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I Deleted My Royal Road Story After An AI Debate And Learned How Fast The Internet Overreacts


Portrait Of Sun The Pun

Sun The Pun

Hello and welcome. This is the kind of story I never expected to write, but social media continues to be the world’s largest accidental comedy theater. Good news for me, though: Apparently, I am not invisible. I recently discovered that I am being analyzed on Royal Road… even though my story is no longer there. Imagine being more discussed after deleting something. Peak mysterious side-character energy. Let me explain.

The Story, the Forum, and the Keyboard Earthquake

I once posted a long fantasy story on Royal Road called Celestic Warriors: The Origins, inspired by anime and tokusatsu. I had published almost the whole thing, and just before uploading the final chapter, I stumbled into a forum thread arguing about AI. And when I say arguing, I mean volcanic-eruption, magma-spray, tectonic-plate-shattering levels of discourse. Some users reacted to the word “AI” the way someone reacts to a spider suddenly landing on their face. Still, in my optimistic innocence, I suggested that AI can be a helpful assistant when combined with human creativity which I believe is the future of writing. Turns out I walked directly onto a landmine made entirely of internet emotion. That’s where I met him. The essay warrior. Powered by caffeine. Fueled by conviction. A typing energy that suggested he communicates through pure adrenaline. Let’s call him Eternal Talent. We debated. And debated. And debated. Paragraphs collided. Philosophies clashed. A moderator eventually stepped in like a very tired kindergarten teacher. But apparently, Eternal Talent did not find peace. The next day, my story received a rating. At first, my sleepy eyes saw five stars. Then my vision adjusted. There was a dot. And before that dot… a 1. 1.5. The pettiest score possible. No review. No critique. Just the digital equivalent of someone throwing a pebble at your window and sprinting away, the very next day after you openly expressed your philosophy in front of the public. And the fact that you don’t know who did it and why. Honestly, that disappointed me more than the rating itself. Because I wanted conversation. Even a roast. Something. But Royal Road ratings are anonymous, so imagination fills the blanks.

Choosing Peace (And Clicking the Forbidden KDP Button)

So I did something dramatic in the quietest possible way: I deleted the story. No statement. No confrontation. Just a nap. Since the work was already on Amazon, I clicked KDP Select as an experiment. If I was already experiencing my first internet negativity arc, I might as well unlock a new side quest. Collect experiences. Learn things. Continue onward. But wait! I forgot to reveal something important. Just before deleting my story, I actually asked Royal Road whether it was even the right place for it — considering it was AI-assisted and definitely sitting in a niche category. And the reactions were… a range. Some people gave normal, reasonable feedback. And then there were others who started giving full lectures about AI usage, writing purity, creative philosophy, ethics, destiny, fate, and possibly the meaning of life. Meanwhile I was just sitting there like:I only asked where my story belongs. I didn’t request a TED Talk.I wasn’t looking to convert anyone, but the conversation slowly turned into: 80 percent “AI is ruining everything.” 20 percent “…Chill, it’s just a tool.” (shoutout to the few supportive souls) The vibe wasn’t war level anymore, just exhausting. So instead of dragging everyone into a debate nobody actually wanted to be in, I simply deleted the story. No drama. No grand gesture. Just me choosing peace and a nap. And since it didn’t hurt to try something new, I switched to KDP Select and treated the whole thing like starting a new side quest in life. If I’m going to collect experiences, I might as well collect interesting ones. Then, after everything had calmed down, silence returned. Time passed. Everything calmed down.

And Then…

Then one day, I discovered a full essay-length critique of me and my story… written after the story was no longer online. Which means: Either the story stayed on his mind, or I have ascended into folklore. And the author of this dramatic literary dissection? None Other Than — Eternal Talent. The man. The myth. The keyboard paladin who refuses to log out. The one who thinks touching AI makes us impure. So, anyways 😂, here is his entire essay that I am sharing with full privacy that he didn't even ask for.

Disclaimer:

