#apparently you can take me out of academia but...

[ochre-sunflower]

20,000 words milestone

Since 20,000 words written is a bit of a milestone, here is some no context information about the 13th century…

Here are two religious manuscripts that may or may not be relevant:

Codex Gigas (aka The Devil's Bible)

^ So, this is a depiction of the devil found in a codex (basically an old handwritten book) from early 13th century, what is now the, Czech Republic.

Here is the Wikipedia article. It's written in Latin, which I recently discovered is a language you can learn on Duolingo... probably not 13th century Latin though.

Aja'ib al-Makhluqat (The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation)

^ This is the Archangel Gabriel who is looking quite stylish and colourful. The picture itself is from a 14th century manuscript, but the original work was written by Zakariya al-Qazwini in the 13th.

It was written in Arabic, which as far as I can tell would have been in 'Classical Arabic' which differs somewhat from the 'Modern Standard Arabic' used today.

I can't remember how I found this, but here is the Wikipedia article.

---

So, 13th century England or 13th century Scotland...

Kingdom of Alba

Well, I haven't been to either England or Scotland, but neither existed as we know them in the 13th century. Something that did exist from 900AD till 1296AD was the Kingdom of Alba. Which seems to me to just be the Scottish Gaelic word for... Scotland.

There is a lot of information about Scotland in the High Middle Ages, far more than I had time or energy to read about. But the King during the 1240's was:

^ Alexander II (1198 - 1249), King of Scots. And here is his Wikipedia article, and that's his seal.

He was the "only Scottish king to take his invasion force all the way to the south coast of England", and signed the "Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland".

So, the 13th century wasn't boring, if you are a historian... which I am not.

Getting slightly back on topic:

Church architecture from 13th century Scotland has a few examples still standing that are easy finds.

^ Dunblane Cathedral, in Dunblane, Scotland, has been restored... but would have been restored using materials and techniques that would make it still a useful example of a 13th century church. (Even though it was originally built between the 11th and 15th centuries... like I said, I'm not a historian.)

^ The ruins of Sweetheart Abbey, in New Abbey, Scotland, was founded in the late 13th century. I think it's held up pretty well, considering it has been abandoned since 1624.

^ My personal favourite: The ruins of Elgin Cathedral, in Elgin, Scotland. Built in 1224 on land granted by the aforementioned King Alexander II.

I mean, it had a tendance to be burnt down... at least three times... so it's probably more of a 15th century example, but it's pretty.

---

Assorted people of the 13th century:

Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi (1181 - 1226), was a 13th century monk who lived and died in what we would now think of as Italy. He is not relevant to what I am writing, however his Wikipedia page has a detailed painting of what a 13th century monk would wear… although it was painted in the 17th century so…

^ Francis of Assisi.

Hugh of Saint-Cher

Hugh of Saint-Cher (1200 - 1263), was another 13th century monk, this time a Bishop, who…wore glasses! That’s it, that's why I find him interesting. Born in what is now France and dying in what is now Italy, the painting of him wearing a pair of eyeglasses is one of the (if not the) first depictions we have of someone who wore reading glasses. Sunglasses were also invented in roughly the same timeframe in China.

---

Miscellaneous...

While not particularly relevant, I of course spent some time looking at fashion trends of the 13th century... and learning of the existence of sumptuary laws, which are also not relevant but confirm the existence of the fashion police.

And I have yet to finish watching the BBC docuseries on 'How To Build A 13th Century Castle'.

I'll end with: Medieval names we can all enjoy...

[urhoneycombwitch]

you oughta know: part I

Spring Break

series masterlist

foreword: since Eddie Munson is our collective Ken doll to dress up as we please I present to you my new and improved: dirtbag!college!Eddie. now with 50% more tattoos and a splash of 90s grunge college academia aesthetic.

cw: drinking, intoxication, R has breasts, R and Eddie are slut4slut in this

___

The bass on this houseparty’s stereo pumps through the floorboards, rattling every wall of the building. Hiding out in the less-stimulating kitchen seems like a good option for tonight.

Apparently, this other guy thinks so, too, ‘cuz soon it’s just you and him across the counter from another. He’s handsome, actually. Moonlight from a window above the sink highlights strong cheekbones and a sharp cupid’s bow as he helps himself to a glass from the cupboard.

Slinking out from elbow-rolled shirtsleeves are thick, dark vine tattoos; they wind around his forearms, smattered with hair and freckles, the ink trailing to end at his wrists.

You lean forward onto the counter separating you two (well aware that you’re spilling out of your top), then tip the neck of your beer bottle at him- “Eddie?”

He spins to face you, raises a pretty brow, long lashes sweeping over auburn eyes- “Uh- maybe? Who wants to know, dollface.”

A scrunch of distaste with your nose at the nickname, you barrel through the discomfort- “Oh, I thought it might be you. I’m Robin’s roommate. She said her weed guy had cool tattoos.”

The guy’s face lights up with a lopsided smile, dimples peeking out as he preens, “So you think they’re cool?”

You roll your eyes, take an unamused sip of beer, press a bit further into your hands on the counter. A little thrill at your small victory- his eyes flicking down once, twice, to your cleavage- you ride the alcohol-gifted looseness and adrenaline. “Psst. Hey. My eyes are up here, perv.”

It’s a tease. A goad masked as chiding. Eddie sets his glass of water down, doe eyes fixed on yours, not falling for the trap of your quick inhale- “You seriously sayin’ that to me, when you’re the one with your tits out?”

He tsks, walks those big boots over, leanin’ in to your counter space, close enough to smell the spice of his cologne- “Would almost think you like the attention.”

You swallow hard. Hold your ground, looking up at him through your lashes, bust still on display- “Yeah, and you’d probably like to be the one to give it to me. In your dreams, pal.”

It’s getting harder to play hard-to-get as Eddie bumps his hip against yours. The whites of his eyes are slightly bloodshot (you can smell the heady undercurrent of weed wafting from his clothes), while the black of his pupils are already blown out with feverish lust. “C’mon, have a heart, angel. Can’t fault a boy for dreamin’.”

And goddammit if you don’t melt for that line. (He really is a rather great lyricist, as you’ll come to find out this upcoming semester.)

In retrospect, you’ll never admit it, but you did make the first move- pressed him right up against Linda Satler’s kitchen counter and kissed him, with tongue. Robin walked in on the two of you and got in a full shriek before either of you realized someone else had come in, jumping apart like two children caught arms-deep in a cookie jar.

“God, gross,” she gags, louder than the wave of sound flooding in from the open door. She crosses the room in a few swift strides and plucks at your elbow, a reproachful whisper- “I sent you to get weed, not to make out with the dealer!”

“I am getting weed, Robin,” you insist, patient but firm, pulling from her grasp to turn back to Eddie, teeth worrying at your bottom lip that shimmers with mixed saliva as you ask, sweet and simply- “Can I please have some weed?”

It wasn’t actually your plan to butter Eddie up for a better price (another fact you’d remain stoically opposed to, later), but he gave it to you, all the same- a laughably low amount for a bundle of pre-rolls.

Robin’s eyes bug out at the amount he hands it over- then she smoothly pockets the goods and pats you on the shoulder. “Okay. My mistake. I actually love that you’re both getting acquainted in this manner. You have my blessing to do it a bunch more, just- not when I’m in the room. M’kay?”

She grins cheekily at Eddie before looping her arm in yours, pulling you with her towards the door- you call out before it closes behind you both, “Robin’s number is our landline! You can call me there, if you want!”

Eddie stands still for a few moments after you’re swallowed up by the noise of the party, palm flat to the twinge in his chest. Cupid’s arrow, he can feel it sinking in.

He’s an RA, this semester. Really can’t afford to be seeing cute girls and selling them weed- at least, not at the same time. Gotta straighten up a bit over Spring Break, he thinks.

Then he cracks the window open. Lights up a joint. Smokes out into the fresh night air and tries really hard to think of anything other than your tits. (A game of mostly losses.)

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 430: This wasn’t very “My Hero Academia” of you I’ll be honest—

Okay, where do I begin? Uh. So the story reached its conclusion. Congratulations, and all the best to Horikoshi-san for telling the story he wanted to tell for ten years, loved the characters, the little world he created after the cancellation of his previous works, I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

... but in my opinion: the last seven chapters were so bad- I don't think I can see this ending as anything other than a contradiction of what we were shown. Like, I thought we'd get a twist, everyone would be fine, something would change. I'm wearing the clown shoes already.

So, I'm just gonna treat this as a normal chapter, and not a final one, because I'll be here for days if I open this can of worms, which, I will not lie, is very bad (I'll open it at some point, not now.) I'm posting this on the.. 6th? Because apparently there's an announcement in the 5th and I don't wanna spoil the fun.

So, uh, under the read more are my thoughts on the ending, be warned I'm very, very negative about it.

*sigh* Oh boi, how killing the League made this go from an "underwhelming" to a "tone-deaf" chapter- I mean, Jesus fuck, leaving things open-ended don't erase the fact they can't make a single appearence to prove me wrong, if they were alive, the last five chapters were a waste of emotions and keeping them hidden was a stupidly cruel move.

Funny the narration is just "people aren't equal but it's because of these differences that people find common ground to get along"- THE VILLAINS WERE KILLED OFF FOR BEING DIFFERENT BRO WHAT DO YOU MEAN- "if lending a hand and caring is being a hero then we all became the greatest heroes". Izuku, whatever you're drinking, I'm taking it and drinking it all by myself. You may have cared. But Tenko died. On accident. Because you gave him OFA.

I liked the "Midoriya-Sensei" part. For 5 seconds. It's fitting, he loves learning stuff, he's good with kids, until you say it's only because his embers were gone. Then why use it as a tease for seven chapters only to just get rid of them at the end? Is running to Ochako really the last we get to see him use it? Not even as a part-time hero? (not that it matters at the end-)

Ragdoll works with the WWP, Tsukuachi was head strategist in the final battle, Hawks is the (H)PSC president, why wasn't Izuku hired at an agency? Intelligence was a huge part of his character, yet the moment he was fully Quirkless again, he was out? Men truly aren't created equal...

"Cursed power", "blessing", "special" — the only thing special about OFA was being haunted by a guy whose brother was insane enough to hunt it down for generations. A Quirk's a Quirk; having multiple people/powers in one body isn’t special, Tokoyami and Shoto exist. Izuku made it special using it on his terms. But I guess "meant to save, not kill" was a lie, as eight out of ten people who had it died. Nine out of eleven, counting BNHA: HR. Tenko died because his body couldn't handle the Quirk, but I guess Izuku isn't gonna think about any of it? Katsuki was right about this too, holy shit.

Spinner wrote a book (not a comic, guess he took offense to Izuku. Fair, actually). Mr. Compress got a panel, but no real mention of the LoV? They broke the status quo for months (in-universe), and after all of that, nothing changes? Did Spinner know about Tenko, how he became Tomura? And the people who will read it and pull an MLA? TomurAFO had followers, now he's martyr a lá Re-Destro, I’m hoping Spinner didn’t commit suicide like that guy.

Ochako’s expanding Quirk Counseling. Reform’s implied (it only said expansion), but Himiko still became what Curious wanted her to be: A cautionary tale. And I’m still asking how Ochako knows Himiko went what through, she only told Ochako she was hated because of her Quirk and how she loves. I wanna think she’s reforming it, but nothing else changed, why should I think she’s the exception?

(At least she's seen as a hero on her rights… even if it took 429 chapters, messy writing, her face looking like rubber, and still being a girl recognized as a "caretaker", not a kickass hero).

Shoji's travelling through Japan to solve discrimination and got a prize for it. No foundations or mentions of Spinner being the main reason he did it, just "standing atop those who rose up eight years ago", just solving it peacefully, you sure are, buddy. Like, I'm sure you are being successful but how exactly are you solving this? I mean, you "solved" the hospital fight by fighting Spinner with Koda- Oh wait, time constraints, we can't elaborate how.

