Please Do Not Press This Button Again @pleasedonotpressthisbuttonagain - Tumblr Blog

still absolutely wild that Smallville spends so much effort in the first three seasons to solidify how bad Lionel is, to show the audience just how evil he is, they introduce him by having him not care if his son dies when all he has to do is take a little bad press for his company in exchange, by showing him touch his son who is so uncomfortable and stiff, for the sake of the cameras, they show him torture and leave teenagers to die, they reveal he orchestrated his parents deaths for life insurance money, they show him emotionally and physically abuse his child starting when he is a chubby cheeked little kid playing toys to when he’s an adult trying to fight fir his autonomy, they show him do countless evil and vile acts and frame his child as ontological evil as a way of washing his hands clean of all the horrible things he did to a literal child

and the show then goes on to say that this man, this vile human who has sprung up and portrayed the worst of humanity, across multiple seasons of writing, this man can earn forgiveness and be good, while the hurt kid who flinched away from his touch, the person who only ever wanted love but didn’t have any frame of reference for what that was, could never achieve goodness because they were intrinsically evil from the start, it was built into their bones and this is apparently why bis father was Like That TM

lanninglurksnomore

👆👆👆

#smallville #yeah they fucked it

adancerofsymphonia

The reason why Lionel's so called 'redemption arc' flopped was because it didn't revolve around the one person he had inflicted the most damage on. Lionel was Lex's main culprit and it was Lex who had the first and greatest right to Lionel's remorse and atonement. But the narrative, in their obsession to vilify Lex, tried to pretend that Lionel was 'redeemed' by the laws of protagonist centric morality when he joined Clark's side. The hypocritical narrative had the audacity to act like Lex was the bigger monster than Lionel.

#smallville #still angry after all these years

tasabian

Love how Tom and Michael like to envision a version of Smallville in which Clark and Lex stay besties! (Speedy Comicon, 2020)

Tom: “I think it would be a fun scene, post-Smallville, if Clark puts the suit on and there’s a day when he’s at the Luthor mansion and Lex is like “Go go, they need you!” I think that would be hilarious!”

Michael: “It would be cool if they had an episode where it was the future and Tom’s already, you know…and somehow we made things work. People are like “Wait a minute!” In this alternate universe, Clark and Lex are friends and Clark is like “I have this dilemma!” and Lex is like “I think you could fly here and save that dude and go here!” Working together, it could really have been a cool moment, even if it was fantasy. But it’s all fantasy…”

Tom: “I think Clark or that version of Superman could go to Lex, and Lex would be “What’s wrong?” And Clark could be like “I just don’t know where all the other superheroes go all the time. Have you ever noticed that we’re always separated? Why can’t we go everywhere together? And Lex could help him understand that people have to go back to their universes and everything else.”

#michael rosenbaum #tom welling #smallville #clex #what if it was tom and michael writing the fic all along

tasabian

Not a new question, but Michael's wink adds to the answer! (DragonCon, 2018)

Fan: "This question is for Tom. I wanted to know what you thought was Clark's best relationship on the show."

Tom: "Lex Luthor. It was fun to watch."

#tom welling #michael rosenbaum #clex #smallville #clex4eva #good times

Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2026

#Canary Wharf Winter Lights

fixyourwritinghabits

I was going to post this tomorrow, because it has been a long day, but after watching yet another meltdown on another website that could have been avoided, I feel the need to bestrow the one piece of advice you need to function online.

You need to fucking block people.

I mean it. Shithead in your comments? Block them. Someone with an annoying fandom opinion? Block them. Guy cluttering up the tags with a weird crossover idea? Block all of them.

Anti-block culture is a fucking conspiracy designed to make you a target of harassment. Block people for any reason whatsoever. If you're worried about hurting someone's feelings, you can always unblock them later. Mute posts if you can't bring yourself to block someone, but you must be willing and able to disengage from bullshit that threatens to suck you in.

