#without proper citing and formating

[tchaikovskym]

are you tired most of the time? is it hard to wake up in the mornings? is it hard to fall asleep at night? do you crave sweets and fats? are you getting depressed and anxious? is life stressful?

well, let me tell you about my scientific obsession of a few years: cortisol, which i assume, could be in the center of it all

cortisol is just your casual stress hormone, hanging around

but it has a wonderful daily pattern

as you can see this guy goes from 1 to 400 during the night to peak at 8am (in this graph), but in reality peaks like 30 minutes after you wake up, depending on your sleeping pattern. it does not follow the clock everyone is supposed to follow, it follows YOU, it follows your internal clock.

so, let's put the first thing together - cortisol is a stress hormone, and the peak in the morning is supposed to wake you up. stress in this case is NOT a bad stress, but rather something to make your body flowing and being ready to face the day.

so, what happens when you do not sleep?

Source: Klumpers, U. M., Veltman, D. J., van Tol, M. J., Kloet, R. W., Boellaard, R., Lammertsma, A. A., & Hoogendijk, W. J. (2015). Neurophysiological effects of sleep deprivation in healthy adults, a pilot study. PloS one, 10(1), e0116906.

Image annotation from the source: Individual saliva cortisol curves (grey line) and cortisol mean value (nmol/L) per Tx sampling point (solid line). Day 1 shows baseline cortisol sampling at T1-T7, day 2 shows effects of one night of total sleep deprivation on cortisol levels at T8-T14. T1, 2 and 3 comprise the cortisol awakening response (CAR). T8, 9 and 10 are sampled at identical time points the following day. T5 and T12 are sampled at 14.00hr, T6 and T13 at 17.00hr and T7 and T14 at 23.00hr. p values show effects of TSD, # p = 0.016.

The pic above shows the same cortisol levels in day 1 (control) and day 2 (after not sleeping one night).

As you can see, there is no peak. It's just a flat line. This means, no sleep gives you no awakening response, and it also applies to less sleep. The less you sleep, the lesser the awakening the response, the more tired you may feel during the day.

And you might say "oh but it feels the same when i sleep 10 hours or 4 hours so what's the difference". That's because you've luckily got to wake up in a point where your sleep phase is the lighter. How do you feel thorough the whole day? And if it is still the same, regardless of sleeping hours, for how long have you been not sleeping enough? There is such a thing as sleep debt, and if you're in it, you won't feel any better until you get that debt off.

The no morning peak happens because cortisol is produced during REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep or the phase known for dreaming, although you can dream in other phases too). REM sleep also has this thing, where the phase gets longer and longer the more you sleep. So if you sleep less, the REM phase total length is going to be less, so less cortisol for the morning peak. This is why bad sleep quality (like waking up every once and then and not being able to sleep for long uninterrupted periods of time) also can do the same thing. Sleep duration is one of the main players, but it's not the only one.

Anyway, back to the point. Less sleep, harder to wake up, logical, right, you didn't need a cortisol graph for that.

However, notice how in day 1 the 6 and 7 time points is pretty much a straight line, like cortisol just reached the minimal level at the 6th time point. If you look at day 2, at time points 13 and 14, the slope is bigger, right?

You might think that's ridiculous, there is such a tiny slope difference between last two points in day 1 and day 2, that it shouldn't matter

BUT IT DOES!

Cortisol production, like many other things in our body work by negative feedback mechanism. Which means, when there is a lot of it, the brains get the "guys there is a lot of cortisol we should stop". But with sleep deprivation, there is not a lot of cortisol, and the brains don't get that signal, therefore, in the evening, the levels are a bit higher than they should be.

And what does having a bit higher levels of stress hormone, the be awake and alert hormone means in the evening? Guess what? You won't be able to fall asleep so easily!

So, the first vicious cycle involving cortisol regarding the information above: the less you sleep, the less you will be able to sleep.

But that leads to another thing: stress! Cortisol, the stress hormone, obviously, leads to stress. And the more you stress, the more cortisol, the higher the evening levels of cortisol. Which messes up your sleep cycle even more.

So voila, the first vicious cycle, visualized:

but it's not the end of it! oh boy it is not!

what comes with stress? eating problems!

how elevated cortisol in the evening plays a role in this? well, cortisol belongs to the glucocorticoid group. gluco sounds familiar, right, something to do with glucose right?

it makes more glucose available to the brain (which explains why it starts it peak during sleeping hours - while asleep we do not eat, but our brains are doing their thing, and thus cortisol skyrockets).

not only in the brain, but mostly everywhere, cortisol increases the glucose availability for tissues.

so cortisol makes the sugar be in your blood, but how else, besides the metabolism, can it make you get the sugar? by eating sweets of course! so you crave sugary foods!

you know what also promotes glucose in the blood? NOT insulin! so what cortisol does? blocks the thing. you know what insulin resistance and elevated glucose can do to a guy? make the guy diabetic!

also remember you are stressed, sleepy, crave sweets in elevated cortisol event, so you are less likely to have motivation for anything, including sports, so you are less likely to move, and more likely to gain some weight. and oh, how that makes it even more stressful, so voila, you add fuel to the vicious cycle

visualization here:

of course, there are other things involved, and the grand conclusion could be this:

Source: Hirotsu, C., Tufik, S., & Andersen, M. L. (2015). Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions. Sleep Science, 8(3), 143-152.

what can you do to get out of the cycle?

idk honestly. i'd suggest eating breakfast, because cortisol also spikes after meals (idk exactly why) and it can boost your morning cortisol levels to make the slope more pronounced (thus making the evening levels lower)

but most importantly - move. do something physical. there are mechanisms involved, trust me, i just don't want to write another post about them, but it actually helps. it doesn't mean you have to go to the gym and join a sports team, it could mean just taking long walks, maybe search some beginner yoga or whatever. just move around.

here is a pic of individual factors that play a role in this:

and while you can't really change your genetics, disorders, mental distress and most medication use, you can work on unhealthy lifestyle and intoxications

Source of the pic: Van der Valk, E. S., Savas, M., & van Rossum, E. F. (2018). Stress and obesity: are there more susceptible individuals?. Current obesity reports, 7, 193-203.

Image annotation from the source: Conceptual model of the interplay between the stress system and obesity. Various individual characteristics are proposed to play a role in initiating a vicious circle of increased activation of the stress system (both by perceived chronic stress as well as increased net glucocorticoid effect by either endogenous or exogenous GCs) and obesity in a bidirectional manner. Abbreviations: GC, glucocorticoid; SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism; OSA, obstructive sleep apnea

if you read this all i am open to marriage proposals, thank you

[iamthedukeofurl]

I feel like the Hbomberguy plagiarism video has a lot of really good lessons about building an argument. Like, the thesis of the video isn't just "Plagiarism is rife on Youtube", although that point was certainly well made, it was specifically about James Somerton, who isn't mentioned until about halfway through the video. Before then, Hbomb goes through several creators who are already widely discredited as plagiarists, and in each section he introduces concepts that are later incorporated into the final takedown of Somerton, but each section also stands on it's own. Like, he starts with Filip, the game reviewer, which he uses to introduce the format of how he will discuss and expose plagiarists. Specifically, the graphic of displaying the source material while the plagiarist's voice plays, and marking up said source material every time the plagiarist changes some wording slightly. This is the method that Hbomb uses across the entire video. With Illuminaughtii, Hbomb introduces a few major concepts 1) The idea of Insufficient citation. Illuminaughtii "Cites" her sources by putting a plaintext pastebin link in her video descriptions with no indication of how each source was used. Technically, her source is CITED, but not in any relevant or useful way. She has a big list of stuff she read, and a random youtube link in there happens to be the source that she stole 90% of the video from. 2) He introduces the profit motive behind this approach. Putting out a lot of content very quickly is how one builds an audience, and therefore an income, out of making stuff on youtube. Plagiarism of this sort is a way to produce content very quickly and build a following. The Internet Historian section introduces two new concepts:

1) The behavior of an exposed plagiarist, taking down and reuploading videos with minor changes, awkwardly trying to insert credit without admitting guilt. 2) That the plagiarists are stealing not just research, but STYLE. Previous sections go over how the plagiarists are reusing the same words, but this section oozes over how much of the final product's quality was the result of how well the source material was written. TIH didn't just crib the notes from the Mentalfloss article, he created a video heavily dependent on the original author's skill as a writer. When TIH tried his own hand at presenting the same set of facts, it came out much worse. So that when the time comes for the Somerton takedown, Hbomb has already laid the groundwork to bring these concepts back. Somerton takes down and reuploads videos when he's caught, he declares this his video is "based on" work by somebody else without providing proper citation. He's not just stealing research done by somebody else, he's taking their insights and talent as a writer and regurgitating it as his own, and he's doing so to churn out a vast wall of content that he can financially benefit from, and he doesn't need to tell you why this is important, because he's already done so. He already convinced you that Illuminaughtii hiding a line in a pastebin didn't excuse her plagiarism, so you don't need to be told why Somerton saying his video is "Based On" somebody else's book doesn't excuse it.

[milgram-en]

PSA: Regarding Terms of Use and Plagiarism

milgram-en explicitly states its terms of usage at the beginning of every translation. "If using/reuploading/reposting this translation, do not remove the translator's notes and do not change the translations. Credit and link if using. " Screenshots of translations fall under "usage". Using translations for theories or other derivative works also falls under "usage".

milgram-en has also been made aware of a translation by Tiramisu0117 (Twitter) that contains far too many similar translation styles (ex. formatting) and translation notes to where it can no longer be considered coincidences and there exists the possibility of plagiarism.

Assuming that the similarity of the deliberate, active choice of including and writing Translation Notes especially for a dialogue that off-handedly listed off other characters that are mentioned once in Mikoto's Voice Drama especially about something as trivial as umbrellas happened to be a "pure coincidence", deriving works from milgram-en's translations due to being influenced also falls under "usage".

Plagiarism means using someone else's work without giving them proper credit. In academic writing, plagiarizing involves using words, ideas, or information from a source without citing it correctly. (Scribbr)

Being "influenced" by someone's work and thoughts falls under "using words, ideas or information from a source", and, without proper citation, Tiramisu's translation is plagiarism. Assuming that the Translation Notes are not a coincidence, Translation Notes are the only times translators can input their own thoughts, the only times translators can directly interact with the community as themself and not just be the vessel of communication between communities. This is known as original works of authorship.

Regarding another similar Translation Note:

Japanese dictionaries only contain entries for 郷に入っては郷に従え (gou ni itte wa gou ni shitagae) or 郷に入っては郷に従う (gou ni itte wa gou ni shitagau) which means, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". There are no dictionary entries for 郷に従うよ (gou ni shitagae yo) as claimed. 郷に従うよ (gou ni shitagau yo) is a clipping of the full 郷に入っては郷に従う (gou ni itte wa gou ni shitagau) into: 郷に従う (gou ni shitagau) + the emphasis particle よ (yo). The clipping omits the 郷に入っては (gou ni itte wa) "When enter[ing] Rome" part and only preserves the 郷に従う (gou ni shitagau) "In it, do as the Romans do". Even if it was a translation choice to keep the full "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", it is an irresponsible translation that ignores Yamanaka's deliberate writing choices by adding something that does not exist or contribute an understanding to his story. Assuming that a JP-CN dictionary was used as Tiramisu uses CN translations:

JP-CN dictionaries only show entries for 郷に入っては郷に従え (gou ni itte wa gou ni shitagae), not 郷に従うよ (gou ni shitagau yo) as claimed. Thus, that brings the question: Is this Translation Note an echo of an existing Translation Note or a deliberate, active choice by the translator?

Regarding Tiramisu's Translation Style:

Tiramisu has a distinct translation style in which character names are color-coded and there is a distinct lack of side-by-side text-and-translation formatting, opting for English-only translations.

"I've known this person to do all their own translations many times. They're often one of the first people I contact for translations after releases. But I've not known them to previously do translation notes or they've been very minimal, not in the same format at all. I've never seen them include the original jp text along with the translation. Inclusion of the jp [scriptbook] text is throwing me off too. The format of the doc itself is also very similar. [The change in formatting] was unnecessary considering their style is typically unique anyways." (Anonymous)

Attestations to their unique translation style was also noted by a long-time reader of theirs, who also pointed out the sudden similarities of their translation to milgram-en's translation style. Edit: Screenshots of the original texts have been taken down due to the individual's request. Instead, it has been rephrased/paraphrased in place as per the individual's request.

milgram-en's translation style restricts itself to a duo-color theme: Black and a color. As shown, this John Doe VD from a translator who already has an established unique-style creates the question: Why the sudden change in translation style? milgram-en's translation style also provides the text for the sake of making MILGRAM accessible to people, to allow greater freedom in understanding through being able to vet translations on their own as well as derive their own understandings.

Do remember that translation is an art, an intellectual property protected by copyright.

All milgram-en is asking for is to be fairly acknowledged for the work and effort that has been put into translation efforts.

[merriclo]

i’m 100% vagueposting here but so many very popular BSD analyses are essentially just huge reaches that can be easily disproven, made due to a deep misunderstanding of the narrative and a lack of genuine respect for the process of analyzing.

i’ve seen entire essays on how Dazai didn’t abuse Akutagawa, and how Akutagawa doesn’t abuse Higuchi. i’ve seen post after post discount the importance of the trust that rests within Double Black. i’ve seen people argue over whether or not Kunikida’s ideals are healthy.

and half the damn time, sources aren’t cited whatsoever: there’s no quotes or manga panels used anywhere!! scenes and moments will be referenced, but without a proper citation there’s so many different ways you can present and misconstrue what actually happened. and with a series like BSD, where so many aren’t able to read the light novels or watch the movie or read the manga, that can change so much.

and then it’ll be revealed that the author only spends like,, 3-4 hours max on the entire process behind one post. the information gathering, the writing, the formatting + aesthetics, and then the posting. if you’ve never gotten deep into analyzing media before, just know that 3-4 hours is a painfully short amount of time to give an analysis.

it boggles my mind, too, because it will be these exact kinds of posts that are written with nothing but contempt for the readers. their words will be laced with pure annoyance and distaste for the audience and general fandom. i’ve even witnessed people publicly insult commenters who praised them, calling them stupid sheep for being hyperbolic in their compliments. it’s cruel, and incredibly mean-spirited.

speaking of which, there’s also a conversation to be had about how bigotry impacts these discussions. several character analyses i’ve seen have been nothing but poorly-masked attempts at discounting popular queer ships, or ignoring the abuse present in heterosexual ones to provide an alternative. but that’s… its own entire can of worms that i’ll crack open at a later date.

tl;dr, think critically, and always for yourself. an analysis shouldn’t be trying to end a conversation, they should always be seen as an addition to them. the author attempting anything else is a major red flag. you should always be trying to find the parts of analyses that you agree and disagree with!! don’t let anyone tell you want to think, that is for you and you alone to decide.

i know this is honestly seems like a non-issue, but media literacy is an incredibly important skill to have in the real world, and it starts with the very media (and commentary of said media) you consume. stay critical chat ily

[tuliptired]

hi! could you write anymore little looks at a humanities ta!reader x egon in college?

