#Specifically one of these was about tuition for university in the US and I was told that even though it's so high

[vaguely-functional-directions]

It's like when someone says something that you don't agree with but don't know specific facts to really be able to disagree (?) and also do not want to get into a debate

[mrsjellymunson]

The Biology Tutor | Extra Credits 02

Extra Credits 02: FRENCH

Series masterlist

Prev: Lesson 1: Female Anatomy | Lesson 2: Male Anatomy | Extra Credits 01: Communication Skills Next: Independent Study 01: Art | Independent Study 02: Creative Writing

Pairing: virgin!Eddie Munson x fem!tutor!reader

Series summary: Eddie’s failing Biology class, so you decide to offer two different styles of tuition, textbook-based and *ahem* practical.

Chapter summary: You give Eddie a French lesson.

WC: 2.9k

CW: 🔞 18+ MDNI! This part isn't explicit, but the rest of the series is, so MDNI!! Fluff, kissing, mentions of arousal.

A/N: This takes place between Extra Credit 1 and Lesson 3. It’s an added extra to The Biology Tutor series.

My masterlist

Despite your best efforts to keep things cool, you and Eddie’s relationship at school has shifted.

Eddie will greet you with a cheery, “Heeey, Princess”, whenever you pass in the corridors, and you’ll sometimes give him a cheeky wave in the lunchroom. You both flush a little whenever your eyes lock, thinking about all the intimate stuff you’ve done together over the past days and weeks.

Thankfully, as yet none of your friends have noticed the way you’ve started to giggle a little more loudly at Eddie’s antics on the lunch tables, or the way he shoots you cheeky glances to check that you’re watching. Each of your social groups would likely have something disparaging to say, and you’d prefer to avoid that kind of attention for the time being.

You’ve become even more aware of your physical proximity in Biology class. Even though you could probably reach out and touch each other (and you would really, really like to do that…) you try not to draw too much attention to yourselves.

You’re finding it hard to keep your focus on the front, knowing that Eddie’s sitting inches away behind you. But you revel in the fact that he’s there at all (and is, in all likelihood, checking out your ass).

At the end of class, Mr Clarke calls you over.

“I wanted to thank you for your efforts regarding the private tutoring. Mr Munson’s work has certainly improved since you began, as has his class attendance, which is remarkable in and of itself. And he seems to have become more enthusiastic about the human biology aspect of the syllabus too, which is… unexpected, but really good to see.”

He looks off to one side, momentarily bemused, but recovers quickly and continues,

“Nevertheless, there is a big test coming up which, as you know, makes up a sizable proportion of your grade. I would very much like to see Mr Munson do well. I was hoping that you might help him prepare, and in the hopes that you’d agree, I’ve already booked private study room 2C in the library specifically for this purpose.”

You know the library well, and the one he’s describing is a particularly quiet one, located at the back of the rarely-used reference section. If you can get Eddie to join you, it’ll be the first time you’ve ever been alone with him at school. You experience a frisson of excitement at the thought.

You readily agree, figuring that even if that wasn’t reason enough, getting further in the good graces of Mr Clarke wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. However, you do think convincing Eddie to relinquish his entire lunchtime might be another matter entirely.

You approach him in the lunchroom, managing to get to him before his usual table fills up with nerds. He was initially aghast that you were anywhere near him, but once he realised nobody was really interested he listened to your proposal.

“You seriously do this shit voluntarily?” is his only response, until you mention, more quietly, how it would mean spending an entire hour in a small, isolated room. With you. Alone.

Suddenly, he’s all for it, packing up his stuff as you exit ahead of him. He extols the virtues of ‘accepting with grace the assistance the universe offers you’ to the smattering of confused Hellfire boys before hightailing it out of the hall, stuffing pretzels into his mouth as he goes.

You reach the study room first, and are already setting out books and pencils as Eddie barrels in. He practically skids to a halt, and ambles towards you, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to act nonchalant.

“Hey, Princess.”

He plops his bag onto the tabletop, and as he gestures to the empty seats next to you and across the table, he drops his voice to a lower timbre as he asks you,

“So, uh, where do you want me?”

Thanks to his mildly suggestive question, an image flashes across your mind of perching him, naked, on the edge of the table and climbing atop him, but you quickly shake it.

You tap your hand on the seat next to you, and he enthusiastically flops himself down in it. He sits up straight, clasping his hands in his lap, theatrically attentive.

As he’s already managed to fluster you, you decide to fluster him right back.

“You’re so good at doing what I tell you, Eddie. I like that.”

Eddie’s cheeks flush pink and he swallows hard. It worked.

It doesn't take long for you to go over the test questions. Eddie’s picked up more than he’d thought from the parts of your sessions where you’d actually studied, and he flies through most of it, only getting stuck on a couple of gnarly chemistry formulae. What’s more, he actually looks like he’s having fun, gaining genuine satisfaction from answering your questions correctly and beaming as you let him know,

“That’s it, Eddie! You’ve got it!”

You can’t tell whether it’s the academic achievement, or the broad smiles and encouragement that you’re giving him, that’s his biggest driver, but at this point you’ll take either as a win.

You've gradually started sitting closer as the session has gone on. You’ve scootched to the edges of your seats, and your elbows and knees are gently knocking together. You can feel Eddie’s breath on your cheek as he jabs at his test total on your pad, screwing up his face and making a fist with his other hand in triumph. You’re genuinely thrilled for him, and not just because the very idea that you could be the reason for those gorgeous dimples popping makes your tummy flip.

Checking your watch, you realise you have a few minutes left before you have to leave, and there’s another new ‘skill’ that you’ve been thinking about trying with him.

Once all your supplies are back in your bag, you check the time again before asking,

“Eddie, would you like to try another quick practical session?”

He looks around the room, eyebrows disappearing into his bangs.

“What, here? Now?”

“Yes, but not like our, um, previous sessions. Something less… involved.”

“Okay, but what is it?”

“Eddie, I hope you don’t mind me asking you this, but have you ever kissed anyone?”

He looks a little abashed as he answers,

“Umm, does kissing your relatives on the cheek count?”

You can’t help smiling at his cute admission.

“For the purposes of this discussion, I’m gonna say no.”

He looks self-conscious, maybe even a little ashamed. Staring at the edge of the table, he clears his throat before replying,

“Then, uh, no.”

Not wanting him to feel uncomfortable, you reassure him,

“That’s okay, Eddie. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

After a beat, you continue,

“Would you like to try it? With me?”

“What?”

“Would you like for us to kiss, Eddie?”

His eyes become locked on your mouth. He swallows audibly, eyes shining with want.

“Umm, yeah. Yes. Yes, I absolutely would, Princess.”

“Just so I know how far you want to go, would you like us to… French kiss?“

“You mean… W- with, y’know, tongue?”

“Yes, Eddie. That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Are you okay with that? I mean, you don’t have to…”

Shaking your head a little, you reassure him,

“I’m the one who suggested it, Eddie!”

He looks down at his hands, now clasped again as he rubs his thumbs together.

“Only if you’re sure. I might be awful at it.”

“Well, that’s why we practice, right? So, first of all, we need to get a little closer…”

You turn your seat so you’re facing him directly, encouraging him to do the same. You pull your seat forwards, slotting your knees between his. You see his eyes scanning your face, and his fingers fidget, suggesting he’s not really sure what to do with them.

“You can rest your hands on my legs if you’d like, Eddie.”

He does so, but not without a little trepidation, and you see him swallow again.

“Just relax. I’m not gonna bite you. Not this time, anyway.”

You give him what you hope is a cheeky smirk. He smiles shyly, not sure where to look when you’re this close to him. Nervously, he licks his lips. The sight makes your thighs clench.

“Close your eyes and relax, Eddie. I’m gonna start with a quick peck.”

“O- okaaaay.”

He does as you ask, and you spend a few moments appraising him before you lean into his space. He looks angelic, his wild curls framing his pretty face and his rosy pink lips looking soft and inviting.

You turn your head slightly so your nose will slide past his, close your eyes, and ever so slowly connect your lips with his. Pursing them a little, you press forwards, and you hear a slight intake of breath.

You said it was going to be quick, but you’re enjoying the feeling so much you relish in it for a few moments. Eddie’s lips are plump, warm, and just a little moist from where he’s licked them. A tiny amount of stubble tickles your top lip. He smells of old leather, some kind of spicy cologne and vanilla chapstick, with a hint of cigarettes and weed. It’s a heady scent you could easily get lost in.

Gathering yourself, you pull back, rolling your lips inwards to taste him.

Eddie still has his eyes closed. If you’re honest he looks like he’s about to faint. Even after all you’ve done together you’re still a little nervous, and you’re suddenly mortified that he found it repulsive.

You did remember to brush your teeth this morning, didn’t you? Did you eat garlic last night and forget? Do you have spinach in your teeth, even though you definitely haven’t eaten spinach in weeks??

“H- how was that, Eddie? Did you like it?”

Suddenly, his eyes pop open. His lips part a little and he nods his head quickly, causing his chestnut locks to bounce around his face. He stares at you for a few more moments before he manages to say in a tiny, cracking voice,

“More? Please?”

You smile widely, and lean in again.

This time you move a little, pursing and softening your lips, changing their position slightly to find out what he likes, slotting them in different places.

To your surprise, this time Eddie starts to kiss you back. His plump lips press against yours and the tiniest moan emanates from his chest. He’s tentative at first, but as he gains in confidence he presses a little harder, and moves a little more.

Your lips move in sync as you rhythmically purse and relax them.

Eddie exhales heavily, and more than a little shakily, through his nose, and you feel his warm breath dance across your face and décolletage.

You part from him with a subtle wet smack.

He swallows thickly, and the grip on your knees strengthens.

You smile at him again, and his eyes flick between yours as he mirrors your expression.

“Okay Eddie, if you’re ready, this time I’m gonna use my tongue. You don’t have to do anything, but if you want to, just do what feels good. Alright?”

Eddie gives you another tiny, fast nod, and you feel him squeeze your knees again.

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready…”

He surprises you again as he shifts his hands slightly and slides them up your thighs, leaning into your space a little further. They feel warm, strong, and you can’t help but imagine how they might feel elsewhere.

What would it be like to hold his hand properly? Would his hand feel warm as it cupped your face? Would you be able to feel his rings? How would his calloused fingers feel running up your back, or across your…?

You’re broken from your thoughts as he closes his eyes again, a slight curl to his lips as he lets you know he’s ready.

You lean into his space again, and connect your lips as before. This time, you part your lips slightly and allow the tip of your tongue to poke out, and ever so gently brush across his lower lip. You hear that sharp intake of breath again as he stills, unsure of what he’s supposed to do, but then he parts his lips ever so slightly, and you slide your tongue past his lips and pearly teeth and into his mouth. You move it slowly, enjoying the feeling of his lips against it, the scrape of his teeth, the softness of his tongue beneath yours.

He moans again, and just as your tongue curls up to tickle the roof of his mouth suddenly his tongue is moving against yours, slowly, reverently, experimentally, and another moan leaves his chest.

His grip on your thighs tightens as he gets bolder, eventually pushing his tongue past your lips and into your mouth.

Abruptly, he turns his head slightly and pushes in more deeply, his tongue almost filling you. He’s insistent yet gentle, and now it’s your turn to gasp - he’s good at this - and a low whine leaves you.

You feel a chill on your legs as Eddie’s hands leave them, and you’re momentarily disappointed, but this rapidly turns into delighted surprise when one comes up to cup the back of your neck, the other grabbing the edge of your chair and pulling you closer towards him. He’s moaning continually now, turning his head to try different angles, licking and curling and sucking like you’re the very air he needs to breathe.

