ladyjeweldragon - Tumblr blog

[ladyjeweldragon]

Heeeee~?  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

It’s Halloween mah dudes!! I can finally upload this shit :3 

“Imma draw Kira for this mf Halloween if that’s the last mf thing I dOOOOOOO–” I say as I get into this project WEEKS too early XD  

So there I go, spamming yer dash with my beloved power-hungry monocular stripper-esque child again. Blame Nagamori for this LOvELy idfk-what-it-even-is costume he’s wearing(I shall neva draw him w/o a glowing pink heart on his ‘patch~ blame him for that too XD)   And luk; I actually bothered with the background dis time.

[ladyjeweldragon]

The timeline corrects itself, eventually

Would’ve done Atsuya too, if I hadn’t lacked both the time and inspiration for it, since they oughta be together like this. Hiroto and Atsuya were both dead originally.

[ladyjeweldragon]

[ladyjeweldragon]

Abled Person: Hey man, can you hold this wad of $2,000 and this one penny for me while I open my wallet?

Disabled Person: YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER FOOL!

The United States Government:

(Watch how many people don’t get this.)

[ladyjeweldragon]

I took some historical sword-fighting lessons to make the fights in my novel more realistic - here’s what I learned.

To make the fighting scenes in my low fantasy novel more realistic, I went to see a trainer for historical sword-fighting last week, both to barrage her with questions and to develop realistic choreographies for the fight scenes in the novel. Since I figured some of what she told me might be useful for you too, I put together a small list for you. Big thanks to Gladiatores Munich and Jeanne for making time! (Here are some more pictures if you’re interested.)

Caveat: I’m by no means a sword-fighting expert myself, so take these nuggets with a grain of salt – I might have misremembered or misinterpreted some of the things Jeanne told me. If I did, feel free to tell me.

1.) Weapon choices need to make sense

Let’s start with a truism: always ensure your character’s weapons make sense for a.) their profession, b.) their cultural background and c.) the environment they’re going to fight in. A farmer probably couldn’t afford a sword and might use a knife or threshing flail instead, and someone who doesn’t want to be noticed probably wouldn’t be milling about sporting a glaive or another large weapon. Also, soldiers native to a country with wide open plains would be more likely to carry long-range melee weapons such as spears or large swords, than those from a country consisting of mostly jungle or dense forests. The same applies to situations: if your character is going to be fighting in close quarters (even just a normal house), he’d get little value out of a spear or even a longsword, as there’d be no space to swing it effectively.

2.) Boldness often beats skill

In real swordfights, recklessness was often more important than technique. The fighter less afraid of getting injured would often push harder, allowing them to overpower even opponents with better technique.

3.) Even a skilled fighter rarely stands a chance when outnumbered

While a skilled (or lucky) fighter might win a two-versus-one, it’d be extremely unlikely for even a single master swordsman to win against superior numbers, even just three and if they’re below his skill level. The only way to plausibly pull this off would be to split the opponents up, perhaps by luring them into a confined space where you could take them on one by one. The moment you’re surrounded, you’re probably done for – because, unlike in Hollywood, they wouldn’t take turns attacking but come at you all at once.

4.) Dual-wielding was a thing

… at least in some cultures. I often heard people say that people using a weapon in each hand is an invention of fiction. And while my instructor confirmed that she knew of no European schools doing this—if they did, it’s not well-documented—she said it was a thing in other cultures. Example of this include the dual wakizashi in Japan or tomahawk and knife in North America. However, one of the biggest problems with the depiction of dual wielding in novels/movies/games are the “windmill”-type attacks where the fighter swings their weapons independently, hitting in succession rather than simultaneously. Normally you’d always try hitting with both weapons at once, as you’d otherwise lose your advantage.

5.) Longswords were amazing

Longswords might seem boring in comparison to other weapons, but they were incredibly effective, especially in combat situations outside the battlefield. The crossguard allowed for effective blocking of almost any kind of attack (well, maybe not an overhead strike of a Mordaxt, but still), the pommel was also used as a powerful “blunt” weapon of its own that could crack skulls. Though they were somewhat less effective against armored opponents, the long, two-handed hilt allowed for precise thrusts at uncovered body parts that made up for it.

6.)  “Zweihänder” were only used for very specific combat situations

Zweihänder—massive two-handed swords—were only used for specific purposes and usually not in one-on-one combat as is often seen in movies or games. One of these purposes was using their reach to break up enemy formations. In fact, one type of two-handed sword even owed its name to that purpose: Gassenhauer (German, Gasse = alley, Hauer = striker)—the fighters literally used it to strike “alleys” into an enemy formation with wide, powerful swings.

7.) It’s all about distance

While I was subconsciously aware of this, it might be helpful to remember that distance was an incredibly important element in fights. The moment your opponent got past your weapons ideal range, it was common to either switch to a different weapon or just drop your weapon and resort to punching/choking. A good example of this are spears or polearms—very powerful as long as you maintain a certain range between you and your opponent, but the moment they get too close, your weapon is practically useless. That’s also why combatants almost always brought a second weapon into battle to fall back one.

8.) Real fights rarely lasted over a minute

Another truism, but still useful to remember: real fights didn’t last long. Usually, they were over within less than a minute, sometimes only seconds – the moment your opponent landed a hit (or your weapon broke or you were disarmed), you were done for. This is especially true for combatants wearing no or only light armor.

