#academic references

[aimnerual]

Hello!

For anyone who needs to go into 2025 with some book suggestions, here is a list of all the books I finished this year! Some of them are fantastic, and some of them are kinda caca! You can check them out for yourself on your own, or here's the link to my goodreads so you can read the reviews in your own time ^^

Happy Reading my fellow book nerds!

[sunlit-mess]

doodle for 10k in twitter 🥹

AU by @notherpuppet

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

🐚⚓️🫧List of Random Things For Your Dark Coastal Settings | For Writers🐚⚓️🫧

Since you all loved the list of random things for Dark Academia, here’s a list of items, things, sights etc.. you might find in a Dark Coastal setting.

The Cliffside 🌊

Jagged slate-gray rocks jutting out from the churning sea

Swaths of wild, windblown grasses and mosses clinging to the cliffs

Crumbling stone ruins half-hidden in the fog

The eerie cries of seabirds circling overhead

Gnarled, salt-weathered driftwood scattered across the shoreline

The Cove 🐚

A small pebbly beach tucked into a sheltered inlet

Seaweed-covered tide pools teeming with mysterious marine life

Centuries-old fishing nets and lobster traps hung to dry

Weathered wooden rowboats moored at a rickety dock

The salty, briny scent of the sea lingering in the air

The Lighthouse 🗼

A tall, round stone tower with a flickering lantern on top

Faded nautical charts and weather-beaten log books inside

An antique brass telescope trained on the horizon

The heavy thump of the lighthouse bell in the distance

Coils of fraying rope and a tarnished brass spyglass on the windowsill

The Shipwreck 🛥️

The rusted, half-submerged hull of an ancient sailing vessel

Tangled knots of kelp and barnacles clinging to the metal

Fragments of shattered wood and twisted metal debris

The eerie, echoing creaks and groans of the wreckage in the waves

Fragments of weathered, sun-bleached bones glinting in the murky depths

The Coastal Cottage 🏠

A small, weathered wooden house with peeling paint

Tattered sheer curtains fluttering in the salty sea breeze

Shelves lined with antique glass bottles and driftwood sculptures

A wood-burning stove with a teapot whistling softly

The distant sound of foghorns cutting through the mist

The Shipwreck Cove 🚢

Jutting black cliffs, their bases strewn with the bones of broken ships

Seaweed-covered ribs of an old shipwreck, barnacles clinging to the wood

Rusted metal and shattered glass glittering in the crashing waves

Cawing of crows circling overhead, their shadows flickering on the rocks

The hollow, echoing sound of the wind whistling through the caves

The Seaside Cemetery 🪦

Rows of crumbling tombstones covered in moss and lichen

Twisted, windblown trees casting long, ominous shadows

The faint scent of night-blooming jasmine on the breeze

A rusted wrought-iron gate creaking open to the path

Fog rolling in, obscuring the distant sound of the surf

[israaverse]

i'm actually gonna update this with some stuff i'm reading or planning in reading! lots of thick academia type stuff and focusing on anat. if theres an issue with the link embeds let me know!

currently reading:

The goddess Anat: an examination of the textual and iconographic evidence from the second millennium B.C. Lloyd, Jefferey Brian, 1994.

to-read:

The Many Faces of the Goddess: The Iconography of the Syro-Palestinian Goddesses Anat, Astarte, Qedeshet, and Asherah c. 1500-1000 BCE. Izak (Sakkie) Cornelius, 2008

Burgh, Theodore W. “Asherah: Everyone’s Favorite Girl.” In Pursuit of Visibility: Essays in Archaeology, Ethnography, and Text in Honor of Beth Alpert Nakhai, edited by Jennie Ebeling and Laura Mazow, Archaeopress, 2022, pp. 145–56. JSTOR

still trying to get my hands on a translation/analysis of the Baal Cycle that isnt literally 300 dollars

Do you have some good recommendations on learning about the Canaanite deites?

Hi there!

This may not be a satisfying answer and, trust me, I'm right with you. Like all* pantheons there is no strict 'canon' but I'd say the things to understand the very basics would be The Baal Cycle and the Epic of Aqhat. Both are incomplete texts and the tablets are not in any known order so it's difficult to decipher them. Other than that, there's not really much. Each translation has its own issues (I'm personally not a fan of those that translate Anat's epithet of 'virgin' into 'adolescent' and anything else suggesting a goddess of sexual fertility would be a prepubescent child) and any other supplementary information I would use my own judgement to be judicial about. Also, due to regional and religious politics, you have to be quite judicial about what sources and opinions you put stock in. For instance, I personally wouldn't give a shit about what the Old Testament and Philo of Byblos have to say abt the Canaanites and their gods because any sources resulting from them have political incentive to slander and badmouth. Any other secondary or tertiary source or blog post has to be taken with quite the large grain of salt, as the Canaanites have a bad habit of being used for chauvinist or nationalist rhetoric. I myself am Palestinian and Muslim so I have my own biases, it's just good to stay aware of what baggage people are bringing into something like this.