Do Wah Diddy Diddy

Pairing: Egon Spengler/Gn!Ta!Reader

Warnings: Reader is drunk for most of it

The egon/reader tag is so barren ;( Why nobody else dressed like a slut tonight?

INSANELY better formatting on Ao3!

 Egon left his lab, surprisingly, stressed. His major didn´t often stretch him too thin, he knew what he was doing and how to do it best, but it was just that time of year. Lots of work, and not a lot of time to do it. He always managed, with lots of coffee and little sleep, it was just a fact of academia.

The outside world reflected the inside ecosystem of his fellow students, buzzing with life and blazingly hot. Plagued by the heated air trying to cling to the classroom, you cracked a few windows open as you taught in place of the absent professor. This wasn't out of the ordinary- the man trusted you enough to run a class, and you ran it like a natural, admittedly. But today was a little strained, your daily seminar not getting to the level of intensity it usually did. Egon would’ve made a comment on it as he got the last word in, but he decided against it. While you were a TA, there was more emphasis on the “A” in times like these, evident in how you scoured through notes for other classes when you had a spare minute.

They worked independently, before you lifted your head out of a notebook, one of many fans blowing some of your hair off of your forehead. You glanced at the clock, before quickly setting up a projector and unboxing a handful of identical, thick books.

“Big assignment,” you started, a few complaints sounding from the students, “it wasn’t even me this time, blame Mr. Coulms.” 

He left the lecture room in a worse mood than he entered it, the thick tome under his arm. A play. He was a great reader- he could read each edition of Tobin's Spirit guide cover to cover in an hour if he was looking to cite something. Scientific journals were light entertainment to him. But plays? You actually had to dissect a play. To dissect it, you had to read it- well. 

He leaned against a bookcase, in the not-leaning-but-leaning way that he does, so as not to disturb the books. He would be searching for something like Ray was, crouched on the ground and investigating the bottom shelf, but he wasn’t in the mood, glaring at the text he was given before placing it on an empty shelf beside him. 

They were tucked away in the basement of the Public Library- it was one of the few places that they could ask for books about harnessing pure protonic energy and campfire stories of the 30’s without being looked at weird. Peter messed with the straps of his bag, ready to go and saying so for the 3rd time.

“In a minute, Peter.” Ray placed a few books next to him, searching for the right one that happened to be inconveniently smaller than the one’s surrounding it. He looked up at Egon sympathetically. 

“I’m sorry, Spengs. But I did this one in high school, and it was a lot of fun!” His optimism was cut short as the rest of the books along the wood fall towards the middle like dominos. 

“It won’t be hard, Egon. Do the voices.’ Peter procured a rubix cube from his bag. Egon seriously didn’t know why he carried it around, as it was never once solved.

Ray fumbled with the books as he tried to Dewey-Decimal their placements in his head. “I’ll help. Just, uh…” He looked around at the mess he made. “Can you look around for ‘Ghastly Apparitions of the Appalachian’? We’re gonna need it, too.” Egon only nodded, eager to clear his head a bit. He remembered the author well enough, weaving through aisles to find the proper section. 

He didn’t make it far, there was a reshelving cart in his way, his feet coming to a halt. As he looked up from the roller, you were standing there, hands on your hips. 

“Doesn’t look like you’re studying very hard.”

He sighed a puff of air out his nose, as you peered over his shoulder. You saw two men on the ground, grabbing handfuls of discarded books. “And your friends are messing up my hard work.”

He glanced back at the men, then back at you. “Is there anywhere you don’t work?” He didn’t intend to be in a confrontational mood this afternoon, but a bad class will do that to you.

You pointed to a pin on your chest, which read your name in small print under ‘BOOKKEEPER’.

 “Nope. How many people do you know have a gold plated name tag?”

“Waste collectors and prison guards.”

“Did you need a book? Because you’re in the library?”

He had his hands resting on the handle of the cart, not noticing until you dragged it to the side, taking away the partition between you. “Ghastly Apparitions of the Appalachian by Gregory Lederer.” He expected you to not know what he was talking about, and stand there dumbfounded. But you pushed past him, making your way to the “L” aisle of the General Knowledge section.

Your eyes scanned the spines of various options. “I don’t remember this play taking place in Appalachia,” you moved on to the next row. He followed you like a dog, unsure of what to do while you helped him.

“It’s personal. Scientific.” 

“The title’s a little oxymoronic, then, no?” You finally found it, examining the covers quizzically.

As he reached out for the book, you pulled your hand back. Egon wanted to be annoyed, but it wasn’t in him.

“Actually read the play. Do the voices.” Your own voice had the tone of someone trying to reason with a child. He reached his hand out, again, and you placed the book into his palm, conceding. 

Though you had a modest smile, Egon couldn’t help notice your tired look, under eyes darkening despite your efforts otherwise. He could understand, this was a hard time for everyone, no matter their field. Before he could show you his commiseration, against his better judgment, you let the book go limp in his grasp, passing by him with a small “see you, Mr. Spengler”.

Peter appeared in his line of sight amongst the maze of shelves, as Egon stood dumbly. A voice told him to “clean up my basement” as he passed by.

“It appears we’re not wanted here. Let’s go, Egon.”

When it was officially late, you sat in your dorm, finally having time to sit and work. You had to skip a proper lunch, mindlessly putting a baby carrot in your mouth every 10 minutes as you snuck a binder under your desk at the Public Library. By the time you were on your bed, feverishly taking notes, checking notes, and reading notes, you were barely halfway done with your studying itinerary. This week was sufficiently kicking your butt, to say the least.

The door opened and shut, revealing your roommate, Christine, setting her bag down on the chair nearby. You barely verbally acknowledged her, looking for a specific page in your textbook. She gave you a once over, before making her way to the fridge, but unable to stop taking you in. 

“Did you hear what I said?” Christine asked you, skeptical.

“Don’t think so-” Page 392.

She poured herself a glass of something, eyeing you as she did. “I said, you need to relax a bit.”

That was easy for her to say. As much as you appreciated her and her companionship, all Christine did was relax. Still, your flow was disturbed, and you reluctantly put your materials down.

She continued now that she had your attention. “You don’t hang out anymore. It’s Friday.” She crosses to stand in front of your spot on the bed, effectively tapping you in the conversation.

“There’s some guys in my advertising class throwing-” You can tell what’s coming next, and you shimmy past her as she exclaims in protest.  

“Come on,” she follows you around, nearly pleading with you. You sighed, stopping as she leaned up behind you. It wasn’t that you didn’t like fun, or being with friends- parties just stopped being your scene a few semesters ago. How’s that for maturity?

“I’m telling you like I’ve told you a million times before. That’s just not my domain.” Christine spun you around, intent on not giving up until you caved.

“You guys always get drunk, then you get pissed, then I’m dragging you home and helping you puke it all up.” She rolled her eyes.

