#I can't imagine being a grad student in the lab

[frumpytaco]

Yesterday in a conversation with an undergrad, my PI mentioned that he was planning to go to the university’s marine station today to sample seagrasses. This was my first time hearing about this and I (naively I guess?) assumed that he had been planning this all beforehand. I asked if I could go if it wasn’t too much trouble (I sit in front of a computer all day and I miss the grass) and he said yes so I was like cool great. THEN at 4:30 in the afternoon, aka 30 minutes before I have to run to catch my train he was like “hey can you find a rental car for tomorrow?” and I was so fucking speechless all I could say was “yeah sure” and frantically tried to find a place, none of which were both located nearby and had pickup times that we needed. But I found one. And I couldn’t send him a link to it because the stupid rental website was storing all the work I did in the cache or whatever (idk I’m not a scientist) so I literally had to hand. him. my. computer. so he could pay for the car. AND THEN I realized wait this is an all day trip should I bring lunch because idk what the culture is in this lab (as if there’s any lab culture whatsoever but that’s a broader issue) /university and I asked him as I was leaving if we were stopping somewhere and he was like “oh food that’s a good point haha” (!!!!!!) and then I thought oh wait what about gear, like does the marine station have boots or waders we could rent? what’s the tide supposed to be like tomorrow? what sites are we going for? are we targeting Phyllospadix or Zostera because they live in super different habitats and require different sampling gear? And he had no answers to these questions. Also the low low tide today is -0.1’. Also he told me that Phyllospadix is not a seagrass, which, it literally fucking is and he had to pull up Wikipedia to check. So then he sent an email to everyone asking me to provide logistical information for tomorrow and I replied with as little snark as I could saying things about what to expect from the habitats and where to find the grasses. I realized I forgot to mention that nearest location of Zostera is in a national estuarine research reserve and I would be very surprised at this point if he’s considered permitting.

But you know what the best part about being tasked with planning a trip I didn’t know about the day before? Since I wasn’t planning on coming until less than 24 hours before, I can back out just as easily. You’re welcome for my help. What were you going to do if I hadn’t expressed interest in coming?



[bitingdrivers]

bones au! it's time for GP to appear (very briefly) - maxiel, max/gp (off-screen), 1.5k - read on ao3

“Come on, Bones, don't you see?” Daniel grins, holding up a takeout box. 

Max rolls his eyes. “Daniel, this is of course just a piece of chicken. It does not look like…” He waves his hand around. 

“Abraham Lincoln!” Daniel exclaims, gesturing at the chicken nugget. “He looks exactly like the 5 dollar bill!”

Max looks up at him with sceptic eyes. “Seeing things that aren't there is not good, Daniel,” Max explains flatly. “Maybe you should talk to Lando about this.”

There's a sound behind and then Charles walks into Max’s office with a wrapped up box in his hands. Daniel gives him a small smile in greeting. 

“I don’t need a shrink. Listen, didn't you watch the clouds when you were little? Looking up and imagining– I don't know–rabbits and sheep in the clouds?” Daniel asks, exasperated. 

Max opens his mouth to reply, but Charles speaks first. 

“Sorry to interrupt. There's a man here, he said to give you this.” Charles hands Max the box.

“What man?” Daniel asks, watching Max unwrap the paper. 

“I don't know, but he’s handsome,” Charles drawls.

Max finally opens the box, but Daniel doesn't get to ask what's inside because Max immediately jumps from his chair and all but runs out of the office. 

Charles and Daniel share a look and go after him. 

They don't go too far – as soon as they walk out of the doors Daniel sees the man Charles was talking about. 

“GP!” Max beams and throws himself into the man’s arms. 

The man is bald, dressed in a blue jumper and black jeans. He readily scoops up Max in a hug and even twirls both of them around. 

Daniel rarely sees Max this excited. Only when he talks about mummies or archeological breakthroughs or other scientific things. Never when it's about another, alive, human being. 

“Ooh,” Charles sing-songs. “Now I understand.” 

Daniel tears his eyes away from the pair and looks at Charles. “What? Do you know him?”

“What's going on?” Oscar asks from behind. Daniel didn't even notice him coming up, busy with observing Max with his…friend? 

“This is Gianpiero Lambiase,” Chalres nods toward the pair. “Or GP, as Max calls him. He was Max’s professor.”

“They look…close,” Oscar notes, eyeing how GP is still hugging Max while they quietly talk to each other. 

