Destroy The Myth That Libraries Are No Longer Relevant. If You Use Your Library, Please Reblog.

Destroy the myth that libraries are no longer relevant. If you use your library, please reblog.

How to Tell If That Post of Advice Is AI Bullshit

Right, I wasn't going to write more on this, but every time I block an obvious AI-driven blog, five more clutter up the tags. So this is my current (April 2024) advice on how to spot AI posts passing themselves off as useful writing advice.

No Personality - Look up a long-running writing blog, you'll notice most people try to make their posts engaging and coming from a personal perspective. We do this because we're writers and, well, we want to convey a sense of ourselves to our readers. A lot of AI posts are straight-forward - no sense of an actual person writing them, no variation in tone or text.

No Examples - No attempts to show how pieces of advice would work in a story, or cite a work where you could see it in action. An AI post might tell you to describe a person by highlighting two or three features, and that's great, but it's hard to figure out how that works without an example.

Short, Unhelpful Definitions - A lot of what I've seen amount to two or three-sentence listicles. 'When you want to write foreshadowing, include a hint of what you want foreshadowed in an earlier chapter.' Cool beans, could've figured that out myself.

SEO/AI Prompt Language Included - I've seen way too many posts start with "this post is about..." or "now we will discuss..." or "in this post we will..." in every single blog. This language is meant to catch a search engine or is ChatGPT reframing the prompt question. It's not a natural way of writing a post for the average tumblr user.

Oddly Clinical Language - Right, I'm calling out that post that tried to give advice on writing gay characters that called us "homosexuals" the entire time. That's a generative machine trying to stay within certain parameters, not an actual person who knows that's not a word you'd use unless you were trying to be insulting or dunking on your own gay ass in the funniest way possible.

Too Perfect - Most generative AI does not make mistakes (this is how many a student gets caught trying to use it to cheat). You can find ways to make it sound more natural and have it make mistakes, but that takes time and effort, and neither of those are really a factor in these posts. They also tend to have really polished graphics and use the same format every time.

Maximized Tags (That Are Pointless) - Anyone who uses more than 10 one-word tags is a cop. Okay, fine, I'm joking, but there's a minimal amount of tags that are actually useful when promoting a post. More tags are not going to get a post noticed by the algorithm, there is no algorithm. Not everyone has to use their tags to make snarky comments, but if your tags look like a spambot, I'm gonna assume you're a spambot.

No Reblogs From The Rest of Writblr - I'm always finding new Writblr folks who have been around for awhile, but every real person I've seen reblogs posts from other people. We've all got other stuff to do, I'm writing this blog to help others and so are they, the whole point of tumblr is to pass along something you think is great.

While you'll probably see some variation in the future - as people get wise to obviously generated text, they'll try to make it look less generated - but overall, there's still going to be tells to when something is fake.

I don't have any real advice for what to do about this (other than block those blogs, which is what I do). Like most AI bullshit, I suspect most of these blogs are just another grift, attempting to build large follower counts to leverage or sell something to in the future. They may progress past these tattletale features, but I'm still going to block them when I see them. I don't see any value in writing advice compiled from the work of better writers who put the effort in when I can just go find those writers myself.

They both want to make season 4 happen!

Please reblog if you feel the same. Many people seem to think snape awarded points biasedly all the time when that is NOT the case at all.

Going to rewatch all the HP movies in honor of Robbie Coltrane.

As an adult I definitely view many things differently than I did as a kid. Especially since I read the books which I'm also rereading.

In the first film, I hate this scene. Especially as someone who loves kids and has been a teacher. People aways say its fine because Snape favored his house (someone has to since Slytherin is so hated) and they think Slytherin is always cheating, but at least in the books, if you look at the actual facts, Snape doesn't award a single house point in the series EVEN for Slytherin and takes a total of about 270 in ALL of the 6 school years that we see. 12 in PS/SS. In PS/SS, McGonagall took 150 points from her own house and 20 from Slytherin. If anything the other teachers take more points than Snape throughout the series. Also, according to one of JK Rowlings interviews Snape also took the most points away from his own house. And the mostly minor point deductions he did to Gryffindor were hardly game changing, for every Gryffindor point he deducted for whatever reason was most probably regained that same day by another student. And we never really see the Professors awarding Slytherin many points like they do to Gryffindor. And since Snape doesn't award points even to Slytherin, we can assume they are fairly earning the ones they won since its other unbiased professors who are awarding them points. They were winning the House Cup for many years straight for a reason and only began losing after Harry entered the fold in which he continuously gets extra points and unfairly so.

