#opalapparition

[obligatedart]

Ilya, from Wolfbird, one of my favourite Hollanov fics 🥹

[norobotsallowed]

Wolfbird by Opal Apparition, Ch. 12, annotated with AI evidence.

Summary: this fic struggles with point of view, human physiology, and interaction between human bodies. It does this to a degree that we believe is inconsistent with human authorship and is indicative of AI use.

EDITED TO ADD: Apparently the siege condom is a reference to something earlier in the fic that we didn't remember, so please disregard that one.

The issues with physicality and blocking are an issue on their own (simply put, when human writers mess up blocking, they don't do it this way), but it's especially notable because the spelling and grammar in this fic is impeccable, and in human-written fics, that suggests a very high level of care and attention to detail.

That level of care and attention to detail is very, very incongruous with gravity not working or Ilya having three hands. Spelling and grammar this pristine suggests that someone read it over carefully at least once, and probably several times--but in all those careful reads, they missed that Ilya has three hands?

The EPUB and PDF of Wolfbird, downloaded from Archive of Our Own on April 6, 2026, can be found here.

[lerlah]

getting back to back wolfbird and route 96 kanata updates really is just like asking "what if ilya busted his knee?" ...ah yes, I see, he would kill himself. "and what about if shane busted his knee?"...oh? he would kill himself faster. and going yes yes this tracks

[embarrassingfangirl]

Vesnushki

Quote from Wolfbird by OpalApparition

“‘Much better. Now I can see all these freckles.’ Rozanov’s thumbs traced up Shane’s sternum, following the scatter there like he was connecting dots only he could see. ‘Ty slovno chto-to, vybroshennoye iz kosmosa spetsial’no dlya menya. Zvyozdy.’”

[buzzybee92]

I need artistic ventures to express myself.

[toppingilyarozanov]

the only thing i have to say about opalapparition is the same thing i have to say about james somerton (and cassandra claire): this entire messy business could've been a lot more pleasant if they hadn't engaged in encouraging their fans to harass anyone accusing them of doing what they actually did.

remember, guys: any creator who asks you to enact their agenda by harassing someone has made the jump from creative to cult of personality.

whether they become cassandra claire or james somerton is 100% about how much they are able to make people continue enacting their agenda after they are caught.

plagiarists don't stop stealing after they are caught, they just get better at hiding it. if they were willing to do the actual creative hard work they would've just done it in the first place. if they had intellectual honesty they would've admitted it at the first instead of doubling down.

not only was opalapparaition getting fandom attention, but they also got an agent and a manuscript deal on our fucking backs. because of our attention.

an apology is nice, admitting it is nice, but in the end it doesn't change anything for me.

she was willing to capitalize on fandom attention to achieve real-world benefits while also not sharing any of those benefits with friends close enough to beta her to-be published work for free. while also not even finishing the story for fans.

don't let her become another cassandra claire when james somerton's path is the one she's earned.

[shanesloverboy]

Do u know why author of wolfbird stopped posting? I honestly was looking forward to this fic to finish so that I can binge read it

She was getting a lot of hate and insane comments on her fics so she went on a break. About a month ago she posted an update and said she would mass upload the rest of it, but it looks like that never happened. I hope she does because I was waiting to do the same thing. Either way I want her to take care of her mental health first, and if that means we never get the ending of Wolfbird, then it's okay! She's such an amazing writer and I hope this doesn't make her stop forever :(

[redcomponibili]

Design Process: Apogee Cover Art

I read Apogee during a very ~space~ time of life, and was floored by the level of detail in Opal's descriptions of both life on the ISS, as well as the internal/external world of Shane and Ilya's relationship, so wanted to design a minimal cover inspired by this work, which then very quickly turned into a deep dive on all things space design and photography, so I thought I'd also share some of my finds that inspired this design.

This is my first time sharing fandom-related design so I hope you all appreciate 🪐

Also available on AO3