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Some things I wanna make clear because I’m seeing some said repeatedly in the reblogs:

- I’m no longer friends with Friend 2 and I haven’t been for a while, at least couple months. Most of my friend group cut off contact with him too (including Friend 1) after many situations that just made him look creepy, including not being able to set any boundaries (most tries ended up with him throwing a tantrum)

- a big chunk of people is suggesting polyamory in the reblogs, but I wouldn’t expect him to get even one gf, let alone two, given how he finds scared women hot and his favorite trope is “reversed mommy” situation (punishing the woman for dominating you)

- lots of people are also suggesting it’s an egg kinda situation, and I obviously can’t say yes or no to that, but I wanna mention how he once said he wouldn’t mind bottoming for a trans girl and how it’s one of the reasons he considers himself bi. Do with that info what you want

- Friend 1 is trans. Also we’re friends to this day and I love hanging out with her, she’s a diva

They're preying on insecurities to do it. Yes, you can write an essay - but can you write a good essay, they ask you. Do you not want to improve your output? Do you not want people to think of you as competent and very clever? Why go through the mortifying process of failing and failing and failing until you succeed if you can just skip the "learning" part of doing, and simply generate a ready-made product?

I'm preaching to the choir here obviously but it's a concerning thing to witness nonetheless. My kid is 6 next week and I've been teaching her that failing at things is morally neutral and in fact necessary even before the advent of AI, but it's becoming ever more important that we teach the kids that criticism and failure and discomfort aren't necessarily bad things, but just a part of the growth process.