Another good place to start would be the Egyptian city of Avaris/Awaris and the Hyksos Dynasty of the Second Intermediate Period. I just finished a loooong final essay about the xenophobia politic surrounding them HOWEVER it seems that "eastern" religion had been established in Egypt long before and continued long after the SEP. My favorite fun fact about this is that Ramesses ii named his first daughter Bint-Anat (Daughter of Anat) and depicted himself as married to Anat so theres bound to be a but about the pantheon immortalized there.

Best of luck and happy reading!

[writingwithcolor]

WWC’s A Beginner’s Guide to Academic Research

We are pleased to present  WWC’s A Beginner’s Guide to Academic Research!

This pandemic project has been over 2 years in the making and we hope it will greatly assist any of our readers who are eager to conduct in-depth research but may be at a loss where to start. 

Go to the Guide Here

The guide is split into 6 parts:

Introduction and Table of Contents

Part 1: Getting Started

Part 2: Searching for Sources Online 

Part 3: Evaluating Sources

Part 4: Navigating Academic Sources 

Part 5: Recognizing Your Limits

Each portion of the guide has links to connect to the previous and next sections. While it is possible to view tumblr pages on phones and tablets through the app, we highly recommend viewing this guide via browser on desktop whenever possible. Tumblr page formatting is better suited for browsers and each section is very dense with information, which will make scrolling in the app or on your dashboard difficult. 

Future FAQ/ Discussion: 

As noted in part 5 of the guide, for the next two weeks, we will be keeping an eye on the notes for this post. If you have further questions or comments about academic research, drop them here and we will select the most pertinent to respond to in a later post. 

If you find this guide helpful, we request that you consider tipping the moderators below for the work and time required from conception, to drafting, formatting and debugging. Their ko-fis are listed below: 

Rina: https://ko-fi.com/arcanabean

Marika: https://ko-fi.com/5h1njuu

[annabelle--cane]

it's getting bad again, guys. check in on your friends. recently I've been actively contemplating becoming a video essayist.

[iocaisaint]

@erisweekofficial Day 6: AU/Retellings // made by allysketches on Tumblr, commissioned by me

Throughout their time at Babel, Nesta Archeron and Eris Vanserra have never agreed on anything. From historical significance to morning routines, their perspectives could not differ more. So of course, the head of their program assigned them to work together on one of the most high-profile events that the university has ever held.

Working together leaves them at each other’s throats more often than not, but as they spend inordinate amounts of time together....well they may learn they may have more in common than they'd ever admit.

🚫 CLICK FOR BETTER QUALITY & PLEASE CREDIT THE ARTIST IF YOU REPOST

[alloalouette]

7,239 hours reading, synthesizing, comparing, and summarizing academic research for two courses in a previous semester 😑

[cringemaster3]

Jane reference sheet: Academy edition! I also wanted to do a little Arcane style study, hopefully this will help me draw her consistently :’) (I’m actually so terrible at drawing characters consistently it’s so bad I gotta get good)

I think the uniform suits her nicely! I think she would study (Art) History or Anthropology… She would 100% be a Piltover aristocrat. I think she would work mainly as an archivist around campus!

[aroaceleovaldez]

one of the things that I found particularly interesting in Demigods of Olympus is that it finally gives the best direct comparison we've seen so far between Percy and another character's experiences in terms of academics and particularly ableist discrimination.

The way Zane describes his experiences and what we see in his POV is that, while he is similarly discriminated against for his "atypical" behavior and blame is placed on him, the only sorts of punishments he receives for this are relatively benign, such as an increase in counseling. (It is also notable that Zane is somewhat autistic-coded, such as having the "incorrect" scripts when speaking with adults and Sam explicitly reminding him to remember to make proper eye contact.) Percy, on the other hand, similarly experiences discrimination for "atypical" behavior, but whereas Zane is treated as "too smart for his own good" and given slaps on the wrist, Percy is automatically labeled as aggressive, destructive, and a trouble-maker based on preconceived assumptions about him and is more severely punished, such as being frequently expelled.

