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crownshattered-arch · 2 years ago

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|| So I've mentioned this stuff before in previous posts, but I thought that having an actual headcanon post with all the information in one place would be a good idea~ My NRC ocs (Kira, Lia, Kristian) all have their own event SSRs. They don't have made up events but I decided to put them each in one event and have them be showcased, thus getting an SSR in that event. So below I will say what event they have an SSR card in, why they're so important to the event, what the vignette is like, and kind of what the card looks like~

Keep in mind these are just their event SSRs. I'm sure they have SR and R cards in other events, but they're only featured in one each~

Kira: Glorious Masquerade

If you know about Kira's backstory, it's kind of obvious just why she's so important to the Glorious Masquerade event--it takes place in the City of Flowers, where she lived for almost half of her life.

She doesn't contribute much to the actual storyline of the event. Unlike the other SSRs, she doesn't reach the top of the belltower. Instead, she stops with Silver and Sebek to hold back the flowers. The most she contributes is when everyone is looking around at the town (by default, she's in Malleus' group, but this can change depending on the interaction). Since she's actually from this town, she gives a bit of information and explains some things when Rollo doesn't. She also does a lot to calm Malleus down when he gets so angry. I think I'd have her sing at the end as well...

What's most important is her vignette. I haven't determined much about it yet, but I know the premise is her talking about her past. I think Malleus will be with her for most of the vignette (unless we plot otherwise in an interaction). This isn't necessarily a shippy thing either--if they aren't being shipped together, they are simply friends. Depending on the interaction, someone can be put in Malleus' place (like if she's being shipped with Riddle, maybe Riddle is with her instead).

This takes place the night after the meeting (the day after the whole fire flower thing). She can't sleep, so she walks around the town at night. Maybe someone sees her leaving and follows her (if so, it's the person she does the vignette with, most likely Malleus). At some point she realizes she isn't alone and addresses the other person. After realizing who it is, she explains that she couldn't sleep so she wanted to walk around and see how the city has changed.

She goes into more detail about how she used to live here (since she didn't really mention the circumstances of her living here during the event) and how her memories are far from good. She mentions that, even though years has gone by, the ghost of this city still haunts her. That's when her partner (if there is one) suggests her go to her old house to face the demons and move on.

The last part of the vignette takes place at her old house. It's an abandoned manor, and it doesn't look like it's been inhabited since she left. They go inside and wander the halls before she takes her partner up to the attic where she lived. Her old makeshift bed is there, as well as a long-dead flower she picked years ago. She touches a bit more on how she was treated in the past (not fully explaining just how bad it was, just that it was bad). But then she talks about how much her life has improved since she left. She says she has overcome this place and those who looked down on her. The vignette ends with her wiping the wetness of her eyes away and thanking her partner for convincing her to come here. She says that she feels better now and can finally put this place to rest.

Her card features her in her dress (I need to find the picture I have of the dress...) standing profile to the camera with her back to a wall. In her hands is a bright red rose as she looks up at the sky, which is mostly orange.

Her groovified card, like the others, is of her dancing at the party. She's shown smiling and looking up at the camera as if she is actively dancing with someone taller than her.

Lia: The Phantom Bride

Given Lia's job of having to take care of Idia, it isn't very surprising why she's important to this event. I haven't gotten the chance to fully watch this event (I know, I write Idia, I need to watch it but I'm so busy.....) so I can't give the specifics of what she does, but I have a general idea.

Like everyone else, Lia tries to woo Eliza to get her to leave Idia alone. Lia isn't part of the "main group" because she isn't immediately eliminated. Actually, she almost doesn't get eliminated. The whole purpose of her in this event is that she is exactly what Eliza wants. She is above 180 cm (just barely, but still), definitely has an air of nonchalance (she doesn't seem to care about anything), healthy (well, deathly pale but so is Idia's) and lustrous skin, lidded eyes, a very charming smile (if you can get her to smile), beautiful hair (not sparkling, but with her strand of white it's very unique and special), and with perfect lips. She's Eliza's perfect dark prince.

So, Lia ends up dressing as a man to woo Eliza. And she almost succeeds (since Lia actually fits the description even better than Idia does.!!). However, Eliza eventually realizes that she's a woman and rejects her with a slap.

Maybe that ending will change once I watch the ending of the actual event, but you get the gist. Lia crossdresses and almost ends up getting married instead XDD

I don't really know what her vignette would be ngl... I've only seen a tiny bit of Idia's, after all. But I'm pretty sure it will be her getting prepared to "woo" Eliza (which is basically someone, likely Vil, dressing her up and making her look like a man).

Her card is for all the lesbians out there KJSDHJDSHKJDSHKJSDSDS It has the exact same vibe as Idia's: dark suit, dark makeup, nonchalant expression while staring directly at the camera. Thinking that she's running a hand through her hair too. The thing is, even though she's dressed up like a man, if you know her, you can easily tell that she's a woman--she isn't wearing any cosmetics that makes her look like a guy. So she ends up just looking like this badass goth girlfriend in a suit XDD honestly, her card is just eye-candy for those out there who like a goth gf in a suit KJSDHJDSHKJSDHKJDS

I'm not exactly sure what I want her groovified card to look like... It might be her introducing herself to Eliza. So you can see Eliza kinda swooning as Lia has on a dark yet charming smile, holding one of her hand's up to her lips. It's all SUPER fake, of course, but she has to do her job so...yup XDD

Kristian: Fairy Gala: Operation Steal The Show

I know a good amount about the ghost marriage event from hearing things about it, but I really don't know anything but the basics about this event. I know a lot about the second one, but Kristian is in the first fairy gala event. All I know is that they're trying to sneakily trick the fairies......I think.

So, naturally, I can't tell you what Kristian does to contribute to this event. I will revise this post once I do the event in the next few weeks. But until then, I decided Kristian has an SSR in this event because he's perfect for this kind of thing. If this event is anything like the second one, the basic goal of the main group is to be beautiful and elegant, which is very hard to do if you have fragile masculinity.

However, Kristian doesn't. He has already mastered the art of being beautiful and handsome at the same time. He's already created this "prince charming" persona about him, so he's ready for this.

Again, I will fill this out more once I do the event. I have no idea what he will do in the event, what is cards will look like, nor what his vignette will be. But I'll add it to this post once I do know!!

#⪡||⋇ [kira hc] ⋇||⪢#⪡||⋇ [lia hc] ⋇||⪢#⪡||⋇ [kristian hc] ⋇||⪢#◹||⋇ |twisted wonderland| ⋇||◸#◅||⋇ /twst.lia/ ⋇||▻#◅||⋇ /twst.kira/ ⋇||▻

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warsofasoiaf · 5 years ago

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The Clashing Storm of Shields - Fighting in the Shield Wall (Part 1: Background)

I think I promised @warsofasoiaf a write up on shield wall combat nearly two years ago now but, after several different versions that each took a slightly different approach, I’ve finally nailed down something that works for me.

As my small introduction has become a rather large post, I’ve decided to split the subject into two sections: a section on the background (introduction, recruitment and organisation, equipment) and a section on how the battle actually took place. I’m posting the first section now, and will post the second in a couple of weeks.

Introduction

I.P. Stephenson once wrote that “the single most defining ideological event in Anglo-Saxon warfare came at Marathon in 490 B.C.”. This comment, and all the assumptions that go with it, highlights the single biggest problem people have in understanding combat in the Early Middle Ages. The uncritical application of Classical scholarship to the medieval world, and a failure to up with the current academic consensus, has significantly distorted how many historians think about shield wall combat.

For example, Gareth William suggests in Weapons of the Viking Warrior that the sax was especially useful in a close order, rim-to-boss formation and compares it to the gladius:

Roman legionaries fighting at close quarters were armed not with a long sword, but with a gladius, or short-sword, which was primarily a thrusting weapon, requiring a minimum of space between the individual soldiers in a line.

The problem with this assumption, leaving aside the fact that weapon sized saxes were rare to the point of non-existence in 9th-11th century Scandinavia and that gladius length saxes weren’t particularly common in Anglo-Saxon England either1, is that the famous Roman short sword wasn’t used for thrusting in a close order formation. Instead, it was used for both cutting and thrusting in open order, with each man taking up 4.5-6 feet of space2. It’s not until open order fighting was abandoned completely and the long spatha was universally adopted by the infantry that we hear of the thrust being the preferred method of combat by the Romans3. An assumption, almost certainly based on scholarship from before 2000, has been made about how the Romans fought and how it might be applied to Anglo-Saxon warfare, but no examination of the different context or more recent scholarship has been performed, leading to the wrong conclusion.

