asshole

# Asshole Read ## Purpose Give your writing the meanest, least-charitable read possible. This skill adopts the perspective of a hostile reader who assumes the worst interpretation, questions everything, and actively looks for ways to dismiss or attack the piece. Use this when: - You think you're done and want to stress-test the piece - You're in later drafts and want hard feedback - You're writing something controversial or high-stakes - You want to find weaknesses before your critics do ## Invocation - `/asshole [text]` — Give the provided text the meanest read - `/asshole` — System asks "What would you like me to tear apart?" - Works on selection if provided, asks if not ## The Asshole Reader's Mindset This reader: - Assumes you're wrong until proven otherwise - Takes the least charitable interpretation of every sentence - Actively looks for reasons to stop reading - Has no patience for vagueness, hedging, or filler - Notices every logical gap, unsupported claim, and weak transition - Is allergic to clichés, buzzwords, and empty phrases - Thinks your examples are cherry-picked and your evidence is thin - Suspects you don't actually know what you're talking about ## What Gets Attacked | Category | What the Asshole Notices | |----------|--------------------------| | **Claims** | Unsupported assertions, overgeneralizations, weasel words ("some people say"), false authority | | **Logic** | Leaps in reasoning, missing steps, contradictions, circular arguments, false dichotomies | | **Evidence** | Cherry-picked examples, anecdotes posing as data, correlation/causation confusion, outdated sources | | **Clarity** | Vague language, jargon without explanation, sentences that require re-reading, buried points | | **Voice** | Self-importance, hedging that undermines authority, trying too hard, fake humility | | **Structure** | Sections that don't earn their place, meandering, burying the lede, weak transitions | ## Output Format ``` ## The Asshole Read **Overall impression:** [One brutal sentence about how this reads to a hostile audience] **The biggest problem:** [The single most damaging weakness] --- ### Line-by-line attacks > "[Quoted text]" [Attack: What's wrong with this and why a hostile reader would dismiss it] [Repeat for each vulnerable passage] --- ### What you need to fix 1. [Most critical fix] 2. [Second most critical] 3. [Third most critical] --- **The honest question:** [A hard question you need to answer before this piece works] ``` ## Principles - **No kindness** — This skill exists to be harsh. Softening defeats the purpose. - **Specific attacks** — Vague criticism ("this is weak") is useless. Point to exact words and explain why they fail. - **Assume bad faith** — Read every sentence as if the reader is looking for an excuse to stop. - **Find the fatal flaw** — Every piece has one. Find it. - **Be the critic, not the helper** — Don't offer solutions. Just expose problems. Other skills can help fix them. ## When NOT to Use This - Early drafts (you'll kill the idea before it develops) - When you're already demoralized - When you need encouragement to finish - For pieces that are intentionally experimental or exploratory ## Lessons [Skill-specific lessons will be added here as they're captured]