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Helpful things for action writers to remember

Sticking a landing will royally fuck up your joints and possibly shatter your ankles, depending on how high you’re jumping/falling from. There’s a very good reason free-runners dive and roll.

Hand-to-hand fights usually only last a matter of seconds, sometimes a few minutes. It’s exhausting work and unless you have a lot of training and history with hand-to-hand combat, you’re going to tire out really fast.

Arrows are very effective and you can’t just yank them out without doing a lot of damage. Most of the time the head of the arrow will break off inside the body if you try pulling it out, and arrows are built to pierce deep. An arrow wound demands medical attention.

Throwing your opponent across the room is really not all that smart. You’re giving them the chance to get up and run away. Unless you’re trying to put distance between you so you can shoot them or something, don’t throw them.

Everyone has something called a “flinch response” when they fight. This is pretty much the brain’s way of telling you “get the fuck out of here or we’re gonna die.” Experienced fighters have trained to suppress this. Think about how long your character has been fighting. A character in a fist fight for the first time is going to take a few hits before their survival instinct kicks in and they start hitting back. A character in a fist fight for the eighth time that week is going to respond a little differently.

ADRENALINE WORKS AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU FIGHT. THIS IS IMPORTANT. A lot of times people think that adrenaline will kick in and give you some badass fighting skills, but it’s actually the opposite. Adrenaline is what tires you out in a battle and it also affects the fighter’s efficacy - meaning it makes them shaky and inaccurate, and overall they lose about 60% of their fighting skill because their brain is focusing on not dying. Adrenaline keeps you alive, it doesn’t give you the skill to pull off a perfect roundhouse kick to the opponent’s face.

Swords WILL bend or break if you hit something hard enough. They also dull easily and take a lot of maintenance. In reality, someone who fights with a sword would have to have to repair or replace it constantly.

Fights get messy. There’s blood and sweat everywhere, and that will make it hard to hold your weapon or get a good grip on someone.

A serious battle also smells horrible. There’s lots of sweat, but also the smell of urine and feces. After someone dies, their bowels and bladder empty. There might also be some questionable things on the ground which can be very psychologically traumatizing. Remember to think about all of the character’s senses when they’re in a fight. Everything WILL affect them in some way.

If your sword is sharpened down to a fine edge, the rest of the blade can’t go through the cut you make. You’ll just end up putting a tiny, shallow scratch in the surface of whatever you strike, and you could probably break your sword.

ARCHERS ARE STRONG TOO. Have you ever drawn a bow? It takes a lot of strength, especially when you’re shooting a bow with a higher draw weight. Draw weight basically means “the amount of force you have to use to pull this sucker back enough to fire it.” To give you an idea of how that works, here’s a helpful link to tell you about finding bow sizes and draw weights for your characters. (CLICK ME)

If an archer has to use a bow they’re not used to, it will probably throw them off a little until they’ve done a few practice shots with it and figured out its draw weight and stability.

People bleed. If they get punched in the face, they’ll probably get a bloody nose. If they get stabbed or cut somehow, they’ll bleed accordingly. And if they’ve been fighting for a while, they’ve got a LOT of blood rushing around to provide them with oxygen. They’re going to bleed a lot.

Here’s a link to a chart to show you how much blood a person can lose without dying. (CLICK ME)

If you want a more in-depth medical chart, try this one. (CLICK ME)

Hopefully this helps someone out there. If you reblog, feel free to add more tips for writers or correct anything I’ve gotten wrong here.

ave-aria

How to apply Writing techniques for action scenes:

- Short sentences. Choppy. One action, then another. When there’s a lull in the fight, take a moment, using longer phrases to analyze the situation–then dive back in. Snap, snap, snap. - Same thing with words - short, simple, and strong in the thick of battle. Save the longer syllables for elsewhere. - Characters do not dwell on things when they are in the heat of the moment. They will get punched in the face. Focus on actions, not thoughts. - Go back and cut out as many adverbs as possible. - No seriously, if there’s ever a time to use the strongest verbs in your vocabulary - Bellow, thrash, heave, shriek, snarl, splinter, bolt, hurtle, crumble, shatter, charge, raze - it’s now. - Don’t forget your other senses. People might not even be sure what they saw during a fight, but they always know how they felt. - Taste: Dry mouth, salt from sweat, copper tang from blood, etc - Smell: OP nailed it - Touch: Headache, sore muscles, tense muscles, exhaustion, blood pounding. Bruised knuckles/bowstring fingers. Injuries that ache and pulse, sting and flare white hot with pain. - Pain will stay with a character. Even if it’s minor. - Sound and sight might blur or sharpen depending on the character and their experience/exhaustion. Colors and quick movements will catch the eye. Loud sounds or noises from behind may serve as a fighter’s only alert before an attack. - If something unexpected happens, shifting the character’s whole attention to that thing will shift the Audience’s attention, too. - Aftermath. This is where the details resurface, the characters pick up things they cast aside during the fight, both literally and metaphorically. Fights are chaotic, fast paced, and self-centered. Characters know only their self, their goals, what’s in their way, and the quickest way around those threats. The aftermath is when people can regain their emotions, their relationships, their rationality/introspection, and anything else they couldn’t afford to think or feel while their lives were on the line.