(The Bayeux Tapestry)

Similarly, it’s common in historical fiction set in the Early Middle Ages to feature battles that rely very heavily on Victor Davis Hanson’s The Western Way of War4. For example:

We in the front rank had time to thrust once, then we crouched behind our shields and simply shoved at the enemy line while the men in our second rank fought across our heads. The ring of sword blades and clatter of shield-bosses and clashing of spear-shafts was deafening, but remarkably few men died for it is hard to kill in the crush as two locked shield-walls grind against each other. Instead it you cannot pull it back, there is hardly room to draw a sword, and all the time the enemy’s second rank are raining sword, axe and spear blows on helmets and shield-edges. The worst injuries are caused by men thrusting blades beneath the shields and gradually a barrier of crippled men builds at the front to make the slaughter even more difficult. Only when one side pulls back can the other then kill the crippled enemies stranded at the battle’s tide line.

Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King

Other works, such as Giles Kristian’s Blood Eye and Edward Rutherfurd’s The Princes of Ireland, follow the same pattern of a physical collision between the two formations and a shoving match where weapons are almost secondary. This is a core concept of the traditional model of hoplite combat - the literal othismos (”push”) - that has been likened to a rugby scrum since the early 20th century. Ironically enough, VDH is a great pains to emphasize the unique nature of the Greek phalanx due to the hoplite shield, so even without the doubts of A.D. Fraser, Peter Krentz and all the other “Heretics” it would be questionable to apply this method of warfare to the Early Middle Ages5.

When you examine the differences between the two periods, for example the early Anglo-Saxon shields are often no more than 40cm in diameter and featuring spiked or “sugar loaf” bosses6, it becomes clear that the use of Greek warfare to represent 5th and 6th century warfare is incorrect. Similarly, the difference in construction between the aspis and Scandinavian shields of the 9th and 10th centuries, the aspis having thickly reinforced rims while the Scandinavian shields either taper towards the edges or remain very thin (<10mm), should offer a similar caution7.

In spite of the litany of criticisms I’ve just provided, it’s still necessary to refer back to our understanding of Greek and Roman warfare when examining combat in the Early Middle Ages, for two main reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, the sources are much more detailed about how fighting was carried out and were very often written by men who had themselves fought. While authors of the Early Middle Ages were not necessarily unfamiliar with warfare, they were remarkably uninterested in recording much in the way of details and there’s frequently little useful information to be extracted from accounts of battles.

Secondly, a far larger body of work exists on the how of Ancient hand-to-hand combat. While re-enactors of the medieval period are certainly numerous, perhaps even the most numerous of the pre-modern re-enactor, the sheer output of Greek and Roman re-enactors and the scholars who mine them for insights dwarfs that of medieval re-enactors and, on the whole, is more likely to be up to date with the scholarship of the field in general.

My goal here is to make the best possible use of sources on both Ancient and Medieval warfare in order to present a picture that is as close to a plausible reconstruction as I can manage. I don’t mean for this to be authoritative, and my views do in some cases differ from those of some re-enactors or academics, but I do hope you find this post a useful resource in your writing.

(This? This is what not to do.)

Trees of the Spear-Assembly: Who Were the Warriors?

One of the most important things in understanding combat in the Early Middle Ages is knowing who was doing the fighting and why, since this has a big impact on the way in which they fight, and with how much enthusiasm. In particular, the question of whether they were just poor farmers levied en masse or wealthier members of society who had both military obligations and the culture of carrying them out is an important one, as quite often this is used to demonstrate the difference between two sides.

The answer to the question is that, by and large, men who fought were freemen of some standing, if not always considerable landowners, and wealthy by the standards of their people. I emphasize the concept of relative wealth for good reason, and I’ll get into that as we have a look at the basic structure of the “armies” of the period.

Generally speaking, armies of the Early Middle Ages, across almost all of Europe, consisted of two elements: the Household (hirð, hird, comitatus, etc) and the Levy (fyrd, lið, exercitus, etc). I use “levy” here as a shorthand for any force composed of freemen who are not regularly attached to the household of a major landholder, as they were not usually assembled into a single coherent force with 100% unified command, but I do want to note that there would be a significant difference in the unity of an army made up of regional levies and one made up of lið (individual warbands)8.

The status of those serving in the household of a powerful landholder could vary significantly, from slaves to the sons of major landholders (although militarised slaves, it must be admitted, were rare outside of the Visigothic realm), and the more powerful the landowner the more likely the men of his household would be themselves descended from someone of considerable status. A significant portion could still be made up of poorer freemen who were sons of older warriors or whose family had some close connection to the major landowner.

For someone who maintained a large household, it was important that they present an image of being a wealthy as possible, and the best way to do this was to outfit the men of their household with every piece of military equipment that displayed status. So, whether he was descended from slaves or was the son of a family who owned a thousand acres, once a man had sworn their oath of loyalty to their new patron, they could be expect to be equipped with all the trappings of a warrior. This might only be symbolic in poorer regions (a fancier sword, a specific type of ornament, etc), especially if the landowner already had a number of armoured retainers, but it bound the different levels of freemen together into a single group.

Generally this oath swearing would occur after a youth had spent several years in the household of their future patron, where they would learn all the necessary skills of a warrior, such as riding, hunting, shooting a bow, using a sword and fighting with spear and shield. These youths probably participated in battles as auxiliaries with bows and javelins and only joined the ranks of the shield wall when they were considered full warriors, but we have only have very limited information on this point.

The status of men of the levy or warband varied to a much smaller degree. They were, in almost all cases, free and relatively wealthy by the standards of their region, although you do see a bit more of a variation in warbands, which might have members from a half dozen regions and many more backgrounds. In comparison, any army raised in defence of a region or raised from a region is going to consist entirely of free men and the majority of these will be fairly wealthy.

Simply put, even basic military equipment was sufficiently expensive that farmers who merely had enough land to sustain their family9 weren’t going to be able to afford much more than an axe, shield and spear or, depending on their region, a bow and 12-24 arrows. This is consistent across the Carolingian, Lombard and Scandinavian world during the 8th-11th centuries and, given the mostly aristocratic nature of warfare in Anglo-Saxon England, was likely true there as well10.

Basic military equipment, however, was not what rulers looked for when summoning forces for external wars or internal defence. We know from the capitularies of Charlemagne that only a man with four estates was required to arm and equip himself for service and that, with one exception, only men with one estate or more were required to pitch in to help equip one of their number for service11. Moreover, these estates weren’t even all the land the freeman held, just the lands he held which had unfree tenants, so that a “poor” freeman who merely had his own personal land was excluded from military service12.

(The average Anglo-Saxon fighting man)

Much the same situation appears in mid-8th century Lombardy, where king Aistulf demanded that those who had 7 or more properties worked by unfree tenants should perform service with a horse and full equipment, while those with less than this, but who own more than 25 acres (40 iugera) of their own, were required to perform an unarmoured cavalry service. 25 acres is about half the land later Anglo-Norman evidence suggests is the minimum for unarmoured cavalry service, so possibly this was an attempt on Aistulf’s part to enfranchise the lesser freemen and get them to support his usurpation of the crown at the political assembly13. Note, however, that the minimum level for cavalry service is nearly double what a peasant family would need to subsist off and implies a man of moderate wealth in and of itself14.

England is somewhat different, as we lack any specific requirements for those being summoned to military service, but from at least 806 we can surmise that 1 man from every 5 hides of land was required for the army. By this point a “hide” wasn’t a measure of area but of value, approximately £1, in a time when 1d. was the wage of a skilled labourer15.

The implications of this aren’t immediately obvious, but when you consider that Wessex had a population of perhaps 450 000 people, across an area of 27 000 taxable hides, only 5400 men (1 man from every 20 families) were actually required for military service16. Many of these, perhaps even most, would have belonged in the retinues of major landholders as either part of their household or as landed warriors owing service to the landholder in exchange for their land. In the same vein, the one man from every hide who was required to maintain bridges and fortifications, as well as defend the burhs (not serve in the field!), was drawn on the basis of something like 1 man for every 4 families. These are heavy responsibilities, but still far from men with sickles and pitchforks making up the fyrd.

There are some exceptions, or else cases where the evidence is thin enough that it’s difficult to say one way or the other, and these typically occur in areas that a less densely populated and less wealthy. The kingdom of Dal Riada in the seventh century, for instance, raised about 3 men from every 2 households for naval duties, although it might also have called out fewer warriors from the general population of the most powerful clan for land warfare17.

(A replica of the Gokstad ship)

Scandinavia is somewhat trickier, since a lot of the sources are late and from a period where central authority existed. We know from archaeological evidence that, in Norway, large scale inland recruitment of men for naval expeditions had been occurring since the Migration Era, as the number of boathouses exceeds the best estimates of local populations18. These were initially clustered around important political and economic centers, but spread out more evenly across Norway during the middle ages as a central political authority arose. This system is likely at least one part of the origin for the leidang system of levying ships, which seems to have properly formed in Norway and Denmark during the late 10th or early 11th century as a result of royal power becoming strong enough to call out local levies across the whole kingdom19.

