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literaryvein-reblogs · 6 months ago

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How to Read a Scientific Article

THE THREE-PASS APPROACH

The key idea is that you should read the paper in up to 3 passes, instead of starting at the beginning and plowing your way to the end.

Each pass accomplishes specific goals and builds upon the previous pass:

The first pass gives you a general idea about the paper.

The second pass lets you grasp the paper’s content, but not its details.

The third pass helps you understand the paper in depth.

At the end of the first pass, you should be able to answer the 5 Cs:

Category: What type of paper is this? A measurement paper? An analysis of an existing system? A description of a research prototype?

Context: Which other papers is it related to? Which theoretical bases were used to analyze the problem?

Correctness: Do the assumptions appear to be valid?

Contributions: What are the paper’s main contributions?

Clarity: Is the paper well written?

Purpose of the Sections of Empirical Articles

Section — Use it for

Abstract — This is a great section to read to find out if the article will be relevant to your own research.

Introduction — This section gives you an overview of work that has been done on topics relating to the hypothesis of the article, and will often lead you to other relevant work that has been done in your area of interest.

Method — This section will help you understand the design of the experiment. This is particularly useful if you'd like to replicate the study.

Results — The results will tell you what the author/s found in the course of their experiment.

Discussion — The discussion section is typically easier to read than the method and results section, and it will help the reader understand the implications of the results of the experiment.

References — This is a great place to look to find articles that are related to the one you are reading. If you're looking to build your own literature review, the references are a great place to start.

The Anatomy of a Scientific Paper

Some initial guidelines for how to read a paper:

Read critically: Reading a research paper must be a critical process. You should not assume that the authors are always correct. Instead, be suspicious. Critical reading involves asking appropriate questions.

Read creatively: Reading a paper critically is easy, in that it is always easier to tear something down than to build it up. Reading creatively involves harder, more positive thinking.

Make notes as you read the paper. Use whatever style you prefer. If you have questions or criticisms, write them down so you do not forget them. Underline key points the authors make. Mark the data that is most important or that appears questionable. Such efforts help the first time you read a paper and pay big dividends when you have to re-read a paper after several months.

After the first read-through, try to summarize the paper in one or two sentence.

If possible, compare the paper to other works.

Write a review that includes:

a one or two sentence summary of the paper.

a deeper, more extensive outline of the main points of the paper, including for example assumptions made, arguments presented, data analyzed, and conclusions drawn.

any limitations or extensions you see for the ideas in the paper.

your opinion of the paper; primarily, the quality of the ideas and its potential impact.

The guide below details how to read a scientific article step-by-step.

First, you should not approach a scientific article like a textbook— reading from beginning to end of the chapter or book without pause for reflection or criticism. Additionally, it is highly recommended that you highlight and take notes as you move through the article.

Skim the article. This should only take you a few minutes. You are not trying to comprehend the entire article at this point, but just get a basic overview. You don’t have to read in order; the discussion/conclusions will help you to determine if the article is relevant to your research. You might then continue on to the Introduction. Pay attention to the structure of the article, headings, and figures.

Grasp the vocabulary. Begin to go through the article and highlight words and phrases you do not understand. Some words or phrases you may be able to get an understanding from the context in which it is used, but for others you may need the assistance of a medical or scientific dictionary. Subject-specific dictionaries available through our Library databases and online are listed below.

Identify the structure of the article and work on your comprehension. Most journals use an IMRD structure: An abstract followed by Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. These sections typically contain conventional features, which you will start to recognize. If you learn to look for these features you will begin to read and comprehend the article more quickly.

Read the bibliography/references section. Reading the references or works cited may lead you to other useful resources. You might also get a better understanding of the basic terminology, main concepts, major researchers, and basic terminology in the area you are researching.

Reflect on what you have read and draw your own conclusions. As you are reading jot down any questions that come to mind. They may be answered later on in the article or you may have stumbled upon something that the authors did not consider. Here are some examples of questions you may ask yourself as you read:

Have I taken time to understand all the terminology?

Am I spending too much time on the less important parts of this article?

Do I have any reason to question the credibility of this research?

What specific problem does the research address and why is it important?

How do these results relate to my research interests or to other works which I have read?

6. Read the article a second time in chronological order. Reading the article a second time will reinforce your overall understanding. You may even start to make connections to other articles that you have read on this topic.

Identify Key Information

Whether you are looking for information that supports the hypothesis in your own paper or carefully analyzing the article and critiquing the research methods or findings, there are important questions that you should answer as you read the article.

What is the main hypothesis?

Why is this research important?

Did the researchers use appropriate measurements and procedures?

What were the variables in the study?

What was the key finding of the research?

Do the findings justify the author’s conclusions?

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

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grogumaximus · 1 month ago

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Driving Style Secrets Episode 1: Max Verstappen | Edd Straw and Mark Hughes

Edd: (...) So as a starting point, let's just have a basic overview of how Max Verstappen drives. And then perhaps we can explore some of the details of that as we go on.

Mark: Yeah, well, as we say, it depends upon lots of different things, and it's important not to get too dogmatic about it, especially with Max, because he is very, very adaptable, and he does think a lot about it, and especially with his sim racing, he's constantly comparing techniques in a way that you don't have time to do in the real thing. So he does employ a lot of different styles, but he does have a preferred technique, which is, you normally see it in slow to medium speed corner entries. It's fairly early into the turn with a bit of braking overlap, so he's building up the cornering force as he's reducing the braking. Lots of momentum really meshes those two elements of braking and lateral forces together, a bit like Lando Norris in fact. Then once he's got the speed down and the brakes are off, sometimes there's a second bite of the steering when the car's more ready to accept it to get that last little bit of turn. But it's more dynamic than with most other drivers. It's like he's more keyed into the moment, keyed into the grip and the balance of the car in that moment. And he can feel it earlier and adapt what he's doing sort of moment by moment. So if the grip's not there as he's trying to build up the cornering force with the braking force, he'll maybe reduce the braking a little bit and turn in a little bit later, just trying to get that front tire to wake up and respond. And it's a very adaptable technique. It comes into play when the limitation of the car changes between the front and rear tires. As the tires wear and the fuel load comes down, it allows you to be more flexible. And I think because he's got that instant sort of adaptation, that flexibility gives you lap times more consistency. So because he's constantly adapting to what the car and the tires and the track surface are doing.

Edd: I would say if you want to see some of that adaptability showcased, the Suzuka pole lap on board from this year is quite a good example in terms of how it's not kind of a lap of perfection and precision, but it's a lap of perfection in terms of responding to what the car needs and trying to drive around some of the limitations. And I think that's a really, really good showcase of what he can do. But I think one of the important things with Max is he does have phenomenal sensitivity in terms of being able to Feel what the car is doing and interpret that feedback really really fast because that's what it comes down to doesn't it? You've got an input in terms of all of that that feel and information you're getting you've got to process that as close to instantaneously as possible and nothing happens instantaneously and then you've got to transition that into an output and It's not I mean you could talk about it being reactive and in a way it is but it's not like you know it's quite easy to drive a car reacting well after the event and that's how you can get quite a spectacular driving style when the car's all over the place and you might think wow that's brilliant but actually these days that that doesn't work because the way the cars are once you get into that really obvious sort of sideways sliding or whatever you've long since ruined whatever corner you're particularly in but that to me seems at the heart of Verstappen's ability just just the pure mechanics of it and then the pure mental processing of it to absorb that and then transition it into an output in what's a matter of a tenth of a second.