“Yeah, Max told me they had a thing while he was GP’s grad student,” Charles says conspiratorially. 

“A thing?” Daniel asks, confused.

“A thing,” Charles smirks. 

Since Daniel learned that Max likes men, it's been… unusual, seeing him with them. He tries to not think about it, but more often than not Daniel finds himself assessing every man Max interacts with. 

He's not proud of it, and he definitely won't ever tell that to Max, but once or twice Daniel had to give shovel talk to the guys who wanted to take Max out, reminding them that Max is a very important figure in the science world and that Daniel is a trained sniper. 

It's not like Daniel thinks Max can't look after himself – more than once Daniel was a witness to Max defending himself. But a punch to the solar plexus or an elbow strike can't defend you from a broken heart and Daniel was raised to protect his friends. Even if it means using his gun to intimidate an electrical engineer or an underwater welder.

Daniel looks up in time to see Max and GP approaching. Daniel supposes they look…okay together. GP has a calm presence to him and Max looks happy, almost shy.

“Everyone, meet GP. He was my professor while I was a grad student,” Max says, gesturing to the man. “Just like you and me, Oscar.”

“No,” Oscar utters, making a face. “Not like you and me.”

Max doesn't seem to notice Oscar's disapproving look and introduces Daniel and Charles next.

“It's nice to meet you, man,” Daniel smiles and subtly shifts so his jacket uncovers the gun sitting in the holster at his hip. 

Charles nods at the introduction and Max turns back to GP. 

“You should see the lab.” Max beams again and starts to tug GP towards the platform.

Daniel doesn't miss the way GP puts his hand on the small of Max's back. 

“I'm sorry, Max. I can't stay, I have a meeting with the head of the museum,” GP explains calmly. “But, we can meet for dinner later?”

Max excitedly nods. “Yes, of course. You will pick me up at 7,” he states. 

“Of course,” GP chuckles. “I should go. It was nice seeing you.” He looks at all of them, then ruffles Max’s hair and walks away. 

***

Max is late. Max is never late. 

They agreed to meet at the FBI building to talk to the suspects on their recent case. Daniel's been waiting for 20 minutes now, pacing in his office and trying not to worry. He contemplates giving Max a call when he hears a soft knock. 

He looks up and sees Max standing at the doors. He looks relaxed, gently smiling. 

“Hello Daniel” Max greets, coming closer. “I'm sorry I'm late, I got…distracted.”

Daniel suddenly remembers that yesterday Max was planning to have dinner with GP and feels stupid for worrying. 

He did a little digging after he got to the office that day and decided that GP is nothing to worry about when his search came up clean. Apparently that resulted in Daniel completely forgetting about the man's existence. 

“No, problem,” Daniel waves away. “How was dinner?” 

Max glances away. “We ended up staying in. Should we go now?”

Max jerks his head back at the door and the movement jostles the collar of the blue jumper he's wearing. 

Daniel's eyes immediately land on a hickey above Max’s clavicle. He tries to keep his mind carefully blank. 

After their conversation that evening about both of them liking men, they haven’t talked about it anymore and Daniel is grateful. They both seem to understand that bringing your personal life into work is unnecessary. But it still feels like they’ve gotten closer, even if it's entirely on Max’s part. Daniel would never notice how private Max was before – now he mentions going on dates once in a while and he definitely wouldn’t show up with a hickey to work. 

Daniel expected Max to be more interested in his love life, but ever since that evening Max hasn't once asked him about the men Daniel has been with. And Daniel is grateful for that. Not because he’s ashamed, but because it’s not very interesting – he experimented when he was younger, fumbled through a few quickies when he was in the army, but nothing serious or committed, like with women. 

Max seems like he doesn’t care and it’s enough for Daniel, even if sometimes it feels a little unfair to him, like he’s keeping something from Max. 

“Daniel?” Max asks, bringing Daniel back to the present. He is standing by the doors, an expecting look on his face.

“Right, yeah. Let's go, Bones.” Daniel says, shaking his head a little. 

They leave the office and go to the interrogation rooms.

***

The next day Daniel comes into the lab and sees Max standing on the forensic platform, talking on his phone. Daniel scans his card and climbs up the short set of stairs. 

“Good. Have a safe flight,” Max says into the phone, a somber smile playing on his lips. “Goodbye,” he ends the call.

Max turns around and startles, noticing Daniel. 

“Good morning,” he smiles, coming closer. 

Max recovers and looks down at the skeleton on the table. “You are late,” he notes. 

