#like. in this situation for example

[cutebatart]

Can i request bros cuddles? Like them being all clingy in bed?

well they are clingy. they probably won't move for a while.

[inkskinned]

i have chronic pain. i am neurodivergent. i understand - deeply - the allure of a "quick fix" like AI. i also just grew up in a different time. we have been warned about this.

15 entire years ago i heard about this. in my forensics class in high school, we watched a documentary about how AI-based "crime solving" software was inevitably biased against people of color.

my teacher stressed that AI is like a book: when someone writes it, some part of the author will remain within the result. the internet existed but not as loudly at that point - we didn't know that AI would be able to teach itself off already-biased Reddit threads. i googled it: yes, this bias is still happening. yes, it's just as bad if not worse.

i can't actually stop you. if you wanna use ChatGPT to slide through your classes, that's on you. it's your money and it's your time. you will spend none of it thinking, you will learn nothing, and, in college, you will piss away hundreds of thousands of dollars. you will stand at the podium having done nothing, accomplished nothing. a cold and bitter pyrrhic victory.

i'm not even sure students actually read the essays or summaries or emails they have ChatGPT pump out. i think it just flows over them and they use the first answer they get. my brother teaches engineering - he recently got fifty-three copies of almost-the-exact-same lab reports. no one had even changed the wording.

and yes: AI itself (as a concept and practice) isn't always evil. there's AI that can help detect cancer, for example. and yet: when i ask my students if they'd be okay with a doctor that learned from AI, many of them balk. it is one thing if they don't read their engineering textbook or if they don't write the critical-thinking essay. it's another when it starts to affect them. they know it's wrong for AI to broad-spectrum deny insurance claims, but they swear their use of AI is different.

there's a strange desire to sort of divorce real-world AI malpractice over "personal use". for example, is it moral to use AI to write your cover letters? cover letters are essentially only templates, and besides: AI is going to be reading your job app, so isn't it kind of fair?

i recently found out that people use AI as a romantic or sexual partner. it seems like teenagers particularly enjoy this connection, and this is one of those "sticky" moments as a teacher. honestly - you can roast me for this - but if it was an actually-safe AI, i think teenagers exploring their sexuality with a fake partner is amazing. it prevents them from making permanent mistakes, it can teach them about their bodies and their desires, and it can help their confidence. but the problem is that it's not safe. there isn't a well-educated, sensitive AI specifically to help teens explore their hormones. it's just internet-fed cycle. who knows what they're learning. who knows what misinformation they're getting.

the most common pushback i get involves therapy. none of us have access to the therapist of our dreams - it's expensive, elusive, and involves an annoying amount of insurance claims. someone once asked me: are you going to be mad when AI saves someone's life?

therapists are not just trained on the book, they're trained on patient management and helping you see things you don't see yourself. part of it will involve discomfort. i don't know that AI is ever going to be able to analyze the words you feed it and answer with a mind towards the "whole person" writing those words. but also - if it keeps/kept you alive, i'm not a purist. i've done terrible things to myself when i was at rock bottom. in an emergency, we kind of forgive the seatbelt for leaving bruises. it's just that chat shouldn't be your only form of self-care and recovery.

and i worry that the influence chat has is expanding. more and more i see people use chat for the smallest, most easily-navigated situations. and i can't like, make you worry about that in your own life. i often think about how easy it was for social media to take over all my time - how i can't have a tiktok because i spend hours on it. i don't want that to happen with chat. i want to enjoy thinking. i want to enjoy writing. i want to be here. i've already really been struggling to put the phone down. this feels like another way to get you to pick the phone up.

the other day, i was frustrated by a book i was reading. it's far in the series and is about a character i resent. i googled if i had to read it, or if it was one of those "in between" books that don't actually affect the plot (you know, one of those ".5" books). someone said something that really stuck with me - theoretically you're reading this series for enjoyment, so while you don't actually have to read it, one would assume you want to read it.

i am watching a generation of people learn they don't have to read the thing in their hand. and it is kind of a strange sort of doom that comes over me: i read because it's genuinely fun. i learn because even though it's hard, it feels good. i try because it makes me happy to try. and i'm watching a generation of people all lay down and say: but i don't want to try.

[juney-blues]

when you're part of a group with structural power over another goup, you really do gotta just learn to say "i am not exempt from 'fuck 'em' when relevant" whenever someone expresses frustration with you or people like you.