Shirakumo showed the noumu state could've been reversed, yet Katsuki, who never killed someone aside from AFO (and he was gonna die anyway), fatally exploded him. I hoped it was a misunderstood panel but no. He died because he wanted to save Tenko. Even fucking Gran Torino was alive by the end of this. Why.

I think Shoto is the only main character I’m not really having a problem with (Ochako's ending required Himiko for it to feel somewhat complete. Sorry, Ochako). I’m weirded out that they mentioned the billboard using the guy whose life was ruined by it as an example, but other than that, he’s doing fine. Wish we saw him talking to his siblings though. But alas. No mention of Fuyumi and Natsuo. And Rei's with Endeavor. Fuck.

Inko got so sidelined when Mitsuki and Masaru got half a chapter, by the way. Just one panel for her, the protagonist's mother.

Schedules not aligning is one thing, but Class A not opening an agency together? They survived two wars together and you're telling me they wouldn't say "WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER AND WE'RE TAKING MIDORIYA WITH US"? Also, where’s the "world where heroes have time to spare" when they look so busy? Were they understaffed or working as celebrities? (if someone says it was for the suit I will point out to the three nepo babies of Class A, Katsuki’s a dumbass if he forgot that detail).

Dude. We wasted pages on a kid that can throw plates from his hair. To tell him he can be a hero. Coming from the guy who had to go when he lost OFA. I'm not taking this parallel seriously.

I wish Izuku wasn't in "everything’s fine" mode until the end. We're really gonna leave him at "implied" mode, not confirm if his mental state's fine? Being open and emotional was an appealing part of him and now we just get “Yeah that’s just how it is”.

This one's petty and irrational, I know, but since I'm letting some of the steam out: I hate Izuku's new design; face scars (the constant "HE FAILED" reminder makes my eye twitch and I wish that was a joke, but also so many characters in BNHA got face scars, it doesn't even stand out), "perfect tie", normal formal attire- where's the character highlights? The things that make Izuku stand out?

But hey: He gets to be a hero again! Not with skills, heart, intelligence, strength, in spite of Quirklessness. No, he has an Iron Man suit! That Class A paid billions for. The government should be paying Class A and B (and Shiketsu and Ketsubutsu) instead, but all they get is a pat on the back. If the suit broke down, hurt or killed him while in it I'd laugh (Hatsume and Melissa worked on it? Oh it's gonna happen). And Toshinori, what happened to him, did he hit his head when he landed on that building!?

Went from: Smiles cover his fear and reassure people, believed saving is about saving body and soul, wanted to help Tenko, only didn't because Gran Torino said it wasn't a good idea. Disliked people were being heroes for fame and not because it's the right thing to do, only used support items as reinforcement and a precaution, never as a full solution, even Iron Might was so he’d have a chance to fight, not a solution.

To: If Tenko died smiling, it wasn't resignation, he was saved, even though he died. Didn't care AFO killed the Shimura - his mentor's - bloodline. Is fine with the billboards existing, even though it caused things like the Todoroki plotline. Now he's giving Izuku a suit, when the last time he did it himself, it didn't save him and his spine was almost snapped? Dude, what?

Also I thought he was paralyzed but I guess he just had a bad back.

... I hated BKDK's conclusion. It's actually so laughable how much I hate it. If it had another outcome, I'd probably be overjoyed. But:

Thematically, Tenko wasn't rescued, it wasn't a perfect victory because AFO still got away with what he did to him. "End of an Era and The Beginning" is hollow, nothing changed for the world they lived in, and it doesn’t look like they stand out among other heroes (these are AM’s successors. How.) What new era is this, really?

Their resolutions and relationship rebuild? Offscreen, but Katsuki was the one with the Iron Man suit idea for Izuku and apparently that compensates for it. Because he’s the one who can solve all of Izuku’s problems now, not motivate him to be better anymore. It wasn’t even Izuku’ idea, it was Class A, and sure it’s a nice gesture but we’ve seen Toshinori barely come out alive even with one.

Izuku barely batted an eye to any of the things he went through - losing his arms and/or OFA? Seeing Spinner's breakdown? Lady Nagant!? Katsuki or Tenko dying!? SOME INTROSPECTION, PLEASE IT’S BEEN OVER 100 CHAPTERS SINCE YOU’VE BEEN THE EMOTIONAL MC—

Katsuki's insecurities were for nothing by the way! Izuku's empathy and heart never mattered, a Quirk was more important to be a hero in the end. BULLIED HIM FOR NOTHING BUDDY- shouldn't have done it at all but wow did it become even more pointless in hindsight. Like Twice's death. Or Katsuki’s death, since “Control Your Heart” meant nothing as well.

Izuku still remembers Tenko, but has he done anything about it? No one wants to remember him, Himiko or Touya. Spinner's book will not be taken seriously, Mr. Compress was sidelined, Twice's death was pointless. They didn't change society, they've returned to the status quo. Pointless as Izuku losing his arms.

That fucking suit- Wow, he really couldn't be a Quirkless hero, the casual rivalry was just erased for an easy way out of Izuku's consequences, there's no catching up because Katsuki paid for Izuku a way to be a hero. He went full on-simp in the most disrespectful way.

And it ends with Izuku seeing Tenko's... Ghost? Hallucination? Vestige? I guess we’ll never know, because Izuku’s following his dreams again! Let's ignore he's doing this during class hours and he definitely should be in UA but who cares, he probably quit and we'd never know, as aside for the BKDK/DKBK fics, being a teacher was clearly a inferior choice for him and he can't do both ignore Aizawa and Present Mic look at him being the world's greatest hero!

It just took 1 year of trauma, scars, following on his mentor's mistakes, losing the thing that "actually" made him be a hero, having the first and the last people he tried to save dying because of his existence (one literally by his hands), proving anyone can be a hero! By ignoring the guilt of those you failed, give hands and sparing your thoughts, having superpowers and/or connections who'll give you a suit! Fuck this shit I swear-

A story about hope bent itself over to give the protagonist an unearned happy ending, when it said it was for every character who wants to connect to that hope, who wants to give that hope. Izuku went from "wanting to be a beacon of hope and save people" to "talk about beacons of hope, but in the end, others are doing this better than you. You had none of the willpower to be one." He's not hope or unity. Act 3!Izuku is just a plot device, I feel nothing for his ending other than irritation.

You could’ve had the BKDK proposal with a double spread handhold, and I'd still think Izuku's ending isn't earned anymore. His "happy ending— actually. BKDK crumbs are compensation for this ending, I feel cheated out of this ship (I feel like I'm shipping the version of them in my head, nott the canon one 424 onwards, and it only got worse from there-)

So. Yeah, those are my thoughts about the ending. I think. I don't know if these are all of them. I feel horrible about hating it, but I've sat on this chapter for days and right now, not a lot can make me like it, especially with the timeskip, which made this "open ending" a rushed and incomplete mess. If you disagree with me, honestly, that is very fair. I'm glad for you if you liked the ending. I'm just disappointed, and wanted to share my opinions. (and I do have more stuff to say about it but I think I've been negative enough)

But for the weeks I spent hoping this wouldn't slap a classic shonen ending in this catasthrophic mess and for making me feel like a dumbass after what we got in the end: Everything after 410 that isn't 421 and 422 is non-existent to me, this epilogue was a freaking waste.

Thank you for reading.

[blank468]

My somewhat final thoughts of My Hero Academia

Note: Now that MHA is now doing an epilogue and is ending soon, I might as well give my final thoughts about this series. I’ll probably continue to talk more about it after the series is officially over but I’m not going to do a full fledged hour long review because I have better things to do.

This is a generic shonen empowerment fantasy that managed to screw its own theme and message. Any good will I would’ve given to series at the beginning is completely irrelevant as it when on. The morals and themes are constantly changing to throw random s**t on a sheet of paper that either doesn’t make sense, contradicts what being shown on screen, or if it doesn’t fits the tone of the story. My hero is not a deconstruction of the shonen genre that does anything new that would make it stand out. Most of the ideas and plot points created either have horrible execution, given no amount of attention where they’re just ignored or just have horrible payoffs. It follows all the exact same tropes seen in every other series and makes them worse. It also gets to the point where it rips off Naruto and makes the same mistakes it did. The amount of plot twists that are excused as some kind of subversion are obnoxious and predictable where’s it gets incredibly annoying. The world building is horrendous and just makes the story feel small for a world that has a life changing impact. The power scale doesn’t always make sense and it does nothing but act as a way to reward characters that didn’t earn it.

It has a dangerous and horrible message for victims of abuse and bullying. My hero has no problem telling the audience that if you’re a victim of any kind of abuse, it’s your problem and you should just act like it’s not a big issue. Apparently it’s ok lie to your friends, family and colleagues that you can trust but it’s not ok to lie or even hold accountable to your abuser. And no matter if he/she has a reason for the way they are, you are always in the wrong and you should spend your sad life praising and benefiting them.

There exists way too many characters for the audience to be invested in and after watching them for several arcs, they are just stereotypes with nothing new or original about them. Many of them come across as either being stupid, annoying, useless, unlikeable, petty, ignorant or just both. Some characters will either exist to benefit others or just highjack the story, ruining every other character’s chance to get any sort spotlight. The series is way too reliant on putting focus on unpleasant and uninteresting characters to please its large audience. The humor is way too reliant on a character’s personality trait. No matter what they do, the story expects us to automatically like them regardless of how horrible and selfish their actions are. Izuku may not be the worst character, but he’s no where near as great as everyone hypes him up to be. Bakugo is an unbearable mess of a character that serves no real purpose in the story and exists to take away every characters chance of development. His development is one of the laziest and obnoxious parts I have ever seen in any story and yet he’s the most popular sadist in the show with no sort of reason or sympathy for me to like him. Any criticism given to this d**khead is automatically shot down and people like me get harassed and called a brain dead immature f*g for stating our opinion.

Aside from Twice and Gentle/ La Brava, these villains are not that interesting and what ever traits about them gave them something to do is absence. Shigaraki is the stories biggest wasted potential that went from being an idiot to being an incompetent idiot to benefit my left nutsack. Toga is a Mary Stu who went from being a sad and annoying character to an annoying and self centered bitch who complains after being told her actions are wrong. Dabi is just a Gary Stu who’s only interested in wanting to kill his dad. Spinner is a joke that is constantly scammed by his creator.

The only saving grace I can give to this series is the art style of the manga and some parts of the Todoroki family drama. I can even say that Horikoshi’s art style and how he designs characters and panel designs inspired me as an artist. The anime as a whole is fine but it’s not perfect, but that’s mostly because it doesn’t do a whole lot of creatively/artistic things to make it on par with the most popular anime series. As an artist, I would recommend my hero as a reference to use to improve your work. If you just want to read or watch a series that has fights that just make you feel some kind of emotion, then you might get something out of this series. It’s not even the absolute worst thing I’ve seen; I’ve seen much worse in other genres other than shonen manga. It’s just rare to find a badly written series without being surrounded by d**kriders. It’s just a disaster of a series, and I wished I spent my time during the pandemic watching another series like Demon Slayer, or Black Clover.

[marigold-hills]

Dunes & Waters, part 20

PART 1 • PREVIOUS PART • NEXT PART

“Werewolves?” Sirius asks, and there’s nothing in his voice.

This is the moment, Remus thinks. A fraction of what Sirius thinks about people like – monsters like him. But Sirius shows nothing, doesn’t flinch, doesn’t react, doesn’t respond.

“Yes.”

And Sirius turns to him and swings the world on its axis: “neat,” he says. “Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“That I think it’s neat? Or the why?”

“Both, I suppose.”

“Well, it’s cool, isn’t it. Werewolves. How they’re perceived through history. Not something I thought about studying, and especially not in Egypt… Norse history, maybe. So: why?”