It seems likely, based on later law codes and other contemporary societies, that Scandinavian raiders during the 8th and 9th centuries were mostly the hird of a wealthy landowner (or their son), supplemented with sons of better off farmers from nearby holdings. Ships were comparatively small at this point, just 26-40 oars (approximately 30-44 men)20, and most had 24-32 oars per ship. This corresponds fairly well with what a prominent landholder might be able to raise from his own household, with additional crews coming from the sons of nearby farmers, although whether this was voluntary, coerced or some combination of the two is impossible to say21.

However, these farmers’ sons, while unlikely to wear mail in the majority of cases, should not be thought of as poor. The vast majority of farmers in 8th-10th century Scandinavia would have had one or two slaves and sufficient land to not only keep their slaves fed and employed, but also to potentially raise more children than later generations22. These farmers’ sons might have been “poor” by the standards of the men they faced in richer areas of the world, but they were rather well off by the standards of their society.

Later, after the end of the 10th century, the leidang was largely controlled by the king of the Scandinavian country and, particularly in the populous and relatively wealthy Denmark, poorer farmers were increasingly sidelined from any obligation to provide military service. Ships also rose in size from the end of the 9th/start of the 10th century, regularly reaching 60 oars for vessels belonging to kings or powerful lords, and even the “average” size seems to have gone from 24-32 oars to 40-50 oars23.

Slaughter Reeds and Flesh Bark: Arms and Armour of the Warrior

The equipment of the warrior consisted of, at its most basic level, a spear and a shield. For those who belonged to a poorer region, a single handed wood axe might serve as a sidearm, or perhaps even just a dagger, while in wealthier regions the sidearm would generally be a sword or a specialised fighting axe24. In an interesting twist, both the poorest and the wealthiest members of society were almost equally likely to use a bow, although I expect that the poorer men mostly used hunting bows, while the professional fighting men used heavier warbows25.

Spearheads, at least from the 7th-11th centuries, were relatively long (blades of >25cm) and heavy (>200g), but most were well tapered for penetrating armour. Some, especially the longest examples, weighed around a pound, but were probably still considered one handed weapons26. Others, however, weighed in excess of two pounds and must have been two handed weapons, possibly the “hewing spear” mentioned in some 13th century sagas27. Javelins, too, appear to have tended to feature long, narrow blades that would have made them a short range weapon, while also providing considerable penetration within their ~40 meter range.

Swords, for their part, were not quite the heavy hacking implement once attributed to them, but also aren’t quite as well balanced as later medieval swords would be. Early swords, before the 9th century, tended to be balanced about halfway down the blade, which might make for a more powerful cut, but didn’t do much for rapid recovery or shifting the blade between covers. However, from the mid-9th century, the balance shifted back towards the hilt, which made them much faster and more maneuverable28. This may indicate a shift towards a looser form of combat, where sword play was more common, or it might indicate nothing more than a stylistic choice. After all, the Celts of the 2nd-1st century BC preferred long, heavy, poorly balanced swords for fighting in spite of relying on the usual Mediterranean “open” style of combat29.

(The Ballinderry Bow)

Warbows, with a couple of exceptions, appear to have been short but powerful. Starting with the Illerup Adal bows, which most likely only had a draw length of 26-27″, we see a repeated pattern when very powerful bows are also much shorter than we expect them to be. In particular, the heavier of the two bows from Illerup Adal is very similar to the Wassenaar Bow, a 9th-10th century bow. A replica of the latter drew 106lbs @ 26″, making it quite a powerful bow, and similar bows have been found at Nydam, Leeuwarden-Heechterp and Aaslum. Only the Ballinderry and Hedeby bows break this trend, with both capable of being drawn to 28″-30″. In all cases, draw weights varied between 80lbs and 150lbs, although 80-100lbs is by far the most common30. The consequence of this is that the power of the bows is not going to be as high as later medieval bows, which were able to be drawn to 30″ and, as the arrows were also relatively light, suggests an energy of 40-60j under most circumstances. This is enough to penetrate mail at close range if using a bodkin arrowhead, but at longer ranges mail would have offered quite excellent protection.

When it comes to shields, there was evidently quite a bit of variation. Early Anglo-Saxon and Merovingian shields were quite small and light, about 40-50cm in diameter31, but later shields were generally 80-90cm in diameter. In particular, we have good evidence of viking shields generally fitting this description, although it’s less clear whether or not later Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon shields retained this diameter or reduced to 50-70cm in diameter (see f.n. 7). In all cases, however, the shield was fairly thin at the center, less than 10mm, and could be as low as 4mm thick at the edge. While thin leather or rawhide could be applied to the front and back of the shield to reinforce it, it’s equally possible that only linen was used to reinforce the shield, or even that the shields were without any reinforcement32.

Recent tests by Rolf F. Warming have shown that this style of shield is rapidly damaged by heavy attacks if used in a passive manner (as in a static shield wall) and that the shield is best used to aggressively defend yourself33. While the test was not entirely accurate to combat in a shield wall (more on this in the second part), it does highlight the relative fragility of early medieval shields compared to other, more heavily constructed shields like the Roman scutum in the Republican and early Empire or the Greek aspis. As I’ve said before, this means we have to rethink how early medieval warfare worked.

Finally, we come to the topic of armour. The dominant form of armour was the mail hauberk - usually resembling a T-shirt in form - and other forms of metal armour were far less common. Guy Halsall has suggested that poorer Merovingian and Carolingian warriors might have used lamellar armour34, and there is some evidence from cemeteries and artwork that Merovingian and Lombard warriors wore lamellar armour in the 6th and 7th centuries, but there’s little evidence to support lamellar beyond this. While it does crop up in Scandinavia twice during the 10th/11th centuries, it was almost certainly an uncommon armour that was used either by Khazar mercenaries or by prominent men who were using it as a status symbol35. Scale armour is right out, Timothy Dawson’s arguments aside, as there is no good evidence of it.

(Helmet from Valsgarde 8)

Helmets evolved throughout the Early Middle Ages, ultimately deriving from late Roman helmets that featured cheek flaps and aventails. During the 6th and 7th centuries, especially in Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia, masks were attached to the helmets, either for the whole face or just the eyes. The masks did not long survive the 7th century in Anglo-Saxon England, but the Gjermundbu helmet may suggest it lasted in Scandinavia through to the 10th century. Merovingian helmets of the 6th-8th century tend to be more conical and keep the cheek flaps, but do not have any mask36. Carolingian helmets of the 9th century appear to have been a unique style, more rounded but also coming down further towards the cheeks, and it’s hard to say if this eventually developed in the conical helmet of the late 10th/early 11th century or if it was just a dead end37. Regardless, by the 11th century the conical helmet was the most common form of helmet in England as well as the Continent.

And now for the controversial stuff: non-metallic armour. In short, I don’t think that textile armour was very common during the Early Middle Ages, nor do I think that hardened leather was very common either. The evidence from the High Middle Ages suggests that, unless someone who couldn’t afford to own mail was legally required to own textile armour, they generally didn’t, and we have plenty of quite reliable depictions of infantry serving without any form of body armour38. The shields in use were as much armour as most unarmoured men needed - since, as you’ll recall from the previous section, they rarely fought - and they covered a lot of the body. So far as I’m concerned, there wasn’t a need for it, and plenty of societies through history have fought in close combat without more armour than their shield.

Summing Up

This has been a very basic overview of the background to warfare in the Early Middle Ages, and I know I haven’t covered everything. Hopefully, however, I’ve provided enough background for people to follow along when I dig down into the actual experience of battle in my next post. I’ll cover the basics of scouting, choosing a site to give battle, the religious side of things and then, at long last, the grim face of battle for those standing in the shieldwall.

If you’d like to read more about society and warfare in the Early Middle Ages, then I’d recommend Guy Halsall’s Warfare and Society in the Barbarian Westand Philip Line's The Vikings and their Enemies: Warfare in Northern Europe, 750-1100, which together cover most of Western and Northern Europe from 400 AD to 1100 AD. While I have some disagreements with both authors, their works have shaped my thoughts over the years since I first acquired them. For the Vikings specifically, Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike's Vikings at War is excellent, as much for the coverage of campaigns across the world as for the information on weapons and warfare.

Until next time!

- Hergrim

Notes

1 For the rarity of the sax in the viking world, see Vikings at War, by Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike. For the Anglo-Saxon sax, see the list of finds here. Just 5 out of 33 (15%) had blades 44cm or more and, if you remove those longer than the Pompeii style of gladius (which is the point where some think the Romans changed to purely thrusting style), just two fit the bill.

2 Michael J. Taylor’s “Visual Evidence for Roman Infantry Tactics” is by far the best recent examination of Roman fighting styles, but Polybius has been translated in English for ages. See, however, M.C. Bishop, The Gladius, for an argument that the Romans changed to close order and preferred to rely on thrusting by the end of the 1st century AD.

