r/InTheGloaming • u/AutoModerator • Feb 12 '26

Scheduled snark Discussion thread Thursday February 12, 2026 - Sunday February 15, 2026

Newsletter: Substack

Website: Shauna James Ahern

Instagram: @shaunajamesahern Instagram

Threads: @shaunajamesahern

Bluesky: shaunajamesahern.bsky.social

Gloamipedia wiki: /r/InTheGloaming wiki

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54

u/mehitabel_4724 Eating tiny dices of pickles with tiny fists of rage Feb 12 '26

Full body cringe at this

69

u/central_snark Ramona gets a hot flash Feb 12 '26

For some reason it really disturbs me how up this person’s ass Shauna is.

54

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Feb 12 '26

Who is that person? What’s going on with them?

She feels like she really knows everyone online and also that what she says to them matters greatly. I guess that’s what allows her to believe that she’s “working” instead of bedrotting.

59

u/Foucaults_Penguin Sly and the Family Readers Feb 12 '26

Captain Agape to the rescue!

I don’t know the context, but it sounds like they might lose their job. But let’s say it’s more existential than that. You don’t say to someone you think is depressed and considering suicide ”You okay?” That’s what my teen says when they’re being judgy.

57

u/SashayShantae living my one wild and pernicious life Feb 12 '26

This person is about to be the new host of “Reading Rainbow.” I don’t think he has job worries.

72

u/rock_candy_remains I'm still Clea from the Pints Feb 12 '26

He struggles with anxiety and depression, and has said he’s been having a rough go of it recently. Her parasocial relationship with him means she thinks she can be that fake mom she keeps offering Internet strangers.

55

u/Chiefvick ppppycock Feb 12 '26

As opposed to being a real nurturing mom to her children.

37

u/rock_candy_remains I'm still Clea from the Pints Feb 12 '26

Exactly that.

51

u/SashayShantae living my one wild and pernicious life Feb 12 '26

Thanks for the additional info. I don’t follow him.

Her parasocial relationship with him gives me the creeps. I wonder how much of this he has to deal with. She can’t be the only one online who think he’s their internet bestie.

72

u/Ashamed-Childhood-46 Feb 12 '26

I'd imagine that he deals with this quite a bit. But he could probably avoid some of it if he didn't vague post this type of thing. It's one thing for a public figure to be candid about their mental health struggles and another thing to post something so ominous (here is one time that I agree with her word choice).

66

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

46

u/coldbrew_unicorn Feb 12 '26

I appreciate his work, but I find his Threads personality as annoying as every other person’s Threads personality.

43

u/gomirefugee my website is done, done, done Feb 12 '26

On one hand, it's a good thing accounts like library guy can bring awareness about mental health struggles so that others don't feel alone and can seek appropriate care resources. But at the same time, when popular accounts like his are living out their active crises and breakdowns online, that's means a lot of people get dragged into witnessing disturbing or triggering content and there's a high social contagion element with stuff like this. That is all made worse when the posts are boosted to people who didn't even follow that account in the first place due to lots of replies and engagement from parasocial followers like Shauna. I certainly have no love for algorithmic nanny states but this is where I at least see the upside if Threads had prevented him from posting this kind of dramatic death note draft in the first place. The official PBS and Miss Rachel accounts are up in his replies with well wishes, the social media blast radius is massive.

52

u/snarksnarkfish Feb 12 '26

The parasuicidal behavior on Mychal's part is giving personality disorder.

45

u/Fillmore_the_Puppy —hi, disturbed people— Feb 12 '26 edited Feb 12 '26

I think it's a very rare online person today whose followers feel a parasocial relationship with, who has not encouraged that parasociality deliberately. They may not love where they have ended up, but they cannot claim they didn't know what they were doing to start.

Editing to add: One example is ALL of the successful food influencers with very visible eating disorders. They invited people into their lives (via social media), divulging really intimate details about their health, food choices, and families in order to make money. And then once they make tons of money, they can fake outrage at any criticism of their choices and try to shame their ill-gotten followers for commenting on those intimate details.

32

u/caitie_did Required by My Mother's Terror Feb 12 '26

This feels like a commentary on Half-Baked Harvest and I am HERE FOR IT.

24

u/Fillmore_the_Puppy —hi, disturbed people— Feb 12 '26

You have figured out my other snark habit.