Viewer discretion is advised. This essay contains unfiltered main-character energy and rage-powered typing beams. So let's do some time pass reacting to his essay line by line with my biased reactions. Royal Road forum comment excerpt used for reaction and critique Ah yes. The Ancient Writing Doctrine™: If your hand did not physically cramp during writing, the story does not count. So apparently, the imagination part doesn’t matter, the editing doesn’t matter, the planning doesn’t matter… Only the finger workout matters. Also, we are basically typing rather than writing. If the God of Literature did not witness your keyboard suffering, your story is invalid. Also, my favorite part: Just downvoting is valid. Translation: I didn’t want to think too hard, so I threw a number at you and ran. Like come on, at least roast me. Tell me my protagonist sounds like a yogurt commercial mascot. Tell me my villain has generic bad guy energy. Something… Anything… A mystery hit-and-run rating is just… warm-up for the ego. Get it all out on the story. Royal road isn't stopping you. Like he could have atleast said "This story is AI junk or something straight in the comments." Royal Road forum comment excerpt used for reaction and critique Oh, we’re doing the Royal Road Definition Olympics, huh? Because on Royal Road, “AI-Generated” literally means this:The story was generated using an AI tool; the author prompted and directed the process, and edited the result. It does not mean I sat back, drank lemonade, pressed a single magic button labeled “Write Anime-Tokusatsu Blended Story,” and a novel just transformed into existence like a Pokemon Evolution. If that button existed, half of the forum wouldn’t need coffee anymore. Also, if the story did match my worldbuilding vision, character arcs, relationship dynamic, lore system, and power structure… Then yes, my guy, that is what “assisted” means. I brought the vision, the decisions, the storytelling direction, the themes. The AI helped me create it faster. It drove. I steered. We were co-workers. I was literally the boss in that situation. And believe it or not, AI-assisted writing still requires work. You have to recheck scenes, guide direction, adjust character reactions, and shape every emotional moment. It’s not passive. It’s not like I just say, The next scene should be emotional between A and S.It’s more like:Character A approaches Character S. He’s remembering their childhood and how much has changed. He hesitates. S stiffens the moment he sees him.See the difference? That’s direction, emotional context, history, and character psychology. AI doesn’t invent those things — I do. It simply turns my internal vision into prose and handles the technical part like grammar and sentence flow. That’s the job of a tool. The more detail and intention I put in, the more the scene reflects the story I’m trying to tell. You don’t need to be some special “prompt engineer.” You just need imagination. The creativity comes from the storyteller, not the keyboard. Now, the funniest part in his philosophy is: “Human-written = meaningful, AI-assisted = delusionalSo basically, if someone writes: 60,000 words of total plot confusion, flat characters, and dialogue like expired toast, but did it with pure hand muscles… Then that’s meaningful? But if someone builds: a structured world, with consistent lore, mythology, symbolic contrast arcs, but happens to use AI for drafting… Suddenly it’s spiritually invalid? So creative value is now measured by forearm muscle fatigue? Got it. We are officially grading literature by wrist strength. Royal Road forum comment excerpt used for reaction and critique Okay, I get it, Eternal Talent. But here’s the funny part: Every creator in history learns from what already exists. Stories don’t appear out of nowhere in a cave. We absorb anime, novels, movies, mythology, archetypes, and remix them. That’s literally how storytelling has always worked. So the idea that: AI was trained on copyrighted work, therefore anything made with it is plagiarismwould also mean: If you read Naruto, your fiction is plagiarism. If you watched Star Wars, your sci-fi is plagiarism. If you grew up with folklore, your fantasy is stolen. By that logic, every writer is guilty simply for having been influenced by something. Also, he’s forgetting that the AI isn’t inventing my story. It’s my imagination that’s doing it and AI is just adding polish and structure for readability. So that argument collapses the moment you understand the process. And if he really thought the story was terrible, he could’ve just said: “This isn’t my taste. Here’s why.” Simple. Normal. Human. But instead, he sat down and wrote a full dramatic lore-analysis essay about a story he claims is beneath his time. Which leads to my favorite punchline: “I’m not going to read that trash.” …while referencing it in detail. So yes — thank you for reading it thoroughly. Achievement Unlocked: Lived in his head rent-free. (sips tea calmly) Royal Road forum comment excerpt used for reaction and critique First, a small correction: I don’t own ChatGPT, so it’s not “your ChatGPT.” If I did, I wouldn’t just be writing faster — I’d be running a whole creative studio by now. So the idea that I’m using AI to avoid imagination doesn’t even make sense. If anything, it lets my imagination move freely instead of getting stuck behind typing speed. And if he had actually used ChatGPT, he’d know it refuses to write anything that even sniffs of real racist content. It flags that stuff faster than a toaster launches toast — because it’s legally and ethically hard-coded to avoid it. If it secretly helped make racist narratives, OpenAI would be gone by Tuesday. So the whole “intentional racism” accusation collapses immediately. Now, about the “white savior” claim: The White Warrior and Black Warrior names refer to armor colors — like tokusatsu heroes — representing light versus shadow, balance, not race versus race. That was literally explained in the story. Missing that either means he didn’t read it closely or came in already looking for that interpretation. Example: If I write about a White Ranger and a Black Ranger, nobody assumes one is white and the other is black in ethnicity — they’re color-coded heroes. That’s the genre language. Same with the Sun People and Moon People. They’re not coded ethnicities — they’re mythological archetypes based on: day/night symbolism classic duality motifs Not real-world groups. Not racial commentary. So when he reads all that and still screams “racism,” I just don’t get it. Why react to a fantasy concept as though the real world is about to collapse? Just… chill. Take a deep breath. It’s fiction — something people read for fun and escapism. If the idea of Sun and Moon people is haunting your dreams, maybe just read a different story. Or if emotionally charged essays help you process that discomfort, then I guess your reaction kind of makes sense. Kind of.

Also, small detail you skipped:

He quoted the part where Sun Men and Moon Women interact — but conveniently ignored the reverse case where Moon Men and Sun Women also pair up. That one fact breaks his entire “racist hierarchy” theory immediately. So the interpretation he came up with? That’s less about my story… and more about his assumptions. Royal Road forum comment excerpt used for reaction and critique I mean, if you’ve already decided everything I wrote is “surface-level,” then nothing I say will change your mind. So I’ll just let the story speak for itself when people actually read it. Hate publicity is still publicity, so thanks for the marketing boost. I didn’t even have to pay for it. Now, the shadowban thing: If he really thinks getting shadowbanned is some kind of dramatic character lore moment, he can feel free to post his theory on Reddit and see what the crowd says. I genuinely want to watch that comment section from a safe distance with popcorn. And, it’s totally fine. Not everyone has to read my story because I am not running a “Everyone read my story” campaign. But I do have to say, critiquing a story you didn’t actually read is a pretty impressive skill. That’s like reviewing a movie from the trailer alone and then arguing with the director about the plot. Unique talent, honestly. Eternal Talent living up to the name. Note:I ended up writing all of this because the situation reminded me of something: People argue the loudest about the things they’re afraid of losing. Creativity is evolving. That’s not a threat. It’s just reality. We can either keep experimenting, learning, and growing with the age of AI or continue with traditional methods without feeling insecure about others who choose differently Because a day will come when AI-assisted writing is simply normal. No amount of “anti-AI” speeches or panic threads is going to stop that. And even if I personally decided to oppose AI tomorrow, the future would move on all the same. So if he wants to keep typing essays about it, that’s fine. In the grand scheme of things, we’re just supporting characters in each other’s side quests. Thank you for reading.