video; un: eunoia

[sanguinescry]

( When the video comes up, a redhead with carefully applied makeup and purposefully-tousled waves comes on the screen, looking a little more like she's about to take a selfie than shoot a video. She's looking at the camera, but she isn't necessarily smiling, so much as just...looking thoughtful. )

Okay, so maybe reaching out to a mass audience is the best way to do this, so here goes. I'm Lydia and I'm feeling incredibly indecisive about a focus of study. I should probably keep my mind sharp between now and the time I end up back home/MIT, so I'm going to go to the university. That said, I don't really see any point in pursuing biochemical engineering here because none of it will probably transfer back home. So, fellow science-minded people of Cadelle, name your favorite science; help me pick a major.

Oh, and also...I'm volunteering on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. the Women's Building teaching self-defense classes.

( Because she's pretty sure it's the kind of thing Allison would do and if Chris isn't here, maybe it's up to Lydia to keep some piece of her still alive. This is the only way Lydia knows how. She's kind of garbage with a bow and arrow and she probably always will be. )

So ladies, if you've always wanted to learn how to kick somebody's ass if you're cornered in a bad way, or even if you just want to learn something while staying in shape, stop by. Don't make me be the girl who has an empty class her first day; that would be really embarrassing for me. I'll see you there!

( She grins a little and winks at that before wiggling her fingers in a little wave at the camera. Then, the picture cuts out and the video ends. )

Comments

[doctoral]

That's like asking someone to pick their favorite child. I can't do that.

[ Spencer has that miffed-complaint tone that shows he really does think of her as a friend at this point. ]

[sanguinescry]

Oh come on, it is not! It's like...picking the child you think would be my favorite child.

( Okay, that still doesn't really work; he totally has a point, but she can't help asking anyway. It's hard to pick a single science and, if left to her own devices, Lydia's liable to take on a triple major and then she'll waste her entire time in Cadelle with her nose in text books instead of getting to know people and having fun. )

Really, nothing? Nothing for me at all, Spence?

[doctoral]

Your favorite child... Okay. [ He can begrudgingly concede that.

Reid is definitely the person to talk to if you want to escape a life of perpetual academia. He is definitely the enabler in this case. ]

I do have a particular fondness for statistics. I incorporated it into my mathematics dissertation-- that was my first doctorate, [ he explains. ] But I don't know if you'd like it. Most people think it's too dry.

[sanguinescry]

( Lydia makes a non-commital sound, her head wobbling side to side as her lips purse thoughtfully. It isn't so much that she thinks it's a dry subject as it is that she's not really sure whether she wants to be that far onto the math end of the spectrum. All sciences require math and she's very good at that, as well, but there are more hands-on sciences, as she considers them, and more math-centered ones. Statistics sounds more math-centered than is typically her interest. )

I don't know, sometime we'll have to get together again and you can show me some stuff so I can see if that would be a good fit. I haven't ever really looked into statistics.

[doctoral]

[ It's definitely on the math side of things. ]

Statistics is a really powerful discipline. We use it to catch unsubs all the time. If you want something more linked to biochemistry, it has applications in genetics and protein folding. I don't know what you were planning on focusing on in biochemical engineering, but things on the molecular level can really only be studied efficiently using advanced math and statistical tools. It's called molecular dynamics.

[ Yes, Reid is definitely ready to be a professor. ]

[sanguinescry]

( Humming thoughtfully, Lydia gives a little facial shrug. Honestly, she isn't sure yet what she plans on focusing on in biochemical engineering. She figures she's got at least a year to figure it out, because she's already done a semester, but she's got to get her core courses out of the way before she can get to the real meat and potatoes. She's loaded up her coursework back home so that she can finish four semesters worth in three semesters' time. )

Okay, no actually that's definitely something to consider. I hadn't really thought about it applying to biochem at all, but if it'll be useful to me with those applications, which it sounds like it would be, then that makes it a definite contender.

( She smiles at him warmly. )

Thanks, Spence.

[doctoral]

And if you hate it, it's not like you have to continue.

Um, anytime. [ He smiles back, less awkward and flustered now that he's had some time here to adjust. ]

[sanguinescry]

Yeah, true. That's a good point, especially since, again, the credits likely aren't going to transfer back home.

Did you decide what class you want to teach at the university, yet, by the way?

[doctoral]

[ Cheerfully, ] No. Not at all.

If I had a dream class it would probably be the historical and mythological conceptualizations of Halloween, All Saint's Day, and Devil's Night, and how it grew to be a commercialized juggernaut in the United States.

But they probably wouldn't let me teach that. It's pretty niche.

[sanguinescry]

So teach it separate from the university on your own time. I'd actually take a class like that, that sounds really interesting.

[doctoral]

... That probably counts as an act of goodwill, doesn't it? Free classes.

[ He perks up. ]

I could do one day workshops on specialized topics. [ He'd probably enjoy that the most. ]

[sanguinescry]

( She grins a little at the way he seems to perk up at that idea and she nods. )

I would think so, anyway. That sounds really cool, you should!

[doctoral]

I guess I'll give it a shot. And take requests?

[sanguinescry]

Even better. Maybe you'll get bonus points.

[doctoral]

I've come up with a lot of questions about that. Are they tracked somewhere? Do you think they're transferable to separate wishes? How do they evaluate when you've done 'enough' to power your wishstone-- is that something that can be modeled and predicted?

[ Yes, her innocuous comment opened up a can of worms. ]

[sanguinescry]

( Hoooo boy. She hadn't meant to open Pandora's inquisitive Box. )

I wonder if you asked the city officials those questions whether they would actually have answers for you or if you'd get a runaround...

( She's mostly thinking aloud, to be honest; she doesn't really mean for him to do so. )

[doctoral]

... Maybe? They answered enough of my questions in our initial conversation that I decided to stay?

[ Reid was a tough customer. ]

[sanguinescry]

Couldn't hurt to test the theory at some point, but maybe establish yourself here for a while; do some volunteer work and contribute your way, and then maybe you'll have some leverage, if you need it.

( And Lydia is not too far behind him, at least not on this particular subject, now that she thinks about it. )

[doctoral]

They were pretty patient with me and I know I'm insufferable when I don't understand something. [ He sounds pretty relaxed about this declaration, though. ] I'll ask if I can ask some more and see what they say.

[sanguinescry]

I think insufferable is subjective; dependent on the receiver of the questions. But I know what you're saying. I say give it a whirl. The worst thing that can happen is that they brush you off by telling you they'll look into it and get back to you and then just never follow up, I mean, right?

[doctoral]

[ Reid knows he can be insufferable. It's ostensibly subjective, but if everyone arrives at the same conclusion, it might as well be a fact. He's come to terms with that as being just part of himself-- he's too intense, too earnest, about some topics. ]

It seems unlikely that administrators for a city based on good feeling and interpersonal intimacy would retaliate to me asking questions.

Want to know what I find out?

[sanguinescry]

Yeah, that's a good point.

Yes, please. Now I'm invested.

( If she thought he was in any way insufferable, she certainly wouldn't pursuing a friendship with the guy or trying to learn more about this place alongside him. )

[doctoral]

I'll let you know what I find.

[ Some things that people learn early, they can never really let go of. Reid thinking he's too off-putting to be likable is one of them. ]

[sanguinescry]

Perfect, thanks.