#APA Referencing
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royalresearch-official · 1 year ago
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Mastering APA Style: A Comprehensive Guide for Academic Writing
Among the plethora of citation styles, the American Psychological Association (APA) style stands out as one of the most widely used and recognized formats, particularly in the social sciences. With its emphasis on clarity, conciseness, and precision, mastering APA style is essential for researchers, students, and professionals alike. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the intricacies of…
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beepbeepdespair · 1 year ago
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wait wait. gender APAthetic. you can call me whatever you want but you'd better fucking cite it right
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seiwas · 3 months ago
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getting back into academic writing after years out of uni is so disorienting
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layniejane · 5 months ago
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as someone getting ready to write their thesis paper over rhetoric and communication on social media and online spaces, i am both deeply freaked out by what’s happening and also frantically screenshotting and saving things to use as sources
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derelictheretic · 2 months ago
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If anyone asks how I am I will direct them to my 40 page reflective report
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esr10 · 2 years ago
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I still need to write another paragraph and a conclusion to my essay and I'm definitely not going to be able to keep the word count limit...
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citk · 2 years ago
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not to introduce another standard into the mix but. i do think there needs to be like. actual international cooperation on narrowing it down to one reference style because if i have to learn one more goddamn way to cite things im going to kill us all
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tragicallystraight · 1 month ago
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It made sense to me flow chartless, but now i wanna see a flow chart just for the sake of it being a flow chart.
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sunshine-of-my-shoulder · 7 months ago
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starting to think I should've picked environmental biotech instead of medical cause why is there no consistency with Vancouver style referencing like this one article (which was linked by this prestigious uni in the city) says to use superscript but another one says [1] and some use (1)
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knuckleduster · 2 years ago
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i should start actually writing this article i need to finish by friday probably
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professoredu · 2 years ago
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What is ACADEMIC WRITING? (Part ONE)
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nyctohyloph0bia · 4 months ago
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Thread of experts saying that endogenic and nondisordered systems are valid: A repost.
originally posted by @/jsheaforrest on Twitter, Oct 3 2023. This is a repost so that others can view it if they do not have Twitter.
First off, we have the Plurality chapter of the book Transgender Mental Health by Dr. Eric Yarbrough, Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric, published by the APA in 2018 :
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Important excerpts from that chapter: "Being plural, or having two or more people existing in one body or space, is just one part of the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder. Many people who are plural do not experience distress from the existence of others within themselves."
Since distress/dysfunction are essential for a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder, the implication here is that there's plurals who don't have DID. "However, although dissociative identity disorder and plurality are frequently associated with trauma, there are those who are plural and report no history of trauma. The case presentation in this chapter describes someone with severe trauma, but this is not a definitive or universal reason for the existence of plurality."
Next we have "Dissociation in Trauma: A New Definition and Comparison with Previous Formulations," published in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation by Dr's Nijenhuis and Van Der Hart, two of the authors of the theory of structural dissociation.
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The key part of this section is at the beginning where it says, "Our definition of dissociation pertains to a division of the personality in the context of trauma. We are aware that this division may also occur in hypnosis and mediumship, that several other definitions of dissociation also address these other contexts, and that there are some indications that dissociation in these other contexts is also best understood as a division of personality."
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21667387/
Sci-hub link: https://sci-hub.usualwant.com/10.1080/15299732.2011.570592
Next we have the ICD-11, a diagnostic manual written by the World Health Organization, with the latest edition being from spring of 2022. In its entry on DID, it uses "distinct personality states" to refer to what it also calls "dissociative identities."
In the DID entry's Boundaries With Normality section, it says the following:
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"The presence of two or more distinct personality states does not always indicate the presence of a mental disorder. In certain circumstances (e.g., as experienced by ‘mediums’ or other culturally accepted spiritual practitioners) the presence of multiple personality states is not experienced as aversive and is not associated with impairment in functioning. A diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder should not be assigned in these cases." Note that the text says "eg" meaning "for example", therefore it is not saying that it is ONLY those.
Next is the DSM-V-TR, which also came out in spring of 2022. In the differential diagnosis section of the PTSD entry, it says the following:
"Dissociative disorders. Dissociative amnesia, dissociative identity disorder, and depersonalization-derealization disorder may or may not be preceded by exposure to a traumatic event or may or may not have co-occurring PTSD symptoms. When full PTSD criteria are also met, however, the PTSD “with dissociative symptoms” subtype should be considered."