It’s on the edges of his tongue. Because I am one. He wants to say, but doesn’t. Sirius it taking this remarkably well, but this is academia, and he has a curious mind. There probably isn’t much he’d object to studying if it could further his knowledge.

“Like you said,” Remus lies, “it’s cool.”

Sirius grins so brightly it rivals the false sun. Turns back to the board. “Alright. Now we can work.” Writes WEREWOLF? In big bold letters at the top. “That makes so much sense now. See I told you, you should have just told me from the start, we might have been here weeks ago.”

Sirius’ demeanour doesn’t change an iota. Like he really doesn’t mind. Like he doesn’t care that they’re studying a XXXXX-class monster. He’s just happy to have a breakthrough and he’s humming to himself while he stares down his board with a renowned wind.

“So Lupus makes sense. It’s always a wolf, sometimes a dog-man. Wepwawet, same thing. Wolf god. But the falcon? I’m not sure how that lines in. Nor Anubis. He’s not a wolf as well, is he?”

“No. Just a dog.”

“Just a dog, he says. Nothing just about dogs. They’re magnificent creatures, you know?”

ANUBIS he writes on the board, cheeky smile and aura of elation. Academic excellence never looked so hot on anyone. Protector of graves, a bullet point, then another: usher souls to the afterlife.

“I’m not very familiar with Wepwawet,” he says in way of explanation, looking embarrassed. It makes a blush spread under his eyes and its so lovely Remus has to look away.

“What do you need to know?”

“What’s his role?”

Remus tells him, and Sirius writes it down. Wolf-god, opener of ways, hunter.

“He opens the way to, and through, Duat. In the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, he guides the deceased.”

Sirius adds to the board. Writes DEATH under Anubis and under Wepwawet. A series of question marks next to the Falcon and the Wolf. “I’m not sure how all of this goes together.”

“You’ve gotten a breakthrough today. Sleep on it,” Remus checks the time, “Merlin, it’s two in the morning. Let’s leave it here for today, alright? Shall we aparate back to the hotel?”

“Let’s walk,” Sirius looks at his board like it will be physically painful to step away from it. “I need to clear my head.”

They walk. It’s quiet. Sirius is deep in thought and doesn’t point out any stars and he’s just as lovely now as when he was animated.

NEXT PART

NOTES:

sorry for spamming today! Apparently so her thing is working, but I always feel weird posting more than one part in a day

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[qqueenofhades]

as a starting history major i wanna ask how do you read/evaluate academic history papers/books? i'm trying to avoid just blindly agreeing with whatever the author is writing because it seems correct. how can you tell what is good scholarship and what is more shaky?

This is a great question for you as a freshman history major to ask (many of my toiling colleagues and I can attest that we wish more of you would!) and shows that you're already taking initiative and investment in your studies and want to be the best prepared you can. So truly -- thank you! Us on the faculty/staff/administrative end of academia can feel as if we are pouring into an empty bucket at times, and it's always gratifying to hear otherwise. We really appreciate it.

As a college freshman and/or underclassman (or so I'm assuming) your first job is learning how to collect basic information from the things you read, collate and cite them accurately, and make them converse intelligently with each other in an entry-level piece of academic writing (such as an essay responding to an assigned prompt). So before you have to worry about understanding complex nuance and granular-level fact-checking, the first step is just getting comfortable with academic forms, styles, and conventions. There's an occasional anti-intellectual strand of thinking that pops up on Tumblr, basically insisting that everyone everywhere should be able to understand everything in fifth-grade words and if not then it's Elitist Gatekeeping, but this is a symptom of TikTok brainrot where people's brains have been literally rewired to only process spoon-fed chunks of incredibly simplistic (and uh, often wrong) information, and literally can't parse anything longer, even if it's written in accessible language. Yes, many academics are not necessarily great writers, but you also have to let go of the mindset that you can speed-read once and understand everything. You will need to slow down, take your time, and make a note of concepts that are confusing or that you want to double-check, words you need to look up, and things that make you say "hmm I should look into that more," whether because you're interested or they seem questionable. I always read academic texts or papers (I prefer hard copy, because I am Fucking Old) with a pen in hand, because if I don't, I often feel like I didn't read it at all.

Basically, this is an interactive process between you and the text, and requires you to develop a different kind of reading mentality than just buzzing through a novel or fanfic for pleasure. You have to expect that it will take time and that if you regularly skive off the readings, you won't be prepared for class, your professors will be annoyed, and you won't be able to write good essays, because you haven't engaged with the material. In your case, it sounds like that will be less of a problem, because you are eager to know how to do it right, but I can tell you from my experience that nothing frustrates us more than students who just won't do the reading (and you know, use ChatGPT to write their essays) because then what are you even DOING here? What do you want to get out of this? Why are you wasting your precious tuition money like this? Yes, you probably have to fill a requirement, but STILL. It's disrespectful to your teacher, who has invested a lot of effort in being here to help you with this and doesn't want you to just quit because it looks hard, and your peers, and to you. So anyway, /Captain Holt voice/ apparently that's a trigger for me. Basically, if you learn nothing else from this ask: please do the reading. Even if it's only to admit you need more help or want to talk about this concept in class or otherwise take advantage of all the structures that are in fact there to help you understand it! Thankee.

Likewise, because you're an underclassman, you have an advantage in that your teacher will select the class readings for you ahead of time. That means you will be receiving things that a professional has already checked, decided are useful and trustworthy, and you don't have to do independent research and vetting yourself (that will come if you decide for some godforsaken reason to pursue graduate and/or doctoral study). So you don't need to spend tons of extra time and effort deciding if the sources given to you in class are reliable on a basic and functional level; your professor has already done the work for you to make sure that they are. Your job is now to read those sources, keep a record of what they say (hence the aforementioned pen or other way to make quick notes) and figure out how to put them together in an essay. For example, if Author A cites Factor A as, say, the main cause of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and Author B insists that Factor B was in fact more critical, what is your best approach to reconciling that information? You would search in the rest of those texts to see what else they say in support of their position, and you would probably end up with a qualified statement to the effect of, "While Author A argues A, Author B thinks B, representing the lack of consensus and the difficulty in attributing one single cause to an event as complicated as the fall of Rome." (And then because you're smart, you would go on to mention Byzantium and the Eastern Roman Empire and show that you are aware of the further context.) All of which is true! Historians do that all the time! You don't need to select THE RIGHT ANSWER and vigorously discredit all other theories, ever, and we tend to look suspiciously on people who do (cough cough Philippa Langley).

In other words, we are certainly not expecting you as a freshman, and even as a more advanced student, to be able to pick out ONE ANSWER from the material. We just want to see evidence that you have in fact read it, are able to evaluate and place theories side by side and possibly make a judgment as to which one you find more compelling, and also to properly cite where you got that information. We've seen a lot recently about plagiarism and that being the pretext on which Harvard president Claudine Gay was forced to resign (which is a whole other can of worms, but never mind). A lot of professors think that saying "Don't Do Plagiarism" is enough, but then don't explain what it is and the different forms it can take. It's not just a matter of copying verbatim chunks of someone else's work (or you know, ALL OF IT, like certain recently discredited YouTube scumbags) and acting like it's your own. If you are relying substantially on someone else's work, whether in their wording, arguments, conclusions, structure, or anything else, even if you've changed some of the words (yep, still plagiarism!), that needs to be cited appropriately according to the relevant style guide. Direct quotes from anyone need to go in quotation marks or indented blocks and have the author cited immediately afterward. History usually uses Chicago, MLA, or MHRA, and you can find cheat sheets for how to do that online. It's a pretty simple and straightforward style, and your professor will be extra impressed.

If you're expected to do an independent project or a senior research thesis, as some undergraduate history students do, then it will come when you have already had three years of experience in reading, evaluating, and writing historical scholarship, you will probably have a faculty member assigned to you for one-on-one mentoring and personalized feedback sessions, and they will be able to provide suggestions and support for useful sources. So even then, you still don't have to do it entirely on your own. They'll probably also be MORE than happy to debate with you which ones are good and which ones are suspect, because it's all a part of developing your ability to flex that muscle for yourself. (And as noted, faculty members Will Have Strong Opinions.) That likewise doesn't mean you just have to copy whatever they say (at least if you have a good teacher who wants you to think for yourself and not just be a mini-clone of their pet theories), but it means that by the time you reach that stage, you will have been prepared enough to feel confident in taking more steps on your own. I think not enough people realize that studying history (or anything, really) isn't just throwing you out there and being like "tough luck sucker, do it all yourself."

That's why academia is so collaborative, why plenty of historians with doctorates and tenure will still have to say "I don't know, let me get back to you" when someone asks them a question at a conference, and you don't have to fear that if you don't have The One Right Answer, you will be immediately exposed as a fraud and thrown out. History as a discipline is also moving away from the 19th-century German approach that attempted to systematize it as a singular social science with One Right Answer, and to focus more on multiple perspectives and incomplete answers. That's why the goal is not necessarily to know everything (which alas, is impossible), but to make better sense of what we can know and search for ways in which the existing record is flawed and needs to be revised, expanded, or reworked with new perspectives (which have existed all this time, but haven't been privileged by the white male western academy for the obvious reasons). And that work is fun and important! I don't want you to be scared of getting to that point, because someone will be there to support you the whole way and by the time you do, it will make sense to you in a way it probably doesn't right now, just because it's a new skill and like any new skill, it takes a long time to learn and to be able to apply confidently, consistently, and at a high level. And plenty of us who do it as a career still often have to say "I don't know, let me ask Dr. So-and-so who specializes in this," so yeah. It's a process of becoming comfortable with both learning how to answer what we can, and to ask others for help with that, and it never really ends. Which is the fun part. There's so much more to do.

Good luck!

[bobfloydsbabe]

the holiday truce | eccentric professor!bob floyd x oc | sneak peek

a gold rush fic

SUMMARY: Bob and Imogen call a truce and spend the holidays together.

WARNINGS: academia au, enemies to lovers, age gap (mid 20s/late 30s), power imbalance, smut (not in sneak peek), christmas. strictly 18+/minors dni.

A/N: inspired by a conversation with @joaquinwhorres. bob and imogen celebrate christmas, but i've done my best to limit the references to it. i'm aiming to post sometime in december, but i hope this sneak peek will get you excited for it. let me know what you want to see in this fic. enjoy!

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She stands on the street, looking up at the Boston brownstone. Around her, thick fluffy snowflakes fall to the ground. Not enough to cover the sidewalk in a blanket of white, at least not yet. One falls against her cheek and melts on contact, and she’s sure her hair’s littered with them.

She feels a bit like a pig at the entrance to a slaughterhouse. Certain doom on the other side of that front door in the shape of Dr. Robert Floyd. Known to friends as Bob, apparently. She didn’t know he had friends, and certainly not that they call him anything other than Robert until she overheard Dr. Kazansky talking about him.

Drawing in a deep breath and releasing it into a misty cloud, she squares her shoulders and walks up the steps to the front door. The black paint is peeling off and the knocker could use a good clean, but Imogen knows the professor well enough to know he won’t prioritize it. She’s seen his office, and it’s not a pretty sight.

The door swings open, letting warm yellow light spill into the street. Silhouetted by the glow, Dr. Floyd looks as if he’s wearing a halo, like an angel descended from heaven.

“Miss Van Doren,” he says, and as her eyes adjust to the sudden light, she notices a faint smile on his face. “Glad you could make it.”

He steps aside, hand still on the doorknob, allowing her to walk past him and inside the entrance hall. She catches a whiff of his cologne as he closes the door behind her. Spices and ink. Him.

A coat rack hangs on the wall with three coats evenly spaced out. Underneath it is a small bench and next to it are the professor’s shoes. The classic brown oxfords he wears to work and a pair of sensible winter boots. Both are spotless. 