“We’ll only have a little- and,” she pointed an accusatory finger to your chest, “to be fair, you wouldn’t have to do all that if you drank a little yourself.”

You pointed the same finger back at her. “So we can all puke together? What a fun night.”

Christine made the sign of the cross then, pointed her fingers to the sky virtuously. “I swear on my life; we’ll know when to stop.” When she opened her eyes, you still weren’t convinced.

“Pleeeease? If it’s lame, we’ll leave and rent a video and get a pizza. But you might have fun.” She looked at you with those big blue eyes, and it took all of your strength to resist. She pleaded with you again, until you finally broke, covering your ears.

You groaned dramatically. “Alright, fine, fine. I’ll go to your stupid frat party and get smashed on cheap beer.” Christine cheered, making her way over to the phone. 

“I’ll call Dean and Lisa and-” you flopped back onto your bed. Staring at your long forgotten work, you wondered if this was the right choice. 

Egon read the line, waiting patiently for Ray to respond from the copy he borrowed himself, as the man read for all other 11 characters of the play. It was about two rulers from warring countries forced to live together in a dungeon, but he just couldn’t grasp what was so special about that. It was late into the night, the dorm only illuminated by a few lamps and the little bit of light pouring in from under the door. After hours of trying to evade it, both men had only made a small dent in the long drama.

Ray pushed his reading glasses up. “You need more conviction, Egon, I don’t feel like your wife right now.” Egon closed his copy, putting his forehead in his hand against his desk.

“I don’t think this is working.”

“Are you doing improv? ‘Of course it’s not working, you-”

“No, Raymond. This book isn’t working.” Egon slid it away from him, the bright red cover hurting his eyes, and his pride.

Ray looked sad for his friend, taking off his glasses. “The only way to do it is to read. I’m sorry.” He tossed his book onto his bed. “But we can take a break. Whaddya wanna do?”

Egon remembered it was Friday, the day most young adults would use to unwind. He reached into the drawer beneath him, emerging with a miniature Tesla coil Ray had fashioned.

“You read my mind, Spenges!”

The two men were engrossed with messing around with it, placing numerous objects on and around the transformer- granted that any other flammable or conducive thing they owned was moved out of the way. As Ray teased the sparks with a pencil, he suddenly recalled something, eyes flashing and wide as he dropped the writing utensil.

“Peter has my car!” He grabbed each side of his head, almost comically as he could picture it- a nice, clean Camaro being trashed by beer and bodily fluids.

Ray was just short of spiraling, stuck on either racing down to the party himself or bawling in the spinny chair. “I’d go there myself- and strangle the life out of him,” he nearly wept, covering his eyes.

Egon let his eyes shut, before willinging himself to his feet. He’d never, ever associate with any sort of party, let alone one at a fraternity. But Ray loved that car, his dad’s graduation gift to him that’s been his pride and joy since freshman year. His friend barely even drove it around, afraid to raise the mileage too much. He didn’t doubt Ray’s conviction, or ability, to show it to Peter for going against his wishes, but the engineer was in hot water with the hosting students. One complicated party trick gone wrong, and the front lawn was ablaze quicker than he could control the little ball of plasma. It was their sophomore year, but he still wasn’t welcome near the block of brownstones he managed to devalue.

“Thank you, Egon, I promise I’ll repay you,” Ray’s eyes were glossy with tears as he pressed his face impossibly close to the glass of the window, trying to spot his baby driving somewhere down the street.

Time lessened the heat, Egon thought to himself. It was dark, but not a long walk off campus and a block or two away from the party. It wasn’t hard to find it, either- the music was loud and the bacchanal activities spilled out onto the street and into neighboring yards. No sign of the car. He wrinkled his nose. In the last stretch of freshman year, Peter tried convincing him and Ray to join a fraternity, rattling off a laundry list of reasons that it’d be a thrilling experience for the trio. He was obviously unsuccessful, and dropped the idea when he realized that it’d be hard to make friends in the already tight knit community. 

Egon didn’t dare touch the doorknob, evading people lounging on the stoop as he entered the large house after someone, using his foot to keep the door open. It smelt strongly of booze in the hot, dimly lit apartment, music still blaring from an unknown source. Not to mention the hazy smoke that was billowing through the air, hard to avoid with his height, much like the sounds of two people making out behind the couch. Infection central. How were all these people still going this late? He had to step over the passed out body of some guy without a shirt to get to the kitchen. 

As he stepped from the carpeted area to the tiled floor, arms quickly wrapped around his middle. His head snapped down, and there you were, head buried in his chest.

“Hi, Egon,” you smiled sweetly up at him, eyes glazed over and voice syrupy, not as precise as you made sure it was. He blinked a few times, noticing not only your shoes standing on his, but the fact you called him by his first name.

“Hi.” He reveled in the confusion, before pulling you away from him, gently. “Have you seen Peter? Peter Venkman?”

You thought about it, before the memory flashed back into your recollection. “Dr. Love? He left with my friend Christine.” Your voice slurred the words “left” and “with”, the same way Ray did when he was so smashed he couldn’t stand. Junior year was a sight to behold. 

He remembered how he handled drunken Ray, noting how warm your shoulders were under his fingers. “You’ve been drinking?” He asked despite himself. Being a gentleman was above personal vendetta. It was odd, seeing you dressed like this, out of the professional attire you took pride in every day. Your ability to pick clothes with an anal retentiveness rivals even him- the only college student in a pressed dress shirt, a sweater vest, and slacks. 

“Like, one or five. Itsfine, I’mfine,” you waved your hands around dismissively, before placing them over Egon’s. “I didn’t know you could party, Egie.” He ignored the heat that stung the muscles in his cheeks.

“I don’t.” He went along with it as you started swaying the two of you back and forth lightly. “Did you come with any other friends?”

You went silent, thinking again. It was evidently hard to think and sway, and you eventually fell back into him, unable to keep your balance. “DeanandLisa went to get…food. And they told me to stay here. So I took’a nap.” You nodded to yourself.

“When?”

You couldn’t answer. He peeked sideways at the clock- 3:19. Wherever your friends went, they weren’t going to be back for a long time. 

Your arms were still around him, head back on his chest as his hands hovered over you, awkwardly. It was barely audible, but you were mumbling along to the song playing throughout the rest of the house. He should’ve felt a smug pride, watching you who were once so confident drool on yourself, stumble over your words, and paw at him, but he couldn’t. Egon felt a lash of guilt at the idea of leaving you behind, telling Ray that Peter was long gone, and going to bed. You were obviously inebriated- with no friends and too juiced to know not to sleep on the floor, he couldn’t just let you stay in this dump. 

That’s how he ended up herding you out the door, but not before you stumbled about the apartment, saying good night to everyone. He was on your heels as you banged on a socked-bedroom door, bidding whoever was on the other side farewell, but he wasn’t quick enough before you were shouting your goodbyes down the stairwell of the basement. For being wasted, you were surprisingly fast. He finally got you outside, the skin under his fingers actually cooling as you left the cramped party.

“I didn’t take you to be a party-person,” he confessed, hand on the small of your back to stop you from running across the street to greet the cat staring you down.

“I’m- wait,” you did in fact run, having to kick off your shoes for efficiency before bending down rather ungracefully to pet the feline like a child would, fingers splayed and pushing its ears back unintentionally. He watched on as you skipped back to the sidewalk, grabbing a street sign for stability when you reached him.