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Lastly, we have an interview w/ Dr Richard Loewenstein, who is lead editor of the DSM's section on dissociative disorders, has written over 100 papers mostly on trauma and dissociation and been referenced in 100s more, and used to run a trauma and dissociative disorders center.
In an interview with radio journalist Laura Klivens, talking about our system and having been told our origins, he said what's on the screenshot below.
Source: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/49hr6k (the link is broken, it redirects to Spotify, all gimlet media links do. If I find the episode i'll put it here.)
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"RICHARD: What you’re describing is much more somebody who is emitting symptoms consistent with Dissociative Identity Disorder and, um, you know, without interviewing her, um, I would wonder if that’s … what’s occurring and this is--creates a kind of, um, way that she can experience herself without distress. But again, if she is not distressed, by definition it’s not a disorder."
Continuing on in that episode, Laura says the following:"
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"LAURA: I didn’t just talk to Lowenstein, I also talked to four other mental health professionals--both psychiatrists and psychologists--from these really reputable institutions. And they echoed what Lowenstein said. They said if there’s not distress, it’s not a mental illness--it just doesn’t fit any of the DSM definitions."
So. All these sources, from the American Psychiatric Association, World Health Organization, the two major diagnostic manuals used worldwide, and experts who study and treat DID/OSDD-1.
They all support the idea of nondisordered and endogenic systems. We've yet to see a single source from any major institution or expert saying that endogenic and nondisordered systems are impossible. Thank you for reading.
This is the end of the original thread. The thread picks up again on Jan 8, 2024.
New addition: a recent study (September 12, 2023) specifically on endogenic and nondisordered plurality.
source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cpp.2910
"Dissociative identity disorder and depersonalization–derealization have attracted research and clinical interest, facilitating greater understanding. However, little is known about the experience of multiplicity of self outside of traumagenic or illness constructs. Consequently, this systematic review explored how people identifying as having multiple selves conceptualize their experiences and identity."
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It picks up once again, on Jan 17, 2024.
Another addition, from an article on Psychology Today's website published in September of 2021.
source: https://psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder
Key points: "Why some people develop dissociative identity disorder is not entirely understood...Several studies suggest that DID is more common among close biological relatives of persons who also have the disorder than in the general population."
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elodieunderglass · 6 months ago
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Hi, I as wondering if I could ask you an APA referencing question? Please ignore if not.
I've got a journal article with different sections of it written by diferent authors, how do I accurately reference a section of it? I tried formatting it as a chapter in and edited book but that doesn't seem right. And referencing it as a normal journal article feels like it'll incorrectly attribute words to the wrong authors. I can't find anything in various style guides and I just thought i'd see if you had any ideas?
Hope you're having a good day!
Ah right! Bearing in mind that this is going to be specific disciplines and there will be multiple ways of doing it, here’s how I would do it when citing this post: https://www.tumblr.com/elodieunderglass/771274847061983232/adding-one-point-the-rest-of-the-fellowship-are
Or, as we are going to put it -
Ironside, N., Large N, S., & Glass, E.U. (2024). Tooks [Review of Tooks], Tumblr.
We are pretending for the purposes of the post that all post additions were written in 2024.
Now we are going to discuss it in-text.
In a review of the historical role of Tooks in municipal management (Ironside et. al, 2024) Ironside posits that the kings of Arnor, when granting the lands that became the Shire to their military allies, were influenced by the Witch-King of Angmar in a greater strategic ploy to restrict the movements of the Took family to the Shire.
In this review, Large N (Ironside et. al, 2024) independently elaborates on the evidence that “Took” is also a curse word in the context.
In a contribution to the 2024 review of Tooks, Glass notes that Gandalf is the only one of the Fellowship to curse with unbridled “salinity” (Ironside et al, 2024.)
Quoted in the Ironside review, Momos provides evidence for their belief that “Took” is a swear word (Ironside et al, 2024.)
Large N’s section of the Ironside review (2024) contains transcribed passages of contemporary conversations.
NOTE WELL that the burden of First Author includes taking the contributions of all their (et al) under their mantle. This is not just praise but blame. It’s a position of responsibility. First Author is where the buck stops, and everyone knows it; they’re the one who materially staked their name and reputation on this paper. So the convention is to always cite First Author regardless of who wrote what (because they have responsibility for all of it.) in-text citations such as I’ve provided here, referencing the First Author, are perfectly normal- you don’t have to get fancier than that with the citation itself. Keep the citations and bibliography consistent and conventional.
Good luck!
