#orr post my art. well. fuck them.

[mutiny-huyutiny]

[just-eyris-things]

im moody so let me talk about my characters and why i am rewriting them so much

SUPER LONG POST. I mean it.

some of you have been following me for quite a while, some of you are a bit newer to my blog, some of you might be seeing this and be thinking "who the fuck are you" and to answer that question - hi, im eyris and i have perma gw2 brainrot!

well that was not where i was going. where i was going was "some of you have seen what my characters have been through and that i quite often rewrite them"

so today i'd like to talk about that a little bit. why is it happening, for the start.

I guess the best answer would be that i am getting better ideas and i am getting better at articulating them. i am also growing as a person, which also changes how i view my characters and what i want to say with their story. and sometimes i feel like things are cringe because not many people like my stuff. in no way i mean to fish for likes, no, i am contempt with what im getting (most of the time). what i mean is that i still feel like this very small and cringy blog among so many great people who have much bigger following, better stories, better art, better...everything, really. i guess a part of me wishes to catch up to them, be more like them, even if that is...1. impossible and 2. probably very stupid in your eyes.

so there's that. now, let's go over some of my characters and how they've changed across the years.

EYRIS, the main-main, game-wise and story-wise changes.

Eyris was my very first character, initially she had no story. TBF when i started gw2 my english wasn't so good and i was very lost with the game's story. I mean, i thought the Elder Dragons were some big bad organisation! Some people called themselves Dragons, something like this. As I said - my English wasnt very good back than. TBF I was like....15, I think. Yeah. I also somehow convinced myself I had to keep Eyris as a sylvari because other 4 character slots were for other 4 races and i had to keep them free! But I loved playing Eyris! SO! I fucking. I fucking deleted Eyris and made her again. over. and over. and over. and over and over and over and over.

AND THEN I went to a theatre on a school trip and we watched a play and the very handsome actor played a teacher named Mister Ross. I was 16 at a time (I think), so of course I was like "I like that name" and... I deleted Eyris for the final time and remade her as Eyris Ross. I had no idea that sylvari, according to canon, had no surnames. So when the time came when I started designing more lore-compliant story for her, my initial idea was that she was in love with a human and thats how she got her surname but he "died or something" and thats why she was now traversing Orr. I remember writing a scene of Eyris entering a Pact tent with Trahearne conversing with other leaders and she went completely off because she was sent on a suicide mission to scout Arah before going after Zhaitan and only she came back. Yeah. That....was a time. Somewhere in that time I also realised I did not like Ross backstory but I didnt want to delete Eyris again, I grew super attached (also all thjat crafting was developed completely...) so I changed her name to...Eyris of the Night. Because she was a Nightbloom and because someone took "Eyris" and I was sad about it. Still am, tbh. Somewhere then also Anriin came to be. A Priory scholar, quite mean... and she was Eyris's girlfriend who killed her in HoT because Eyris was getting corrupted! So tragic! But I scratched that off because I didn't vibe with it. I think I still have sketches though from that time so if I find them I will post them. I was 19 at the time when Eyris/Anriin was a thing. Then the Soundless plot came in. And then...

I used to have a friend. A best friend, actually. We were a package deal. So of course we bound our stories together. Eyris was just someone who happened to be there. She wasn't the Commander or the Dragon's champion. She was Just Some Plant that happened to be at a place at a time and ended up befriending the Commander (that friend's OC). Then Tragic Backstory TM happened. Eyris was a Soundless who was taken by the Nightmare Court. She was saved by a group of mercenaries (Idk who hired them. don't think too much about it). The group consisted of a young charr gladium (love interest), asura twins (siblings figures) and a norn elder (father figure). there was also a Mean Human Girl TM who bullied her because ???? and there was a drama in the group and the Mean Girl then fucking lured them into a trap (the Undead are attacking!) and everyone fucking died! Eyris survived and Trahearne saved her from the risen. Ever since Eyris hated necromancy (death magic, connection to zhaitan, zhaitan killed her loved ones) and mesmers (the Mean Girl was a mesmer). Eyris tracked her for years and she brutally murdered her in the jungle during HoT (how did the Mean Girl end up in Maguuma in the first place???) but revenge didnt help, it only drew her closer to mordremoth. Also her dog died in HoT (Mordremoth corrupted it and she had to kill it)

And then PoF time. She went to the desert. Why? I don't know. She went there and befriended a wild jackal pack for reasons unknown until today. That's how she got her mount and friend, Aiari. A few years ago Eyris became a Dragon Champion because I wanted to get her to have more story involvement and significance. And some time later I scratched off the Mercenary Group and changed them into Just A Norn Dad plot.

