Aethstyrpedia:Style Policy

The Style Policy is one of the core article policies on . It's aim is to standardize the style, formatting, and tone of Aethstyrpedia articles.
=Perspective=
==In-Universe vs Out-of-Universe==
In-universe concepts, ideas, characters, or events, etc., belong to the Aethstyr universe exclusively. Homebrew Games, campaign content, and any reference to a Player or Dungeon Master, are considered out-of-universe. Other verses such as INFERNIA or Ruina, are still considered in-universe.
Cats tend to blur the lines between in and out-of-universe, as they are a representation of the Dungeon Master. Players are usually referred to by their "Aethstyr Handle," which include Dungeon Masters — or in this case, Cats — that are Players in other Games.
As a rule of thumb, when referring to the Player, Ludic, consider it out-of-universe. But when referring to the character of Ludic as a representation of a creator, use in-universe.
==Tense==
All in-universe articles should be in past tense. There are two reasons as to why is mostly written in past tense. 
Firstly, Aethstyrpedia is written from the in-universe perspective of Kazuha Castleheart as a type of guide, encyclopedia, and/or history book. She presents it as historical recordings that have been pieced together from scraps of information she learned and found. It's considered that she wrote Aethstyyrpedia near the end of Aethstyr's lifespan.
Secondly, Aethstyr is an evolving creation. Its timeline advances with new events, Games, and sometimes even Players. More importantly, though Aethstyr has a technical "present" year, its timeline spans over thousands, sometimes millions of years. As such, keeping articles in the scope of a "present day" would be both time-consuming and mostly irrelevant. For example, a character alive in one campaign, might be dead in a future campaign. A prime illustration is the Zephyrus Clan, who in the present, are actually all dead. The Zephyrus are incredibly popular and numerous, some are even Player Characters who were or are alive in contemporary Games. Writing in past tense solves these types of issues.
All out-of-universe articles should be in present tense, such as Player Handle articles ( unfortunately Cats do not get this privilege due to their nature as representations ) . Though it should be noted that articles in the Campaign category should have their first sentences in past tense, and their brief synopsis in past tense, as differentiating from current Games and past Games is irrelevant.
For example, a campaign article should state that it was a campaign in xyz year, but any reference to what the campaign is such as its position in a timeline should be in present tense. To make it more clear, campaign article tense should be indictive of its "nature" to change, such as "Will this Game come to an end, or cancel?" then it should be written in past tense ( because it eventually will ), but if some components of the article show its "nature" to be static, such as "Is this game a remake/reboot?", then it should be written in present tense.
In some cases, a campaign article component's "nature" might be ambiguous, such as "This game is the third instalment in its five-part series," as another Cat/Dungeon Master may create another game, making it a six-part series. Regardless, it should be written in present tense, as changing the Games position in a timeline in relation to statements about it in its article, is irrelevant.
The above explanations can be transferred to other non-campaign out-of-universe articles as well.
==Neutral Point of View==
All articles should be written from a neutral point of view, representing views fairly and without bias. Some articles may be excused from this for humour or in-universe purposes, such as Firras or The Photographer, but only in minor doses.
=Grammar, Spelling, and Syntax=
==Language==
All articles use standard British English spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. Below are some examples and exceptions.
*Words such as color, favorite, humor, and labor, should be written as colour, favourite, humour, and labour. All OUR vs OR words should use OUR variants.
*An exception is words ending in YSE or ISE, such as analyse, paralyse, and organise, should use the Z American spelling, such as analyze, paralyze, and organize. The most common example you will see on this wiki is "Standardize."
*British vs American word variants ( not spelling variants ), are considered irrelevant, such as cookie vs biscuit, or potato chips vs crisps.
==Units of Measurement==
All articles that reference units of measurement, should use the metric system.
==Apostrophes and Possessives Ending in "S"==
Plural nouns ending in "S" should be made possessive by adding only an apostrophe at the end, without an additional "S," such as Dexlus becoming Dexlus' bike instead of Dexlus's bike.