3 See J. C. Coulston and M.C. Bishop, Roman Military Equipment: From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, for the infantry adoption of the gladius. Any general history of the Roman military will cover the transition from open order to close order during the 3rd century AD.

4 Those of you with a copy of Victor Davis Hanson's The Western Way of War need to perform a quick exorcism. You must burn the book at midnight during the full moon and then divide the ashes into four separate containers, one of gold, one of silver, one of bronze and one of iron. You should then bury ashes from the iron container at a crossroads, scatter the ashes in the bronze container to the wind in four directions, pour the ashes from the silver container into a fast flowing river, and finally feed the ashes from the gold container to a cat, a bat and a rat.

5 A.D. Fraser “The Myth of the Phalanx-Scrimmage” is one of the earliest attacks on the idea of literal othismos. The debate reignited in the 1980s, with Peter Krentz’s “The Nature of Hoplite Battle” leading the charge of the heretics, and the conceptual othismos model is now the accepted version. Hans van Wees’ Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities is probably the best revisionist work to start with. Matthew A. Sears, as attractive as he looks, should be avoided.

6 Early Anglo-Saxon Shields by Tania Dickinson and Heinrich Harke

7 Duncan B. Campbell’s Spartan Warrior 735–331 BC has the most easily accessible information on the best preserved aspis, which is ~10mm thick at the center and 12-18mm thick at the edge, but there’s also a good cross section in Nicholas Sekunda’s Greek Hoplite 480-323 BC. For Viking shields, see this page of archaeological examples by Peter Beatson. Note the similarity to oval shields from Dura Europos in thickness and tapering (Roman Shields by Hilary and John Travis). It’s also worth considering that Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon manuscript miniatures tend to show shields that rarely cover more than should to groin, implying a typical diameter of 50-70cm.

8 See Niels Lund’s “The armies of Swein Forkbeard and Cnut: "leding or lið?”” and Ben Raffield’s “Bands of brothers: a re‐appraisal of the Viking Great Army and its implications for the Scandinavian colonization of England” for an examination of how the lið was constructed, and see Richard Abels’ ‘Alfred the Great, the Micel Hæðn Here and the Viking Threat’, in T. Reuter (ed.), Alfred the Great. Papers from the Eleventh-Centenary Conference for a discussion on the nature of viking “armies”

9 10-15 acres depending on crop rotation and how close to subsistence level you want to peg this category

10 The Scandinavian Gulathing and Frostathing laws were only composed in the late 11th/early 12th century, but it has been argued that they were essentially a codification of earlier oral laws. At least with regards to equipment and service, I see no reason to doubt this.

11 Almost all of the relevant capitularies are translated in Hans Delbruck’s History of the Art of War: The Middle Ages, with the original Latin in an appendix.

12 Walter Goffart has made this incredibly clear in his recent series of loosely related articles: “Frankish Military Duty and the Fate of Roman Taxation,” Early Medieval Europe, 16/2 (2008), 166-90, “ The Recruitment of Freemen into the Carolingian Army, or, How Far May One Argue from Silence?” In J. France, K. DeVries, & C. Rogers (Eds.), Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume XVI (pp. 17-34) and ““Defensio patriae” as a Carolingian Military Obligation”. Although I think Goffart argues too strongly against the dominance and importance of aristocratic retinues in the Carolingian military - the great landowners had the most obligation, after all - he does do a brilliant job of highlighting both the universal requirement of service from eligible freemen and the fact that even a “poor” freeman being assessed for service was, in fact, far better off than most of society. This provides some extra context for the prevalence of swords in Merovingian burials, as note by Guy Halsall: it’s not that swords were cheap, it’s that the average Merovingian warrior was rich by the standards of his society.

13 For the text of the capitulary, see Delbruck. For Aistulf’s possible political motives, see Guy Halsall’s Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West. For Anglo-Norman minimum standards for unarmoured cavalry, see Mark Hagger’s Norman Rule in Normandy, 911–1144.

14 I think it’s worth addressing here the pessimistic low crop yields of older authors and their subsequent conclusion that 25-30 acres would be bare subsistence in the Early Middle Ages. As Jonathan Jarrett has proven (”Outgrowing the Dark Ages: agrarian productivity in Carolingian Europe re-evaluated” Agricultural History Review, Volume 67, Number 1, June 2019, pp. 1-28), these low yields are not supported by the evidence, and we should expect yields to be similar to High Medieval yields. His blog contains an early version of his thoughts on the matter.

15 For a recent exploration of the debate around the Anglo-Saxon military, see Ryan Lavelle’s Alfred’s Wars

16 See Richard Abel’s Alfred the Great for this although n.b. his reliance on old crop yield estimates

17 John Bannerman, Studies in the History of Dalriada. The suggestion that the Cenél nGabráin, being the most powerful clan, might have raised fewer men from the general populace for land combat is my own. They may simply have had the largest number of men in military households and, as such, not needed to rely as much on the general populace when on land. It may also be that calling up larger numbers of the free population for land service from the less powerful clans was in and of itself a method of dominance and control - the largest number of armed men left behind for defence/to suppress revolt would be those from the dominant clan.

18 “Boathouses and naval organization” by Bjørn Myhre in Military Aspects of Scandinavian Society in a European Perspective, AD 1-1300

19 That said, the political control of the Scandinavian kings over military levies should not be overstated - it could be very patchy, even in the 13th century. c.f. Philip Line, The Vikings and their Enemies

20 As suggested by Ole Crumlin-Pedersen in Archaeology and the Sea in Scandinavia and Britain, with the estimate of ~40 oars for the Sutton Hoo ship thrown in as a maximum size. Crew estimates are based on 11th century ships in Anglo-Saxon employ where, based on rates of pay and money raised to pay for the ships, there were only 3-4 men more than the rowers on each ship.

21 c.f. Egil’s Saga and the description of Arinbjorn’s preparation for raiding.

22 The Medieval Demographic System of the Nordic Countries by Ole Jørgen Benedictow. The speculation of larger family sizes is my own, based on other medieval evidence that wealthier families tend to have more children.

23 Ian Heath reproduces the leidang obligations of High Medieval Norway in Armies of the Dark Ages, although he incorrectly applies the two men per oar guideline that only became into being during the 13th and 14th centuries. Archaeological evidence only shows ships of 60+ oars or 26 oars, but from the lengthening of the largest ships and the 40-50 oar ships of the later leidang I feel it is appropriate to assume that the number of oars stayed the same from the 10th to the 14th century, it’s just that the number of rowers doubled as ships became heavier. This is similar to the evolution of the medieval galley.

24 I’ve covered saxes earlier in the notes. For axes, see Hjardar and Vike Vikings at War. Axeheads from western Scandinavia were often over a pound in weight, which is double the weight of specialized Slavic war axes and in the same weight range as the heads of broad axes. Even into the 13th century, these wood axes apparently kept turning up at weapons musters as sidearms.

25 Bows were considered an important aristocratic weapon in Merovingian, Carolingian and Scandinavian societies and, while not a prominent aristocratic weapon, it at least wasn’t shameful for a young English nobleman to use one in battle. The division between “hunting” and “war” bows can be seen in the Nydam Bog finds, where the most powerful bows tend to be relatively short (26-28″ draw length) and the longer bows (28-30″ draw length) tend to be fairly weak. Richard Wadge has demonstrated that civilian bows in medieval England were less powerful than military bows during the 13th century, and I’m applying this to the Nydam bows.

26 Ancient Weapons in Britain, by Logan Thompson

27 See “An Early Medieval Winged/Lugged Spearhead from the Dugo Selo Vicinity in the Light of New Knowledge about this Type of Pole-Mounted Weapon” by Željko Demo, and “An Early-Mediaeval winged spearhead from Fruška Gora” by Aleksandar Sajdl

28 Ancient Weapons in Britain, by Logan Thompson

29 The Celtic Sword, by Radomir Pleiner

30 Most dimensions are from Jürgen Junkmanns’ Pfeil und Bogen: Von der Altsteinzeit bis zum Mittelalter, although the information on the Illerup Adal comes to me from Stuart Gorman. Draw weights are only estimates based on replicas of some bows and a formula found in Adam Karpowicz’s “Ottoman bows – an assessment of draw weight, performance and tactical use” Antiquity, 81(313). Draw weights for yew bows in the real world can vary by as much as 40%, so these estimates are only general guidelines.

31 See f.n. 6 for early Anglo-Saxon shields and Halsall, Warfare and Society, for the early Merovingian shields

32 The shields from Dura Europos, constructed in the same way as Scandinavian shields of the 8th-10th century, feature either very thin leather (described as “parchment”), linen or else some kind of fiber set in a glue matrix. In contrast, two twelfth century kite shields from Pola. d, although constructed only with a single layer of planks like a Viking shield, had no covering at all. See Simon James, The arms and armour from Dura-Europos, Syria : weaponry recovered from the Roman garrison town and the Sassanid siegeworks during the excavations, 1922-37 and “Two Twelfth-Century Kite Shields from Szczecin, Poland” by Keith Dowen, Lech Marek, Sławomir Słowiński, Anna Uciechowska-Gawron & Elżbieta Myśkow, Arms & Armour, 16:2

33 Round Shields and Body Techniques: Experimental Archaeology with a Viking Age Round Shield Reconstruction

34 Halsall, Warfare and Society

35 Thomas Vlasaty has a great article that summarises this subject.

36 No real source for this beyond googling pictures of the various Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Merovingian helmets.