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purple-confusion · 2 months ago
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Io - princess of Argos and lover of Jupiter (Ovid, Metamorphoses)
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To break artblock for holy weekend bcs I had just finished midterms and couldn't think of anything JCS to draw, I went back to a thing I researched a bit for midterms, which is the myth of Io. Plus I haven't practiced this art style in a Whiiiile. My sources down below bcs im still shifting out of research mode
Sources (not gonna be APA cited or any other proper way bcs this is to break out of artblock not block me even worse)
Metamorphoses by Ovid, book 1 lines 567-end of book 1
Apollodorus, book 2 chapter 1 section 2 and 3
Mycenaean women frescos for the clothing¹
This video on ancient greek clothing, including Minoan and Mycenaean Greece
Luna Myosotis' videos on youtube and tiktok for the hairstyle (i took creative liberties to fill in the gaps and to get the visual that I wanted)
This picture of a cow²
1 :
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2:
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The peacock-like eyes around Io symbolises Argos Panoptes, her guard when she was turned into a cow (also the actual focus i took for midterms). Hermes/Mercury killed Argos under Zeus/Jupiter's command to rescue Io and Hera took his hundred eyes and put them in her pet peacock's feathers. Also its arranged like a halo bcs through her unwilling encounter with Jupiter, she became a more important figure, closer to godhood in a way, and she did end up getting honored as the goddess Isis in Egypt way later in her life. Also her ear is shaped like that and her blue eyes to note her divine bloodline. Of course the scar on her heifer form is from Jupiter's violence, that I referenced lightning scars for
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bamber344 · 3 months ago
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The Humiliation Of Servitude
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As promised, Andreas' backstory is here! It was so much fun getting inside his head and seeing what makes him tick, following him from childhood all the way up to the present. Not to toot my own horn but I think he is very interesting lol. Enjoy the chapter!
CWs: Implied child abuse, (mostly non-graphic) rape/noncon, referenced body horror, implied torture
The Humiliation Of Servitude
Andreas Viktor de Vygon was born on a hot summer night in 1963. His mother died in childbirth. His father was a mean drunk bastard of a man who never truly forgave him for it.
Andreas grew up in a small apartment in inner-city Tombguard, falling asleep every night to the sound of his neighbours fighting and fucking and his father’s shows echoing from the living room. His school was within walking distance, just a block away. The few friends he made all lived nearby. The first ten years of Andreas de Vygon’s life were confined to less than a single square kilometre. He never knew any different and never truly cared. Until one night, when his eyes were opened to the truth.
Andreas had mixed feelings about his father. On one hand, he was a powerful, terrifying man. He had an almost regal nature and exuded authority in every movement. Andreas couldn’t help but to respect the sheer strength he held. One day, he wanted to be just like him. On the other hand, he was also cruel, vindictive, and loved nothing more than to take out his own anger and pain on those weaker than him. Andreas, unfortunately, was always his go-to target. Andreas hated his guts.
Most nights, Viktor de Vygon the elder would only get angrier the more he drank. But for some reason, this night was different. Andreas’ father sank into his armchair, muttering something to himself. He called to Andreas to fetch him another beer, and Andreas obliged, his hatred for his father growing slightly stronger at being treated like some sort of servant.
“Siddown, boy,” Viktor had said, slurring like the drunk he was, snatching the beer from Andreas’ hands. “I got sommin’ to tell ya.”
Andreas did as he was told. He always did as he was told. “What is it, father?”
“You learned about the Godling in school yet?” he asked, spitting the name like a slur.
“No, sir,” Andreas replied. 
“Lemme tell you a story…”
Viktor told Andreas the tale of the ancient de Vygon clan and their legendary battle against the Godling hundreds of years ago. How his ancestors struggled under the tyranny of that terrible thing from beyond the stars. How they secretly rebelled, forging a weapon imbued with shards of bone from the Godling’s previous human hosts. How they etched magic sealing symbols onto the blade, learned from the Godling’s own practise of granting human collaborators strange abilities, and then sealing them away by carving the symbol onto them when they resisted. How they battled the Godling for a whole day and a whole night until Franziska de Vygon, last surviving member of the family, plunged the Godkiller Blade into the Godling’s chest and finally ended centuries of suffering.