He’s pushing hard but not too hard, and when your teeth knock it’s adorable rather than uncomfortable.

It’s wet and messy, and oh, so fucking hot.

Your hands start travelling almost of their own accord, slipping up inside his jacket, sliding around his rib cage and settling on his surprisingly muscular back.

His hand travels up to your hair, mussing it, and you’re making his shirt ride up, but you couldn’t care less, lost in the sensations of your lips melding and tongues dancing.

There’s a pulsing heat in your core, and a wetness building in your underwear. You don’t think you've ever been this turned on just from kissing.

And how on Earth is Eddie so good at it?

You eventually both pull back, needing air, breathy and inhaling deeply.

Your eyes dance around his face, wanting to take it all in. His plump, kiss-bitten lips, his blown pupils, the way he’s looking at you with a stunned half-smile.

Needing a break from the intensity, you drop your eyes. But almost wish you hadn’t when you spot the obvious bulge in the front of Eddie’s pants.

He’s clearly enjoyed this as much as you have.

Just as you’re both leaning forward for another round, lips just brushing, the harsh and loud ringing of the school bell indicates the start of afternoon classes.

You and Eddie break apart with a start, exchanging breathy smiles, both a little surprised at how well that went.

He chuckles as he lets go of your hair, tidying it as best he can, and you pull down the hem of his shirt to straighten it.

”So, uh, I think I’d consider that lesson a success. Wouldn’t you, Mr Munson?”

He huffs out a little giggle, shaking his head slowly. His brow furrows and he fixes his face into as serious an expression as he can manage, as he dips his chin and replies,

“Oh, Princess, that feels like a great start. But you know, lessons work with me. So, just to be on the safe side, I think I might need a whole lot, lot more practice...”

He’s holding your gaze and nodding, raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips for emphasis.

You nearly snort at his brazenness, constantly amazed at how he so easily flips between abject fear and bolshy confidence, and manage to squeak out,

“Well, we’ll just have to see what we can arrange, won’t we?”

He grins at you again, those dimples even deeper this time, and tidies one more strand of hair at your temple.

Reluctantly, you both gather your things and leave the study room, still with shiny lips and heat in your cheeks.

You walk leisurely, your upper arms brushing, through the racks of dusty tomes. Neither of you is in any particular hurry to get to your next class.

You glance to your side, and notice that Eddie seems bigger, taller. He’s puffing his chest and is carrying himself a little differently. You like it.

He turns to you as he asks, “D’you think we should, y’know, leave separately or whatever?”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Awkward questions, and all that.”

You see Eddie’s eyes glance to the floor, then flit to the section containing the large encyclopaedias and dictionaries, before he adds,

“You know what, you go first. There’s something I want to check out in the reference section anyway…”

He flashes you a wink as you round the door jamb, causing something to revolve in your chest as you step out into the corridor. You definitely want to offer Eddie plenty of opportunities to practice this particular new skill.

As you head off to your next class, you wonder what on earth he could be up to. But more than that, you wonder how he’ll react to what you have in mind for your next study session…

Series masterlist

Prev: Lesson 1: Female anatomy | Lesson 2: Male Anatomy | Extra Credits 01: Communication Skills Next: Independent Study 01: Art | Independent Study 02: Creative Writing

Thanks so much for reading!

Remember, writers thrive on your comments and reblogs, so if you liked this little extra please show some love 💕

A/N 2: I added this as an extra because I wanted Eddie and reader to share a special first kiss, but couldn’t work out how to fit it into the main Lessons without making them ridiculously long. I hope you like it!

The taglist for this series is open whilst it’s ongoing, and I have a general one now too - just let me know if you’d like to join either 😀 My masterlist, where you’ll find more Eddie and Steddie fics

Taglist (open whilst this series is ongoing): @airen256 @bimbobaggins69 @urlbitchin @jamdoughnutmagician @rustboxstarr @bl4ckt00thgr1n @bexreadstoomuch @cozmiccass @sadlittlesquish @yujyujj @cluz1babe @thunderg @aysheashea @paleidiot @cadence73 @eddie-munsons-wifey @siriuslysmoking @neville-is-my-husband @aestheticaltcow @jjmaybankswifes-blog @lightcommastix @ungracefularchimedes @spenciesprincess @joejoequinnquinn @freshoutthewomb2 @sunshinepeachx @tlclick73 @hellfirenacht @yourdailymemedelivery @wendyxox @madaboutmunson @80s-addict @the-unforgivenn @skrzydlak @eddiesxangel @bunny7232 @starksbabie

[parabiota]

Kaijuno has possibly been lying about being an astrophysicist for 8 years: a compilation

Abstract: Kaijuno made her initial claim to Tumblr fame in 2016 with the release of a few popular posts. In the 8 years which followed, she has been wearing the title of astrophysicist with pride. I call this title into question on behalf of all Tumblr users. All evidence has been gathered with legal and publicly available information. Posts will be screenshotted, as well as embedded with a link to prove I have sourced them publicly. While I cannot prove anything beyond a doubt, I hope this raises suspicion of her past, current, and future actions. I do not wish any harm on her. I just wish to inform people of her alleged lies since she has been taking emergency donations on her Tumblr blog for years.

1. Introduction Jessica Peck -- whose name is public and has been sourced through Paypal, Cashapp, and Venmo accounts linked to her Tumblr -- of Flint, Michigan (also publicly sourced via posts she made) has been running the blog Kaijuno since August 2014. She has been claiming to be an astrophysicist since at least August 2016, and continues to as of today (7.13.24). It is my firm belief that she is not an astrophysicist, but rather had dropped out of an undergraduate physics program during or after 2017. Additionally, I believe the art she has been posting since 2023 to have been made with AI. While I have not looked into her financial situation, I believe that if she is truly lying about her career and art, it is entirely plausible for her to lie about her finances as well.

2. Methods

2.1 Outside Research With a publicly sourced name and location, I was able to use a variety of public resources at my disposal to track any published papers or accounts on other websites. A quick search through Google Scholar yields no results of anybody named Jessica Peck publishing a paper on astrophysics. I have not searched through other databases -- I don't find it necessary but I do implore others to search if they wish.

The next place to check was Linkedin. A similar search yielded a public Linkedin page attributed to someone of the same name and state:

This page has seemingly not been updated since 2017, during her undergrad. An important thing to note about Linkedin is that does say she graduated in 2020. However, when you link your university to Linkedin it lists your expected graduation year regardless of whether you've graduated or not. This does not prove graduation, but that she has gone for an undergraduate degree in physics at one point with an estimated graduation year of 2020.

Everything else comes directly from her Tumblr blog. I'm embedding all screenshots with links, however I anticipate most of them being deleted.

2.2 Direct Quotes Jessica has claimed to have a graduate degree, specifically a Ph.D, on numerous occasions. These have generally been played off as jokes, though I do believe the intention of posting them has been to persuade people that she does have a degree.

Here she claims shes going back to college (10.30.23):

But here she claims she has '2 PhDs'(10.30.23). The following two screenshots single-handedly contain the bulk of my evidence.

NOTE: The usernames and icons have been blocked out, as those people are not involved with this post.

The 'free college because I'm 26' appears to be from Michigan Reconnect, a scholarship program which pays for community college for students over the age of 25 who do not have a college degree. The only way Jessica would be benefiting from this program would be if she never completed her undergraduate degree in 2020. This appears to be the only way you can get free or discounted college tuition exclusively based on age in the state of Michigan. While she could get her tuition paid for her by FAFSA, that is income-based, NOT age-based.

If she is currently attending college and benefiting from this age-based aid program, she cannot possess the multitude of prior degrees she has otherwise attested to. This means that, effectively by her own admission/contradiction, she does not have any sort of degree in astrophysics, but rather used to be a physics student that never completed her degree.

This is all of the information I have collected on her academics. Again, every single part of this has been publicly sourced, and any person would have been able to find all of this information the same exact way that I have.

3. Results // AI Art and General Bitchery This is a collection of art she claims to be her own, and how I visually identified it as AI:

(This is just Heroforge. Maybe with a filter over it. Anyone familiar with Heroforge knows this.)

I present one final screenshot:

This doesn't prove anything about her academic, art, or financial state. I am simply including this to show people how she truly feels about those who have given her donations over the past several years.

4. Conclusion I'd like to close this out by saying: no, none of this is definitive proof. I have no desire to dig any deeper than the resources that are publicly available. If you've noticed, I have not stated anything about her financial situation. This is because I haven't seen anything she posted which contradicts her financial state, other than the fact that she has been lying about her other personal details for years. It is my opinion that she did not graduate college, but she does appear to be unemployed at the very least. I'd appreciate it if people formed their own beliefs based upon this post rather than taking my word as complete fact, and do their own research as well.

With that being said -- if you disagree with anything I have posted, by all means let me know. And feel free to add if there is something else I missed. I only ask that you take this post into consideration before you donate her money, as the person you're sending it to might not be who she advertises herself as.

[charmedreincarnation]

My Boujee wealthy dark academia shifting story

Before I started manifesting money in this reality, I was super obsessed with the old money aesthetic, gossip girl, nepotism babies, and just anything money tbh, because obscene wealth has always been fascinating to me. I was honestly bored and feeling materistlic when I intended to go here solely for the purpose of ending this exploration crave lol. I’ll just list some of the thing I had fun doing and my experiences. I won’t get into specific stories because they’re probably just as you presume.

I’m going to first run through some of the most fascinating things I experienced and before I tell personal stories.

-Going to luxury rooftop bars and having drinks with my friends! This is one of my first realities where I was of age and had an extroverted personality so that was fun

-I Joined a super cool and high class sorority at my college. I always thought the concept of a sorority was cringe but we did a lot of volunteer work, and the communal family you have access to is beyond what I expected.

-Going on fancy night outs and renting the most expensive hotel room to have a relaxing night with friends and/ or throwing a giant high class party was the weekend norm. My ambivert self here is shocked that this is how some people live everyday haha.

- getting to be be a mysterious rich person, and legacy student at my university had its perk.

-my parents owned vacation homes in the aesthetic countrysides of Switzerland and France. Here I didn’t get the reasoning of having multiple homes,but when you travel often, it’s not as impractical as it seems.

-getting used to flying private. Not having to go through tsa and having a corsage of people to have travel be as easy as possible was so fun. I don’t travel often here and when I do it spikes my anxiety. Being surrounded by people and having to do all those checks stresses me out, and not dealing with that made traveling so much more fun.

-my parents created a huge scholarship fund to help low-income families. With a certain amounts of students winning every month. This scholarship covers all fees for college from boarding to school supplies to tuition costs to meal plans. I got to also sponsor an endangered animals. My choice was pandas :)

-getting to go to go to the met gala!

-Buying expensive rare and ancient plants! My dad bought a $20,000 olive tree for my mom to plant on our property, and it’s worth the price. Nature to me will always be priceless

The first thing that I think of when I reflect on what it is like being in the top .01% is the access to resources. Having access to a sizable personal fortune gives me the freedom to purchase anything I want and to travel anywhere in the world. I can indulge in luxuries that some people can only dream about.

It also brings with it a considerable amount of responsibility. As part of this elite group I have an obligation to use my resources to better the lives of those around me. For example, I have been able to make donations to charities and invest in causes that are important to me. I believe this is a great way to use my wealth to make a difference in the world.At times being in the top .01% was overwhelming. There is a certain level of pressure to make sure that my money is invested in responsible and rewarding ways. As well, many people view the wealthy with suspicion and resentment, which can be intimidating at times.