Do everything you can to keep the fight here and now. Maximize the physical, minimize the theoretical. Keep things immediate - no theories or what ifs.

If writing a strategist, who needs to think ahead, try this: keep strategy to before-and-after fights. Lay out plans in calm periods, try to guess what enemies are thinking or what they will do. During combat, however, the character should think about his options, enemies, and terrain in immediate terms; that is, in shapes and direction. (Large enemy rushing me; dive left, circle around / Scaffolding on fire, pool below me / two foes helping each other, separate them.)

Lastly, after writing, read it aloud. Anyplace your tongue catches up on a fast moving scene, edit. Smooth action scenes rarely come on the first try.

uccelletto-di-kokuyo

More for martial arts or hand-to-hand in general

What a character’s wearing will affect how they fight. The more restricting the clothes, the harder it will be. If they’re wearing a skirt that is loose enough to fight in, modesty will be lost in a life or death situation.

Jewelry can also be very bad. Necklaces can be grabbed onto. Bracelets also can be grabbed onto or inhibit movement. Rings it can depend on the person.

Shoes also matter. Tennis shoes are good and solid, but if you’re unused to them there’s a chance of accidentally hurting your ankle. High heels can definitely be a problem. However, they can also make very good weapons, especially for someone used to balancing on the balls of their feet. Side kicks and thrusting kicks in soft areas (like the solar plexus) or the feet are good ideas. They can also (hopefully) be taken off quickly and used as a hand weapon. Combat boots are great but if someone relies more on speed or aren’t used to them, they can weigh a person down. Cowboy boots can be surprisingly good. Spin kicks (if a character is quick enough to use them) are especially nasty in these shoes.

If a character is going to fight barefoot, please keep location in mind. Concrete can mess up your feet quick. Lawns, yards, etc often have hidden holes and other obstacles that can mess up a fighter. Tile floors or waxed wood can be very slippery if you’re not careful or used to them.

Likewise, if it’s outside be aware of how weather will affect the fight. The sun’s glare can really impede a fighter’s sight. A wet location, inside or outside, can cause a fighter to slip and fall. Sweat on the body can cause a fighter to lose a grip on an opponent too.

Pressure points for a trained fighter are great places to aim for in a fight. The solar plexus is another great place to aim for. It will knock the wind out of anyone and immediately weaken your opponent.

It your character is hit in the solar plexus and isn’t trained, they’re going down. The first time you get hit there you are out of breath and most people double over in confusion and pain. If a fighter is more used to it, they will stand tall and expand themselves in order to get some breath. They will likely keep fighting, but until their breath returns to normal, they will be considerably weaker.

Do not be afraid to have your character use obstacles in their environment. Pillars, boxes, bookshelves, doors, etc. They put distance between you and an opponent which can allow you to catch your breath.

Do not be afraid to have your character use objects in their environment. Someone’s coming at you with a spear, trident, etc, then pick up a chair and get it caught in the legs or use it as a shield. Bedsheets can make a good distraction and tangle someone up. Someone’s invading your home and you need to defend yourself? Throw a lamp. Anything can be turned into a weapon.

Guns often miss their targets at longer distances, even by those who have trained heavily with them. They can also be easier to disarm as they only shoot in one direction. However, depending on the type, grabbing onto the top is a very very bad idea. There is a good likelihood you WILL get hurt.

Knives are nasty weapons by someone who knows what they’re doing. Good fighters never hold a knife the way you would when cutting food. It is best used when held against the forearm. In defense, this makes a block more effective and in offense, slashing movement from any direction are going to be bad. If a character is in a fight with a knife or trying to disarm one, they will get hurt.

Soft areas hit with hard body parts. Hard areas hit with soft body parts. The neck, stomach, and other soft areas are best hit with punches, side kicks, elbows, and other hard body parts. Head and other hard parts are best hit using a knife hand, palm strike, etc. Spin kicks will be nasty regardless of what you’re aiming for it they land.

