#BroadSword

[bad-comic-art]

Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #117 (2019)

[armthearmour]

An early Basket-hilted Broadsword,

OaL: 42.5 in/107.9 cm

Blade Length: 36.5 in/92.7 cm

Width: 5.75 in/14.6 cm

Depth: 4.25 in/10.8 cm

Weight: 3 lbs/1360.8 g

Potsdam, Germany, hilt ca. 1540, blade 17th century, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[elmushterri]

THE REST OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS! (Rough concept)

So everyone here but Jules (until Season 4 ish, that kinda place) would name their friend group Team Queen.

There’s Freddie (Frederick), he’s a rich kid from a wealthy family who also happens to be goth. He’s super kind, very fashion forward. His mortal wounds are on his palms and his weapons are a Broadsword, targe (circular arm shield) and dirk (the dagger he’s holding with his shield hand). A HEMA fencing thing! He died in a fire and his power.. which I’m now deciding to call “Saving Grace”, meaning ‘a power that would’ve saved someone from their death’ is being able to become fire. Not every saving grace is as obvious as his, sometimes they can be abstract. Many people can die in the same way but have completely different saving graces.

Carter is a sort of ‘mean girl’, she doesn’t adopt that title but she’s too insecure and defensive to change her behaviour. She’s fine, mostly, just very blunt. Her mortal wound is on her head, she was crushed between (working idea) two large, heavy objects. Her weapon is a sabre. I contemplate giving her dual sabres.

Captain V’s the captain of the royal guard and the adult of the group. They’re much older than most knights. Died by pushing someone out of the way of a falling diamond chandelier and being pierced in the back. Their weapon is a rapier which doesn’t have space to be drawn on the image 😭.

Yeah eventually Jules joins Team Queen and gets a haircut. Thinking about it, I wanna make it clear that Jules isn’t an Amity Blight type, she was ‘always’ kind and much softer and more naive. She’s the kind of antagonist that’s pretty kind cause she doesn’t think she’s… the antagonist. She’s just ‘aggressive’ to Sidra but in a pitying way because Sidra didn’t choose to be Queen. Captain V really dislikes Jules in the start.

[broadsandbroadswords]

no matter what your favorite sword is though you can find it in our zine!

[blue-and-gilt]

Early 18th Century Venetian 'Schiavona' Sword

The Schiavona is an iconic basket-hilted sword that was closely associated with the Italian city state of Venice. The earliest examples are believed to have come from an elite body of Slavic soldiers hired by the Venetian council, and date back as far as the late 16th Century.

Schiavona are identified by their unique basket hilts and 'cats head' pommels. The renowned sword historian and author, Ewart Oakeshott grouped the schiavona basket hilts into two broad categories, the simplified Type 1 with it's broad flat bars, and the Type 2 of lattice work design.

They Type 1 hilt began to appear around the early 1600's and the first Type 2 between 1620 and 1630. Type 1's remained in use for most of the 17th Century after which Type 2 hilts became dominant.

Over the life of schiavona swords, (1600 - 1797) their hilts became increasingly complex and ornate as they became associated with the character of Venice, with the upper levels of society also carrying their own schiavonas.

Based on the features of the hilt, this sword most likely dates to 1710 - 1740. The iron pommel and 93 cm blade suggest that it is of munitions grade and was likely carried by a regular cavalry man.

Stats: Overall Length - 1,075 mm Blade Length - 930 mm Point of Balance - 165 mm Grip Length - 135 mm Inside Grip Length - 94 mm Weight - 1,090 grams

[schweizercomics]

A DREAM OF SWORDS campaign

The Kickstarter for A DREAM OF SWORDS is one week in, and has hit all of its original stretch goals!

So even though the book is an embossed 2-color hardcover now (with silver foil on the horizon) and has twenty-five more drawings in than it did when it launched, it's still going to only be $16 plus shipping for backers. The price will go up for retail after the campaign is over but one of the things that I think is really neat about kickstarter is, thanks to the stretch goals, the folks supporting it out of the gate get more for less.

Also, because I'm doing twenty-five more drawings, that means there are now plenty of original pieces left for backers at that level.

Thanks so very much to everyone who's supported this campaign, and who told others about it and shared it. I really, really appreciate it!

[burnouts3s3]

Star Wars: The Old Republic / SWTOR: 7.5.1 Date Night with Vette and Male Sith Warrior

[honeydewcorporation]

They call it a broadsword ’cause it’s for women

[oodlife]

Actor Wilf Scolding who played Vanis Tigo in Andor is the new voice of the male Imperial Agent in SWTOR.

