Fantasy Novel Of Pain

Idk what I’m writing but it’s a plot. Home base of my Renaissance based fantasy thing. Follow back from ladyoftheforestrain

[ubercharge]

look. look at this beautiful sword meme. i’m going to cry

[literallybyronic]

@petermorwood

[petermorwood]

I saw and reblogged this one a while back, but it’s always worth repeating, and this time I’m adding a bit of background info comparing common fantasy sword features to the Real Thing (with pictures, of course.)

Leaf-bladed swords are a very popular fantasy style and were real, though unlike modern hand-and-a-half longsword versions, the real things were mostly if not always shortswords.

Here are Celtic bronze swords…

…Ancient Greek Xiphoi…

… and a Roman “Mainz-pattern” gladius…

Saw or downright jagged edges, either full-length or as small sections (often where they serve no discernible purpose) are a frequent part of fantasy blades, especially at the more, er, imaginatively unrestrained end of the market.

Real swords also had saw edges, such as these two 19th century shortswords, but not to make them cool or interesting. They’re weapons if necessary…

…but since they were carried by Pioneer Corps who needed them for cutting branches and other construction-type tasks, their principal use was as brush cutters and saws.

This dussack (cutlass) in the Wallace Collection is also a fighting weapon, like the one beside it…

…but may also have had the secondary function of being a saw.

A couple of internet captions say it’s for “cutting ropes” which makes sense - heavy ropes and hawsers on board a ship were so soaked with tar that they were often more like lengths of wood, and a Hollywood-style slice from the Hero’s rapier (!!) wouldn’t be anything like enough to sever them. However swords like this are extremely rare, which suggests they didn’t work as well as intended for any purpose.

I photographed these in Basel, Switzerland, about 20 years ago. Look at the one on the bottom (I prefer the basket-hilt schiavona in the middle).

A lot of “flamberge” (wavy-edge) swords actually started out with conventional blades which then had the edges ground to shape - the dussack, that Basel broadsword and this Zweihander were all made that way.

The giveaway is the centreline: if it’s straight, the entire blade probably started out straight.

Increased use of water power for bellows, hammers and of course grinders made shaping blades easier than when it had to be done by hand. This flamberge Zweihander, however, was forged that way.

Again, the clue is the centre-line.

Incidentally those Parierhaken (parrying hooks - a secondary crossguard) are among the only real-life examples of another common fantasy feature - hooks and spikes sticking out from the blade.

Here are some rapiers and a couple of daggers showing the same difference between forged to shape and ground to shape. The top and bottom rapiers in the first picture started as straights, and only the middle rapier came from the forge with a flamberge blade.

There’s no doubt about this one either.

The reason - though that was a part of it - wasn’t just to look cool and show off what the owner could afford (any and all extra or unusual work added to the price) but may actually have had a function: a parry would have been juddery and unsettling for someone not used to it, and any advantage is worth having.

However, like the saw-edged dussack, flamberge blades are unusual - which suggests the advantage wasn’t that much of an advantage after all.

Here’s a Circassian kindjal, forged wiggly…

…and an Italian parrying dagger forged straight then ground wiggly…

There were also parrying daggers with another fantasy-blade feature, deep notches and serrations which in fantasy versions often resemble fangs or thorns.

These more practical historical versions are usually called “sword-breakers” but I prefer “sword-catcher”, since a steel blade isn’t that easy to break. Taking the opponent’s blade out of play for just long enough to nail him works fine.

NB - the curvature on the top one in this next image is AFAIK because of the book-page it was copied from, not the blade itself.

The missing tooth on that second dagger, and the crack halfway down this next one’s blade, shows what happens when design features cause weak spots.

So there you go: a quick overview of fantasy sword features in real life.

Here’s a real-life weapon that looks like it belongs in a fantasy story or film - and this doesn’t even have an odd-shaped blade…

Just a very flexible one…

If you want more odd blades, Moghul India is a good place to start…

[ubercharge]

i could not ask for a better addition to my meme post than blade education thank you so much

[frayedcobweb]

I love this more than I love my left foot. (Seriously, fuck you left foot, why aren’t you a freaking wiggly sword? Huh?).