Common misconception with round house kicks is that you’re hitting with the top of the foot. You’re hitting with the ball. You’re likely to break your foot when hitting with the top.

When punching, the thumb is outside of the fist. You’ll break something if you’re hitting with the thumb inside, which a lot of inexperienced fighters do.

Also, punching the face or jaw can hurt.

It can be hard to grab a punch if you’re not experienced with it despite how easy movies make it seem. It’s best to dodge or redirect it.

Hitting to the head is not always the best idea. It can take a bit of training to be able to reach for the head with a kick because of the height. Flexibility is very much needed. If there are problems with their hips or they just aren’t very flexible, kicks to the head aren’t happening.

Jump kicks are a good way to hit the head, but an opponent will see it coming if it’s too slow or they are fast/experienced.

A good kick can throw an opponent back or knock them to the ground. If the person you’ve hit has experience though, they’ll immediately be getting up again.

Even if they’ve trained for years in a martial art, if they haven’t actually hit anything before or gotten hit, it will be slightly stunning for the person. It does not feel the way you expect it too.

Those yells in martial arts are not just for show. If done right, they tighten your core making it easier to take a hit in that area. Also, they can be used to intimidate an opponent. Yelling or screaming right by their ear can startle someone. (Generally, KHR fans look at Squalo for yelling)

Biting can also be used if someone’s grabbing you. Spitting in someone’s eyes can’t hurt. Also, in a chokehold or if someone is trying to grab your neck in general, PUT YOU CHIN DOWN. This cuts off access and if they’re grabbing in the front can dig into their hand and hurt.

Wrist grabs and other grabs can be good. Especially if it’s the first move an opponent makes and the character is trained, there are simple ways to counter that will have a person on their knees in seconds..

Use what your character has to their advantage. If they’re smaller or have less mass, then they’ll be relying on speed, intelligence, evasion, and other similar tactics. Larger opponents will be able to take hits better, they’re hits may be slower depending on who it is but will hurt like hell if they land, and size can be intimidating. Taller people with longer legs will want to rely on kicking and keeping their distance since they have the advantage there. Shorter people will want to keep the distance closer where it’s easier for them but harder for a taller opponent. Punching is a good idea.

Using a person’s momentum against them is great. There’s martial arts that revolve around this whole concept. They throw a punch? Grab it and pull them forward and around. Their momentum will keep them going and knock them off balance.

Leverage can used in the same way. If used right, you can flip a person, dislocate a shoulder, throw out a knee, etc.

One note on adrenaline: All that was said above is true about it. But, in a fight, it can also make you more aware of what’s going on. A fight that lasts twenty seconds can feel like a minute because time seems to almost slow down while moving extremely rapidly. You only have so much time to think about what you’re doing. You’re taking in information constantly and trying to adjust. Even in the slow down adrenaline gives you, everything is moving very rapidly.

Feelings will be your downfall even more so than adrenaline. Adrenaline can make those feelings more intense, but a good fighter has learned not to listen to those feelings. A good fighter may feel anger at being knocked down or in some way humiliated - their pride taken down. Yet they will not act on the anger. Acting on it makes a fighter more instinctive and many will charge without thinking. Losing control of anything (adrenaline rush, emotions, technique, etc) can be a terrible thing in a fight.

Just thought I’d add in here.

bamonnineties

YES. YES.

alchemist-after-dark

thegeekogecko

If an archer has to use a bow they’re not used to, it will probably throw them off a little until they’ve done a few practice shots with it and figured out its draw weight and stability.

This also applies to firearms, particularly long guns with adjustable iron sights. You’re not going to be accurate at a distance with a weapon that’s zeroed for someone else. You’ll have to apply some Kentucky windage to it.

thegreenwolf

Okay, I don’t know where OP got their information on swords but it’s flat-out wrong when they say “If your sword is sharpened down to a fine edge, the rest of the blade can’t go through the cut you make. You’ll just end up putting a tiny, shallow scratch in the surface of whatever you strike, and you could probably break your sword.”

Having used European longswords as a hobbyist martial artist for a number of years, I have a basic familiarity with the blades. There are a lot of factors that determine the effectiveness of a blade that include the level of metallurgy in a given place at a given time in history, so what worked for an early 15th century BC Minoan bronze sword wouldn’t be the same as, say, a 16th century CE Italian rapier or an Edo period katana. Since a lot of the swords in fiction (especially fantasy) are longswords, let’s look at those briefly.