Currently Eyris's story is actually in this google docs right here but recently I had a Big Think and realised that No, the Vigil would NOT be swayed! So... you can take a peek on how it looks for now. Big Thanks to my friend Awerzo who shared her idea of character timelines. I stole it. It helps.

I am pretty sure I forgot some plots that existed for some time hhh

MOVING ON. AIRELL. The second Main.

Remember that friend I mentioned in Eyris's story? Well, Airell was initially created with their Commander in mind as his love interest. It did not fly. OG Airell was a shallow fuckboy that flirted with everything that moved. Then I wanted to add trauma because that's what you do, so Nightmare Court Boyfriend!!! Yeah it... didn't fly.

Then there was "unrequited love for Trahearne" plot, and after HoT Airell shut down and left for the mountains. They were supposed to be alone in their grief and die alone. but my earlier mentioned friend asked if they could make a friend for Airell. I reluctantly agreed. And so, Ewyn Rhosyn came to be. Ewyn and Airell had such a great chemistry that even if me and my friend said "just friends", these two fictional chartacters decided to date. Honestly, one of my fondest memories. I still cannot recreate a similar chemistry that these two characters had and believe me, I TRIED SO HARD.

Anyway, before Ewyn... Airell's grief was accompanied by a wish to forget all the pain they had endured. They set off to find djinn as they heard that the djinn could grant wishes. In hopes they could wish for erasing some painful memories, they looked for them, at the same time growing ravenous. When Airell finally encountered a djinn and learned that djinn magic did not work the waythey hoped for, they succumbed to hunger and ate a poor guy. Airell realised they could satiate their hunger with magic and so they became the ravenous djinn eater. Yeah. No, scratch all that. As much as I liked the concept, as a creator I wanted Airell to be likable, and let's be honest. eating people is not really the way to go, is it? Yeah......soooo then i decided to make them suck magic out of people (without killing them). Djinn eater became Deldrimor's Banshee, then I changed the name to Deldrimor's Siren, since I really liked that scary Fear Not This Night version.

As my friend and I lost touch, I held onto Airell and Ewyn for some time and then ditched it for my own sanity. I really liked the name Thorns and Roses though so I made my own gay rose mender - Achilles Flameshaper, who after losing his healing abilities became a therapist on a remote island for people who needed refuge (Whale Tail Island, or as I like to call it - Therapy Island).

The idea was that after Airell reawakened in the heart of Maguuma after the events of HoT concluded and after they learned of Trahearne's unfortunate fate, they mourned and succumbed to the magic hunger and was looking for the source of that big magic signature (cough balthazar cough), in their vinetooth form (pic below) they met Achilles and Eyris heading to the Commander's wedding. Achilles was just giving her a ride. Achilles and Eyris fought the lost mordrem in order to secure the area. Airell gets hurt, detransforms, oh no it's airell! oh no what do we do! Achilles takes Airell to the Island because clearly Airell is both physically and mentally hurting. While that part remains canon for Airell until today, their big romance with Achilles did not bloom as I planned. but you know what started vibing with me? TRAMMANDER. Because I decided to make Airell the commander from PS until the start of HoT and then reassign the commander-ship to them somewhere in the middle of PoF (thanks Nia Furaha for holding the line from HoT to PoF!). And if Trammander is canon.... then we're back to Trahearne angst. and guys, I needed to rework that too, so...

I added the whole Trahearne resurrection (ritual goes wrong! not clickbait!) idea! I am still SOOO vibing with it pls ask me questions about this im vibrating!!!!!!!

The Ewyn plot in PoF/LWs4 is CRAZY and I would need a separate post for that but I dont have time for that. Instead, let me tell you a fun fact - Airell died 1.5 times. 1 - stabbed during HoT and put in a blighting pod, and 0.5 in LWs4 when they got swallowed by Kralk and everyone thought they died but then kralk threw them up (sorry Airell).

NIA FURAHA

Nia was fun. A nice human commander, initially she was supposed to take the role of a commander after me and my friend stopped talking, but with time i decided to pass that role in majority to Airell.

Initially, Nia had a backstory. Which accidentally came out racist, so I won't be talking much about it. What I can talk about comfortably are her vigil years.

OG Nia joined the Vigil to protect people. She became a commander through recommendation and battle prowess. She was proud to be the commander, the hero of Tyria. But then I was replaying LWs2 and had thoughts. I thought what if Nia joined the Vigil to escape Anise's clutches. What if they wanted to get Nia into Shining Blade and she didn't want that? I had that storyline for some time but I don;'t like the person this makes Nia. She would not survive the dragon war with that motivation. So...I'm reworking her again when it comes to her role as a Pact soldier and Part-Time Commander.