[blackkatmagic]

Yo, Kat, I was wondering if you're at all into Bleach anymore? If you've ever done a fic red for it, or would do one now, I'd rly appreciate it!

Tbh I stopped reading Bleach a good while back, but…

There May Be Some Collateral Damage

Second Chances

Time Jump

Not exactly pushing daisies

Seven, Eight, Lay Them Straight

Walk Two Lifetimes (this one’s an SI fic, but it’s really good, so even if that’s not your cup of tea I definitely recommend it)

Cursedly Blessed

Twin Souls

New Age

After the Fall

It Goes By

The Art of the Non-Relationship

Meet Me at Cathedral Drive

Nexus

Blind

Project Tatterdemalion

Project Asclepius

Project Thoughts

Viper

Lone Flower

Petals in the Wind

Petals Scattered

Stardust

[blackkatmagic]

hi, im not sure if im on the right blog to ask, but recently i have been wanting ti read good sakura-centric fanfics. do you know any quality fics where she is a total bamf? preferably femslash, gen or ot3 ship, but i could settle for narusaku if the fic is worth it.

Stumble

Pulling my Weight

Dirt and Ashes, or: The One-and-a-Half Body Problem

How To Save The World With No One Even Realizing

Battle Hymn of Trees

survival of the fittest

Sasuke is a Moron

It’s Just That Any One of Us Is Half Without Another One Is You

[blackkatmagic]

What is your fave rare pair in the PJ series? And have any good fanfics?

I really like Leo/Nico, tbh. Though for that matter I’m also firmly on the Jason/Nico bandwagon. For recs…

Those walls I built didn’t even put up a fight

Customer Service

When the River Meets the Sea

One Short of Unlucky

The Last Cry in Hades (Not Guilty)

You Can Call Me Bad Boy Supreme

concussed

Operation Blue Bananas

Homebound

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found in 10 Easy Steps

truce

Something Like That

Stray Demigod

I want a moment to be real

A Trio In Tartarus

it’s hard to dance (with the devil on your back)

We Strive Together

Shadow Travel Shuffle

Home is Enough

sunshine and death boy: losers extraordinaire

[blackkatmagic]

I didn't know you were a Kakayama shipper but this makes my heart so happy. Have you done a story with them or have any recommendations of fics? I love this pairing but they seem to have so few good stories

I ship them so hard, honestly. They’re one of my favorites, even if I’ve only managed to write them in passing so far. If you’re looking for recs…

growth

The More We Get Together

now sounding like the man i was hoping to be

I Barely Knew, and Now I Do

Lift My Heart

Sage

Idle Hands

(J)oak’s on Yew

[blackkatmagic]

Hi! Can you recommend any good (and if possible completed) Fma fics? If you already did a lust for this and I'm jzst to stupid to find it, I apologize for bothering you

Sure! I don’t believe I’ve done FMA recs before, so I’m happy to. :)

Reverti Ad Praeteritum

Son of the Desert

build your wings on the way down

a terrifying clamour of trumpets

Diplomatic Excursions and Other Ways to Die

Button Up Your Overcoat

Rest for the Wicked

You and Your Fuck Awful Timing, or Five Things Ed Learned from Roy but Would Never Admit to If You Asked Him Point Blank

The Advantage of Perspective

we haunt ourselves

Social Time

i’m giving you a nightcall

Leading the Blind

Sappily Ever After

But Not Buried This Time

Pretty Good Company

Prognosticate

Babylon

The Twelfth Cup of Coffee

Accidents Happen

Tears and Rain

This Lion is in the Garden

Dreaming in Red and Gold

Window Dressing

The Fourth Year

Speechless

Systole

Simple Things

When In Rome

Work It Out

Head Over Heels

Distance

Rather Unfathomable

Play to Win

Desert Gold

The Path of Flame

Come What May

In Defiance of Reason

Mating Patterns of the Wild Mustang

Thermodynamics

Dynamo

The Mustache Mission

Caught Red Handed

Getting Off Easy

Choose Your Own Rainbow

(Oops I had more recs than I thought? Also, this list kind of turned into EVERYTHING BY TIERFAL EVER, but I’m not going to apologize for that part.)

