𝒪𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓉 🏛️

[indigently]

OPEN POST

action • text • canon • cross-canon • assumed cr

Comments

[localgrandma]

I suppose not. I apologize, that was rather blunt of me.

Still, I am curious as to what the young people are interested in.

[indigently]

[ Ah... now he feels bad. ]

I'd be happy to explain it as much as I can, senior.

I just... would much prefer not to talk about my own sex life.

[localgrandma]

[Hm…]

What else should we talk about?

Tell me, what are the things youngsters are into now?

[indigently]

Do you mean... with regards to sex? Or just in general?

[localgrandma]

In general.

Please do enlighten me on what you know.

[indigently]

Uh... let's see. Recently, scholars have been very interested in trying to do things in more "efficient" or "useful" ways. For example, chilling a glass of wine with frozen grapes instead of ice, which would dilute it. Or something called "temptation bundling"— pairing a task you don't want to do with the reward. Like studying and drinking a milkshake at the same time.

They call them "life hacks". Sometimes they're quite good, like those ones. Other times... not so much.

[localgrandma]

These "life hacks" seems like making things much more complicated than they should be. While I agree that it helps with doing mundane tasks simpler, wouldn't it be easier to just do it?

But I will admit, adding frozen grapes to wine is a rather ingenious idea. I approve! Anymore of these "life hacks" you are willing to share with me?

[indigently]

Hm...

You can rub an ajilenakh nut on wooden furniture to hide any scuff marks or scrapes.

If you have a deep-dish candle that needs lighting, you can light a dry pasta noodle and use that to reach the wick.

Green onions can be regrown to use multiple times by putting them in a cup of water.

Proof-read your own writing sentence by sentence, but backward. It's harder to mentally fill in the gaps of the mistakes you've made if you do this.

[localgrandma]

You young ones are pretty creative! I never thought of using a dry pasta to light a candle or to read sentences backwards to ensure the everything is well written.

I feel myself growing older just reading those methods.

[indigently]

Ah, I'm sorry, Madam Faruzan. That wasn't the point of the exercise...

To be honest, I didn't think of those things either. I was told by others. So it's nothing to do with your age!!

[localgrandma]

Don't worry, I'm not upset!

I was impressed knowing that young minds could be so ingenious! Although, now I want to see what other 'life hacks' we can think of! Do you have any ideas?

[indigently]

Hmm...

Well, is there something you're trying to do lately that is proving to be difficult in some way? Or a frequent task you'd like to make easier?

[localgrandma]

Yes. Do you know any ideas of how we can make writing research papers faster? I believe that is something everyone in the Akademiya would like!

1/2

[indigently]

Hmm... perhaps the most important one is to edit later, not during. Many of us fall victim to the maximization paradox while we are working, and spend extra time trying to think of exactly the right word, which overall wastes time. And yet practically everyone does it. But it's generally better to edit later; it saves time and prevents us getting caught in getting the perfect details.

2/2

[indigently]

Ah, also... there's research recently showing that we're more creative when we're tired. As such, wouldn't it make more sense to write a paper while sleepy? If we're editing later anyway, making mistakes is no problem.

[localgrandma]

I'm not surprised, scholars are known for pulling all nighters for their research. Although, I suppose it would make sense to just write out whatever your mind wants during that time and focus on the finer details later.

However, have you ever done that before? Has it really been proven to be effective?

[indigently]

To be honest with you, most of my work gets done in the same way— in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. So... I might not be a good judge of that.

[localgrandma]

Is that something you do often?

Now being a good scholar means pulling all nighters but not at the expense of your own health!

[indigently]

Ah...

Often enough.

[ He should say more in his own defense, but— really, he's not sure what to say. ]

[localgrandma]

Please tell me you’re eating enough too.

[indigently]

I...

I eat when I need to. When I have time.

[ And when he has money. He doesn't say that, though. Honestly, even saying as much as he had feels too telling. ]

[localgrandma]

[.........................................................................]

Kaveh, whenever you have the time, please report to me immediately at night. You are now required to come to my house for meals.

[indigently]

Senior???

[ Crap. Shit. Fuck. The last thing he wanted to do is paint himself as needy to the point of requiring food. It's bad enough that he's forced to live off someone else's kindness (if that's really what you call what hell Alhaitham puts him through for the benefit of a bedroom and a shared study), but to eat off someone else's kindness too— ]

I assure you, that's not at all necessary. I'm not poorly fed...

[localgrandma]

I insist! It's the least I can do to help a fellow junior out!

[Nevermind that she was running out of money herself due to the lack of funding and students but!! She wasn't going to let someone she cares about not be taken care of!!]

Are you denying my request?

[Do you want to make grandma mad??]

[indigently]

Ah, ah no it's not that I'm

I'm not, I just

[ Archons, he is terrible at this— ]

I just don't want you to misunderstand and think I am badly off..