#joys of phd

[cryptidlark]

Loving the slow reveal that Three has not, as Murderbot expected, been having trouble adjusting to entertainment, but is in fact a gigantic nerd

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[novathesheltie]

had to post more- he’s not even trying

[artigas]

The Spring semester has officially started, which means I am now fully preparing for my comps, a two-hour oral exam that I have to take in order to officially become a PhD candidate. I have to read ninety books by May, latest August : )

I’ve gotten started with the most exciting of my three reading lists: the Gothic!! Basically, my reading is going to be a journey of getting a comprehensive overview of all things 19th-century British/Victorian literature, 19th-century Latin American literature, and the Gothic. I’ve already gotten started with my first five books, but I thought the other day: I feel like video reviews of each book would be a fantastic way to remember the important information about each of the readings. Nothing crazy or long, just a 2-5 minute review of the book and why it’s important if you want to become a student of the literature.

Anyways, I like this idea a lot and I feel like sharing it on my old bookstagram or on TikTok would be a nice way to get a dopamine hit for the reviews — if anyone were to watch or react to my reviews, I know it would make reviewing the books all the more fun!

But . . . And this is a big but . . . Then that would mean that I’d be opening myself to being perceived. And that’s really embarrassing to me. Like, what if I make a video and nobody gives a fuck? That’s so embarrassing. What if I make a video and a student or someone in my program sees it? Mortifying. It really does seem fun and a small part of me really want to do it but man, oh man, would I be scared!!

[lieutenant-columbro]

so i was in my film class today and the prof was like "we don't watch detective stories where they show the murder at the beginning because it would be narratively boring" i shouldve fuckign thrown hands

[nube55]

Husband, looking concerned at the yarn fest sorrounding me on the couch: You're going through a crocheting rampage, right?

Me, weaving two projects simultaneously and searching for new patterns online: Maybe it's a coping mechanism, darling.

[lamellas]

hiiii :] sorry if this is out of nowhere but we were in a discord serber together in liek 2020 and you got me into the mechanisms and kickstarted my autism for anthropology and i just wanted to let you know its YOUR fault its my special interest…. (/silly)

i dont expect you to remember me cuz dear lird 4 uears but i just needed you to know :3 have a wondrous day

:00 is this the sever i did the Bones Class in bc if so i might remember u

[ifindtheartifacts]

I FINISHED MY DEMOTIC FOR TOMORROWWWWWWWW 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[szappan]

idk if this would be helpful to you but how about. you pick your fave 5 letters. then make up a thesis statement/question/thing that stars with each of thise 5 letters. and then make a poll and have people vote on it? not the same as getting assigned something specific but it might give you direction. in case you dont have any favourite letters here are my 10 top 10 if you want more examples 1. j 2. e 3. o 4. g 5. d 6. b 7. i 8. l 9. z 10. u

if this isnt totally your thing and youre not interest u dont have to reply i just thought maybe u need a nudge like this :-)

augh this is brilliant thank you my friend ill give this a spin :-) those are very good letters indeed!! thank you for your help, getting peer reviewed should be very useful, so ill think about those statements now!

[rudennotgingr]

At this point, the only thing that is keeping me going is that one day I’ll be able to tell people:

“I’m not that kind of doctor.”

[moreclaypigeons]

I kiss girl otherwise explode die

[19orionis]

Emoji OC asks: Ben and Reid 🥛🍷🌶️🧇🥔

Benedikt:

🥛 [MILK] What is your OC's relationship with their biological parents like? What about their relationship with any non-biological parental figures?

Whew. His relationship with his mom is bad. They've been no-contact ever since he was kicked out by her in his late teens. She's been a pretty self-centered individual for as long as he's known her and also was generally never equipped to properly care for him. He was kinda parentified, had to spend a lot of time caring for his little sisters (and expected to grow up to be a wife and mother, too) and very limited in his self-expression as a closeted trans boy in a Catholic household. Religion loomed over him for a long time and it heavily affected how he saw his magic. His mother feared him for it and very much thought it was ungodly, but he feared her, too. She also had a weird jealousy thing over his hair (which he gets from his bio dad, more on that later), but didn't know everything about how to treat even moderately curly hair like his, so he fought with her a lot when he was little about brushing it. It's why he cropped his hair very short in his early twenties and only let it get truly long again sometime in his mid-thirties. Living with her just sucked. Ben's bio dad is some Finnish wizard guy who has no idea he exists. His mother had an affair with said Finnish wizard guy, without knowing he was a wizard, and the dad Ben grew up with/his mom's husband figured it out on his own some months after Ben was born and his suspicion caused him to go snooping. Ben really wishes his parents divorced each other over it, honestly, but they never did and often their dynamic seemed more like roommates than a married couple. Because of all this, Ben's known dad did not like interacting with Ben all that much. Ben preferred that to the way his mother would breathe down his neck, though.

🍷 [WINE] Where on the 'wine aunt scale' is your OC?

Ben is less of a wine aunt and more of an Uncle Acid ;)

🌶️ [HOT PEPPER] Who would your OC declare their sworn enemy if they could meet them?

IF he could meet them? I'm assuming this question is asking about famous people. If so, then it's gotta be Ronald Reagan. Really, Ben, in his middle age, is SO mellow compared to when he was younger. It's pretty hard for him to really consider any regular people his enemy. Maybe his mom, but he doesn't even fully count that anymore since he'll never have to interact with her again. He did have some insane beef with a past student that had some extremely conservative ideals, and keeping himself composed and professional when this kid would say his takes about art during class was a struggle. In the end, though, that student turned in genuinely shit work and the satisfaction of giving him a deserved failing grade was the end of it.

