Issues writing metadata to fields listed in the Metadata dropdown; only applies to highlighted image

I am having issues writing metadata, specifically to the "Category" or "Other Categories" field. When I try to do either, it just applies it to the image that's highlighted (the "Active" image) when selecting all in the Libray module.

If I use a Metadata Preset, it does work. Freehanding text into the box does not.

I also tried applying to/changing the Creator field, and have the same issue. Changing Keywords does work.

Using 13.0.2 on a 2023 Mac Studio, Sonoma 14.1.2