Daniel thought Max would be late today too, so he decided to use the opportunity to grab a little more sleep. 

He explains this to Max, but that results in a confused look. 

“You know… so you could spend more time with GP?” Daniel explains.

“GP went back to England this morning,” Max says and gives him a flat look like Daniel was supposed to know this. 

“Oh. I'm sorry?” 

Max furrows his brows. “Why? He was here only for a couple of days, to settle some business with the head of the museum,” he explains.

“Did you break up?” Daniel asks, a surprise even for himself. They don't do this – discussing their love life. But Daniel had liked GP, his calm and confident demeanor and Max looked really happy next to him too. 

“Break up?” Max echoes and makes a face. “I don't date.”

“We just haven't seen each other in a while, that's all,” Max explains like Daniel should've known this too. “Our relationship is casual.” 

“What about those other guys? Like…” Daniel pretends to recall the name, “Mike, the engineer? Or that welder Alex?” 

Max goes back to examining the bones. “I don't engage in romantic relationships,” he says. “But I do find it nicer, going on a date before having intercourse.”

“Right,” Daniel answers weakly. 

This is too much information and the day barely even started. 

“Now, do you want to know what I've found?” he asks, gesturing to the remains on the table. 

Daniel takes a deep breath. “Sure.”

[farolero-posting]

Judging by your reposts of my posts you like Cedric huh?

Go listen to Moremoney - Pilot (YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN BELIEVE ME)

Also I think Ced owns this shirt.

Also what do you think TWM and Cedric's relationship would look like. This is the work of his Father's life, and it, in fact, took it away in the end- So i imagine it being very complicated to say the least😭 like, i think Cedric knows it's not TWM's fault but he still feels very bad about it all-

[Start ID: A dark grey T shirt that reads "engineering? I'm engi-nearing my limit" in different expressive fonts of red orange yellow and white letters. End ID.]

Alright first of all cool song!!! Give Cedric daddy issues!! I see it. I think in the end Cedric is forgiving but he must have a lot of mixed feelings, because the Author, while a loving guy, could not have possibly also had that much time to dedicate to Cedric, or any of his other children, for that matter.

Now. Regarding TWM... You know how I said Cedric is somewhat detached? He avoids talking about the old world, unless pushed by Niko. He avoids the thought of living in a simulation and insists on that, almost like a coping mechanism. I think some of it may be grief from this lost world, but some of it may be his own distance towards TWM and what it can cause on the code. After all, he's likely equally as vulnerable as everyone else to the squares.

It's uncertain whether TWM directly provoked the Author's death, considering he "left on his own terms", but symbolically? It may have, yeah. The Author invested his last years working on this project that's meant to last beyond himself and his world, but in turn most likely sacrificed time and opportunities to live himself. It's a selfless act, but that doesn't mean his children don't need him to be present too. The younger you headcanon Cedric as the worse this is. (night has placed him as grad school student age, but many do consider him a teen). Cedric may try to avoid thinking about this and making this connection, but it would be a low blow to face any grief he has about his father.

And to add even more fuel, because of the Solstice run, Cedric likely has trauma from the squares and TWM's influence on them. He has to actively run from them. They damage his flying machine, they cause the labs to collapse, they destroyed his brother's body. But unlike him, Cedric can't just replace himself if he gets hurt. He may put on a brave face and be proactive to get things done (let's face it he carries the Solstice run), but this still has to impact him in some way.

On the World Machine's side I imagine that it has mixed feelings on the trio as a whole. In a way it's thanks to their efforts that it could be tamed, but according to Rue it also spent so long thinking of them as not real, and to have this view challenged has to be a big thing to get used to.

[referenceable-ramblings]

I think a big contributor of toxic academic workplace culture is continuing generation students trying to go to graduate school and recreate the hyperbolic romanticization of their parents experience in grad school. You grow up, you spend 20 years hearing: "Graduate school is the worst time ever. It's gonna be the best time of your life, but the worst at the same time. I studied 18 hours a day. I gained 50 pounds. We would be at the bar learning quantum mechanics until 3 a.m every day. I didn't see my mom at christmas for six years"

...

