Midnight Pals: By Volume

[scottish castle] JK Rowling's agent: hey joanne agent: you wanted to see me? JK Rowling: yesss Rowling: i want to enquire Rowling: how are sssales of the hallmarked man? agent: agent: sales of what? Rowling: the latesst cormoron ssstrike book agent: agent: you're still writing cormoron strike?

Rowling: of courssse i'm sstill writing cormoran ssstrike booksss! Rowling: it'ss my main thing! agent: i thought you pivoted entirely to posting? Rowling: no i'm sstill writing cormoran ssstrike!! Rowling: you should know thisss! Rowling: you're my agent!!!

agent: listen, joanne, i've got bad news about the hallmarked man agent: it didn't crack any major bestseller lists Rowling: that doessn't make ssensse Rowling: don't they know it wass written by me, JK Rowling?

Rowling: sseriously, it'ss a book by JK Rowling Rowling: isssn't there ssome ssort of law that people have to buy it? Rowling: if not, there should be Rowling: i'm going to get right on that Rowling: i mean, how much could that possssibly cosst?

Rowling: oh wait wait i think i know the problem Rowling: maybe people don't know that robert galbraith is actually jusst my pen name Rowling: i mean, i have been so coy about that agent: no i uh agent: agent: yeah actually sure that could be it

Rowling: sseriousssly, i don't underssstand Rowling: don't people want more thrilling sexy adventuresss with britain'sss number one playboy detective cormoran sstrike? Rowling: don't they hunger for more ssceness of rich people endlessssly talking at fancy restaurantsss?

Rowling: thiss isss the book where cormoran sstrike finally confesssess hiss feelings for robin ellacot! Rowling: we've been doing thiss will they/won't they dance for eight bookss! Rowling: people are really invessted in thiss!! agent: Rowling: THEY'RE REALLY INVESSTED IN THISS!!

agent: it's not that people aren't invested, joanne agent: it's just that agent: ever since you were replaced as the UK's top selling author-- Rowling: ONLY BY VOLUME! agent: uh yes agent: since you were replaced as the UK's top selling author by volume by- Rowling: DON'T SSAY THE NAME

Rowling: DON'T SSAY THE NAME! I FORBID ANYONE TO SSPEAK THAT NAME IN MY SSCOTTISH CASSSTLE!!! [phone rings] Rowling: agent: Rowling: agent: Rowling: agent: um aren't you going to answer that? Rowling: NO Rowling: I KNOW WHO THAT IS

Rowling: [answers phone] hello? Julia Donaldson: hi is there a Ms. NottheUK'sbestsellingauthorbyvolume there Donaldson: first name Ima Rowling: hold on, i'll check

Rowling: ima! ima nottheuk'sbestsellingauthorbyvolume! Rowling: Rowling: wait a ssecond Donaldson: [blowing airhorn] GET GRUFFALOED BITCHHHH Rowling: GODDAMNIT!!! Rowling: if i ever find out who thiss iss, i'm going to buy sso many ssupreme court decisionss againsst you!!!

MY FAVOURITE FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS IN FILM › 26 / ∞

NELLIE, DAISY & LOU   🧡 WE WERE DANGEROUS (2024, dir. Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu)

this is the funniest thing i’ve ever read in my entire life

SCREAM 4 2011, dir. Wes Craven

"it's concerning if university students are genuinely struggling to read full adult-level books for class" and "don't overstate the reporting of a single news article" and "if this shift is genuinely real, it's reflective of broad curriculum changes in lower education levels, probably at least in part due to remote schooling during COVID, and doesn't mean the new generation is being willfully Stupid and Vapid" and "when reading for personal pleasure people should read whatever they like without shame" and "reading from a broad variety of genres, styles, and authorial backgrounds will improve your understanding of both literature and the real world" and "actively mocking people for their tastes in books does not encourage them to become more adventurous you're just being mean" and also "but seriously adult books are not just boringly pretentious nothingburgers padded with pointless sex scenes, and claiming they are just shows how little you've read" all can and should co-exist.

how the hell is hiding in my bathroom going to keep the driveway clear

Is this a new AI trend or am I just extra lucky to get a comment like this on AO3

what the actual fuck

Hello???

It's AI! It's all over Reddit, but basically if they mention you being alone for Christmas, it's definitely AI. There have been HUNDREDS of comments that are just some variation of this over and over again; if you're ever wondering whether a fic comment is AI or not, check it out on Reddit, most of the posts are referencing these kinds of comments. It's fucked up, but the main theory is that recently, AO3 denied a bunch of tech bros the ability to train their AI systems on fanfic, so this is their revenge. They want you to stop writing. It's pathetic, just delete and block <3 I promise your fic is lovely!

