#brotherbands

[honeyinmycoffee]

EVERY DAMN Ranger's Apprentice after 10 seconds of silence:

[brotherbandchronicles]

[thelastranger]

[mostlywhump]

I respect that John Flanagan is trying to be more respectful and progressive in his writing. It’s great that his writing continues to improve instead of trying to stay exactly the same like so many authors do.

That being said, I’m just waiting to find out whether he’ll make Hal or Maddie gay because it’s definitely going to be one of them.

I was just chilling and then he randomly referred to Hal as both “handsome” and “very fit” and I was like OHHH OK we’re not done with him yet

[falconfate]

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!

Okay.

Okay I think I’m done. For now.

[jade-of-mourning]

@twofoursixohjuan x (unedited below cut)

[copper-skulls]

The Heron!

[smurlse]

As someone who’s worked on a lot of ships I actually love Flanagan’s description of what Edvin’s does on the ship

Having the medic and the chef be the same person is very common. Their job is about making everyone else able to do their job to the fullest of their ability.

They are an essential part of the crew. A common saying is that it’s even more important for the crew to stay on the chef’s good side than on the captain’s good side. Because if you don’t, they’ll make food that no one likes and it will demoralized everyone

(On a ship you live for your next meal)

Anecdotally, my watch once ended up annoying the chef and I have never been on a more miserable trip

I don’t know if this makes much sense to anyone else but me. But Edvin is very close to my heart and I just want everyone to know how important it is to have someone like him in your crew

[sister-of-the-brotherband]

Jesper: Putting soup in the square tupperware just... makes no sense. It should be put in the round tupperware, which is soup shaped.

Stefan, who lives with him:

[swordanddreamcatcher]

Lydia: *trying to pull Edvin up from the side of a cliff he fell off of*: Edvin, I can’t hang on!

Edvin: Pretend I’m your teammate, Lydia!

Lydia: *loosens her grip*

Edvin: NOT JESPER- NOT JESPER

[just-your-local-rafan]

hi

Hello brotherbanders, I am here to humbly ask to join this wonderful amazing brilliant (yet tiny) fandom. If you’ll have me I'll be glad to up the number of people in this fandom from ten to eleven.😊

[dear-ranger-i-drank-your-coffee]

flanagan really wrote "edvin embroidered a small, flying heron to all the brotherhood's hats overnight" as if that wasn't a fucking oxymoron on several levels (<- said jokingly by a guy who had to make 18 heron patches for kids and experienced first-hand 'small' and 'open-winged' and also 'recognizeable as a heron' are a pick-two situation very much lmao)

[brotherbandchronicles]

Somewhere along the way, Mikkel's kid became Thorn's kid, and nobody batted an eye.

[thelastranger]

Guys I'm getting married in like three weeks and I'm so excited! :)

[peapodsinspace]

Not to suddenly transform this blog into a book blog but…

[vilintux]

It's 1.30 AM and I cannot fall asleep so here are some BB Heirons headcanons:

) Stefan used to cry easily, but learned how to control it.

) Jesper loves hugs but is scared to ask for them.

) Stig is crazy over head pats (Hal likes to tease him bc of that).

) Ofc Ingvar is a cudlle bug.

) The heroins like to wear matching costumes on Halloween, but they don't always do that.

) when Thorn was a kid, he liked to collect pretty rocks and seashells.

) little Edvin got hit by a rock in the eye and got a black/blue eye, so now he is afraid... of... flying rocks???

) Jesper wishes on Dandelions.

) Lydia has a friend who died saving her (IM SORRY-).

) Hal is very VERY ticklish.

) Ulf and Wulf loved playing hide and seek with each other, just because they would always find the other twin and claim that they are better (Twin magic).

Edit: some people liked this post at night. DO YOU PEOPLE DON'T SLEEP?