Freya Wyldwolf

Freya has a long story. She started off as Freya Riverblade. Which is funny because I played hammer on her. Reasons? It was her father's hammer. Her father "left for a hunt and never came back" (as in he "died or something". again). Her mother was bitter, tried to get her life back together but with a wrong person and freya got a half sister. Her mother hated that child because we need that plot (insert eyeroll here pls) and Freya got her motivation to join the Vigil (previously she was a Whispers agent but only because I liked Tybalt ok).

But scratch all that. Freya now has a twin, her name is Wyldwolf, and her half sister was not neglected. Her mother was not the mother of the year but she tried. Freya comes from a long line of OG Wolf followers, so theres always "wolf" in the second name of her family. She is from Cragstead and is besties with Braham.

Also in IBS she killed a corrupted Spirit of the Forest (cough reworked boneskinner cough) and her name changed to Freya Spiritkiller, she did not take it well and is currently MIA.

....

There's also Yvrell but I'm not vibing with it right now also this post is super long and i've been typing it for hours so.

Yeah.

Thanks for reading, Bye. Or something. Love you.

[salty-medley]

Horses ?

It's a subject which is still on our minds... Horses !

In this concept art from Levi Hopkins you can clearly see one ( concept art from the wiki page so no it's not a simple fanart ) :

If you look at the silhouette you can see it's not a centaur but a rider on his horse.

Now my question is: why paying/hiring someone to make concepts about something you don't plan to put in your damn game ? I know that the horses concepts we could find were ugly as fuck and didn't fit with the actual graphics of the game but I can't believe that they didn't mention to the artist that horses weren't part of the game and accept to post arts with it if it's not relevant.

That, plus the necrid horsemen and banished dream riders in GW :

It looks more like a pony with horns but still. People theorized that they were only in Orr, and died with the land. But the wiki tells us that they were also in Cantha, as one emperor was known for riding it bareback. It also said that krytans ( and a famous mad king) used it as well. As for this concept art, it looks like the old ascalonian aqueduc so in ascalon as well ? It's possible as charrs seems to know the terms horse/pony when referring to centaurs, probably due to ascalonians using it. Asuras seems to know the scent of a horse according to the page... So how and why ?

That they didn't plan to make us riding it I could understand but why simply erasing them since the first game ?

Anyways I think I'll add a sketch based on this skeleton horse to see how they could look in game .

[cyber-zombiee]

*files missing persons report on myself* i've been gone for so long oml (besides from the odd reblog here & there) i keep saying that i'll be more active on here as well as deviantart, but that's the biggest lie ever told pmsl

i've been mostly uninspired/stressed over student finance & my uni application, and my I.D application - as well as dealing with a few personal problems & the usual moodswings, but i'm slowly digging myself out of it a bit and actually attempting to sketch again, it's nothing really worth showing atm but i'll hopefully get working on a couple of things at some point? but most of all i've been thinking of returning to writing my lores for both Kendulun & Z, because i put both of them off like a complete moron.. like i've planned everything out for both, but im having trouble with Z the most. like, i wanna keep it brief but i end up going into too much detail & turn it into a bloody essay :S why is writing stories for art blogs like the hardest thing ever? xD but anyhoo, that aside, i'm doing way better now i've gotten a lot of things out of the way, like student finance - that was a bitch to sort out. also my uni application which wasn't so bad in the end, i went on a bit with my ps but i got told it was good from one of the tutors on the course so everything checked out well there. and i've finally sent off some documents for my provisional license, it was so shitty though because i had to re-take my photo which was literally the worst, THEN i had to find a few things for proof of identity which was a huge pain in the arse - but at least it's over & done with now. orr but god damn i can finally fucking breathe & do what i've been meaning to do for the longest time! soooooo yeah, i really need to start posting more lmao im still figuring out what to do on here art-wise, like i won’t be posting any Z art on here any more (unless it’s necessary) all the main pieces will be over on my draws account when it’s done, same with my KTK account (which’ll be strictly my bubble bobble fanart, bubble dragons & kihoryu’s, since that’s where all that lies p much - it’ll make much more sense when i get the lore written down, trust me!) - like this one will be my strictly-personal/meme-posting/other misc art stuff account aha

like it’s all so confusing but i’ll make it work somehow

[soulfullofold]

another ask box meme below the cut!!!! 🌸✨👀

Tagged by: @boldlywhoa hhheyyhyehyeh whasssUP

Rules: tag 10 of your followers that you want to know better!