[whatdoinose]

you don't stop getting percieved as whatever sex they assume you first had when you come out btw.

come out as a trans man to your school? youre a weird girl that is also trans. you are hated. you have 0 of the privelege of being treated as not a woman and all the horribleness of bigotry. you are whatever gender that will harm you most.

.

"oh sorry u cant go on this school trip because yr not a girl and they dont wanna room with you and if you room with any men you are horribly unsafe"

"oh sorry you don't wanna be sexually harassed? well yr a man who cares? this is punching up. be a man why are you upset?"

"mm you have no say here actually cuz youre a GIRL and girls don't have a voice here. ur body my choice tehe"

and many more.

.

all of these things can be directed at the same person. you are not more priveleged than other trans people cuz some losers out there have the most basic radfem ass understanding of how oppression works. you culd pass perfectly but the moment they know you are trans you will experience the harmful intersectionality between misogyny and transphobia. to deny that ever happened and that there are complex experiences out there is to deny trans people of their oppression. no matter your intention it is horrible and self harming to the community.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Burning Rotten Bridges

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[ihauvescurvy]

The Terror just does such a good job at stripping down hierarchies and cultural values to expose their social construction and (f)utility. You can talk about the immorality and “dirtiness” of queerness all you want, but when all the trappings of society are gone, why does it matter if Bridgens wants to cradle his dying husband? An anatomist is not a doctor, but what about when all your doctors are dead and gone? Your class system is an immovable fact of life, but what if it’s useful to use a vote to go against a commanding officer’s order? And of course, your Englishness is synonymous with civility and superiority, but what about when your coats don’t stop you from freezing to death and your industrial food supply is poisoning you and your guns can’t protect you and your language that you’ve forced all over the globe is now a barrier?

[truuskn]

Spotlight: Jazz is peak Prowl being able to comfort Jazz even though Jazz doesn't want to open up about how he's feeling and Prowl completely respects that

i love their dynamic so much here and in "all hail megatron", it's such a shame that their connection ended up being completely forgotten in the rest of idw series... reading "optimus prime" and coming across that one frame, observing what we have had and lost because the authors couldn't keep in mind how and who they were writing... it actually hurts

you guys. you guys! why are you doing this to us. why is it so hard for you to keep track on your story!! why do we have to see their relationship... fall apart?? without a decent look at it?? somewhere out there, in the background?? we're just left with the fact that they are over or maybe never even were there in the first place

prowl and jazz had so much potential at some point of idw history. the way how well they worked together despite all the difficulties, how sincerely prowl supported jazz even though he remained very closed off and aloof the whole time, how he really tried to be a good loyal friend, respected jazz's personal boundaries, didn't push, didn't go too far with his concern, didn't except anything in return and was just there to help... a rare bright moment for this version of my poor boy :'D

there were so many opportunities to develop this further, to show how they could exist in the new cybertronian future for which they had gone through so much hardship, how could they fight all the problems that were coming down on them, together, exactly as it was on earth. but, alas, we have to accept that they were quickly brushed aside and forgotten. a little time passes and they become strangers. forever. their entire bond is just erased. because that's how idw works with their characters...

[ana-cantskywalker]

“We need more complex and nuanced characters”

Y’all can’t even handle a character doing the wrong thing in an emotionally and/or morally complex scenario without writing them off as 100% irredeemable villain or 100% innocent victim

[whiteboardartstudios]

I SAID I WAS GOING TO DRAW THAT CAR SO HERE WE ARE (I hope you enjoy this is the stupidest thing I've drawn in months /affectionate)

(I put the image descriptions in the Alt text this time because there's so many images. If it doesn't work please tell me and I'll yeet them in the actual post!!)

happy finale of Wild Life everybody! :D

[jamiessecretoh]

the way the yj team encouraged Shauna to be violent has massive effects on her character. She’s forced into a violent role for so much of their time in the wilderness that it ends up becoming a coping mechanism. They all are surprised when she (who they appointed as butcher, after her best friend died while pregnant) turns to violence but they actually encouraged her behaviour.

For example: when her baby died Lottie tells Shauna to “let it all out, we need you.” And let’s Shauna beat the shit out of her. It teaches Shauna (who was already In an incredibly fragile mental state) that the way to subside her pain is to hurt others.