He told Andreas how the last remaining de Vygon sealed the Godling underneath the family hold, and how Tombguard rose up around it. How for the past 700 years, the de Vygon family watched over the Godling’s prison, ensuring it could never escape. How the Godling’s blood seeped into the earth, eventually affecting the population, causing children to be born with the same strange powers the Godling once granted Its conspirators. How the Godling began acting out, creating terrible monsters with its remaining power, and how those born with Godling blood in their veins fought back against them, eventually forming a Union ran by the de Vygon family, right in the place the de Vygon ancestral hold used to be.
Andreas listened, totally rapt, stars shining in his eyes. Him; the descendant of a legendary hero who saved the whole world. Only, it didn’t take very long for the illusion to crumble apart. One solitary look around Viktor’s dingy apartment would make it clear that Andreas was no legendary hero’s descendant. He was the son of a bum who killed his own mother coming into this world. When he asked his father why, Viktor told Andreas a truth that would stick with him for the rest of his life.
“We were born unlucky.”
It turned out, Viktor’s father Thomas was the second son. Only the firstborn of each generation was set to inherit the ancestral home and all it entailed. Scorned from the birthright owed to him by his name, Thomas de Vygon descended into obscurity, and he dragged Viktor and Andreas down with him.
Looking at his father, Andreas could see that Viktor had accepted his place in the world. He had no ambitions beyond his next bottle of beer, content to live a simple wage-slave’s life.
Andreas would not accept it. He was owed. That night he made a vow to himself; that he would not be satisfied with this humiliating pittance of an existence, where his only purpose was serving those above him. He would do everything in his power to rise above, to reach the station he deserved. One day, no one would look down on Andreas de Vygon. 
It would only be him, standing alone above the world.
Andreas never had many friends growing up. While he was perfectly able to make them, should he so choose, his sights were always set much further in the future than schoolyard companionship. 
While other kids his age were outside playing, Andreas would be at the library, studying and learning more about his newly revealed lineage. He learned that he had a second cousin a little older than him, named Siobhan. She was set to be the next inheritor of the de Vygon ancestral home, now known as the Heroes’ Union. Nothing in the world hurt more than knowing there was someone else out there who had everything he’d ever wanted.
It was while he was studying the legends surrounding the Godling that he came across an interesting little tidbit. He would pass it off as a pointless piece of trivia for many years, but the fact he learned in that library would end up changing the course of his life.
Legend stated that the one who pulled the sword from the Godling’s chest would be granted any one wish within Its power; their deepest, strongest desire – at least according to the things the Godling would tell people to try and get them to free it. The only catch was, no one could actually approach the Godling unless they had the Godling’s blood inside of them; only those with a power could get near enough to ever pull the sword out. It was typical; because even if Andreas had been given the respect his name deserved, he’d still never be granted a wish, just because he was born inferior. Nothing would ever be handed to him. It just meant he had to work harder to get ahead.
Not that he’d ever really want to draw the sword and undo all the hard work his ancestors put into sealing the Godling away. He wouldn’t be much of a hero, then.
That being said, Andreas had always been good at finding loopholes.
When Andreas turned 18, the first thing he did out of school was join the military. It was a new life for him in two ways; he could finally leave his waste-of-oxygen father behind forever, and he was finally in a place where he'd be able to climb. Get above people. Maybe even reach the top.
At first, it was just more of what he was used to: getting yelled at and ordered around. He'd been expecting that, obviously, but it was still grating. He was a de Vygon. These people should be kissing his feet as he passed. Regardless, he got through those first miserable months of being a new recruit, and eventually started moving up through the ranks. It took a few years of grit and hard work, crawling through the dirt and breaking the skin of his knuckles in combat training, but he started earning his promotions in due time. Throughout his fourteen years of service, he made it to the rank of sergeant first class, and had designs on getting an officer’s commission. Unfortunately, some things were not meant to be.
Andreas did a few tours of duty, and earned a few medals in the process. For all intents and purposes, he was a decorated soldier and a respected leader. It was what he’d been hoping for when he first enlisted. But it still wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to just have people under his command, because no matter what there were still people above him, officers giving him orders, telling him what to do. It wasn’t right. It was beginning to feel like no matter how high he climbed, he would never truly achieve the greatness he was destined for. Even thinking about his prospects as an officer didn’t seem like they would amount to much. So much kissing ass, and for what? For nothing truly important to change. It would take a lifetime to reach the top of the military hierarchy, and even then he would still be accountable to the whims of the country’s leadership. Maybe he should have aimed for politics instead, but even if he reached the big spot at the top, what would truly be different? He would still have to suck up to other country’s leaders for the sake of diplomacy – he wasn’t going to run his country into the ground being an ass just because he hated not having full agency over himself; he had more maturity than that. So, what was even the point?
