After so many sleepless nights and so much anxiety, Thorn turns to having a midnight drink. A certain dragon finds them.
“A little late to be out drinking, don’t you think?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah I guess. Couldn’t sleep.”
“I can tell. May I?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’m Ouřa Thorn, by the way.”
“North Heat. Leader of the Rangers. And you?”
“I’m the janitor. And the electrician right now.”
“Really? You look like you’d make a good space rider.”
“Ha-! Yeah- well, with my history, and my powers- I’m more of a ticking time bomb than a ‘good space rider’ but, thanks I guess.”
“History..? Problems with powers hmm? We have a few programs for that if you’d like me to help you get into one-?”
“No, no.. to risky. *sighs* What do you do when you know a part of you is a big danger?”
“I’m not scared of you,”
“Well you SHOULD be. You wouldn’t know, no one but a few do, and most of them are cultist that scream every time they see me…”
“Try me.”
“What?”
“Try me- I can take your power, I’m sure of it.”
“No, no you couldn’t, don’t be stupid.”
“I’m sure I can- try me Oura Thorn, I’m not scared of you.”
“YOU, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT DAMAGE IT CAN CAUSE- YOU-”
*aggressive huffing, tears welling up*
“Take a breath Thorn, it’s okay. You look like shit, man.”
“Haha… It comes with the territory of lack of sleep..”
“Well let’s start there, then. Come on, wheres your house.”
*mumbling* “The storage room….”
“….. Seriously??? Nope, alright, we’re going to my crews place then. Merrit made a some lavender tea last week, so you’re gonna crash on our couch for tonight.”
“Are you sure..? I don’t want to interfere..”
“You don’t have a choice here, if I’m honest.”
The next morning:
FINALLY ITS DONE
*disintegrates*
Wuff that took SO long, but I’m so proud of it damn. Good job me *pats back*
I just hope that it’s up to the beans expectations! Those who saw it seemed very excited and I’m berry grateful <3333333
North heat belongs to the awesome: @north-heats-stronghold
Zane in the last panel belongs to: @moonspiritleaf
And the au (space riders!) belongs to: @onyxonline
"Someone said it, I forget who said it but, like, 'you dream your entire life on being on a team that freakin' good.' Right? It was meant to be—it was destiny. That save Bob made not even fucking looking? Like I bought the t-shirt! 'The Bobbery!' It's—"
"Fuck, yeah!"
"Bob—What's he like?"
"That's the kind-of shit that you realise is just destiny...in my opinion..."
"Does he talk?"
"Does he smile?"
"Bob? Yeah! Bob's awesome! Yeah, yeah—again, one of those perfect people."
The Cam & Strick Podcast | 7.30.24 (x)
even ekky isnt immune to good merch hats off to breakingt thats ekkys most prised possession now XD
YOU MEAN OISIN AND HIS TWO FAVORITE GIRLS? THREE OF MY FAVORITE KIDDOS? ONLY ALWAYS
I latched on so hard to "mean girl with the Garthy O'Brien accent" so I've adopted Ivy, she's one of my favorites, I literally write her on my rp blog, I have a character/timeline study for her in the works so I have many headcanons. Some of these are, as usual, created in conjunction with my friend Nick @starlingcity !!
I've had to cut this down like 3 times because I have so many thoughts about all three of them so literally ask me for more anytime!
Ivy was born in Leviathan. She doesn't remember it much; she and her bio mother (her mama, bc Fabian parallel) emigrated to Solace when Ivy was around 2 or 3. Her accent is sort of a mix of Leviathan and Fallinel, as her second mother (her mum) is a high elf.
She meets Oisin at Oakshield Middle School. He's sitting by himself, reading a spellbook and Ivy, who even before the rage never really knew how to express herself right the first time, tells him it's "too sad" to watch him all alone and insists she has to join him from now on. She does. They're inseparable from then on.