Unlike his office, the house appears perfectly tidy. Her mouth hangs open as she takes in the elaborate light fixtures, wood paneling, framed artwork on the opposite wall to the coat rack depicting a nye of pheasants. Not the type of art she expected, but it feels like him somehow.

She can feel his eyes trained on her as he steps up behind her. “Let me take your coat,” he says, voice deep and gravelly. She nods, slipping her purse off her shoulder and placing it on the bench.

His fingertips graze her neck, sending a shiver down her spine when he grasps the collar and slides the wool off her shoulders and down her arms. Stepping around her, he puts the coat on the rack for her.

“Come on,” he says once she’s toed her boots off and placed them haphazardly next to his own. “Dinner’s almost done.”

Imogen frowns, grabbing her purse and following him down the narrow entryway and into the open-plan kitchen. “You cook?”

Throwing a glance over his shoulder, she catches the smile on his handsome features. “I do,” he tells her, rounding the large island and reaching for an empty wine glass. “Red or white?”

She blinks at him, not sure how to feel about him being nice and personable. They may have agreed to bury the hatchet for a few days, but this is beyond unsettling. His light blue shirt has the top buttons undone, giving her a view of his collarbones and a thin silver chain around his neck.

“Red,” she says finally, trying to shake off the weird sensation of being in his home and watching him do normal things like pour a glass of wine.

He hands her the glass, raising his own and clinks them together. “Happy holidays, miss Van Doren.”

“Imogen,” she corrects him and takes a long sip, tasting the tannins on her tongue. “Is there anything I can help with?”

He trains his blue eyes on her. They appear darker than usual, maybe from the wine in his system or the tension cackling between them. His lips turn up at the corner. “Now you want to be helpful?”

Heart pounding in her chest, her cheeks warm under the intensity of his gaze. She wants to say something back, a witty remark, a counterpoint, a quip, but she can’t think of anything. Instead, she nods dumbly.

He smirks, the crinkles around his eyes deepening. “No,” he says at last, coming up in front of her, leaning down until his lips are a hair’s breadth away from her earlobe. “But you can sit that pretty little ass down and look sexy for me.”

TAGLIST: @roosterforme, @bradshawsbaby, @kmc1989, @cherrycola27, @yanna-banana, @bluezraven, @fandom-princess-forevermore, @hangmandruigandmav, @keyrani, @just-in-case-iloveyou, @solo-pitstop-vibes, @sweetwhispersofchaos, @attapullman, @bcarolinablr, @lewmagoo, @floydsmuse, @lyn-js, @briseisgone, @ryebecca, @auroralightsthesky

[ihopesocomic]

I was curious about something : someone mentionned tee fact that Vicious is an abuser and so, wouldn't redeem herself, to which you answered that this is probably how we would see her next because abusers can't redeem themselves.

(if you have read My Hero Academia before, if you haven't that's fine, :3)

If you know, what could we think about characters such as Endeavor in My Hero Academia who has abused his own wife AND children but tried to redeem himself nonetheless becasue he was apparently feeling guilty? His oldest son refuses to forgive him and (maybe hot take) I honestly wish he never does, since the damage has already been done, and trying to "move on" with your literal former abuser who was even your own FATHER isn't something that should be encouraged, imo....even if it's for the "good" of the family...Do you think such characters would deserve redemption?

(I'm sorry, this is probably the only example I can think of T-T, if you don't have the reference, it's totally fine)

I think the answer to this is really simple:

You don't have to forgive your abuser. You don't have to forgive people who have hurt you even if they've apologised. An apology is meant to be a sign of intent to change, it's not meant to be a way for an abuser to worm their way back into their victim's life.

The problem with apologies is that people think issuing one completely erases everything that has happened between the parties concerned and it doesn't? The amount of times I've had somebody 'apologise' to me and they've proceeded to just go ahead and exhibit the exact same behaviour they're supposed to be remorseful for because I didn't accept the apology isn't even funny.

Because I'm now the asshole who didn't accept the apology so I totally deserve what's coming to me now. Because it's all just empty words ultimately or - worse - just an attempt to paint somebody other than yourself as a villain because wow, how dare they not accept my totally geniune apology.

Yeah no, we don't buy into that at IHS Inc. An apology shouldn't be issued for self-serving reasons and nobody should 'take back' an apology that hasn't been accepted. You apologise, you do better (because that's the point of apologising) and if somebody doesn't accept that because of the consequences of your prior actions, that's their right.

And what's more with Hope's situation: she disowned her parents. She went no contact. I can't stress this enough: no contact means no contact. If other abuse victims out there feel inclined to forgive their abusers, that's whatever. That's entirely their choice. But in Vicious's case, the chance of her having any access to Hope again is long gone. Because Hope has put up boundaries and it just wouldn't be a healthy take to be all 'well, those boundaries don't matter to you anymore because your mother has apologised!'.

Because, alongside forgiveness, an apology doesn't buy an abuser access to their victim either.

But yeah no, I haven't watched/read this particular manga/show and I most likely do not plan to if an abuse victim not forgiving their abuser is deemed 'maybe a hot take'. No disrespect to those who do enjoy it, but it doesn't sound like my scene at all. lol - RJ

[myheroblogs]

The Kindest Power: How Midoriya might save Tenko

Originally, this post was supposed to be a response to another post about 411 (Yes, I'm late), about why Yoichi might be oddly calm when Shinomori was stolen. This post itself was also going to be more of a continuation of my previous post about the true nature of One For All and All For One.

But while thinking of this post, I may have went into a deep rabbit hole and uncovered the ending of My Hero Academia, how Midoriya might save Tenko and defeat All For One.

Okay, so buckle your seatbelts, this might be one of the craziest theories yet-

The other post by @shiroforest in which this post was going to be a response to was actually more of a DFO post. The usual, Yoichi hiding a secret that Midoriya has AFO or something.

I'd like to say that they may have been right. Well, half right. Midoriya DOES have All For One. Not in the way you might think.

One For All IS the same as All For One. I made this post all about this subject, that Yoichi and AFO were most likely identical twins, and since quirks are genetic, they were supposed to have the same quirk. But due to TTTS, Yoichi's quirk couldnt develop properly, thus manifesting differently from All For One

ThIs seems to have aged really well in the following chapter:

Essentially, Yoichi's quirk was just a half-baked version of All For One. It also explains why it was able to merge easily with an entirely different quirk (Stockpile). Since Yoichi's quirk was half-baked and incomplete, it was much easier for it to adapt and merge into another quirk entirely (If Yoichi's quirk was fully formed, it would've stayed seperate)

Okay, so OFA was AFO but incomplete. How does this factor in with that panel of Yoichi, or MHA's endgame?

Well, it was incomplete.

This started changing 200 chapters ago. Where, according to Banjo, it started growing. The metaphor used is very interesting now we know OFA's circumstances.

Apparently in the original Japanese text, the metaphor used is just like an unborn child, growing and kicking in the womb.

And we know that OFA was underdeveloped because Yoichi was deprived of the nutrients to fully mature before birth.

OFA, from the beginning of Ch 193, has actually resumed its development process. Finishing off where it left off, and started growing as it matured.

The time it made contact with All For One in ch 287 must've quickened the process. After that event, the OFA Users managed to finally come out and communicate with Midoriya directly.

Remember what I said about how OFA was supposed to be the same as AFO, just halted during the development process?

Yes, you heard me right.

Midoriya and Shigaraki are fighting with the same quirk right now.

Horikoshi likes to put double meaning in his panels. If a speech bubble is displayed on an unrelated character, that means Horikoshi wants us to see a connection with what's being said to this other character

Yoichi is looking at his hand, which is actually also the exact same hand in which he passed on OFA to Kudo before his death. His power of giving, juxtaposed with the mention of the power of stealing by En.

There is a chance that Yoichi might've been thinking about what to do with the situation, he could be thinking of taking Shinomori back, or just speculating about what he can really do. Either way, it's actually foreshadowing. That Yoichi might be able to take just as much as give.

Perhaps, at this point of the story, One For All is already fully complete. Because Midoriya can now seemingly just throw or give away the quirks stored in OFA the exact same way AFO can give away quirks in his disposal as of the newest chapter, ch 413. Without the old complicated process beforehand of consuming DNA or something. (Watch this age horribly next chapter, but I think that's what will happen)

The only thing that's missing now is the trigger. All thats left is for Midoriya to instinctively think of "taking" to trigger the ability at this point.

But what would trigger Midoriya into taking?

Perhaps, to save a life.

I think it's clear that Horikoshi is currently using quirks as a representation for a person's heart and soul. After all, they are also called "individuality".

Even though AFO uses his power in cruel ways, Yoichi says that the power to "give and take" could have been the "kindest" power in the whole world. He's referring to both here, "taking" can be just as kind as "giving".

Maybe this power can save just as much as destroy.

As of Ch 413, Kudo makes a plan with Midoriya to basically fire OFA's quirks at Shigaraki to free Tenko Shimura, the child.

But what happens when Tenko is free? There is a chance he might be vulnerable to AFO (his abuser) and Tomura Shigaraki (the two are constantly seperated in the narrative)

Both might want to destroy Tenko, especially the former. Midoriya, out of desperation to try and save the crying child, might unlock OFA's "taking" ability, getting the child away from AFO's grasp. This probs has to happen right before Midoriya gets ready to throw One For All.

I think this might also be the part where the door of OFA gets unlocked. It's a back-door, a way in and out. The hand in which Tomura grabbed the Shinomori was OVER where the door is supposed to be.

When Midoriya unlocks the ability to take, the door might be opened in which Midoriya and maybe even Yoichi save Tenko and bring him into the OFA space.

Rather than a forceful "take" like AFO does, it's presented as a choice. Tenko is given the choice in which he can come with Midoriya or stay where he is now. Because saving is a two way street.

Since heart = quirk, having Tenko might also take away Decay, which would also prevent the incoming mass destruction.

(Make this more heartbreaking if Nana was already taken at this point by AFO, and she's the one trying to protect Tenko long enough till Midoriya and Yoichi take him away. They also try to save Nana but are unable to, Nana apologising for not being there for Tenko and asks them to take care of her grandson, argghhh-)

Here's a scenario of how I think it might all go down:

When Tenko is saved, this leaves Midoriya vs AFO and Tomura, desperate to get Decay back and OFA. Midoriya desperately tries to defend Tenko. Tenko, now in the OFA space, sees Midoriya's genuine desire to protect him, something he was desperate wished for.

This eventually fails, and ShigarAFO gets the opportunity to steal OFA and Tenko a few times, perhaps losing the remaining vestiges until only Yoichi and Tenko are left. Finally having enough, Tenko ends up intervening, and decays the hand that was reaching into the OFA space.

Its a perfect callback to the times Midoriya has saved before. Not only does Midoriya save people no matter what, his actions would in turn also inspire others to act too. He saved Eri, and so her power later saved him. He saved Kota, and Kota then used his quirk to protect Midoriya. It's perfect, because Tenko Shimura is the combination of both characters.

Remember how the quirks in OFA were enhanced due to stockpile?

Tenko, while defending Midoriya and OFA, also ends up decaying a portion of AFO's quirks as a result of being enhanced by OFA.

So this leads to Tenko suggesting he goes back in there to destroy AFO and his quirks from within.

Yoichi is unsure at first, since Star also tried the same thing, she eventually got destroyed before she managed to destroy all the other quirks. So the only way for Tenko to be successful is for OFA to go with him, so it could be strong enough to destroy it all at once before Tenko is destroyed.

This could also lead to OFA being destroyed too, Yoichi holding back his brother long enough when only OFA and AFO are what's left to keep him away from Tenko, allowing him to finish it all off once and for all. There's a good chance Tenko won't make it out either. In a sense, Tenko Shimura fulfills his dream that he was denied of all his life and dies a hero.