We rarely get this level of direct comparison between Percy's experiences and that of another character, particularly such similar experiences, so looking at the differences is really interesting to gauge what their different experiences with ableist discrimination is like - and how it could potentially tie into intersectionality and other forms of discrimination at play for them.

For instance, Zane's parents are generally heavily implied to be middle-class and/or generally financially secure, versus Percy who grew up poor, so it could be classism in combination with ableist discrimination. Alternatively, it could be intersectionality with racial discrimination, as neurodivergent behavior in people of color is significantly more likely to be punished more severely and labeled as aggressive or disruptive behavior due to racist preconceptions - particularly since we know Percy's experiences with ableist discrimination are also somewhat based on assumptions people make regarding his appearance. Both Zane and Percy are racially ambiguous - Zane's appearance essentially being completely unspecified, but Percy at least having some notable details such as having a deep tan complexion. If not racism, it could also be colorism, which in this context often has similar intersectionality. There's a lot of potential options.

It's just very interesting to me! I love having such a direct point of comparison to examine the experiences of two characters within.

[0039pf-third-blog-hooray]

i uhh drew serennedy kiss sketch, i'll post it as soon as i figure out how to decorate it 😔😔✋

☝️ he's shy, give leon some time to get used to (i'll render this later)

and i also sketched a couple of other pieces today. the first one will be kinda funny and the second one is fluff. i live for fluff okay

and old wips. i still want to finish it... sbkdhdjd they're not naked btw it's just veryyy raw sketches lmao 😭 it will be just some cute silly stuff

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

List of Random Things For Your Dark Academia Settings | For Writers

The Library 📚

Towering mahogany bookshelves filled with ancient leather-bound tomes

Antique globes and faded maps mounted on the walls

Heavy velvet drapes blocking out the sunlight

Ornate brass reading lamps casting a warm glow

The musty smell of old books permeating the air

The Study 🪶

A large oak desk strewn with papers, quills, and ink bottles

Walls lined with pinned insect specimens and anatomical drawings

An antique typewriter, its keys clacking softly

Stacks of well-worn leather journals and notebooks

A cabinet of curiosities filled with skulls, fossils, and scientific oddities

The Classroom 🎓

Rows of old wooden desks, surfaces scratched with generations of graffiti

A blackboard covered in elaborate chalk diagrams and Latin phrases

Dusty shelves holding jars of formaldehyde-preserved specimens

Antique microscopes and brass telescopes waiting to be used

The tick-tock of a grandfather clock counting down the minutes

The Dormitory 🕯️

A four-poster bed heaped with tattered quilts and faded velvet pillows

Parquet wood floors layered with antique persian rugs

Flickering candles in tarnished silver holders casting dancing shadows

A steamer trunk overflowing with vintage tweeds and wool knits

Tea-stained pages of love letters and poetry scattered on the nightstand

The Secret Society Meeting Room 🗝️

An imposing stone fireplace with Latin phrases carved into the mantel

Worn leather armchairs circled around a low table set with tarnished silver

The air thick with pipe smoke and burning incense

Shelves lined with ancient masks, ceremonial daggers, and dusty alchemical tomes

Shadows dancing on the tapestry-covered walls in the candlelight

[liketolaugh-writes]

Since you said psychology is super important for writing characters correctly, what are some good beginner sources to understanding psychology? If it helps, I’ll probably be writing Danny Phantom or Zelda(botw) fics that are in the realm of angst or hurt/comfort.

Okay! So the first thing to understand is that the most useful psychology resources for writing are not usually going to be scientific. While it's good to have that raw information, especially when directly portraying a mental disorder, for the most part what you want is other media with a good grasp of psychology.

The second thing is... that most of my knowledge comes from years of hyperfixation on psychology and several psychology-heavy topics. Sorry. 😅 Horror, history, and true crime are all laden with psychology if you look in the right places. Therefore, most of what I link below are going to be, essentially, 'case studies' of human behavior rather than summaries of it.

I've attempted to categorize them by applicability and labeled some with trigger warnings. However, most of them are going to be fairly upsetting, since they are specifically explorations of how humans behave under extreme stress.

Don't feel obligated to get into all of these, especially not all at once. I've italicized the ones I consider most relevant.

Social Dynamics

The Stanford Prison Experiment - An experiment in social roles and authority. Garbage experiment, fascinating case study.

The BBC Prison Experiment - A counterpoint to the Stanford Prison Experiment

Milgram Shock Experiment - The influence of authority on moral conduct

LPN: Mike Warnke Parts 1 and 2 - Watch one man's bullshit ruin a generation.

PTSD

DSM Criteria | Official Diagnostic Sheet | PTSD in Children

Types of Trauma Therapy - This will help you understand how trauma recovery is done even if you aren't explicitly writing therapy.