They unintentionally force her into this violent, gruesome role that she eventually starts to enjoy since it’s her only outlet.

in some ways I think she misses Jackie so much because Jackie was the last person to treat her like a person and not an animal. When shaunas anxious or upset Jackies first instinct is reassurance and playful teasing. Which sometimes causes the situation to become worse but also allows Shauna to relax. she isn’t offered gentle reassurance or companionship after Jackie dies. The closest she gets it’s taissa, who was struggling with her own problems, but ends up inadvertently making Shauna feel alone and scared.

They expect her to carry out all these gruesome acts (butchering Javi, Attempting to Kill Nat during the first hunt, etc.) and don’t stop to wonder how this effects her because she DOES end up enjoying it.

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I like about Leo is that he’s honestly really chill? It’s easy to remember the moments where he’s being obnoxious or excitable but I feel like most of the time he’s incredibly “go with the flow” and has an overall affable demeanor.

[whatsfourteenupto]

Fourteen’s replacing the screen on Donna’s phone for like the fifth time right now. They’re the family’s own private iFix guy, and lord is he insufferable about it

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Ngl I find the idea that killer smells bad (even though he canonically smells good for some reason) just because people think it’s funny or something—or they wanna say “evil bad serial killer inherently ugly and smelly” or “grown man can’t take care of himself haha”—or they want to say he has bad hygiene without acknowledging the reasons why he would (dissociation and lack of identification with his physical form and appearance, his apathy that makes it hard to care enough to even get out of bed, being overworked half to death and constantly being so exhausted he literally faints than falls asleep and that’s only for as long as he’s allowed to sleep, feeling like he’s not even real or alive sometimes—that he is a thing, and a thing does not need or deserve food or a shower and has no need for looking good or put together—feeling he doesn’t deserve anything good) and the fact that—as a trafficking victim—his lack of access to the means to take care of himself is either completely outside of his control or he has to prioritize what is most important to him (something to drink, or brushing your teeth?) or even acknowledging the fact that he could very well have to earn access to things like a shower or a toothbrush depending on the Nightmare interpretation—kinda weird.

[thefloatingwriter]

Abt victors being complex - that's why my personal unpopular headcanon is that most of them didn't have positive feelings about Katniss or Peeta. Because let's be real for a moment, even if you're the nicest person in the world or the most broken and beaten down by the Capitol and the Games: you would think "why wasn't I enough? Why didnt people care enough about me to riot? Why do I have to go through this hell again? Why did they get to break the rules?" And tbh, KP's naivety as victors, from that perspective, would be absolutely grating, they never really seem to Get It until its too late and everyone else has to pay for their mistakes.

yes!!! this!!!! you get it!!!!!

katniss and peeta never had to go through the normal Victor Experience with the pain of mentoring or victor prostitution or the companionship within the victors. they just don’t Get It, like you said. and that’s not their fault!! the capitol shows these people hanging off capitol citizens arms, oohing and awing at everything in their path every year, fully convincing everyone that the victors are happy. that they want to be here, away from their home and families hanging off of strange men and women’s arms. they depict the perfect victors, who smile and wave and sign autographs. victors like chaff and haymitch get about five seconds of screen time before being pushed aside because they’re not interesting, they’re not the focus, they’re not complying with the image we are depicting. they don’t conform with the images we are showing to our citizens.

i truly believe that there was no way all of the victors liked katniss and peeta. actually, i don’t think many of the victors liked katniss and peeta. as in, there was probably like two that genuinely liked them. and also, from their perspective, these are the reason they’re going back into the arena!! none of the victors wanted to do that!!!

we really need more complex victors representation in this fandom…

[themoderatespeaks]

"Israel's actions in Gaza are genocide and need to stop immediately."

"Hamas started this war. Return the damn hostages immediately."

....

Why is it so hard to say those two things at once?

[aro-culture-is]

Aro culture is wishing more allo people could handle romantic rejection like Steve Harrington did with Robin Buckley on Stranger Things, as a rule.

He tried asking her out & she comes out to him as lesbian & uninterested in him that way.

But does he stop interacting with her completely? Does he consider furthering his friendship with her a "waste of time"? No.

They're certified besties by the next season.

Hot take, apparently, but I think if you truly care about someone/enjoy their company, you never (or at least rarely) consider time with them as wasted, no matter what form your relationship takes.

I can sympathize with how regularly being around someone who doesn't return your romantic feelings could genuinely be a painful experience a few times in an allo person's life...but I call BS on this literally always being the case, when I've seen enough people drop perfectly fulfilling friendships/potential friendships over romantic/sexual rejection like confetti at a party.

.