This is the big moment in which Midoriya has to prove whether he is the same as those in Tenko's family (denying him), or be someone who can finally give him the words that he always yearned for, the validation that "You can be a hero".

Midoriya's final test is letting someone go.

Maybe this isnt just the closure Tenko needs, but for all three of them (Yoichi, Midoriya, Tenko). These three were the ones denied of becoming heroes one way or another, finally being given the chance.

It's a triple sacrifice.

Horikoshi planned this from the start, Ch 193 and onwards were all build up towards this very moment. Bakugo noting that OFA being the same as AFO almost 200 chapters wasn't just some observation or symbolic parallel, it was set up. Because the two are one and the same, and it's the very key to Midoriya's goal in saving Tenko Shimura.

I know, some might not agree, it might even be controversial because of how similar this is to AFO, but I'd like to say that it might not be like that.

A big theme in MHA is how one's quirk, personality, or nature isn't all that makes a person a villain or a hero, it's also the nurture and how they use it. A power used for "destruction" can also be used for "salvation". The power that can be used in the most cruellest ways can also be the kindest. This applies to both All For One (in the form of One For All) and Tenko's decay.

I don't know, what do you think? Crazy? I would agree that Horikoshi is crazy if this happens to be accurate-

[alovesongtheywrote]

Nightmare Academia P.16 | Spencer Reid x Reader

♥ Summary: In this chapter of Nightmare Academia, a ghost encourages promiscuity. [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: ghosts again. also, maeve again.

♥ A/N: ghost subplot my beloved

♥ Word Count: 2252

Series Masterlist

♥♥♥

The following night, you and Reid were sitting on the floor of your office.  The book lay between you, open to the handwritten quote.  Your desk was covered with lit candles.  Reid had protested the idea of open flame, but you insisted on it- for the “ambiance.”

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Spencer asked, glaring at you as you fiddled with a little device, “This feels like pseudoscience.”

“You feel like pseudoscience.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I don’t know.  Shut up, I’m fiddling.”

Reid shut his mouth, nodding at you, and watching as you switched the spirit box on.  Immediately, a loud blast of radio static filled the room.  You and Spencer both short back from your positions, exclaiming in surprise and mild agony.

“Jesus, shit!” You yelled, frantically turning the volume down until you couldn’t hear anything.

“I’ll take this as a sign that you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Fuck off, Reid.  I know how this works- the box flips through radio stations at a pace too rapid for humans to interfere with.”

“But ghosts can.  Oooo, spooky.”

“And here I thought you’d be a skeptic, Doctor Reid.”

“I am a man of science… I’ve also seen some strange things.”

“Oh yeah?”

He nodded at you, keeping his eyes on the open book.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  Apparently you’ve died before, so…”

He nodded again, “Are we doing this, or?”

You brought a finger to the volume switch, but before you turned it up, you paused.  You looked back up at Reid.  He wouldn’t meet your eye.

“You… You can’t keep dropping these things on me.  You investigated a case involving rabies.  You’ve been shot three times, once in the neck.  You’ve died before-”

“Is that not… typical conversation?”

A smile crossed your face as he finally looked at you, “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Ah.  My mistake.” 

“Okay, but seriously, Reid.  You can’t keep dropping these bombs on me- I know you said MIT grads have a history of going nuclear, but oh my god.”

He laughed a little, “So what is it that you want?”

“I want you to elaborate!  It’s getting ridiculous.  I know how to piss you off, and I know your favourite colour is purple, but I don’t know much else about you.”

He paused, “How did you figure out my favourite colour?”

You shrugged, leaning towards him and wrapping your fingers around his purple tie.  You gently pulled him to you, but he fell as if you’d yanked him forward.

“You didn’t make it hard to figure out, Reid.”

He shrugged, sitting up from his odd position on the floor, “Then maybe you can figure out everything else.”

“Okay,” you released his tie, “You don’t want to tell me.  Maybe I’ll just ask the ghosts.”

As you turned the volume up, Spencer’s smile faded.  You cleared your throat.

“Hey there demons, it’s me, ya boi.”

There was no response.  Spencer gave you a look, raising an eyebrow skeptically.  You shook your head at him, waving a hand at him to make him stay quiet.

“Hello?” you started again, “Ghosts?  Ghouls?  Inhabitants of Reid’s book?”

Again, there was no response.

Reid sat up, getting onto his knees and leaning towards the spirit box, “Hello?”

As the word fell from his lips, the box let out a wretched high-pitched screech.  Spencer fell backwards, and you nearly threw the box out the door and into the hallway.  

“Jesus- I can’t tell if the ghosts like you, or if they want you dead more than I do.”

“Or maybe your box is just broken.”

“No, that’s impossible, it can’t be that,” you lied, knowing full well that you purchased your spirit box second-hand on eBay, “The ghosts just hate you, Reid.”

“Wrong.”

A woman’s voice cut through the static, sounding crystal clear and slightly sarcastic.  You looked down at the box, eyes wide with shock and amazement.  Reid also looked at the box, eyes wide with shock and horror.

“Okay then,” you said, smiling as you, too, got to your knees, “I guess the ghosts love you.”

“Better.”

“That confirms it!  The ghosts love you,” you passed him the spirit box, “Here, you do the talking.”

Spencer took it tentatively, “Hi?  Uh, to whatever spirit is haunting my book, could you please… not do that?”

“Mmm… nope.”

“Oh shit,” you giggled, “Sassy ghost.”

“Oh, okay,” Spencer’s fingers tapped against the box, “So… a-about the afterlife, is it- are you okay?”

“Fine… You… Aren’t.”

“Oh shit!  Sassy ghost!” you leaned forward, “Stop bullying him, ghost!  That’s my job!”

“It is.”

“Oh!” You pulled yourself closer to Reid and the book, “She knows me!  Hey, ghost?  Can I ask you a question?”

The ghost didn’t answer.  You took that as a yes.

“Why The Narrative of John Smith?  I mean, it’s an alright book!  A perfectly fine choice!  But was it like, a choice?  Or was it-”

“Choice.  He… Knows.”

You looked up, raising an eyebrow, “Oh?  Does he now?”

Spencer looked at you with wide eyes, holding his hands up in surrender, “I don’t- at least, I don’t think I do.”

“Oh, you don’t think you do.  Well, that makes me sure you know it.”

“How?”

“Spencer, is there anything you don’t know?”

“Your favourite colour.”

You scoffed, opening your mouth to answer him when the spirit box cut you off.

“Green.”

Reid looked at you for confirmation.  You just shrugged.

“Okay ghost,” you reached over, taking the box from Reid.  Your fingers brushed against his.  His skin was cold against yours.  As your hands touched, the box beeped- almost as if the ghost was happy, “Why are you haunting this book?”

“Spencer.”

“Oh,” the colour drained from your cheeks, “Oh, shit.”

Spencer went quiet.  You reached out, placing a hand on his arm.  He jumped a little, but placed one of his hands over yours.

“Are you okay?” you asked, whispering as if that would keep the ghost from hearing you.

“I’m fine.  It’s just- it’s nothing.”

“I wouldn’t call it nothing.  She said your name, that’s freaky.”

“Was it not freaky before?”

“Before I could chalk this up to random coincidence- it would be a stretch, but I could do it.  Now I know she knows your name.”

“It could still be a coincidence.”

You narrowed your eyes at Spencer, tilting your head to the side, “Yeah.  Sure, Spencer.  The ghost has just coincidentally answered all our questions and said your name.  Normal shit.  Average Wednesday!”

“(Y/N)... don’t tell me you’re scared,” he asked with a smirk on his face.

“Spencer,” you growled, “Don’t bully me about this.  And don’t act like you’re not scared.”

“Are you profiling me?” he asked, still smirking.

“Maybe,” you placed the box on the floor beside the book.  Then you turned to face Spencer.  You rolled up his sleeve with your free hand and ran a finger across the veins in his arm.  You tried not to enjoy the act too much.

“Look at all these goosebumps,” you continued, “And you’re paler than any ghost I’ve ever seen.”

“Y’know, I’ve heard that one before, that might just be how I look.”

“Maybe so, but you’re really pale now.  Almost like you’re scared.”

“I promise you, I’m not scared.”

“Are you sure?  You look scared, pretty boy.”

“I- Is this helping you feel better, or something?”

“... Yes.”

Spencer paused for a second.  He removed his arm from your grasp and took one of your hands into one of his own.

“Keep doing it, then.”

Before you could even begin to form a response, the spirit box beeped again.

“Yes!”

You laughed, pulling away from Reid slightly, but leaving your hand in his, “She’s excited.”

“Why-?” Spencer whispered.

“I don’t know, but I’ll take it.  Hey, ghost,” you asked, “If you won’t stop haunting the book, is there anything we can do to… I don’t know, make haunting comfortable for you?  Make you… less likely to throw things at us?”

There was a pause, a few moments of static and then: “Fuck!”

You and Spencer let each other go.  You both got to your knees, hovering over the spirit box with concern- humans man, they’ll pack bond with anything.

“Ghost!  Are you okay!?” You asked, genuinely concerned about the ghost’s wellbeing.

“No!”

“What’s wrong?  Maeve?  Maeve?”

You paused, drawing back and looking at Spencer, “Maeve?”

“No!” The spirit box yelled again- but the ghost didn’t sound too upset.  Honestly, she sounded more stressed than anything else.

“What can we do, ghost?” You asked, “What can we do to help?”

“You… can…” The candles flickered violently before going out in a puff of smoke, “Fuck!”

“What- what’s wrong?” Spencer asked, his voice growing more desperate.  As he reached out for the spirit box, a loud creak rang out from one of the walls.  Your eyes widened as you noticed- one of your bookshelves was leaning away from the wall.

“Reid, look out!” you snatched the book in one hand and tackled Reid with literally every other part of your body.  The two of you rolled out of the way just as the bookshelf collapsed, shattering the spirit box beneath it.

When the dust settled, you were on top of Spencer.

You didn’t even have it in you to be embarrassed about straddling his lap- at least, not at first.  No, your initial concern was his stab wound.  You shifted slightly, drawing a shaky gasp from the man beneath you.  You didn’t even notice.  You had a mission.

Your hands shifted to the edge of his sweater, pushing it up slightly to find the wound beneath.  It took you a second (the man wears a lot of layers) but you were quickly met with the sight of a pristine white bandage surrounded by slightly irritated skin.

Once you were sure Spencer wasn’t going to bleed to death, you let yourself collapse forward on his chest, letting out a sound of pure relief as you did.

“(Y/N)- “

“Are you okay?  I-it didn’t look like you tore your stitches, but if something’s wrong, I can drive you to the hospital-”

“Hey, I’m fine-” he said, cautiously wrapping his arms around your back, “I promise, I’m fine.”

“You swear you’re okay?” you asked, propping yourself up with one arm so you could see his face, “You’re not just saying it to get me to calm down?”

“I swear.  I’m fine.  Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just fucking terrified right now.  Is the book okay?  I’m scared to look.”

“The- the book?” Spencer sat up with you, looking at The Narrative of John Smith, still clutched in your shaking hand, “You saved the book?”

“Well, yeah.  I mean, I’m not a profiler, but I know that it means something to you,” you placed your free hand on his chest, keeping yourself steady as you held up the book, “I wasn’t gonna risk hurting it.”

“I- You-”

“What?” you tilted your head and put the book down safely, “I might be a bitch, but I’m not evil.”

You let your spare hand drift to the book’s cover.  Your fingers ran the title.  You were so focused on your little task that you didn’t see Spencer looking at you as if you’d hung the moon and stars in the sky.  

He opened his mouth to say something, to thank you, or confess his undying love, or whatever, but you cut him off.

