as someone who was a wattpad using middle schooler in 2014, the rampant use of ai to write fanfics is disgusting. fanfic needs to be a little cringe. it needs to not make perfect sense. maybe it includes a 2nd act break up and they get reunited bc of a car crash. maybe you don’t get every detail of your character’s life right. maybe she has a messy bun and is in love with the bad boy who stole her bra. maybe you need to think. maybe you need to be creative. maybe you need to exist independently. maybe fanfiction is an art form and maybe it was generally pretty bad 12 years ago, but at least it was real. it’s more cringe to use ai than it is to just write it yourself