It was beginning to occur to Andreas that perhaps servitude was simply an unavoidable fact of the human condition. So long as there were two people left on the planet, Andreas would have a duty to his fellow man. Compromise above all else, because violence only meant mutually assured destruction, and where would that get anyone?
Perhaps if there was a way to get so far above the rest of humanity that resistance to his will was utterly futile, his dream could come to fruition. As if that was even possible. Even the Godling; a divine being as old as the universe itself and as powerful as a dying star, was brought down by the sheer dauntless will of the human spirit.
Granted, the Godling was malevolent, and couldn’t understand the way a human mind thought. Perhaps if Andreas were in Its position, the de Vygon clan never would have even thought to resist him, for they would have had no reason to.
It was a silly thought, and not one he entertained for long. 
The peaceful days of running his soldiers through training drills quickly blurred together, and Andreas was in the midst of debating whether or not to quit the military for a new pursuit or just commit and get an officer’s commission when a sudden scandal hit that all-but made the decision up for him.
He was walking the grounds of the base one night, just to stretch his legs, when he heard a strange sound emanating from the alley between the barracks and the mess hall. It was past lights out, so his soldiers should’ve all been in bed. He elected to check it out.
When he peeked around the corner into the alley, he wasn’t all that surprised at what he saw; it was pretty obvious based on the sounds. A man and a woman from his unit, pressed up against each other, rutting like animals in heat. He was debating whether he should pretend he didn’t see or go chastise them when he realised something was wrong. The woman was pressed face-first against the wall of the mess, both wrists restrained behind her back by one of the man’s hands. His other was covering her mouth. She appeared to be crying.
Andreas didn’t remember much of the rest of that night, but based on statements from the subsequent disciplinary hearing, he knocked out three of the man’s teeth, broke both of his wrists, and left him with a concussion. Andreas himself got away with a fractured hand from hitting the guy too hard.
He was not a squeamish man by any means. He was willing to hurt and kill to get what he wanted – his goals were so grand that there were very few lines he wasn’t willing to cross in pursuit of their achievement. But not rape. Never rape. There was not a single act so depraved and self-indulgent as that. Every bullet through a skull; every broken finger of a captured enemy, they had a purpose. There was no information to be gleaned via rape that could not be otherwise gained through enhanced interrogation techniques. If the prisoner wouldn’t talk through all of them, rape would not serve to tip them over the edge. It was pure indulgence that violated a person’s freedom and agency in one of the deepest, cruelest ways. It was unconscionable. 
That was why Andreas was sure to spare no detail on what he had witnessed at the disciplinary hearing. This was a man under his command, and thus it was his responsibility to make it right.
Only, nothing would ever come of it. At least, not for the perpetrator.
See, the soldier that committed the vile act turned out to be the son of one of the top generals that Andreas was beholden to. And so, the universe once again demonstrated the futility of trying to do good from below somebody else’s boot. No one gave a damn about the rape. All they cared about was the fact that Andreas put that kid in the infirmary.
In the end, he was given an ultimatum. Shut up about the rape and be honourably discharged from his position, or keep going and have his name dragged through the mud. Andreas was not so invested in justice being served for this one single act that he would throw his entire life and all his ambitions out the window. So he picked option one, and retired from the military at the ripe old age of 32.
After his departure from the military, Andreas was left somewhat directionless. While leaving the military had been an idea he was entertaining, he hadn’t yet made up his mind about it when he was forced out, nor did he have any plans for afterwards, other than the big one.
With no idea where to go and no clue what to do next with his life, Andreas decided to embrace directionlessness. And, what better thing was there to do when directionless than wander?
He spent several years travelling the world with his saved funds, trying to find new purpose amidst the realisation that he would likely never achieve his true goal. He stood at the White Cliffs of Dover in England, staring out over the endless sea and debating flinging himself into it. He visited the coliseum in Rome and the parthenon in Athens, looking back over thousands of years of human culture. He pushed his way through the busy streets of Mumbai, buried in the sheer density of the population, awed by the thought that each and every person here bustling through the crowd was on their own path through life; each one just as rich and varied as his own.