🧇 [WAFFLE] Using shape language, how would you redesign your OC?

I already use shape language a lot, so I don't fully know if I can answer this for either Ben or Reid! But I'll try. I could explain why I use the shapes I do in my current designs... I think Ben being made up of mostly round shapes, combined with the context of his character, kinda helps convey his laidback-ness and flexibility. Him being really lanky and made of limbs like I used to draw him did too, but there's just something about the way I draw him now that's really fitting. He's not rigid, and especially never severe, though with his height, he is capable of having a quietly intimidating presence. His nose, eyebrows, and eyes have some fun angles and I think that draws some attention to them. Having his hair be kinda cloud-shaped is fun, too, I want (and hope) elements of his design (like the dark clothes) come together to evoke smoke, and one of his tattoos does that directly.

🥔 [POTATO] What do they have that others see as a flaw, but they don't care about?

Ben falls more under the pop definition of hedonism than the actual, modest, Epicurean one talked about in philosophy (so he does know about OG hedonism and what it really means), and not everybody is down with that way of living. He loves having fun and feeling good-- the words "I shouldn't" aren't in his vocabulary. He's also a pretty frequent stoner, but doesn't really see anything wrong with his current usage, though he did have an issue with overuse, psychological dependence, and poor money management while in undergrad, and he will admit that. The wrong kind of people, I'm sure, would also see an issue with his polyamory, maybe call him indecisive or disloyal, but the people who would react like that don't even know he's polyamorous. It's something he's pretty discerning about when it comes to bringing it up.

Reid:

🥛 [MILK] What is your OC's relationship with their biological parents like? What about their relationship with any non-biological parental figures?

...Also bad. I'm really compelled by bad parents, which is interesting, because mine aren't bad. I heard lots of questionable tales about each of their parents, though, and plenty from some of my friends, and I guess it's rubbed off. Reid's dad was straight-up an abusive, homophobic dick, without any religious component, and both of their parents touted their little brother Jack as the golden child-- Jack happened to be the least defiant, and also the most gender-conforming, so everything was Reid and especially Lou's fault instead (Lou is their older sister). Reid's a middle child, by the way, which is a part of their desperation for literally any kind of attention that's followed them throughout their life. Crime and swindling have been a part of Reid's family for a few generations now, and Reid and their siblings were sometimes put in dangerous situations-- or more often neglected while their parents were out-- as a result. They found peace playing outside, stomping through the woods of Appalachia. Having so little guidance growing up definitely affected their view of other people and how they relate to them, and they went decades seeing no problem with taking from others because it's what was modeled to them.

🍷 [WINE] Where on the 'wine aunt scale' is your OC?

Oh she is SUCH a wine aunt! Wine aunt. That is where she is.

🌶️ [HOT PEPPER] Who would your OC declare their sworn enemy if they could meet them?

ALSO Reagan! They lived through that shit! Ben was born in 1970 and didn't move to the US until '92, so he hates Reagan for the aftermath, but Reid was an adult LGBT person in the US during his presidency, so their hatred is firey and it is personal. She's still far from leftist, economically, but he was just too shitty in all respects.

🧇 [WAFFLE] Using shape language, how would you redesign your OC?

Reid's shape is meant to emulate and evoke other chaotic or con artist-y characters throughout other media (or interpretations... remember how people would draw human!Bill back in the day? LMAO), and also to look very animated, wiggly, and expressive. SHE is all limbs, and her eyebrows are simple curves that can be pushed and exaggerated a lot in her expressions. She's got a rounder eye shape and a generally more alert look to her than Ben does (and smaller pupils, usually), but her other features are very sharp and bold. SHE wants to look memorable, and dresses and wears makeup in a way that pushes that even further.

🥔 [POTATO] What do they have that others see as a flaw, but they don't care about?

This one is very dependent on at what point in Reid's life this is being asked at, so I'll just go with the biggest/most interesting one. During the height of their scheming days, they really don't see it as an issue, and think everyone else is the problem. They push a lot of blame onto other people when they're disliked or their hustles don't go their way. When asked why, they'd go "everybody does it! Er-- not everybody, but enough of 'em! What's the point of playin' by the rules if there's always gonna be some other asshole who doesn't?"

[amrv-5]

Stayed For The Whole Thing And Had Some Fun Despite Likely Not Planning To Return For The Second Half Of The Lessons Next Week!*

*Will interrogate this feeling closer to next week to decide if feeling a little awkward and not getting something perfect first try is making me not want to return and so should be pushed thru in service of making more friends outside my field, or if it’s a legitimate and admissable Not My Thing After Trying It reaction

[omarfor-orchestra]

You know when you do something and you're proud but it's never enough never enough never enough never enough never enough

[tempestaurora]

am confused. I was really gung ho about doing a PhD this year but just after one meeting with my planned supervisor makes me really really hesitate to do it. i don't think my idea is strong enough, I don't really like the way the PhD works and is planned out and idk if I want to spend 3 years minimum on something I'm not sure I truly, wholeheartedly want

however I don't know if its just the overwhelming logistics of arranging a PhD and applying that's putting me off, or if its actually the PhD itself

[pantalaiimon]

I've just defended my master's research dissertation, got heaps of praise from the jury, and am now officially finished with my studies!!!

I'm also officially a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist in my country :)

Oh, what a blessed, blessed day!