Nicknames: ueer i just use my first name but my parents call me KB and my animal crossing villagers call me K-Town 

Height: 5′3 short boy

Time right now: 6:57pm .... ok i took a break and now it’s 10:47pm

Last thing i googled: What’s It Gonna be by Shura so i can watch one of my fave music videos of all time again!!!

Favorite music artist: why always this question omg uhh ive been really into PWR BTTM and listening to T&S’s entire discography... also just listening to @boldlywhoa‘s mchanzo playlist end me lmfao!!! (here!)

Song stuck in my head: none This Very Moment but  ^ cycles on repeat or butterfly by sogyumo acacia band

Last movie i watched: oh god uh im a film minor so this is hard for me to remember .... mm...m.. fairly sure either The Nights of Cabiria OR Notorious but i cant remember on which days i watched them .... ok i just watched moonlight!! so fuckign, good ,

Last tv show i watched: Hello, My Twenties! 

What im wearing right now: my gov school floor shirt, black shorts, a dark green myrtle beach sweatshirt, white hightops

When i created this blog: long time ago

The kind of stuff i post: bæd., , uh but like. mostly shitposts or relatable™ mental health shitposts lmfao, ,,, uhh also overwatch or the adventure zone orr gæy shite

Do you have other blogs:           sweats  ,,, ye... uh i have my aesthetic/art insp blog @370642 , a ref blog, an overwatch shit blog @jesse-mcthoughts, but also like 80 billion saved urls and a few other secret blogs lmfao

Do i get asks regularly: wot no i dont ,,, it’s always quiet here

Why did i chose my url: m this is my first url and ive been too lazy to change my brand even tho i picked it when i was like 14 and in that weird metaphysical hipster edgy phase u know.. the TRUE REAL STORY is that i made a fucking list on paper of all the possible urls i would want and i fucking went in order to see what was taken and what wasnt and this was the first in the list that wasnt l m  f a o   i wanna change it so bad but i feel like. im here now.

Gender:  girl  ll i guess lmfao it’s important to me that im a girl but like,,, gender performance is naught

Hogwarts house: ravenclaw!

Pokémon team: omg , ok, hold on while i pull up my top ten pokes chart i spent like 5 hours making a few months ago.,, OK ofc depends on the region but like if we’re a-regional and without legendaries (mew is , so important to me) here we GOOO: sceptile, arcanine, dratini, alteria, lapras, annd eevee bc i too have no idea what i’ll be when i grow up

Favorite colors:  mmmmmm dark green, black, light blue, natural colors i guess

Average hours of sleep: im really trying to get like 9 but it’s mostly 6 or 7

Lucky number: 23 (birthday!), 42 (trash), 3706 (runescape)  ... i guess that’s like it ?

Favorite characters: always a doozey and always fluctuating but i’ll keep it short: the tos triumvirate, hamlet (lmfaooo we project like men), hanzo, mccree, zenyatta,,, taako,,, garyl... the version of myself that’s cool...

Dream job: im not sure...maybe travelling (photo)/(film)/journalist?? zinemaker if i can make enough for rent and food... artist? im not sure

Number of blankets i sleep with: well the temperature in my dorm room fluctuates a lot bc im on the corner in a brick building that gets full sun... so like... it hot in the day but cold in the night so like 1 thin sheet, 1 medium thique fuzzy blanket (cover?), and a lorge moose-print fleece blanket in the not-summer.... aand sometimes i double up my small k/s fleece blanket to cover my shoulders for the Weight not the warmth. so like. now that im done oversharing, .. 2-3

Following: 556 EJSUS  CHISrt, i just follow so many little-updating art portfolio blogs .... fuucc ,,

anyways i tag: @sunprintedbedsheets @rosalindfranklins @intergalacticvagina @rronanlynnch @sovience @sckwiid @pretendingtobeclever @aquaeus @lesbianzenyatta @quentinscoldwater

[word-katamari]

matpat pls

I know, I know -- we’re all, to some extent, excited about For Honor, and with its release date so close, we’re all lapping up as many videos as we can and buying tickets aboard the hype train.

During my hype-routine, I stumbled across this video. As entertaining as it is, I can’t help but feel that it’s a treasure trove of misinformation, and that its central argument is inherently flawed.

Ordinarily, I’d let this go -- because, after all, it’s a video about Vikings vs Knights vs Samurai -- the premise is fucking batshit, and supposed to be merely a fun thought exercise, and hopefully, hilarious.

However, with the Game Theorist’s claim that they ‘treat old school yard debates with the seriousness of post-graduate dissertations’, one can’t help but feel that they intended to take the topic seriously, and present an informative and intellectual view to their general audience.

This does not seem to be the case.