Mark: Yeah, and I think part of that is because he's not even having to think about it because he's thought about it so much in advance. He doesn't do anything else almost. In between races, he's on the sim and if he's not sim racing, he's actually using his sim to try and replicate real situations. And you saw that in 2015, when he went around the outside of Blanchimont, of Felipe Nasr. And that was a move that nobody had seen be pulled off before, but he practiced it and practiced and practiced it on the sim. And for the first like 50 times or something, he practiced it. He couldn't get it to work, but he did find a way of making it work. And so when that situation presented itself, it was already there, it was already built in. And it's the same with his, how he reacts to any changes in the grip and things like that. It is partly intuitive and partly built in, but it's also partly just already there just through repetition, through repetition, which has been one of the great motifs of his career, you know, instilled in him by Jos. It's just a graft of doing it over and over and over until you get perfect at it. And you see him described as being very at ease with the car oversteering. And that's just another manifestation of the same thing. It's that same sensitivity, because all he needs is to get that initial response into the corner. But the tipping point, really, where you get the quick rotation, but you then lose time through the rear sliding as a result of the quick rotation. So there's a very, very narrow sweet spot in the middle where you don't lose that time, but you have got the quick rotation. And it's not always there. The car doesn't always give you it, or the tires don't always give you it, but he's better at finding it. The narrower it is, the more difficult it becomes, and he's better than anybody else at finding that. So if the car starts to over-rotate, he can feel it so early. And because of that lovely feel, just as it's starting to rotate too much, he'll change how much braking or steering he's doing. And in that way, that's how he can just have the rear of the car dancing around him and still keep momentum. You know, we saw qualifying turn one in Miami. He had that moment at turn one, a quick oversteer snap because the tyres weren't quite ready. But he maintains the momentum. It doesn't, it isn't just a, oh, that's the lap ruined. He just does the corner in a different way. Michael Schumacher used to do the same thing. It's very similar in that regard. But he's actually so good at that. that it sometimes misleads the team and at least twice Red Bull have headed too far in that direction with their car development until even he's found it too much. But it's been at a point sort of half a season later than the other driver, Alex Albon or Sergio Perez, have been pointing the problem out.

Edd: It's interesting you mention Schumacher because I do see there's similarities there. It's that kind of responsiveness of the car. I remember years ago doing an interview with Johnny Herbert, who of course was Michael Schumacher's teammate at Benetton, the end of 94 and in 95 and he said that you have this car that's very very pointy you know the kind of like the turning moment of the car is sort of miles in front of the car and it turns in really responsibly and he said what Schumacher could do that he couldn't was calculate how to deal with that rear end and stop it turning into a slide and it just it just astounded him in terms of what Schumacher could do and it's similar with Verstappen the cars have changed a bit You can't go quite as far down that path these days as Schumacher did, but it's still there. In fact, there's a quote from Max Verstappen I think is worth throwing in about his driving style, where he just said, I like a pointy car, but with a rear end that is just stable enough to have a controlled balance. I like a strong front end. I don't like understeer. It's just killing the whole feel of the car. But yes, a strong front end with a rear that's just on edge. But then, of course, you still need that rear to rely. And I think this is When we're talking about what I'd say the broadest brush stroke on Verstappen, about liking having that responsive rear, this is where I like to talk about tolerances. And it's that ability to have the rear that moves and rotates enough and then just be able to control it. And I don't see any other driver on the grid who can go as far into that as Verstappen can. And as a general rule, as a driver, that's going to be the quickest way to do things because you've got the responsiveness and driving a car through a corner, it's all about rotating it, that's your key thing, rotating it with as little time loss as possible so that you can then gun it on down the straight having got through the corner, not lengthen the corner, keep the corner at a sensible overall length and that's what it's all about with him and getting that entry phase correct but it's not achieved as you said by being last of the late breakers because he isn't, Pierre Gasly learned that he was trying to catch up with Verstappen when they were teammates by braking later under rotating and then he kept complaining about poor traction on exit because he had more lock on he was trying to turn still turn the car more because he hadn't done that rotation so for me that's that's critical with Verstappen and that's something that you can't it's very, very hard to replicate, isn't it? Because it's been learned over those decades, that hard baking, all of that subconscious processing into yourself, which has been done, he's been doing, he's been building up since he first drove a car at what, the age of four?

Mark: Yeah, that's right. And I think it is partly learned, but I think it's also partly intuitive. Just some people are wired up in a more suitable way than others. And that essentially is why one guy is quicker than another. Doesn't make them better necessarily, but it forms the foundation, the basic foundation of some drivers is just higher because of that basic physiology, so I think in Max you have the ultimate in both, you have the ultimate DNA from his race and driver parents probably, and then just the insanely intense way that he was trained by Jos in the early days. And I think, you know, it wouldn't have worked if Max hadn't bought into it. And he obviously has bought into it in a massive way and he doesn't want to do anything else or hasn't wanted to do anything else. So, yeah, you see this perfect synergy of nature and nurture.

Edd: Exactly. And I think that word synergy is important because although we have certain innate characteristics and skills, like you talk about the ability to sense from kind of the lower spine, some of that area comes from, but you have to refine it and work on it and use it. And that's all the stuff that just gets plugged into the subconscious processing. And it just allows you to do what you do to calculate it. So he certainly, I mean, I know there's criticism and I completely get it in terms of, the elements of what Max was sort of put through when he was karting by Jos pushing him. But, and you address this in the book, that's, whether you like it or not, that was the experience that Max had that has played a part across the board in terms of making what he is today for better or worse. So he's almost a unique case in terms of the nurture element of the equation, I would say. And therefore, I think even if you wanted to, like, grow your perfect racing driver, I feel like that Max is kind of in such a unique position in terms of how it happened to racing driver parents, plus Jos feeding in his way of doing things, all of the mistakes that he made in his career. Right from the start, he talked about how he wanted to make sure Max had the knowledge he didn't have, because Jos was very much a driver with great, great potential that ultimately wasn't delivered on. And Max is almost the, well, he's got that same potential, but it's been delivered on in spades.

Mark: Yeah, exactly. And I think also not to be underestimated is that he was brought up living in the karting environment. You know, Jos at that time was making his living from running kart, running karting teams, preparing kart engines. Max lived in that environment right from the start. He didn't know any other environment. So I think It's different even from other kids who have started very early, but their parents have had a conventional life outside of the kids racing. It's beyond even that. So every little tiny area of advantage, every little thing, thing that he'd learned from, you know, the specific tools you need in that environment and in karting. And it's a very, it's very highly specialized area of racing. The things which you need to know, which don't, don't apply to any, anything else actually, once you've got out of karting. So you've got a shortcut, you've got a shortcut through all that instantly. And I think that's not to be underestimated either.

Edd: One of the things that's always struck me about Max, I mean, we've both watched him for endless hours from trackside over the past, well, going back to 2014. In fact, I can remember we were both watching at the Esses, weren't we, when he had his first FP1 in Toro Rosso. I think I was on one side of the track, you were on the other. And I remember seeing him there. the experimentation through the laps. You could see he was changing his approach to the corner, refining it. And I don't know about you, but I saw him continue to do that for a few years, certainly around 2018 time. He was still doing it. If you watched on Friday in FP1, you'd see that experimentation. But it seems to me that as the experience has grown, that experimentation phase has gotten narrower and narrower and narrower to the point where, to all intents and purposes, it almost doesn't exist, does it? He is responding immediately, like first flying lap of a weekend. He's adapting to the car and he's seeing the limitations and then pushing back at the team saying, right, this is what we need to do. This is the area that's weak. And that's been an area of kind of evolution with him that I've seen most obviously trackside in that that experimentation has just become almost invisible because it's done in the first few corners almost.

Mark: Yeah, and I think this is part of what I was saying earlier on about the levels of thought and preparation that he's doing in between races. He's just soaked in it. He's thinking of it all the time. And it'd be very tempting to think when you get to the level of someone like Max that, okay, I've mastered this craft now. But he doesn't ever seem to think that. He just seems to think there's always more things you can find. And as you say, as you refine that, it becomes less visible on the outside, but he's clearly still doing it. And I think then it would be interesting to see how long he could just maintain, he's obviously found this sweet spot now, how long he would be doing that before he would have difficulty in adapting to a new formula, a new way of driving. Something like what Lewis Hamilton has probably been experiencing for the last few years with these regulations, because they don't suit the way he naturally drives, but he's not. He doesn't apply the same level of immersion, I don't think, in the technicalities as Max does. He knows exactly what he needs and can feel it. But I think with Max, he's always He's always thinking about it and he can change technique from one corner to another or one set of tires to another. It's almost as like he has certain trigger points in his brain already and as soon as it happens he recognizes it and acts. And that can only come from lots of deep analysis and deep thought and trying things out, which he does in the virtual world.

