There is so much shit going on in the Heated Rivalry fanfic world that my insomniac lurking can't even keep up. Apparently fanfic authors on AO3 are getting an insane amount of undeserved bullshit from readers—from accusing them of using AI to threats of bodily injury (and worse) to just horrible stuff that you shouldn't say to another human being, let alone one who is providing you with entertainment FOR FREE. That YOU have willingly clicked on and consumed.

Things have gotten so terrible that not only are the affected writers pulling down or deleting their stories, many other HR writers are ALSO pulling down, privating or deleting their works in solidarity.

This is why we can't have nice things, people. These asshats have ruined it for everyone.

I've grumbled about the AI witch hunt mentality before, and it still rankles me. Yes, some "authors" are posting AI works. That's undeniable. Just speaking statistically, it would be nearly impossible for there not to be at least one story on AO3 that is unlabeled AI. We know that.

But this burn-them-at-the-stake shit is just so wrong. They are literally damned if they do, damned if they don't because there isn't a definitive way to prove a story is AI AND the writers have to jump through elaborate hoops to provide any evidence that they wrote their own work. Bullshit.

I've been seeing a number of writers—both experienced and newer—afraid to post anything at all, in any fandom, for fear of catching the notice of AI witch hunters who will then flame their comments and take their fires to other social media to burn down the writer's name.

I don't blame the authors. At all. I feel safe in our TRC community (for better or worse), but I, too, don't want to share any fic with other fandoms because of this.

Even when I dipped a toe in some of the big fandoms before, way before AI, the two biggest fears were 1. No one is going to read my stuff and 2. If someone actually does read it, they won't like it and think it's out of character so I'll get a mean comment. Both of which happened, and it was fine.

Now, you can get your entire body of work pulled up for "review" by these self-appointed AI hunters and get your name libeled because someone thinks you are using AI based on ... vibes?

If I'm ever accused of using AI, I'd try to laugh it off because it's certainly not the worst insult I've ever had leveled at me. And I know it would be 100 percent false.

BUT, I know for a fact my fanfic AS WELL AS my professional work has been scraped by AI data tools, so really, AI is fucking writing like ME, not the other way around. (You're welcome for the proliferation of em dashes 🥰.)

I feel absolutely terrible for the HR writers, and I think it's cool that other authors are holding the line in solidarity and not posting works either. It would be great if those posters who are using AI would actually label it, yes, absolutely. But in the meantime, the back button is free, keep your suspicions to the group chats, and stop fucking throwing a flaming torch onto the writers.

Then there's The Pitt fandom. I am a newer convert, and I've been lurking mostly on Twitter to see all the pretties and memes and good stuff. (My back button has been getting a lot of work in the AO3 tags 🤐.)

BUT, the creators and fanartists there are getting the weirdest, unwanted (and what would feel like to me Inexcusable) exposure because real, live media outlets cannot leave their fanworks alone and keep shoving them in the faces of the actual real, live cast members.

Yes, there has been some of this throughout the years in real interviews with a lot of tittering and pearl-clutching and hearty guffaws, mostly at the expense of the fan creators and the rest of the fandom.

But this, too, seems to have gotten so much worse since Heated Rivalry came out. There were some interviews where Connor and Hudson were shown fan tweets—but even those were personal tweets or memes or occasionally a fanart. They had the grace to appreciate the works and even laugh off the situation, or to play it up and lean into it for the sake of the bit.

However, The Pitt is apparently very popular outside of fandom (I refer to the world outside our ken where people just watch and enjoy a TV show without partaking in any additional pleasure from it or seeking any other related media about it) so more mainstream media are pulling fanworks to shove in front of the actors, waiting to film their reactions.

At best, it's very gross. At worst, it feels like a violation of the decades' long, unspoken understanding between fans and show runners. They've always basically said: We know you exist, and we're kinda grateful for the free publicity, but we're going to ignore you. And fan creators were, by and large, thankful for that.

Look, I know media. I know that an interviewer wants to ask something original. They want to ask the perfect question to elicit the perfect response which will resonate with all watching/listening/reading. I know the interviewer does not want the same canned story/anecdote/answer that the actor has polished by repeated telling and has been approved by PR. I know the interviewer is trying for "a scoop" or something out of the ordinary to drive up the numbers of engagement for their interview/article/podcast etc. Come see what So-and-So said about their character boning another doctor!

I know.

But, it makes me physically cringe when this happens. The smaller media outlets, ugh, whatever. But the larger ones? With the "professional" journalists and the big number of viewers/readers?

YOU KNOW BETTER, DUDES.

Even as cringe as a one-time "Hey, have you seen the fanart of your character making out with another character? HERE IT IS LOOK," ugh, whatever.

But this is happening repeatedly to The Pitt cast, and it just feels icky.

I know part of it is that interviewers want an original remark for once, as I've said, and I think part of it is that whenever fanart IS brought up, the lead Noah Wyle is good-natured enough to lean into it a little and bring up something he's seen before, or mention sharing it with cast members (which!!! I'm just trying to wrap my brain around a co-worker messaging me a hand-drawn pic of us in costumes doing things we wouldn't normally be doing, and my mind goes straight to looking up the number for our HR department 🚩🚩🚩).

I just am old enough and a veteran in fandom long enough to appreciate that wall that used to exist between Fandom Space and the Intellectual Property. That sweet spot between "We will sue you for using our characters in anything, you cannot play with them" and "Oh yeah, it's cool the fandom does what they want, and I don't need to see it but I'm happy the fans are happy."

That was the perfect spot for fandom to exist.

This morning, B*zzF**d UK released an interview with Noah Wyle and another cast member, and yes, he joked about fanart when the interviewer showed them a very G-rated meme, so the interviewer whipped out his own phone and showed him a gorgeous fanart that's been all over all the artist's socials for the past week.

Cool exposure, huh? No credit to the artist, though. For better or worse, no mention of them and their name, but sure, Interviewer, go off and use this shirtless kissing pic as a gotcha hoping for a novel reaction from Mr. Wyle.

Gross. Just ugh.

AND THEN a "media" person ("independent" media? blogger?) published a substack story about The Pitt fandom and it caught a lot of attention because a cast member mentioned it on Instagram, and whew, was that one of the most misogynistic, vile pieces of shit I've ever read. It was one of the most horrible takes on fandom I've ever seen.

I can't find the original story anymore, but I'm still seeing the screenshots on outraged fan tweets, so I don't know if it was taken down.

It really feels like a slap in the face to all fans who have ever loved an IP so much that they are inspired to spend their own time, effort and/or money to create something in honor of it.

Especially because the vaaaast majority of those fans are NOT cishet men. When I read a scathing attack on any cishet man's hobby, like those posers who only watch college basketball during March Madness so they can fill out a bracket to try and fail to win the office betting poll, THEN and only then will it begin to fill the divide between criticisms of traditionally other fanspaces and those that are acceptable (like sports) because they are traditionally men's.

But that's not going to happen because socially acceptable fandoms, like sports, are A-OK while all the other beautiful fandoms are considered lesser and filled with virgins who live alone (I'm paraphrasing that article).

Sorry, I needed to get this off my mind so I can concentrate on my own stuff. I'm ignoring the Heated Rivalry fics I'd planned because the vocal minority can go fuck themselves. And The Pitt fic I already started... well, I am growing attached. All my TRC stuff are still WIPs.

In the meantime, I lurk.

Thank you for allowing Grandma to get this off her chest. I can offer you a Werther's or a starlight peppermint in thanks; they're fine if you just brush off the lint. 🍬 Love you all! 💖💖💖💖💖