Here's some proof of my above claims!

Similar Comment #1

Similar Comment #2

Similar Comment #3

Similar Comment #4

And that's FAR from all of them unfortunately. But your writing is good; it's a fucking AI hatebot who wants people off of the platform. Stay strong!! I'm so sorry that happened to you

Oh thank god

I hate to think that ao3 had such vile people (sure there are some rude or entitled comments) but NOT this

Thank you so so much for this clarification

Some of the language in those comments definitely would have sent me into a self-hate spiral in the past so it might help others to know that that the messages aren’t real.

Knowing that whoever is behind ai wants me to stop writing is so uplifting, genuinely.

They wouldn't do that if we weren't somehow threatening something out there.

Let's keep being threatening with our scandalous writing for passion and not for money people :D joke on them, spite is motivating 🫵

I think a lot about the fact that the real genius of Hbomberguy’s plagiarism video was not just the exposé aspect of it but the fact that it so effectively demonstrated WHY plagiarism is bad.

When teachers warned against plagiarism in school, they made it seem like the reason it was bad was because it got you out of doing work. Plagiarism was bad because it was lazy. And that is (1) not a very strong deterrent to students who are only taking this class and writing this paper because they’re forced to and therefore don’t care about the work, and (2) missing the real harm behind the action.

On some level, yeah, plagiarism is bad because it will prevent you from learning how to write well on your own. There’s a real fear that a generation of kids won’t know how to write (which means they won’t know how to think) because they’ll be so used to having an “AI” machine do it for them that they’ll be helpless without it. That is very much a concern. But it’s far from the only issue. Harry laid out the other problems really well:

1. Plagiarism is enshittification. When you have to reword stuff to hide that you’re stealing it, the writing will be clunkier, wordier, more awkward, and less natural-sounding. This makes the piece worse, which isn’t good for anyone. Who needs more bad writing in the world?

2. Plagiarism spreads misinformation. Again, stealing stuff usually requires having to reword things to get around plagiarism checkers. That can make it very easy to (accidentally or purposely) rewrite a sentence to now be false instead of true. This is made worse by the fact that hiding the source of the information makes fact-checking impossible.

3. Plagiarism is anti-educational. If the audience doesn’t know where something came from, they can’t go visit that source to learn more about the topic. They’re prevented from finding any additional knowledge, which makes research—and therefore progress—difficult.

4. Plagiarism makes it impossible for creators to earn a living, thereby making it impossible to create. Funnily enough, this means less material for plagiarists to steal from, so the whole scam is really just a snake eating its own tail. Like all scams, it can’t last long. When plagiarists can make huge profits by stealing and putting out content faster because they’re stealing, the real creators who actually do the work have no chance. They can’t compete because they can’t create as fast as a plagiarist can steal. So they don’t make as much money, which means they can’t live off their work, which in turn means they can’t create anymore. This keeps going until all that’s left is stolen garbage.

There’s a lot to love about that video, but this part in particular is my favorite by far.

D.E.B.S. (2004) dir. Angela Robinson

It was the White Witch. She's the one who makes it always winter, always cold.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE 2005 | dir. Andrew Adamson

Sam Reid roles as Barbies

Your characters have problems.

I don’t mean flaws in character design, even though they possibly do. I mean the problems your characters SHOULD have. The problems they face in your story ie. villains, conflict, war, homophobic parents, not having a date to the big dance. Y’know…like a plot.

Here are 3 ways to improve your plot

1. Your Characters Need to Make Decisions

This may sound obvious, but it isn’t always. The Problem™ isn’t just something your character has to go through that sucks—they should be faced with options, and have to make Active Decisions™ that affect the outcome of the story. This gives your characters agency—if they don’t have agency, if they don’t make decisions, your characters will be read as passive. Passive characters aren’t interesting.

2. These Choices Need To Be Hard

Give your characters inner conflict.

Hard, tough decisions to make. How to face their big problem. In figuring out what options your characters will choose, remember their

3. Figure Out The Stakes

Based on what kind of story you have, the stakes for your protagonist are going to be different.

And there’s nothing wrong with having higher or lower stakes—but do think about where your stakes should be for your particular story. Many stories don’t have high enough stakes for readers to be captivated; these stories need to be reconfigured, after realizing what exactly is at stake and to what degree. Understanding what your stakes are can help you figure out what kind of reading experience your book will be.