Anyways I want to expand on my experience attending the mega gala, bc that was easily my favorite night.My experience attending the Met gala was super cool, and a night to remember no matter what reality I’m in. I was so honored to be there for the first time ever. I vividly remember I was wearing a gorgeous navy blue satin dress with glittering jewels around the edges. The glittering jewels were a perfect complement to the gold sequins that adorn my dress as I made my way to the main event.inside, I was amazed by the opulence of the venue and how much effort has gone into creating such a beautiful spectacle. Everywhere I look I see incredible art installations, shimmering lights, and luxurious furnishings that all make me feel like I'm in a wonderland. To top it off, there's was incredible live music playing and the electrifying atmosphere that is enough to make anyone want to get up and dance.Of course, it wouldn't be a true Met Gala experience without some of the amazing food and drinks. From delicious hors d'oeuvres to exquisite sweet treats, everything was artfully prepared and presented, definitely making it a night to remember.

As the evening progresses, there was so much more to take in. Celebrities were mingling, taking pictures and making speeches; even just getting a chance to be in the same room with them was an incredible experience.My favorite moment was meeting a person I’m both of fan of here in this reality and that reality as well. I vividly remember Lily-Rose Depp gracefully walking through the hall, meeting people one by one and graciously talking to each of them.finally, it was my turn to meet her. She warmly shook my hand and asked me how I was doing. We began talking, and I found myself instantly at ease around her. We spoke about roles we've taken on in the past, our respective passions in life, and our favorite movies.

I was completely swept away by her enthusiasm for life and her willingness to connect on a deeper level with those around her. As we talked, I noticed that she kept casting glances around the hall- which I later found out was because she wanted to make sure that everyone present was enjoying themselves and feeling welcome. At the end of our conversation, she thanked me for taking the time to talk to her and added that if I ever needed anything, she'd be there to help out. I was holding back my giddy smile, trying to be as normal as possible, as I thanked her for her kindness.

I also vividly remember my upbringing and just how crazy wealthy people live.

Growing up, much of my time was spent attending events and dinners with other businesspeople. Although these were often overwhelming and boring at first, I gradually became more comfortable in such social settings and gained connections of my own.

Meanwhile, I also had access to mentors and peers from well-connected families. This allowed me to gain invaluable advice and knowledge on how to succeed in the professional world. In addition, to no surprise there were times when I was given advantages in certain situations due to my family ties. Doors that may have been closed to others opened up easily for me. This made it easier for me to take advantage of certain opportunities and advance my career. While this is true, it can often be a double-edged sword. Being a nepotism baby can make it hard to prove yourself, as there's always a nagging feeling that you got ahead because of a lucky birthright, but that of course in no ways compares to being born without connections. I think that’s something wealthy people tell their kids so they don’t feel like they didn’t work for anything because even if it’s true you don’t want the people you love to feel that way. Also, there's sometimes an element of guilt present due to knowing that others may not get the same opportunities as you. It can be difficult to separate what you've earned from what was given because of your family ties.

I was also lucky enough to have grown up in a huge mansion in the heart of Los Angeles, with all the bells and whistles that come with it. From the grand entrance walls adorned with family portraits and art to the private screening theaters and sprawling gardens, I'd say it's one of a kind.

The perks of living in a mansion come tenfold; I was on Tik tok the other day and saw people complaining (humble bragging) about the hardships of having a huge home. Growing up in one and having the experience now, it’s actually very common for rich people to portray their life as harder than it is to seem more human. It’s something we’re taught to do when we’re young so when I see it happen now, I’m like eye roll… I know exactly what you’re doing

Anyways I loved my house ! For starters, I loved my sunset pool that overlooks the city. It's the perfect place to enjoy a summer day in California with great views and a built-in Jacuzzi. Of course there's also my personal chef who helps whip up amazing meals for me and my family.

Having house help has made growing up here a breeze. Everyday necessities like laundry, chores and even grocery shopping are taken care of for me, leaving me more time to focus on things that really matter. I could write a list of things I needed, and the next morning everything I wrote would show up just like that, it was actually pretty dope. Not to mention the immense amount of help I get from my parents—they are both incredibly successful, so I'm always surrounded by people who, like them, have achieved incredible success.

More than anything, the best part of living here is that I get whatever I want. Shopping sprees, spa days and extravagant getaways are just a few of the indulgences that come with my lifestyle. I'm truly fortunate to have experienced a life of luxury and opulence—it's definitely given me a greater appreciation for all that I have been blessed with.

Lastly, I’m a big foodie no matter where I go so I’m also going to list some of my fav 5 star restaurants! I’m sure most if not all exist here as well so, if possible I would try them out!

-For seafood lovers, Manresa in Los Gatos, California is sure to tantalize your taste buds. With its commitment to local and sustainable ingredients, the restaurant offers an ever-changing menu that highlights delicious seafood dishes with a Californian flair. From the tantalizing tuna tartare and exquisite abalone dishes to the poached white sturgeon and Dungeness crab preparations, Manresa showcases its tasteful and creative cuisine that people rave about.

-If French cuisine is more to your liking, Alain Ducasse in Paris is sure to transport you to another world of classic French cuisine with a modern twist. During your visit, you'll enjoy dishes such as the butter-poached lobster tail, roasted poultry with Malavallee mushrooms, and crispy duck with crispy crimini mushrooms and creamy potato puree. And be sure to finish your meal with the magnificent desserts like the signature Mont Blanc cake.

-For a top-notch Italian experience, check out Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. Here you'll find an unforgettable Italian culinary experience with traditional dishes like beef cheek in Barolo wine, ravioli stuffed with prawns, zucchini flowers and stracciatella, and risotto with king crab. The family-run restaurant has come a long way since it first opened in 1995, achieving true worldwide fame for its simple yet lavish dishes.

-If you're planning a trip to Tokyo, you'll definitely want to make a stop at Sushi Saito. Not only is this two Michelin-starred restaurant applauded for its exquisite sushi and sashimi platters, but it's also home to the world's finest sushi chefs. From the uni and scallop nigiri to the tuna sashimi, each bite here is sure to delight your palate.

-Lastly, don't miss the opportunity to visit Geranium in Copenhagen and sample a unique take on modern Nordic cuisine. Chef Rasmus Kofoed delights guests with dishes that feature locally sourced, seasonal ingredients such as skyr ice cream, geoduck clams, and trout roe. With its innovative approach and bold flavors, Geranium has truly become one of the world’s finest restaurants.

No matter which five-star Michelin restaurant you choose, you can be sure that you'll experience exceptional food and service and leave with lasting memories of your sumptuous meal… but these were the most memorable to me.

Other than that I don’t really know what else to say unless you guys wanna hear specific things. It was a normal life, at least normal to me there because that’s just how I was raised 🥰🥰

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Do you have any advice for someone who has most of an archaeology degree, but following some health problems during covid foricng me to withdraw from some classes, I didn't meet pace of progress and lost my financial aid and now owe my university $13k for the semester i didn't complete. I'm a 3.8gpa student and was deans list, but I have an enrolment and transcript hold until I pay them back. I will never have $13k at my disposal to pay that off without haivng my degree to make me employable, so I'm not sure how I can ever go back and finish my degree.

Do you have any advice for how someone in my position should proceed? I thought about merit based financial aid/scholarships with my high gpa, but I've never had any success finding those.

This is a tough one, since I don't really have any direct experience with a similar situation. If anyone has specific advice, please let me know.

Education loans/debt are special legal creatures, and perhaps the most important thing you can do is educate yourself on the legalities of your particular situation and what options are available to you. Here's a page I found that talks about the legal precedents for certain types of education loans. From what little I understand, the school is not looking for you to pay the $13k back all at once. There may be payment plans or settlements available to you.

The first thing that comes to mind is to contact your school's ombudsman. This is an office whose single purpose is to help students navigate institutional bureaucracy and pursue grievances against the institution. They are probably the best bet for finding ways to mitigate this debt, set up options for payment, etc.

Similarly, I would recommend making an appointment to talk with someone in the financial aid department if you haven't already. It might be painful and embarrassing, but I can guarantee you that you aren't the first person who has had this exact issue, and you won't be the last. They might also be able to help you navigate ways to deal with this debt.

Some schools have policies that if you have to withdraw for health reasons before X point in the semester, you can get your tuition refunded. This is what my family was able to do when I had to drop out during my sophomore year. Whether that would be an option for you depends 1) on your school, and 2) on if you have to apply for that forgiveness within a certain window. Still worth a shot though—this is something you can ask the ombudsman about.

If you were registered with your school's disability services (provided that you're in the US, which is where my experience comes from) before you had to withdraw, they may also be able to help you advocate for yourself based on having a disability. If this is something that applies to you, it's possible that you have some protections based on the ADA, although this will depend on the nature of your financial aid, and whether you were registered beforehand. Accommodations are not retroactive.

Finally, I hate to say it, but working in archaeology—with or without a college degree—is going to make it difficult to pay off these loans. Entry level archaeology jobs pay notoriously poorly, and other positions generally require some sort of postgraduate degree. You are employable without a degree, but it may not be in your chosen field. That's shitty news, I know, but it's something you need to consider in order to start dealing with this.

Best of luck, -Reid

[allthecanadianpolitics]

its the trans us american anon from the other night; id first of all like to thank everyone who answered my previous ask. ive been thinking about going to college in canada (more specifically toronto) for a bit but havent looked into it as much as i probably should have, but based on a lot of the answers it sounds like it would be very financially straining. that being said, would anyone happen to know if it would be easier to immigrate with a student visa?

International Student tuition is higher in Canada compared to rates for Canadians, but American university tuition is a lot higher than Canada, so depending on the university you're looking for it might actually be significantly cheaper.

The University I went to, tuition is on average around $4500 for an undergraduate degree per year, and for International students is about $8500 per year. But the average tuition in the USA seems to range from $10k to 40K depending on if its public/private. The bigger universities in Canada have higher tuition but there are many medium sized ones of good reputation that are not very expensive.

This might be worth looking into as for your 2nd point:

[onegirllis]

So, about the new LIS trailer

It took me some time, but forgive me for the delayed response. I had to dig myself out of the fandom grave to actually look around and notice what the hell was going on. I spent another moment pondering if I still care, and with the answer "barely," I came here to write this post.

1) For whatever reason DickNein (yes, I didn't miss the scandal, who is the nazi now?) still doesn't understand what made LIS 1 so successful. It wasn't the diversity; it wasn't the same copy-paste lines; it wasn't the murder; it wasn't the superheroes from small towns with different powers. It wasn't even the lesbians (I know, shocking!). There were merely a few elements that made LIS special: - Magical Arcadia Bay with its residents - The rewind time superpower, which was one of the best mechanics in narrative games since the genre was born - Max, Chloe, and Rachel (not necessarily in that order), and you need at least two to make it work, preferably with Chloe at least somewhere there. - the specific art style and saturated colors (butchered a bit in BTS but then going full SIMS 4 for the rest of the games) - and most importantly - the soul Sure, DontNod could get away with alteration, to no fanfare and sometimes to no success, but their experiments came from the right place. This shit ain't it.

2) For whatever reason, Chloe is now a dog. I know. I know. I understand. Listen, my fellow comrades, I know how it feels when the devs pull put shit like, "Oh, they were just friends and grew apart, but now she named her squirrel after the love of her high school life".