Edd: How about limitations? Obviously, we've seen times when teammates have been closer, say when the car is understeering. There were times when Perez got closer. Do you see that as something that Verstappen struggles with, or do you just see it that it just limits him and it just lets mere mortals get close?

Mark: Exactly that. I don't think, you know, when the car is just understeering all the way through a corner and that's the basic trait of the car, well, it's really easy. You know, there's not much difference a great driver can make from a good one in that situation. It's like, you know, playing noughts and crosses against Einstein rather than trying to play him at chess or something. It's just, you know, he'd have half a chance, wouldn't he?

Edd: That's a great analogy.

Mark: I like that one. It's just, it puts a ceiling, puts a false ceiling on the great drivers if you just dumb the car down. And that's what understeer does, it dumbs the car down, makes it easy, makes it not particularly satisfying to drive, but it's relatively easy to get to its limit. So I don't think it's a limitation of Max. that he's not as much quicker than ordinary drivers when he's in an understeery car. I just think that that's the car putting a false ceiling on his ability.

Edd: And also an understeery car is kind of at the extreme other end. That thing I was talking about earlier with when the rear instability is such that people can't cope with it, but an understeery car can give you plenty of confidence, but it just slows you down. That's just the way it works. And I think that's an important thing to note when we're talking generally about driving styles. Not all driving styles are equal. You will fundamentally, a car that has got that rear instability, provided it's the right level of it, provided everything else works with the car, it will be quicker than a car that's a bit understeering. So it's not about driver preference, making the difference in terms of the car needing to suit them, it will just limit them, which is why I think the whole argument about the car being made for Verstappen is more complicated because he allows you to go to places where the car's quicker, but it's trickier. That can bring its own problems, but it's just the way it works. But I think it's worth talking about other limitations that may happen with Verstappen. That point I made there about the fact it can push the car into slightly difficult places where perhaps the team underestimates how much how much difficulty has been engineered into it and doesn't take seriously problems and also his kind of mentality in the car. We haven't seen it this year but there were times last year when he was getting a little bit agitated, hungry I guess is the great example where I feel he compromised himself in the race just by getting too angry about everything. So those are kind of the two areas where maybe you can make the case that there is a limitation. How do you see it?

Mark: Yeah, I think his emotions, sometimes he struggles to control his emotions when things aren't going well. And probably the best example of the opposite of that, of someone who can control their emotions perfectly is Oscar Piastri. And that can pay dividends in all sorts of ways. And so, yes, I think you could probably point to a handful of races over the years that Max has got less than he could have done had he controlled his emotions better. But at the same time, maybe that emotion is what's pushing him on to achieve what he does. So it's probably just the other edge of the same coin.

Edd: That's very true. You can't pick and choose. qualities and characteristics necessarily can you they that it's rare that it's binary that oh this is all bad sometimes some negative comes with the net good and I think that's certainly the case with Verstappen. I think we should talk about his wet driving as well because wet weather driving By its nature, it has to be to an extent reactive in terms of the track can change from corner to corner, from lap to lap, in terms of the amount of water that's down and how it's been moved around. We've seen some great wet weather performances from him in the past. I guess that famous one at Interlagos all those years ago is one that often springs to mind. But I guess the wet is a very pure manifestation of Max's qualities, isn't it? Because I always think you have to improvise a little bit more in the wet, don't you?

Mark: Yeah, exactly. And it's about improvisation, but it's also about knowledge and his knowledge of where the rubber is and therefore which bits to avoid and how it's so much more, how it's such a different line to the dry line. That's one of those things that he instantly knows because he's thought about it beforehand. and has experienced it so many times and has taken note of what happens. So it's partly that, and it's part reactive. We talked about the feel that he has, just that intuitive feel. It also applies to not just the lateral and the brake, and it applies to the throttle as well, of course. And the engineers, when they first start working with them, they all say, God, he's got amazing feel for where the traction limit of the car is. His throttle foot is almost glued to where the traction limit is. It's uncanny. So you combine that feel for where the lateral grip is and how quickly attuned he is to changes in grip. And that means he's just devastating in the wet. And, you know, part of that is confidence as well. He knows how good he's going to be, and therefore that sort of becomes self-fulfilling to an extent.

Edd: Yeah, I think that's a good point. And that traction sensitivity, as I like to call it, is so valuable. And probably only Charles Leclerc, I would argue, of the drivers we're talking about is on a similar level to Max in terms of that, because he's fantastic on that score as well. But I think it's worth briefly mentioning braking as well, because he's not last of the late breakers, but he's capable of being it. And I think braking technique and brake feel in these cars, it's probably the area that most consistently astounds me with these drivers. And F1 drivers are generally astounding in many ways. But if you think about what you're trying to do when you brake, It's a rock-hard brake pedal for a start. You don't have much feel, particularly with these cars, with the anti-dive and that kind of thing. And then on top of that, you have the interaction with the downforce, which is huge in that you're not just responding to the grip, but you're trying to cross-reference that with the expected change to the car as the downforce reduces, as you reduce the pressure. And there's so many factors going into that. Verstappen's phenomenal at that as well.

Mark: Yes. So the grip is decreasing at a very, I mean, the downforce squares with speed. So it's coming down at the square root of the speed. So you can imagine how quick that is, how much less downforce you're getting as the speed comes down as you're braking. So you– It can't be calculated, it has to be feel, it's happening so fast. So you have to have a perfect feel for where that grip is through your foot. And as you say, the latest cars with so much anti-dive and the suspension really loses you some of that feel. So yeah, it then becomes even more important to be sensitive to it because it's not giving you as much feedback, the pedals are not giving you as much feedback. And yes, but even some idea of how difficult the current Red Bull is, he's having difficulty with lock and brakes. We saw that a couple of times in Miami. We've seen it in the previous races as well. We've seen Yuki Tsunoda in particular struggling with it. So that's clearly an area that's limiting him. especially as the things change during the race, as the grip level changes and the balance changes and things.

Edd: Yeah, and that's important. You need a car that you can actually feel properly and actually adapt to that because, as you talked about, his braking phase, you know, braking isn't fundamentally about slowing the car. I mean, obviously it is, but it's also about manipulating the car, isn't it? And getting everything perfectly set for that turn in. point, which is what makes it so important. And it's another area that Verstappen is very, very good at. And I think doubly so with these cars, actually, that's– that's so, so, so important. And it's why I think it's one of the key reasons why it's so hard for his teammates to do what he does, because it's almost counterintuitive, because the driver kind of wants to push on a bit and try a little bit harder and kind of naturally that takes your mind to a break a little bit later, carry the speed in and That's not really what it's about. So, again, you're not trying to push yourself in terms of just that sheer attack of the corner. To do what Verstappen does, you have to push yourself in terms of that manipulation and the way you kind of get the perfect attitude of the car as you turn into the corner. And not just that, but also in terms of where your aerosensor pressure is for given phases of the corner. There's just every part of this art. There's so many things to calculate and respond to. Verstappen himself has his limits, but he seems to do all of that better than anyone.

Mark: Yeah. I mean, every speed of corner, every track temperature, every state of the tires, every car, it's different every time, you know? So it's never, the corner is never going to be exactly the same. Even the same corner is never going to be exactly the same, but in different speeds of corners, the technique will be completely different. If a hairpin, for example, that doesn't have very much a long straight afterwards, if it's a hairpin and just a short, like China, for example, turn 14, you've just got a little stretch between the exit of that hairpin and then the next corner. It'll be all about late braking and that's where the lap time will be and you don't need to worry too much about the exit and you'll see Max being the latest of the late then and you'll see him being able to outbrake people in there. We saw that spectacular in his very first Grand Prix there in 2015. He could just brake later than anybody else and still keep the wheels from locking. So that's what I said earlier on, you've got to be quite careful about being dogmatic in terms of what terms you're using. Because yes, he can be if that's what's required, but he's very attuned to what's required and what's usually required in more conventional corners. is, as you say, to get that rotation as efficiently done as possible. So with the ultimate trade-off between the quick direction change, I'm not losing any time through the rear getting upset.