[subliminalmusings-deactivated20]

… i’m listening…

[subliminalmusings-deactivated20]

here y’all go!

[captainmarvel]

my mom texted me this morning to let me know she and my dad have recently been adopted by this parliament of overprotective owls

[thehmn]

Last night I was talking with my housemate about movies that we know are bad but enjoy anyway.

I have plenty, but the worst one has got to be Ronal the Barbarian. It’s a Danish 2011 animated film and it’s a proper bad movie. The animation is bad, it’s extremely immature, and has little story besides the characters going from one place to another, encountering different absurd cultures.

But it’s exactly because of the cultural aspect I like it. Some of the cultures are just parodies of different groups. Barbarians are parodies of men and bodybuilders, and the Amazons are parodies of women and pop-feminists.

Elves are basically a culture of gay men (homophobia doesn’t seem to exist in this world in general), and the orcs are BDSM fetishists who are turned on by violence and ruled by human man who’s a major pain-slut. It’s incredibly stupid and lowbrow.

But it also has glimpses of something more interesting. The main female character, Zandra, who functions as the group’s muscle belongs to the shield maiden culture that is entirely made up of warrior women. They train their entire lives to become formidable fighters and the only way for a man to marry one is to beat her in battle. If he wins she will devote her entire life to him, give up her own identity and follow his every command. And despite essentially becoming servants, the shield maidens have been indoctrinated to see this as their highest goal in life. A pretty obvious comment on women’s traditional role in marriage.

Unfortunately Zandra is too good at fighting and keeps killing her suitors so she had to go out into the world to find a man stronger than her. She only starts to question this when she and the titular Ronal (a small, weak Barbarian) fall in love. He could never beat anyone in a fight, least of all her, so they’re both afraid to admit that they like each other because then she’d ultimately have to kill him, and she finally starts to think “Why do I have to be the weaker person in a relationship?” And Ronal doesn’t understand why either. Barbarians are a bunch of violent brutes but men and women are equals (equally buff and equally strong, but also equally sexualized and equally obsessed with their looks), so the idea of one gender having to submit to the other is foreign to him. Of course Zandra eventually say “Screw culture and tradition” and starts dating Ronal without trying to murder him first.

This concept of masculine versus feminine and the roles we assign to them comes up a lot in big and small ways. Even the effeminate gay elf Elric who they hire to be their way-finder and spirit guide is heavily implied to be a top, even when he seemingly starts dating a big macho Barbarian at the end.

There’s a lot more interesting stuff, like how Ronal is an outcast among the Barbarians because he can’t built as much muscle as them, but it’s also implied that he chose to be an outcast to some extend, because his uncle is in a wheelchair but became a fearsome warrior anyway.

Lots of little interesting things that drown in dick and boobs jokes, that’s how I’d describe this movie. I still end up watching it every few years.

[probablybadrpgideas]

Your players are faced with an ancient Sumerian curse! However, since the early ancient Sumerian language was only used for recording tax debts, it turns out to actually be an ancient Sumerian bill.

[morkaischosen]

and therefore they need to get hold of some ancient Sumerian coinage and bring it to the ruins of the ancient Sumerian tax office, because the Sumerians had a pleasingly direct way of preventing tax evasion, namely horrifying curses.

[duckbunny]

well I don’t have any coin but I have these copper ingots, lovely copper ingots, from a very reputable merchant, never heard a word said against him, very thorough with his paperwork, anyway they’re guaranteed pure copper and proper weight, so can I pay my tax with those?

[bunjywunjy]

I just want everyone to take a step back for a second and really think about how we’re using the most powerful knowledge tool in history to make jokes about a specific dude who lived almost 4000 years ago.

it’s fuckin wonderful, is what it is.