37 This Facebook post has some wonderful pictures of the original helmet, a reconstruction of the helmet and comparisons with Carolingian art.

38 eg. the Porta Romana frieze, the porch lunette at the basilica of San Zeno in Verona, the Bury Bible.

#hergrim #shield wall #shield #formation #medieval warfare #submission

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olreid · 5 years ago

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advice on how to explain the reforms vs. abolition thing quickly/to someone who doesnt really get it?

the big re-frame that i think is important in order to move away from reformism is understanding that this is not a case of trying to “fix” a “broken system.” the system is not broken -- it is operating exactly as it was meant to. so how can you fix something that’s not broken? you can’t. any money you give will produce the same effects, only more pronounced and widespread. i’m paraphrasing a tweet from @/dickgirldiaries here, but i think this shift in thinking helps to both explain why we want to defund and divest AND why a diversity of tactics, including rioting and property destruction, is a part of this work: we aren’t trying to fix a broken system or to get that system to listen to us or recognize us. the system will not indict, dismantle, or abolish itself. we want to weaken and destroy a violent system that is working as it is meant to.

i do think this is a tough point for people to grasp sometimes because it requires a historical knowledge of policing, which in turn might require some reading (slave patrols by sally hadden and our enemies in blue by kristian williams are two books that i would recommend for this). but the tldr is that police forces in the u.s. evolved out of neighborhood watches which were meant to keep order and slave patrols which were meant to intimidate and brutalize black people and to prevent them from escaping or rebelling. those are the two intertwined goals of policing in all its forms: keeping those at the bottom at the bottom (repression) and protecting those on top (maintenance of social order).

the other point i think you can make is that while legislation banning certain types of force or specific police tactics might seem appealing, police don’t follow their own rules. what is the point of putting new rules in place if the police don’t follow the rules they have now? one clear example of this off the top of my head is new york passing the eric garner law to ban chokeholds when chokeholds were ALREADY banned at the time of his murder via chokehold. another one is the san jose pd tweeting that they’ve already had the #8cantwait reforms implemented while videos circulate of them brutalizing protestors. banning stuff or training police not to do stuff doesn’t work -- the whole problem is that they can do whatever they want with impunity, which is an institutional feature of police and a systemic problem we can only solve through abolition.

#supposed to be watching my virtual graduation AMA #abolition #asks #anon

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comixology · 7 years ago

Text

ComiXology Originals Debuts Exclusive Creator-Owned Titles with Innovative Release Strategies

Free to Read for Members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited

Exclusively Available for Purchase on Kindle and comiXology

Premier Digital Comic Service Offers Industry Firsts:

Titles Available in Print via Amazon's Print-on-Demand

All issues of a 5-Part Comic Book Series Available Today for Binge Reading

Twitch Livestream Viewing Parties with Exclusive Giveawaysat All Amazon Pop-Up Kiosks andAmazon Books Retail Locations

June 1st, 2018 – New York, NY – ComiXology announced today it is releasing creator-owned comic books and graphic novels for the first time as part of its comiXology Originalsprogram. The premiere digital comics service announced four new comiXology Originals titles – spanning fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and superhero genres – via a livestreaming event on Twitch. Readers can dive into the debut titles through a variety of ways: they are free to read for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited and are also available for purchase on Kindle and comiXology.

The new comiXology Original releases include: Savage Game created byNFL player Ryan Kalil, written by Shawn Kittelsen, and art by Chris B. Murray;Superfreaks fromwritersElsa Charretier and Pierrick Colinet, with newcomer artist MargauxSaltel;Elephantmen 2261: The Death of Shortyfrom writer Richard Starkings, and artists Axel Medellin and Boo Cook; Ask For Mercyfrom writer Starkings and newcomer artist Abigail Jill Harding.

The debuts feature a host of industry firsts, including:

· All issues of theSuperfreaksseries are available to read now – perfect for binge reading

· In addition to digital, Savage Gameis available in print exclusively through Amazon.com via Print-on-Demand

· Collections of Elephantmenand Ask for Mercywill also be available in print via Print-on-Demand, with future comiXology Originals trade collections and graphic novels also available in print

· Savage Gamesees noted cover and fine artist Chris B. Murray’s interior art debutSuperfreaksartist MargauxSaltel also makes her series debut

· Ask For Mercyartist Abigail Jill Harding makes her series debut

“We’re proud to offer these creator-owned titles where creators keep their IP rights and are motivated to bring their A-game to the benefit of readers everywhere,” said Chip Mosher, comiXology’s Head of Content. “Helping bring these incredible titles to fans lets us experiment with different release strategies like a binge-style drop of a whole series, high quality print-on-demand, and day-and-date inclusion in Prime Reading, Kindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited.”

The new comiXology Originals titles were announced today in tandem with a livestream event on Twitch, hosted by noted esports personality Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham. During the livestream, which was screened at viewing parties at Amazon Books retail locations and Amazon Pop-Up kiosks across the United States, comiXology unveiled its “Always Original” ad campaign that spotlights the characters featured in today’s new releases. Customers attending the viewing parties were offered free print copies of the Savage Gamegraphic novel on a first come, first served basis.

The company also teased the next wave of comiXology Original titles to be released in the coming months, announcing an impressive list of creators, including: Tyler Crook, Benjamin Dewey, Kristian Donaldson, Alti Firmansyah, Sam Humphries, Megan Kearney, Kel McDonald, Hope Nicholson, Mike Norton, MK Reed, Mark Sable, Tim Seeley, C. Spike Trotman, Jen Vaughn, and Magdalene Visaggio. More details on upcoming releases will be unveiled during Comic-Con International San Diego 2018.

Information on the today’s comiXology Originals debuts can be found below:

Savage Game

Created by Ryan Kalil, written by Shawn Kittelsen, with art by Chris B. Murray

From NFL player Ryan Kalil and his company Strange Turn comes an original 60-page sci-fi graphic novel that is high tech version of The Island of Dr. Moreau. What happens when a rogue titan of Silicon Valley creates his own island nation with no laws to hold him back? You get the Savage Game, where audiences watch genetically modified hybrid creatures fight to the death in a fantastic gladiator-style battle. But Conner Bowen isn’t having it. He’s on a quest to stop his mad father and the Savage Game. But is it too late?

· Original 60pg Graphic Novel– $4.99 on Kindle and comiXology

· Free to read for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited

· Available in print for $6.99 as a Print-on-Demand graphic novel exclusively on Amazon.com

“Working on Savage Gamehas been a labor of love for everyone and I am really thrilled that it's finally coming out with comiXology Originals and via Amazon’s Print-on-Demand,” said Savage Gamecreator Ryan Kalil. “I am very excited for the reader response and for the future of Savage Game.”

Superfreaks

Written by Elsa Charretier and Pierrick Colinet with art by Margaux Saltel

An all-new 5-issue superhero mystery debuting digitally in its entirety – a thrilling story perfect for binge reading - with art by rising star Margaux Saltel. All the world’s superheroes have disappeared overnight, and it’s up to their untrained, largely overlooked teenage sidekicks to find out what happened – while dealing with the biggest crisis Earth has ever known -- much to the public’s displeasure. Can they save the day?

· 5-issue series – all issues available to binge read now

· Issue are $2.99 each on Kindle and comiXology

· Free to read for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited

“Not only am I ecstatic about Superfreaksbeing released today, but doubly so having the entire series being available all at once,” said Superfreakswriter Elsa Charretier. “Readers will experience all the cliffhangers we intended as storytellers, while binge reading the entire series the same day it's released. And when the world’s superheroes have disappeared overnight, you don't want to wait to see what's happened."

Elephantmen 2261: The Death of Shorty

Written by Richard Starkings with art by Axel Medellin and Boo Cook

The iconic Elephantmendebuts asacomiXology Originals title with issue 1 ofElephantmen 2261: The Death of Shorty, a 5-issue monthly mini-series.Described by J.J. Abrams as “An Awesome and Unexpected Story. You Must Check it out!” and lauded by Andy Serkis as “Bold, mythic and heartbreakingly cool, Starkings’ universe is a breed apart!”, Elephantmen 2261: The Death of Shorty, is the next adventure of the pulp science fiction series Elephantmen, which debuted nearly 15 years and 80 issues ago from Image Comics.This all-new story is a whodunit that draws our heroes, Hip Flask and Jack Farrell, into the curious death of an Elephantman known to his friends as “Shorty”.