Edd: And I know people are going to be crying out at us to talk about this. It's kind of adjacent to driving style, but we can talk about the racecraft element, because I think this is the area where Max probably gets the most criticism. And by racecraft, in this case, talking about the wheel-to-wheel stuff. Do you think that's an area where he can be weak in some elements? Obviously, he's a very hard racer. He knows the passing limitations in terms of the guidelines. He certainly pushes those limits. But do you think that's an area where he maybe oversteps the mark, potentially to his own detriment?

Mark: Occasionally. I think probably if you looked at it statistically, he's come out better more often than he's come out worse as a result of, if you look at any of his marginal weight from a sporting perspective, if you say that, ooh, that was either past the line of the regulations or pushing up very close to them. I think his success ratio would be pretty high. Whether that's how you should go racing, I mean, that's the perspective of the outsider, isn't it? That's those looking in, making their own judgments on that, and then everybody would be their own. So, yeah, I don't want to get moralistic about the way he chooses to race, but it is extremely aggressive. And as you say, understands instantly the implications of any guideline. You saw with Norris in Miami, which is all to do about the latest guideline for 25 that the drivers agreed with the stewards about if you can get to the apex with your front axle ahead of the attacking driver on the outside, ahead of his mirror, then you don't have to leave a car's width on the exit. As long as you can get there ahead of him, then you can run him off the road effectively. And that's what he did. there was no regulation come back from that. Whether that's the way you should race, particularly on a corner where there's an element of danger there, the runoff sort of comes up to a point and there's a wall there, but he acted upon that. He was the victim of that same regulation in Jeddah, where Oscar Piastri used it to his advantage. But the difference there, of course, was that the corner geometry allowed you to rejoin in the lead, whereas Norris couldn't do that because the circuit was going the other way from where he was on the runoff, you know, the other direction. So there wasn't a shortcut there, he was going the long way around. Yeah, Max is always the first to understand the implications of a rule change and many of the regulations that have been changed are as a result of Max pushing the limit.

Edd: Let's bring it to a bit of a conclusion now. In terms of what Max offers, in terms of his driving style, his ability, do you think he's the best driver in Formula 1 currently?

Mark: Oh, unquestionably. I think as a combination, yeah, he's not always the best. And I don't agree with Franz Tost saying he's got three tenths on everybody. He hasn't. There are certain... Yeah, nobody has that. There are certain situations where Charles Leclerc could be faster. There are certain situations where Lando Norris could be just as fast, for example. But as an overall combination and looking at it in the round, yeah, he's got a way higher score than anybody else.

Edd: Yeah, very, very much. I think if you had to pick a driver to race for your life, I think most would choose Max Verstappen, wouldn't they, because of what he's achieved. And I think I'd certainly agree he's the best driver currently, and it's always difficult when the careers are still going, but he's certainly in the debate for greatest ever already, I would say, and that's a debate for another time, maybe 10, 15 years down the line. It'll probably be a debate that's raging in 50 years or 100 years time, but a fascinating driver, and it's been great to dissect in some detail his style and his approach, and we hope that people have enjoyed hearing a little bit what we've seen and observed and learned about Max Verstappen over the years. (...)

#long post #loved this podcast #n loved how every time edd asks mark about max's weaknesses/limitations n mark's like yeah but thats exactly why hes good at xyz lol #max verstappen #about max's driving style #my post

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astroeleanor · 2 months ago

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‧₊˚ 🥀⋅Zodiac Placements that Have People OBSESS Over Them (Even After it’s Over)‧🖤₊˚ ⋅

There are specific placements in a birth chart that symbolize a person that leaves a mark you can't wash off. Certain energies hit so deep that they stick in people’s bodies, minds & hearts even years later.

These people change you just by being in your life. And, if you have these placements, you already know that you don’t try to be unforgettable. You just are. Once you touch someone with your energy, every love after YOU feels different.

DISCLAIMER: This post is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Astrology shows patterns, not absolute outcomes. Everyone’s full birth chart matters, not just one placement. Obsession isn’t healthy or romantic. If you’re struggling to move on from someone, it’s important to seek real support outside of astrology.

A CUTE & SHORT OVERVIEW:

• Mars rulership binds through fear, passion, fighting, and loyalty.

• Venus exaltations or falls bring either unrealistic highs (Pisces) or emotional wars (Scorpio). They can create overwhelming or unforgettable emotional experiences.

• Fixed signs (Scorpio, Taurus, Leo) hold emotions still, they’re consistent with their efforts, making people feel seen. Fixed energy “stabilizes” emotional memory and prevents the natural decay of feelings.

• Water placements (especially Scorpio & Pisces) tap into people’s sensitivities even when it’s unwanted.

• Earth placements (especially Taurus) build feelings of security & comfort, and once lost, it aches.

♏︎ SCORPIO RISING:

• Mars rules your whole body and face (hot, dry, forceful).

• Your presence plants itself in people’s emotional memory “without” permission. It’s like an immediate psychological (water) grip on others (Mars= domination over space).

• Fixed water sign: emotional impressions don’t dissolve over time, they solidify instead.

• Even years later, they still feel the moment they first met you like it just happened.

• You didn’t need to do anything flashy. Their instincts just locked onto you.

• You tend to trigger unconscious emotional responses: fear, loyalty, fascination.

• People associate intense emotional reactions to you personally, not just to the moment you shared together.

♏︎ VENUS IN SCORPIO:

• Venus answers to Mars here. In your relationships, affection & attraction become battlegrounds for control and loyalty.

• You make people reveal the sides they never wanted anyone to see.

• They felt addicted to how alive they were around you.

• Scorpio = fixed water symbolizes attachments that are hard to erase mentally or physically.

• After it ends, they still measure new connections against the intensity you gave.

• Relationships with you can feel karmic or fated, whether short or long-term.

• After separation, the emotional "pull" continues inside them.

♉︎ MOON IN TAURUS:

• Moon exalted=strongest place for physical comfort, emotional nourishment AKA you can be someone’s safe place.

• You nurtured people in ways they didn’t realize they were starving for.

• Fixed earth = emotional memory stored in the body (touch, smell, sound).

• People associate you with safety at a primal survival level (Moon = body, Earth = reality).

• When you’re gone, the person might feel like they’re losing the feeling of being safe inside themselves.

• No later connection will feel as grounding as what you gave.

♋︎ MARS IN CANCER:

• You have the ability to create bonds by being emotionally vulnerable AND “territorial.”

• Cancer = cardinal water, so the feelings you evoke in others initiate these powerful emotional storylines inside them.

• You tie people to you through shared emotional history instead of facts/logic.

• After you, their emotional life feels flatter, less meaningful.

• You make people feel protected (Mars) and cared for (Cancer) in a way that can’t be replicated.

♏︎ SUN IN SCORPIO:

• Sun under Mars rulership= the sense of self fuses with intensity, survival, secrecy, raw power.

• When you look at someone, they feel like you see through them.

• You made them face the parts of themselves they pretend don't exist, this can come down to their darkest desires.

• They crave that depth again, but other relationships feel empty in comparison.

• Being "seen" (Sun) by you changed how they see themselves permanently (Scorpio=transformation).

♓︎ VENUS IN PISCES:

• Venus exalted=love magnified beyond realistic limits.

• You forgave more than most people deserve. You saw beauty where others only saw mess.

• Water element + Jupiter rulership= emotions flow freely and create bonds that transcend logic.

• They get hung up on you because no one else dissolves their walls the way you did.

• Every future love feels harsher, colder, transactional, more judgmental to them.

• You gave them an “idealized” experience of love with forgiveness & devotion.

♌︎ MOON IN LEO:

• You made them feel like they mattered more than anything else.

• Fixed fire= emotions expressed through grandeur, loyalty.

• Moon rules the body’s needs: you made them feel needed, wanted, celebrated, seen (Sun-rulership).

• After you leave, they crave the “royalty treatment” you gave them.

• Your attention validated them in ways they didn’t know they needed.