[mikkeneko]

ea-nasir has been dead for 4000 slutty, slutty years

[oldearthcartography]

Hi so, question? Say I’ve got a map I’ve made for a world I’m working on, but it’s pretty shit quality and I’m super visual. Do you know/you anyone who does commissions based off of maps? And a general price point? I’m not looking for super fancy just something I can visualize better than a two minute sketch on a whiteboard...

Hey! That’s a fantastic question (sorry I took a while to answer it’s been a very busy couple of weeks so the blog has mostly been run on queue).  

I wish I could offer my services but I have too much on my plate at the moment but if you are looking for cartographers to do something I have the place for you!

The Cartographer’s Guild has a forum dedicated to people looking for maps and an active and thriving community of cartographers of many varying styles that are happy to take commissions!

Many of the people whose maps I reblog may also take commissions when they have time so I’d recommend following a few of the links to their websites too if there are map styles you particularly like.

Commission prices are going to vary a lot, but for a nicely finished map I’d expect to pay in the range of $100 or more depending on who you commission and the scope of the project.

(You can also choose a price point that is in your budget and see if there are any takers at that price point but I’d expect a lower range to probably bottom out at $50 at the very very cheapest and I’d probably say people taking commissions at that price point are undervaluing their time. Nice maps take a lot of time even if they’re relatively simple. You may find people willing to do cheaper but I’m always an advocate for artists getting valued for their time and skill)

[oldearthcartography]

Oh totally forgot to add, if you see this post and take commissions for maps feel free to reblog with your info and/or send me a message and I’ll share your info here too!

[cruxia-homebrew]

I do map commissions. I did the map for Valmora and I have a WIP for Pale-Maw in the works. Here’s an example of my work. For a piece like this I would charge $40 USD over PayPal.

I do these digital and for print. If you have a rough sketch it makes the process go much faster and I can usually crank out stuff like this in three days. If you only have a general idea or the map is bigger and you want more detailing I charge extra and I’ll talk it over with you.

[theticklishpear]

Pear hi!! I have a question for you. I’m working on a fantasy world where my MC is taking over, at first entirely on accident and then lots of politics happen, a collapsed empire. Basically the last emperor just died, inheritance madness happens, etc. but how do I properly represent a collapsed/collapsing empire? One of the sub plots is that her two advisors/potential poly love interests, are actively promoting the succession of a large border city. I’m just very lost on how to show this?? ❤️❤️

The key thing to remember with writing an empire is that empires are big. In the grand scheme of political structures, they’re not a single, homogeneous group–empires are a conglomeration of several nations under one ruler. They are usually sizable in terms of land, and diverse in culture. So when an empire starts collapsing, the nations it absorbed start to reassert.

It won’t be a sudden failure of all infrastructure like when you think about an army losing its leader and its troops scatter. Instead, you’re looking at pockets of peoples continuing to live as they’ve always lived and new leadership popping up when the central leadership fails. It’s a long, drawn-out process taking years and sometimes decades.

It’s decisions to be independent and small rebellions, trade arrangements changing, people feeling like they can assert themselves and get away with things, land usage claims becoming more volatile. It’s the fettering away of portions of the empire either into the control of someone from the old regime (such as Alexander’s generals splitting up portions of Achaemenid Persia for themselves), or losing control of portions as they are taken through invasion or rebellion.

If the characters your story follows are in positions of power to the point where they can see the grander picture of alliances and trade and political interaction between the centralized power of the empire and its smaller regions/provinces, then they’d be dealing with these very things. Uprisings to take their power back, other political powers moving in on territories as they feel a vacuum in progress, people refusing to do certain administrative things because they no longer agree in the power the old structures had or whatever, and in those changes are where your empire falls to pieces.

You’re literally illustrating the fracturing of the central government structure. What’s it revealing? What structures are the people building beneath the veneer to exist in your no-longer-present empire? How are the different cultures that had been under the banner of the empire choosing to live now and how do they feel in regards to the empire-that-once-was-and-vaguely-still-exists?