9.) Stop the pirouettes

Unfortunately, the spinning around and pirouetting that makes many fight scenes so enjoyable to watch (or read) is completely asinine. Unless it’s a showfight, fighters would never expose their backs to their opponent or even turn their weapon away from them.

10.)  It still looks amazing

If your concern is that making your fight scenes realistic will make them less aesthetic, don’t worry. Apart from the fact that the blocks, swings and thrusts still look impressive when executed correctly, I personally felt that my fights get a lot more gripping and visceral if I respect the rules. To a certain extent, unrealistic and flashy combat is plot armor. If your characters can spin and somersault to their heart’s content and no one ever shoves a spear into their backs as they would have in real life, who survives and who doesn’t noticeably becomes arbitrary. If, on the other hand, even one slip-up can result in a combatant’s death, the stakes become palpable.

That’s about it! I hope this post is as helpful to some of you as the lessons were to me. Again, if anything I wrote here is bollocks, it’s probably my fault and not Jeanne’s.  I’ll try to post more stuff like this in the future.

Cheers,

Nicolas

[ladyjeweldragon]

not to sound like a golden retriever on main but the feeling when someone praises me for something i did? indescribable

[ladyjeweldragon]

Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ Resources

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Before we get on with the post, it’s important to note that these are two groups of diverse people who are very unique in many ways! However, in light of the month, (and mainly due to the fact that a lot of the resources available online are for both groups), here is a compilation of resources for Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ people! Other masterposts can be found here (and don’t hesitate to add anything if you have resources to contribute)!

GLSEN Pages:

An article about supporting LGBTQ+ Asian and Pacific Islander Students 

PDF with a timeline of important moments in history for LGBTQ+ Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 

7 Events in LGBT History to Recognize This Month

“Why Educators Should Recognize Queer, Asian Identities in School Curriculum,” an article by Becca Mui

Other organizations:

APIQWTC (Asian & Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Coalition), which provides opportunities for Asian & Pacific Islander queer women and transgender people to socialize, network, build community, engage in inter-generational organizing, and increase community visibility

NQAPIA (National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance), a network of Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander LGBTQ organizations 

Asian Pacific Islander Resource Kit by GLAAD (also links to other resources)

Historical information from the US National Park Service:

Full study

(Chapter 9) Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native America and the Pacific Islands

(Chapter 11) Breathing Fire: Remembering Asian Pacific American Activism in Queer History

(Chapter 18) LGBTQ Civil Rights in America

Index

Some LGBTQ+ Asian/Pacific Islander Creators:

Jean Melesaine (queer, Sāmoan, artist, documentary photographer, and one of the founding members of One Love Oceania)

Ingrid Nilsen (half-Thai, lesbian, beauty vlogger and internet personality)

Kit Yan (trans/queer, Chinese-Hawaiian, playwright, poet, performer, and lyricist)

Chrysanthemum Tran (trans/queer, Vietnamese American poet, performer and teaching artist)

Chella Man (deaf, Jewish-Chinese, genderqueer, artist)

Patrick G. Lee (queer, Korean-American, journalist and filmmaker)

Pati Solomona Tyrell (queer, Sāmoan, artist/photographer based in Tāmaki Makaurau)

Other Helpful/Informational Links:

A collection of links to readings on Asian American gay and lesbian history

Being Asian/Pacific Islander & LGBTQ: An Introduction (an article by the HRC featuring research regarding important issues in the community, as well as links to other resources)

Gender Identity and Sexual Identity in the Pacific and Hawai'i

10 South Asian LGBTQ Books That Changed My Life (an article by Priya Arora)

Wikipedia’s Timeline of Asian and Pacific Islander diasporic LGBT history

Kumu Hina (a documentary about the struggle to maintain Pacific Islander culture/values within modern Hawaiʻi, told through the lens of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, a Native Hawaiian māhū [someone who embodies both a male and female spirit], and an honored and respected kumu [teacher], cultural practitioner, and community leader)

[ladyjeweldragon]

tfw ur friend is venting and you have no idea what to say to make them feel better and you’re all like

[ladyjeweldragon]

[ladyjeweldragon]

“Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced a new bill Tuesday that would aim to provide free meals each weekday to all school children in the U.S. Students would be able to receive free breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack at school, regardless of their socioeconomic status. The bill would also support families in the summer by providing an additional $60 per month on EBT cards.”

source 

this law needs to be passed it’ll literally save millions of struggling families

[ladyjeweldragon]

you can only reblog this today

[ladyjeweldragon]

!!!IMPORTANT FOR BLACK US VOTERS!!!

I saw this on Facebook and went to check my registration status, sure it was fine because I voted recently, but I put in the info and it said I’m not registered

PLEASE, especially if you’re a Black voter, check your registration status at vote.org

[ladyjeweldragon]

[ladyjeweldragon]

lmao😂/smh🙄

[ladyjeweldragon]

Hell world

[ladyjeweldragon]

unpopular opinion but i think the film and tv industries should have better labor laws even if it makes it harder or impossible to depict certain things

[ladyjeweldragon]

Ominous statement generator

month born in jan - the owls feb - the stars march - your enemies  april - the obelisks  may - the crystals june - the secrets july - the crows aug - your teeth sep - the curses oct - the eyes nov - the trees dec - the caves

eye color brown - do not know you green - are not what they seem hazel - cannot reach you blue - are gone when you look away grey - plot revenge other - are not lost but waiting