Wow 😯

Amazing! Reblogging to remember for writing & character inspiration

Advice from an (Amateur) Archer on Writing About Archers and Archery

Admittedly, I don’t have the widest range of experience when it’s come to archery. I’ve only been shooting for a year now, and the time that I do take to shoot have long months between them. Still, I think it’s important to outline the basics for anyone who wants to write an archer in their book and wants to save themselves the embarrassment of having the archer do something that an archer would never do in a million years.

- Archers usually unstring their bow after battle. Unstringing a bow is exactly what it sounds like: removing the string from the bow’s limbs. Usually, archers then wrap the string around the now-straightened bow so they don’t lose it as easily. Archers unstring bows because everytime the limbs are bent by the string, there is a large amount of tension in the limbs. If the string is on too long and the bow has not been shot for a while, the limbs will start to wear down and lose their power, resulting in an archer needing to buy new limbs or an entirely new bow.

- Archers always retrieve their arrows after battle. Arrows are expensive and take a long time to make, so archers want to conserve as many arrows as possible. Sometimes they have a repair kit with them at the ready, in case they find an arrow with a loose arrowhead or broken fletching that can easily be repaired. 

- Training arrows are not the same as battle arrows. Training arrows have thinner shafts and usually blunted tips so they can easily be removed from targets. Thinner shafts break more easily, and the blunted tips – whilst they can pierce skin – usually won’t get very far in the flesh. They’re also easier to make. Battle arrows are thicker, and their heads are pointed at the tip and have two pointed ends at its sides. This arrowhead is designed to easily pierce through flesh, and is incredibly difficult to pull out because its two pointed ends snag onto flesh. If you want to pull it out, you’d have to tear the flesh away with it, which can lead to an even larger wound.

- Arrows are fatal, and one can incapacitate a soldier for the rest of his life. Arrows are not easily snapped off like you see in movies. The draw weight is too strong, and they can sometimes be as strong as bullets. They will pierce through bone and tendons, which do not easily heal. Furthermore, if you want to remove an arrow, you either have to go through surgery, parting the flesh away from the arrowhead so it doesn’t snag onto anything, or you have you push – not pull – it all the way through the body.

- Bows are not designed for hitting people with in close combat. The limbs are specifically made to flex. Imagine hitting someone with a flexing piece of wood. If you hit with the middle of the bow, it still does very little because there is no weight behind the bow, and so you might as well be hitting them with a pillow. It might be annoying to the opponent, but it won’t save you. Archers need a secondary blade in close combat. They cannot strike people with their bows and expect to win.

- Draw weight affects speed, range, and impact. Draw weight is measured in pounds, at least in America, and it is measured in how much weight must be pulled when you draw back the string. A high draw weight means stiffer, thicker limbs that can shoot further and hit harder. But, this is at the cost of speed. A low draw weight means thinner, more flexible limbs that can shoot smaller distances and have low impact, but can be shot faster. Before you acrobatic fanatics immediately seize the smaller bow for its speed, understand that a bow’s advantage is in its range. No one can hit an archer from 300 meters away with their spear or sword. The archer has complete dominance over the battlefield in this way, and their arrows can kill anyone who gets too close. Not hurt. Not annoy. Kill. And a higher draw weight means a better chance of piercing through specific armor, then flesh, then bone. A lower draw weight means less range and, even worse, a lower chance that the arrow would even pierce through armor if the arrow even hits its target. 

- Bows will always be outmatched in close combat against any other weapon. Bows take too long to draw and shoot, and at such close range, the opponent has an easier chance to dodge oncoming arrows. I already explained that the bows themselves cannot be used to take down a foe. 

- Bowmen on horseback are utterly terrifying. Archers usually can’t move from their spot because range is more important than mobility, and at such a long range, you usually don’t need to move from your spot anyways. Bowmen on horses, however, are closer to the battle, and worse, they are faster than almost anyone on the battlefield. Not only are they difficult to hit, you have no way of predicting where they will shoot next because they can circle around you in confusing ways. If you want an interesting archer character, I’d advise trying these guys out.

