your critique needs to make sense!)

I (a black woman with ADHD who works with individuals with autism everyday) don’t think it’s ableist just because like I said previously, I think that’s a very normal way for a writer to talk (especially a writer from fandom) and she doesn’t only call Shane that. But like I said, I could understand that more if you legit think that’s true. But if it still rubs you the wrong way completely understand I’m just offering a different view cause I’m legitimately confused by a lot of this discourse.

LMAO.

Damn nigga I just started really using this blog like 2 weeks ago and I’m still barely on here! also I don’t wank to this. 😭

Do I not have a post discussing anti-Asian and anti blackness in hockey or I’m tripping ? 😭