They develop minor separation anxiety after their first death in the Mountains of Chaos; it's tenfold by their revivication in junior year. Jawbone helps them both and also helps them find accredited private therapists.
Oisin has a panic attack for the first time ever during his first appointment with Jawbone, because Ivy isn't there and he's terrified she'll be dead when he comes out.
He has another one when Lucy's out for a summer trip, reconnecting with her family after a year dead, and he hasn't heard back from her in almost a day. Adaine finds him, knees tucked to his chest, arms and tail wrapped around them, just outside of Jawbone's office. It's their first real conversation beyond his initial apology to her.
He laments that he should be stronger than this, should know better. Adaine still doesn't trust him but she understands so she huffs and assures him that anxiety doesn't mean he isn't strong. She has anxiety and she's been in so many battles., defeated so many foes
"I punched a dragon in the face and I have anxiety!" (It makes him laugh. She hates that she likes the sound of it.)
Ivy, as bad as she is with words, is the first to apologize of all the Rat Grinders. Mazey is kind, too kind. Ivy sort of rambles. She isn't even sure why was she so unkind in the first place; she apologizes, says Mazey deserved better. They're not friends but they've buried the hatchet at least. (Years later, they run into each other at a Fig and the Cig Figs concert and smile at each other but say nothing.)
Oisin and Ivy kissed exactly once, at 14, the summer before their freshman year. They were two confused, curious kids who wondered if the warmth in their chests when they were together was meant to be romance. They hated it immediately and never attempted it again. Ruben is still convinced they're exes, though.
Oisin, Adaine, and Ivy end up in the first Bad Kid/Rat Grinder mixed group chat, beyond their initial mega chat with both parties. Oisin kept sharing memes Ivy sent him to Adaine, who would tell him to send Ivy one from Adaine in turn. He got tired of being the middle man eventually and makes them a group thread.
Ivy texts the chat one night that she feels sorry for Adaine, because Oisin is an awful kisser. Adaine tells Ivy to speak for herself. Oisin is too embarrassed to reply for almost an hour, to Ivy's joy
Hello ranger’s apprentice fandom can we talk real quick about the stupidest thing Flanagan ever wrote
It’s about the bows. Yanno, the rangers’ Iconique™️ main weapon. That one. You know the one.
Flanagan. Flanagan why are your rangers using longbows.
“uh well recurve arrows drop faster” BUT DO THEY. FLANAGAN. DO THEY.
the answer is no they don’t. Compared to a MODERN, COMPOUND (aka cheating) bow, yes, but compared to a longbow? Y’know, what the rangers use in canon? Yeah no a recurve actually has a FLATTER trajectory. It drops LATER.
This from an article comparing the two:
“Both a longbow and a recurve bow, when equipped with the right arrow and broadhead combination, are capable of taking down big game animals. Afterall, hunters have been doing it for centuries with both types of bows.
However, generally speaking and all things equal, a recurve bow will offer more arrow speed, creating a flatter flight trajectory and retain more kinetic energy at impact.
The archers draw length, along with the weight of the arrow also affect speed and kinetic energy. However, the curved design of the limbs on a recurve adds to its output of force.”
It doesn’t actually mention ANY distance in range! And this is from a resource for bow hunting, which, presumably, WOULD CARE ABOUT THAT SORT OF THING!
Okay so that’s just. That’s just the first thing.
The MAIN thing is that even accounting for “hur dur recurves drop faster” LONGBOWS ARE STILL THE STUPID OPTION.
Longbows, particularly and especially ENGLISH longbows, are—as their name suggests—very long. English longbows in particular are often as tall or taller than their wielder even while strung, but especially when unstrung. An unstrung longbow is a very long and expensive stick, one that will GLADLY entangle itself in nearby trees, other people’s clothes, and any doorway you’re passing through.
And yes, there are shorter longbows, but at that point if you’re shortening your longbow, just get a goddamn recurve. And Flanagan makes a point to compare his rangers’ bows to the Very Long English Longbow.
