Stede’s slutty shoe bows

On the subject of AI, I have a confession to make: I use it. Not to write for me, but to help me check for inconsistencies, to brainstorm ideas, to write outlines, to give me a couple of lines when I've been stuck for hours, to be my beta reader, if you will. Generative AI is bad? Yes, but it also a useful tool if one isn't lazy. I don't ask: write me a story. I go with my story and ask: help me with continuity. Look, this paragraph is clunky, how do I make it better? The demonization of generative AI is fair, but to be honest, I also understand people who use it. Maybe they're afraid of writing themselves, maybe they're insecure and don't trust their prose. Maybe they have brilliannt ideas but they need help to make them become fics.

To me, this is very much connected to my last ask where I was talking about how we don't have enough mentors in fandom to support the influx of people entering it.

All of the things that you're asking AI to do used to be done by a beta reader (or more than one!). A fandom friend (or even a random stranger who volunteered) would read through your work and help you with those issues.

Betas are amazing. They can help with grammar and spelling. They can regionalize language. They can provide sensitivity reading if they're from a marginalized community that you're writing about and aren't a member of. They can track canon, help with research, even just be a sounding board to discuss ideas with.

And sometimes, they're just a cheer reader - someone reading your story and telling you how awesome it is because they love it just as much as you do.

I understand turning to AI if you 1) don't know beta readers exist or 2) don't know how to obtain one. The need for that kind of support doesn't go away just because you can't access it.

But for anyone out there who needs this kind of help and wants to avoid Gen AI, you can write a post on your blog, add it to an author's note, check out resources like @needabeta or - if the time of year is right and you have the funds - place a bid on beta reading services during @fandomtrumpshate

Beta readers are often involved in fandom events like big bangs and exchanges, and if anyone is looking to host such an event, it's a great way to get people involved who aren't writers or artists but would love to help out.

I definitely recommend searching a beta reader within the fandom you're writing for rather than someone who knows nothing about it.

And when you don't immediately get a response, ask again. This comes from a person (me) who is now two and a half years into dating the girl who replied to my 'I need a beta reader' post that I was debating to reblog that day.

Sometimes I wonder where our lives would be if I hadn't reblogged it or if she had skipped past the post.

Fandom is a community of people with shared interests. It's supposed to make it easier for us to become friends, hang out and talk for hours.

Not a single AI tool in the world is capable of giving (fandom) writers/artists/creators what they actually need.

It took less than 5 minutes to switch to a ProtonMail account, less than 2 hours to download and/or offload every byte of data from my Google account, and less than 3 days to change every single account or service I've ever signed up for to the new address.

As of today, the only single one I have that's still tied to it is YouTube. It's the only thing I'd lose access to if I deleted my Google acount entirely.

They really, really want you to believe that it's a hassle to switch to a different email system. But it's not. Most websites and/or services allow you to change the email address associated with it.

You can and should switch to a free, encrypted Proton email account. You also get all of the below perks. For free. There is no trick. It is paid for by the people with paying plans. I am one of them. The (completely functional) free tier is there to entice you into getting a paid account with even more perks. (It worked on me.) But there's no penalty or pressure for staying with the free account.

Also get your stuff off the google drive and put it on Proton's drive. It is encrypted. Only you with your password can access it. Not even Proton can see what you put in there.

The government just introduced Bill C-22 — a sweeping surveillance proposal that would force collection of vast quantities of Canadians’ private data, on every digital service and device we use. Internet providers, messaging services, and other online services will be obligated to store a year’s worth of metadata about who we’re talking to and where we’re travelling, build surveillance backdoors to access that data into their services, and even hand foreign governments a faster path to that information.

not only the collection of personal information and digital tracking across the internet AND devices, but retention of that information, plus they want to force tech companies to build in back doors under the guise of making the police’s job easier.

The acting choices Rhys makes here…

I love that Stede continues to gaze at the red silk he’s placed in Ed’s pocket as he muses on its fineness.

When he states, “You wear fine things…” he raises his eyebrows. Coupled with a slight smile, it becomes an affiliative expression, gaining the trust of the listener. It demonstrates empathy too, and signals a desire for stronger emotional or social bonding.

Then there’s the sudden flick of his eyes upwards to meet Ed’s to deliver the ‘well’, with the stress, importantly, on that word. Because it’s not just about the fine thing itself, but the wellness with which Ed wears it, enabling it to become an even finer thing.

The smile then becomes just a little wider, but not so much that it might signal duplicity or pretence. And there’s a slight lowering of the chin at the end, to emphasise the gentleness of the interaction, whilst continuing to hold Ed’s gaze, reinforcing the sincerity of the words.

Stede’s timbre is significant too. “Look at that!” which proceeds it, is slightly higher-pitched and excitable. But the delivery of “You wear fine things well,” is steady and smooth, and quiet yet powerful, in its honesty and intent.

The entire thing smacks of sincerity, and the delivery demonstrates the emotional truths and kindness behind it. Without Rhys’ nonverbal cues and gestures, the line could so easily have fallen flat, or sounded artificial.

And what’s more, Rhys manages to play the scene in such a way that suggests, without doubt, that Stede has no idea of the beauty and importance of what he is doing.

No wonder Ed is rendered speechless, and his heart can do nothing more than thunk right out of his chest.