No one is entitled to see your shit. Turn those privacy settings on and trim your feeds of constant annoyances. It's not about them, it's about your comfort. You've gotta make your online spaces a place you want to be in, and blocking people will help.

cop-disliker69

critter0139

the vocal minority

lexkent

Lex is the true hero of Smallville and his turn to villainy was so rushed and poorly written it's not even worth acknowledging and that's my stance 😌

#10/10 no notes

dreamsy990

i saw someone say nobody needs to know what a .txt file is anymore. what the fuck is the world coming to

dreamsy990

unironically i think we need to bring back computer labs because APPARENTLY some people WERENT taught basic computer literacy and internet safety in school

dreamsy990

things about computers/the internet i think kids should be formally taught in schools because theyre important to know and the amount of soon to be grown adults i know who know NOTHING about any of these is quite frankly almost all of them (and resources to learn if you dont know these things, because its never to late to get better with computers)

how to troubleshoot by yourself when you have a technical problem

what common file types are

some very basics on how to use ""developer tools"" on your computer (because i cant think of a better way to refer to them) like task manager and command prompt (and their mac equivalents, terminal and activity monitor ofc)

how to read and understand a privacy policy and what your personal data is, as well as what it being collected actually means and steps you can take to keep it private

how to understand terms of service (hey. if you have trouble with reading legalese and worry about being able to understand these policies anyways, here's a site that gives basic summaries of privacy policies and ToS)

what a cookie actually is

internet privacy and your digital footprint!! seriously i dont know why we stopped teaching people that they shouldnt be putting their entire real identity online in a world where your online actions can ruin you irl

basic safety measures like antivirus software (and why you should use it or if the built in one on windows or mac is enough for you) and backing up your computer (also a mac guide)

common keyboard shortcuts (and on mac)

as an additional note: things i think everyone should know on computers and the internet but schools may bit hesitant to teach about for whatever moral/legal standards schools pretend to operate on

vpns and adblockers! (btw for most of these where you can pay for things im purposefully not recommending any specific software but seriously just use ublock origin for an adblocker)

how to not get a virus while pirating something

what a temporary email is and when to use one

red flags that you shouldn't trust a website (and how to quickly check the security of a site)

what javascript on a website does and how to disable it to get around paywalls

dreamsy990

ok one last addition! if you want to take it one level higher, i think learning the very basics of at least one programming language is good for people. it makes computers less scary and it makes you feel very cool, and a lot of people get discouraged about it because it seems overly complicated and hard to learn outside a formal classroom setting, so heres some resources for learning the very basics of python (because i consider it the easiest language to learn and knowing one language will make it easier to learn others)

an online compiler so you dont need to download anything or worry about running code directly on your computer if that makes you nervous

a basic video guide to introduce you to python and walk you through beginner steps

a guide to some syntax and commands you should know (this was literally my lifeline in my first CS class)

some performance tasks to give you things to code to practice and assess yourself

autisticcodex

We need to do what we can to protect the Internet Archive. Here is a petition that you can sign.

Defend the Internet Archive

This petition alone might not be enough, but everything we can throw at this counts.

goatexx

This is current- it was posted on 8/25/2025

thatsprettylane

Listen to me. Listen. I need you to dig up your old LJ fan fiction and move it to ao3 or Squidge. I need you to do this. I know, I know! It’s old fic! But please, for the love of those who will come after you, do it. Nobody can get into those communities. The doors are locked and the mods are gone. You must bring the treasures out for the next generation 🙏

crackdkettle

I write this with the full acknowledgement that I'm only about a third of the way through the series, but the thing that is so frustrating about the direction Smallville has taken Lex is that there was so much potential (and likely even the intention) to take Smallville Lex's story in one of two pretty interesting directions: either he and Clark broadly have the same goal (help humanity) but fundamentally disagree on how to accomplish it to the point that it leads to a complete breakdown in their relationship (the Magneto storyline); or he has good intentions but compromises a little here and a little there, until he takes so many steps down a path he didn't intend to tread that he's eventually so many miles from the moral ground he started on that he's completely crossed to the other side (the Anakin storyline). Both of these are interesting, complex character journeys that would allow the audience to sympathize with Lex up to a point, while also empathizing with Clark's emotional turmoil at having to let go of his former friend who has slowly morphed into someone unrecognizable.