· 5-issue miniseries – issues will be available monthly – $2.99 per issue on Kindle and comiXology

· Free to read for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited

· Print collected edition will be available via Print-on-Demand exclusively on Amazon.com

“Once I realized Elephantmen sold more digitally than in print, I suggested to my friends at comiXology that we create a brand new Elephantmen series exclusively for digital readers,” says Elephantmencreator Richard Starkings. “And yet – for those who’d rather hold a print version – you’ll still be able to order a Print-on-Demand paperback collection as soon as it’s complete! I’ve seen what Amazon can do with Print-on-Demand and it's absolutely unbelievable!”

Ask For Mercy

Written by Richard Starkings with art by Abigail Jill Harding

An action-packed and artistically stunning dark fantasy story from Elephantmencreator, Richard Starkings and breakout talent, Abigail Jill Harding.Ask For Mercyis a World War II fantasy horror story in the tradition of John Carpenter’sThe Thingand Sandman. Mercy is snatched from her own place and time to join a team of Monster Hunters who are actually Monsters themselves,and together they have to take on a Pantheon of Hideous Creatures summoned to our world by Nazi evil!

· 6-issue series – issues will be available every 6 weeks – $2.99 per issue on Kindle and comiXology

· Free to read for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited

· Print collected edition will be available via Print-on-Demand on Amazon.com

Customers can enjoy today’s releases on a variety of Amazon’s membership services. Prime Reading offers Amazon Prime members a rotating selection of over a thousand top Kindle books, magazines, short works, comic books, children’s books, and more – all at no additional cost. Kindle Unlimited offers over 1 million titles, thousands of audiobooks, and select current issues of popular magazines for just $9.99 a month with a 30-day free trial atamazon.com/kindleunlimited. ComiXology Unlimited now offers over 15,000 comics, graphic novels and manga for just $5.99 a month with a 30-day free trial at comixology.com/unlimited. All titles are also available as individual purchases on Kindle and comiXology.

To learn more about Amazon Pop-Up and Amazon Books retail locations near you, as well as hours, visit www.amazon.com/popupor www.amazon.com/amazonbooks.

For more updates on comiXology Originals, check out http://comixologyoriginals.comand follow comiXology on Twitter, Facebookand Instagram.

About comiXology

ComiXology, an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is a revolutionary, cloud-based digital comics service. With content from over 125 publishers as well as thousands of independent creators from around the world, comiXology provides an unrivaled library of comic books, graphic novels, manga and bandes dessinées. The company’s first-in-class innovations include the exclusive Guided View technology which provides an immersive and cinematic reading experience and a new monthly subscription service. ComiXology is based in New York City, with operations in Seattle and Los Angeles. For more information, visitcomixology.comand follow the company onTwitter,FacebookandTumblr.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visitwww.amazon.com/aboutand follow@AmazonNews

#press release #comiXology Originals

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refractstudios · 6 years ago

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Your First Look at Distance v1.0

Hey, everyone! As it's been said many times over the years, when we go dark something big is usually brewing under the surface. You probably can tell from the title, but after many grueling months we're finally ready to unveil what we've been creating.

Thanks for everyone's patience as we bring this insane 6+ year project to its conclusion. This year we've been fully focused on wrapping up the large bundle of content to all be released in Distance v1.0. It's essentially a huge DLC pack with several surprises inside. Since the start of early access, expanding upon our shipped level content has always been the plan, right alongside implementing the long list of promised features from our Kickstarter campaign (e.g. Trackmogrify, ghosts/replays, stunt mode, announcer, etc).

We're still working with our business partners to determine the release date, so we’re not yet able announce that in this devlog. In the meantime I’d like to cover some of what you can look forward to in Distance v1.0, as well as a few personal notes about the development process.

ADVENTURE

First up, Distance v1.0 includes a full featured Adventure campaign. This final campaign is a reworked and extended version of the campaign currently available on Steam Early Access. To achieve our original vision for Adventure the entire experience is receiving visual, audio, story, and gameplay upgrades.

(example of an upgraded Adventure level; new version above, old below)

In fleshing out the final narrative my goal was to create a unique experience by utilizing emotions not usually found within the racing genre. To achieve that we pursued a minimalist narrative that focuses heavily on atmosphere, mystery, and flow. Some loose story threads remain from the early access version, but in the end it’s a whole new beast.

The campaign in total is about 1 to 1.5 hours long depending on your skill level, so don't go in expecting an epic. It's a minimalist narrative experience, with gameplay focusing on the core abilities of your vehicle. The story is simple on the surface, but the deeper you look into it the more you may uncover.

Alongside the visual and gameplay upgrades, I've also worked hard to improve the overall soundscape with lots of new sounds, several new music tracks, and dynamic transitions. For a taste of some new stuff, here's a fresh new track from about halfway through the campaign.

As you’re probably aware I tend to prefer silence over accidentally spoiling something. It's probably overkill most of the time, but in talking about such a short campaign I'm not excited to give too much away. Hopefully these screenshots will hold you over until we can finally release a proper teaser trailer.

ARCADE

I'm also excited to say that the Arcade portion of Distance is also getting a large overhaul. Not only will we be releasing several brand new Arcade levels with v1.0, but we've redesigned the Arcade experience from the ground up. My aim with this redesign was to improve the sense of progression, give more value to earning medals, and make it more interesting to traverse the wide variety of included content.

With that goal in mind, the team came together to create new menus, improve existing ones, and logically group Arcade content as best as we can. After trying a few different progression systems, we settled on something simple and straightforward. Within Arcade there are level sets which can be unlocked by earning medals. We've also meticulously gone through each track and updated the bronze, silver, and gold times to be as accurate and consistent as possible.

As I mentioned above, several new arcade levels are being released with v1.0. These levels push our editor technology to its limit and explore completely different visual themes and gameplay than what’s found in the Adventure campaign.

(“Chroma” created by Kristian)

(“Virtual Rift” created by Galen)

Along those lines, I'm also pleased to announce that several of our favorite community-made levels will be directly included in v1.0! Not only does this allow us to highlight some amazing community levels directly from within the game, it's also our way to share these levels with PS4 players as we won’t have a Steam Workshop replacement at launch. Kristian, Brent, and Galen have also taken time to revamp several of their own levels from Steam Workshop to be directly included in v1.0.

(one example of an included Workshop level, “Inferno” by Backgrounds’)

(Brent upgraded his Workshop level “Neo Seoul” exclusively for v1.0)

By the way if you liked the old menus, don't worry because they're still included as the "Advanced" level select menu. It's even been improved further to include a search feature.

(the Advanced level select menu)

Much like the “Old Levels” in Nitronic Rush, a Legacy level set has been included. It features all of the classic levels from early access, as well as a few levels cut from the final version of the Adventure campaign. Since the changes between the old iterations and the final ones were substantial enough we figured they would be worth including as a fun bonus.

(the Legacy level set in Sprint mode)

In addition to the new unlockable levels in Arcade, we also spent time creating a few cheats that affect appearances or gameplay when enabled. Unlock them by earning various achievements/trophies. We thought this would be a fun way to give achievements more value instead of just being arbitrary tasks to complete. And yes, a few more achievements will be added to v1.0 on top of what already exists in the early access build.

(a few cheats to unlock in v1.0)

Finally, a quick comment on the unlockable cars. Yes, there will be a few bonus cars to unlock by earning achievements. You can change the colors if you like, but no, they do not affect gameplay at all. Here’s a look at the Archive.

(the unlockable “Archive” car)

Hundreds of other smaller improvements have been made across the board, including improvements to the car's damage system, the cockpit view, etc. Instead of dissecting each one it'll be more fun to just find those yourself.

LEVEL EDITOR

For all of our lovely level creators, just a quick note on the v1.0 editor. Don't expect a big v1.0 level editor overhaul but there will be several new features added. This includes access to the features and many new assets used to create new level content, plus a few new addable components.

For example, you can add an Animator Audio or Animator Camera Shake component to your animations. Regarding the new v1.0 assets mentioned above, you’ll have to wait a bit longer since showing them here would give too much away from the campaign.

(some example addable components coming to v1.0)

PS4 DEVELOPMENT

As it’s been for a while now, the PS4 side of development has eaten up a substantial amount of our time. Fortunately we’ve pushed past most of the scariest hurdles, and at a quick glance the PS4 build looks nearly identical to the PC build.

(one of the new Adventure campaign levels running on PS4)

One the biggest challenges we had to overcome was simply hitting our goal of 1080p at 60fps. After some impressive technical wizardry led by Jason, we’ve made substantial improvements to performance across the board for both the PS4 and PC builds.

More than anything we’ve smoothed out most of the rough spots in levels that were pushing the hardware to its limit, so the experience is quite a bit more consistent in each level. This was really important to us from the gameplay perspective because our fairly “twitchy” gameplay really feels subpar at even 30fps, so one way or another we think everyone will benefit from the work poured in here.