Good luck!-Pear

[sunnydwrites]

World-Building: The Very Basics (1)

So, world-building! Today I’m going to go over the basics with you today, some general questions you’re going to want to ask yourself before you go in-depth with anything. Without further ado, here we go!

Your First Questions 1. The very first thing you’re going to want to determine is the genre of your book. Sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian, romance… Things like that. This is going to affect the way you create your world, but I suppose it isn’t the first thing you need to know. This could even be decided after you finish world-building, but it’s a question you want to keep with you throughout the process.

2. The type of world is takes place in. Is it our world, with nothing changed, a parallel universe, like a what-if of our world, or a fantasy, where anything is possible and can be created without restraint? Sci-fi worlds typically involve interstellar and technological elements, fantasy is more whimsical and often magical, and I would hope you know about today’s world.

3. Social structure. Is there one? Is it concrete, or can people move between ranks when certain events occur? Are there forbidden romances between ranks? Are certain races or religions shunned? What is the difference between the top and the bottom of the ladder, if any?

So, these are the starting questions I always ask myself before I go in-depth with anything! See you Monday with another world-building post!

[moondust-bard]

Introducing the…

Physical Features

• Warm brown eyes, long lashed

• Thick, dark red-brown hair, usually woven into intricate braids in order to keep it out of their faces and off their necks

• Golden brown complexion

• Lithe and leanly muscular

• Thick calluses cover their hands and feet

• They wear close-fitting trousers and tunics made from breathable fabric—and shoes are never worn

Religion

Ancestor worship— the believe that the spirits of their departed dwell in a warm, endless paradise. From this oasis they have a hand in guiding their descendants toward bettering the tribe.

Symbolism is very important. Wise women, well-respected elders of the tribe, search constantly for messages from the spirits in nature.

Government

Chiefdom; modified oligarchy—a few dozen tribes populate the humid jungles. In general, they coexist under a modicum of peace and rarely feud. This is maintained by the unspoken respect of each tribe’s ancestral lands. Tribes rarely trespass upon one another.

During the annual harvest, many of the tribes meet along the largest river to trade, share news, and partake in friendly competitions. A council of elders convenes to handle disputes among tribes, reassess boundaries, and dictate new rules.

Alleged Abilities Attributed to this Group

Fire-centric or agility and endurance-based

View of Magic

Their wise women are said to possess such gifts—secret knowings and blessings from the spirits. Those with such gifts are respected above all others. They advise the tribe’s leaders and warn of dangers to come. Wise women also keep the tribe’s histories. All other magic is said to be fictitious.

Common Occupations

• Hunters

• Weavers

• Builders

• Midwives

• Wise women

• Elders

Aesthetic

Dancing around a crackling bonfire, telling stories by moonlight, an arrow soaring theough the air, an ancient tree dotted with wooden structures, smoke billowing against the setting sun, the boasting of young male warriors, an old woman’s weathered hands braiding her granddaughter’s gleaming hair, a bone knife plummeting into a jungle cat’s heart, summer rainstorms, emerald foliage and rich red earth, the scent of fresh blood after a hunt, hushed whispers beneath a starry sky,

Fun Fact

Oral storytelling traditions play a huge role in their society. All information is transferred by word of mouth, from father to son and mother to daughter.

Taglist: @sarmarble @kainablue @writersloth @the-midwrite-oil

@bloodandrosesarenofun @teatreewriting @thesteamgoth

@allyn-racki @lyntries

@theartofthiswritingold @alcyonidus

@antique-symbolism-main @booksandsmoke @bexminx

@poweredbycroissants @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword

[sabonhomeblog]

Atrani, Italy: Lucas Peres Pinhel

[breathtakingdestinations]

Amalfi - Italy (by Antonio Salsano ©Salsano2016 - SIAE) 

[tkkatherineblog]

Amalfi, Italy  Inst @gennaro_rispoli