Like imagine being a first generation student, you get into grad school, you're so excited. You go to your PI, and he's like, "Here's your lab schedule. You're gonna work 65 hours a week for the next four weeks" And you go ask someone in your cohort because, like, you don't know. You're a first-gen. Like, is this normal? Like, am i supposed to do this? Like, should i push back against this? And that guy's like, "that's what grad school was like, get ready" He might quit right. Like he might be like, "I can't work 65 hours a week, that's impossible" Or even worse, he might do it. He might think, "Oh that's what grad school is like" and just suffer for six years because some guy is trying to romanticize his parents education.

~ Angela Collier (acollierastro) in First generation graduate students (2021)

[unopenablebox]

we have a fucking Institute Research Retreat out in fucking vermont coming up which is just an unimaginable nightmare for so many reasons but especially:

our senior postdoc feels very strongly that we should drive out to the approximate retreat location a day early, HIKE SOME MOUNTAIN TRAILS, *CAMP OVERNIGHT*, AND THEN HIKE THE REST OF THE WAY TO THE RETREAT, where we will then give poster presentations that same day. distances and trail and required speed are all unspecified except for assurances that the trail he has in mind is “pretty easy” and “just a couple hours”.

(you may remember that it was BARELY TWO MONTHS AGO that my lab  went on a mandatory hiking retreat that involved a hike of roughly triple the difficulty and length we had been told to expect. over the course of this i was put under intense social & professional pressure to hike far beyond my physical comfort or ability, required to disclose extensive personal medical information in order to justify being unable to hike as fast or as far as the rest of the group, repeatedly had to negotiate for being allowed to be in a slower group or travel less distance than everyone else, and still ended up doing SEVEN HOURS OF STEEP INCLINE HIKING which left me with a significant, painful hip injury that took three weeks to mostly recover.)

other people in the lab have pushed back on this plan, but only the overnight camping bit, on the grounds that it would be too unpleasant to do without a shower the day of the retreat. they are still in negotiations for what would be a good alternative plan to fit in the hiking.

if my advisor had not been by far the primary driver of the high-speed, long distance hiking in trip #1, i would consider going to her with something like:

“as you know, i have physical limitations that make hiking difficult for me. after our last hiking trip, i was injured and in a lot of pain and it made it more difficult for me to get things done. i had enormous difficulty doing anything else that same day. as such, i’m worried that going on a hike right before the retreat will keep me from being able to participate in it or present my work effectively. since it seems like there’s not a good middle ground between my ability to hike, especially in a way that guarantees i won’t be injured at all, and the rest of the lab’s preferred hiking settings, distance, and pace. as such, i don’t think i can participate in the hike and still be engaged and productive at the retreat afterward. obviously i want to be an active member of the lab and participate in lab activities, but it’s not possible for me to do the hike followed by the research retreat.”

this seems reasonable, you know, lots of appeals to Wanting to Be My Best At Work, except that during the last hike i had to explain to her the concept that not all physical limitations can be overcome by willpower. so. uh. not sure if this is a reasonable thing to attempt or if i will be preemptively announcing myself to be a quitter and not a team player. truly don’t know what to do. maybe i’ll just die

[rootin-tootin-cum-shootin]

Inosuke College AU 

Word count: 1,350

Major: Kinesiology 

Minor: Psychology 

Sports: Judo, Rugby

Clubs: Tanjiro signed him up for a ceramics club, and he goes only to try and one up him (Which is not the point of the club at all smh) but he attends every meeting without fail.

He's that dude that walks into the lecture hall wearing the most outrageous and eye-catching outfits

You just can't help but see him and instantly know what he's like to talk to 

Neon orange athletic shorts with a hawaiian shirt so stereotypical it makes your eyes twitch in displeasure 

Add some burkenstock sandals worn with mismatched socks and you have Inosuke

Just by looking at him you know he is quite the personality to work with

And he is, but he is intelligent and definitely pulls his weight in projects

Will chastise his classmates if they get injured while doing the more active labs 

But he does that while tending to their injuries so you know he cares about their wellbeing

It's quite sweet of him! 

Well it would be if every 3rd word wasn't a swear

That doesn't mean he has terrible grades though.

No he actually does quite well in his courses and there's one simple reason as to why;

he's genuinely hard working 

Which surprises nearly everyone who sees him.