(performance graph showing frame rate over time in a new Arcade level running on PS4)

Beyond that, it’s just been a lot of work to support features like leaderboards with replay uploading/downloading, and the various technical certification requirements to allow us onto the PS4 in the first place. There’s still quite a bit of work to do there, so we’re currently evaluating how we can improve our process to wrap those up sooner.

NOTES ON THE DEVELOPMENT

Simultaneously managing public and private builds over the past few years has been a growing challenge for us, so to reach release as soon as possible we’re simplifying things by putting all of our energy into v1.0. Unfortunately that means that there will be no more updates to the Steam build until v1.0 is released.

We ended up taking a long and unorthodox approach to early access, and I understand if there’s been any confusion as to how v1.0 fits into the overall picture. We did our best for a long time to balance the development of both public and private builds, but it eventually became unsustainable to keep that up. Over the past year we’ve gradually transitioned to just focusing on v1.0 content (and tools to create that content), as well as solving the various technical challenges required to release on PS4.

As a result I haven’t had much to say publicly since everything we’re creating is secret, spoiler-filled content. Regardless, I fully acknowledge that I could have done better in terms of communication. The deeper I fell into creating “secret” content like the Adventure campaign, the harder and harder it became to break out of that world and maintain an external perspective of the project.

The reality of Distance as a project is that it’s been fairly overscoped from the start (at least for our team size and skill set). On top of that we do feel a duty to provide something innovative with artistic merit. For us it’s been a continual battle to not only live up to external expectations, but also live up to the standards we have ourselves. Instead of conceding defeat and scaling things back, we’ve continued to face each artistic and technical challenge until we’re satisfied with the final product. I’m not saying this was necessarily the wisest approach, but I hope you can understand how we ended up investing so much time into Distance.

It's been a long and bumpy process for all of us, but the v1.0 release is in sight and I think you’ll really like what we’ve cooked up. Distance has always been an extremely personal project for us, and as a result I think that you can see our personal passions shine through the final product. I’m extremely proud of my hard-working and dedicated teammates for pushing through endless barriers to reach this milestone. I’m also endlessly thankful to our faithful and extremely patient players who’ve been cheering from the sidelines from the start.

My next blog post will likely be the release date announcement. There also may or may not be a few secrets I neglected to mention here… so stay tuned. Thanks as always for the support!

- Jordan (with everyone at Refract)

#distance #refract #v1.0

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almosttenaciouscreator · 3 years ago

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Best PS5 Accessories For 2021: PlayStation 5 Headsets, Controllers

The PlayStation 5 launched with a range of first-party PS5 accessories, from the DualSense Wireless Controller to the Pulse 3D Headset and PlayStation Media Remote, but while each of these can enhance your experience in different ways, they're not the only accessories for Xbox worth picking up for your new console. Brands like Logitech, Razer, Samsung, and SteelSeries all have quality products designed specifically for the PS5 (or that will work via backwards compatibility), and now that the PS5 has been on the market for some time, you can find a PS5 accessory for pretty much any specific need at this point. With that in mind, we've rounded up the very best PS5 accessories worth picking up so far, from standard controllers and headsets to flight sticks, racing wheels, external storage, and more.

For more recommendations on PS5 software and accessories for playstation, check out our guides to the best PS5 games of 2021, plus the best PS5 headsets and controllers beyond just the first-party options.

Sony's PS5 DualSense controller is a fantastic upgrade over the PS4's DualShock 4, reshaping the controller to give it a more comfortable, ergonomic shape and more easily visible light bars on either side of the touchpad. Its standout feature is the haptic feedback that, when fully utilized in compatible games, creates immersive vibrations that really let you feel what's happening in the game. Adaptive triggers work in tandem with this as well to further enhance PS5 games, offering different levels of resistance in the L2 and R2 triggers to simulate the feeling of, for instance, drawing back a bowstring. This can also be used to make different weapons, like guns, feel different when switching between them. Overall, the DualSense is an excellent controller that feels kind of magical when its features are fully utilized, and now that two new colors, Midnight Black and Cosmic Red, are available, there's good reason to pick up a second one just to have for multiplayer or switching to while your first controller charges.

Sooner or later, you're probably going to want to pick up a charging station for your DualSense controller, and this official one from Sony can charge two at once, meaning you'll always have a controller ready to go when you get that low-battery notification. It takes a little getting used to, but when you slide a controller in, you'll hear a slight click and see it light up, letting you know it's connected and charging. In terms of convenience, this is easily one of the best PS5 accessories to pick up as soon as you can. No one likes messing with a charging wire.

Surprisingly, the PS5's first-party headset option, the Pulse 3D, is on the more affordable end of the spectrum for quality headsets; however, this is paired with a build that does feel somewhat flimsy, cheap, and easy to break. On the flip side, it delivers rich audio using Sony's proprietary Tempest 3D AudioTech, which really brings surrounding environments alive in PS5 games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, letting you hear subtle sounds and get a better sense directionally of what's around you. It also supports both wireless and wired connectivity for not only PS5 but also PS4, PC, and Mac, with a battery life of up to 12 hours. At the end of the day, it's still one of the best PS5 headsets to buy, especially if you don't want to break the $100 mark, but there are even better third-party headsets we recommend that fall between $150 and $200.

SteelSeries headsets have been very popular for years, and the Arctis 7P is its next-gen headset designed specifically for PS5, though we like it for its versatility, as you can also use it with PS4, PC, Android, and Nintendo Switch thanks to an included USB-C dongle. Featuring 2.4GHz wireless audio and a low-latency connection, the Arctis 7P also pairs nicely with the PS5's 3D audio tech with excellent sound quality for such a versatile headset. Like the BlackShark V2 Pro, it's also a more durable and comfortable option than the Pulse 3D, with a lightweight steel frame and elastic ski goggle band for an adjustable fit. It also has a retractable, bidirectional microphone for clear voice capture and a 24-hour battery life to last during all-day gaming sessions.

For those planning on streaming their PS5 gameplay on Twitch or YouTube, the PlayStation HD camera is one essential accessory that'll make the entire process a breeze. Featuring 1080p capture, the PlayStation HD camera lets you record yourself and your gameplay by using the DualSense's share button, and by using the PS5's built-in background removal tools, you can add yourself to gameplay videos while streaming in picture-in-picture mode. You can crop the background or even lose it completely if you have a green screen.

The Razer Raion has long been one of our picks for the best PS4 controllers, and it still works great for playing backwards-compatible PS4 games on PS5. Though its layout may look strange, the Razer Raion is optimized for fighting games, and its six-button layout resembles what you'd find on a fight stick. It has a fantastic, clicky D-pad and is lightweight enough to comfortably hold in one hand, letting you tap on the rows of buttons piano-style. However, it also has digital buttons for every DualShock 4 shoulder button and trigger if you prefer to use it that way. Also convenient is the fact that you won't need to switch between the Raion and a more fully-featured Ps5 controller faceplate for things like character customization, as it lets you map the D-pad to the left and right analog sticks. Though the Razer Raion isn't for most PlayStation games and certainly not every type of gamer, for fighting game fans, it's a budget-friendly option that will take your experience in games like Mortal Kombat 11 and Tekken 7 to the next level.

The Victrix Pro FS is on the expensive end of fight sticks, but for hardcore fighting game fans, it's worth every penny, and it's forward-compatible with PS5. The Victrix Pro FS has a premium build made of durable aluminum and authentic Sanwa Denshi parts, its buttons are satisfyingly clicky, and the joystick is equally satisfying to use as well as accurate in its movements. In addition to all the essential fight stick buttons, it has several added features including three programmable buttons, customizable audio, lighting adjustments, and an easy access door for swapping out components. It's also a travel-friendly stick with a removable joystick, a plastic organizer to wrap your cables around, and handles for carrying. Costing as much as a console, the Victrix Pro FS isn't for everyone, but if you're serious about having the best fighting game experience on Ps5 dual charging and competitive play, this is an excellent investment.

As with fighting games, you can certainly use your regular old DualSense with racing games, but if you're passionate about the genre and want a more realistic experience with games like Gran Turismo Sport and Assetto Corsa Competizione, a racing wheel and set of pedals is designed for just that. Released in August 2020, Logitech's next-gen racing wheel, the G923, has everything you need for the best racing experience on dongle Ps5. Its TrueForce technology delivers next-gen force feedback with a physics engine that's directly connected to the wheel for heightened responsiveness. Essentially, the wheel synchronizes with your gameplay to deliver a more immersive and realistic experience. The downside is that right now, TrueForce is supported for only a handful of games: Grid, Assetto Corsa Competizione, iRacing, Gran Turismo Sport, Showrunner, and Dirt Rally 2.0.

