elfwreck

[elfwreck]

The problem with AO3 is that every online store's search function is bullshit by comparison

[elfwreck]

[elfwreck]

A crossover of Spy x Family and Batman I made by photoshopping different panels together. I hope you enjoy

[elfwreck]

This stems from, in addition to the constant problem of "everyone wants to get out of work they don't need to do," the major problem with most modern education systems:

They grade on correct answers, not on learning.

Students are rewarded for handing in correct answers. Some answers are more subjective than others - there is no "correct" analysis of a movie they watched in class, but there are certainly wrong ones.

Students are not rewarded for learning the subject matter unless that also produces "correct answers" on homework and/or tests.

Every student knows other students who know fuck-all about the topic but have managed to produce Correct Answers via some trick - whether that's copying answers or stealing the test questions in advance or some neat algorithmic trick learned online ("tests by X company follow one of these three patterns of multiple choice...") or advanced bullshit talents for writing essays that sound coherent but say nothing. Or wheedling their way into extra chances, or just cramming hard the night before the test and holding all those facts in their head for 15 hours and not a moment longer.

And that's without getting into "his father's on the Board of Trustees so the school absolutely will not fail him." Not talking about corruption - just tricks to produce Correct Answers without knowing the material.

Every student probably knows someone who knows the material well - but cannot produce Correct Answers on demand, and is failing or close to it. From students whose disabilities aren't being addressed (can't read or write fast enough to fill out the tests on time; can't study in a noisy crowded room), to those whose home life doesn't allow them to finish homework, to those who are sick often enough that it affects their grades, to those who are brilliant and so bored they can't (or just won't) focus on the tests far below their level.

Most students figure out by high school that "get good grades" and "know the material" are two entirely separate skills.

And if they don't get a break from school before they jump into college... they carry that awareness to college.

Which also... utterly fails to focus on "learn the material" instead of "produce correct answers."

They know damn well it's cheating. But the penalty for cheating is not any higher than the penalty for not producing correct answers. It might even be less; getting caught cheating often comes with a do-over, do-better option.

And most of the people going into Nursing or Architecture or Psychology or Engineering, aren't doing it because they have an extreme passion for the topic and they really really want to improve other people's lives.

They have an interest in the topic - which doesn't lead to good grades on its own, regardless of how much understanding they have - and they want a career that makes solid money.

You get the career with good grades, not with understanding of the topic. The school's hope is that "good grades" are because of "understanding the topic" - but there's no direct connection.

ChatGPT just makes that gap wider.

The fix is not "ban ChatGPT for schoolwork" (Not because "we shouldn't ban it" but because it's a bad idea to pick impossible goals. Schools do not have the ability to remove access to ChatGPT. Action to restrict or end ChatGPT & similar apps has to be outside of the lens of "good for students.")

The fix is, "overhaul the education system so that grades are based on learning the material."

That's big, and it's an ugly fight. Among other things, it would mean disconnecting age from grade level. It means refocusing grade schools and middle schools on academics and removing some of their babysitter functions - in an era where those functions are essential to keep the economy running, because capitalism needs all the parents to be employees.

As long as grades are based on putting Correct Answers On The Paper, answer-generators that are 75-ish percent correct are going to be widely used.

The college fix is easy enough: More labs. More in-person, hands-on activities that can't be skipped. Make some of them essential for graduation - and make it so straight-A's in paper classes and D's in labwork raises a huge red flag and kicks off an investigation.

Of course, for that... colleges need to allocate space, time, and teachers to lab classes small enough for the teacher to understand what each student is doing.

And again, actual learning does not align with the goals of capitalism.

Right now, there's a few odd professionals here & there who cheated their way through college with ChatGPT or something like it. Watch for warning flags and be ready to switch if you catch them.

If the AI industry doesn't collapse in the next three years or so, in the next 5-10 we'll have a LOT of people with professional degrees or certificates that have a terrifying lack of comprehension of what they're doing.

Some of them will figure out pretty damn quick that they can't build bridges/assist at surgery/calculate a flight path etc. But of course they won't want to give up the career they've "worked hard for."

...They'll apply for inspector jobs. That's much safer for everyone, right?

ur future nurse is using chapgpt to glide thru school u better take care of urself

[elfwreck]

[elfwreck]

[elfwreck]

why would you ever outsource fun to chatgpt? are you stupid? you can make mediocre shit by yourself too.

[elfwreck]

honestly, especially in the current state of the world, you all have GOT to kill whatever puritanical voice inside your head keeps insisting that if something is erotic it has no social, artistic, or intellectual merit.

stop acting as if someone can’t enjoy both erotica and literary fiction or classics. it’s not some dichotomy.

stop acting as if erotic art can’t be poignant and meaningful. and that includes all erotic art - not just fine art.

stop insisting that sex scenes or erotic material ruin movies and shows just because you, personally, get icked out watching it.

no, not all erotic art is high art, and not all erotic art is meant to invoke deep intellectual discussion - but insisting that makes erotic art valueless, a disservice to intellectualism, or whatever else - does nothing but add fuel to a fire built on conservative ideology.

[elfwreck]

"I have a great idea. Let's re-skin our pin-pulling game, give it a theme for the girlies. What kind of shit do they like?"

