#this is a rant

They suggest it's use as a tool, citing writers who hesitated to jump on the internet being left behind and I think that displays a rather big misunderstanding of the nature of problem.

Their point was gen AI can "help us think" but there's growing studies show us that it does anything but. Here's one paper on skill atrophy from AI use. There's more than a few of them plus some articles like this one from Forbes. Essentially using AI for a particular skill shows degradation in thelat skill.

Fact is brainstorming, research, analysis. Planning, outlining, writing, editing are ALL skills writers need to develop and practise. Not offload to a machine and surrender critical thought.

These skills are vital and transferrable to other aspects of our lives. My ability to critically examine a body of text to parse meaning works in enjoying fiction and digging through mixed messages in news and on social media. My ability to research and develop ideas from multiple sources also helps me fact check misinformation online.

These skills are so important, too important to cast aside for convenience.

I'd rather use my brain and do the work. Maybe ai will shift and better tools will arise, but I have put too much work into developing my skills to be content with the half assed result of the plagiarism machine.

Fuck that.

I absolutely understand the appeal of using ai to create things. We love creating things! It's humanity's favorite thing! We've been doing it from the start and we absolutely love getting to share the thing!

And! we live in a culture where immediate validation and praise is a primary influence on how we perceive our self worth. The interaction is more important than the creation, but the Thing You Created is necessary to receive the validation. If the thing you make is Bad and people do not praise you, it is crippling to your desire to try again. We live in a culture where the expectation is immediate turn around.

oh? you took three days to create a thing in response to a trend? lol. cringe. you missed out and its already boring and we're going to mock you for it no, if we look at it at all.

Vivian, Elena, Gwen, and Mithian are the epitome of, "Hi, this is my boyfriend, Arthur. And that's Arthur's boyfriend, Merlin."

but there are also moments where he welcomes charles inside his mind. when they train in first class, charles asks “may i” and wiggles his fingers, and erik agrees without hesitation despite having no idea what charles plans to do. he trusts him. multiple times throughout the prequel movies, when he is without his helmet, he brings up the fact that charles could make him do whatever he wishes. he is joking, but the fact that he can joke about it at all shows just how deeply he trusts him. he never shows disgust or mistrust towards charles ability- in fact his whole fight is that no one should have to hide their mutation

even when he puts the helmet on the first time, he says “sorry charles, it’s not that i don’t trust you” he simply knows that he is disappointing him- knows that without the helmet, charles would be able to stop him, but also knows he wouldn’t, and is therefore saving them both from the what ifs when he chooses to wear it

The manifestation of this potential differs between modern and fantasy settings, but the core failing remains the same -- these characters never fully become badass, independent women who are capable and skilled.

For fantasy dramas, the emphasis is literally on badass. To be clear, this badassery is not The Chosen One levels of insane skill but clearly being able to hold your own in a world of magic, fantastical creatures, mystical powers, and life and death stakes. These female characters themselves have these fantastical abilities and they are supposed to be powerful. They themselves, independent of any man, are a threat. Brain and brawn. The reaction to their initial introduction/full manifestation of their abilities is one of awe and fear because the reputation of being a badass woman precedes her. However, instead of being a vital part of the action and the overarching plot of the story, they are quickly sidelined and have no impact at all. They revert to just being there. They wear pale clothing to almost literally blend into the background, they have little dialogue and any individual goal or motivation they had prior vanishes. They function from a given point as mainly the love interest of the male character. To worry over the man, to bat their eyelashes, scream their name (it is one of the only lines of dialogue they have) and to occasionally use their abilities (now so much weaker) to save the man. The end result often is that they end up sacrificing themselves for the man. This entire disintegration of self usually has beautiful bgm attached to it because this dynamic is presented as The Definition Of True Love and the person they become is just a girl in luuuuuurrrvvvveee. Total bullshit.

For modern dramas, the emphasis is on being a smart and capable badass. There are no life and death stakes and the woman is neither witch nor demon but the area of life she inhabits, she dominates. She is skilled, intelligent, GOOD AT WHAT SHE DOES. In what I have noticed, this is underplayed immediately. The writer must assume that the audience is stupid and cannot put two and two together. In a world dominated by men, you do not become a female CEO by laughing like a hyena and tripping into a garbage can. You cannot survive if you are mediocre and average. Your existence enough is testament to a level of capability and intelligence. To pursue the career you want and rise to the top of that field despite outright hostility and ostracization from your family, you cannot be an airhead with no cares in the world. To claim power in cutthroat environments where you have no allies, you have to play high stakes political chess and mastered the art of subterfuge, manipulation and observation at the very least. Instead any career that the woman possesses is treated like a name tag and nothing more. She then becomes a caricature. Absolutely dramatic 300% of the time. Acting like she is five when she is in fact thirty five. Not thinking a single thing through. Flighty and impulsive. The points of conflict in the story, it is written that the female character either started or made worse. She becomes the problem. Then enters the calm, collected, cool, demonstrably intelligent male character who becomes the solution. He is cleaning up all her messes. She is made to feel grateful for his assistance, she couldn't have done it without him because she is not capable in any shape or form whatsoever. The capability and intelligence that the woman MUST POSSESS are never allowed to be part of the story. Her true self is trapped in a cage of perpetual mediocrity in order to make the male character look better. Once again, hypnotism through visuals, background music and filters attempt to make the audience forget who she could have become because look how her life has improved with Perfect Man male character. She wouldn't need saving if she could be her original smart, capable badass self.

It's like nobody paid attention to Legally Blonde. Elle Woods contained multitudes. She was smart and loved fashion and beauty. Through not picking one over the other, her particular blend of talents and interests ending up winning the case. She was no less intelligent simply because she refused to give up wearing pink or because she was friendly to strangers. The romance she later pursues does not force her to shrink herself to become convenient and easily palatable to the guy. Throughout the movie, Elle Woods remained a badass.

Female characters contain multitudes. They can be smart and kind. They can be capable and funny. They can be able to kill their enemies using only a spoon and be gentle with baby animals. They can be an active part of the plot without giving up their badassery. In fact, their badassery can be an instrumental aid in the protagonists' overarching mission.

Let them stand shoulder to shoulder with all the other protagonists as EQUALS. Let them stand side by side with their love interests AS EQUALS.

YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DIM THE LIGHT OF THE FEMALE CHARACTER in order to have the romance or plot exist.

Tim Drake? The same Tim Drake that makes friends even when he's at his lowest mentally? The Tim Drake that has connections absolutely everywhere and probably one of the most codependent relationships with his respective superhero team?

The Tim Drake that managed to befriend Huntress and bring her more into the Gotham vigilante scene? The same Tim Drake that still has contact with Jean-Paul despite not liking the dude in the slightest?

The same Tim Drake that was the first person (besides Barbara) to trust Cass and the same person to befriend and trust Steph before everyone else? The same Tim Drake that has changed school five times (that we know of in comics) and had managed to make a solid friend group at every single school?

No, Tim is not a loner or anti-social. He is the most socially active of the Batfamily in terms of friendships outside of just being a vigilante. He has more named civilian friends that most of the other combined, and is known to be well spoken and easy to get along with.