• They might feel like other loves don’t make them feel that important again.

♉︎ MARS IN TAURUS:

• Mars in a fixed earth sign = action becomes commitment, desire becomes loyalty.

• Touch & physical intimacy build slowly but for the long haul.

• You made physical, emotional, and sensual memories stick because you were not rushing through any of it.

• They vividly remember your hands, your voice, your presence, your eyes.

• After you, fast or fleeting connections feel cheap.

• You imprinted their memory through the senses: touch, scent, sight, presence.

• They miss the devotion (fixed earth) you gave without asking for anything back.

♏︎ MOON IN SCORPIO:

• Fixed water: your feelings don't change easily, they get deeper and deeper under pressure.

• You gave them emotional experiences that felt secret, dangerous, unforgettable.

• They miss the intensity of being chosen by YOU.

• Light-hearted love feels hollow after they’ve felt your love & devotion.

• Your energy “forced” them to feel in places they thought they sealed shut.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post!Your curiosity & engagement mean the world to me. I hope you not only found it enjoyable but also enriching for your astrological knowledge.Your support & interest inspire me to continue sharing insights & information with you. I appreciate you immensely.

• 🕸️ JOIN MY PATREON for exquisite & in-depth astrology content. You'll also receive a free mini reading upon joining. :)

• 🗡️ BOOK A READING with me to navigate your life with more clarity & awareness.

#astro community #astro observations #astrology #astrology signs #horoscope #zodiac #scorpio #taurus #leo #cancer mars #taurus moon #leo moon #pisces venus #scorpio sun #scorpio venus #scorpio moon #zodiac observations #zodiac signs

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faultcline · 1 month ago

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⠀ ㅤ𓈒 ⠀ ✉️ㅤEMAILS I CAN'T SENDㅤ( m. thamesㅤㅤㅤ )ㅤ!

⠀ genre.⠀high school au, strangers/e2l⠀⠀⠀ status.⠀on going ! ⠀ cw.⠀mentions of unpleasant personal traumas/experiences, family issues, strong language, anxiety/panic attacks. more warnings per chapter. no use of yn.

[⠀ abby talks.⠀]⠀⠀happy sunday and welcome to emails i can't send! i had the idea of this series after remembering some old summer camp anecdotes and the idea of replicating the sweet vibe of a summer love was just too good to pass on! it will be a little bit angsty around the edges, but generally fluff and what i think are usual teen experiences. i really hope you like it <3

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𝑒𝑠𝑡.⠀june 2025⠀⠀✶⠀⠀overview !

after your parents' messy divorce, you ended up moving in with your grandmother, with whom you spent the last summer you were truly happy. once in her lovely village, you will face a new high school, a new life, and the inevitable reunion with mason thames, the summer crush that never answered your letters. will love be stronger than rejection?

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀prologue⠀⠀──⠀⠀fast times 　:　soon!

⠀chapters.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀one⠀⠀──⠀⠀emails i can't send 　:　soon!

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀two⠀⠀──⠀⠀skinny dipping 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀three⠀⠀──⠀⠀vicious 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀four⠀⠀──⠀⠀read your mind 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀five⠀⠀──⠀⠀tornado warnings 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀six⠀⠀──⠀⠀because i liked a boy 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀seven⠀⠀──⠀⠀already over 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀eight⠀⠀──⠀⠀how many things 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀nine⠀⠀──⠀⠀bet you wanna 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀ten⠀⠀──⠀⠀bad for bussiness 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀eleven⠀⠀──⠀⠀decode 　:　wips.

✉️๋࣭⭑⠀⠀twelve⠀⠀──⠀⠀nonsense 　:　wips.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　── ` ᥫ᭡　taglist !

ㅤㅤwith love ,　© abby.　do not copy, translate, repost, share this work as yours on other platforms or feed it to the ai !　🐚 ˚. ⋆͏

#── ` ᥫ᭡　abby writes!#✉️ : emails i can't send #📂 : mason thames #mason thames #mason thames x reader #mason thames fanfiction #mason thames fanfic #mason thames fluff #mason thames imagines #mason thames scenarios

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ghostlyviolets33 · 7 months ago

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Violet Harmon's Makeup, an Overview & Analysis

Throughout American Horror Story Violet wears very minimal and natural-looking makeup. She wears a little more in specific scenes, with mascara, a bit of blush, and an occasional lip gloss or stain.

Here are some photo examples:

Eryn Krueger Mekash, the makeup artist for season one of American Horror Story, did a few interviews in 2011 about the makeup she used on Glee, including exact makeup products!

Since these interviews are from 2011, it's safe to assume that these products/techniques were also used on AHS's actors!

Eryn mentioned using lip stains, specifically the Tarte Lip Stain in Envy while filming Glee. It's likely that she used some sort of lip stain on Taissa in the photos above, so this could be an exact product used on Taissa!

In a different interview from late 2011, she talks about using the Stila Convertible Color cream blushes on Glee actors. Luckily, these blushes are still available to purchase today! For shades she might have used on Taissa, I think Lillium (nude pink color) suits Vi the best.

Eryn also mentioned using Covergirl's LashBlast Volume Blasting Mascara in Black on actress Lea Michelle while filming Glee. She said she would only apply it to the top lashes, which is the same technique she used on Taissa. And for lips, she would use Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate or Smith’s Rosebud Salve.

All of these products are still available to buy online, and are *fairly* inexpensive!

In Halloween: Part 1, while Violet is doing Addy's makeup, you can see some of the products she is using!

It's hard to identify most of these products since the coloring for Murder House is sooo dark, but there are a couple of bright pink blushes and a blue/purple eyeshadow palette.

Tips on how to replicate Violet's makeup:

Using info from the interviews with Taissa's makeup artist, we sort of know the types of products Violet would use, including:

soft pink cream blushes

lip stain and tinted lip balm

mascara (only applied to the top lashes)

curled lashes and slightly filled in brows

Taissa's makeup artist also mentioned using skin tints on actors to give a more "youthful look", which could be what she used for Violet's base! She also wore a very neutral brown eyeshadow in certain scenes.

I also a found couple Violet-inspired makeup tutorials on YouTube that you could follow! Here are the links :)

youtube

I have to credit @harmonaesthetic for finding the articles and interviews about the Murder House makeup artist! They did a deep dive into Violet's makeup throughout the show, and if you haven't seen their post, I definitely recommend checking it out! (it's linked here <3)

I love making analysis posts, so hopefully you enjoyed this <3! I hope this could help a little bit, thanks for reading :)

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serpentface · 1 year ago

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Sketch overview of typical facial emoting in elowey, using Etsushir as a reference.

Elowey do not have faces that are as ‘expressive’ as humans in terms of specialized musculature, constantly visible whites of eyes, distinct brows, etc. They have a greater overall variety of communication methods (particularly via strong olfactory senses- many emotions can be detected by scent) and are less specialized than humans for facial emoting. However, facial expression (and body language) is still very important to communication.

Their pre-sophont ancestors lived in hierarchical social systems with a single breeding female and male that were socially dominant to the rest of the family (non-reproductive siblings, elders, and children). Social structures were enforced by body language and olfactory signals in a ritualized capacity- dominance hierarchies were typically very secure and well established, and reinforced by visual signaling rather than violence. These ancestors were highly territorial and would behave aggressively towards other family groups to maintain access to resources, and visual signalling would be an important means of enforcing boundaries against competitors- outright physical engagement is risky and avoided when possible in favor of strong agonistic displays (though outright fights and killing would have been fairly common in instances where rivals were caught trespassing and were vastly outnumbered).

Elowey have great behavioral plasticity and no longer universally exist within similar social systems, but the instinctual basis for this behavior remains and forms the basis of most visual emoting.

The most pronounced difference between facial signalling in elowey and humans is the meaning of teeth. In humans, happy/friendly feelings are often expressed by tightening the lips or pulling them back to prominently expose the upper teeth (eg: smiling). In elowey, tight lips and the exposing of upper teeth is a signal of nervousness, fear, anger, or outright aggression. A contented/happy/friendly elowey will most typically drop the jaw open and fully relax the lower lip, exposing lower teeth while keeping upper teeth sheathed (this expression is a close equivalent to a smile, but may be more passive). Slow blinking or keeping eyes closed is also a polite and friendly signal (and is a more pointed and intentional gesture), and combinations of the two are very friendly.