While I’m sure Matpat and the Theorists had no ill-intentions with their poorly researched video, their points were presented confidently under scholarly pretenses; which, to me, is at best careless, and at worst, disingenuous.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be fair, nor constructive for me to simply leave it at that, so I will now correct and debunk this video.

Let it be known that while I do know a thing or two RE: this subject matter, I do not know everything, and (especially when you consider the sources available) cannot possibly know everything regarding Vikings/Knights/Samurai. Some things have been lost to history.

So, let’s get this started.

1. A FUCKIN’ SUMMARY: your argument is invalid

The Game Theorists, in an effort to come to a conclusion on the question of ‘who would win -- Vikings/Knights/Samurai?’ decided to ‘make the fight fair’ by ruling out any anachronistic armament/technology, and limiting the three factions to equipment/tactics/training that they’d have access to in the 11th century (1000-1100CE).

From this, they concluded that:

The Vikings would be eliminated immediately, due to their ‘poor equipment’

Samurai would defeat Knights due to their focus on the bow, and their ridiculous wealth (allowing them to purchase the best armaments and retainers)

I believe this conclusion to be incorrect because:

The Vikings did not have ‘poor equipment’

Wealth should be equalised in this scenario, much like armament/technology, due to the varied nature of individuals within the three competing groups

Kyuudou (mounted archery) does not confer as much an advantage as implied

Furthermore, as Matpat was unable to state the context of the battle (ie. whether we are talking about 100v100v100, or 1v1v1), it is unclear who the actual combatants are; as 100 fighters are fundamentally a different beast compared to 1.

While I understand that Matpat did explicitly use a 1v1v1 scenario to ‘play the fight out’, he also cited the Samurai’s ability to hire retainers/soldiers/bodyguards to cover his weaknesses as an advantage -- which would be irrelevant in a 1v1v1 scenario.

As such, I will be counter-arguing with a focus on 1v1v1, and only address team combat when appropriate (ie. when debunking Matpat’s claims).

Without further ado, here is why the Vikings would put up a better fight than claimed:

2. VIKINGS: badass for a damn good reason

Right off the bat, the video loses all credibility by positing that ‘vikings’ were ill-equipped, ‘defensive nudists’ with ‘garbage weapons’ and the ‘medieval equivalent of tissue paper’ for armour. They also make the meaningless claim that they would ‘easily crumble against someone who knew what they were doing’.

First, let me remind everyone that the Vikings were raiders, yes -- but they were also settlers, traders, mercenaries, and conquerors. They were an entire culture of people who had, by the 11th century, been from Thracia to the Americas; and not only that -- returned to Scandinavia with both goods and knowledge.

As such, it would be an insult to the Viking legacy to insinuate that they were nothing but nude barbarians.

Contrary to what the video states, the Vikings did have access to quality arms and armor.

For one, Viking armament was generally equivalent to that of their Western European counterparts, considering much of their armament was acquired from other European Kingdoms to begin with. It’s noteworthy that an entire classification of swords are named after the Vikings because a large portion of them were found in Viking graves!

Furthermore, there is a direct mention of armored Vikings in the Saga of Olav Haraldsson (47. OF THE BATTLE AT NESJAR). To quote it directly, it is stated that: “King Olaf had in his ship 100 men armed in coats of ring-mail, and in foreign helmets.” As the Battle of Nesjar happened in 1016CE, it’s quite clear that any determined/wealthy enough Viking would have access to a mail hauberk.

Not only that, but in the Saga of Harald Hadrade (97. SKIRMISH OF ORRE), it is stated that in the Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066 CE), Hadrade’s forces ‘threw off their coats of ringmail’, which resulted in heavy casualties. This is further evidence to 11th century Viking access to mail armour.

Additionally, ever since the 10th century, the Vikings consistently flocked to ‘Miklagard’ (aka. Constantinople, aka. the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire) to join the Varangian Guard (appropriate music); many of which returned home. Do you really think these crack shock troops of the Basileus himself would not return to Scandinavia with a few pieces of Roman gear with them; let alone their training and experience?

Matpat also seems to discount or not acknowledge the effectiveness of the shields employed in that era. Yes. Viking shields were made primarily of wood -- but that didn’t make them ‘shoddy’ or ‘poor quality’. In fact, wooden shields have been the norm across centuries -- and work just fine against most conventional medieval weaponry (like arrows).

All of this completely contradicts the basis of Matpat’s argument -- that the Vikings would be out of the running due to inferior equipment. That claim is blatantly untrue, and it’s clear that the Vikings would be on par with the Knights in terms of equipment -- if not identical.