- Never underestimate armor and padding. Arrows will never be able to pierce through plate armor because its curved surface will always deflect oncoming arrows. Arrows can pierce through maille because maille is made out of metal rings that can be bent and can fall away. However, padding usually lies underneath, which is surprisingly durable and can stop an oncoming arrow, as well as absorb some of its impact. Because of this, make certain that the archer is focusing on gabs in the armor. To know this, you MUST study armor. Gabs usually lie where the joints are because soldiers need those gabs open so they can move. Typical gaps lie in the neck, the armpit, the inner-elbow, the knees, and the palm of the hand. Impact is also an archer’s friend. A war arrow shot by a hundred pound bow, hurtling at incredible speeds and gaining momentum the further it travels, can evoke serious damage. To be hit by one of these arrows will feel more like being hit by a horse than being hit by someone’s fist. 

This is true, the puppy will make you fell a lot of guilt afterwards. There is no escape from the cuteness.

Asexual and Tiefling or Infernal Bloodline Human (might of been both at different stages of their development)

i need you all to reblog this with your sexuality and what your first dnd character’s race was

it’s for science

The water ripple effects on the floor of Palace might hint towards the Sea of Unconscious, a reoccurring idea in Persona. Maybe?

I just thought of something.

So people have pointed out that rain seems to be making an appearance again in Persona 5. The floor of the Palace seems to be wet (as judging by the ripples the characters make when they walk on it), and in that big sequence at the end of PV04 it’s raining pretty heavily, going up to their ankles.

I was wracking my brains as to what the symbolism here would be (it’s Persona, it’s symbolic), when I figured it out.

One of the most significant appearances of rain in any mythology is the concept of a “great flood”, with the most famous of all being Noah’s Flood in the Bible. This flood was created to drown all of the sinners in the world, with only the chosen good people and animals surviving in an ark.

Is a Persona version of the biblical flood coming? I wouldn’t be surprised if our big bad supernatural being with human pawns this time was trying to “wash away” those who don’t fit into its ideas of what is a “good society”. So, it literally and metaphorically floods the Earth, and our heroes have to stop it.

The idea of Squibs and the treatment of them in Harry Potter Wizarding World has always interested/sadden me. To treated so poorly by everyone yet never fit in with neither Muggles (because they can see things Muggles cannot and likely know about magic but cannot talk to anyone about and have to lie to everyone) or wizards (who shun & mistreated). Even if a squib in that world studied all the books and knowledge about magical theory and stuff that doesn’t actually require spell casting, even if they would do better at all the tests that their wizard/witch peers do, since squibs cannot cast their opinions and insights are shunned... I really want to play in a Harry Potter tabletop roleplaying game as a Squib for this reason or maybe run one. It’s just so heartbreaking and fascinating to have character like a squib there but it’s so odd that Squibs never get much attention nor development in any canon works. The recent release of Fantastic Beasts hammers down the Squib situation more with implied opinions and behaviour the wizarding world has towards Squibs in that universe. 

It bothered me that there were no Squibs allowed in Hogwarts. Fine, I can get that Squibs would not be able to do any wand magic, and would not be able to fly a broomstick. They still apparently possess enough innate magic to see the school and other magically hidden locations. Out of the classes at Hogwarts that the kids take, a Squib could take and benefit from the following classes: History of Magic, Astronomy, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, MUGGLE STUDIES, Potions (there will be little foolish wand-waving here), Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and partially theoretical classes on Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms.

That’s a long list of classes. And some of them are particularly upsetting to me because there’s stuff like History of Magic being left out- that’s their own history they’re being barred from learning. Since Squibs are often forced into the Muggle world, a Squib would make an ideal Muggle Studies teacher and would no doubt be able to teach a more realistic and informative class than someone going off of biased wizarding texts. Squib kids looking into living in the Muggle world would absolutely benefit from learning Muggle studies, especially if they’re from a mainly pureblood family who doesn’t venture out all too often.

And then there’s the rest of them! Arguably you could have a Squib gifted with prescience, and Divination is supposed to be a very accessible branch of magic. Squibs being excellent at taking care of magical plants and animals and making groundbreaking advancements, Squibs working in tandem with each other to breed different magical herbs for potions, Squib potion masters creating all sorts of amazing concoctions. Squibs working with muggleborns and using logic and science to advance magic theoretically, Squibs being huge pro-muggleborn/pro-muggle advocates, Squibs making star charts and Squibs going into the muggle world to use their healing potions in their jobs as nurses and doctors.