But what I hate the most about this scene is not only did Dumbledore let Slytherins believe they had won, but he let them celebrate their apparent victory, complete with decorations that he put up. He sat there knowing he was going to wait until literally the last moment to pull the rug out from under them. Dumbledore pretty much just dropped massive loads of points on Gryffindor when it was impossible for anyone to gain anymore.

Slytherin rightfully won. It was unfair for Dumbledore to award points for a school competition knowing that the points he was awarding had nothing to do with the school or the rest of the students. He knew that no other students had the opportunity that Harry and his friends had. He knew that only Harry really could have gone up against Voldemort as he's the child of prophecy. Awarding them points was straight up cheating. And unfair to the rest of the children. Harry may have helped save the Wizarding world, but he broke school rules to do it (which is fine) but under normal circumstances a different student would have had points deducted for breaking those same rules and from a school competition standpoint he shouldn't be awarded for something that has nothing to do with the school and it's competition. He can be rewarded in a different way that doesn't involve house points and the end of year house competition. Slytherin shouldn't have lost. Dumbledore calculated the exact points needed for them to win on purpose.

s9: Remember gadreel?(warning: rant)

Remember gadreel?....

How the arc was: sam was dying after the trials and dean was desperate to save him n on the brink of shaking hands with Death, dean tricks sam n stuffs an angel into him (aka rape) ? .... n then how it led to:

And

And then all this?:

That led to idiot dean doing this

& you know what the kicker is? - all of it - completely unnecessary 🙄...

Its just a Massive plot hole OR a very clear indication of deans selfishness being clearly portrayed: let me explain-

- they had OG Death still around back then - Billie wasn't in the picture and so there wasn't a reaper'-"fatwa" on the winchesters n "losing 'em in the empty"-campaign yet...

Dean & tfw in general ALREADY KNEW HOW TO SUMMON n make deals with Death- hell, dean did it just to shove sams soul back n they were still allies at that point just before in s8 (&again in s10/11)

Not to mention, they ALSO knew how to make deals with reapers - THEY'D literally used it to help Sam complete his 2nd trial in s8, just earlier!....

So it wasn't like an angel possessing sam was literally the ONLY option available to dean to save his dying brother- he could have reached out to Death or reapers or literally anything else!....

Hell, when gadreel showed dean sam chatting to Death - that alone should have given him an idea to make a deal with death or reapers ....

Point is - he could have let sam die n then brought him back as he'd done before...

why was violating sam the 1st and only option he considered at that point? - especially KNOWING how sam would feel about it?- hell he even said it to gadreel....n then proceeded to do the exact opposite

dean is supposed to be the "genius at hunting and lore" - he knows all sorts of things about all sorts of gods n beings even if he didn't deal with death - & we know it was hours they'd spent in the hospital if not days ... he could've been looking for options - but it's clear he hasn't been...

but no, nothing else considered n sam raped by proxy and violated by the person he trusted the most - because to dean sam wasn't a human being, just this living-doll he possessed n carried around with him, labelled "little brother" like a toy a boy carries around for his own comfort....which is why sam is EXACTLY right when he said: "you didn't save me for me, you did it for you"

If not for Dumbass,selfish deans decisions, none of this would have happened:

Kevin not killed, his mom not killed

No moc!dean n demon!dean

maybe metatron still and gadreel but differently

No darkness released n dumb undercooked "return of mary" doesn't happen

No Charlie dying - hell we could had Kevin AND Charlie - it'd be hilarious to watch them together!...

Maybe they still get Jack n Rowena n return of lucifer etc...but at least sam wouldn't have to face the horrific reality of his beloved brother violating him

Sex stuff you probably won’t learn from fanfiction and/or porn:

Erotic fic and porn can be a lot of fun! But if you aren’t being provided with adequate sex ed through other channels (comprehensive sexual education, frank and open discussions with trusted adults, etc.), turning to fanfic and porn for your understanding of sex is gonna leave some major blindspots and may leave you with some unrealistic expectations. While there’s nothing wrong with these kinds of erotica, they are fictional and tend to leave out a lot of the more realistic, human parts of sex - they serve a great purpose, but that purpose isn’t primarily educational. The following is an incomplete list of some things you should probably know about sex that a lot of fic and porn tends to leave out:

It isn’t always super hot or super sweet. Sometimes it’s super silly. Or sometimes it’s sort of mundane and you’re both simply scratching an itch. That’s fine too. (Hell, sometimes you’re talking about comic books while boning and your partner is laughing that you’re getting REALLY ANGRY about spider-man while they’re going to town on you.)