“I’m not,” you resumed as he steered you on. “But- it was Christine! She showed me her’fake eyelash…es and convinced me!” You looked to him to share your disbelief as you told the story, shoes waving around as you moved your hands. “I’couldn’t say no!”

Egon found himself smiling. “I have a roommate very similar.” You were surprisingly easier to talk to when drunk. He wasn’t burning up, or scrambling for his words like he normally did when you teased him, making the scientist detest you more and more for your ability to confuse him. His thoughts ceased, as you got closer to campus, but walking with increasing difficulty.

It was when he had to catch you before tripping over yourself that he swallowed his inhibitions, wrapping a hand under you. He wasn’t the strongest out there, maybe even a little weak, but he could support your weight until you reached home. As you let out a small noise of surprise though, he felt a primitive sense of manliness, your figure pressed to his in a bridal carry.

“Soooo strong.” You praised him, voice trailing off as you let your head hit his shoulder. He had to remind himself that you were drunk, none of this really meant anything. You’d wake up, and decide to torment him after taking an aspirin. His grip weakened as his smile did.

“Don’t drop’me,” your hands clawed at the fabric of his shirt, and he adjusted his hold.

“I won’t,” he watched you close your eyes, face content. “I won’t.”

 You were halfway back to the dormitory. He could feel you stirring, looking down and finding your eyes fixed on the night sky. 

“What’s up there?”

“Ursa Major.” You pointed lazily.

“That’s a plane.”

You stiffened in his arms. “No, it’s’not. I know this. It’s the bear.” You managed to cross your arms over yourself while in his hold. He felt bad, provoking you while inebriated. 

“Then it’s the bear.”

“Put me down,” you hit him on the chest a few times, willing him to reluctantly place you on your own two feet. You shook off his attempts at still holding you, intent on trying to make it home on your own. You stormed off along the path, nearly veering off into the grass.

“Where are you going?” He couldn’t hide the concern behind his voice, trying to keep up with you as you took on a sudden irritation towards him.

“Home.” You kept your pace, before slowing, battling something in behind your eyes in your drunken state. “You think I’m dumb.” Egon stopped in his tracks in a moment, before walking behind you again.

“That’s not true,” he said simply, throwing away his feud with you when sober. He thought of you as one of the smartest people he knew. And you managed to make him look like a mere child while baring your smile at him.

“Maybe I’like being drunk,” you retorted to no one in front of you. As you slowed, so did Egon, watching on as you looked on down the dim, street lamp lit path. When he followed your gaze, he saw nothing but the darkness of night ahead of him. Suddenly, you fell forward, uncaring and weightless. He wasn’t quick enough to catch you, heart dropping to his toes before you simply rolled over onto your back. Your knees were scraped, rapidly drying blood mixing with the gravel and dust of the ground over your lacerated skin. Before he could worry too much about it, you merely laughed, full of glee as your eyes were transfixed on the stars, arms out like you were a star yourself. 

You passed out pretty quick after that, a little heavier in his arms. To say Egon was uneasy was an understatement, but at least you were out for a bit. He struggled to get the door to the building open, and even more so getting up to your dormitory floor, only narrowly avoiding hitting your head against a door frame every so often. Taking a quick look at the plates on each door, he was relieved at finding your surname printed on one. After a few discreet knocks, however, no one opened up, either passed out themselves or simply not home. Searching for solutions, he sighed, again, gently laying you against the baseboards. It wasn’t his most elegant idea, but it’d have to do as he reached in his pocket for a pad and paper. He simply scribbled the words “Passed out, sleeping in 244. Please pick up when you get home.” Pressing it in the space between the room number and the wood, he picked you up for the third time and made the trek back to his own place.

You looked peaceful, as Egon decided on putting you in Ray’s bed, alcohol and cotton pads ready. Ray wasn’t home himself- and it’d be unbecoming of him to put you in his own. He hummed to himself, your current state reminding him of the deuteragonist in the play you gave him. They were affluent and sybaritic, imprisoned while drunk and jovial, to the aggravation of the protagonist, tied to tradition and analytical. He hoped that whoever you were in chains with took the liberty of cleaning your open wounds like he did. 

Apparently, the sting of disinfectant is enough to rouse the unconscious awake, as the liquid being pressed to your skin made you jolt back to the present, sucking in air between your teeth and nearly kneeing him in the nose. You rushed to sit up as properly as you could, bringing your legs to your chest.

“What’re you doing?” The pain must’ve been worse in this state. He suddenly felt very, very bad about not waiting until you were awake to take care of it, but he remembered that you couldn’t make proper decisions for yourself like this. He wet another pad, though warily. Who was Egon to say that he could make proper decisions for you, sober or otherwise?

He approached you gently, showing you his materials. “Sanitizing. It could get infected.” Maybe that was a bit overzealous, but germs love untreated, open flesh.

You calmed, letting your legs dangle over the bedside again, the exaggerated idea of losing a leg scarier than the cleaning agent in his hand. “Oh.” He figured you were sobering up, even by a bit, from the way your words slurred less and you clung Ray’s blanket to yourself, night’s activities catching up with your tired body. You looked around as he worked quickly, taking in the room.

“You’re messy.” Egon raised his eyebrows once at that, prepping another pad.

“We’re scientists. And Peter.” He could hear you laugh weakly above him. It felt nice, to make you feel nice. Egon felt oddly at ease, on his knees, cleaning you up- as dubious as it sounded. He moved on to your other leg, remembering your situation. “Would you like to stay here? Your friends aren’t home.”

Silence as he wiped away the grime. Your voice sounded again. “A sleepover.”

He resisted a yawn, letting it escape through his nose before catching sight of the clock. “Sure.”

You didn’t say anything else. Better for him- he was sure you didn’t have a key and he was a terrible locksmith. You were leaning back on your hands.

“My doctor.”

He bit back the smile and blush that spread over his face with a clench of his jaw. You were still drunk, no matter how coherent. And wrong. “Not yet a doctor.” He was done bandaging both your injuries some time ago.

“Doctor Egon,” you drew out the word, giggling to yourself. He’d let it slide, this time. Misused titles were disdainful in academia. But he supposed being a stickler didn’t matter so much, now.

Eventually, he rose to his feet, eyes honing in to a surface level scratch on your cheek from the fall. He held your jaw lighty, thumb careful to not graze too much over it. It wasn’t severe, but he assumed you’d prefer to not have a deep scar there for the entirety of the summer to come. He thought about summer. He’d be here, on an internship, while you’d be away, probably away with your friends again. You’d get drunk, seemingly trusting the people around you far too much until you’re hurt- worse than you are now. Whatever meathead you’d spent the night with wouldn’t know first aid if it was thrown at him. Egon soaked in his jealousy, eyebrows falling over his eyes, before coming back to his senses, soaking one more piece of cotton and gently tapping it to your face, a small adhesive placed to protect it. 

“Kiss to make it better?” He let go of your face, moving to the kitchen sink to wash his hands as you giggled to yourself again. It was awfully late, now.

“You should get some sleep,” he dried his hands off. He would miss you, but time was the only fool-proof remedy- and daylight was quickly approaching.

“No fun,” you complained, but you still settled into Ray’s bed, pulling the comforter around yourself. He contemplated what to do, get into his own bed or just wait for you to sleep instead. You rolled over to face him.

“Are you sure you don’t want my help with the play? I’m not supposed to, though. But I can do the voices.” Right. The play. He eyed the book, forgotten about in the corner of his desk.

“I’d rather you rest.” 