3) Max had plastic surgery. She also decided to be entirely anonymous so that she looked like everyone else. Every model looks the same, and I hope they will have their names spelled above them as they walk around. Otherwise, I have no idea who is who. Frankly, she looks a little bit like Steph had a lot of fun with the entire cast of Sims 4 and then had a baby.

4) On top of everything, the new Max, however, probably now goes as Maxine, is teaching her Polaroid skills at a university. Now we know we are in an alternative universe all along. I hope the tuition matches the useful photography skill set you obtain there.

5) For any other reason unknown, she can dress up as Chloe, who can be dead (see the Ultimate edition). I know Max has a long tradition of dressing up as dead people, but I hoped it would go away with her Botox and other plastic corrections. But hey, we survived Chloe dressing up as Rachel and cosplaying as her dad, too, so I guess I shouldn't even be surprised. Not that it's a low-budget movie, and they have a limited wardrobe. It's a video game, but the tradition of having a mental stroke is still strong.

6) Oh no, another murder I gotta solve! I shall use my powers. Why now? Is it another girlfriend who is into printing photos? Or is it her student? Or both? Max becoming Jefferson would be a nice twist, even if not loved among the community, but I don't think it would get anywhere that dark. It just will get stupid.

7) This is supposed to be a fanservice a little too late and on the wrong foot. I know y'all missed Max. I didn't, but I understand the hype on seeing her on the screen. Although following a teenager in Arcadia Bay was interesting, simply by the shot of nostalgia with every step, here we are following a middle-aged single art teacher (or someone who looks middle-aged to the point that they decided on fixing their face). NO ONE WANTS TO FOLLOW THEIR ART TEACHERS WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

8) The Nazi problem (well, well, well, the turntables). I know DeckNein had to do some cleanup among their staff. I hope they did, but somehow, I doubt it was done for the right purpose. Therefore, I'm uncomfortable giving them any of my money, now or ever. I know, there are worse studios. I know it's stupid, but LIS was always special, filled with this little genuine spark. It just doesn't feel right.

9) The game has the worst UI in the history of modern gaming.

10) And to finish my rant on something even worse, LIS4 is coming just before DontNod's new game, most likely to compete with it on the market. A bit sus, don't you think?

Anyway, dick move, my friends. All of it. Actually, waving dicks around in the air all along. Despite our differences, this ain't right. And God knows how much worse it could be.

[racefortheironthrone]

Not that this is the only example, but just watched "Lady Bird" where a major part of the plot is if the protagonist will go to NYU or UC Davis. As somebody who doesn't live in the United States and there aren't any "private universities" here just wondering if state schools are so bad? Why do they have such bad reputations or maybe just I'm just thinking too much of American-made entertainment?

This is a great question, because it allows me to talk about a topic that I find endlessly fascinating: how the cultural politics of class intersect with higher education.

With regards to Lady Bird, I think the first thing to understand is that it's a highly autobiographical film: Greta Gerwig also grew up in Sacramento, her parents had the same jobs as Lady Bird's parents, and Greta was also a theater kid who ended up going to a prestigious private university in New York City because she wanted to have a career in the performing arts. So what we're getting is not necessarily a universal experience, but how Greta Gerwig herself felt when she was a teenager.

Second, state schools are not bad but their reputations are ...complicated. The land grant universities are generally reasonably well-resourced, they have good reputations, and they provide an extremely solid middle class credential that provides a major pathway for social and economic mobility in the United States.

However, there is usually a hierarchy within the state school systems between the flagship campus(es) which are usually nationally ranked research universities - U.C Berkeley, UCLA, Ann Arbor (UMichigan), University of Wisconsin-Madison, UMass Amherst, etc. - and the other campuses in the same system, which tend to be less selective, less nationally well-known, and more focused on teaching.

This sometimes leads to state schools having a reputation among middle-class to affluent families with college educations as being less "aspirational" compared to selective private universities. (This doesn't apply to the flagship campuses, because they are more selective and thus more similar to elite private universities in terms of their reputations.) Kids from those families still apply to (and attend) state schools in large numbers, but the term that's often used for them is "safety schools" - they're the schools you apply to in case you don't get into the highly selective private schools who take 10% or less of their applicants.

Third, NYU versus UC Davis is actually a slightly odd fit for the "state school" versus "private university" comparison. NYU is not actually that selective: it takes in 13% of applicants, which makes it about the 40th most selective college in the U.S. That's surprisingly low down the totem pole, given that the annual cost of attending NYU would be around $84,000 for Lady Bird. (NYU actually has to be less selective than other private universities, because it has a fairly small endowment compared to the selective private universities, and is thus more reliant on tuition dollars for revenue.)

However, Lady Bird's conflict isn't so much about academics generally - it's more specific than that. Remember that Lady Bird/Greta Gerwig is a theater kid who wants a career in the performing arts. If you narrow your focus from which is the best university overall to which university has the best Film Studies program, NYU is the second-best film school in the country, and because it's right in NYC there's a direct pipeline to one of the main hubs of the film and tv industry.

At the same time, Lady Bird probably should have done a bit more research about California's public university system. Because of the legacy of the California Master Plan, there is a robust transfer system within California's public universities that allows students who are really on the grind to move their way up, so that you can potentially start at the least selective community colleges and end up graduating from the most selective flagship UC campuses. So Lady Bird could have easily gone straight from UC Davis to UCLA (because while UCLA takes in only ~11% of applicants, making it more selective than NYU, it takes in about 24% of transfers), which is also one of the best film schools in the country with a direct pipeline to Hollywood, and it doesn't cost $84,000 a year.

(Ironically, Greta Gerwig herself didn't actually end up going to film school - she ended up going to Barnard which isn't particularly known for film, ended up going into English Lit because she was intending to be a playwright, before becoming a breakout actor in the indie film world, and then zig-zagging from there into directing and back into writing.)

[lord-emerson]

A Short Visit

Rating: Explicit

Relationships: Howard Underhouse/Oswald J. Emerson

Tags: Caught in the Act, Masturbation, Modern Setting, Fake Relationship/Marriage, Dirty Talk, once again my porn is filled with dialogue because these two just love yapping. and I love to write about them yapping so it's a win win

Words: 1206

Summary: Squeezing in another kinktober fic before the end of the month! This is from the AU where Oswald is a broke college student, Howard is a college professor and they get married specifically so that Oz can have a discount on tuition at the university Howard teaches at. They also have sex and live together but are definitely NOT down bad for each other. Don't even worry about it.

With a tilt of his head, Howard slowly turned towards Oswald’s glistening palm. He laid his tongue flat against it and licked up a stripe straight to the man’s fingertips. “Were you thinking about me, sweetheart?” Howard asked. His half-lidded gaze shifted to Oswald once more.

Hands roaming over his chest and stomach. Those long, smooth fingers slipping inside him, making his toes curl. Drawing moans from him with plush lips, hooking an arm under his thigh and pulling him closer, ever closer…

Through the haze of delectable images flooding his mind, Oswald let out a gasp. He was in Howard’s spare bedroom — his bedroom technically, rarely in use other than for quick naps between classes and work shifts. The truth was that more often than not, Oswald would spend his nights in what could feasibly be described as his landlord’s bed.

Except he didn’t pay rent and the landlord was his legal husband.

It was complicated.

Now he was home alone and looking for some relief, so it made sense to head to the part of the apartment kindly reserved for him. Not that getting himself off in Howard’s bed didn’t hold a certain appeal, come to think of it…

No. This was not about Howard. This was about enjoying his privacy and getting a couple orgasms in without any interruptions or distractions.

That was the plan, anyway.

With his eyes closed and fingers brushing against his clit, his mind did tend to wander. He imagined Howard finding him like this. Teasing him relentlessly; his smug expression melting into one of pure delight as his fingers sunk into the wetness awaiting him between Oswald’s legs. He could almost hear the click of the door unlocking in the distance…

“Oz?” 

The voice was muffled, coming from further down the hallway — but still unmistakably Howard. Huh. Maybe Oswald should instead try thinking about being student loan-free, if his fantasies were this quick to materialise.

…

…

Yeah, no luck. Looks like Howard will have to do.

Oswald did not respond to his name being called. He kept fingering himself, face scrunched up in an attempt to stop any potential moans from breaking through. He heard the jingling of keys against the counter, some shuffling as Howard removed his jacket and the sound of steps coming down the corridor.

Is he… looking for me in his bedroom first? Oswald wondered distantly as Howard moved past his door.

Don’t be foolish. 

Perhaps Howard was not even thinking about Oswald anymore. Perhaps he was just looking to change clothes or grade some papers or go to slee-

“Oh, hi, darling,” Howard smiled, head peaking through the door. Oswald’s reflexes didn’t fail him — he managed to stop touching himself before the door opened but kept one of his hands under the duvet because… Yeah. Yeah.

Here was to hoping that Howard’s visit was gonna be a short one.

“Hi. Finished class early?” Oswald asked, trying his best to keep his breathing even. The positioning still felt so awkward — only slightly less awkward than giving in and having his slick-covered digits fully on display.

“Mhmm. Got bored of looking at those sleep-deprived faces at 7pm. They didn’t seem to mind.”

Howard slipped into the room, closing the door behind himself with an effortless sway of his hips. So much for a ‘short visit.’ He sat down on the edge of the bed and raised an eyebrow at Oswald.

“What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Oswald said, snappy on instinct.

Can he tell? Does he know?

He quickly added: “I’m trying to take a nap.”

“Ahh, really?” Howard purred, lazily casting his gaze over Oswald’s shoulder, following the outline of the arm tucked under the cover.

“Yeah, really. So…” Oswald gestured vaguely with his free hand.

“Oh, okay. I’ll let you get on with it then.”

Howard leaned forward to give Oswald a quick peck on the lips. Oswald met him with an indignant huff at first… then opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.

Naturally.

Howard shuffled a little closer, hovering mere inches above his chest, so Oswald reached out to pull him flush against-

“There you are,” Howard smirked, fingers curled around Oswald’s wrist like a vise. He gripped his hand mid-air — clearly he was prepared. He knew Oswald would not be able to resist dragging him closer. Scheming bastard.

“I knew it,” Howard continued, eyeing the wetness spread over Oswald’s fingers and palm. “Taking a nap, my ass.”

“Fuck off,” Oswald responded in kind and made a half-hearted attempt at freeing his hand from Howard’s grasp.

It didn’t budge.

With a tilt of his head, Howard slowly turned towards Oswald’s glistening palm. He laid his tongue flat against it and licked up a stripe straight to the man’s fingertips.

“Were you thinking about me, sweetheart?” Howard asked. His half-lidded gaze shifted to Oswald once more.

Frustrated and more than a little turned on, Oswald decided to use Howard’s unrelenting grip to his advantage. He pulled the man down into the empty space next to him and wasted no time hoisting himself over his hips.

Howard’s sole reaction to being laid out like this, fully at Oswald’s mercy, was to give out a fond chuckle. He cupped Oswald’s ass and brought him closer, nosing at the taller man’s shoulder.

“I was thinking about you,” Oswald admitted, nipping at Howard’s earlobe. Howard hummed in response, hands finding the edge of Oswald’s tank top and working their way up the expanse of his bare back.

“Please, do share,” Howard said, voice low and sultry. His eyes closed instinctively as his dear husband peppered kisses across his neck and jawline.

“If you insist.” Fingers travelled down to the buttons of his waistcoat, undoing them one by one. “I was thinking about your hands all over me… Your voice, calling out my name… Your expression as you find out I’ve been fucking myself for God knows how long… All while waiting for you to catch me.”