He took a step back from humanity to focus both on nature and on himself. He meditated with monks in remote Tibetan villages, scaling their mountains just to see if he could. He hiked through miles of South American rainforest. He trained with masters of every martial art he could find, seeking to hone both his mind and his body in search of the truth. The truth of what? He wasn’t sure. Maybe everything. Maybe this curse of a life he’d been given; simultaneously destined for greatness by virtue of his bloodline, and owed nothing by the tragedy of his birth. The son of a dead mother and a drunk father. The unwanted, discarded descendant of the world’s greatest hero. Truly, what was left for him other than what he could make for himself? There were no handouts in this world, not for him. If he truly wanted what he sought, he would have to fight for it. If there was no easy path, he would carve a new one out tooth and nail.
It was when he was standing at the sight of an ancient battle with the Godling that the idea occurred to him. Staring out over a flat plain of lifeless dirt that once held a city in ancient Syria, he realised the true power that the Godling held, and why It held it for so long.
2000 years ago, this place was a bustling metropolis of the ancient world. When the Godling arrived on Earth, this city was the first to take up arms against it. The Godling used it as a brutal and bloody example, and because of that one act, Its reign lasted almost 1300 years. Until the de Vygons came along, no other large group of people had the bravery to stand against It. The few individuals who did were equally as brutalised, and in just as public a manner. Transmuted into misshapen playthings and decorations, still living every second of their agony until the Godling was done with them. According to her personal writings of her clan’s war with the Godling, Franziska de Vygon’s own father was transformed into an ornate dining chair of broken bones and ripped flesh one terrible night, still screaming for days until she was finally able to find him and put him out of his misery.
This city in particular was razed entirely to the ground, not a single stone or soul left in existence. Even now, two millenia later, no life grew on the spot the city once stood. Animals avoided it. The only reason modern humans knew of its existence was through the records of the city’s neighbours.
Before Its imprisonment, the Godling held the ultimate, utmost freedom in the world. It held this freedom for so long because It stole freedom from humanity. 
If Andreas was truly passionate about his goal; if it truly meant enough to him that he would do anything to achieve it, he needed to not be squeamish about taking freedom from others. He needed to not be squeamish about risking everything in his quest for it, including his own ideals. He’d killed before, but that was on the battlefield, at the will of his commanders. Now, he needed to be ready to kill for himself.
No price was too great in search of the ultimate freedom. And really, what had the de Vygons ever done for him anyway? He owed them nothing.
They, on the other hand, owed him everything. 
After six years of travelling, Andreas decided it was finally time for him to return home. It was the turn of the millennium; a time of new beginnings and fresh starts, and that was certainly Andreas’ plan for when he arrived in Tombguard. He still had a decent little nest egg saved from his time in the military, having lived a very frugal lifestyle for his time there, so it wasn’t hard to rent out an apartment and start making moves on his next job.
It was in the midst of his return that he learned about his cousin Siobhan’s marriage to a Korean man. That on its own wouldn’t have bothered him if it wasn’t for the fact that she decided to forsake 700 years of her ancestry and take her husband’s last name. Why she would choose to give up the name de Vygon – a name that invoked the presence of the legendary warriors who saved the world – for a nothing name like Min completely escaped him. Apparently, he even missed that she gave birth to a son the year before his sabbatical; a bouncing baby boy named Ashley, born before the two of his parents got married.
It was just another reason why Andreas was the only one fit to bear the de Vygon name. He may have despised his ancestors for throwing him aside like trash for the crime of his grandfather being born too late, but at least he had respect for the history his name represented. At least he didn’t throw it all away like Siobhan did.
They would learn the mistake it was to disregard him one day. They all would.
Andreas began formulating a plan, putting together a complex flow chart that took up an entire wall in his apartment. He wasn’t worried about anyone seeing; he had no friends and no interest in taking a lover, and his landlord never came around. It would take years to both perfect the plan and execute it, but if it worked, it was a surefire way to ensure he made it all the way to the top, so far ahead that no one would ever hold sway over him again. True freedom was within his grasp.
He called it Project Genesis. Genesis, meaning beginning, the word originating from the Abrahamic creation myth; the title of the very first book of the bible. The genesis of new life, created by his hand. The genesis of a new Andreas, born of stolen divine power. The genesis of a new world, formed by his desire.  It felt… fitting.
The Godling’s wish was the key. One single wish to grant his deepest desire. He would wish for the Godling to transfer all of Its power to him. Should any part of It remain afterwards, he would use his newfound power to destroy it so completely that it would cease existing entirely, just like that city in Syria. Thus, circumventing the obvious ethical issue of releasing the Godling in the first place.
But only someone with a power could get close enough to make a wish. That meant Andreas needed someone else to make the wish for him. No amount of money or political power would give him enough sway to convince someone in the Union to release the Godling, nor to believe in his goal above their own desires, which meant that he needed someone with a power that was completely and entirely under his control.