[airlocksandaviaries]

So, You Want to Write a Sword Fight.

Welcome to Your Local Sword Girlboy’s crash course on how to write a sword fight! We’re going to cover all the basics, from understanding context, to pacing, even some good ways to research! So buckle up gays, and let’s learn How to Sword.

First, what kind of sword are you wielding? There are so many different swords and forms and they’re all very different. But not only in the way you might think. Obviously the way the swords are held and wielded and the weight they have makes a difference how you write the battles, but even more so than that is TYPE OF FIGHT. Sabers, Epées, and Foils all have specific ways their bouts are set up and executed, and it has to do with a highly important cultural system of honor. Is this an honorable bout? Or a fight for survival? Or a fight for revenge? How much do these characters respect each other and how desperate are they?

This will affect the setup of the fight more than you think. For example, the target area. Or other weapons involved. If it is an honorable fight between two parties that respect each other, they will only hit on the front area of each others’ target, and will only make contact with their blades on each other. If it is a fight for survival, however, all bets are off. Any area on each others’ bodies is valid target area, and they might be more inventive while fighting, like slamming each other with the hilt, or using another improvised weapon nearby to win. It’s important to consider.

Now let’s talk about types of swords specifically. Sabers, Epées, and Foils are all incredibly light and whippy, and are held with one hand. They can be maneuvered very fast and can perform some very fast actions, and are GREAT for feinting (more on this later). They can change direction quickly with a whip of the fingers, and are usually used in very honorable bouts. Foils and Epées are for stabbing, while Sabers are for slashing opponents. All of these swords, though, use VERY small and quick movements. The fighter wielding one of these even makes themself smaller with a squatting stance and only one side facing the opponent. Everything is quick and precise. Footwork is key.

Rapiers and cutlasses are heavier, but still operated with one hand. These are favored by pirate types, and are used for slashing and sometimes stabbing. Another detail is that these can also be accompanied by a parrying dagger, held in the opposite hand as the Rapier and used for blocking the opponent’s blade out of the way.

Now the one you’ve been waiting for, longswords and broadswords (and lightsabers as well). These are usually two handed weapons, but can be one-or-two handed. They are heavier, and take more strength to control, but believe me when I say they are NOT clunky or slow. You CAN perform a feint with a longsword. I HAVE done it before (not successfully, but that’s just a skill issue on my part, let’s not dwell on it). The way these swords are maneuvered are with wider swings, for cutting OR slashing, and to protect the whole body. Footwork is important as well, but it’s terrible on the knees if you run too much with these (because they’re so goddamn heavy) so it’s not like you can run a marathon with a longsword like you can with a foil or saber. (of course if it’s a lightsaber all bets are off bc that thing is made of light and it's wielded by a space wizard so whatever).

Alright next. Let’s get GRANULAR. Let’s talk about very specific types of attacks and blocks and how to phrase this. Now, don’t worry, you don’t have to be a fencing expert to talk about the specific moves, because the audience will understand what you’re saying. It’s just about being specific enough to where you can paint a picture in their heads but not too specific to where the fight loses its suspense.

So, first, let’s talk about attacks and blocks, and what to call them. For any sword, extending the blade is holding it out in front of you. Thrusting is when you make a jabbing attack with the blade. And finally, lunging is when you throw your body forward with the attack, specifically throwing out your front leg and leaning into it, while keeping your body level with the floor to keep balance and make it easy to recover into a guard position.

Now for blocks. Pushing the blade out to block the opponent’s blade is called a parry. When you attack your opponent back immediately after taking their blade in a parry, it’s called a riposte. You don’t need to use this word, though, because I’ve found that just saying something like “They parried her blade and then thrusted towards her chest,” works quite well. 

SIDE NOTE: if both of your opponents have the same pronoun set, I’m so fucking sorry. It doesn’t get any easier. It’s the Gay Fanfiction Dilemma, I’m afraid. But if you’re already versed in that, use the same workarounds for pronouns and titles for fighting as you do for fucking, it works pretty much the same way ;). (But PLEASE don’t be afraid to use their names. I promise nobody is going to kill you if you say the characters' names twice in a single paragraph. It’s MUCH better than having to read “the blond” or “the tall one” or “the younger woman.”) Basically, just use their names a lot. It’s quicker and I promise you it works.