Now that Howard’s waistcoat was unbuttoned, Oswald busied himself with exploring the man’s chest through the fabric of his ironed shirt. With such lovely distractions it took Howard a moment to fully process the words. Then his eyes suddenly popped open.

“… Wait, what?” Howard said, looking up at Oswald in disbelief.

That’s it. Priceless.

“Come on, darling.” Oswald said, running a teasing finger across the man’s throat. “Did you really think I was being shy? About my own desires?” 

Oswald took a moment to bask in the delighted surprise spreading over Howard’s features. He grabbed the man’s wrist and slowly guided it to the front of his briefs, already soaked.

“You know I’ve always been upfront about what I wanted, Howard.” 

Faced with the awe currently rendering Howard motionless, Oswald took it upon himself to grind against the hand pressed over his clit. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly a start. He continued:

“And what I want right now, my dear… is you.”

It was like waking from a trance. Howard grinned up at the gorgeous, devilish man above him and quickly shrugged out of his waistcoat. He sat up so he could finally embrace Oswald — excitement and allure personified.

“I see,” Howard said, reaching up to stroke Oswald’s cheek. He was still smiling.

He also seemed to suddenly remember where his other hand laid.

“Then by all means…” He said, freeing said hand from Oswald’s grasp and slipping it past his waistband. 

“Have me, my sweet.”

[anotherpapercut]

College Resources

hey y'all so I have a degree in math, and have been tutoring college level math, stats, physics, and study skills for a few years now and I have several certifications as a college level tutor and in my years tutoring I've picked up a lot of absolutely essential things you NEED to know to pass math classes (and others!) if you have a hard time in math class, which unfortunately most schools will not teach you

so if you're in college (or high school, but some of these will be college specific) and you would like to hear my Professional Tips for how to survive math in college I have compiled a list of things I think you should know below the read more! I'm going to put a couple general tips at the top though for people who aren't taking a math class

alright, welcome to the read more! let's start with some general things

ok I'm starting with a kind of tip before the tips: if you are disabled, talk to disability support services at your school. a lot of times they provide services to attain a diagnosis if you don't have one, but if you do it's typically pretty easy to get accommodations and if your teachers try not to follow them, they will get in A LOT of trouble (I'm in the us so idk how disability laws are in other countries but here this is a big deal for universities bc public funding etc and if you make a complaint they will be FORCED to comply). I'm not saying bad experiences never happen, I've not been to every school in the us and I'm sure there are places that suck abt this, but I literally would not have been able to get a degree in math without accommodations (I'm autistic and have dyscalculia + memory issues) so it was worth every annoyed sigh by a dumbass teacher (which honestly rarely happened. most of them were cool). some possible accommodations include, extra time on tests, separate testing locations, formula cards, ability to use notes etc etc

I work in a free tutoring center at my local community college. while I won't say these are definitely universal, every college I have encountered (in the US, where I live) has one of these. Google the name of your school with tutoring. there is a very high chance you have free tutors available in a variety of subjects who are ready to help you. you should utilize the fuck out of this bc ur already probably paying for it in ur tuition

my favorite resource ever is one you may have heard of but I'm reminding you of it anyway. the Crash Course YouTube channel! it has free comprehensive videos about various subjects (including anatomy, physics, biology, economics, statistics and lots lots more). the videos are about 10 minutes each and they're incredibly easy to understand. they're an amazing way to study for finals. trust me on this one. they actually now have real introductory college courses that you can take for credit (tho I think you have to pay for that?) through YouTube so check into that!

take notes!!!!!!!! for real. seriously. even if you've never had to before. trust me. and don't just copy exactly what the board says, write what your teacher says out loud as well, that is often the most important stuff. I highly recommend investing in a few colored pens and/or highlighters. anytime the teacher says something important (such as formulas in a math class or a grammar rule in an English class) either write it in another color, or highlight it. color coding your notes even the tiniest bit will help you tremendously when you're studying and doing homework later. this doesn't mean having a color code so elaborate and strict that you're spending more time and energy figuring out the right color than listening and writing. I usually do the bulk of my notes in black then things like formulas or whatever in one bright color and extra bits of info from the teacher in another, this way it's easier to find the important stuff later on

if you've got a couple extra bucks, invest in a mini stapler. you'll be shocked how often those lil bitches come in handy

DO NOT EVER purchase your text books before the classes start (unless you get like an email before class starts telling you you need the book, but this is pretty rare tbh). half of your teachers are going to tell you on day 1 that they don't use the book at all. and honestly almost all of your books can be found by googling the name + pdf. just triple check that you have the correct edition!

speaking of emails, CHECK YOUR FUCKING SCHOOL EMAIL. I am so dead serious about this one. set up notifications on your phone. if you do not check your email you are going to show up for cancelled classes, miss assignment corrections, and generally not do nearly as well in your classes. I know this sounds fake but holy fucking shit please for the love of all that is good and holy check your fucking email. seriously.

the best way to study for your finals is to look at past tests and homework! if your teacher isn't a total dick they'll give you back your tests and homework. when studying for your final, go through and redo any that you got wrong, and look over the ones you got right. teachers usually take final questions from old tests and homework so if you do this it's very possible you'll study your exact finals questions. if they won't give you these back, reread your notes (in a way I'll describe in a moment)

reread your notes the same day you take them or very soon after so the lecture is still fresh in your mind! when you do this, grab a colored pen and take notes on your notes. I know this sounds ridiculous but it's actually a very important study tool. if you come across something you wrote that is confusing, write out an explanation. write down extra things that will help you understand the material. if there's something that you don't understand or don't remember PLEASE ask your teacher. some of them won't answer email so catch them in office hours or after class if you can. at the end of the semester when you're studying for finals, do this all over again but through your whole notebook for the semester (not all at once. pls take breaks lmfao)

if your teacher doesn't offer it up at the end of the semester, ask "can you please tell us some of the topics we should emphasize when studying for our finals?" (you can also say this in a far less pretentious way but I've found that professors are more likely to give you a real answer if you talk like this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) I'm ngl, some of em will be assholes about this. they may laugh at the idea and snarkily say "look at your homework" or some shit equivalent. roll your eyes at these old bitches and move on. but many if not most will at least give y'all some idea of what to expect. and crucially: write down what they say and use it as a study guide

okey dokey!! that concludes the general section. now I'm gonna talk about some math specific stuff that will help you a lot if you struggle with math!

starting with an easy one: get a good calculator. please for the love of GOD do not get the TI-30X IIS unless you love it and are EXTREMELY familiar with all of the different operations. I'm sorry but this calculator sucks ass and it will hold you back. for about the same price you can get my personal favorite the Casio FX-115ES Plus (1st edition only, I haven't tried the 2nd edition bc I don't like change) or an FX-991 EX. if you're a Texas instruments guy get a TI 30XS or if ur doing calc and shit I'd get a 36X pro. I just prefer Casio personally lmao. in all likelihood your math teacher will be a calculator nerd who can teach you how to use any of these but there are also lots of videos made by calculator nerds on YouTube as well

so next I just want to emphasize how important your notes are. you cannot pass a math class without good notes unless it's a class you've already taken or something, and honestly even then I'd recommend you write some stuff down because the thing about math is there are a lot of different ways to do the same thing. which brings me to my next point

pay attention to the process your teacher uses to solve problems (I'll give an example in a sec) and especially to how they write the process down. if you're like me and you have trouble with the whole "show your work" thing this will help a lot, because you can use what your teacher writes down as a guideline for what you should write down. for instance, you may have learned about a math concept like permutations and combinations in high school one way, and then be taught a completely different way of performing the calculation in college. if this happens, ask your teacher about your way. sometimes their way is better for a specific reason and it's really important that you learn it. sometimes they'll say it doesn't matter just do what makes the most sense to you. sometimes you will also not get full credit if you do things a different way too so be careful and pay attention to what your teacher says abt it. you may have also been taught to show some steps in an operation but not others and your new teacher may want all of them. or none. or different ones. unfortunately math has a lot of variations

similarly, if there's a concept you don't understand, start by asking your teacher about it first bc they may want you doing a specific thing. if they're not helpful and you don't have access to a tutor turn to the internet. here are my recommendations for resources: Khan Academy has videos and examples explaining concepts in pretty much all types of math. usually really helpful because they'll show you several different methods and use different explanations, MathWay for classes that come before trig/calc. you can use it for those but it's a little more annoying lol specifically in regards to graphing and solving integrals and shit. this tool has A LOT of stuff in it but is best as a calculator to check your work on stuff and for showing you graphs that have transformations and shit like that from college algebra. it's got settings for different math types and even chemistry tho!, for more complicated graphing I'd use Desmos. you can use this in all classes but it's just a bit more complicated imo and it's more made for complex operations so I prefer to use MathWay as much as possible bc it's just more user friendly., there's also Symbolab which a lot of my fellow tutors really like but I personally tend to use the others more, Wolfram Alpha is a pretty well known one. tbh I find it kind of hard to use sometimes so i usually use it as a last resort lmfao but it is really good!, this last one is calculus specific (including things like calc based physics ofc) but derivative calculator and integral calculator are everything to me. could not have gotten through calc 2 and 3 w/o these mfs

OK THIS PART IS REALLY IMPORTANT!! we're going to talk about how you can make your math tests WAY easier on you and massively improve your chances of passing. here's what you're going to do for every test

1. when studying for your test, go through and find ALL formulas that you used in the unit(s) your test is over (this includes formulas you learned previously but used in this unit as well!!)

2. commit them to memory. easiest way to do this (besides practicing using them!!) is to rewrite them a few times including what you use them for and what all of the symbols and letters stand for

3. when you go in to take your test, spend like 5-10 minutes beforehand, right up until they make you put everything away, studying and rewriting these

4. the SECOND the test hits your desk, flip it over and write down every single formula immediately (including as much extra info like when to use and variable definitions as possible). now you won't have to try to remember them 30 minutes in when your brain is frying!!

5. go through the test and read each question carefully. if you can't remember how to solve it within 30 seconds skip it. you might only do 4 or 5 questions (maybe less depending on the length of your test) after the first pass, but just go back to the beginning and do it again, giving urself a little more time w each pass. this will ensure that you're not spending 45 minutes on problem 4 and having no time to get to the rest of the test. additionally with math it is extremely common to basically find the answer to how to do one problem while you're doing another problem. doing the ones you know first will also boost your confidence and help prevent anxiety from wiping ur brain. this is a really really important part of math tests

6. before you hand your test in, make sure you've written SOMETHING down on EVERY SINGLE QUESTION. even if you have absolutely 0 idea whatsoever what to do, there is always a chance for partial credit. a lot of times, you also know more than you think you do. so even if you can only do half a step of the whole process, half a point is better than 0!! if you really have no clue what to do, make something up. I know this probably sounds ridiculous but I'm so deadass. once I was taking a physics test and could not for the life of me remember what formula to use so I just made one up based on my vague idea of how it worked lmao. I wrote off to the side "I know this isn't how physics works, but I can't remember that so just pretend I'm god for a second" and I got like 75% of the points bc the teacher appreciated the effort!! there were fucking countless times when I was taking a test and I got to a point where I knew the steps of what I was supposed to do but could not figure out HOW to actually DO the math. so I wrote in words my understanding of what the next steps were. even though I didn't finish answering the question, I always got points for trying. this is what teachers are wanting from you. effort. so PLEASE write literally anything even if you're just making that shit up (just explain your reasoning in words to the side, as long as you're using logic you're really getting the essence of math anyway). you would not BELIEVE how fast your grades will improve by doing this. I tutored a girl who went from Ds to Bs within literally 2 weeks of starting tutoring just because she stopped leaving any questions blank and started getting partial credit

that's all the important stuff I can think of for now though I'm sure there's much more so I may update this in the future!

of course everyone is going to have a different experience and relationship with math. so adjust all of these tips to fit how you learn best. please try to remember that learning math is a very important part of developing your critical reasoning and logistical analysis skills. these are essential to understanding and interacting with the world and math is just a way of exercising those muscles. trust me when I say I know how infuriating math can be. I have dyscalculia and a math degree. I've spent so many hours crying over math you probably wouldn't even believe me. but it's worth it! and frankly, if you're in college, you're paying a lot of money for this class. you deserve to get everything you possibly can out of it

above all, if you're having trouble ASK FOR HELP. ask your teacher, ask your classmates, ask the head of the department, ask student services, ask Google!! and if you need help you can always ask me! :) I love helping people with this stuff and even if I don't know the answer to your question I'm pretty good at knowing where to look for them!