He considered children, but that would take far too long, and it was too much of a gamble as to whether they had a power or not. He considered brainwashing, but that was too traceable. The plan would be no good if he was arrested for kidnapping before he could enact it. No, he needed something in the middle. Someone with total allegiance to him, who would do anything for him, but who had no connection whatsoever to the outside world.
What he needed was a clone, one with genetic material sourced from someone with a power. But that alone wasn’t enough. He also needed something to make them grow up quickly to save time, and a space to house and train them before unleashing them on the world. He needed a team to help raise, train, and heal the clone, and a team to help develop the cloning and growth technology, as well as any other genetic or technological modifications he might have wanted to make.
It was possible, theoretically. The science for the cloning and rapid aging was sound. But the amount of money it would require was unfathomable. Loath as he was to admit it, Andreas had no choice but to do his least favourite thing; kissing up to people above his station. He needed some rich friends, and he needed an excuse for Project Genesis that wouldn’t make them immediately call him crazy. He needed a job that would put him in contact with those up in the higher echelons of society.
That last piece was a little bit of a wrench in the plan. Other than his name, he had nothing with which to attract those of high standing. He would simply need to work his way up from the bottom. Again.
To that end, Andreas joined the esteemed Tombguard police force, getting fast-tracked through basic training and promoted straight to lieutenant within the first few months thanks to his military experience. Not quite as high as he was aiming, but it would do for now. He remained in that position for a few years before passing his captain’s exam and finally being given command of his own precinct. Much like his position in the military, it was gratifying having control over a whole precinct of cops, but he was still far too beholden to both other captains and his superiors.
Another few years of careful planning and kiss-assing, and Andreas got moved to the precinct he’d been gunning for – precinct 23. It had been in his sights ever since he learned that there was a huge empty underground space below the precinct, a leftover offshoot of the old de Vygon hold that had been built over. It was a fitting place to put his Project Genesis facility. Next step; insert himself into high society.
Despite his best efforts, Andreas was never promoted above the rank of captain. It irritated him a bit, but he could handle it with the knowledge that he could move forward with his plan right where he was. His friendship with people like the commissioner and the chief meant that he was still being invited to these high society parties despite his relatively low rank; still getting the opportunity to rub elbows with these born elite; people who had done nothing of substance in their lives yet still stood in the station that he deserved.
He had to be careful, though. Despite having a plausible explanation as to his motives for Project Genesis – that being wanting to manufacture superheroes to revitalise the police – the plan was still quite… callous, in regards to its flippant usage of human life – artificial or otherwise. There would be a public explanation that included none of the real details, of course, but the sponsors would need to know the nitty gritty of how the plan would proceed before they invested in him. They wouldn’t know the end result, but that was hardly important.
He needed sponsors with both ambition of their own and enough moral bankruptcy to not care how they achieved their goals. Surely, not hard to find in this den of uncaring billionaires, but Andreas was cautious. One wrong move, and everything went up in smoke.
It was a few more years of befriending these elite before Andreas met… Him. The most vile, disgusting man Andreas had ever laid eyes upon, and that included that little bastard rapist who he’d long forgotten the name of.
Sebastian Beaumond.
He just had this… air about him; a suave playfulness that hid something dark beneath his pristine exterior. Every word he spoke positively dripped with double-meaning and hidden manipulation. Andreas had never been a man that shied away from eye contact, but staring into those dark pupils of his made Andreas feel like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking out into the void. It was a similar sensation to the one he got at the Cliffs of Dover all those years ago, only with the dreaded uncertainty of not knowing whether the ground would crumble out from under him at any moment, throwing him to the uncaring waves below.
On the surface, he was a buffoon – and it was a known fact among the elite that he could let his emotions get the better of him in occasional outbursts – but Andreas didn’t doubt for a second that Sebastian Beaumond was a much smarter man than anyone gave him credit for.
He was a senator, with plans to go on the election trail within the next few years, aiming for the top spot. He would make the sort of evil, sadistic ‘jokes’ that Andreas would have sanctioned men in his old unit for.
He was perfect. 
And when Andreas pulled him aside one night and told him the plan, Sebastian Beaumond’s smile grew wide, just a little too far to be entirely natural. He laughed that grating laugh of his, slapped Andreas on the back of the shoulder, and said:
“You thought of all of that yourself? You’re a goddamn genius, Andy. I’m in.”