Oh, do you know how the Very Long English Longbow was mostly historically militarily used? BY ON-FOOT ARCHER UNITS. Do you know what they’re TERRIBLE for? MOUNTED ARCHERY.
Trust me. Go look up right now “mounted archery longbow.” You’ll find MAYBE one or two pictures of some guy on a horse struggling with a big stick; mostly you will actually see either mounted archers with RECURVES, or comparisons of Roman longbow archers to Mongolian horse archers (which are neat, can’t lie, I love comparing archery styles like that).
Anyway. Why are longbows terrible for mounted archery? Because they’re so damn long. Think about it: imagine you’re on a horse. You’re straddling a beast that can think for itself and moves at your command, but ultimately independently of you; if you’re both well-trained enough, you’re barely paying attention to your horse except to give it commands. And you have a bow in your hands. If your target is close enough to you that you know, from years of shooting experience, you will need to actually angle your bow down to hit it because of your equine height advantage, guess what? If you have a longbow, YOU CAN’T! YOUR HORSE IS IN THE WAY BECAUSE YOUR BOW IS TOO LONG! Worse, it’s probably going to get in the general area of your horse’s shoulder or legs, aka moving parts, which WILL injure your horse AND your bow and leave you fresh out of both a getaway vehicle and a ranged weapon. It’s stupid. Don’t do it.
A recurve, on the other hand, is short. It was literally made for horse archers. You have SO much range of motion with a recurve on horseback; and if you’re REALLY good, you know how to give yourself even more, with techniques like Jamarkee, a Turkish technique where you LITERALLY CAN AIM BACKWARDS.
For your viewing enjoyment, Serena Lynn of Texas demonstrating Jamarkee:
Yes, that’s real! This type of draw style is INCREDIBLY versatile: you can shoot backwards on horseback, straight down from a parapet or sally port without exposing yourself as a target, or from low to the ground to keep stealthy without banging your bow against the ground. And, while I’m sure you could attempt it with a longbow, I wouldn’t recommend it: a recurve’s smaller size makes it far more maneuverable up and over your head to actually get it into position for a Jamarkee shot.
A recurve just makes so much more SENSE. It’s not a baby bow! It’s not the longbow’s lesser cousin! It’s a COMPLETELY different instrument made to be used in a completely different context! For the rangers of Araluen, who put soooo much stock in being stealthy and their strong bonds with their horses, a recurve is the perfect fit! It’s small and easily transportable, it’s more maneuverable in combat and especially on horseback, it offers more power than a longbow of the same draw weight—really, truly, the only advantage in this case that a longbow has over the recurve is that longbows are quicker and easier to make. But we KNOW the rangers don’t care about that, their KNIVES use a forging technique (folding) that takes several times as long as standard Araluen forging practices at the time!
hey guys do we realize that the main difference betwen how kai and midori developed is that kai was given the chance to learn what normal life and love and family was like by working with chidouins while midori was kept under asunaros thumb all his life. do we realize that just a few changes could have kai acting just as cruel and merciless as midori. do we realize that midori is a victim of asunaro too, and though that doesn't excuse his actions it does make them more tragic. do we realize this or are we all being serious when we say midori is the only character who isn't worth redemption.
This one hits very differently because, he was the childhood hero of so many and after I found his social media years ago, I saw how much he cared about his fans.
He cared about all of his fans so much and made sure to have them entertained and feel loved and in return, we made him feel loved.
To find out that he committed suicide is just painful to another level. It's literally how it felt when I found about Chester's death.
Talk to your family and friends everyone, you never know who needs you or when it will be the last time you see them
Rest in Peace, Jason David Frank
Contact your local suicide hotline if you need help
Would the Smithy Gang have a Titanic crying party (AKA watching Titanic)?
Not a crying party : some of them would be confused, others would cry indeed, but mostly the emotional scenes are ruined by Speardovich's jabs at others.