You will probably not climax at the same moment. It’s a sweet idea, but extremely hard to coordinate, and if all your concentration is going into coming at the exact same moment, you’re probably not enjoying yourselves as much as you might. 

Sometimes bodies make weird, goofy noises. Squelching, slapping, air-escaping, un-sexy noises. It’s okay to laugh at this. 

Hell, it’s okay to laugh during sex in general.

Sometimes you fart. Sometimes you fart while someone is going down on you and it is embarrassing as hell. This isn’t the end of the world. Embarrassing body things happen. Heck, sometimes, with anal, there’s a little poo. You get over it.

Sometimes sex is… kinda bad? This doesn’t mean it’s assault, or something traumatic – sometimes it’s consensual but just kinda bleh and not what you hoped for. The best thing to do (if you’re talking about sex with a partner and not just a hook up who you can not call back) is talk to them about it. Figure out what went wrong, what you enjoy and what you don’t, and communicate what techniques you do and don’t like. Also don’t be afraid to stop someone in the middle of the sex act you’re not enjoying and offer guidance on how to help make it good for you too. (Side tip: masturbation makes great research into what you personally do and don’t enjoy sexually)

You won’t enjoy every sex act. Not every body is wired to find every thing pleasurable. You might find anal does nothing for you. You may find g-spot stimulation just makes you really anxious that you’re about to pee. You may not enjoy giving or receiving oral. You’re not broken if you don’t like something that every pornstar or smutty fanfic protagonist seems to have earth-shattering orgasms from. Everyone’s got nerve endings in a range of places – it’s quite literally, different strokes for different folks.

On that note, not all orgasms are earth-shattering. Sometimes it just feels warm and nice. That’s fine too. 

Sometimes, if you’re neutral on a sex act and your partner loves it, you can suck it up for them, and they’ll suck up something they’re not crazy about for your pleasure in return. But communicate preferences with each other! Know that when a partner does that thing you love that they don’t get much from, that it’s an act of care, and vice versa. 

Falling asleep in each other’s arms right after wild passionate sex seems really romantic, but dried and crusty fluids are gonna be a bitch in the morning. Also, after sex, you should both (regardless of your equipment) go pee to clear out the urethra of any gunk or bacteria to reduce risk of a UTI. 

Putting a towel down on the bed before sex means you don’t have to sleep on wet funky sheets. (it’s also verrrrrry useful for period sex if you or your partner menstruate.)

A lot of people don’t like dirty talk, or rough sex. Always ask first. (Fanfic on the whole does a better job than porn at showing communication, but a lot of it is still highly fictive on this point)

PROTECTION PROTECTION PROTECTION. Use condoms, dental dams, etc. not just to prevent pregnancy, but to reduce risk of STIs. (Yes, even couples with the same genitals who don’t need to worry about pregnancy).

Lube is great and very important, but random goopy things around you are not good lube. Random oils especially, since oil doesn’t flush out well and can trap bacteria inside the body – oil-based lubricant also degrades condoms. Use lube specifically designed for intimate purposes. Water-based and silicone-based lubes help sex feel really good!

Bigger isn’t necessarily better. A lot of people with vaginas don’t enjoy the feeling of being repeatedly punched in the cervix by a monster cock. Some people enjoy a larger size when being penetrated by an appendage or toy and some don’t.

Bodies are hairy. Genitals are hairy. You may get a pube stuck in your teeth at some point. If your partner is WAY fuzzier than porn ever led you to believe they’d be, well, that’s normal. 

Not everyone loves the taste of ejaculate. Sometimes it’s nasty (flavor tends to vary from person to person depending on their diet, but sometimes you just really don’t like it no matter what. Some of us hate the taste of peanut butter. People don’t always like things). It’s okay not to swallow, or to request a penis-having partner warn you so they don’t ejaculate in your mouth (in fact, it’s polite for them to do the latter). 

If you’re gonna have shower sex, get one of those rubbery mats for the shower floor that gives you traction, because otherwise it’s super embarrassing to call for an ambulance while dripping wet and naked because you slipped and accidentally broke something and your partner got a concussion while you were trying to bang in the shower. 

Moaning and screaming wildly during sex is fun but it will make the neighbors in the apartments adjacent to you hate you. Make choices accordingly.