So the OP is looking at the edge of the blade. This is determined by the grind, which is basically how it’s sharpened. The way in which an edge is created on a piece of steel, the direction the stone or other sharpening implement is moved, etc, all determines the blade’s grind. Here’s a basic look at some of the more common grinds (source):

As you can seem, even the thicker grinds like diamond and lenticular still are pretty slim; generally speaking a longsword is going to be less than an inch thick even at its thickest point. Obviously if you do something really bad and grind your edge so flat that there’s a marked bump as you move in toward the center of the blade, of course you’re going to have problems. But a well-ground blade is going to have a smooth transition all the way through. Now if we’re talking something like a rapier, the blade is much narrower and so the slope from the center to the edge is going to be more pronounced than on a longsword, but a rapier is generally meant more for thrusting than cutting. So yes, you’re going to generally get mostly shallow cuts from this sort of sword.

However, that doesn’t mean you don’t sharpen your sword, and it doesn’t mean that a sharp longsword with a lenticular or diamond grind isn’t going to go right through someone. Here’s a cutting test with a sharp greatsword, which is about as big and thick as a medieval European blade is going to get (which, by the way, is probably still lighter and thinner than the stereotypes. of big, heavy broadswords.) They’re using animal carcasses (which they donate to the local food bank afterward) and yes, there’s still bone in there so it approximates cutting through a person in a swordfight:

As you can clearly see, that blade is having no trouble making serious cuts.

Different topic, further down in the conversation, some styles of martial arts do have you strike with the top of the foot or the shin with a roundhouse rather than the ball of the foot. I train in combat hapkido and we use the top of the foot or the shin, and aim primarily for soft targets.

So take the above advice with a grain of salt depending on martial art style. Use this post as a starting point, not holy writ in and of itself. Every good writer must also be a good researcher.

wolfsrainrules

Bless good reference material @north-peach (I’ve seen this before but more got added SO)

soup-fairy

jse-egopocalypse

spell your username without using the letters in your name

mine is ptipi

nonbinarybeartrade

Mockngborb

fuckson-mcgiggles

fukon-mggg

dknightlight

Mine doesn’t change 🎊

pocketwolfy

cketwfy

frogies-deactivated20190323

everyday i think about “hm…..tastes like prion disease” nd sometimes say it out loud 2 myself by accident

frogies-deactivated20190323

everyday i think about “hm…..tastes like prion disease” nd sometimes say it out loud 2 myself by accident

frogies-deactivated20190323

spencerthespacer-deactivated202

Tf2 matchmaking explained by Jerma

I need to get this off my chest.

For 13 years, I've held this memory back because I never really thought it was anything serious, but last night I had a sudden realization. Since I was six, my sister raped me several times. I never knew any better, I never really thought about it much, but last night I had the sudden realization.

I'm not sure what to do, I'm not sure how to feel. I just don't know how to handle this situation and these emotions.

#tw: rape

sandinlungs-blog

greatpostsonline-deactivated201

lovecraft and his cat n-…

nnnnn-…

ummm…his cat’s name was uhhhh…

this is a picture of HP lovecraft with his cat

robloxgf-deactivated20190515

what was his name

robloxgf-deactivated20190515

oh no

WHAT WAS HIS NAME?

OH NO!

What was the cats name?

sillylovingpupper

Oh dear.

the-quasar-hero

finaldisciple

kayclau

What was the cat’s name?

kayclau

Um… Let’s just go by Lovecraft’s cat.

pocketwolfy

Nigger Man. The cat's name is Nigger Man. It's a word, jesus.

captainsnoop-deactivated2020041

im mad as hell

so evidently in the new ben 10 show called omniverse or something theres an episode where ben accidentally gets engaged to this girl:

and ben is like, not in to it? he’s grossed out and doesn’t want to marry her?

fuckin EXCUSE ME ben???

ben you stupid sack of shit you got a buff as hell four armed red skinned alien babe with a thor hammer thats strong as hell and wants to marry you and ALSO shes got big titties and you don’t want that in your life???