This difference is generally well-known and understood in human and elowey groups that live in proximity and regularly interact, but can still cause communication difficulties and discomfort. Elowey intentionally replicating a toothy human smile will usually slowly blink or close their eyes in the process, which helps settle internal discomfort at using an aggressive/fearful gesture in a friendly context, and signals to other elowey that their bared teeth is an act of communication with the targeted human. Humans often find the elowey smile somewhat difficult to replicate (due to a stiffer lower lip), and commonly defer to relaxing and dropping the jaw and blinking slowly.

Elowey raised among humans or in historically human-elowey cultures may pick up the toothy smiling behavior from a young age, but will still tend to instinctively include a slow blink. Human-elowey cultures are noted for having very distinctive smiles (which may exist anywhere on a spectrum between elowey-typical and human-typical, but near-ubiquitously include slow blinking).

Yawning will naturally expose teeth and not be read as innately aggressive, but especially dramatic yawns where the upper teeth are exposed throughout are signals of confidence and authority, and can be read as overly cocky and impudent if produced by one who is not an accepted authority figure, or rude/mildly aggressive if it is perceived as a targeted gesture (yawning widely at someone can be an insult). Typically, a yawn where the upper teeth are only briefly flashed at the peak is considered most polite (though exact cultural expectations can vary). In pre-sophont elowey, yawns were used by dominant pairs (particularly the female, with larger cuspids) as a passive enforcement of their place in the social structure, and as an active threat display when encountering rivals. Rival groups would confront each other at a distance with 'yawn-offs', which would allow each group to gauge the other's size, physical strength and health, and confidence.

The tongue is used in some expressions, usually submissively oriented ones. Using the tongue to partly cover teeth usually signals harmless intent, and can tamp down on aggressive/fearful gestures (IE an angry expression with the tongue out says 'I'm upset but I won't hurt you', a fearful expression with the tongue out says 'I'm scared and I'm harmless, please don't hurt me'). Children (and adults) being scolded will often stick out the tongue or lick their lips in acquiescence. In some cultures, poking the tongue out between the lips (in varying positions and forms) is a specific gesture indicating sincerity and good intentions.

The whites of the eye are also important to communication. Elowey have large irises, and the whites are only slightly exposed in a typical expression. Prominently exposing the whites is almost always a signal (unless literally just looking at something to the side), though the meaning is context-dependent. It most often indicates sustained interest/curiosity. Casting the eyes wide to the side is a placating, submissive gesture that can indicate fear, guilt, shame, etc. Elowey tend to find human eye emoting very hard to read, due to the whites of the human eye always being exposed and most gestures being subtle.

Elowey ears are more mobile than humans, but still relatively stiff with a limited range of motion, and not central to emoting. Tucking the ears back is usually an anxious/angry gesture, while moving them slightly forward is a signal of interest and focused attention.

Fur can be erected as a visual signal, usually denoting fear or aggression, sometimes used as a show of confidence or strength.

#etsushir #elowey

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janearts · 2 years ago

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Roisia Lydgate: Character Overview

This is really more of a background introduction to her character, but I'm trying to put as much information in one place for future reference or for anyone who wants to get a better idea of her character. Details underneath the cut!

Meta-Knowledge

Roisia is my Source Hunter from Divinity: Original Sin, but I recreated her in Baldur’s Gate 3 as a way to continue her story albeit in a completely different universe. The story and events of DOS have since become part of her backstory, and tweaked to fit the world of Faerûn.

Name Pronunciation

I’m honestly none too fussed about pronunciation. Her name is an 11th century mediaeval name that would later become “Rose” in Middle English. Roisia is probably meant to be pronounced something like /ɹɔɪːsiːɑ/ (Roy-see-ah) based on other name variants found around the same time. Her nicknames, as given to her by her parents, include: Rose, Rosie, petal, pet, rosebud, bud, so on and so forth.

Personality

Roisia is charming, adventurous, with a voracious curiosity, and a deeply analytical mind. She believes that taking care of the dead and providing a voice for the dead is her life’s calling. She was formerly raised to be a Cleric of Kelemvor, but believes that her god has disowned her since she reanimated her father. She now believes herself to be deemed among the Faithless. She’s compassionate to those in need and is willing to break rules (and the law) to help others. While she is generally a law-abiding citizen, she is dogged in pursuing the whims of her curiosity and will likewise do whatever it takes to solve a puzzle, a mystery, or a murder… or simply answer a question that has occurred to her. She is sociable, prefers when everyone gets along, and will try to talk her way into and out of most situations. This includes charming, reasoning, intimidating, and/or deceiving others to get her desired outcome. Ultimately, she finds solace and comfort in the company of animals, the dead, and books. Her favourite animal is the noble spider, and she breeds and raises some species in her spare time.

Spells and Such

I tried as best I could to replicate Roisia’s DOS character. In DOS, she was classed as a Witch. Witchcraft spells in DOS are a mixture of Necromancy spells and Enchantment spells, and I chose my spells in BG3 to imitate the ones that you get in DOS. As a witch in DOS, Roisia also had the ability to talk to animals and summon a spider. (I cheesed this in BG3 with the Find Familiar spell—technically a Conjuration spell—and having her drink a potion after every long rest.) To be more in keeping with her backstory, I gave her a Guild Artisan background and invested skill points in skills like Medicine.

Backstory

Roisia grew up in Eastway of Baldur’s Gate. Her father worked in the Gray Harbor shipyard as a shipwright and her mother was a Mortarch, running the Eastway Cemetery & Lydgate Funeral Service. She was raised to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a Cleric of Kelemvor, and specifically as a Mortarch, from an early age. She assisted her mother in managing the burial customs and rites for the Lower City’s diverse community (from embalming to ritualistic cannibalism to poisonings), comforting grieving family members of the deceased, and tending to the dead buried in the cemetery.

Her life took an unexpected turn when her father drowned during a sea trial. Grieving for her father, Roisia made her first attempt at Necromancy. She unwittingly used a wish spell in the process and reanimated him as a skeleton. Because it was the wish spell, not her first attempt at a necromantic ritual, that bound the soul of her father to his bones, Roisia is determined to master the School of Necromancy and truly resurrect her father.

She is interrupted in her early studies by the appearance of Eustace, who recruited her into the Source Hunters, an organisation dedicated to eradicating dangerous magic users (like… Necromancers). “We need you,” he said. “… and you need us.” Roisia & Eustace (or Roy & Stacey as they became known to each other) investigated the mysterious murder of a town counsellor and uncovered a Necromantic cult in the process. As they adventured together, Roisia began to develop feelings for Eustace, but as their adventure concluded and they returned to the Source Hunter Academy, Eustace did not return those feelings. Dejected, Roisia left the Source Hunters and returned to her home in Baldur’s Gate.

To “cure” herself of her heartbreak, Roisia drew up a list of lifelong goals for herself. They are:

1. A cemetery or plot of land of her own to oversee. 2. “Tenants”/”Residents” (aka The Deceased) to house and tend to on this land. 3. To master Necromancy such that she can extend indefinitely her own life and the lives of her loved ones. 4. One (1) Spouse (*not of the squeamish variety) 5. Children (*ideally 3-5)

Refocused aggressively on her list, Roisia returned to her duties during the day and her studies during the night. She was abducted by the nautiloid one night while she was off to dig up a new test subject.