Now where were we? Ah yes. Attacks and blocks. I already covered those, but surprise, there’s a secret third thing, and it’s my very favorite move. Feinting. It’s quite simple really, it’s an extension of the blade, a faked attack, to get your opponent to try to parry or block or move their blade, only to switch your movement to avoid their blade and attack them back. It’s fun and can be extremely effective, and it also can be used in many different types of ways. Any way you can get your opponent to try to parry your blade in one place, like a high or a low attack, expect where their blade is going to be, and then avoiding it works as a feint. Or you could engage the blade, and move it around with your own blade to get it away from your target area and slide in for a riposte. This is my specialty. And it makes a KILLER shiiiiiiing sound as well. It sounds confusing, but it can actually be written quite simply. Let’s give an example:

“A thrusted out their blade in a feint. But just as B’s blade leaped for it, A withdrew their arm and took B’s blade up in a quick engagement. They swung it around and metal scraped against metal as A pushed B’s blade away from pointing at their chest to a harmless position beside their thigh. Then, in the same flowing movement, blades still locked, A pushed their blade back up for a deadly thrust at B’s chest.”

Not bad, if I do say so myself. Although this comes from having executed that maneuver a hundred times personally. There’s still hope for you though, as a non-fencing sword writer, I promise! You just gotta research and read a bit. But more on that later.

Next let’s talk about footwork. It’s not the most important part of the fight, but it is worth mentioning every once in a while in your scene, just to give the audience a sense of space for where your characters are, especially if they’re in a precarious position like a mountain or a pirate ship. Remember that swordfighting requires a LOT of backwards and forwards movement on both parties’ parts, so give your characters lots of room!

That brings us to our next point. Pacing. Now, here’s something you NEED to know about real life sword fights. They are MUCH faster than you think they are. Most of the fight is pacing back and forth, trying to gain right of way (if you’re in foil), and testing your opponent to see where they’ll go. Just a few seconds of blade engagement, and then it’s back to pacing back and forth to see who’s going to jump first. Also some testing to see how trigger happy your opponent is but thrusting towards them and seeing if they’ll attack back or retreat. Basically, irl sword fights are just 70% foreplay and 20% actual stabby stab. 

But this is not great for fun sword fight scenes! Remember it’s okay to stretch the truth, and focus on the swordplay actions, stretch them out as much as necessary. Especially if your characters are superhuman. Just consider throwing in a few moments of pacing and sussing each other out, I promise it’s worth it. Not just to break up the constant fighting, which can get tiresome, but also because characters get tired too! Superhuman or not, fighting is exhausting on all parties. It’s not unusual for two sword fighting individuals to suddenly break and have a moment of analysis, slowly circling each other. I promise it won’t break your tension, if anything it will just increase it.

Now let’s talk about how to ACTUALLY get better and writing these scenes. And no, I’m not going to say ‘practice.’ Because while practice is important, so is RESEARCH and OBSERVATION.

There’s many ways you can research and observe as a non-sword individual! First I recommend watching clips of actual sword fighting, specifically women’s olympic foil (because they have the most technique out of all the other swords and categories). Also, watching sword fighting scenes in movies is good. It’s a dramatized version, of course, but that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve in writing. It’s good to watch the character’s perspectives as they fight, and how the action washes over us as an audience.

Finally, I recommend actually reading sword fights in stories. The best author for fantasy sword fights, hands down, is R.A. Salvatore. His books are super cool D&D fantasy quest stories centered around a badass but also cute and compelling Drow character who gets into sword fights ALL THE TIME. And nobody writes a sword fight like Salvatore. Reading his work has probably helped me more in writing sword fights than my actual knowledge of how to sword fight.

I hope this has helped somewhat! Or was just fun to read. Either way, I enjoyed writing it. I love writing sword fights and I love sword fighting and I love helping, so I was happy to make this. Also, I have lots more technical knowledge I would love to share on this subject, so if you have anything you want to know about how swords or sword fights work or how to write something, I’m open for asks! Even if I don’t know you! Feel free to reach out with a question or a comment, I’ll geek out about swords any day.