But that only makes him work harder

You see Inosuke decided to actually get an education for the simple reason that everyone assumed he was too stupid to do anything with his life

He originally wanted to do Zoology but then he realized that he has too much energy, which ends up scaring off most animals 

Which defeats the whole "study of animals" part of Zoology 

Of course his Mom was in his corner despite this, really only wanting her son to be happy and find his own success

So he wouldn’t make the same mistakes she did in her youth

Inosuke actually got advice from his mom which helped him settle on Kinesiology as his degree

But once he settled on his degree he was set in stone

His pseudo-step dad offered to pay for his schooling but Inosuke said "I would rather swallow a truck whole than be indebted to you"

And then took out a shit ton of loans to pay for everything 

Which only amused his pseudo-dad and made his mom worry a tad

He manages to work a part time job flipping burgers over the summer which was enough to let him pay for his books and meal plan outright for the first year

And yet despite seeing him bust his ass to be able to go to school people still tried to dissuade him from doing anything further with his life

Which only made him work harder

His whole attitude towards school is "man this sucks but also fuck anyone and anything that tries to make me quit: No You" 

Inosuke even takes pride in the dropped jaws that come from seeing him at the top of his courses

The boy has never once gotten lower than an 80% on an assignment 

He does best in his statistics course simply because both Tanjiro and Zenitsu are also enrolled in that block 

Inosuke is competitive 

In his other courses nobody stirs up that aggressive competitive spirit like Tanjiro and Zenitsu do in their shared Stat course

And with the pair of them around him, Inosuke feels the urge to out do both to the point where he likes to imagine their feelings of inferiority will crush them like a 1 ton block of the densest concrete imaginable 

Inosuke actually made Zenitsu stop breathing from sheer shock and awe when he realized what Inosuke's minor was

Psych is Zenitsu's major (the duo don't share any courses for psychology so they didn't know until then) and it caused Zenitsu to go on a rant to the effect of, " to think that pig headed idiot is doing better than me, that must be a lie! LIAR" 

That rant made Inosuke laugh so hard he fell off the table he was sitting on

He actually bruised a rib because of it

It remains Inosuke's favourite memory of Zenitsu because of this

And he wants to see how else he can make him turn purple with rage 

Hence he often comes up with weird ways to try and express his perceived academic superiority over his friends rivals 

Zenitsu falls for the weird competitive schemes Inosuke comes up with 

Tanjiro decidedly does not, in fact he doesn't really care so long as nobody actually gets hurt

Does that stop Inosuke from trying to outdo him? N o p e

If Tanjiro gets 96% on an assignment Inosuke must get 100% 

What can I say Inosuke is a competitive guy 

And it works for him as motivation 

Maybe a little too well if Inosuke has anything to say about it 

(He was embarrassed bc he got called out publicly at his grad ceremony for not just outstanding academic excellence but by the elderly head of the department for "being the Kinesiology student with the highest grades since the founding of the department" )

The metal he received from the department head totally does not hang on the wall in his mom's house 

Speaking of competitive spirit at school

He trains really hard for both Judo and Rugby

Its a great way for Inosuke to burn off both his aggression towards all the frustrating people he's stuck interacting with and his pent up energy 

Kicking ass just makes his temperament a lot easier to deal with for others and he will use ' sports practice' excuse to leave whatever social situation he doesn't want to be in

He just really likes contact sports okay

And by God is he good at them

Like takes home trophies and metals kinda good

Which also aren't being kept at him mom's house where he definitely doesn't have displayed where she can see them and be proud of him

However due to his tendency to be aggressive with the intensity of interest he has in things

Tanjiro signed Inosuke up for a ceramics class 

He thought that Inosuke would do well with something relaxing to do while still keeping it tactile enough to keep him interested 

It did not go over as well as Tanjiro had hoped

But despite this Inosuke still goes to every single club meet up without fail

Is he good at it? No 

Is Tanjiro? Definitely 

Does that make Inosuke steaming mad? Yep

Inosuke generally sucks at making clay things symmetrical 

So every plate or bowl or vase he makes ends up lopsided 

Inosuke will die before he admits to Tanjiro that he was glad for being signed up after he gave his Mom the successful first mug he made and she smiled brighter than she had in years 

It was bright green with blue and purple childlike butterfly drawings on it and the glaze wasn't spread evenly so it looks a little patchy 

And the handle is proportional too large and thin for the cup itself

But Inosuke's mom loves it more than any other mug in the house

And now every time he goes home to see her and she uses that mug, he finds himself quite happy 

But he will deny it thoroughly. 

All in all he loves getting the chance to go to College 

He may hate the judgy people he's forced to encounter regularly but Inosuke does adore the chance to learn and explore new interests 

Not to mention the people he gets to interact with 

Even if he knows the debt will weigh heavy on his bank account for a long while.

He still thinks it was all worth it.