==Capitalization==
===Headings===
Headings should have the first letter in uppercase, as well as any noun or adjective. Conjuctions such as "and," "or," "the," are not to be capitalized. For example the heading titled, "my flames of the hope," should be formatted such as "My Flames of the Hope."
===Aethstyr Proper Nouns===
The following are considered proper nouns, and as such should have their first letters capitalized, regardless if its a header or not:
*Anima
*Magic and its variant spelling Magick ( magic in lowercase will be considered not of the arcane or Weave )
*Weavelink, Weave, and any of its variants such as Weavepull, Weavedraw, or Weavebend
*Nature in reference to Magical Natures ( nature in lowercase will be considered as the physical world like forests etc. or as in the basic or inherent features of something )
*Head Operator ( all other Technocracy ranks and titles, such as Director, or Administrator, are only capitalized when in conjunction with a name, such as Director Shrike )
===Species===
All articles that include species, such as Humes, Elves, and Dwarves, are not considered proper nouns, and should be written in lowercase. The only exceptions are any reference to Daescin God — which is a proper noun due to its exalted status — and higher pantheon gods, which may have a capitalized G, though should be used sparsely if possible.
==Other Punctuation==
===Commas===
The use of the oxford comma/serial comma is standard.
===Hyphens and Dashes===
Only two types of hyphens and dashes are used in Aethstyrpedia, the standard hyphen ( - ) and em dashes ( — )
* Hyphen - Is used for compound words such as empty-handed, or clean-cut, and for title lists, such as this one
* Em Dash - Is used for parentheses — like right here — and for dates/numbers, such as 1981—2042
==Slashes and Brackets==
Words in parentheses may use — or ( ), either way, there should always be a space between the sentence and the parenthsis ( such as here ). Slashes do not adhere to this formatting, and can be used as and/or, unless its the name of a page.
Parentheses in use such as number(s) or mention(s) do not have a space between them.
==Numbers==
Numbers between 1 and 1000 should be written as one, ninety-nine, three hundred and ninety-nine, one thousand, etc., unless they're a part of a proper noun, such as The 9th Battalion. 
=Formatting=
==Emphasis==
===Subject Name===
The name of the article should be bolded in its first usage in the article's text, as should any alternate formal names and nicknames mentioned in the article's text ( or in its introduction, if present ).
:Example ( from Melissa Zephyrus ) "Elizah Zephyrus, better known by her moniker, Melissa Zephyrus, was an assassin from the Zephyrus Clan, and one of three of its surviving members from the Zephyrus Coup d'État."
:Example ( from Isekampaign Chapter II ) "Isekampaign Chapter II, also known as ISK II, or by its subtitle; Hungry Sands ( later revealed as Fallacy of the Grey Cat ), was a 2021 campaign set on Klinemeir run by Ludic."
===Campaign Names===
Campaigns mentioned in other articles, as well as any sagas, series, anthologies, or otherwise, should be italicized.
:Example ( from ) "The Tower of Eden: Anima Rising, was a 2022 campaign set in The Tower of Eden, run by Malkuro as a direct prequel to The Tower of Eden II, and as a semi-related sequel to The Tower of Eden III. It is the the fourth instalment in the Chosen Cycle Saga, and the ninth instalment in the Eden Anthology.
==Linking==
A subject should be linked upon its first mention in:
*The article infobox
*The article introduction
*The article body
*A table in the article body
*Individual references
Additional links to the same article should be at least two to three paragraphs apart.
Do not link:
*Section headings
*Dialogue in quotes
Try to avoid compound linking to two separate articles, such as "Ludic's Caerulus," which could be written as "Caerulus, owned by Ludic." If it cannot be avoided, such as with the common example of "[[Syla Reborne|Syla Reborne's]] [[Reborne Curse|Curse]]," consider instead [[Syla Reborne|Syla Reborne's Curse]], linking to only one article, where the next subject is bound to be within that linked article. This is not a strict rule, but is encouraged.
:Example:
::Syla Reborne's Curse
::Syla Reborne's Curse
Category:Aethstyrpedia Policies