[mjohnso]

The Work of Auditions

S.E.S Bada’s recruitment story is the stuff of SM legend. Personally scouted in 1996 by Lee Soo-man after he saw her perform at her school’s annual festival, she did not then dream of debuting as a pop singer, let alone being in a girl group. By most accounts, she wanted to be a musical theater actor. But she agreed to Lee’s offer because it literally paid the bills. In exchange for joining the company, Lee paid her full university tuition and expenses, where she studied theater.

I begin with Bada’s origin story, not only because it is unique among SM audition stories but because of what it says about SM. Specifically, it demonstrates the company’s recognition early on that acquiring the best performers, regardless of cost, was integral to their survival and success. They would need talent to grow their stable of new acts and replace any new acts that disbanded. Furthermore, maintaining a pool of potential replacement talent was an insurance policy. Their mere existence would apply downward pressure on their already debuted idols, discouraging them from agitating for more (or any) money or better contract terms or material conditions lest they be replaced.

But first, SM had to find trainees, which they did so using a multi-pronged strategy. Street-casting, like the kind that found Bada, was part of their approach, as was their affiliation with the for-profit training academy Starlight Academy beginning in 2003. There was also their more formalized Audition process, which they started advertising on their official website in 2000. In the early aughts, versions of this Audition section of their website listed three language options (“Korean” “English” and “Chinese”), with different options for each. In particular, the Korean version listed six options:

Mail: An applicant could send via snail mail a letter or postcard listing their name, school grade, and contact information, along with two photos, to the attention of the Entertainment Audition Manager at a Gangnam PO Box.

Email: An applicant could send an email to the casting director with all the information they would include in a letter to the casting director if they were mailing their application and two scanned photos.

Franchise Store: Instead of mailing or emailing their information and photos, an applicant could drop off a letter with their information and two photos at one of the various music or record stores around Korea that SM listed on their site. If an applicant who utilized this method was selected for an in-person audition but lived outside of Seoul, SM would pay 100% of their transportation costs.

Recommend a friend: A person could send all of the same information of a friend or family member they believe is talented in a letter or email. If that friend or family member signed a contract with SM, the person who referred them would receive a scholarship of 1 million won.

Live Auditions: Every Saturday at 3pm, SM Entertainment held in-person auditions at their headquarters.

Live Auditions: Applicants could apply for an audition via directions obtained by calling a phone number. If an applicant passed the first round of screening, they would be invited to attend the in-person auditions held on Sunday at 3pm.

Today, SM has not radically changed these options other than revamping them to reflect technological changes and expanding their in-person auditions. They eliminated the snail mail and franchise store options in favor of digital options, including applying via the SM website or direct message. In-person auditions are still held weekly at the SM Entertainment building but are supplemented by audition tours. Earlier this year, they announced their 2024 Global Audition, which consists of stops in Daegu, Busan, Daejeon, Wonju, Gwangju, and Jeju, as well as Thailand, Japan, the United States, and Canada.

Much as their audition methods have not drastically changed, only expanded, the same could be said for the motivation behind their auditions. The need for new trainees, especially as the industry has become increasingly competitive, and the necessity of maintaining that power dynamic that I discussed above all still applies, but I would also add a third reason. That is much as trainees function as a way to apply pressure to acts on an agency’s roster, so does the audition, with all its spectacle, do for trainees. Between the multiple dates and increasing amount of locations, often announced with much fanfare, there is a dual impression. The auditions are extremely competitive, with participants going up against not only those at that audition but also highly desirable and affirming, as evidenced by the turnout.

Yet even though a trainee may have made it through the gauntlet of auditions and been selected as a member of an elite club, they cannot rest. On the contrary, as a trainee, they will have to work harder than other trainees whom they are competing with to maintain their spot and for one of the scant opportunities to debut. Moreover, they cannot complain about their training or the conditions of it or even negotiate for better contract terms, lest they get replaced by any one of those other people auditioning and vying for their spot.

It is no wonder SM Entertainment has not developed a more efficient way to audition potential new trainees. The current system is the perfect tool, conveniently downplaying their role outside the selection process. If a group of trainees encourages existing acts to stay silent even in the face of poor working conditions, that is not because SM has explicitly pushed them to but as a consequence of the system. Similarly, if trainees who acutely feel the precariousness of their situation overwork themselves, that is their decision. No matter that these are the results of a system created by SM's choices, and thus are not immutable. As far as the industry cares it works, so why would they fix it?

[ceasarslegion]

Pls tell me more about ur news experience while protesting the Ford gov and their shitty choices?

I was going to UofT at the time when the ford government gutted OSAP, the ontario student aid program for those out of the know. They converted all grants into loans and no longer gave money to cover living expenses, and they struck down the 6 month grace period ontario students had after graduation to find well-paying jobs before their repayment started.

For the americans here, i should contextualize that student loans in canada do not at all work like they do in the US. We take out loans from a combination of the federal government (known as NSLSC loans) and our provinces of residence specifically. When we apply, we fill out our financial info including our income and if we are considered an "independent" student or not, the legal definition of which differs depending on your province of residence. The main difference being that independent students dont include their parents' incomes when they first apply, theyre considered their sole and only breadwinner. Depending on that income and a few other personal points, you get a combination of loans and grants that cover both tuition and partial living expenses, and when you graduate, the federal government takes all your loan and income info and doles you out a personalized regular payment plan so you have it completely paid off after 10 years if you follow it. And you have 6 months after you graduate uni to find a job and get settled where you don't pay anything. Theres also other options if you still cant pay like the repayment assistance program that freezes your payments entirely if you prove youre below a certain wealth bracket, but thats the gist of it.

Now that everyone knows the context i can tell the story. The ford government of ontario circa 2019 decided that ontario university students dont need living expense coverage, that it would universally be loans regardless of any low income status, and that the post-grad grace period wasnt necessary. And being in one of the most expensive cities in the country, that was not going to fly with my peers.

I personally took out my provincial loans from alberta student aid that has all those benefits, so the OSAP gut didnt actually affect me at all, but injustice is still injustice even if it doesnt affect me, so i joined the student protests against the ford government that people were bussing in from the other side of the province to attend. At some point along the line, other folks noticed that i was comfortable around the news cameras and my main strengths were in public speaking, so when cameras were around asking for interviews i was pushed in front of them a lot to be trusted to explain our grievances and goals without getting noticeably hotheaded, so i did a lot of live interviews for CTV and citynews toronto during those few months.

And they were kinda right to do that. Im really good at interviews and public speaking and arguing points in general, and not the best at more hands-on things when it comes to activism. And like, you do need PR people to get support for a cause, contrary to what a lot of tumblr users seem to think. Like you need people whose jobs are to present your grievances and reasons for marching in a way that presents you as respectful and worth listening to and considering the points of. So that was mainly my role in those protests. I dont know if you can still easily find those interviews buried in their broadcast archives but if you want to look for me be my guest

[inklyqueen]

Literally all the critics are so up in their egos

Also Spoiler warnings for the Mario movie because I'm crying and yk it's opening day I'm not that kind of bitch

I don't think many of them understand that they've got it made rn, and they've never experienced the world some of us are living in

And I don't mean it in a mental health sense or anything, I mean in an actual survival as an adult sense

I was literally surprised by how much I related to Mario specifically. He's the oldest. I'm the oldest of six (under a technicality, two of them are my dad's girlfriend's kids but yk). I'm sure his parents have preached that he needs to take care of and watch out for his younger brother (I'm assuming they're still twins in this universe, Mario was always the older twin in the games and other lore), and I've been preached that too. I'm the same way with my siblings as Mario is with Luigi. Throw trash at my sister, see that happens. "The more you fuck around, the more you're gonna find out." And at the end of the day, my parents will be only in my memories at some point, and all I'll have left is my siblings, granted if I never get married, have kids, etc (God willing I hope, not the point though) It seems to me that Mario is incredibly aware of that too, that one day they'll both be at an age where it's literally only him and Luigi and that they may literally be the only one the other has.

What also struck me was the set-up they showed with the boys. They still live with Mom and Dad, still in their childhood bedroom(s?), just trying to find their footing, I assume they want to be independent of their parents. They put their life savings into a commercial to get their company off the ground. I'm assuming they didn't have very much in the first place, especially from the speech their father gave about how "you can't just give up a steady job for a dream," and how Mario (at least specifically I'm assuming) can't hold down a job in the first place. How he's the one that's bringing Luigi down, as if Luigi can't make a decision for himself, and Mario's like his legal guardian or something. It very much seems to me that they've literally leaned on each other for almost everything more than their own parents, and that's screaming volumes for me.

I still live with my parents, and I get the same grief as well over how I haven't gotten it all figured out still. C*vid was zero help, I wasn't even a year out of high school when it hit, I was just starting college and things were not going very well. I'm just now figuring out my degree program, what I want, trying to get my career off the ground, and getting money back in the bank. I can't afford rent, God no, and I'm blessed to have a job that covers tuition now.

But it seems to me that critics don't understand that. For some reason they want this incredible fleshed-out character arc, plot and overreaching plot, Oscar and Emmy winning from day one piece, and besides the fact that this is technically intended for children, some of the ones I've read are literally making just under upper-to-upper class pay and lifestyles by being that judgemental. They don't have to worry about gas (or the electric bills if they have an electric car) in the tank or food on the table or making rent. One said that they "failed to give Mario a personality" (paraphrasing), when literally I'm seeing myself and my survival struggles in this short moustachioed plumber with older sibling anxiety.

Which, I'm pretty sure he's got a mild touch of GAD, or maybe that's me projecting. I'm not a licensed anything. Also added bonus points because I'm shorter than all of the siblings that are at an age to have actual height. One of my siblings is in high school rn and she's taller than me by a good eight inches. I'm six years older than her.

I'm literally out here doing the best I can with a $200 Insurance payment coming and $80 in the bank.

So yeah. Mario is a really good character.

So thankful for him.

[superiorsturgeon]

hey I just saw your big post on why you like sturgeon and was wondering if you could touch a bit more on the ways you got started in your career/studies involving these fish, specifically if you have any tips and/or advice for someone hoping to pursue a career in the study of these cool guys (funky gar for your time)

Your offering pleases me.

First of all, I put a lot of thought into writing this to help anyone interested in working in my field, so it took me a while to respond to this ask. Sorry it took so long, but I hope it’s helpful!

