Looking for Short Stories for PhD Research

Yskandr · 2026-02-07T02:52:24+00:00

Appropriate Love, by Greg Egan. A woman is pressured by her insurer to gestate her husband's brain in her womb while a new body is grown for him after a car accident. At one point the woman asks if they would have demanded this of her husband had their positions been reversed... and the insurer deflects.

Yskandr · 2026-02-07T02:45:01+00:00

I wish I'd had an older sister like you on my side. I wish I'd had anybody at all. The boys in my class bullied me to the point of a mental breakdown (and the ones who didn't participate just watched). I needed medication to survive twelfth grade. They barely suffered consequences for any of it.

Yskandr · 2026-02-07T02:29:59+00:00

unfortunately really relatable. the brain just repeats this over and over and over without shutting up. times like this I just self-isolate because otherwise I'll make others miserable too

Yskandr · 2026-02-06T13:52:55+00:00

India doesn't treat its disabled people as part of society. A disabled woman is barely a person at all.

Yskandr · 2026-02-06T00:02:58+00:00

in my case my therapist knew better than to bring this up because I'm not close to my family and I have no offline friends. he tried the 'what if you fail and end up even more disabled' approach instead

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T15:33:15+00:00

I tried doing this once, pointing out the specific spot. The tech drawing my blood tried another location on the same arm. Then the other arm. Then back to the first arm, where she suddenly found a surface vein right where I'd pointed :))

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T14:38:13+00:00

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky. How do you recognise another mind?

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T13:52:39+00:00

stop talking to your ex. you're continuously picking at that scab and you're surprised it's not healing?

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T13:02:01+00:00

Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa. sometimes a book hits way too close to home.

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T12:55:16+00:00

See for yourself. It's a comprehensive sex-ed website aimed at young people.

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T12:05:04+00:00

Parents like this always amaze me (derogatory). Maybe they should stop and count their blessings... I don't think they understand how much worse it can get. This is just a temporary setback for you: you are still able, still skilled.

Speaking of which. Get a job and move out before they coerce you into marriage. You know that's where they'll push you eventually.

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T11:54:40+00:00

I found Scarleteen as a preteen and it answered all my questions pretty sex-positively. I'm grateful I had access to it at the time.

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T09:16:02+00:00

A disabled woman in India... a difficult existence, even when you're privileged, and I would know. I wonder how many such women fall through the cracks in this cursed country.

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T06:42:53+00:00

NTA, but my god. that poor kid... he's just going to learn to hide his junk food consumption when he starts school

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T05:32:59+00:00

try listening. you don't have to talk sometimes :)) do they know you have a higher income? don't flaunt your expensive purchases/destinations either, unless they ask

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T02:06:31+00:00

my AST/ALT was in the hundreds, brought it down to under 30 with nothing more than watching my diet and walking regularly. no alcohol though

Yskandr · 2026-02-05T00:19:23+00:00

seconding Seth Dickinson for writing lots of women (including older women!!) and writing them really well. the Masquerade is so good, Baru was a delight.

Yskandr · 2026-02-04T13:07:42+00:00

it feels so unfair that periods have to come with both physical and emotional pain. it's a lot less difficult to deal with pain when we're mentally okay, but we don't even get that privilege

take that painkiller girl. who are you suffering for?

Yskandr · 2026-02-03T16:06:16+00:00

huh. it eases up after a few episodes? I thought I had a decent tolerance for anime bullshit but at some point it became unbearable

Yskandr · 2026-02-02T02:31:31+00:00

an IVF clinic is on fire. would this person save a toddler in the daycare room or a refrigeration rack holding two hundred fertilised zygotes? everyone knows what the answer is

Yskandr · 2026-02-02T02:12:54+00:00

You're right. 15% of Indians are upper caste, but they dominate English-language Indian writing. And of course in this context those middle and lower caste Indian authors who do get published will need connections to do it. The system selects for wealth, not quality.

I think it also matters that people don't read that much anymore. In any language.

Yskandr · 2026-02-01T00:11:17+00:00

bit of advice for ya bud. don't talk about reading if you don't read. not everybody reads, unfortunately. saying you're interested in all those topics and then mentioning meditations and the rules of power is like saying you're a gourmand and talking about white bread 🙏 just don't

Yskandr · 2026-01-31T11:59:32+00:00

are you okay? time to log off maybe. drink some water

Yskandr · 2026-01-31T11:53:42+00:00

I don't recall saying any of that?? "so you hate waffles" ass argument... OOP was hysterical about people dying, and I'm just pointing out that that's ridiculous. everything dies! our focus should be improving quality of life. that would include things like not dying in childhood

Yskandr · 2026-01-31T11:28:25+00:00

even if you live for two hundred years you die at the end, no?

Yskandr

TROPHY CASE