“I’m not stupid, either.  You worked for the FBI.  You know how to hide a body.  And they’d never suspect you- not only are you a genius, you’re former FBI.  You have friends, they’d cover for you, so if I ever piss you off too much-”

You didn’t get another word out.  Spencer pulled you close to him and wrapped his arms around you.  You hesitated for a split second before you embraced him back.  You buried your face in his chest, wrapping yourself around him as tightly as you dared to.  You could feel his heart racing in his chest.  The sound was a comfort to you.  

Spencer was okay, uncrushed, and not bleeding.  He hadn’t died in your office.  He was alive, and in your arms, and you were both safe.

After a minute, you pulled apart, finally moving to stand.  You turned, slightly, taking in the damage to your office.

“Honestly?  It’s not too bad.  I didn’t have any glass on that shelf.  Just books.  It’ll be a bitch to clean up, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mhmm.  It’ll be fi-”

Before you could finish, the lights in your office began to flicker.  Violently.  You stepped back towards Spencer just as he reached out and pulled you towards him.  The two of you stood in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around each other, watching the lights turn on and off.

“So.  I think my office is haunted.”

“Do you want to work out of mine?”

“Sorry?”

“While you deal with the ghost problem-” Spencer pulled you out of the way as a book flew off the shelf towards you.  The momentum spun you around, making you face him, “Do you want to work out of my office?”

The lights turned off for a final time.  Your hands stretched into the dark, stopping when they found Reid’s shoulders.  You held on for dear life, waiting for your eyes to adjust. 

“Even if I didn’t want to, I think the ghost just said ‘Yes.’”

♥ Tags: @icarusignite, @usuallyunlikelyfox, @maraudersforlife2005, @fictionalcomforts, @morgthemagpie, @iiheartbowie, @digitalhearts, @corpsebridenightamare, @ghostatrixx, @reiding-writing, @mywellspringoflife, @80katie, @ms-ks-world, if you asked to be tagged and i forgot, pls let me know!! if you would like to be tagged and aren't, also let me know :D

[eschergirls]

It's been 2 weeks so it's time to announce the winners of the March caption contest!

We had a lot of good entries this time and I had a very hard time choosing.  So many made me laugh, so thank you to everybody who submitted!

As usual when I have a lot of submissions, I'll choose 3 winners and 2 honorable mentions. :)

Each winner will get to choose a prize if they wish (but you don't have to, you can just participate for fun too.)  The prizes are extra Steam codes that I've acquired through bundles over the years and I figure that giving them out for contests would be fun.

Anyway here are the entries!

Mastodon/Fedi:

Claire: like a true warrior she is hitting the "crouch" command atop her fallen enemies Ordinating Aether Snow: It is a common misconception that the "death" part of her name refers to some grim reaper like mythos or to her pale complexion. The real origin of the moniker is an amusing coincidence born from academia. When biologists were first dissecting a specimen of her species they were assigning random letters to each joint on her limbs beyond the ones found on normal humans. Only afterwards, did they find that the section between her knee and hips spelt out "death."

Disqus:

Imry: With standard warnings doing nothing to reduce the overwhelming number of back injuries, the Coffin Comics warehouse safety team had to get more creative with their reminders to lift with your legs, not your back. Jenn Dolari: FFFFFRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! Karmazyna: I'd be holding on to my sword for dear life as well if I had to squat to pee in those heels. MaryKaye: So you thought you were clever to steal my pants? Your death will be...exquisite.

Tumblr:

@chasedbybuildings: Was this drawn by someone from outer space who's not sure what humans look like? @cipheramnesia: *FART!!* @cipheramnesia: "Of course I'm going to fuck the sword." @cipheramnesia: "You're sure this is where you dropped your contact lens?" @cipheramnesia: "Oh hello, let me slip into something a little more comfortable." [trash compactor noises] @direwolfblackrose: That's the "these heels are killing me" squat @evilqueerwizardassociation: In today's episode of Feel Good News: woman born with right hip  ending six inches lower than the left overcomes disability to become sexualized as a knight! @failure-to-adult: "Hey fam, I'm Lady Death and I'm gonna inappropriately twerk on this battlefield! Don't forget to like and subscribe for more content!" @faunusroman: Looks like someone took the term "slay" too literally. @fluffyapathybunny: Oh wow this is all kinds of wrong, anatomy-wise. Why are her breasts so far down on her torso? @furrytechgirl: "I do have scoliosis! How did you know?" @madfishmonger: "Wait, you can't shift your butt cheeks far apart independently of each other? Skill issue." @metztreme: “I sure hope this fart loosens my wedgie” @mistakescontinuetobemade: when the thong just ain’t far enough up your ass to keep your free-floating pelvis in place @mnemonicpneumaticknife: "Are you done taking the photo?  Okay, good.  Put down the fan and come help me stand up. I can't feel my fucking legs." @vaspider: When your sword needs to go, but can't unless you go too. @wardenmcpherson: Don't judge, but she pulled Excalibur from the stone with her booty cheeks. Apparently, that was the only part of her that was pure of heart. @yourfriendlyneighborhoodhomo: when you've crouched down but you're in heels and if you try to stand wrong then you'll trip and get a face full of asphalt @zombiemollusk: "lesson learned: don't ever pole dance with a sword. most embarrassing hospital visit ever."

So first, honorable mentions go to:

@failure-to-adult: "Hey fam, I'm Lady Death and I'm gonna inappropriately twerk on this battlefield! Don't forget to like and subscribe for more content!"

@zombiemollusk: "lesson learned: don't ever pole dance with a sword. most embarrassing hospital visit ever."

And the winners:

3rd place goes to Claire: like a true warrior she is hitting the "crouch" command atop her fallen enemies

2nd place goes to @cipheramnesia: "Oh hello, let me slip into something a little more comfortable." [trash compactor noises]

And the winner is... @madfishmonger: "Wait, you can't shift your butt cheeks far apart independently of each other? Skill issue."

Congratulations to all the winners and also thank you to everybody who participated! 

Please stay tuned for a new caption contest next month!

If you won and would like a Steam code as a prize, please message me with which prize you would like.  If you came in 2nd, message me with 2 choices in order of preference, and if you came in 3rd, message me with 3 choices, etc...  I'll give you your top choice that hadn't been taken by the other winners. (To clarify, every winner only gets 1 prize, but winners other than the one in first place should give me their list of games in order of preference so if one is taken, I'll give you the next on the list.  It makes it easier for me to hand out the prizes.)

The Steam codes I have available as prizes are for:  Still Life, Riot: Civil Unrest, Castle Crashers, Hotel Giant 2, Steel Storm: Burning Retribution, Rage in Peace, Uncertain: The Last Quiet Day, Uncertain: Light At The End, and Shattered - Tale of the Forgotten Kings.

[earhartsplane]

Since we're all talking about plagiarism now, I'd like to share this video which came out last year about a paper accepted at the CVPR 2022:

For the people not in the know, the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition conference is the biggest conference in computer science. Last year, in 2022, the paper featured in the video got accepted. A few days later, this video was posted. The first author, a PhD student, apologized and the paper was retracted and removed from the proceedings. Hilariously, the first reaction of the co-authors, including a professor at the Seoul National University, was to say that they had nothing to do with it.

My point here is that scientific papers are not rigorously checked for plagiarism, and a background in academia tells you absolutely nothing about whether or not someone will be diligent in avoiding plagiarism. The biggest difference is that there are consequences if you're caught.

I also don't want people to be too harsh on the first author of this paper, or to think the situation is equivalent to the whole Somerton debacle. For starters, you don't get paid for publishing papers, you (or more commonly your university) pay the publishers. But the phrase publish or perish exists for a reason, and everyone in the field wants to get published in the CVPR, because it's supposed to show that you're great at research. Additionally, the number of papers and the prestige of the venues they're published in criteria on which you will be evaluated as a researcher and a university employee.

The way I see it, there are basically two kinds of plagiarism that are shown in the video. The first one concerns sentences that are lifted completely unchanged from other papers. This is bad, and it is plagiarism, but I can see how this would happen. Most instances of this appear in the introduction and on background information, so if you're insecure about your mastery of English and it's not about your contribution anyway, I can understand how you would take the shortcut of copy-pasting and tell yourself that it's just so that the rest of the paper makes sense, and why waste time on phrasing things differently if others have done it already, and it's not like there are a million way to write these equations anyways.

Let me be clear. I don't approve, or condone. It's still erasing the work of the people who took the time and pain to phrase these things. It's still plagiarism. But I understand how you could get to that point.

The second kind of plagiarism is a way bigger deal in my opinion. At 0:37 , we can see that one of the contributions of the paper is also lifted from another paper. Egregiously, the passage includes "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first [...]" , which is a hell of a thing to copy-paste. So this is not only lazily passing other people's words as your own, it's also pretending that you're making a contribution you damn well know other people have already done. I also wasn't able to find a version of the plagiarized article that had been published in a peer-reviewed venue, which might mean that the authors submitted it, got rejected, and published it on arXiv (an website on which authors can put their papers so that they're accessible to the public, but doesn't "count" as a publication because it's not peer-reviewed. You can also put papers that are under review or have been published on there as long as you're careful with the copyrights and double-blind process). And then parts of it were published in the CVPR under someone else's name.

I think there's also a third kind of plagiarism going on here, one that is incredibly common in academia, but that is not shown in the video. That's the FIVE other authors, including a professor, who were apparently happy to add their name to the paper but obviously didn't do anything meaningful since they didn't notice how much plagiarism was going on.

[twistedminutia]

A Million and One Minutia: Nuclear Weaponry

Read the previous chapters here: Ch. 1

Gray teaches the Heartslabyul upperclassmen about nuclear power and weaponry.

The school library is where I spend a majority of my time, much to Grim’s protests. I’m not exactly sure what irritates him so much about it- maybe it’s just the principle of the thing, because he naps most of the time anyway, and it’s more comfortable than Ramshackle. Fall has set in pretty firmly, and the dorm’s walls do not keep out the chill. The library is warm, comfy, and I don’t have to worry about a leaking ceiling if it rains.

It’s also the only place on campus I can get internet access from. I don’t have money for a phone, and even if I got one for free, I can’t pay for an internet plan. Crowley hems and haws whenever the subject comes up, so I’m not holding out hope. So. Library computers it is.

Naturally, the internet itself is recognizable, but weird. Like most things here. The search engines are different, but have a similar format to what I’m used to. The websites are different, but they’re clear analogues of websites back home. It’s at least intuitive to navigate, if a little strange.

Research provides me with some details, but the more I look at, the more incomplete it feels. I can’t explain it quite right, but it feels a little like trying to read a detailed fanfic for a series of movies you haven’t seen. I can intuit a lot of it, but then a website will casually mention something I don’t know about at all and I’m completely lost again.

I’m in the middle of trying to figure out if hippogriffs are real actual animals here or just some sort of cryptid when I hear footsteps nearby. I glance up at the right moment to make eye contact with Cater, who waves enthusiastically. Trey follows his gaze and gives me a wave of his own. They pause near me, and I nod at Riddle, who’s the last member in their little group. He nods back.

“How’s it going?” Trey asks. “Ramshackle’s all right? You’re getting enough to eat and sleep?”

Ever since Trey learned that I am not of this world, he’s been subtly momming me. It’s nothing too bothersome- just frequent questions about how I’m doing, if I need anything, if I’m taking care of myself all right. Usually it’s no big deal, though I did get an impressive lecture once when I’d been in such a hurry that I hadn’t brushed my teeth when leaving Ramshackle in the morning. Apparently, anyone in a leadership position at Heartslabyul has formidable scolding abilities.

Still, it’s not like I don’t appreciate the gesture. Not least of all because Trey has been slipping me baked goods. Keeping them away from Grim so that I can get even one bite has become a full-time job.

“Everything’s fine,” I say. “Are you here to get some studying done?”

“More or less,” Trey says. “Riddle and I are trying to get a study guide set up for the exams coming up, so the freshmen will have something to follow during the study groups.”

