#it was an assignment for undergrad

[dear-ao3]

if anyone remembers approximately 2 weeks ago when i was actively giving up on a homework assignment well

half of the reason it was so hard was because i somehow managed to do the assignments out of order?

i got my grade back (a whopping 4/9) and the professor called my methods "extremely unorthodox" and i agree with her

[qqueenofhades]

If graduate students don't learn how to read emails and follow basic instructions real quick, Imma go spare.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

a nuance to the uni/school thing is also i think that like... for most humanities subjects in the uk you mainly won't have "classes" in the form of lessons (languages i think would be a key exception here), you'll have lectures which are a one-way thing and then seminars which are more discussion based and involve reading/prep work beforehand, and at some unis you'll have smaller group tutorials or supervisions

but like. the pedagogical culture is a bit different i think? it is much less like school and more heavily reliant on independent learning. you might only have a handful of contact hours a week and everything else is you in a library doing the reading or whatever; you're not gonna have a lot of short assignments and quizzes so much as, like, a bunch of research essays (how many will vary heavily by course and institution) so it's more like Doing Research than doing Homework the way you would at school, even early on in undergrad

and this is partly due to specialising earlier rather than having gen ed courses so you've got a much narrower range of modules to be doing yunno

(this doesn't apply to like, stem subjects. they've got labs and shit. god knows what they're doing over there.)

[chronicowboy]

just got the best feedback of my life on my favourite short story i've ever written. quote: "honestly, this marker is struggling to find much to fault in such a high-quality story [...] you should seek out suitable submission opportunities for it as this deserves a wider audience." did happy spins around my room.

[romanceyourdemons]

obsessed with chu wanning trying so so hard to engage with gossip and simply being bad at it. i need to have brunch with this man immediately

[beaft]

october 18th

today's spooky poem is neil gaiman's "vampire sestina", featured in the collection "smoke and mirrors". as any poet will tell you, a sestina is a fiendishly tricky beast, so i'm always impressed when i find a good one - and this is, i think, a good one! you can read a little more about sestinas here, and if you've got some free time on your hands, you might try your hand at writing your own. (well, why not?)

VAMPIRE SESTINA

I wait here at the boundaries of dream, All shadow-wrapped.  The dark air tastes of night, So cold and crisp, and I wait for my love. The moon has bleached the color from her stone. She'll come, and then we'll stalk this pretty world Alive to darkness and the tang of blood.

It is a lonely game, the quest for blood. But still, a body's got the right to dream And I'd not give it up for all the world. The moon has leeched the darkness from the night. I stand in the shadows, staring at her stone: Undead, my lover... O, undead my love?

I dreamt you while I slept today and love Meant more to me than life - meant more than blood. The sunlight sought me, deep beneath my stone, More dead than my corpse but still a-dream Until I woke as vapor into the night And sunset forced me out into the world.

For many centuries I've walked the world Dispensing something that resembled love -  A stolen kiss, then back into the night Contented by the life and by the blood. And come the morning I was just a dream, Cold body chilling underneath a stone.

I said I would not hurt you. Am I stone To leave you prey to time and to the world? I offered you a truth beyond your dreams While all you had to offer was your love. I told you not to worry and that blood Tastes sweeter on the wing and late at night.

Sometimes my lovers rise to walk the night... Sometimes they lie, cold corpse beneath the stone, And never know the joys of bed and blood, Of walking through the shadows of the world; Instead they rot to maggots. O my love They whispered you had risen, in my dream.

I've waited by your stone for half the night But you won't leave your dream to hunt for blood. Good night, my love. I offered you the world.

—Neil Gaiman

[beannary]

guys im being so productive, i have a book review due in two weeks and im already reading the book instead of not reading the book and just bullshitting the whole assignment the night before its due

[dnfity]

i used to be so good at procrastinating but now im not even good at doing that

[bmpmp3]

fffffffffuuuuuuccccccccccck i was always meant to become a mascot character designer

[mysticfemme]

got my first proper grade back for my MA !!!

[essektheylyss]

guess who wrote one single scene for the first time in months? this bitch.

guess what that scene primarily consisted of? wizard spell mechanics.

guess what the scene prior to this one primarily consisted of? also wizard spell mechanics.

guess what the scene I'm scheduling myself to write tomorrow consists of? to no one's surprise, it's ALSO wizard spell mechanics!

[aerithisms]

okay gang i have GOT to start finishing some assignments or i'll fail this stupid degree so i am once again breaking out the baileys in the middle of the night to bribe myself

[britneyshakespeare]

my professor scanned a reading from the new edition of the norton anthology textbook (that's not available for those of us using older editions) and uploaded it to blackboard upside down. lol

[fingertipsmp3]

I’m always so fascinated by people’s bad roommate stories. I’m not sure I’ll ever live with someone I haven’t vetted extensively beforehand ever again

[fagrackham]

yay whee succession

[ladygirl7000]

I didn’t grow up religious but I feel like academia is really helping me understand what my friends who experience catholic guilt are going through