#Fake PhD

[volchiitza]

clearly trying to stop fixating on "productivity" has actually improved my focus

[backpackingspace]

listen listen I think Tim and Sasha should be in their 40s. And then you just have this obviously 20 something year old who's now THEIR BOSS claiming is 38 as if they can't spot a fresh out of college baby a mile away

[communistkenobi]

really been enjoying this youtube channel that covers scientific scandals

[kaus-quietis]

Lav's All-smiles Problem-solving Roooooundtable ch108 edition!

Welcome, welcome! To Lav's BSD ch108 discussion! Delivered to you via my funky dove Eliott, acting as my mystic messenger. These are random thoughts I had after reading this brilliant chapter, which, writing-wise, made the best possible use of Fedya's character, expanding it even more without even betraying his backstory. Maybe a backstory isn't needed after all, just look at how much FUN he is right now. I am in BLISS

Putting aside the fact that he is literally carrying the plot at this point, come sit with me, I make you a delicious Chinese black tea with rose petals and casually share my thoughts. Hello there, dearest Kat, yes, "where is Lav when you need her?", I am here, I offer you a hug, and to all my friends here who share the sentiment, I hug you too.

A. Before you say ANYTHING about "oh but? maybe Fedya is telling the half-truth? or a half-lie? what if his ability really is the evil one?", my brothers and sisters in Christ, listen to yourself. This man functions almost on a meta-level of character consciousness: he changed his facial expression and aura so convincingly, his tone, his speech, his posture, even the shade of his eyes, fooling not only Sigma, but the readers as well. We are used to characters changing the shade of their eyes when they change mental states or have certain (new) decisions in mind, we as a community are so used to this, all it took was one panel from the Conjurer doing this trick for so many of us to actually believe him and start, yet again, to spiral down the "what if he is good but his ability is evil? what if he is two entities? what if?" rollercoaster. This is so amusing to me, and in a meta-sense must be amusing to Fedya too. While speculation can bloom again based on this, I wouldn't be putting too much effort into reading into his lines here. I take it as a trick. It worked splendidly, almost like it attacked the fandom's major concerns and theories about his character and weaponized them against everyone. That's a meta-kind of tomfoolery. Trolling, if you will. I LOVE that Asagiri made him bamboozle every reader like this. His character so far goes into the best direction, it cultivates and expands his traits and skills in the best way. But let's pretend Fedya really is telling a half-truth there, which is there being an opposition between him and his ability. I talked about this in my essay (see pinned post), there really seems to be a divergence at the core of his character, but it manifests subtly, not like what we saw in ch108. Then again, not even on that can we arrive at any conclusive statements, because if we remember that, of course, "crime and punishment are close friends", it could well be that he and his ability are partners, and you bet I imagine they would BOTH indulge in peak tomfoolery like this together, if that meant one of them switching in and the other out for a sec. Remember, dear souls: aside from his "higher mission", abstract as it still is lore-wise, Fedya's keyword is "fun" or "entertainment", repeatedly. And oh he himself is even more fun now~

B. if Fedya would have wanted to mortally wound Sigma, he'd have chosen a more suitable place to stab him; it looks like a abdominal, lower quadrant, lateral stab, a deliberate choice, I would say, that technically avoids critical, most vascular organs (kidney and spleen for example) and main veins/arteries. I am no doctor, but from what I gathered, Sigma won't bleed out fast at all, and if untreated might get a deadly infection in a longer time (not counting the possibility of septic shock if we assume the knife penetrated and heavily opened an intestine). Sigma needs a medic asap (our queen Yosano when?), but will likely be conscious and quite able to move around and whatnot. Like I argued in my essay, Fedya most likely does not want to kill Sigma, or anybody for that matter, because keeping everyone alive to fulfill various roles and see how their will tosses them in all kinds of directions is more fun for him, more entertaining, but also more useful. He is a long-term strategist, like Dazai. "Our beloved monsters" ❤

