#aly talks

i’ve been accused of using ai.

anyone with even a shred of human decency can probably imagine how that feels. but i refuse to let baseless accusations strip my writing of its power or purpose. i know my truth. i do not owe anyone a performance, an explanation, or proof of my humanity. enough said. so, kindly, fuck off. 😊

i think i’d rather spend some time focusing on how harmful it is to feed this kind of culture at all — the harassment, the kink shaming, the hateful inbox messages, the blogs dedicated to mocking and targeting writers. it is ugly. and it is cruel. and some of you are getting WAY too comfortable treating real people like targets instead of just curating your online experience like adults.

guess what?

you do not have to like what someone writes! you do not have to read it. you do not have to agree with it. but the second you start harassing, mocking, publicly humiliating, or falsely accusing people because their fiction makes you uncomfortable or because you think throwing around ai accusations somehow makes you a hero — you are no longer “protecting” anyone. you are not an activist. you are a bully, and calling it virtue does not make it any less pathetic.

fiction has always been a space where people explore fear, desire, trauma, taboo, grief, power, fantasy, contradiction, and the darker or messier parts of being human. that does not mean every story is an endorsement. it means fiction is fiction. if something is not for you, block it. filter it. scroll. leave. that option has always been available to you — whoa, get this — for fucking FREE. much like the fiction you’re READING from the authors you’re harassing!!

look. i write because writing matters to me. because stories matter to me. because creativity matters to me. because anti censorship matters to me. because having a voice MATTERS to me. but i don’t use that voice to harass people or shame people. and i’m not going to let the worst people on this site define what kind of space this gets to be for me.

and since some of you seem to forget this:

fanfic writers are the reason so many fandoms stay alive at all. they are the ones still writing the character you love after canon killed them off. still feeding the ship you cannot stop thinking about. still returning to stories that mattered ten years ago and making sure they still have a pulse now.

I have been looking at fics the past few days and a lot of the recent ones are good! However, I don’t know if the writers are young, don’t have anyone to edit, or don’t have any writing friends to bounce off of, or maybe even a combination of those things. I am saying this with all the kindness in my heart, because I had to have someone tell me the same thing, because I just didn’t have the knowledge.

For the love of Christ, USE PARAGRAPH BREAKS!!!

This is not a stylistic choice, like using all lowercase (Which I have strong opinions on but, I am choosing not to die on that hill right now) but Correct Formatting, which is more than stylistic, it is just how writing is done. If you were to publish a book, that is how it would be done. You are supposed to use a paragraph break every single time someone new speaks. If you are writing something dialogue heavy, that enter/return button should be your most used key.

For example: Joyce was worried, because she couldn’t find Will, and Johnathan couldn’t either. “Johnathan, have you seen Will,” Joyce asked. Johnathan shook his head. “No, but maybe Mike has,” the younger boy said. “Okay, I will ask him,” Joyce responded.

WRONG! INCORRECT! I could kiss you on your forehead because I am so proud of you for writing something and throwing into the void for others to see! But that is just not right. It’s clunky, visually unappealing, and it gets difficult to keep track of if you have more than two people that are conversing.

It should look something like this.

Joyce saw Mike and Lucas walking down the street. “Mike!” She called. “Have you seen Will?”

*Space!!*

“Oh, hey, Ms. Byers,” Mike said. Lucas and I are going to meet him at the library, right Lucas?”

*Space Again!*

“Yeah! He needed help with an art project,” Lucas confirmed.

*Space^3!!*

“Oh okay,” Joyce said, relaxing. “I am making tuna casserole if you boys want any for dinner,” she said.

THAT is how it should like. If anyone has questions, or needs a cheerleader, or just wants to chat, your local internet big sister is here!