I would also like to dismiss the claim that the Vikings ‘would easily crumble against someone who knew what they were doing’. This is a nonsensical claim that can be applied to any fighter. A Navy SEAL would easily crumble against someone who knew what they were doing. A child would easily crumble against someone who knew that they were doing. In martial arts and combat, there is always someone better.

To conclude this segment, I will now summarise and counter the duel which Matpat narrates:

The Viking charges in a display of bravery.

Why? What’s the purpose of charging into a fight without properly assessing the situation? They’re Vikings, not idiots.

And then he takes an arrow to the back.

If he were fighting smartly, he wouldn’t. He’d be behind his shield. Or loosing arrows back.

Blade to the side.

This implies that the Viking doesn’t know how to use their shield, or how to fight. Considering Matpat has the Knights use longswords (???), this seems unlikely. I’m a longsword fencer. I have difficulty fencing i.33 guys and gals with their teensy bucklers. A big, Viking round shield would provide an edge over a two-handed weapon, due to the fact that you can effectively close off entire lines of attack, while simultaneously striking.

The Viking’s desperate axe swing ‘rejected’... His rudimentary armaments no match...

A sturdy, wooden shield and a damn dinner knife can serve perfectly fine in a fight, as long as the fighter knows how to use them. I don’t thin, it’d be unreasonable to assume that the Viking in this scenario would know how to use his weapons.

3. WEALTH IS IRRELEVANT: seize the means of consumption!

Wealth is definitely important, when considering conflict -- but that’s like saying breathing is important when considering living.

Money means better equipment and training; but it’s also finite, and dependent on an individual’s factors.

Most Samurai would be able to afford expensive equipment, due to the fact that the Samurai class is a much smaller and more specific class than ‘Knights’ or ‘Viking’.

However, there were likely incredibly rich Vikings and Knights as well; just as how there were less-wealthy Samurai.

As such, I feel it would be more in the spirit of the scenario to consider that all three combatants were equipped with the best armaments they’d have access to in the 11th century.

4. WHY KYUUDOU ISN’T THAT EFFECTIVE: and why ringmail is so damn popular (even in Japan)

Let me start by saying that horse archery is effective -- against unarmored targets.

The moment you throw mail and shields into the mix (of which the Vikings and Knights had aplenty), those arrows suddenly fall off a cliff in regards to effectiveness.

Yes. Mail. Ringmail. Chainmail.

Contrary to popular belief, mail (riveted, not butted) was highly effective at preventing piercing damage. Don’t believe me? Here’s a video of a pilum being thrown full force at a properly made set of mail. Of course, Eldgrim explains that there’s still a lot of kinetic energy being transmitted through the armor, but with the gambesons (padded armor) that many wore beneath their hauberks, this would mitigate some of the impact.

Most videos you find on the internet that show mail being penetrated usually shows butted mail -- which is an absolutely useless form of armor.

The only type of damage that butted mail can effectively prevent is slicing. I don’t mean a chop or a swing of a sword -- I mean a sawing or a drawing motion, and let’s be real here -- a padded jacket can do that, and be much cheaper.

Riveted mail is a different beast entirely. While it’s not impervious to all piercing attacks, it is impervious to most -- and coupled with a gambeson, and a good helmet, the wearer will drastically reduce their vulnerability to a Samurai’s arrows.

Furthermore, in an arena setting, a Viking or a Knight could easily just turtle the fuck up behind their shield, and wait for the mounted Samurai to... Run out of arrows -- or come to them.

Matpat also brings up the mobility of ou-yoroi armor for some reason. I can only assume he brings this up to imply that the mail hauberks used in Western and Northern Europe in the 11th century were heavy and clumsy -- but considering that full sets of ou-yoroi weighed around 30kg, they aren’t particularly the lightest sets either.

Not only that, but their design and shape, compared to mail, makes their wearers less dextrous, and agile. The bulky pauldrons, arm guards... Etc.

Mail, by contrast, is flexible. It’s like wearing a shirt. Sure, it can be heavy if you let it hang from your shoulders, but if you tie a belt round your waist, all that weight gets evenly distributed along your core, and bam, it really is like wearing a shirt.

Therefore, ou-yoroi being designed to allow for the most mobility is a non sequitur. It’s made even more nonsensical when you consider that all armor (save for jousting armor) is made for mobility -- how the fuck else are you gonna fight in it, then?

Also, Matpat mentions that ou-yoroi covers more areas of a person’s body -- when in reality, 11th century ou-yoroi covered just as much as a mail hauberk. Upper body, upper legs.

5. OTHER MISCONCEPTIONS AND CONCLUSION

At around 9:30 of the video, Matpat introduces knights as having used Longswords during the 11th century. This is incorrect. Longswords became popular/in-use primarily during the 14th century. It is an anachronistic technology in this 11th century scenario.