"Knitting, my girlfriend's super into it. Every week she and her friends have a little knitting convention in the living room."

"Perfect! We'll make it a knitting game."

"Cool, do you want me to ask her about how it works?"

"Nah, c'mon. That's little old granny stuff. How hard can it be?"

[elfwreck]

I just saw a post of yours about autism from late 2022 in which you mentioned "(...) for [girls] whom "speak softly while not making eye contact" isn't usually considered a red flag". really it's so obvious. of course I knew that was a thing that was overlooked in girls. and of course I knew it's something I did growing up a girl. even me being autistic is nothing new. and yet. and yet! not once did I connect the dots.

When I started struggling with eye contact in my late teens/early 20s I was incredibly confused by this ""sudden development"". And only a random Tumblr post now made me realize that, before I started socially transitioning, almost no one had ever thought to demand eye contact from me. It was entirely fine, maybe even expected, for me to be the shy little girl that never spoke up or looked at people. But once I was instead a kinda awkward guy trying to connect and have his voice heard? That's when it became an issue, when not looking at them the ""appropriate amount"" turned disrespectful

It's fascinating, really, how many things you don't know about yourself because they just didn't have space to unfold, or were distorted by wrong assumptions. My anxiety caused few of my hyperactive symptoms from having ADHD to be expressed, leaving me undiagnosed for a long time, and only retroactively does a lot of my behavior make sense, framed through new knowledge and diagnoses. I even thought I was an introvert until a stranger I was chatting with while in the US questioned it (once again very obvious looking back on it)

Anyway, I just wanted to share one instance of how, even now, your words from over 2 years ago are having an impact. Thanks! Have a nice day, stranger

Sorry I didn't answer this sooner - I am so glad I could help you sort some things out!

Yeah, there's a lot of issues involving gender roles that are mostly invisible when you're stuck in one.

"Girls being quiet" is not considered a symptom of a problem.

"Boys being assertive" is not considered a symptom of a problem.

Mostly they're not. But if they are symptoms, they often get missed until the person is in a setting that's absolutely removed from gendered behavior expectations, and then it's a shock.

[elfwreck]

This may be the worst use of LLMs anyone has attempted, ever. Up there with recognizing mushrooms.

[elfwreck]

We um. Kind of had those. Or we had more of them, in more places.

But that wasn't as profitable for the manufacturing industries, so. Here we are.

they should invent a summer that isnt actually fucking miserable and hot and sticky and fucked

[elfwreck]

general techniques to avoid gross shipping of your characters

have most characters be non-minors, around the same age range. this is mostly to minimize underage nonsense.

while family relationships are important, save them as background elements, explored every now and then. focus mainly on the bonds of non-related characters and how their different backgrounds play off each other.

limit the overly edgy tone, where pain and suffering are near-romanticized. try to emphasize wholesomeness, health, and the various ways characters can have good relationships despite their differences. a lot of nintendo franchises are good examples.

avoid creating significant characters who are utterly irredeemable with harmful ethics. (for me personally, i limit elements such as abuse and discrimination for background conflicts while presenting more interesting, morally gray arguments, where either side is right/flawed) if you’re going to have a villain, either make them team rocket goofy or classic disney fun.

just. try not to have characters + relationships rely on racial tropes. if you overly rely on a tough dark-skinned / dainty light-skinned formula, you’re going to see some racist shipping. mix it up. round ‘em out.

same goes for gendered tropes. if a dude is downright violent and irresponsible and a level-headed girl has to put up with his flaws without him facing consequence, that’s a downright unbalanced relationship. and do keep in mind that if two boys utterly despise each other, people will absolutely take that a certain way. again, with #3, try to play off disdain as comedic or with exception rather than constant seething hatred.

obviously these aren’t hard and fast rules, and what/how you create will vary. but it’s how i generally approach my work

[elfwreck]

Gay ships were illegal in much of the US until 2003.

I know that's before some of you were born. I was an adult in 2003. Same-sex marriage was illegal for many years after that.

"I oppose illegal ships" is very much an anti-queer statement; it says "I don't care about morality - whatever government is in charge today can decide what kinds of relationships are bad."

Just blocked someone with "I'm fine with all ships, except illegal ones!", and I keep thinking about it. I'm from a place where gay ships are literally illegal, you're not allowed to post anything about it, illegal-illegal. So when I see people say stuff like this my brain immedeately labels them "anti-queer", sorry guys, you said it, not me...

Anyway, daily reminder to everyone: law ≠ morality

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[elfwreck]

More stories my Meskwaki grandfather told me.

One of my relatives on my Muskoke side also practices cooperhead charming. He lives way out in the woods and he has a generator for his trailer. His nearest neighbors are methheads, so when he leaves home he puts the generator in the bed of his pickup truck, and then he throws a copperhead in there to guard it.

[elfwreck]

Announcing: Squidge's Summer Sleepaway Camp Fundraiser 2025!

It’s Summer here in North America, and that means Squidge’s annual fundraiser is kicking off!  Once a year we raise funds to get us through until the next year, with a goal of at least $2,000.  Can we do it again this year? The theme of this Summer’s fundraiser is “Summer Sleepaway Camp” – so let’s get camping, shall we?  And to go with that theme, we’ll be offering t-shirts and stickers for…