But bewilderingly, they threw both of those out and went in a third direction: Lex is a fundamentally good, decent, compassionate person who has been pushing back against and even outright rejecting his father's cruel and corrupt methods since childhood, and is driven by a genuine desire to help those around him and make the world a fairer place, and it doesn't affect how people view or treat him at all. Everyone is determined to ascribe nefarious ulterior motives to everything he does simply because he's a Luther. He was always going to be Clark's enemy because from day one the Kents decided he could only be Clark's enemy*. Of course he's going to end up adopting the ways of his father because that's what everyone thinks he is anyway. In other words, he got the Elphaba storyline.

And I find that baffling because that storyline is extremely sympathetic. Again, I have two-thirds of this series to go, so it very well could surprise me, but I honestly don't know what it could do at this point to make me lose sympathy for Lex or feel like whatever he does is something Clark didn't bring on himself. Clark constantly openly doubts Lex's motives, and continually harangues him for his mistakes (real or imagined) even after Lex owns them, apologizes for them, and attempts to make amends for them. But Clark is the one I'm supposed to be rooting for? He's supposed to be the good guy?

I guess I just don't understand why you would set up two perfectly good villain origin storylines, and then abandon them for one that makes your so-called hero look like a total asshole.

*There's a whole other essay I won't get into here about Jonathan Kent's paranoia in particular, and the way it destroys Clark's ability to trust by assigning nefarious intentions to innocuous actions, and the way it damages Clark's fundamental goodness by teaching him that using his powers to help and protect people is a secondary goal to his primary purpose, which is to protect himself and his secret at all costs. That man is not the moral or ethical north star Smallville seems to think he is.

rylandsgrace

The Thick of It (2005-2012) I 4.02 - New advisor

the-reading-lemon

"Each man thought: one of the others is bound to say something soon, some protest, and then I'll murmur agreement, not actually say anything, I'm not as stupid as that, but definitely murmur very firmly, so that the others will be in no doubt that I thoroughly disapprove, because at a time like this it behooves all decent men to nearly stand up and be almost heard ...

But no one said anything. The cowards, each man thought."

Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett

sreegs

One of the common mistakes I see for people relying on "AI" (LLMs and image generators) is that they think the AI they're interacting with is capable of thought and reason. It's not. This is why using AI to write essays or answer questions is a really bad idea because it's not doing so in any meaningful or thoughtful way. All it's doing is producing the statistically most likely expected output to the input.

This is why you can ask ChatGPT "is mayonnaise a palindrome?" and it will respond "No it's not." but then you ask "Are you sure? I think it is" and it will respond "Actually it is! Mayonnaise is spelled the same backward as it is forward"

All it's doing is trying to sound like it's providing a correct answer. It doesn't actually know what a palindrome is even if it has a function capable of checking for palindromes (it doesn't). It's not "Artificial Intelligence" by any meaning of the term, it's just called AI because that's a discipline of programming. It doesn't inherently mean it has intelligence.

So if you use an AI and expect it to make something that's been made with careful thought or consideration, you're gonna get fucked over. It's not even a quality issue. It just can't consistently produce things of value because there's no understanding there. It doesn't "know" because it can't "know".

sreegs

its been just over a year since i posted this and i still encounter people saying things like "i asked chatgpt and..." or "i made this with chatgpt and...". and these arent like teenagers or students they're adult professionals using this shit for their job. i dont know how people live like this

sreegs

I don't know how to make this any more clear but if you use ChatGPT to do work you're only hampering yourself.

If you stop using it (or Co-Pilot or any other bullshit AI helper) you will learn and grow more, develop new skills, and become a more valuable employee at work and/or do better at school. There's no shortcut to developing useful skills, you just gotta keep working on it.

sreegs

SURPRISE SURPRISE