Ailith

The thing that people really need to understand is that the "product" that chatGPT and other "AI" chatbots create is "more interactions with chatGPT." Everything it does is engineered with that one end in mind. Think about how it's billed, and you'll see that's true, and why it's true. What do "pro" subscriptions give you? More inquiries, faster answers, etc. So its entire thing is "getting you to ask it more things, more often."

Will it say "I don't know?" No. You won't ask it things if it answers that. This is why hallucinations are built in, and cannot ever be eliminated.

These programs are machines meant to generate more inquiries, which means they will generate dependence in order to generate them.

It really does not matter how well-educated you are, because this kind of endless flattery and dependence-creation isn't the kind of thing that "being educated" protects against. The idea that "kids these days" are specially vulnerable to ChatGPT due to a failure of general education is insultingly wrong, skips over the fact that a lot of highly-educated people from my generation and older have been sucked in to dependence and even psychosis by LLMs, and frankly makes it more likely that people will look at this "kids these days" thing and say, "Ahh, but I'm [older/better educated/built different], I'm not like Those Kids, AI's tricks won't work on me, or at the very least, I will be less susceptible to them!"

And that's just wrong.

ChatGPT is Wormtongue, in a very real, not metaphorical or exaggerated sense. The only way to truly avoid the way in which it rots your fucking brain is not to use it at all.

There is no amount or type of education which will protect you from the automated evil vizier whispering flattery and lies into your ear. Telling yourself or others otherwise is simply incorrect.

Trying to reframe it as "Kids These Days are more susceptible because they're 'functionally broken' by our education system" doesn't change the basic thesis statement.

to know the state of your loved

one’s dementia?

I’ve had precisely One Thought after the finale <3

I’ve been waiting to post this edit for too long

(Original drawing by gooseworx herself)

have you ever seen a bird soar the sky, free and wild, relentless in its pursuit of the next horizon? then you have seen him.

have you ever heard the laughter of a young child, the warrior-like cry as it chases after its brother? well, then you have heard him.

have you ever felt the earth beneath your palm, had a spring creak's water trickling through your fingers? then you have felt him - my love.

he is the stars, the sky and the freedom. he is the joy and courage you only find in young minds. he is the earth itself, everything we see and feel - he surrounds us.

Sirius, sprawled lazily across the grass, barely looked up. "Mm."

James glanced over.

Sirius was staring skyward, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun.

"The new Seeker's doing good."

James followed his gaze automatically.

High above the pitch, the Slytherin Seeker darted between teammates with startling precision. They twisted sharply around a Chaser, dropped nearly twenty feet, then pulled out of the dive with effortless control.

James blinked.

"Whoa."

The Seeker accelerated again. Fast. Really fast.

Not reckless, either. Controlled. Every movement looked deliberate.

"They're quick," James admitted.

Sirius nodded and continued talking. Something about McGonagall. Or homework. Or possibly exploding cauldrons. James wasn't entirely sure because he was still watching the Seeker.

A sharp whistle echoed across the pitch.

"Time!" called the Slytherin captain. "Great work!"

The team began descending.

James watched the Seeker sweep gracefully toward the ground. The moment their boots touched the grass, he could see them clearly now.

Dark hair. Pale skin. Sharp features. Grey eyes.

James forgot how breathing worked.

"Oh."

They brushed windswept hair out of their face.

"Oh no..."

"What?" Sirius asked.

James didn't answer.

The Seeker turned toward the stands and Sirius immediately sat up.

"Oh, it's Reggie."

James felt his soul leave his body.

Regulus Black.

Sirius stood and waved enthusiastically. "REG!"

A small smile appeared on Regulus' face. Tiny. Barely there. The sort of smile someone had to earn.

He lifted a hand in greeting and James' knees nearly gave out.

"Oh, that's unfair."

"What is?" Sirius asked.

James grabbed Sirius by both shoulders.

"Sirius."

"What?"

"I think I'm in love with your brother."

Sirius stared, "What?"

James released him and pointed dramatically toward Regulus.

"Look at him."

"I'm looking."

"Look harder."

"Sod off."

"He's beautiful."

"He's fifteen."

"He's one year younger than me!"

"Still weird!"

"It's not weird."

"You literally met him thirty seconds ago!"

James watched Regulus sling his broom over one shoulder and begin walking toward the castle. The Slytherin uniform somehow made him look even more unfairly attractive.

"His hair is doing that thing."

"What thing?"

"The thing."

"What thing, James?"

"The thing attractive people do."

Sirius looked genuinely disgusted.

"That's just hair."

"No. That's art."

"You're mental."

James sighed dreamily.

"Imagine him catching the Snitch."

"He literally just did."

James clutched his chest.

"Oh Merlin."

"Stop that."

Remus looked up from his book with a sigh.

"What happened now?"

James pointed toward the retreating figure of Regulus.

Remus followed the gesture. "Oh."

"Right?" James exclaimed.

"Oh, no," Remus corrected, looking to Sirius. "Not that one."

Sirius smiled knowingly at Remus.

Peter wandered over carrying a bag of sweets. "What'd I miss?"

James pointed. Peter looked, then immediately nodded.

"Yeah, fair."

"THANK YOU."

​The 'ON AIR' bulb flickered to life. Remus slid the master fader up, straightening. "Good midnight, London. You're listening to the Signal 77. I'm your host, Remus Lupin."