Squibs being so completely shut out of magical education was such a sore point for me in the books, especially viewing the treatment of our only prominent Squib- an angry, bitter, glorified janitor often at the mercy of brats with wands. I’m not justifying or endorsing his abusiveness at all, but this was an awful character to use to explore people without magic in a society that bases your worth on it. A lot of time Rowling seems to validate Wizarding prejudices more than she challenges them. While I really enjoy reading the headcanons about Hogwarts being very accessible to people with disabilities, I can’t bring myself to see that as the case with Squibs being treated as they are. 

That’s amazing... wow

Amazing

Distances. #pascalcampion

Great list! Nice to see it all laid out in one place with sources.

List of Canon Ships/Pairings

I need a list of all canon pairings for reasons, so I figured I’d start a post so others could use it too. It seems like a good thing to have.

This will include characters who flirt with one another, confirmed in-game, and confirmed by Bioware. I’ll try to distinguish those too. These are all possible pairings in Dragon Age media, as in they do in fact exist and happen canonically. If I do inevitably forget one you can remind me via message or ask and I will add it. Feel free to ask about some pairings too if you are unsure on sources, I can point you to the right places (for example, Greagoir/Wynne seems heavily implied due to their corresponding sections in WoT Vol. 2. Where the Templar Wynne was intimate with, left and returned; while Greagoir was sent to Denerim as a disciplinary action during his younger years.)

Dragon Age Origins

Andraste/Maferath (In-game)

Maric Theirin/Rowan Guerrin (In-game)

Vasilia/Hessarian (In-game)

Eleni Zinovia/Valerius (In-game)

Calenhad Theirin/Shayna (In-game)

Calenhad Theirin/Mairyn (In-game)

Marethari Talas/Sarel (WoT Vol. 2, Extended Media)

Bryce Cousland/Eleanor Cousland (In-game)

Fergus Cousland/Oriana Cousland (In-game)

Landra/Loren (In-game)

Bhelen Aeducan/Rica Brosca (In-game)

Beraht/Jarvia (In-game)

Leske/Jarvia (In-game, dependent)

Gorim Saelac/Unnamed Surfacer (In-game)

Jowan/Lily (In-game)

Cyrion Tabris/Adaia Tabris (In-game)

Dilwyn/Gethon (In-game)

Soris/Valora (In-game)

Soris/Unnamed Human Woman (In-game)

Anora Theirin/Cailan Theirin (In-game)

Jory/Helena (In-game)

Dorothea (Divine Justinia V)/Marjolaine (In-game, Leliana’s Song, Hinted)

Harwen Raleigh/Marjolaine (In-game, Leliana’s Song)

Calian Theirin/Celene Valmont (In-game, Return to Ostagar, Hinted)

Loghan Mac Tir/Celia Mac Tir (The Stolen Throne, Extended Media)

Rendon Howe/Eliane Bryland (WoT Vol.2, Extended Media)

Herren/Wade (David Gaider)

Cammen/Gheyna (In-game)

Drass/Desire Demon (In-game)

Isolde Guerrin/Eamon Guerrin (In-game)

Teagan Guerrin/Bella (In-game, dependent)

Teagan Guerrin/Kaitlyn (In-game, dependent)

Athras/Danyla (In-game)

Pyral Harrowmont/Tercy Harrowmont (In-game)

Branka/Hespith (In-game)

Oghren/Branka (In-game)

Oghren/Felsi (In-game)

Sten/Shale (In-game, Flirting)

Leliana/Marjolaine (In-game, Leliana’s Song)

Zevran Arainai/Rinnala/Taliesen (In-game, WoT Vol. 2 , Extended Media)

Zevran Arainai/Isabela (In-game)

Wynne/Unnamed Templar [likely Greagoir] (In-game, Extended Media)

Alistair Theirin/Anora Theirin (In-game, dependent)

Keep reading

That is super handy! :)

So this is a cheat-sheet I’ve made for personal use to just have an overview over all the basic D&D rules. The first page covers most of the text rules. The color divides the sections more or less from one another.

The second page covers most of the important tables and stats, that you’ll probably need through the game. Hope you like it and find some use for this! Cheers.

1. because that’s so cool, helpful & awesome, imagine the good someone could do with that power & being able to see the world in such a unique beautiful way. & 3. because I could donate to charities more often, have stable employment, enough stability to pursue writing professionally in my own time and be able to support/give back to those I love most. 

Reblog with just TWO choices