“I’m just here to snap some Magicam pics,” Cater says, holding his phone up to get a shot of himself against one of the bookshelves. “Dark academia is super trendy right now.”

“You’re going to study for exams and set up a guide to help other people study?” I ask, ignoring Cater to level a skeptical look at Riddle and Trey. “Don’t you ever give yourselves time to rest?”

“Of course. A certain amount of rest ensures that the brain is functioning at peak level,” Riddle huffs. “I have a half an hour of leisure before bed every night. And helping other people study is shown to be one of the most effective forms of learning and retaining information.” He draws himself up, heels clicking together. “I’m going to get the class textbooks for the basic freshmen courses.”

He heads off down the rows of bookshelves, heels clacking against the ground. I share a look with Trey. “He is actually doing okay, right?” I ask.

“I’ve been making sure he doesn’t push himself too hard,” Trey says. “Cater’s been helping keep things in order too.”             “Gotta keep the housewarden happy,” Cater agrees, thumbing through the photos he’s taken. I take the opportunity to sneak a glance at Trey’s bag. It’s gotten to the point where my mouth starts watering when Trey shows up. He’s completely Pavloved me. Assuming that Pavlov is still a thing in this universe. Probably not. I wonder what classical conditioning is called here. Probably just ‘classical conditioning.’

Trey catches me staring and shakes his head. “I gave you a dozen cookies three days ago.”

“Yeah, and I live with a furry black hole,” I say, jerking a thumb toward Grim. He rolls onto his belly, mumbling something indistinct.

Trey laughs. “Well, I don’t have any food on me.”

“Even if you did, you probably shouldn’t have it out here,” Cater says, glancing deeper into the library. “Riddle’s going to be back at any moment.”

Good point. Biggest, most well-known rule ever: don’t bring food into a library. “Oh, right,” I say. “I guess Riddle would go nuclear if he saw someone eating in here.”

I thought it was a fairly reasonable thing to say, but apparently not, because both Cater and Trey swivel toward me with identical looks of bewilderment. “What?” Cater says.

Oops. Maybe making fun of the housewarden is only for the people actually under his rule. Deuce and Ace never had a problem with it- though their relationship with Riddle is often contentious and they’re perhaps not the best examples to look toward for the appropriate treatment of housewardens. I shrink down in my seat. “Uh- Y’know, was just saying that he’d be pissed if we broke a rule- I didn’t mean anything by it, really- I guess I’ve just been around Ace and Deuce and they complain about him all the time so I thought-” You’re throwing your friends under the bus, stop talking! “It wasn’t an insult toward him or anything-”

Cater waves a hand. “No, I mean, what does ‘going nuclear’ mean?”

I pause, giving time for my scrambled brain to slip back on the tracks. “Wh- going nuclear?” I glance at Trey, but he’s clearly just as mystified as Cater. “You know. Blowing your top. Going ballistic. Freaking out. He would have gotten really mad.”

“Huh,” Trey says. “I’ve never heard that one before.”             “I guess it’s not a terribly common phrase,” I say.

“Nu-cle-ar,” Cater says, rolling the word around in his mouth. “Huh. Is that another word for angry in your world?”

“No,” I say, a little caught off guard. “You don’t know what nuclear means?”

Trey shakes his head. “I just said I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Yeah, but I thought you just meant in that context, not that you didn’t know what nuclear was.” I look at Cater, but he just shakes his head at me.

“What is it?” Trey asks, settling into a computer seat next to me. Cater perks up and leans in.

“W-well, it’s-” Uh. Crap. I know what nuclear means in a very general sense, but not enough to describe it with any sort of accuracy. My first instinct would be to look it up, but I’m not sure how useful that’s going to be- if Trey and Cater haven’t even heard of it, is it something they’ve even discovered here? “Um. So. I only learned about this briefly once, so this maybe isn’t all that accurate. But I think it’s… some kind of atomic thing? Like, if something happens on an atomic level, then you get a substance that produces radioactivity, which can be really dangerous, and people use it for power and bombs and things…” I pause. Cater and Trey are just staring. “Okay, uh. Do you know what atoms are?”

Trey nods, but Cater just shrugs. “I never paid attention in science class. They’re really small, right?”

“Yeah, they’re the smallest substance. I think, if something happens to the nucleus, then you get radioactivity, which is a kind of dangerous energy that you can use for… some things, I think. X-rays are radioactive, and that’s why you have to use a lead blanket when you have them…” Cater and Trey are still staring at me like I’m speaking gibberish. In fairness, I barely understand what I’m saying. “I didn’t really pay attention in science class either, okay? I’m not very good at explaining this stuff.”             There’s the ‘click click’ of approaching heeled footsteps and Trey looks around me. “Hey, Riddle, do you know what nuclear means?”

I spin around in time to see Riddle placing a stack of books on the table next to him. He’s using magic to carry it, presumably because the stack is almost as tall as he is. It makes quite an impressive thump. “Yes. I’ve done some reading on nuclear physics, so I’m familiar with it, though I’ll admit it’s not a subject I’m all that interested in. Why?”

It figures that Riddle would casually bring up reading about nuclear physics. I bet he was reading science textbooks for fun at age six. “We were just talking about it,” I say. “I mentioned it and Cater and Trey didn’t know what it meant.”

“I’m not surprised,” Riddle says. He goes up on his tiptoes to reach some of the books at the top of the stack. His fingertips don’t quite touch the cover of the topmost book. “It’s- ugh- not a subject most people bother with.” He makes one final grab at the book, then gives up in the most dignified, I-meant-to-do-that way, and just magics it down. “I’m surprised you know about it, considering…” Riddle trails off, apparently realizing there’s no way out of that sentence that isn’t an insult. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Just. Considering.”

“Everyone knows about nuclear power where I come from. I mean, not everyone. But most people. There’s a big debate over whether or not we should use it for power right now, which freaks some people out, but-” I stop. Riddle is giving me the sort of horrified look usually reserved for when a person has a cockroach the size of a hot dog crawling up their back. “What?”

“You’re trying to use it for power generation?” he says, aghast. “Why? Nuclear materials are highly unstable and dangerous! It’s a fascinating hypothetical subject, but no one’s willing to put money into such a volatile substance, and certainly no one would agree to use it over magic-generated power.”

“Well, my world didn’t have magic,” I say a little sulkily. “We kind of had to make do.” Riddle frowns, looking vaguely disturbed. “It being dangerous is why there’s such a big debate over using it- no one wants to use a substance that could poison you near their homes, but it produces a lot of energy and it’s less harmful in the long term than things like oil. And people are careful with it. It’s not the same as getting power from a nuclear bomb or something.”             Riddle’s expression sours further. “A nuclear… bomb?”

“A bomb that utilizes the energy of a split atom or something. It’s supposed to be insanely powerful, and even if you don’t get blown up by it, it irradiates the surrounding area, and then that radiation makes people sick, so it’s a pretty effective weapon.” I grope for an appropriate metaphor. “It’s… um, it’s powerful enough that if you dropped one on NRC, the RSA would get hit by the shockwave. And it would probably give any survivors radiation sickness.”

“Woah,” Cater says. “Why would you make something like that?”

I shrug. “There wasn’t that good of a reason- it was made in a war that a lot of people were trying to win and it sort of… happened because people wanted a weapon that would end the war. But then people started making more of them, because everyone was scared of having it used on them, so they needed one of their own to protect themselves, and then everyone ended up with so many of them that they were an apocalyptic threat so no one could fire them. It all just sort of snowballed.”

“Huh,” Trey says. “That actually reminds me of the end of the war between the faeries and the humans.”

“Really?” Cater says. Trey swats him gently with a scrap piece of paper.

“Trein was just talking about it in class last week. Toward the end of the war, humans and faeries were using such destructive magic against each other that battlefields were tainted with blot and destroyed. The battles were almost always stalemates, and no one was winning anything. It’s one of the main reasons the peace negotiations started to gain some traction.”

Riddle nods. “There were other political reasons, of course, but that was where the biggest push for peace started. The first major act of human and faerie cooperation was restoring areas of land that were damaged by blot and magic.”

“Did it work?” I ask.

“For the most part- I think the Jupiter Corporation assisted heavily with the cleanup, and there are still a few areas that need restoration. But it’s largely healed now,” Riddle says.

“Then you’re doing better than we are,” I say ruefully. “You can’t really clean up radiation that way. Once it’s there, it’s there. The only thing you can do is wait until it fades naturally.”

“What does radiation do?” Cater asks. “Is it like blot?”

“It makes you sick, I think. There’s radiation in a lot of things, like sunlight- I think that’s why it can give you sunburns. But the kind of radiation the bombs used would make you sick. Deadly sick. That was one of the big concerns with them- even if people don’t die in the initial blast, the radiation would kill them off.” That and the nuclear winter, but I don’t mention that bit. All three of them look vaguely unsettled anyway.

“But that never happened,” Trey says, a little like he’s trying to reassure himself as well.

“No. And they decommissioned enough bombs that even if we had a war now, it probably wouldn’t kill everyone.” I consider. “Maybe. There’d probably be pockets of people who would survive. Civilization would definitely collapse, though. And radiation takes thousands of years to go away, so there’d be big parts of the world that would just be uninhabitable.” The three Heartslabyul boys exchange uncomfortable looks. “But it’s fine now. Mostly.”

“It’s impressive,” Riddle says after a moment, “what your world has managed to achieve without magic. I never would have thought that a place like that could become just as advanced as our world.”

“Thanks,” I say, uncertain what else to respond with. It’s not like I personally did any of the advancement he’s talking about. “Just being in a world where magic exists is pretty incredible to me. Thought it’s a lot to learn, since I’m not familiar with the history or how magic works or any of that…”

Something in Riddle’s eyes sparks and I trail off, trying to figure out exactly what I said. “Then you will join us for our study session. With midterms coming up, there isn’t a moment to waste, and having a remedial student will help Trey and I practice teaching the rest of the fist years.”

“Remedial student?” I sputter, indignant. I’m doing pretty well, considering I’m having to relearn everything from scratch in a high school setting. Then I realize that Riddle has just sentenced me to a study session from hell. “Uh, actually, I need to-” My gaze falls on the snoozing cat-beast next to me. “Grim and I should be getting back to Ramshackle before it’s too late, you know, we have to make dinner and there’s cleaning to do and-”

“Nonsense,” Riddle says, waving me off. “Trey has already made a nutritious meal back at the dorm, and I’m certain there’s enough for you to take part.”

I shoot Trey a pleading look, but he just nods. “There’s enough.” I glare at him. He shrugs back.

“And the cleaning can wait until midterms are over. There’s nothing more pressing than your studies.” Riddle waves his pen and the pile of books next to him starts hovering again. “We’ll head to the dorm once I check these out.” He pauses, then hands me a book on the top of the pile. “You can start with this basic overview of magical energy and its formation in nature.” He heads off to the front desk without waiting for my agreement, the book tower floating along next to him.

“Thanks for the help,” I mutter to Trey and Cater.

“It’s not that bad,” Trey says. “Riddle’s a good teacher. And even if you don’t need the help, it’ll be good for Grim. He could use the review- Ace says he barely stays awake during Trein’s lectures.”

True enough. Though it’s irritating that I have to be roped into it as well. “Fine, fine. C’mon, Grim.” I poke him. “We’re studying.”

“Myahhh,” he mumbles, shoving his face into his paws. “Five more minutes.”

I roll my eyes. “We’re going to Heartslabyul for dinner. Trey made it.”

He shoots to his paws. “Why didn’t you say so? Let’s go!” He hops down from the desk and starts booking it toward the entrance of the library. I pick up the book Riddle gave me and join Trey and Cater in heading toward Riddle. Hopefully by the time Grim realizes we’re actually attending a study session, he’ll be too full and scared of getting collared again that he won’t make a fuss. Maybe. It’s a bit of a long shot. Whatever. Trey will probably give us dessert, and that’s enough of a win to make the whole evening worth it.