I got into fish/biology because it was one of two things I really enjoyed learning about in school, and it seemed to be the more solid choice as far as a career (the other being music). Now, I was raised in the US, so most of my advice will be in dealing with grease-slathered American education and workplace experiences. I’m EXTREMELY bitter about certain facets of the system that I discovered the hard way, but I’ll try to stay focused here and I don’t want to discourage anyone!

Getting started…

Assuming you’re interested in actually studying fish like sturgeon, you’re probably going to want a degree of some kind. Now, most colleges these days are happy to take anyone who will pay tuition, but you definitely don’t want just any college! Some universities don’t have big biology programs, and some that do are focused more on pre-med tracks than on studying nature (my undergrad program had me in the basement a lot of the time). What you want is a program that will actually give you skills you’ll need for a job, such as electroshocking, designing/implementing experiments, counting fin ray/otolith rings, and other practical skills. You’re going to be paying a lot of money for this paper no matter where you get it, so you’ll want to do some research to get the maximum value!

The best way to go about choosing a program is to research the professors studying what you are interested in. Find a school, look up something like “fisheries” or “fish biology,” and you should be able to find info on the people actually involved, along with their CVs (curriculum vitae, basically an academic resume). This will tell you what their research focus is, as well as their professional specialties.

When something catches your eye, email them! If they’re any good at their job, they will be happy to tell you about the program, their own lab, and what skills you can learn at that university. Once you’re actually enrolled, you’ll be assigned an Academic Advisor, a professor whose job is to answer these questions. It’s very important to get in the habit of reaching out to professors at college, both in person and by email to ask questions like these. Tell them what your goals are and ask what courses you need, if there are any opportunities to volunteer in labs outside of classes, what workshops are available, etc, because these will help set you apart from the slobbering masses who just fulfilled the minimum requirements to graduate.

Paying for college…

You’ve probably heard that the cost of college in the US is outrageous these days, and studying fish definitely does NOT pay a lot, but there are a few ways to reduce the cost! Once you’ve found a university with a program that meets your needs, see how many basic courses/credits you can get out of the way at small community colleges, if possible while still living at home (on-site housing and food courts are marked up a lot, and many four-year colleges insist on living there at least two years). Remember how I recommended that you reach out to professors to choose a program? Do it again at community colleges near you or your chosen school and ask which credits can be transferred. It’s a common practice so they almost certainly have some procedures in place.

Second, never pass up a chance to apply for grants, scholarships, etc, any money that you don’t have to pay back, even if you BARELY qualify. Many of these cost nothing to apply besides your time, and it’s surprisingly easy to get approved! There are apps available that will give you a list of scholarships applicable to your degree, and your professors should also be able to help you find more possibilities. Seriously, apply to every grant/scholarship you can, because the worst that can happen is that you don’t get it. I myself received a grant from Trout Unlimited that caught me completely off-guard because I wasn’t even studying trout, but I wrote an essay and applied anyway! If your school has a writing lab, take your applications to them for proofreading! (Side note, being able to write grant applications is actually a valuable job skill for professionals doing science, so take the opportunity to learn!)

Developing marketable skills…

I touched on useful skills above, but I’m going to go into more depth. In theory, colleges are supposed to teach you what you need in the expensive courses they offer, but I can tell you that some colleges are happy to just get “butts in seats” and award diplomas for the bare minimum. It’s scummy, but it happens, so I recommend that you take some steps to make sure you get real-world skills, because basic biology lectures won’t impress recruiters after you’ve graduated.

The exact skills you want depend on whether you’re looking to be outside or in the lab, but my advice is to get as many as you can. Competition for jobs like mine can be fierce, so it never hurts to add more to your resume! Employers will look for things like the ability to drive/back up trailers, welding, using statistics software like R, determining fish age, operating boats, pipetting, basic electrical repair, plumbing, and electroshocking, to name a few. I had a master’s degree when I applied to a previous job, but my boss told me what really caught his eye was that I had experience fixing my own car and a little bit of construction. Some things like measuring/weighing fish accurately are easy to learn on the job, but just like anywhere else employers want to get new hires up to speed as fast as possible, so they’ll be pleased to see that you volunteered to collect data for someone’s graduate research or attended a weekend workshop learning to sample fish in a nearby river. If you find a good school program you’ll learn things like this, but it’s a good idea to ask your professors if there are any extra opportunities to pick up skills!

In addition to what you learn through the school, you can also pick up a few things on your own! The internet has become swamped with targeted ads and bullshit, but you can still find videos demonstrating things like basic engine maintenance, plumbing, electronics, etc (of course, make sure you’re being safe when researching that last one). If you have a relative with a trailer, see if they’ll teach you how to back it up safely in a parking lot! If your school has a statistics professor, find out when they have office hours and ask them for advice learning to use R!

Continuing your education…

After I got my bachelor’s degree, I decided to go back for a master’s degree, which a lot of research types decide to do. One thing I wasn’t told about until it was almost too late was how to actually get into grad school; the person who explained it to me called a simple application the “kiss of death,” unless you had a one-in-a-million rockstar GPA. You’ll have to seek out and take something called a GRE test (basically ACT/SAT for grad school), and then reach out to professors whose research/interests are close to your own and ask if they’ll take you on as a grad student. They’ll often want to interview you like you’re applying for a job (which is basically what grad school is), and they’ll often want you to apply for funding or a teaching assistantship to pay your tuition and living expenses. A teaching assistant usually does basic teaching at a university like Biology 101 labs or other grunt work, but in exchange, you get teaching experience, paid tuition, and usually a small stipend (I taught 3 labs and got about $1000/month, so it’s not exactly lucrative).

Grad school itself can be fun if you’re a real academic who loves learning. You’ll be taking a few very high-level courses, and also running a research project of your own. Remember that professor who interviewed you earlier? You’re going to be working as a researcher under their supervision, from designing a project to collecting data to writing a peer-reviewed thesis. It’s a lot of work, but it’s good training for doing science professionally! (This is why it’s good to get some practice doing/helping with projects as an undergrad).

Here’s a few tips for grad school. First, NEVER miss a chance to apply for funding! Your project will probably require some $ for materials, and I’ve seen everything from Trout Unlimited grants to a roommate who set up a successful crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe to study wolves. Grad school is also much more like a job than school; it’ll be your responsibility to plan the stages of your project around your other obligations, coordinating with your advising committee, writing and rewriting a scientific paper, and possibly organizing a crew of volunteers to help with your project. Your advisor is there to help you, so don’t be shy about asking questions and scheduling meetings.

A few helpful tips for your graduate thesis: first, you’re going to be reading a lot of scientific literature so buckle in and get used to it, because it’ll both give you the information you need to draw conclusions and show you how publications are supposed to be written. You’ll be making use of Google Scholar to look up published research papers, but you’re not going to be able to access all of them beyond the author and the abstract (a quick summary of the article), which can be limiting. Either make use of a website that allows you to get around paywalls (eg Sci Hub), or use the information in the abstract to seek out and email the author of a paper directly (the authors of those publications don’t see any of the money from journal subscriptions, so they’re usually happy to give you a copy)! I’ve done this many times and never been turned down. In addition, you’re going to have PAGES of cited sources (I had a relatively short thesis and I had three pages)! Rather than suffer through the ordeal of doing it by hand, look up and download one of these two programs: Zotero or Mendeley. These programs will pull information from a scholarly paper you want to cite, catalog it for quick reference, and come with a plug-in function for Microsoft Word that will insert the citation and compile a Works Cited/Bibliography section in whatever format you choose. Be warned, sometimes the program gets confused and you’ll have to manually fix what it spits out, so make sure you proofread carefully!

After graduating…

Now, everything up to this point has had to do with getting an education before applying for a job. I was offered a PhD spot after presenting my research, but turned it down at the time to enter the workforce because my primary focus was on fisheries management. Certain areas of study expect you to continue in academia, while in other fields a PhD can actually limit you. Ask your advisor what’s right for you. Remember all those job skills I recommended earlier? Here’s where you’re going to want them.

Unfortunately for everyone, there’s a lot of competition for the decent jobs in fish research. It’s kind of like teaching, in that the people who stick with it tend to be passionate about their work, and that sometimes leads to being exploited. A LOT of government jobs expect people to spend time doing temporary work or seasonal work before they’re eligible for a full-time job that pays the bills. “But Supersiorsturgeon!” you may say, “What’s the point of getting an expensive degree if I have to spend years working part-time to get a job that pays enough to live on?”

The tl;dr of the whole situation is that colleges will take your money whether it’s worth it or not, and there are more passionate fish people than there are jobs, so employers can afford to make us jump through hoops. Unless you’re very lucky, the best advice I can offer is to minimize the amount of bullcrap you need to tolerate by getting as much experience/skill as you can while you’re still in school and MAKE it worth your money. In addition, a lot of those seasonal gigs in hatcheries, lamprey control, etc can be scheduled in summer around classes, so with some care, you can do your time while still in school! Talk to your advisor about building your resume, and try to develop connections whenever you get a chance.

Searching for jobs…

When it comes to finding jobs after you graduate, you’ll probably have to look online unless you’re lucky enough to already know staff at a research facility or hatchery. While these jobs do occasionally pop up on Ziprecruiter, Indeed, or Craigslist, you’ll find much better options on state websites for state/province Natural Resources departments (usually accessed through the state government website), the federal Fish and Wildlife Service job board, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) job board, and the Texas A&M job board. At time of writing, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest states seem to have the most work available for Americans, but by no means are they the only places hiring!

Be prepared to send out a lot, and I mean a LOT, of applications before you get an interview. I wasn’t kidding before when I said that competition can be tough, and the application process can be longer and more frustrating than some of these jobs deserve (No joke, I’ve applied to entry-level and seasonal jobs that demanded long-answer writing assignments or proctored standardized tests, in addition to resumes, transcripts, and cover letters. Government jobs are especially prone to this.). I’ve missed out on interviews for positions for which I was definitely overqualified because one or two minuscule details in my essay didn’t perfectly match my undergraduate transcript from eight years before. I’ve applied to jobs in other locations, only to find out later that the hiring agency had a secret policy of hiring only residents of that state. It can be extremely frustrating and discouraging, and unless you managed to develop some contacts with the department beforehand, you’ll have to apply to a lot of jobs, often in various locations across the country. To make the process easier, request electronic pdf copies of your transcripts and save them along with a base resume in your computer. Read the job descriptions carefully and tweak your resume/cover letter to what they’re looking for. Make careful note of the closing time/date for applications, and keep in mind that they may be for a specific time zone (I missed out on one dream job because I was in Pacific time and didn’t notice the deadline was for Eastern). When you DO get an interview, try to fill up the time allotted with your qualifications while still answering every question they ask (I know of several states who consider it a dealbreaker if you can’t do this). When you are allowed to ask questions of your own, don’t hold back. Ask what a typical day at work looks like, what the hours are, is there paid training, is there a union, etc! It shows that you’re seriously interested in that job and that you’ll take the job seriously if you’re hired. And if you’re applying for government jobs, expect them to take a while to respond.

On the job…

And finally, there are a handful of things you should be prepared for once you’re actually working in the field!

The first thing is that you will be counting. Like, a LOT. When you’re dealing with eggs, baby fish, etc the most efficient way to track their size and inventory is to take a handful of fish, measure their volume or weight, then count how many fish per gram/milliliter, etc to get an average size. Once you’ve got the average weight/volume, you can use that number to estimate total numbers without having to count out 10,000 tiny fish one at a time (better brush up on your algebra too!). Now, counting sounds straightforward, but when you’re taking a bunch of counts in a row your mind will eventually wander, and you’ll eventually find yourself thinking “wait, was that 49 or 59?” For my own peace of mind, I went online and bought something called a lap counter, which simply counts every time you press a button. You might miss one or two fish, but you’ll never completely lose your place!