FUCK this cartoon and FUCK all cartoons made by normies. when are we gonna get a cartoon where a hot as hell alien is like “oh human marry me” and the humans like “FUCK YEAH IM IN TO THIS”

dont give me none of that steven universe shit either. rose quartz is hot but shes also just a human. theres nothing alien about her. shes a rock that has a holographic human form. fuck that that doesn’t count. shes either gotta be a barbarian or a giant mantis monster. thats the hot stuff

izandai

Or maybe we can calm the fuck down and acknowledge that most people aren’t sexually attracted to beings that diverge wildly from the norms of human appearance? Is that okay? Is it fucking okay with you for Benjamin Kirby Tennyson to be like most people in this regard? Is that fucking all right with you?

captainsnoop-deactivated2020041

filthygum

so, i gathered just a handful testimonials from replies and messages revealing just how unprofessional they are with their commission work by leaving their commissioners in silence for months. do not commission ghost-oakes unless you want to wait for months, watching them pump out other commissions and art while you twiddle your thumbs

i have my own testimonial too: i had tried to order a holiday icon back when they were offering them. weeks went by and i heard nothing, no updates. all the while, they were creating gift icons for friends for free and other such art. when i finally did hear back, the holidays were over and i still got no visual progress (but i was told it was being worked on). they said they would finish it in a week - nothing. i asked them about it again, another week - still nothing. it wasn’t until i threatened to backdraft them (which in most cases i would NEVER do, but i felt it was my only option) that i got my money back.

psshaw

God, the amount of people who have mentioned getting no or rushed work from him after needling him for months. He’s apparently now blocking some people he owes.

On top of that— I dunno if he still has this policy, but his TOS on FA at one point said that if you filed a chargeback, he got to keep your character to sell off as an adoptable.

That’s. Insane. Especially considering his work ethic.

Dude was fully ambulatory and able to work when I knew him in 2014 (despite claiming things like cancer, kidney problems and sepsis THE WHOLE TIME… SEPSIS, which shoulda had him hospitalized or dead) and combined with a history of lying about being a victim of other events and people, I’m very skeptical of his ever-evolving health claims.

In my experience, under stress he will basically read half a sentence and decide what the second half means on his own. Fact-checking isn’t his thing when threatened. My theory is that once he has a worry or concern, it becomes reality to him, and he defends the lie because he finds comfort in having a confirmation that the world is out to get him with minimal responsibility on his part.

goolfriend-moving

HOLY SHIT HE SAID WHAT IN HIS TOS???? He was literally out there setting things up so that he could steal characters??? Because of COURSE people are gonna try to chargeback after waiting MONTHS to receive what they paid for. Wow. WOW! Jesus christ I’ve known about this dude for years, its amazing how I can /still/ learn about vile shit he tries to pull.

goolfriend-moving

So I dug around and apparently this is STILL in his TOS

Ghost-Oakes will take your commissions that he has no intention of fulfilling, and if you charge him back because He Is Not Doing His Job

He has set up his TOS to have the right to take your character(s) for himself to use and sell for his own profit

Ghost-Oakes will take your money, not do your commission, and then will steal your character if you attempt to get your money back

vvarhound

The screencap’s kinda hard to read since tumblr likes to mysteriously resize things so I archived the page.

filthygum

WHAT THE FUCK

spartanlocke

He’s a con-artist and a thief, and not even a subtle one.

Even if it doesn’t fit your blog, please consider boosting this. Tell everyone you know. If you hear someone supporting him, shut them down. If someone’s talking about commissioning him, warn them of this. Petitions don’t do shit, the only way to stop people like this is to stop their income. Drag his reputation through the dirt until no one would even consider speaking to him. That’s the only way to end this.

cursedcatimages

spaceyjules-deactivated20180305

If you call pedophilia a kink please unfollow me and never talk to me again

spaceyjules-deactivated20180305

Isn’t it disgusting that 23 people just unfollowed me

clarknokent

Unfollow me too

gothhabiba

this goes double if you call paedophilia a disability. unfollow me twice

closet-keys

and if you call pedophilia an “orientation” or in any way compare it to being LGBP+ you can unfollow, delete your blog, and set yourself on fire.

peachypastel

I just lost 50 followers.. bye

katiemcgrxth

clearing out the trash

bway-grimes

GO ON AND S M A S H THAT UNFOLLOW BUTTON

moonedknights

BUHBYE U McNASTIES

bogleech

I’ve seen this circulating forever and genuinely thought “no way do I have any of them following me” until this week when it turned out I had all these fuckin “MAP” (pedophile) followers sad to find out I’m an “anti” (normal person) Please leave and also please get guinea worm.

massive-muscle-freaks-deactivat

I really hope no one that follows me is like this but for real, if you are, please unfollow.

hypnoticsymbiosis

Ditto

fairyfuckablefrats

In case you didn’t get the message, if you’re into kids unfollow me; if you’re not into kids, reblog this!!!

gaylatex724-deactivated20180529

Buh bye, no thanks

buggyeyes

Csa survivor with zero time, patience, or tolerance for pedos/MAPs/apologists/whateverthefuck you sick fucks are calling yourselves.

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