“She’s… She’s gone, sir.” Sadler said, his voice shaking; a perfect ambience to the rage that was bubbling up inside Andreas. “The tracking chip has gone offline, and her mask camera has been staring at the floor for the past hour, after she took it off in front of Matthews. The… the whole operation is compromised. The entire Union will know by now that she’s a clone of Rosalyn Garcia-Holmes.”
Andreas stared at the monitor, displaying a coordinate of the chip’s last transmitted location, somewhere within the Union HQ. For some reason, he had a hunch that G-5 had something to do with its removal. Jordyn and the Union would have had no way of knowing of its existence otherwise. That little ungrateful bitch was forever a thorn in his side. He gave her life, and this was how she repaid him? 
In many ways, this was his own fault; he was mature enough to recognise that. He had allowed G-7 far too much freedom in the Union. He believed it was worth the risk – a foolish compromise born of the inevitable fondness between a creator and his subject. Some small part of him just wanted to see her happy. He hadn’t anticipated the little wretch growing bold enough to remove her mask – breaking the one rule he demanded above all else.
It was okay. This was manageable. The explosives at the door of the Godling’s prison were in place; no one but Jordyn knew of their existence, and she would not be able to fathom their use or importance. He could enter at any time. All he needed was someone to pull the sword and make the wish.
Jordyn would be ideal, but there was no guarantee he’d be able to retrieve his asset before everything came crashing down. Thankfully, Andreas was nothing if not a man who planned for every contingency.
“S-sir?” George whimpered. “What do we do?”
Andreas grit his teeth and took a breath, centering himself. All would turn out right in the end. “Wake up subjects G-8 through G-10 and prepare them for rapid habilitation and training. We are not finished yet.”
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Andreas the only mf to go on a soul-searching journey and come back more evil than before
Hope y'all liked this one! It's def very different from most chapters, but I think I did a good job.
Up next we get started on the Escape arc! Or, whatever I decide to call it lol. We'll catch up with our girl Jordyn and see how she's settling in to the new arrangements.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought! cya next time!
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pigeonflavouredcake · 2 years ago
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How to reference in your grimoire
If you intend on sharing your grimoire with the public or you're a fan of a more academic style of writing then you're gonna want to reference your sources to avoid any kind of plagiarism.
You may have already learned how to reference at your college/uni, in which case follow that method, but if you haven't let me show you what i've been doing in my grimoire.
The referencing style I was taught in my degree is a form of APA 7th edition. This style is best for essays and small research papers and since my grimoire is essentially a bunch of mini contextual essays stuck together I thought it was appropriate.
Here's the format:
Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication/release). Title of source: sub-heading/title of chapter. Publishing company/website. Place of publication/website link. [Format]
So for example, the book I'm currently reading is Buried by Professor Alice Roberts. If I were to reference this book in this format it would look something like this:
Roberts, A. (2023). Buried, An Alternative History of The First Millennium in Britain: Water and Wine. Simon and Schuster. London. [Book]
(Its up to you whether you decide to put the chapter before the book title, it doesn't make a difference, but I prefer doing it this way.)
This reference will need to follow an in-text citation. You can do that by adding a little number in parentheses next to your quote or paraphrase that corresponds to the number on your list of references OR you can make a mini reference following this method:
(Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication). Page number if required)
So following this method an in-text citation would look like this:
(Roberts, A. (2023). p1)
Tips
If you are citing a source with multiple authors, organised them alphabetically by surname, your in text citation only needs to include the first one.
If you're referencing an online upload of an old source like Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg, include the original authors name first, uploaders name/ID second and mark which is which in parenthesis, then the date of original publication if you can find it, followed by the date it was uploaded to the site.
If you are referencing a film/TV episode, use the name of the director and include (Dir) next to their name.
If you can't find a date of publication/upload then write DNA instead.
Always put your references at the back of your grimoire. If your grimoire contains multiple chapters, group them by each chapter and then organise either alphabetically or chronologically. If your in-text citation uses numbers, organise your reference list chronologically. If you're using a mini reference, organise your reference list alphabetically.
This last bit is especially important for practitioners who intend to publish their work. Please please please do not skip referencing! I've read so many traditionally published witchcraft books who's authors don't do this or do it half-assed and I can't stand it.
Readers deserve to know where your information is coming from so they can be the judge on whether or not it's appropriate for them to practice themselves. Not doing so creates a cycle of ignorance among readers and new practitioners that encourages the spread of cultural appropriation, poor media literacy and poor historical and scientific understanding. Always cite your sources.
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