He also tells us to look to the Warden class for some ‘really accurate knight weaponry’ but... idk man, that is probably the longest and bulkiest longsword i’ve ever seen... (distal taper, where?)

There are a few more that I’ll save for a later article -- but for now, I’ve downed way too much coffee to be healthy, and will now move to my conclusion:

If the best equipped and trained Viking, Knight, and Samurai were put into a battlefield -- there is no clear picture on who will win.

Also, do some damn research.

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Heather Derr-Smith

is a poet with four books, Each End of the World (Main Street Rag Press, 2005), The Bride Minaret (University of Akron Press, 2008), Tongue Screw (Spark Wheel Press, 2016), and Thrust winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky/Editor’s Choice Award (Persea Books, 2017). Her work has appeared in Fence, Crazy Horse and Missouri Review. She is managing director of Cuvaj Se, a nonprofit supporting writers in conflict zones and post-conflict zones and divides her time mostly between Iowa and Sarajevo, Bosnia.

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

I often say my inspiration to write poetry came from the movie Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders. I remember that film as instigating me to make a declaration of knowing how I wanted to live my life and what I wanted to “do.” It was an epiphany. I wanted to be one of the angels, listening and observing, but also I wanted to be like the angel who chose to become human to experience the world, fall in love even with all its pain. I realized I loved the world. I realized there was a world outside of myself to love. This was a coming of age moment for me, at about sixteen.

But also I was inspired all along by language, a fascination with words, a desire to create a self that had been fractured by trauma in childhood and into adulthood. I have early memories of writing every word I knew all over the church bulletin. There was scripture and gospel songs with weird images and the preaching. I hated my religious upbringing for its authoritarianism and it’s deep immorailty as it paved the way for what we see now in Trump. But the language of the scripture and the hymns I loved very much.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Our home had no books, no literature. My parents came from poverty, were the first generation to rise out of poverty, but were not college-educated.  My mother drove the right-wing religious climate in the home, and she and my stepfather drove the right-wing political in concert. I’d say the psalms were he first poems I heard. But I do remember an antique book my mother had called “A Child’s Garden of Verses” and I believe a poem I loved about having to go to bed early in summer when it’s still light out and the birds are singing and you want to play. But my first introduction to poetry in the sense we think of it had to have been the Smiths, with “Keats and Yeats are on your side–but Wilde is on mine.” which led me to ask who are Keats and Yeats? There was literature in school which I did love. The usual books we were required to read in middle school and into high school. I loved those. But I really loved the literature I found through the music I loved–The Stranger by Camus, from the Cure as another example. I found so much through references in the music of the time (the 80’s) but also I wrote poems based on song lyrics, impressionistic, associative, and to me these fragments which were based on song lyrics were my poems.

3. How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older poets traditional and contemporary?

I had no older poets until I finally got to the University of Virginia. I ran away from home, was homeless for a while, got an apartment, waited tables, found my way to one year of Liberty University (the only way I could imagine going to college) then transferred after a year to the University of Virginia. Charles Wright, Rit Dove, and Greg Orr were teachers then. I had no idea who they were. You had to apply to get into their undergraduate workshops. I did and got in and started writing poetry. I knew nothing. I did not know the graduate students. I wasn’t very well educated because I had endured so much trauma in high school in and out of the home, that I really wasn’t learning much formally. I only knew my teachers, who I loved; my peers, who I also loved; and I got to know poets in books: Philip Levine, John Berryman, Sylvia Plath, Li-Young Lee. I applied to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and had no idea what it was all about. I just knew if you were a poet you were supposed to go to Iowa, so I applied and went.

There I loved my teachers, Mark Doty and Marvin Bell especially, Jorie Graham. The ones I didn’t love I still learned from. I did not know any other poets outside of class. I didn’t got to AWP. There was no social media.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I have notebooks I keep in a stack on a table in my bedroom. Each notebook is labeled  with projects I’m working on. One is “Arabic” for learning arabic, “Bosnian” for writing poems  in Bosnian, “french” for writing poems in french. Then titles of book projects “Heathen” for gender identity stuff. “Violence” for exploring ideas about violence in writing–boxing, war–resistance etc. I have a “commonplace book” which is fragments and notes from my reading. I do not write every single day, but I am mindful of always engaged in the process of writing. I trust my mind and heart to be absorbing, listening, taking in, attentive to the world. I take notes when I want to remember something specific, and I do my notebooks regularly enough–maybe just 15 minutes a day for a few days or a couple days out of the week, and over time I have a compilation of ideas, themes, lines, words, images, etc.  There’s always something connected to writing that I do every day because it’s all connected to writing–watching a film, reading the news, corresponding with friends or loves, looking at art, listening to music, loving my animal friends, al of it goes into my work. I just strive for balance like breathing–taking in and breathing out, active creation and restful re-creation.