Read the next chapter here: Ch. 3

[gabessquishytum]

So Desire married exclusively for money, but is now stuck in a sexless marriage with a dusty professor who they don't even really enjoy spending time with. The worst part is that because of the prenup, they can't even leave Hob, or they walk away with nothing. Hob has to be the one to start the divorce, or Desire can kiss the money and easy life goodbye. And sleeping around isn't nearly as fun when you have to go home to an indiffrent husband. So they enlist Dream who desperately needs the money to be a home wrecker and have Hob fall in love with him so he starts the divorce and Desire can walk away with the money. The bigger issue is that Dream starts to fall for Hob and hard. Everything that Desite insists is a turn off, Dream finds so charming and loveable. And so he goes into a panic because if he continues to go after Hob, Hob will leave Desire and loose half if his assets and it will be Dream's fault. But if Dream leave Hob with no explanation, Hob will stay with Desire, who openly hates him, and Dream will loose someone he really likes. And telling Hob will make Hob hate him, so theres no way Dream will get out of this without loosing the man he loves.

Asfhklkjf the ANGST hit and took me by surprise here!! Holy shit!!

From Hob’s perspective... well, he knew that Desire married him for money and security, and he was fine with it. He needed a partner who would dress up nice and be charming at faculty functions, helping Hob climb further up the greasy pole of academia. He knows that Desire cheats on him all the time, which is why he has no interest in sleeping with them at all any more - he's really not looking to catch an STI off his spouse, that would be too humiliating.

Hob may be a dusty academic tripping into middle age, but he still has needs, so of course he's interested in Desire's pretty, soft spoken brother. Dream is everything Hob would like in a partner, and it's pretty obvious that he feels the same - he's not exactly subtle in his looks and touches. They enjoy debating with each other, play board games, enjoy each other's company. Hob is definitely starting to see that he married the wrong sibling.

He is sensible enough to make Desire sit down and sort the whole situation out. Neither of them are happy, that's pretty obvious. Hob is willing to split equally and amicably with Desire, no one has to be blamed, their joint assets will simply be divided. Desire can even have the house if they want.

It's a perfect solution and Desire is thrilled to be free of their disaster of a marriage! Until... they start seeing a change in Hob. The way he is with Dream is so different, so romantic. He buys gifts, takes him on cute little mini breaks, and posts the cutest updates on Instagram. Stuff he NEVER did for Desire. Desire has overheard Dream whispering about his sex life to Death and they can't believe it! Apparently Hob is some kind of unstoppable force in bed?! Dream is almost exhausted from all the amazing sex?! Its not FAIR.

Desire is inexplicably so jealous, seeing their brother and ex husband so happy and loved up. Sure Dream did everything that Desire wanted and broke up their marriage but he did it TOO well! Why does he get to be happy when Desire is miserable?!

[starboyshoyo]

RAAAH 6TH TIME TRYING TO SEND THIS 😡😡😡 i hope this works

so i wanted to metaphorically cash in this request you said i could make, and i thought i’d do that as a reward for me getting into color guard!!

can i request the twst boys (surprise me on the characters) with a s/o who dresses in the dark academia aesthetic, listens to classical music all the time, and reads classic literature a lot? (totally not how i wanna be LMAO) thank you so much <33

https://www.tumblr.com/starboyshoyo/712163095699750912/permission-to-just-reblog-all-your-works-cause

A/N: @lacuna-at-dawn hello!! I have finished my AP exams and now have time to write. I didn’t get the other five rqs so it’s good you sent it in again hhhh. Dark Academia is my best friend’s favorite aesthetic so I know a little about it! If I get some things wrong lmk! I listened to the Enkanomiya soundtrack from Genshin Impact while writing this. 

Pairings: Malleus Draconia x reader, Cater Diamond x reader

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Genre: general, romance

Malleus and Cater with a Dark Academia-esque s/o!

Malleus Draconia

Oh, dear Child of Man. You were made for him, weren’t you? 

While Malleus knows better than to judge on appearances, he just knows you would fit right into the beautiful, thorny landscape of his home in Briar Valley. You may not be feared by others like he is, but he can’t help but think you might understand what a life in the shadows means. It’s not all dreariness- it can be beautiful too. 

Your fashion sense is apparent to him on days when you’re not confined to your school uniform. It’s not all-black like his; instead, you opt for a mix of muted colors like wine reds, browns, and forest greens. It’s like you’re a lighter version of him- you are the shade to his shadows, the slumber to his death. 

When he accompanies you around the school, he’ll always be one step behind you. It makes him feel as if he is your protector- though it is a bit funny to see Sebek and Silver trail behind Malleus, who trails behind you. Occasionally, Rook will join in (read: stalk them) as well, and then other students will wonder if someone had started a conga line in the hallways. 

Malleus’s view of time is a little bit skewed in comparison to humans, so when he sees you reading classical literature, he might question if it’s a new release because he swears he met the author of the book just last week- nevermind, it was last century. Well, either way, he’ll go out of his way to finally get around to reading it, just so he can discuss it with you. Sebek is a big help in this regard as well- he’ll be more than happy to tutor Malleus in English so he can have more in-depth conversations about literature. 

Classical literature also gives Malleus another way to spend time with you alone. During quiet hours in the NRC library, he’ll pull up two seats by the fireplace and invite you to sit with him, curling his arms around you protectively. You’ll take turns reading out loud to each other- and when you get tired, he’ll continue in that deep, relaxing voice of his until you drift off to sleep. Then, he’ll carry you back to his room in the Diasomnia Dorm, watching over you and keeping you safe until you wake again. 

Besides library dates, Malleus’ most memorable time with you came when he asked you to show him your favorite songs. The music is somewhat melancholy and romantic, and he’ll close his eyes for a moment as he picks apart the notes. It’ll remind him of the slower songs played in the Briar Valley castle at mealtimes- only this time, he isn’t alone.

When he realizes this, he’ll stand up, striding over to you, and hold his hand out while looking at you with the love of the world in his eyes. 

Child of Man, may I have this dance? 

Cater Diamond

Cater is an expert on all things aesthetic. He’s a Magicam influencer, after all, and he needs to keep up on the times! You’ll immediately become a star, with Cater setting up a couples’ page where the two of you post various Dark Academia songs, art, photos, and other media. 

Cater is used to dressing in whatever is trendy, but the more time he spends with you the more he’ll be converted to your fashion tastes. You’d better be ready to see Cay-Cay in turtlenecks, slacks, sweaters and the occasional pleated skirt! He’s not afraid to try everything at least once to find what he likes. 

The two of you will have many dates where you’ll go to swap meets to find academia-esque clothing. He’s open to letting you dig around in his closet to find pieces you like as well. Cater will want you to pose in the mirror with your outfits, so he can snap a photo and post it to your page. The rest of Heartslabyul might be a little surprised with Cater’s change in looks, but they’ll definitely support him when they see how happy you make him. 

TBH, Cater isn’t really into reading much. Books are so old school to him! The fact that they have no screen bores him. The middle-ground you find is digital books. When you introduce him to it, he might be doubtful at first. But he’ll quickly find himself absorbed in the stories as old as time and soon enough, he’ll fall headfirst into the classical literature rabbit hole. Don’t expect him to go to the library though! Just looking at the outdated computers makes him want to retch. 

On the flip side, your boyfriend has always enjoyed classical music very much. Sure, he likes pop and country and rock too, but there’s something super calming and refined to the classics. He enjoys sharing earbuds with you while you walk down the hallways, listening to a mixed playlist of your favorites. 

Over time, Cater will find that he enjoys the calming darkness of your aesthetic over the cutesy, bright one that used to cover his Magicam page. It makes him feel a little more seen- like he can be vulnerable under it all and not have to keep up with appearances as much. 

[jeannereames]

Hii😄, could you talk about Alexander and hefestion's skills? Whether militarily or diplomatically, I heard that Hephaestion was better at politics, diplomacy and logistics, and that in some ways his and Alexander's skills complemented each other.

I'm always a tad amused when my own research is quoted back to me as a bit of general knowledge. 😂 That's not at all a slam, btw! I'm quite pleased it's escaped out of academia to become part-and-parcel of what people know about Hephaistion. Means I made an impact on rehabbing his career.

But yes, those things are true. I wrote about them first back in 1998, in my dissertation, then published it as part of an academic book chapter in 2010, titled "The Cult of Hephaistion" in Responses to Oliver Stone's Alexander: Film, History, and Cultural Studies, P. Cartledge and F. Greenland, eds. Complete with tables! Follow the link to read it.

I am now, some years later, returning to Hephaistion's career with the current monograph I'm working on. I've altered my opinion about some things (primarily details), and modified my take, but it remains largely the same. I've even convinced a number of my colleagues, so Hephaistion as logistics officer now appears in most summaries about him. Now, if I can just convince them he wasn't either incompetent or the quarrelsome bastard he's often made out to be.

He did have diplomatic assignments too, although he's hardly the only one. Erigyios, Perdikkas, Ptolemy...they were also used for diplomatic purposes. Plutarch (in a long contrast with Krateros) says ATG employed Hephaistion for business with the "barbarians" and Krateros for business with Greeks and Macedonians, because Hephaistion agreed with ATG's "Persianizing" whereas Krateros kept his traditional ways. From Plutarch, that's not necessarily a compliment for Hephaistion. It's also not stated so anywhere else beyond Plutarch. I have some theories I'll be discussing in the book.

IF we can take the disproportionate assignment of logistical/diplomatic assignments as any indicator, it would seem that Hephaistion was more skilled in that realm than in combat command. That isn't to say he was no good at combat command, mind (I've had some read it so, as if "not as good" = "bad" because middle ground apparently isn't permitted).

It also doesn't mean he wasn't a decent fighter. He probably was, as he seems to have been assigned to lead the agema (Royal) unit of the Hypaspists, e.g., the king's personal guard in battle. According to earlier accounts of the origin of this unit, Philip created them to cut across regional divisions, picking the largest men and best fighters. The agema was, if Waldemar Heckel is correct, drawn specifically from the sons of Companions (Hetairoi). That would back up Curtius' description of him as "larger in physique" than Alexander. (That's what the Latin actually says, not simply "taller.") But keep in mind, the best fighters are only occasionally equally good at command. Those are two different skills.

Finally, his choice as Chiliarch may also underscore some of what we've already seen in his assignments. But it's this appointment that leads some scholars to conclude that he rose due to Alexander's favoritism, not actual ability on his part. That, however, seems to me to stem from several (erroneous) assumptions.

IME, competent people surround themselves with other competent people, at least for any length of time. Flatters may be tolerated, but they're not continually advanced. It's dictators who surround themselves with yes-people (and not all of them; they also need competent individuals). Alexander may have been called a "tyrant" by the Greeks, but he wasn't. He was a king. The Greeks/Athenians/Spartans/Others were playing politics. Macedonian kings had to court their courtiers. If Alexander had been manifestly unfair in his appointments, his men would have rebelled against those officers. They rebelled...but not for that reason. They wanted to go home.

For those who regard Alexander (and Philip) as tyrannical, and/or the enemy of (Greek) freedom, and/or megalomaniacs, and lucky rather than competent, then sure. It would follow that ATG would surround himself with asslickers. But if one thinks he was actually good at what he did (which is a different thing from approving of conquest, mind), and a halfway decent politician--then no, it doesn't follow that his top officers were yes-men. Curtius bluntly tells us that Hephaistion was freer than anyone to "upbraid" the king. Doesn't sound like a yes-man to me.

I think Hephaistion was appointed as Chiliarch for two reasons: Alexander trusted him AND he could do the job. Too bad he didn't live long enough for us to see what he might have done with it.