Playlist

#BG3 Roisia #Roisia #taggin #tatterings #here you go!#rosecanons #roisiacanons #Spotify

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transmutationisms · 10 months ago

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is there actual proof there's a genetic component to alcoholism? I've been searching and most articles I've read seem to agree it accounts for about half of your predisposition. I'm both skeptical and worried I might be going too far in my questioning to the point of denying science

genetic variants play a role in alcoholism. this is a decently readable overview on the topic from 2013. there are a few main points that should be clarified when discussing this.

often when people ask about this, they're thinking of genetic variants that affect a person's psychology, something like an inherited and inescapable 'addictive personality'. this is not really borne out by the research. as the paper above points out, the strongest genetic effects wrt the development of alcoholism are due to genes that change how we metabolise alcohol. having genes that make your alcohol metabolism more physically unpleasant in various ways (for example, you may have heard of so-called 'asian flushing syndrome') generally lowers the chances you will drink lots of alcohol, and thus lowers the chances you will qualify for a dx of alcohol use disorder. it's not a perfect protection; the paper also notes that, for example, businessmen exposed to cultural and economic pressures to drink heavily were more likely to do so even if they carried the normally protective genes. so, these aren't genes that control our behaviour directly or change our personalities; what we're seeing is largely the result of the fact that people like to do things that feel good, and if drinking makes you feel like hell, you are in general less likely to do it a lot.

this paper, and many papers on this topic, also mentions twin studies and adoptee studies to back up the claim that alcoholism is partially genetically determined. keep in mind that these studies are very hard to control for economic confounding factors, because even with adoptees, genetic siblings are also disproportionately likely to be adopted into families of a similar economic class. this is a general sticking point in a lot of genetics research.

many of the genetic variations believed to contribute to alcoholism are identified by studying families with multiple diagnosed alcoholics. this is tricky because it again has a lot of confounding factors; it identifies broad regions of the genome that then have to be broken down into more detailed analyses; and there are causation-correlation questions in this approach. some of the genes identified by these types of studies have replicated; many have not.

genomes and epigenetic variation are just extremely complicated. that doesn't mean the research isn't worthwhile, but understand that these types of questions turn up hundreds or thousands of potentially relevant genes, whose functions are often completely unknown, and which may be up- or down-regulated in ways no one understands. there are a lot of points of uncertainty between asking "do genes influence alcoholism" and generating an actual working list of such genes. i wrote a little about some of the uncertainties associated with epigenetic research here.

alcoholism itself is, like any psychiatric dx, heterogeneous (there are many different ways to qualify for the dx and the judgments inherently include a degree of clinician subjectivity). so, and this is a problem with studying the genetics of any psychiatric dx and many physical ailments as well, we're not really talking about a single clinical or psychological entity, and thus to even say which genetic variations may contribute to developing it is already pretty dubious in its discursive formulation alone.

#hps

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honeytonedhottie · 1 year ago

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making an effective planner⋆.ೃ࿔*:･✍🏽

i've answered the question of how to make an effective planner as an inbox response but i thought i'd put it into a post so that then if u guys needed it y'all could access it easier ✨

buying the right planner ; for physical planners i prefer to buy planners that include lots of space for additional writing instead of just the date. yk those ones? make sure to get a binder/planner that u think is cute and has space for a to-do list, monthly overview kinda calendar etc.

if ur working from scratch with a binder you can buy a cute binder or decorate it with stickers and things of the sort. for the paper i highly recommend graph paper bcuz its neater in my opinion but whatever floats ur boat.

on that paper make space for the following ;

monthly calendar (with a little column for monthly goals)

weekly agenda (you can create a new agenda every week if u have the time/energy to do so) but if u dont then you can try...

writing the days of the week and beneath them were gonna try and replicate the concept of a toggle list. its basically like writing "monday" and there are little sub-tasks written below, like what u have to do on that day.

so how i'd do it, is i'd write the day of the week as a header/title. then beneath it i'd use little sticky notes (bonus points if u color coordinate) and then i'd write my tasks on the sticky notes. that way, when a new week comes i dont have to create a whole new agenda, i can simply remove the sticky notes but still keep the structured agenda if that makes sense.

reflection space (to reflect on the productivity of ur month/week/day and what u can improve on and what u can keep doing)

my thing is, if u wanna do a physical planner, whether its an already made planner or a binder, just make sure that u have SPACE for things like that.

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commsrelay-rottenhail · 2 months ago

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An Askblog for my ( @hailsureisrotten ) Rain World AU...

Rain World: Rotten Hail

No NSFW stuff, no being weird, blah blah blah, that's pretty much all that comes to mind.

Currently available for asks:

Everyone except Blademaster and Pike

Details on the full cast and the lore overview below the cut

STORY OVERVIEW

The story kicks off with the collapse of Moon, who tips over and takes Pebbles down with her when she collapses.

With both Iterators destroyed, the facility grounds begin to freeze over, and all life struggles to survive.

The Rot, the early in development, and a feast of Neuronflies to sustain so little of it, it develops enough awareness to realize if it does not adapt, it will die. And so it does, integrating the DNA of whatever it eats into itself, to gain the power to replicate their abilities.

NSH and SRS create a few messengers to begin attempts at repairing Moon and Pebbles, meanwhile a Colony of wild slugcats begins reverse-engineering the frozen technology to build up their Colony and survive the eternal winter...

After the group of Messengers and their new friends get well acquainted with the Colony, and fully move in and integrate, the mission to repair the Iterators finds itself with a lot of new members- not just for NSH and SRS, but to put an end to the eternal winter. However, a certain slugcat with flesh writhing with Rot aims to stand in their way, and to strike them down...

CHARACTERS

SURVIVOR

Older sibling of Monk and current member of the Colony. Slugcat that embarks on frequent expeditions with their little sibling, to protect them while they're doing their research. A jack of all trades, not quite a master at any one thing, but pretty good at most talents- and thus, the best at surviving in the wasteland on their lonesome.

MONK

A very sweet and kind Slugcat with a talent for botanical research and animal taming. Unfortunately, she isn't allowed to go study plantlife out in the wild due to chronic iron deficiency, so she's required to always have Survivor accompany her when on expeditions. It annoys her slightly, but since it's her dear sibling, she's willing to put up with it.

GOURMAND

Former top crafter of the Colony and current head chef. Assistant to Artificer and inventor who's interested in researching Iterator technology and how to use it to better the lives of everyone in the Colony. Kind and sweet, though downright ruthless when it comes to combat against opponents.

NIGHTCAT

Formerly known as the Watcher, Nightcat used to be a scout for the Colony, keeping watch for threats and scouting out new territory thanks to their unique ability to turn nearly invisible... however, an incident with a flashbang left them permanently blinded, hence the name change. Quiet, shy, and now very paranoid and timid due to their lost ability to see.

HUNTER

Created by NSH to deliver Slag Keys to Moon (and also Pebbles), they were created hastily and as such got sick with Rot. While on their journey they encountered Artificer and Spearmaster, and joined up with them to make the journey less harrowing. After a return to NSH a prototype Rot hotfix was developed, integrating the Rot into Hunter's systems and granting them some new abilities, as well as removing the timer on their life.

SPEARMASTER

Created by SRS as a messenger, their return to their creator was interrupted by the collapse of both Moon and Pebbles. Upon their return they reported this, and were sent back out after a short break on a mission to repair the twin Iterators, encountering some new allies along the way.

ARTIFICER

Created by SRS as a sibling to Spearmaster, they have the ability to produce flames and explosions from their tail holes. Much more unhinged and wild than their purple sibling, they're a lot more reckless and loud. They were also taught about how Iterators function and how to fix them by SRS. Not pictured, but they have a prosthetic leg.

RIVULET

Originally created by Moon as a personal companion, they suffered brain damage and other internal injuries when she collapsed. With no memories and a tendency to randomly pass out, they brave this new world to find friends and a purpose, eventually finding exactly that in Spearmaster's group and eventually the Colony.

SAINT

The Triple Affirmative created by SOS, or an attempt at it anyway. While not attuned to the Void, they do produce a much weaker version of Void Fluid in their blood, which can be focused in their mechanical arm to fire off blasts of energy. While mostly hidden by fur, they have 3 extra eyes on their forehead.

INV?

A sample of Rot that was experimented on in the creation of Hunter's Rot Hotfix, granting it sentience and an altered appearance. It's now a companion that joins the main cast on their adventures.

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS

PIKE

Eventual child of Rivulet and Spearmaster. Doesn't exist quiiiite yet, but hopefully they'll be here soon.

