Hi everyone. I'm sorry to say that this isn't an update, and this fic may not be updating for a very long time, if ever at all. I had lots of plans and ideas for the future plot developments here that I've been mapping out, and I had plans to release the next chapter rather soon, but all that has changed with some recent information that has been revealed to me.
Apparently, there are some people out there that are using AI programs to copy entire fanfics and, through text to speech software, make audio versions of them that they then post onto YouTube without the author's consent and without crediting the author of the work they have just stolen in any way shape or form.
As you can probably tell, this work has fallen victim to these plagiarists and in order to ensure that they cannot continue to profit off of my hard work and creativity, I will not be posting any future updates to this fanfiction until I can come up with a feasible and workable solution that will be able to keep these thieves from profiting off my work again.
I have already attempted to file YouTube copyright claims (for all the good that did me) and since that didn't really pan out, I am simply going to prevent them from continuing to profit off my work by refusing to publish the next chapter.
To all of you reading that have written fics of your own, be on the lookout for these AI thieves that are stealing the hard work we put into writing our stories here on this site and check YouTube to see if your works have already fallen victim to their trap. I know I recognized the summaries of several fanfics from across the site within these user's videos on their accounts and I highly doubt that they asked before taking them. They definitely didn't ask me.
I encourage you to spread the word about this threat to our self-published works and do your best to ensure that these plagiarists cannot continue to profit off our hard work.
Until we meet again,
-Trace Carter.