u/Virtual-Pie5732

So there’s this relatively small fandom I’m in. I ended up finding a couple of fics I really liked a while back, but my absolute favorite was from this one specific author who wrote an OC insert fic.

They had written the first season and some of the second, but then the story hadn't been updated in over a year. Since they didn’t have any other stories updating either, I just assumed the fic was dead. But it was my favorite thing I’d found, so I saved it to re-read in the future.

Because there weren't many fics available for this fandom, I eventually was just like, "Whatever, I'll write one myself to contribute."

I have a super specific writing process where I write the entire fic out in a Word doc first, and then I just edit the chapters as I publish them. So using that method, I had written and posted the first season (as its own fic) and was right in the middle of finishing up a new fic for the second season.

The other day, I went back to read some of the old fics in the fandom that I had saved. I go to my favorite one and to my joyous surprise, they actually updated! They had dropped multiple new chapters.

I didn't think anything of it and just started reading. The first three chapters were totally normal. But then I get to the 4th chapter and something feels... off.

Then I hit a specific part and I’m literally like WTF? Because the scene I’m reading wasn't canon to the show. And I knew that for a fact because I was the one who wrote it.

I checked them side-by-side and they had copied my whole chapter word for word. They literally just changed the name of my OC to theirs.

They couldn't even be bothered to edit the character's mannerisms to match their own OC! Mine has a very specific quirk that acts as a running gag, something their OC had never shown before, and suddenly their character is doing it out of nowhere.

And the rest of their update is like that. A couple of chapters will be their own work, and then they'll just word-for-word copy a chapter of mine.

I was so pissed at first, but now I'm just disappointed. Someone who I genuinely admired stole my work. And for what? Like, you hadn't updated in over a year, what was the motivation to steal someone else's work? And why mine? I know the fandom is small, but it's not like I'm the only person who wrote an OC insert.

Not that I'd want this to happen to anyone else, but I'm just blown away by the irony that the author I followed stole from me.

It's also just disheartening in a weird way. It feels like finding out your favorite athlete was doping. You know it happens and that people do it, but you just thought they were above that and that the hard work they put in before was legit.

Edit: yes I did report it, but it's still up. I'm hoping something happens soon. I've already started writing season 3, and I kind of don't want to post it now because of this.

I need some honest outside perspectives. I’m currently a year and two semesters away from graduating with a bachelor's in marketing. It's not something I really want to do anymore, but I’ve sunk so much time and money into it that I do plan to finish the degree first.

But I keep thinking about what would actually make me happy long-term. Outside of performing, the only answer is being a veterinarian. It was my dream from childhood through college, and I only stepped away because I found a passion for entertainment.

The thing is, entertainment is just too volatile. Even when you think you have guaranteed work, you don't. I signed a contract that should have had me performing for three years straight, and they ended up closing the show before one year was even up. I don't want to keep bouncing between serving and retail jobs forever when things fall through.

I'm in my early 30s, and I'm questioning if it's a smart idea to finish this degree and then essentially start over from scratch to go to vet school. I don't care about the time or money, and I still volunteer and do the hard labor with animals. What are your thoughts? Is it crazy to start over now?

I need some honest outside perspectives. I’m currently a year and two semesters away from graduating with a bachelor's in marketing. It's not something I really want to do anymore, but I’ve sunk so much time and money into it that I do plan to finish the degree first.

But I keep thinking about what would actually make me happy long-term. Outside of performing, the only answer is being a veterinarian. It was my dream from childhood through college, and I only stepped away because I found a passion for entertainment.

The thing is, entertainment is just too volatile. Even when you think you have guaranteed work, you don't. I signed a contract that should have had me performing for three years straight, and they ended up closing the show before one year was even up. I don't want to keep bouncing between serving and retail jobs forever when things fall through.

I'm in my early 30s, and I'm questioning if it's a smart idea to finish this degree and then essentially start over from scratch to go to vet school. I don't care about the time or money, and I still volunteer and do the hard labor with animals. What are your thoughts? Is it crazy to start over now?

I know the title seems weird but what I'm referring to are scenarios like there's really bad weather, and I'm talking blizzard or hurricane, and people go to a restaurant (or Non-Essential location) and tell the workers "Wow I can't believe you're here right now in this weather!"

