Chapter Text
Hey besties, let's have a chat.
First off, this is my first work in a fandom that is not Marvel since I joined Ao3 three years ago, so round of applause to me for having an adventure lol👏👏👏
Second, I love the heated rivalry fandom. There are so many talented and kind people here, and I love reading fics, looking at art, listening to opinions, adopting head cannons…you name it, and I love it. The entirety of my threads app (*cough, tHReads, cough*) is literally this fandom
*this is where I get a bit passive aggressive, but this is something I need to talk about (for at least myself, if not others), soooo. If you start reading and go "oh, this is horrid, people are actually doing this?!?" Then this is not about you, you are epic, and I love you😘*
What I don't love, however, are all of the accusations and harassment from people who are new to fandoms and fandom spaces. This is not a paid service. No money is being made, and there isn't even opportunity for money like with social media. It’s actually kinda illegal, believe it or not. Fan-made media of any kind is something that creative people make because they enjoy it, and some people are brave enough to share it with others who have the same interests.
While I strongly agree that AI is an evil against creatives, I also strongly disagree with the level of vitriol and harassment being thrown in the direction of creators who we have no proof are using AI. Posting comments that go beyond constructive criticism is not necessary, and digging into authors' personal lives as a way to, I don’t even know, ‘teach them a lesson’? for allegedly using AI is downright disgusting. Taking pictures of someone’s child and sharing them online because you think they might be using AI is unacceptable (this is a true story, and if the person this is about is on Ao3 still and reading this, I am so sorry this happened to you, and I am sending you all of the love and support I have. I hope you and your family are safe, and please know that the genuine humans in this fandom are all standing beside you. If you decide to come back (which, completely understandable and justified if you don’t), we are here with welcoming arms). Creating an environment where people no longer enjoy or feel safe sharing their work is unacceptable. Driving people to delete or abandon their works because of the harassment they face is unacceptable. To the authors who have lost their love for writing because of this, or feel as if they no longer have a safe space to share the things they work so, so hard on, I am so sorry. I hope you find a safe space again someday (even if it is just among personal friends), and I hope you relearn to love the art you create.
If you do not like this fic, push the back button. I can assure you that is less effort than pushing a comment button and then typing out something that will hurt the person on the other screen and probably not achieve…whatever goal you think you're striving for. If you have a criticism, word it kindly. So many authors accept constructive criticism, myself included, but if you are simply going to post criticism to critique and not to try and help in any way, you don't need to comment. “Oh, but Person, I have freedom of speech!” Yeah, of speech, not of harassment. There is a difference, and I am setting my boundaries.
I think at this point we all know what I'm gonna say, but I will say it anyway: I do not use AI in any of my works. I think that AI is detrimental to the people who are trying to create an original experience for the people around them, or even just for themselves. I love writing, and was writing for a very long time before I started uploading my works here. It is something that I am very passionate about, and I adore the space writing gives for expression and originality. AI will never be present or welcome in any of my works.
I was reading on Ao3 long before I got an account. I know how convenient and amazing unlocked fics can be, and I want to keep my works open for everyone who has access to this amazing community. Having said that, writing is one of the few things I have for myself, and I will not hesitate to lock this fic down if people start making accusations or leaving harassing comments. No author should ever have to do this, but I can and will, if the need arises, post my chapter outlines, time stamps, anything I need to defend my work, which I put genuine effort into, against people who have nothing better to do with their time than accuse others of using AI.
I appreciate everyone who reads this fic with kind intentions, and I appreciate and will do my best to address any constructive criticism in my comments.
I am unfortunately a busy person (I actually kinda enjoy having enough money to, like, live) so I do not have a consistent update schedule. This work is something I am doing because I love a witty and smart Shane Hollander, and I wish that angle was explored more in the books and show. There are definitely scenes where his hockey IQ shines but they apparently weren’t enough for my teeny brain, so I started rambling in my Google docs again👍
I appreciate any kudos and comments (guys they feed me more than actual food at this point), so if you like it, please interact! This is not a finished fic and not something I am not 100% sure I'll keep working on given *gestures at everything above this point*, so telling me if you're interested lets me know that…well, that you're interested, and I should keep working at this one lmao.
Lots of love (and for the love of god, please stop driving away all of my favorite fanfic authors, have basic human decency it’s really not that hard I am begging!!!),
-Person❤️🫰☺️