I'm just thinking about troll academia and the sheer amount of humor potential.
Mspa Reader gets an invitation from Galekh to come with him to an academic conference he's going to be presenting at and they're all excited for it and honestly a little nervous. They've never been to a conference before and it sounds very fancy and kinda intimidating. They aren't even super familiar with the topic he's talking about is. It's fine, he provides them with a "brief" summary and they are nothing if not supportive and have never let a lack of previous knowledge stop them from doing anything before.
It starts out normal.
Or at least maybe what they might consider normal, they've never been to a conference before on any planet and it seems like a lot of looking at posters and listening to Galekh's thoughts on them, avoiding looking at horse themed decor, and getting free stationary. Lots of pens.
All in all? Nice night.
And then comes the presentation portion and they give Galekh a final pep talk, extremely confident in his abilities and saying as much to him. He thanks them and directs them to where their seat is, handing them what kind of looks like... a ticket? They go to where people are filing in and they have a good seat in one of those booths in the balcony area and look down and see what should have been their first indication that this was not in fact going to be a "normal one."
Galekh stands at an ornate podium before an audience. There is a large display screen behind him showing the first slide of his presentation. This is more or less what they pictured in their head. Minus the fact that the podium is in the corner of a square ring, still just as fancy, made up of what looks like museum rope. And they have the dawning realization that Alternia has turned academic presentations into a fucking contact sport.
The presentation begins and they're on the edge of their seat waiting for shit to go down. It goes as expected, he does well, and is of course very thorough. He takes questions at the end and they're wondering if maybe they just misunderstood some aesthetic choices or something when another indigo, voices that he takes issue with a few of his sources.
Galekh steps away from the podium and states he is ready to defend his argument. The other indigo enters the ring. Fisticuffs ensue. And while fight was expected at that point, what threw them for a goddamn loop was the fact that the two were verbally going at it as well the entirely time, making claims and rebuttals just as ruthless as the physical one occurring concurrently. Eventually it ends with Galekh being the only one still standing and asking if anyone else had any additional concerns regarding his presentation. Upon hearing silence, he thanks the audience, receives a fucking golf clap that sounds way to polite for what just happened, and steps down from the podium to return to his seat. The other indigo drags himself out of the ring.
Galekh comes back, slightly disheveled, but overall, very satisfied with how things went and proud of his ability to defend his points. Mspar congratulates him saying they always knew he was going to do great. And also asks if that's what the whole night is going to be like. They're only slightly relieved to find out that isn't the case.
There's a break for lunch.
https://youtu.be/toKZ9FqOyng
Oh shit here comes Xigisi
“Your conclusion is GARBAGE!” *elbow drop*