“You should sleep, too.” He could tell you were fighting your own exhaustion. He pulled out his chair, moving Ray’s coil to the side to make work of his assignment again. 

“I’d rather you did, first.” He opened to the page he left off on.

“Egon.” You sounded scarily sober. He turned in his seat to face you.

You freed yourself from the blanket a bit. “You’re tired. You always look tired.” Another state of inebriation was taking hold of you. Maudlin. You were drunk. It didn’t mean anything.

He chewed at the inner part of his bottom lip before speaking again. “You’re very stressed. And you’re going to wake up feeling like hell.” He searched for the right words to convince you to let yourself go. “I’ll sleep too, and we can talk to each other in our dreams.” A little ridiculous, but it’s not the craziest thing he’s said to a tippler.

The hammered part of you was contemplating it, before you smiled and nodded. Before he went back to his work, you called for him one more time.

“Egon?”

“Yes?”

“I need a lullaby.” You had the same devilish, teasing look in your eye as you did when you were sober. He looked around in confusion as you looked towards him expectantly, before he surrendered, winding up a small snow globe that Peter kept out, even in Spring. As it played, you shook your head.

“No, sing the one by Manfred Mann.” He grabbed the edge of the blanket, pulling it over your head as you laughed uncontrollably to yourself.

“Goodnight.”

Egon had fallen asleep over his book some time later. As he came to, he looked back, hopeful to still see you, sleeping soundly. His hope faltered as he took in the empty space, neither his roommates returned or your spot on Ray’s bed filled in by your shape. There was a strange emptiness in his chest, knowing you were gone in a matter of hours. The only proof of your presence was the used bottle of isopropyl in the corner of his desk.

His breath slowed, light of the early morning burning into his eyes as he slowly rose out of his chair. Walking off, not sure if he was going to shower, or eat, or what, he noticed a small paper on the pillow. He picked it up, wondering if it would disappear in his hands.

“Thank you, Doctor.” He folded it back. You were drunk. It didn’t mean anything. But he still smiled.

[mariacallous]

Over the holiday weekend, all but one member of the editorial board of Elsevier’s Journal of Human Evolution (JHE) resigned “with heartfelt sadness and great regret,” according to Retraction Watch, which helpfully provided an online PDF of the editors’ full statement. It’s the 20th mass resignation from a science journal since 2023 over various points of contention, per Retraction Watch, many in response to controversial changes in the business models used by the scientific publishing industry.

“This has been an exceptionally painful decision for each of us,” the board members wrote in their statement. “The editors who have stewarded the journal over the past 38 years have invested immense time and energy in making JHE the leading journal in paleoanthropological research and have remained loyal and committed to the journal and our authors long after their terms ended. The [associate editors] have been equally loyal and committed. We all care deeply about the journal, our discipline, and our academic community; however, we find we can no longer work with Elsevier in good conscience.”

The editorial board cited several changes made over the last ten years that it believes are counter to the journal’s longstanding editorial principles. These included eliminating support for a copy editor and a special issues editor, leaving it to the editorial board to handle those duties. When the board expressed the need for a copy editor, Elsevier’s response, they said, was “to maintain that the editors should not be paying attention to language, grammar, readability, consistency, or accuracy of proper nomenclature or formatting.”

There is also a major restructuring of the editorial board underway that aims to reduce the number of associate editors by more than half, which “will result in fewer AEs handling far more papers, and on topics well outside their areas of expertise.”

Furthermore, there are plans to create a third-tier editorial board that functions largely in a figurehead capacity, after Elsevier “unilaterally took full control” of the board’s structure in 2023 by requiring all associate editors to renew their contracts annually—which the board believes undermines its editorial independence and integrity.

Worst Practices

In-house production has been reduced or outsourced, and in 2023 Elsevier began using AI during production without informing the board, resulting in many style and formatting errors as well as reversing versions of papers that had already been accepted and formatted by the editors. “This was highly embarrassing for the journal and resolution took six months and was achieved only through the persistent efforts of the editors,” the editors wrote. “AI processing continues to be used and regularly reformats submitted manuscripts to change meaning and formatting and require extensive author and editor oversight during proof stage.”

In addition, the author page charges for JHE are significantly higher than even Elsevier’s other for-profit journals, as well as broad-based open access journals like Scientific Reports. Not many of the journal's authors can afford those fees, “which runs counter to the journal’s (and Elsevier’s) pledge of equality and inclusivity,” the editors wrote.

The breaking point seems to have come in November, when Elsevier informed coeditors Mark Grabowski (Liverpool John Moores University) and Andrea Taylor (Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine) that it was ending the dual-editor model that has been in place since 1986. When Grabowki and Taylor protested, they were told the model could only remain if they took a 50 percent cut in their compensation.

Elsevier has long had its share of vocal critics (including Ars Technica’s Chris Lee), and this latest development has added fuel to the fire. “Elsevier has, as usual, mismanaged the journal and done everything they could to maximize profit at the expense of quality,” biologist PZ Myers of the University of Minnesota Morris wrote on his blog Pharyngula. “In particular, they decided that human editors were too expensive, so they’re trying to do the job with AI. They also proposed cutting the pay for the editor-in-chief in half. Keep in mind that Elsevier charges authors a $3,990 processing fee for each submission. I guess they needed to improve the economics of their piratical mode of operation a little more.”

Elsevier has not yet responded to Ars’ request for comment.

Not All AI Uses Are Created Equal

John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who has published 17 papers in JHE over his career, expressed his full support for the board members’ decision on his blog, along with shock at the (footnoted) revelation that Elsevier had introduced AI to its editorial process in 2023. “I’ve published four articles in the journal during the last two years, including one in press now, and if there was any notice to my coauthors or me about an AI production process, I don’t remember it,” he wrote, noting that the move violates the journal’s own AI policies. “Authors should be informed at the time of submission how AI will be used in their work. I would have submitted elsewhere if I was aware that AI would potentially be altering the meaning of the articles.”

There is certainly cause for concern when it comes to using AI in the pursuit of science. For instance, earlier this year, we witnessed the viral sensation of several egregiously bad AI-generated figures published in a peer-reviewed article in Frontiers, a reputable scientific journal. Scientists on social media expressed equal parts shock and ridicule at the images, one of which featured a rat with grotesquely large and bizarre genitals. The paper has since been retracted, but the incident reinforces a growing concern that AI will make published scientific research less trustworthy, even as it increases productivity.

That said, there are also some useful applications of AI in the scientific endeavor. For instance, in January 2024, the research publisher Science announced that all of its journals would begin using commercial software that automates the process of detecting improperly manipulated images. Perhaps that would have caught the rat genitalia figure, although as Ars science editor John Timmer pointed out at the time, the software has limitations. “While it will catch some of the most egregious cases of image manipulation, enterprising fraudsters can easily avoid being caught if they know how the software operates,” he wrote.

Hawks acknowledged on his blog that the use of AI by scientists and scientific journals is likely inevitable, and he recognizes the potential benefits. “I don’t think this is a dystopian future. But not all uses of machine learning are equal,” he wrote:

It’s bad for anyone to use AI to reduce or replace the scientific input and oversight of people in research—whether that input comes from researchers, editors, reviewers, or readers. It’s stupid for a company to use AI to divert experts’ effort into redundant rounds of proofreading, or to make disseminating scientific work more difficult. In this case, Elsevier may have been aiming for good but instead hit the exacta of bad and stupid. It’s especially galling that they demand transparency from authors but do not provide transparency about their own processes … It would be a very good idea for authors of recent articles to make sure that they have posted a preprint somewhere, so that their original pre-AI version will be available for readers. As the editors lose access, corrections to published articles may become difficult or impossible.