Or if it's a major holiday, "I can't believe your working on Christmas Day."

Yeah, they can't either the only reason they are there is because you refuse to stay home, and businesses are too greedy to not stay open if they think they're going to make some money.

Or things like pointing out hard work conditions that can't be changed.

"Wow I can't believe how hot it is, aren't you hot?"

Yeah no s**t it's hot, you pointing that out doesn't change anything and only pisses me off.

A lot of people can't afford to not go into work even in bad weather or other reasons.

I once worked at a restaurant where the state we were in was not used to snow, and we got a blizzard. And I was told, despite having worked there for nearly 2 years and never once calling out or getting in trouble, if I called out for this blizzard I would get written up. And for some people it's more than a write up, it could be termination.

I'll give a little leeway to the holiday thing, just because there are certain people who don't celebrate holidays so they don't mind working on it.

But pointing out stuff like this to workers will instantly send me from 1 to 100.

I am so sick and tired of people who do something nice for you, only to use that gesture as leverage to mistreat you later. It’s especially messed up when you were genuinely struggling and really needed the help.

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I was reminded of this because of my dad. I’m visiting him for the weekend and we just got into an argument over food. It brought back memories of a couple of years ago when I lived with him.At the time, I was really struggling financially, so he let me move in rent-free.

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But he constantly did rude, disrespectful things. For example, he knew I was on a super tight budget, but he would constantly eat my food. It was extra frustrating because I have medical conditions with strict allergies and dietary restrictions. When I asked him to please stop eating my food, his immediate excuse was, "Well, I'm letting you live here for free."

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Like, yeah, that’s true. But you supposedly did a nice thing to help me get back on my feet. If you're just going to weaponize it against me, it shows you don't actually care about helping.

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It reminds me of a friend of mine, too. She was having major car issues, so her sister let her borrow her car. But then the sister immediately tried to turn her into a personal chauffeur and babysitter. She wasn't even asking—she was demanding favors, using the car as leverage. It was way past reasonable and completely screwed up my friend's schedule.

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If you do something nice for someone, they should absolutely respect you and appreciate it. But it doesn't give you a free pass to walk all over them.

I'm so tired of people who use "Let's agree to disagree" to ignore facts or deny being wrong.

If you're arguing about a budget and what's the best application of the money, or what's the best pizza topping, that's where the saying comes into play.

But if you use it to avoid facts and not admit that you're wrong, then not only are you arguing in bad faith you're just using a passive-aggressive way to dismiss a valid, evidence-backed argument.

I'm writing this because I got into it with someone who is vegan. And at one point he was like "The way we eat is wrong and unnatural. You know we're the only animal that eats eggs."

I immediately told him he was wrong and pointed to several animals that eat eggs and instead of addressing that or even acknowledging that what he said was factually wrong his response was "Well I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree?"

What? No, we're not going to agree to disagree on basic facts.

I was performing an interactive art experience (if you've ever heard of Meowolf it's like that), and the various rooms had performers acting as atmosphere or doing some kind small performance like juggling.

Now on certain days the event offers a exclusive upgraded pass that allows you to enter two hours early and all of the actors are at the front of the experience so people can meet and take photos. Now this portion only last an hour, so we can have a break and get set before doors officially open to everyone else.

This is made very clear on the website when you buy your tickets as well as in an email sent giving details on the event.

And without fail we have people show up late and miss seeing the performers.

Well one day after we left we were told we were holding doors. It's rare for us to do that and later on one of the event managers and a performer near the entrance told us what happened.

A mom with her kids showed up super late and not just for the performer meeting but they arrived with somehow around 15 minutes left out of the two hour early entry.

She threw an absolute fit that she didn't get what she paid for. The manager tried to tell her she was late but the mom wasn't having that. She became belligerent and demanded that all the performers come back so she and her kids could take pictures like she was promised.

Not only did she not get that but the manager sent the performer who was there back to our break area because she didn't want him interacting with a woman who seemed like she was going to throw hands.

In the end she and her family just left without even going into the actual event (would've gotten escorted out anyway), but not without screaming and saying she was going to email people to complain.