5. What motivates you to write?

It seems to be something I have to do and was born to do. It feels inherent to me and myself. It feels like a whole way of being.

6. What is your work ethic?

I work hard. I love to work. I’m satisfied in my labor. At first I would have been driven to work in my home life with chores and a high level of parentification–a drive to meet the emotional and psychological needs of the adults around me, which meant trying hard to please and trying hard not to get in trouble. Then I revolted against the abuse at home and said “Fuck this!” and left. But with my friends who had also experienced a lot of trauma, were runaways, homeless etc. we created our own families and had to work. We were so young, 15, 16, 17 and up. And it wasn’t perfect and we retraumatized one another in many ways, but it was honestly better for my spirit and my mind and heart than homelife had been.

So I found a way to be proud of my own labor and that has stuck with me. Now I’m 48 and I am a big big believer in NOT doing things. I believe in canceling, saying no, not leaving the house, and not being “productive.”  I believe in naps, sitting quietly, and snuggling the dogs. I still like being productive and working hard but I do not like striving at all. Striving to “make it” that feeling that this could “lead to something” bigger, better. Nope nope nope.

I spent some time in an Amish-mennonite community and I liked the idea of work as sacramental, mopping floors, working in the garden, caring for children and animals and others as a way of connecting and loving, not trying so much to amass wealth or be “productive” in the capitalist sense. That has stuck with me.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

Sylvia Plath’s rage and violence are still something in my poems that I’m interested in exploring. Berryman’s weird syntax which also connects to Shakespeare and the Bible. Charles Wright’s similes and metaphors and stringing together images with a colloquial bit of diction, with a quote from a philosopher. Larry Levis’ “I” who is deeply empathetic and wanders ut from his own self into the wider world.Mark Doty’s ethics and authenticity of emotion. These are all things still with me.

8. Whom of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

I admire so many. I think it would be impossible to name them, they just keep coming. Twitter has been a boon and a curse. I’ve managed to curate my twitter in such a way that I am surrounded by a really wonderful, diverse, generous, community of writers at all stages in their callings. I learn from all of them every day.  I hate to name names because then I will leave someone out. There are at least hundreds, if not thousands. It’s a little overwhelming. But certain books have been particularly groundbreaking for me in the last couple years. I would say Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic is one, Gabrielle Calvocoressi’s Rocket fantastic is another and Justin Phillip Reed’s Indecency. Those three have just blown open so many doors I want to hang out a while in those rooms.

9. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I keep working on my non-profit, Cuvaj se/Take Care. I’ve chosen to spend a great deal of my time and energy the last few decades facilitating poetry workshops in conflict zones and post-conflict zones and communities affected by trauma and violence. I started back in 1994 while I was learning about poetry and the war in Bosnia was culminating in genocide. I went over to volunteer in a refugee camp and I made a lifelong commitment to that country through more than twenty years of ongoing recovery. All of my earnings from poetry go into this work and all of the work has been self funded, and expanded to other countries, including Syria, and most recently Ukraine. I started the non-profit so that I could apply for grants to help build capacity and do more. We do poetry workshops that emphasize lgbtq rights, human rights, interethnic cooperation, migrant rights, critical thinking etc. and we also fund writers with grants to support their work, fundraise for emergency/critical financial support, and translation. Donations to Cuvaj se from individual donors always goes directly to writers or students in need to support their work. Running a non-profit is new to me, and I’m learning as I go and I’m taking it slow. https://cuvajse.org/

My fifth manuscript is to be published in 2021, but I can’t say anything more about that yet! There’s a lot in it about gender, seuality, violence, and God, my familiar themes (or demons? I like that use of a familiar) I remain obsessed with. But I am happy for the amount of time I have to really dig in hard with revisions and to make it the strongest book I can write. I don’t move on to the next book until I get the present one published–so every bit of my energy and strength will go into it.

I’m also having so much fun making poetry videos. I was hugely inspired by Agnes Varda and have been making these little clips of poems, readings, with sometimes goofy video. I love it and I want to take a film class and learn how to make more and better ones. I don’t care if they are amateurish or seem unpolished. I learned from Agnes varda just to do what you love and give your heart to it and learn as you go. I think this is the link to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChhjf1Vp_5o6siKsuhv_G0A?view_as=subscriber My poetry website is here: https://heatherderrsmith.com/

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Heather Derr-Smith Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.