The journal Nature published an article in March raising questions about the efficacy of mass resignations as an emerging form of protest after all the editors of the Wiley-published linguistics journal Syntax resigned in February. (Several of their concerns mirror those of the JHE editorial board.) Such moves certainly garner attention, but even former Syntax editor Klaus Abels of University College London told Nature that the objective of such mass resignations should be on moving beyond mere protest, focusing instead on establishing new independent nonprofit journals for the academic community that are open access and have high academic standards.

Abels and his former Syntax colleagues are in the process of doing just that, following the example of the former editors of Critical Public Health and another Elsevier journal, NeuroImage, last year.

[stark-reading-mad]

super interested in how you use obsidian! any resources you recommend for getting to grips w it? bonus q - how do you use obsidian to help you with legal problem questions/essays?

bonus bonus q - any fav law (or non-law) studyblrs?

Hi!

Resources to get to grips with Obsidian - just watch 2-3 YouTube videos to understand its basic structure. It's like buying a Lego set. You can make whatever you want with it. Don't lose yourself in customising obsidian, that's an easy rabbit hole to fall into.

Bonus q#1 - I use Obsidian to brain dump and loosely organise my writing. To make proper research projects with citations and stuff, I use Google docs. You can also cite stuff on obsidian but it's a bit of a hassle to convert it into word and retain the format. Obsidian helps with my study because I can link different ideas together and see it all as a web of interconnected information (which is how any subject should be studied, imo)

Bonus q#2 - @somerabbitholes is without a question my favourite blog on this whole website. She was the one that inspired me to start my own little blog. I don't think she realises the impact she's had on me tbh but I'm still grateful <3

@gushuwa is my favourite supporter and I love seeing their name in my activity page.

I think @mal-studyblr has really cool photos.

[jasper-book-stash]

Okay...regarding Witchcraft For Everyone by Sam Wise...

Well, firstly, if you're the author...I'm sorry, you probably shouldn't look at this post, I'm not fond of this book.

This was a deeply frustrating book. I have so many margin-scribbled notes expressing my frustration as I read it.

The most frustrating parts for me was in the editing and formatting: The inconsistency in the capitalization, formatting, and spelling of chapter titles, paired with the lack of page numbers and a non-existent table of contents, drove me absolutely bonkers.

So many chapters have bold claims with nothing backing them up within the text, which could have been fixed by citations and sources to back them up. And the author does do this in some places - citing specific books or podcasts or people under specific chapters within the text itself.

There are claims that many witches do or don't do something with seemingly no realization that one's experiences aren't universal, along with bold claims in subjects that the author themself claims they know nothing about.

There are also several separate instances of the author putting essential oils into water (sometimes bath water) without proper dilution. And I'm not just biased because of my anti-essential oil stance! My coworker, who uses essential oils herself, backed me up on this being a bad move!

And can someone please, for the love of whatever, tell me how we came to this organization of chapters?

Honestly, this is a 5/10 book. It's not the worst beginner book I've read, but it's far from the first I'd recommend to a beginner.

I just...wish it was a little better.

[that-fall-guy]

Em dashes without spaces are an American grammar thing, in the UK it’s with spaces

Ok I'll bite!! You've got me curious about a variety of details. Is this a widespread UK vs US issue? Have I been lied to my entire life? Is it just because I went to weird schools? Is it simply a difference in the primary style guide used in most American vs UK schools? So I've done a good bit of research. It seems to be a style guide difference, from what I can tell.

The 1984 edition of the MLA Handbook claims writers should use two hyphens in place of a dash--like this. There are no spaces before or after. The 2009 edition gives the same advice, but points out that a word processor will likely transform two hyphens into an em-dash. It does not mention attempting to revert this change, but rather maintains the change in the examples that follow the passage, like so: "The colors of the costume—blue, scarlet, and yellow—acquire symbolic meaning in the story" and "Ruthlessness and acute sensitivity, greed and compassion—the main character's contradictory qualities prevent any simple interpretation of the film." I am unable to find a more recent edition of the MLA Handbook that is available for free. If anyone has a copy of the 2021 edition or later, I would love to see the section on punctuation, specifically those regarding hyphens and dashes!

According to the 2017 edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, it appears an em-dash is again used without spaces, as clarified in a response to a user's question on the website: "It allows, in a manner similar to parentheses, an additional thought to be added within a sentence by sort of breaking away from that sentence—as I’ve done here." The source text itself clarifies the same thing in various other examples. If there is a more recent edition I am not aware of it, but if it says something different, again, I would love to hear it!

APA is much more difficult to locate. As far as I can tell, it seems to follow the same format as MLA, at least according to a source that cites the 6th edition. APA is currently, I believe, in its 7th edition, though, so there is a chance the proper use of an em-dash was changed between versions. "An em dash might set off a phrase at the end of a sentence—like this one. Or, em dashes may set off a phrase midsentence—a technique that really draws a reader’s attention—as they do in this sentence." Another source that draws from APA 7th Edition appears to give an example pulled directly from the APA stylebook: "‘Social adjustment—but not academic adjustment—was associated with extraversion’.(APA7, p. 157)"

According to the 2016 AP Stylebook's section on punctuation, em-dashes have one space before and one space after them, except in the case of dashes indicating a list, in which case they begin on a new line and have a space only between the dash and its subsequent word. An example of an em-dash as given in the stylebook is thus: "Through her long reign, the queen and her family have adapted — usually skillfully — to the changing taste of the time."

There's an interesting divide, then, between the Associated Press and the other common style guides. UPitt clarifies that, generally, APA style is used in education, psychology, and science fields; MLA is used in the Humanities; and Chicago is used in business, history, and fine arts fields. A separate source, the blog "CMOS Shop Talk," also mentions that AP style is used in journalism. Interestingly, AP is also the only one of the four major styles that does not utilize the Oxford comma.

Chicago style is the most common styleguide used by publishers, and is thus the styleguide which should probably be used by fiction authors (incl. fanfic authors). Of course, fanfic is much less patrolled and can be written however authors want; it's fun, and that's all it needs to be! I'm just very picky about my own grammar and you've prompted me to actually dig deep and research why I write the way I write. In the future I'll probably read up a bit more on Chicago style, and see if there's anything I should change in my own grammar when writing fics. It's also good to keep in mind when I write mixed media like newspapers or fictional thesis papers...!

To clarify, I didn't do all this research and write all this up specifically to prove you right or wrong or anything, nonny! I was just curious and figured I may as well write down my findings for my own future reference, and that of anyone who wants to read it : ]

[blorbologist]

Architects of our Demise: Chapter 18

[ Age of Arcanum AU | Perc'ahlia | M | Updates every 2 weeks]

[ Vax is the Warden of Ravens, Vex is his Champion, Percival is the creator of aeormatons, and FCG is ~vibing~ ]

[ Chapter 18: As a proper reformed mad scientist, APA format is Percival's go-to for a bibliography of cryptic texts. Though he is not quite sure how to cite the spellbook of one Vespin Chloras... ]

--

An itemized list of what they (read: Vex’ahlia, Percival could not identify shit) found in the sanctum of Archmage Vespin Chloras:

One half of a bow made of unnatural gold

Remnants of a summoning circle (hypothesized by Vex’ahlia to have similarities to the one she saw when the Warden ascended)

Ruby dust with flecks of blood (hypothesized by Cassandra to be components to summon a powerful fiend)

a. Roughly seven dozen disenchanted books  

b. A dozen disenchanted books left open at possibly relevant pages

Seventeen conjurer's tools (disenchanted)

No remains of Vespin Chloras

No flower petals

An itemized list of what Percival read in the sanctum of Archmage Vespin Chloras:

--

Chloras, V. (n.d.) Personal spellbook of one Vespin Chloras, malconvoker and infernalist (evidence of several inactive protective runes; thoroughly coded, likely impossible to crack)

“Well,” Percival says, flipping through the tome, “he certainly did not skip town. Not without this.”