ROTTEN BLADEMASTER

The main antagonist, a slugcat specializing in blade weaponry that was infected by the Rot. The Rot has overtaken them, and become sentient, hellbent on ensuring its own survival- by exterminating all life that could be a threat to it.

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roodles03 · 2 years ago

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Huntlow Grom Redraws (The Mud)

Huntlow Grom Masterpost:

Previous: Overview: (Redone)

Next: The Halls

Video:

AHAHA YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE WITH THESE? THE REDRAWS HAVE RETURNED!!!

First two things since I KNOW I will get comments about this

"Why is Willow's hair still braided?" Because I headcannon she cut her hair just before Grom. She figured it'd get in the way of her fighting Grom itself. At this point in time, she had not cut her hair yet, seeing as it's not until this moment when she decided to swap with Hunter.

"How did Willow use the light glyph?" IT IS NOT A LIGHT GYPLH. It's a light spell. "But that isn't a plant spell?" Light spells are confirmed to be an incredibly easy for any witch to do. Amity even says "That's nothing. A child could do a light spell." In Covention. I see no reason for Willow to be unable to cast a simple light spell.

I should also mention that this is NOT a Huntlow swap AU. Lumity Grom is still cannon. Everything in the show remains the same. This is simply a future Grom during the WAD timeskip. I'm just redrawing Willow and Hunter in their places because I think it's cool to see what they'd look like in these scenes.

Anyway, hell yeah, I'm finally back to these. This was incredibly fun to make, and some of these poses were challenging to replicate with Hunter and Willow's body types. The lighting was a pain in the ass, too, I ended up going through two different ways of doing it, I had gotten two panels done with the old method before having to redo them with the new better method. By panel 9, I went back and added my personal stylized shading on the hair and faces of Willow and Hunter. I intially left it out in favor of more show accuracy, then realized that I just didn't like how my art looked without it.

I did change a few of the expressions and poses from the screenshots I referenced.

Panel one is obvious, I had to change the hands due to Willow casting a spell circle rather then using a glyphs.

I made Hunter a bit more scared then Amity looked since I headcannon he has a phobia of mud.

In panel 5 I changed the expressions of both. Willow is worried instead of cheerful, and Hunter is sad instead of giving Willow a bitter look. Neither of the original expressions made sense for their character.

Willow in panels 7, 9, and 10 has little lines under her eyes to show that deep down, she is afraid and part of her doesn't want to replace Hunter, but she is doing it to be reilable and help Hunter. She'd rather make someone else happy than do what's best for her own well being.

Also made Hunter blush being starstruck because... well I wanted to haha.

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theresattrpgforthat · 1 year ago

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System Overview - LUMEN

This week has been a break from my regular recommendations to cover a few popular game systems and talk about what makes them tick. This week, we're covering the fast-paced combat-friendly LUMEN system. This is all the systems I'll be covering this week, but I hope to do some more system overviews in the future!

LUMEN is a game system originating from Spencer Campbell of GilaRPGs, for use in his game LIGHT. It has gained popularity over the past few years due to its ability to replicate fast, powerful combat, and a simple set of rules.

As a disclaimer, I haven’t played any LUMEN games yet (although I really really want to give NOVA a go). What I have seen is a consistent amount of high-quality, exciting games being released over the past few years using the LUMEN system. The SRD is only 13 pages long, and the pieces are simple enough to pick up, re-mix, and turn into something engaging, which makes LUMEN a great option for new game designers - especially since the designer really wants to see what people are making with this toolkit.

So, let’s talk about some of the pieces that make up this game.

Attributes as Approaches

LUMEN gives your characters 3 stats that define how they approach an obstacle, rather than defining a specific skill. You’ll have something for raw power, one for quickness and speed, and one for precision and details. Your characters are expected to be professionals, the best of the best. Of course they know how to fight - this a power fantasy, after all. By focusing on an approach rather than a list of skills, these stats are also flexible: if you are using your raw power, you could open a door, swing a sword, or pull someone back from a ledge.

Depending on the game you’re using, the names for your approaches may differ. In Hedge, your approaches include Might, Sleight and Bright. In LOOM, these are re-tooled into Passion, Fleetness and Serenity.

This way of building a character is very good for players who may not want to juggle a number of different values in their head, and keeps the table focused on what the battle looks like more than anything else. It also makes a statement on what kinds of actions your characters don’t need to bother rolling for. No perception checks, minimal social obstacles, and don’t bother doing a memory check in this system. In LUMEN, you’re here to kick ass.

Dice Pools & Staggered Success

The number attached to your selected approach determines how many dice you roll to do an action. The highest number rolled is the only result you need to focus on.

Similar to Blades in the Dark and Powered by the Apocalypse, LUMEN uses a series of staggered successes. However, unlike the previous two games, success is a little more likely - 2/3 of the time, you’ll succeed. On a 1-2, the action failed with a consequence. On a 3-4, the action succeeds with a complication. On a 5-6, the action succeeds, no problems in sight. The difference in probability compared to Blades is one decision that indicates how powerful your characters are; they’re less likely to fail on any given roll.

To add a layer of complexity, you can include specific scenarios that determine how many dice you roll. For example, in Apocalypse Frame, there is a difference between rolling while inside or outside of your mech. When outside of your mech, a character subtracts 1 dice from their dice pool, and when attacking with your mech, you use a number attached to your Armament, rather than your Attributes. There are also character class abilities that may give you extra dice, such as the Ancient Technique ability attached to the Ancient class in Deathless. These abilities will only give you extra dice in very specific situations.

Character Classes

One thing is common among all three of the systems that I’ve talked about this week and that’s pre-packaged character abilities. LUMEN doesn’t use playbooks though, possibly because the characters are so lightweight that they wouldn’t take up that much space on a piece of paper.

Your class will come with special moves, abilities or gear that sets you apart, and will likely also define your play style. In Black Hole Era, for example, you are spaceships with system arrays and weapon bays. A Warlord ship has powerful long-range particle beams, while an Inquisitor ship has the ability to teleport or turn invisible.

That being said, you don’t have to use character classes with this system. In Wild Duelist, the game presents the character options as either a static stat build, from which you choose a few different options, or a character life path, in which you roll randomly to determine your heritage, weapons, approach scores and special powers.

Your character powers will usually come with a few important pieces of information: how they affect the field of play, what their range is, and how much it will cost you to use them. You do not roll to use your powers: you are powerful characters, and when you choose to do something cool, it works. In some games, your powers can be get more powerful as your character advances, or have tags added to increase range or damage dealt. Because LUMEN is meant to replicate combat-heavy video games, it also is designed to replicate the ability to customize your character to match the combat style that you prefer.

Room to Add Complexity

The LUMEN system is quick and only has a few core pieces, but there’s plenty of room to add more complexity in order to incorporate factions, long campaigns, and special details.

In Emblems of Their Dying Breaths, characters dig into dungeons that are procedurally-generated using a deck of playing cards. .brawl centres its combat on a map, using miniatures to help your players strategize as they fight in a cyberpunk arena. Clean-Up Crew diversifies the resources needed to pay for special powers, making enemy drops more interesting - and more necessary, if you’re going to find the specific resource you need.

The original designer is also updating and re-designing LUMEN, with the plans to release a LUMEN 2.0 SRD that does away with dice, health, and a few other pieces. You can check out some of his design thoughts on his YouTube channel, and take a peek at how this new version of LUMEN will play out in his game DUSK.

Meanwhile, let’s talk about some more games in the LUMEN series that I have yet to highlight on this blog.

Brawl City is a Street-Fighter game, still in development.

Dust is a game about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, inspired by works such as The Book of Eli, and 9.

Photon is a two-player game about fighting a Singularity trying to consume the world.

paktbound is inspired by Dishonored and shackles your characters to a Stranger who sends them on heists in a rotten world.

If you want to check out more LUMEN games, there's a compiled list of games kept by Spencer Campbell, as well as a LUMEN collection that I'm adding games to as I find them.

Do you have any favourite LUMEN games? What kind of video game do you think would work well for this system? Share them in the comments and tags!

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #system overview #game recommendations #LUMEN #mint speaks

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