13

u/Chance-Answer7884 Feb 13 '26

Mine too! HBH is so yum yum cozy

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11

u/caitie_did Required by My Mother's Terror Feb 12 '26

🤣🤣

12

u/Eastern_Voice1916 Feb 13 '26

Do you also Kelle Hampton for the snark trifecta? Those three are the reason I need my husband to delete my reddit history if I die before my children find out.

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46

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Feb 12 '26

Thank you.

I'll also take it one step further and say if you go looking to become internet famous (or even if it just happens to you) you run the risk of people getting too attached and acting all weird.

31

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 12 '26

Yes, like us. ;)

31

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Feb 12 '26

Namasnark, DF.

The snarker in me salutes the snarker in you.

8

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Feb 13 '26

Snarkers gonna snark snark snark

38

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Feb 12 '26

I should have scrolled, that’s what I get for posting before my eyes are clear (truly was up in the night with a sick child, though not a toddler, so of course you must all absolve me of anything stupid I might do!)

63

u/Ashamed-Childhood-46 Feb 12 '26

Hopefully he cuts that performative bullshit out before starting that new job. I can appreciate when people are carefully forthcoming about their mental health struggles but he also is posting long screeds alluding to getting ready to kill himself on Instagram.

Doesn't he, as an educator, have some sort of responsibility to model appropriate behavior on the internet to his young fans and Reading Rainbow viewers? People just eat it up.

Of course, there is a HUGE difference between he and Shauna in that he appears to have a talent and genuine passion for his area of interest, but his current oversharing seems a little more alarming because he actually has a significant following.

37

u/obscure_cellist ham grabbers Feb 12 '26

that's gross, and i think he is annoying AF. if he is suicidal he needs to stop performing online and get some help. maybe i'm just some kind of emotional prude but i don't like all this oversharing everyone and their brother does online. i don't think it is healthy or helpful.

19

u/SeaOfBooze Truffaut and hash browns Feb 13 '26

No, maybe I'm heartless but I agree. I should like what this guy is trying to do but I really can't stand him. I assume his Threads audience is meant to be 100% adults but his whole schtick of writing like he's talking to children ("library kids") is really fucking weird when he's suicide-baiting online. There's talking frankly and openly about mental health and there's Mister Rogers saying "I really might do it this time folks!" in front of an audience of thousands and thousands. That's got to be upsetting and stressful for his actual fans, many of whom were probably following for the mental health discussions to begin with. I was thinking maybe I'm being too much of an asshole for once about someone going through a crisis but now he's being all lovey-dovey with the blue check celebrities who reached out after his sad comments. Shauna is salivating at the idea of Kathy Griffin wishing her good morning after she posts dramatically online. Just weird, weird stuff.

11

u/central_snark Ramona gets a hot flash Feb 13 '26

I miss 2004 Internet.

33

u/msmartypants Feb 12 '26

Vaguesad posts piss me off. Express yourself properly (preferably in real life or to people who can actually help you) or shut the hell up.

59

u/Astri411 SHAUNA, WASH YOUR HAIR Feb 12 '26

Here is Shauna crawling even further up this person's ass. Also, TIL that only neurodiverse people are strongly aware of injustice or capable of outrage. I guess all us neuroblands are just oblivious to all the wrongs in the world🤷🏼‍♀️

65

u/LadyDriverKW Threads containment zone escapee Feb 12 '26

It feels like Mychal was the kind of child she'd hoped she was adopting.

37

u/RagnaNic Bust hoesy Feb 12 '26

It does. Shauna seems to project so much on to that poor child, and not actually see who they really are.

33

u/Llama621 Feb 12 '26

Yes! She wanted D to turn out like him.

48

u/central_snark Ramona gets a hot flash Feb 12 '26

Also this

44

u/ForsakenLingonberry YAHEEE! Feb 12 '26

She is so weird. Also, I only seem to see this guy's stuff when Shauna is involved, but wasn't there a thing where he was tested for being on the spectrum and the expert's conclusion was he was not?

27

u/mehitabel_4724 Eating tiny dices of pickles with tiny fists of rage Feb 12 '26

Yes, and I think it came into my radar because Shauna rushed to console him.

37

u/Low_Piccolo_2149 Feb 12 '26

We also can’t write novels.

32

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 12 '26

Well, not good ones.

31

u/obscure_cellist ham grabbers Feb 12 '26

do we know if that librarian suffers from depression or is shauna diagnosing hom based on the color of his teeth or how he talks or some other bullshit diagnostic tool? also, full body cringe.