Vex ignores him. She turns the gold over in her hands. Over and over; whatever she sees is not something she can make sense of.

And then she puts it back - exactly where she found it. “Percy - I’ll need you to stay here and see what you can learn from these books.”

“Beg pardon?”

“And Cassandra too,” Vex decides. She speaks quickly, before either can interrupt: “This is bad. Really, really bad. There’s just enough that I recognize to make me think it was - if not what -” she trips on the name, “- the Warden and I did, then something close.”

“The Warden and I?!” Cass snaps.

Percival tells her, “I’ll fill you in later.”

“I’m the Raven Prince’s sister, darling - not sure how you missed out on that tidbit with all the spying and eavesdropping.” Vex sighs through her nose. “Anyways. Whatever happened here is bigger than us; we have to inform Vasselheim, get more people on this.”

Cassandra, irked, glances up from where she’s crouched. “And once you do they’ll certainly confiscate and destroy potentially blasphemous materials.” Points to a spot on the floor. “This is a rune; I can’t make out the rest, but by now we can assume it was some sort of summoning circle. Vasselheim does not like demons.”

“Not at all. So: it would be amazing if you two could learn as much as you can from this place - without removing anything, just in case - before we let the Dawn Marshals know.”

Vex pauses for breath. “I also want to see what I can learn - more gossip about this Vespin, if any other Champions felt something weird. You know - that sort of thing.

“I’ll be back sometime with snacks!” With that, she manifests the wings and flies up the spiral staircase.

(It’s reassuring that Vex’ahlia is no longer worried Cassandra will try to kill him. That, or it slipped her mind in the moment. Or maybe she just wanted to escape this space.)

[From the beginning] [Keep reading on AO3!`]

[ivysb]

Academic Writing Essentials:

A Chill Guide to Nailing Scholarly Communication 📚✨

1. Structuring Your Papers

Why It Matters: Clear structure = effective communication.

Standard Structure:

Introduction: Grab attention, give background, state thesis.

Body: Topic sentence, support with evidence, smooth transitions.

Conclusion: Summarize points, restate thesis, add final thoughts.

Tips: Outline first, use headings/subheadings.

2. Dodging Plagiarism

What It Is: Using others' work without credit = big trouble.

Types:

Direct: Copy-pasting without citation.

Self-Plagiarism: Reusing your own past work.

Mosaic: Mixing phrases from sources without proper citations.

Accidental: Forgetting to cite sources.

How to Avoid: Paraphrase correctly, use quotes, keep detailed source lists.

3. Getting Citations Right

Why It Matters: Citations = credit to original authors, stronger arguments.

Common Styles:

APA: Social sciences.

MLA: Humanities.

Chicago/Turabian: Flexible formatting.

Tips: Know your citation style guide, use tools like EndNote or Zotero.

[rafent]

(o・・o)/

Dropping the stylized Nil letter format just for muses he hasn't properly met in TOA yet (emphasis on yet) so I can speak more objectively and succinctly without overstepping. Also because his opinion of Ivy is interesting to analyze :')

Out of all the alternate Elyos royals Rafal has a particular redemptive interest in Ivy. He specifically cites her to be the first lord he turned into Corrupted and after that action no doubt the rest of the dominoes fell into place.

In many ways I see her being his 'first sin' and the gateway leading into bigger ambitions during his heyday as Nil. That special distinction made her a prime target for his guilt when they reconvened as Rafal and present Elyos Ivy. I imagine that being a surviving case for him and TOA Ivy as well.

The guilt still exists in any scenario, but assuming their support chain has happened, Rafal's opinion of Ivy is more positive. Much friendlier. He sees her to be a pleasant and levelheaded acquaintance. Their rapport not only humanized his original Ivy but gives him another place to stand in for the present one, which is as a playfully dubbed 'schoolmate'. That fact is cutely ironic for their TOA verses because regarding their positions as fellow Black Eagle faculty members, schoolmates or peers is what they've formally become.

Rafal has also succeeded the pretend-instructor role from their support chain to become a proper one in Fódlan. Manifest destiny in a literal sense and all that.

In terms of alternate Ivy, Rafal's opinion of her when detached from his guilt was likely very structured and businesslike, lacking human warmth, and at times even somewhat exasperated. He seemed surprised that our Ivy didn't share her overemotional nature or her interruptions. That tells me Rafal wasn't perfectly in control of their interactions and that he fielded many of her personality quirks with some level of difficulty or annoyance. Possibly both. The bottom line is that he saw her as a regrettable tool.

[attackofjak]

You can cite tumblr in APA (7th ed.) too!

For posts that are primarily text-focused: Real name with surname, first initial if known. [Username]. (Year, month day posted). Title of post in italics OR first words of post up to 20 not italicized [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from URL

For posts that are primarily focused on images/videos/memes/art/audio/etc. only (may include text within an image or have short caption): Real name with surname, first initial if known. [Username]. (Year, month day posted). Title of media in italics if known OR brief description in brackets [Type of media; Tumblr post]. Retrieved from URL

Notes: Don’t put @ in front of username. If the real name of the author isn’t known, use the username without brackets. You can use as much of the real or assumed real name as you can figure out from their blog or outside links. Use the primary poster as author when citing reblogged posts, but use the reblogged post’s URL since that’s how you found it. When citing posts with multiple authors who have added on with reblogs, include ALL of these authors in alphabetical order up to 20 then put et al. if there are more that 20. Use your best judgement when deciding whether to cite text or media when a post has both (what is the main focus?). When describing media that doesn't have a title, see if there is an alt text to help you! Remember to add the proper hanging indents in your works cited, I just don't know how to with the formatting on tumblr.

For example, to cite the post I am reblogging (without my current addition):

Greer, J. [rudjedet], Kathryn [art-thropologist], Liz [callalilycas], Mouse [micewithknives]. (2024, June 22). People who don't know anything about academics: man y'all are stuffy and boring what's up with that? actual academics: *too... [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/callalilycas/754013447021314048/you-can-cite-a-tumblr-post-in-chicago.

As a media example, to cite a random meme post:

Threefuckencrowsinatrenchcoat. (2023, June 15). Screen stills from Castiel's love confession to Dean on Supernatural overlaid with text reading "I love you," "Thousands of people..." [Meme; Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/threefuckencrowsinatrenchcoat/720176125171597312/myself-included-tbh.

people who don't know anything about academics: man y'all are stuffy and boring what's up with that? actual academics: *too busy fist-fighting each other over the beryllium problem or the existence of a dentistry profession in ancient egypt to reply*

[athenaeumscientificpublishers]

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[choixportable]

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[smartsubmissionpro]

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