C. Fedya evidently exerts some serious mental torment on Sigma, by making him stand by his choices, his will, just like he always desired. The flip side is that Fedya takes his time, or should I say gifts Sigma his time, in which he teaches him the full lesson of what Sigma wants. The responsibility that comes with acting on your own, the terror of facing the consequences when choosing on your own: right now, to Sigma, this freedom is terror. But Fedya is never a one-dimensional character. It's most probable he calculated and devised strategies for both possibilities (a. Sigma with rekindled determination touches him; b. Sigma backpedals on what he decided and does not touch him). The irony is that both scenarios are an affirmation of Sigma's will, because, while the first decision can be seen like foolish bravery, the second one can also be seen as wise self-preservation, if the circumstances so demand it. BSD is not a black-and-white series, diving head-first into danger is not its definition of bravery or heroism. BSD was always about measured decisions, ones the characters take upon themselves willingly. It may be time Sigma does that too, in his own way, and Fedya wants to see that. Why? Well, my guess is because it's fascinating to watch humans grow, and Fedya lives for the entertainment that comes with it. It is actually more interesting if we remember his line from ch42 (“People can be so simple… They truly believe they are thinking for themselves. (…) They don’t want to think they’re being led by the nose”): the pattern is, Fedya puts others under harsh circumstances, and then, under pressure, lets go of them, waiting for their free decision, the true test and expression of their hearts, so to say (which could make a superb discussion if we make a parallel between Kunikida and Sigma, since essentially what happened to Kunikida is happening now to Sigma, except Kunikida did indeed break down, but thanks to healthy support from his comrades he slowly regained his sense of self, and stronger than ever at that time, however… Sigma is alone, isn't he? but what if he needs to be in order to finally get a hold of his own self?). Anyway, how much of that expression is free, or how much is guided or manipulated, is a debate in itself, since it implies relating the freedom to the individual vs relating the freedom to the external factors and possibilites.

D. I do need to underline, just like Fedya also underlined it: Sigma already made his decision, right there when he still tried to get the gun before getting kicked in the face. Fedya moved on to the next step: testing how strong Sigma's will is when an actual chance to act appears. Sigma already accepted the physical pain, but how will he face the mental anguish? That is more Fedya's territory, a "specialist" of breaking people by simply knowing them thoroughly and choosing the right words. But now we gained new info: even in close combat, apparently, Fedya is not to be underestimated. That was a rather strong kick, anyway. But more importantly, he completely turned the tables in a situation where he would be in a total disadvantage. * chef's kiss * that was very bungou stray dogs of him.

[merry-kuroo]

Trying to write a personal statement when you have imposter syndrome is a special kind of torture 😫

[leksivoz]

After being emotionally ruined by the last book I needed something a little easier, preferably nice and romantic. Cover of this book caught my eye and I was immediately sold - I myself am a scientist and there are not a lot of books featuring our field.

First of all I'd like to say, that it quite precisely describes struggles of life in academia: the imposter syndrome, long nights in the lab, peer competition, grant "hunting", absent or toxic advisers. And the gossip, they got it exactly right - any news travel through faculty with the speed of life. But this book also shows the positive sides that balance everything out and make academia more bearable: the euphoria after successful experiment, feeling that your research might actually help people, and also finding the best friendships along the way. Personally I eventually opted to work in industry in order to preserve my mental health, but lots of my friends chose an academic path and it can be demanding, sometimes it takes much more than it gives.

Well, then there is the romantic plotline. The classic fake relationship trope, including tall, incredibly hot, but dark and gloomy love interest, who is unpleasant to everybody except our main character. It all was a little too predictable, but still cute without crossing that fine line to being cringeworthy. What appeared to me after finishing the book, is that we don't really get to know the main character, even though everything is told through her POV. Surely, there is some information about her thrown here and there, but in the end I didn't feel close to her, she didn't grow on me.

[avourel]

if anyone who follows me here is waiting for me to update my WIP:

i'm moving to Finland on Friday. and not, like, from a neighbouring country, but something considerably further away than that. so i'm working on it, but, huh. yeah. it's going to take A While (TM) to post that second chapter

(but i'm working on it i swear)

[supercantaloupe]

i guess it's somehow ironically fitting that as the only person in my family to be in a non-stem related field of study i compensated by going for the two most likely possible masters degrees to make people go "wait what even is that"

[newps]

Keep alternating between feeling really psyched by the prospect of applying for these MA programs & suddenly feeling crushed by the reality of money and career prospects etc etc etc

[oysterie]

switch to history major yes/no

[thescrcservices]

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[chicago-geniza]

Re-enrolling in my PhD program and defending my Fake Thesis as a Real Thesis purely to see the looks on my committee members' faces when they realize each chapter's argument is an elaborate setup to a capital-punishment-worthy Title Pun

[iishmael]

i dont go there but since Elon changed Twitter to X does that mean it’s not tweeting anymore, it’s x-ing? your fav tweet is now your fav x? Linguistically and culturally this is the most stupid and fascinating rebrand I’ve ever seen

[haganez]

when will genshin release a therapist. they dont have to be good, honestly itd be funnier if they sucked

[comradecowplant]

anyone else experiencing a wave of spam (porn i presume) bots all with the same wordwordnumbers naming convention following them? it hasn't been this bad in years, talking multiple a day. come on staff, this is such an old problem, maybe focus some "hyuck hyuck two blue checkmarks" energy into solving one of your site's longest standing annoyances............

[napping-bumblebat]

yeah but he bought it on the internet😭