Anyway that’s it my writer friends and fellow sword enthusiasts, good luck and happy writing! <3

 @veradragonjedi

[steellegacy]

⚜️ Broadsword of Oliver Cromwell, England, c. 1650

Medium: Iron alloy (steel), partially engraved; chiseled; silver wire; wood

Length (overall): 96.8 cm

Blade: 82.6×4.9 cm

Hilt: 12.9×11.7 cm

Pommel: Height-5.4 cm, Diameter-3.3 cm

Weight: 1405 g

Facts:

▪️ August 9, 1655 - Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell divides England into 11 districts

▪️ Cromwell is an iconic figure in British history

▪️ He was a key figure in the trial and execution of King Charles I

▪️ He has the peculiar distinction of being the only political criminal to be executed two years after his death

Cromwell was exhumed from his grave in 1661 and put on trial by the late king's son, Charles II. Posthumously convicted of high treason, Cromwell's corpse was hanged and beheaded, and his head was impaled on a 6-meter spike atop Westminster Hall. The mummified head remained on the spike for more than 20 years

▪️ In 1960 (300 years after Cromwell's death), Dr. Horace Wilkinson donated the head to Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge, Cromwell's alma mater

"Cromwell's head is buried somewhere in the college chapel, supposedly in a biscuit tin" (says Stuart Orme, curator of the Cromwell Museum)

▪️ Cromwell's most famous quote is "Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry," but there's no proof that he actually said it. The line comes from a 19th-century poem called "Oliver's Advice" based on a "well-authenticated anecdote" associated with Cromwell

▪️ September 3 is a fateful date: Cromwell routed the Scots at Dunbar (1650). The Battle of Worcester would prove to be the final action of the English Civil Wars (1651). Cromwell's first Parliament met on 3rd September, 1654.

▪️ Cromwell died suddenly at age 59 on 3rd September 1658. He suffered from a lethal combination of malaria and typhoid fever.

- -

⚜️ Палаш Оливера Кромвеля, Англия, ок. 1650

Материалы: сталь, гравировка; серебряная проволока; дерево

Длина (общая): 96,8 см

Лезвие: 82,6×4,9 см

Рукоять: 12,9×11,7 см

Навершие: высота-5,4 см, диаметр-3,3 см.

Вес: 1405 г

Факты:

▪️ 9 августа 1655 г. Лорд-протектор Оливер Кромвель делит Англию на 11 округов

▪️ Оливер Кромвель - человек, повлиявший на ход истории Англии

▪️ Он был ключевой фигурой в судебном процессе и казни короля Карла I

▪️ Известен тем, что является единственным политическим преступником, казненным через 2 года после своей смерти. Был эксгумирован в 1661 г. и предан суду сыном покойного короля Карлом II. Посмертно осужденный за государственную измену, труп Кромвеля был повешен и обезглавлен, а его голова была пронзена 6-метровым штырем. Мумифицированная голова оставалась на крыше Вестминстерского дворца более 20 лет

▪️ В 1960 г. (через 300 лет после смерти Кромвеля) доктор Гораций Уилкинсон пожертвовал его голову колледжу Сидни Сассекс в Кембридже, альма-матер Кромвеля.

"Голова Кромвеля похоронена где-то в часовне колледжа, предположительно в банке из-под печенья" (Стюарт Орм, куратор музея Кромвеля)

▪️ Самая известная цитата Кромвеля: "Уповайте на Бога, мальчики мои, и держите порох сухим", но нет никаких доказательств того, что он действительно это сказал. Эта строка взята из стихотворения XIX в. под названием "Совет Оливера", основанного на "достоверном анекдоте", связанном с Кромвелем

▪️ 3 сентября - роковая дата Кромвеля. В этот день он одержал победу над шотландцами при Данбаре (1550), разгромил отряды Карла I в Вустере (1651). Первое заседание созданного Кромвелем парламента (1654), после чего этот день был объявлен Днем благодарения.

▪️ Умер 3 сентября 1658 г. в возрасте 59 лет от малярии и брюшного тифа

#кромвель #Cromwell #Broadsword #палаш #меч #вооружение #armsandarmor

[bad-comic-art]

Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #117 (2019)

[caw4brandon]

- JSH: Personal Switch Blades -

The trio is back with their respective Switch Blade designs. Jamie dawns a normal broadsword, Sadie uses a rapier and Hector wields a cutlass.

The Switch can interchange between cartridges. However, most users try to master one of the elements instead. For the trio, Hector is the dangerous master of the Bolt and Jamie is the ever-creative master of the Stan.

Sadie is the master of the Tide although she is quite fluent using the Ange. This weapon has room for only one cartridge, which challenges the user to think ahead in duals and the need for teamwork.

[scenfau]

Jugram Haschwalth painting done entirely in Krita.

[kobra93art]

Bust shot of my Pureblood Sith lord Ardanies.

[toacody]

Neyiss, The Erathurian

"Speak softly and carry a big [metal] stick."

Source

Creator: Shorjok