​"And I'm Sirius Black. Tonight, we’re reading your live submissions. The secrets keeping you awake at this godforsaken hour."

​Sirius scrolled his screen. "Let's see. Got one here from a user who hates their flatmate's cooking. Boring. Ah, here." He adopted an easy, conversational rhythm. "Anonymous says: I think I'm ruining my own life by staying friends with the person I'm in love with."

​Remus glanced at his own screen. "Classic. Proximity is a killer. Anonymous needs to rip the plaster off and get some space."

​"Anonymous says that's not an option," Sirius continued. "They work together. They share a flat. He says he has to sit there every single day and pretend it doesn't completely gut him."

​Remus frowned, scrolling to find the post. "Well, he needs to set boundaries. Or move out. It’s masochism at that point."

​"He says he can't leave," Sirius murmured. He tapped his tablet's power button and turned the dead, black screen to face Remus. "Because his friend is a stubborn disaster who forgets to sleep, gets entirely too stressed about his university exams, and buries himself in massive fantasy novels to avoid dealing with the real world. Someone has to make sure he actually eats." He paused, locking eyes with Remus. "And he just doesn't want to."

​Remus froze. Sirius was staring at him through the red-tinged dark, his usual arrogance completely gone.

​A cold spike of panic hit Remus. He slammed Sirius's mute button. "Sirius," he hissed, his radio voice fracturing. "What are you doing?"

​Sirius didn't reach for his mute button, letting his voice carry across the physical space of the small room instead. "He says he's sitting across from him right now, and he's terrified he's about to ruin the only good thing he has."

​Remus stared, desperately searching Sirius's face for the punchline. For the smirk. "Stop," he whispered. "If this is a bit, Sirius, if this is some stupid joke—stop. It's not funny."

​"It's not a joke," Sirius mumbled. "I've never been joking, Remus."

​Through the glass, the producer pointed frantically at the dead air monitor. Remus stared at the 'ON AIR' light, fully aware ten thousand people were listening to the silence.

​Slowly, his hand slipped off the mute button. He pulled his microphone an inch closer so his words were directly in Sirius's ears.

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

rick and morty: he is so rick coded in both humour and the internal tragedy he is hiding with it (neil quietly realises the similarity between the two and wonders whether andrew thinks of him or kevin as his morty) i think andrew would enjoy the straight forward and somewhat morbid humor of the show (like come on he would love the valhalla-bigfoot-pope episode)

house: andrew likes to call out a bullshit diagnosis at the start of the episode and hes right more often than not and it pisses aaron off so much- not to mention nicky calling out the hilson shenanigans and equally pissing off aaron who just wants to watch his fav goddamn medical show in peace

great british bake off: silly british people making silly cakes ? sign him up (neil thinks its because of how calming the show is, the bgm, the heartwarming competition) (kevin hates that after everytime they watch it andrew tracks down the sweet treat that caught his eye and tries it) (nicky gets neil and andrew baking lessons for them as a joint gift- it goes pretty good, andrew is careful and precise but impatient when the food is the oven. neil likes following a recipe, but he likes watching andrew focus and be interested in the process- hes not very good at using his hands for the more delicate parts but he likes kneading the dough (which andrew finds to be a sensory nightmare) neither of them tell nicky that it was a really good gift but nicky can tell from the way the baked goods get better and better every week that the two of them are seriously enjoying the lessons and he not so secretly pays for them to continue coz he knows the two of them are too stubborn to dedicate more time to it. kevins really jealous of being left out, so aaron takes him to a regular cooking class- they are both hopeless but slowly learn some basic skills)

planet earth: we know andrew likes a documentary, its soothing and he likes learning in a more stimulating way than reading from a textbook. no one can quite figure out why it's nature docos that he likes, and hes blank stared the last two people that asked him. neil got so curious he offered him a new truth for it, and andrew told simply told him 'its nature'. neil thinks its to see new landscapes without needing to travel, kevin suggested he liked watching the different animals interact as they are honest and brutal (like him)

glee: this one is actually a secret from majority of the foxes. andrew was dropping by the girls dorm to talk to renee one time and it was on and andrew just stood there watching for a minute, and the girls pretended it wasnt a big deal to not spook him. he didnt mind admitting to them that he thought the show was ridiculous (compliment) and he enjoyed watching the glee club get bullied by the cheerleading coach (theyre not suprised by that but are suprised when andrew calls kevin rachel berry one day in the locker rooms - allison laughs so hard and adopts it as kevins new nickname for almost two weeks)

shows he would hate:

stranger things: liked it in the first few seasons and kept watching bc everyone else was hooked (weirdly even kevin joined for every episode, andrew thinks its something to do with the misplaced nostalgia and fascination of watching childhood friend group shenanigans that he never got to experience - he almost creully points out starnger things also isnt a normal childhood and kevin shouldnt feel jealousy and admiration for these kids getting traumatised) Andrew came up with so many logical theories based on evidence and events presented in the show and got so pissed off at the ending that he doesnt let anyone even mention the show anymore

greys anatomy: another medical show aaron tried to watch (he quickly realised it wasnt going to be that educational, but nicky loved it and was excited they could watch it together so aaron just went with it) andrew thinks all the characters need to just communicate and respect each others boundaries (he gets the hype around mcsteamy though)