Second, sooner or later you’ll have to deal with dead fish, or possibly euthanize them yourself. Especially in big hatcheries or aquaculture farms, you may have to deal with literal tons of dead fish. My old boss claimed that “you’re not a real fish tech until you’ve killed a tank of fish,” as a way of philosophizing the inevitability of making mistakes, but no matter how well you handle it someone will have to remove them from the tank or possibly finish them off. It’s never fun, but if you want to work with fish as a career, you have to accept the fact that you can’t save all of them, no matter how hard you try. Some people simply can’t handle that, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Conversely, some people get way too into killing fish, and I recommend they find a career path that doesn’t involve dealing with animals and talk to a therapist.

Thirdly, fish are animals and they don’t know or care what our schedule might be. Most jobs dealing with animals require work outside of the traditional capitalist 40-hour workweek, such as on weekends, late at night, and on holidays. Good organizations have rotating schedules to cover weekends and spread on-call time around fairly to make sure the fish are cared for, but sometimes things like nighttime spawning, larval drifts, or facility emergencies are all-hands-on deck events. Be prepared for these, but at the same time make sure you don’t burn yourself out by volunteering for constant overtime.

Finally, you’re going to get wet. And hot. And cold. If you’re working for any kind of decent organization, they’ll have rain gear or waders available, but you can’t always count on high quality or perfect fit for every possible body shape. Furthermore, anyone who does a lot of fishing will tell you that it’s not a matter of IF you’ll fall in the water/pop a leak, but WHEN. I had a supervisor who went through at least six cell phones in two years because he was constantly getting wet in the tanks. Working with big, powerful fish or moving water? Be prepared to get soaked by a big tail sweep or lose your footing on an uneven bottom! Not even planning to stand in the tank with the fish? You’ve gotta get them out somehow, and that means sticking your hands in the water or handling wet nets.

My advice? Accept that it will happen and take precautions! If you can, leave your phone and wallet somewhere safe, but if you can’t, then buy certified waterproof bags and don’t trust the pockets in waders or rain jackets to stay leak-proof! If you’re working in the cold, pack some synthetic or wool base layers, mid layers, and wool socks to stay warm if you get wet. Avoid cotton in the cold, it’ll hold moisture and suck the heat right out of your body. For hot weather, make sure you have plenty of water, sunblock, and possibly a sun hat to avoid heat stroke! And don’t forget bug spray, because fish live in water, and in a lot of places water means mosquitoes! Finally, don’t leave your waders or jacket outside overnight, because sooner or later you’ll find them full of rainwater.

One further tip regarding waders: when your waders inevitably spring a leak, you can often patch them! Plenty of waders are sold with patch kits included, but to increase your odds of success you should try filling your waders with water to locate any pinholes and dry/clean the area inside and out with alcohol. If you don’t have a repair kit, I’ve had great success a product called Shoe Goo, which is often available at hardware stores or Walmart.

If you have to/want to get clothing of your own, here are my favorites:

For footwear, I like Red Wing shoes and Xtratuf boots. Red Wing seems to be one of the few companies that still makes products that last, and they can often replace boot soles as they wear out, meaning a set of footwear can often last for years. Xtratuf boots are my choice for rubber footwear with a 1-year warranty, and even though people will tell you that they used to be higher quality before their manufacturing was sent overseas, they’re still very popular in Alaskan fish hatcheries. I’ve heard that the insulated boots are extremely well-insulated, to the point that people I’ve met from Alaska prefer to wear uninsulated boots with thick wool socks.

When it comes to wet weather, I’ve had my best luck with Grundens and Helly Hansen jackets and bib overalls. Their jackets come in both pull-over and full-zip with neoprene or elastic cuffs to keep out rain. They’re both great quality, and I once knew a guy who used his HH jacket for ten years, long after everyone else’s gear wore out. In cold/wet conditions I liked to pair a good jacket with either neoprene diving gloves (for sticking my hands underwater) or Showa 282 insulated gloves (for when I want to stay dry).

Like everyone else who works outdoors, a lot of fish people like Carhartt work wear. I personally think that some of their products have declined in quality over the years (I was gifted a Rain Defender vest that was both NOT waterproof and had pockets separating at the seams after a couple months), but I still have/use the first Carhartt jacket I ever purchased, so it seems that the garments made with thick cotton duck material hold up well.

Summary…

Find a good college program

Email your professors/advisors with questions about developing good job skills

Try to get as much college as possible at cheaper community colleges

Apply to every grant/scholarship you can

Seek out job skills like plumbing, stats, lab skills, driving trailers, etc both in and outside of the classroom (ask your advisors or look at job postings for the skills you want)

Get experience doing research as an undergraduate if you can (ask your advisor!)

Consider grad school if you want to get deeper into research

Learn to read scientific literature on Google Scholar

Use Zotero or Mendeley to make citations in your writing

Look for seasonal jobs in the field while still in school and cultivate relationships with potential employers

Search for jobs on Texas A&M, AFS, Fish And Wildlife Service, and state/provincial government agency websites

Apply to a lot of jobs

Get a lap counter and practice algebra for calculating averages

Be prepared to deal with dead/dying fish

Be prepared for late night, weekend, and holiday work

Be prepared for inclement weather conditions and especially getting wet

I hope this all helps. I’m by no means an expert in navigating finances, politics, etc, but I tried to lay out as much as possible here to help you avoid the many pitfalls I plowed into headfirst. Fish research is rewarding, but not particularly lucrative, so it calls for people who are truly passionate about fish. If you’ve got questions about anything I wrote above, I’ll try my best to answer them!

Best of luck out there!

[pure-ablution]

How do you make and save money?

It’s mostly about increasing your income, and then reducing how much of that income you actually need to spend. This is what I do. Not all of it is technically allowed because of my university’s employment rules, but I haven’t run into trouble yet. It’s not always fun to live frugally, but it allows me to indulge in the things that matter to me.

Increasing income:

I receive a termly stipend as part of my scholarships, covering my rent and utilities and leaving me with a little money left over.

I work at least one shift at the student bar per week, and usually receive tips.

I do part-time paid internships during term-time, and full-time paid internships in most holidays.

I work for my university by taking shifts in the libraries, and working with admissions and outreach.

I offer myself for some compensated research trials and surveys at my uni.

I do online tutoring, mostly to foreign highschoolers whose parents are willing to pay a fortune for my university’s name.

I work freelance in translation services and proofreading in my native languages. This pays by the word.

I offer basic beauty services (waxing, eyebrows, etc.), styling and tailoring/mending services to students at a reduced rate compared to local salons and tailors.

I sell PDF copies of my notes and lecture transcripts to students on my course, and very occasionally write essays for a higher fee.

I babysit/pet-sit/house-sit for my professors, neighbours, and other local families I know.

I receive occasional cash prizes for competitions.

I have some music and poetry published, and receive a little bit of money regularly as royalties.

I sell clothes etc. on behalf of people who are too old or lazy to use online secondhand sites, and take a portion of the cost.

I sell a few printables and some of my embroidery and other handicrafts on Etsy.

I take on any little ‘odd job’ offered to me. Last week I was paid £25 as an extra in a student film production.

I have a few investments, and I withdraw portions of the interest already generated if I feel I need to.

My parents send me a small amount of money every month (something like £75) specifically for groceries.

Reducing outgoings:

All of my tuition is covered by my scholarships, plus a single airfare to and from home per year.

I get all my fish free from my neighbour, and I eat a lot of it.

I get all my milk free, in exchange for doing the eyebrows of the girl who runs the dairy near me.

I buy the rejected fruit and vegetables from the greengrocer’s at the end of the day for a discount.

I buy rice and beans in bulk from the international market a few miles from my house.

I cook everything from scratch at home. Most meals I make come out at less than a £1 spend per portion, because I buy in bulk.

I walk everywhere, and I have a Railcard for when I need to use the train.

I pirate books and movies, or use my university’s libraries. I never, ever pay for books.

I always shop in sales or usually secondhand, and I’m really good at using discount codes.

I don’t bother with fancy salons. I do most of my cosmetic work myself, or I go to independent aestheticians who work from their houses.

I get a friends’ discount with the dry cleaning shop I use, because it’s run by the local monastery and I know most of the monks there.

I don’t have any subscriptions or monthly payments to anything except magazines. My phone and laptop were bought outright for me as a part of my scholarship agreement, and I don’t have a car or any streaming services.

I have a black and white television (the licensing charge for B&W in the UK is significantly lower than colour).

I use a cashback app whenever I buy anything online. It’s only a small percentage, but it adds up over time.

I never buy alcohol. There are more than enough events with free drinks in a student city.

Saturday brunch was recently swapped to a homemade brunch, so now I no longer pay for any meals out at all.

Most of my cleaning products are homemade in the way my grandmother taught me. All you really need is bar soap, white vinegar, lemon juice and a cheap bottle of bleach in your cleaning kit.

I never, ever forget to use my student discount.

[temaylibrary]

Hi Thelen! The cafe over in this alternate universe we're stuck in is going to open tomorrow, so before we go back and get more information, I wanted to summarize what we know and ask you for some advice

Teamay Veldt and the world it inhabits:

"Teamay Veldt" is Temay Veldt's premiere (and only) tea shop - serving a variety of hot beverages with leaves and beans sourced from the Shadow Vale and prepared properly for maximum enjoyment.

The chief proprietor of Teamay Veldt is Cosmo Bergamot, 23, who on May 1st finally achieved his life long dream of opening his own cafe. He is similar to the Professor Bergamot we know in most respects, though lacks many of the skills he has both from Temay Veldt and the mundane world (such as magic or swordsmanship).

The world where Teamay Veldt exists is a confused mix of Temay Veldt and the mundane world, specifically the US state of California, which Temay Veldt is now the capital city of (Thelen, if you don't know what that means, as Professor Bergamot. He's familiar with the mundane world.)

We have not confirmed if this universe's California belongs to a specific time period (and I suspect it borrows more from Temay Veldt than California), but it feels very odd for either to not have any cafes. You have cafes, don't you, Thelen??

Cosmo (Tea Version) acts as if he is meeting members of the classroom for the first time when we enter the cafe (except for Reversed Cards, who apparently has a backstory), but does have an innate knowledge of us that sometimes slips out untranslated into the AU, causing him to be confused. Examples include referring to previous classroom activities, knowing my name without me telling him, and noticing the length of Emily the Shark's tuition at the academy (which was much longer than the tea shop has existed).

I have a theory that drawing more attention to the inconsistencies of this world and the knowledge of our world leaking through may be the trick to getting us back to the academy. Do you agree, or think that might put us in danger (or put this universe's Cosmo in distress for no benefit)?

By the nature of Alternate Universes like the ones you spoke to Lawler Hix about, this universe should contain equivalents to things like The Horizon, the Foxe and Sittowe Guild, and other people, places, and events from our studies. I believe asking about these subjects will teach us more about the world, or potentially create more cracks in the facade. (There is also the chance this world's Cosmo will just say "never heard of it!" and move on, but I hope he doesn't, because that would be less fun. We'll see, though.)

If you have any advice on how to get out of here, let us know! We'll do our best at continuing our research!

What a fascinating set of information, miss Aster... Please keep up the good work!