Play Therapy Case Study

EMDR Case Study

Understanding Flashbacks

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail - A Marvel fanfic. Somehow also the masterclass of all recovery fics.

Abuse/Domestic Violence

The Terrycloth Monkey - the importance of affection. TW: animal abuse.

Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn

Morbid: Carl Panzram - How To Make A Serial Killer On Purpose. TW: everything probably, but specifically child abuse and CSA.

LPN: The Ant Hill Kids Part 3 - If you've ever wondered how much people can take before they leave.

LPN: Alcatraz Part 1, 2, and 3 - Psychological effects of imprisonment.

Human (Medical) Experimentation

LPN: MK Ultra Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - You know the government experimented on people in real life, right? (Three and four are italicized, if that's not clear.)

LPN: Lobotomies Parts 1 and 2 - Open brain surgery

LPN: Josef Mengele Part 2 - The crimes of a Nazi 'doctor.' One of the three most horrific narratives I've heard in five years of seeking horrible historical tales. I mean- it's a concentration camp.

(Unit 731 was the human experimentation project in Japan, but I actually don't have a good reference for that off the top of my head. I've been waiting for Last Podcast to get around to re-covering it.)

Anneliese Michel Parts 1 and 2 - When you mistake epilepsy for possession. Denial and religious conviction. (Not exactly experimentation, but topically related.)

When Life Sucks And Everything Is Hard

LPN: The Black Death Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - Gets very graphic re: the plague itself, but this is mostly a reference for how people behave when The World Is Fucking Ending. 2, 3, and 4 are italicized.

LPN: The Donner Party Parts 1 and 2 - TW: Cannibalism, if you don't recognize the name.

LPN: Manhattan Project Part 5 - Hiroshima. TW: Body horror. Take this warning very seriously - this is the second of the 'three most horrible stories ever' I mentioned.

Government Cover-Ups

LPN: Rendlesham Forest Parts 1 and 2 - No matter what you think happened here, the cover-up process is very apparent.

Morbid: The Mysterious Death of Tamla Horsford - A tragic story. TW: racism.

Notable

Effects of Brain Injury by Region

The Basics of Food-Related Trauma

LPN: Flat Earth Theory - Where this mentality comes from.

The Avalanche and Little Pebbles - Hunger Games AU that explores the respective psychologies of Katniss and Peeta without also destroying them (as canon does.) Covers an impressive variety of traumas.

Humanity Fuck Yeah: Jenkinsverse - Fascinating speculation on evolutionary psychology between sapient species. Read until you get bored; I'd recommend aiming to at least reach 5.5: Interlude/Ultimatum.

LPN: Men in Black 1, 2, and 3 | Skinwalker Ranch 2 and 3 - I base a lot of my ghost lore on the principles discussed here.

If you're willing to spend some money AND time:

Stiff by Mary Roach- Useful not only for raw corpse facts but also some of the surrounding culture.

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg - The book on queer history. TW: sexual assault.

Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft - Fantastic book on abuser psychology.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - If you've only seen the movies, the books are definitely worth reading. Suzanne Collins handles trauma, power dynamics, and war extremely well.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Isolation, neglect, and hope, and how those things affect recovery.

Blueprint for Armageddon by Dan Carlin - A detailed summary of World War I, including the factors that led to it, how it affected the people of the day, and how it affected generations to come.

There's honestly even more that I could recommend, but this is already I lot. I did my best to tailor this list to focus on themes and topics that come up a lot in Danny Phantom and Legend of Zelda fics. (Trauma, cruelty, confinement, disaster, and human resilience.)

[darnestdungeon]

Academic reference sheet, under the keep reading there's another reference sheet from when he still had a nose (featuring spoilers for up to the fourth confession)!

Tumblr makes the pics look bad in the preview but just click on them and save and it's all good!

Here's also another version that turned out too big and also had the stabbing spoiler, so it didn't make the cut for main post image:

[ickeoresteia]

yesterday i learned that my beloved latin professor has a physical copy of Roman Homosexuality and it just confirmed how much i adore this old cis white man. this was a beautiful thing to learn at 7:45am. but now i’m jealous because this book costs like 50€

[ckret2]

Me: am i expecting too much from the readers by having large parts of the underlying plot rely on allusions to both flatland AND plato's cave, AND having half a chapter spun off of the legitimate scientific theory that the universe might be a projection. maybe i should dial back the references to college-level academic writings.

Also me: *has bill make a quip about the body rituals of the nacirema when pacifica's talking about makeup*