The Logitech G923 also features a programmable dual clutch launch assist to get you off the starting line cleaner and faster, a progressive spring brake to simulate a pressure-sensitive brake system, a built-in rev indicator that can show you when you're redlining, and a whole set of customization options via Logitech's G Hub software.

Most flight sticks out there are designed for PC, but with flight sims having a bit of a resurgence recently thanks to games like Star Wars Squadrons and Microsoft Flight Simulator, we're starting to see more options for consoles. The official PlayStation-licensed Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS 4 is an affordable option that, crucially, is also widely available to buy. It'll work great with games like Star Wars Squadrons and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

A great entry-level flight stick for those just dipping their toes into the flight sim genre, the T.Flight HOTAS 4 features adjustable joystick resistance, a detachable throttle, and a dual-rudder system that operates by rotating the handle with an integrated locking system or by the progressive tilting lever. The flight system has five axes, 12 action buttons, one rapid-fire trigger, and one multidirectional hat switch for navigation/panoramic view.

The democratization of music production has meant that just about anybody can make music from their personal computer. As a result, there's a lot of great music coming out from people who wouldn't have been able to create anything 10 years ago.

That said, whatever personal DAW (digital audio workstation) you choose as your preference, you'll need to use plugins in order to procure certain sounds that you'll need for your music. The Complete 2021 Synth & Sound Software Bundle from Applied Acoustics sets you off immediately with a collection of 10 software kits that include psychoacoustic effects, piano tones, strumming patterns, sound effects, arrangements, and more.

Specifically, you'll get the Objeq Delay filter, which grants effects ranging from echoes to modulations to loops. On top of that, the bundle includes a variety of arpeggiators from composer David Kristian, a collection of folk loops from Celine Dion's keyboardist, and a bunch of other stuff that, in total, almost completely encompasses every possible preset or filter you could ever want for creating your own music. You can go through the different plugins yourself, but suffice it to say that musicians have raved about the different features included here. Whether you are an accomplished musician, like many of the contributors to this bundle are, or a novice beginner who is looking to dip your toes into an ocean of different DAW software, there's something of value for everyone who purchases this expansive bundle.

To put the cherry on top, you can get the Complete 2021 Synth & Sound Software Bundle from Applied Acoustics for just $30. If you've bought music plugins online before, you know how expensive they can be, so the value of this deal stands out even more at an average price of just $3 per individual software pack within. Start creating at a higher level and invest in your musical career with Applied Acoustics.

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yachtingboat · 5 years ago

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Espen Oeino on Ownership Trends & 282m NJORD

DIV Shipbuilding Group recently made headlines as the contract was signed to build the ‘world’s largest private residence yacht’, the 282-metre NJORD. The intriguing project will feature 118 private residences for sale, as well as a number of superyacht amenities and design features. A far cry from a conventional superyacht, NJORD could not by the same token be fairly labelled a cruise ship, and will also incorporate a vision of sustainability and scientific research. We caught up with exterior designer Espen Oeino to discuss the multifaceted project, and whether she is symbolic of larger shifting trends in superyacht ownership and enjoyment.

Dilbar, Flying Fox, Amadea, Octopus, Kismet. These are just a few of the world’s most iconic superyachts to which Norwegian designer and architect Espen Oeino has lent his name. Name a prestigious superyacht builder, and it is highly likely that Espen will have collaborated with them on something incredible during his 20+ years of outside-the-box design.

With ongoing projects ranging from the AMELS 60 series to Nobiskrug’s highly-anticipated Project 794, Espen Oeino and his Monegasque team continue to dominate the superyachting design sphere. Yet we couldn’t help but notice, as NJORD’s announcement comes alongside ongoing construction on 182.6m research vessel REV, a similarity between these two very different, but very unique projects.

‘The initiators are both fellow Norwegians like me, both with extensive backgrounds in shipping and businesses related to the sea,’ Espen commented.

It must be something in the water – quite literally – in Norway, as both projects share at their core certain philanthropic and scientific research missions. ‘Norway, or rather Scandinavia, has been at the forefront of sustainability for a long time. We are outdoor people, we appreciate the beauty of the outdoors and we want to preserve it.’

But aside from this and two rather staggering LOAs, here is roughly where the similarity between the two projects ends. Indeed, with exception to a much smaller and far less luxurious ship dubbed ‘The World’ 20 years ago (also Norwegian-built), there is no precedent for any vessel which quite compares to NJORD.

‘The idea was to try to offer a sort of superyacht experience to a limited number of people, with the facilities of a really big superyacht.’ Espen told us. Extra emphasis should be placed here on the phrase ‘really big’; aside from helicopters and hangars, NJORD will come complete with her own marina, as well as 118 luxury apartments onboard. ‘You can have your own galleys, your own privacy, if you want to you can have hotel services like on a superyacht. The idea is that you can offer all these things to owners without the hassle of operating your own superyacht.’

‘You know, there are clients I’ve worked with in the past, designed yachts for, who still go on cruise ships – because they like the community feel. There’s a whole community of retired people who, if they have means to, actually spend their lives more or less on cruise ships. And this is a whole step up, this is your home.’ Espen went on. ‘And as we have seen with today’s COVID-19 crisis, if you are still active and working, you can still work anywhere now!’

Although it certainly does not herald the demise of private yacht ownership, Espen agreed NJORD must be symbolic of a shift in ownership trends. Drawing a comparison with ride-hailing services such as Uber, he said, ‘I do believe we may see some trends or changes in ownership structures. As you can see with cars, many people are less inclined to buy their own cars and use other services without the hassle of ownership.’

‘So that’s what Kristian Stensby, the father of this concept, looked to offer a certain clientele. A real floating apartment with all the advantages of a yacht. You get to travel around, no need to pack and unpack, and discover new areas and experiences in comfortable familiar surroundings - it’s the best of two worlds.’

Although NJORD’s size and elements of her design recall that of a classic cruise ship, Espen was firm in his refutation of this comparison. ‘For a ship of the same size, you probably carry ten times the people on a cruise ship. You’ll notice from the outside there are far less lifeboats, and they’re hidden behind covers – this is something very different.’

This brought us on to the challenges of the ‘hybrid’ nature of this project – designing on such a large scale. ‘The challenge of course is to create spaces that are still intimate. You have to cater for a large number of people – but it’s important that you don’t feel like you’re sitting in a big restaurant, for example.’

NJORD’s 118 apartments come in varying sizes and degrees of customisation, with renowned designer FM Architettura also coming onboard as one of a few selected residence signature designers. Alternatively, owners will also be able to bring their own interior designers onboard.

Working with Jean-Louis Stutzmann who designed much of the interior layout and floor plan, Espen’s team has been working on features such as the beach club, tender areas, balconies and deck spaces.

The nature of the NJORD and REV projects are utterly unique and distinct in their own ways. This in mind, we couldn’t help but ask if Espen was simply getting ‘bored’ of conventional yacht design.

‘No! No, of course not.’ Espen cried, and laughed. ‘I do like doing different things. Marketing specialists will talk to you about your brand, your image – I don’t care. I just do my stuff, what I like to do. If I like a project, I like the people involved and the terms are right, I’ll do it.’

He did express praise though for NJORD and REV’s philanthropic aspects in with global research efforts. ‘I can really sense a change coming in the yachting industry, already with more and more ‘explorer’ yachts being built. But I think we have a lot to learn from the shipping community.’

DIV shipbuilding group will be undertaking the project for 2024 delivery, with NJORD’s hull and superstructure being built in Brodosplit, Croatia and outfitting to take place in Norway’s Kleven Verft yard. Once built, NJORD will fly the flag of the NIS (Norwegian International Ship Register) on her journey across all corners of the globe. She will be an ice-class vessel, allowing her to navigate even the most remote areas of the Arctic.

We look forward to bringing our readers more updates on this innovative project as construction progresses, as well as how NJORD’s success may impact larger industry trends once she begins her life on the water.

Espen Oeino on Ownership Trends & 282m NJORD

#Superyachts.com

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eurosong · 8 years ago

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Closing thoughts on ESC ‘17

◆ What a year, folks! In February, my closest circle of friends and I were quite despondent about the year’s offerings - it seemed like there was plenty of quality in the national finals, but little of it filtering through to Eurovision itself. I would never have dreamt of the firestorm that was about to come: Portugal winning its first Eurovision after almost fifty failed and often criminally underrated attempts is just the crowning surprise as we have a top 3 that, in its entirety, are countries getting their best results ever.

The last time that all three “medallists” were also countries getting their best result ever at that point was in 2006, where Finland won for the first time, Russia got their best ever second place (Dima besting Alsou a few years before going for gold) and Bosnia & Herzegovina grabbing third. This trinity of victors is even more impressive, consisting of three countries who tend not to qualify, two of which (Portugal and Moldova) having not ever even reached the top 5 before. This was two fingers to those banging the drum about political voting being the be all and end all of Eurovision: here are three nations with few friends amongst juries or televoters, who won big through the strength of their song or stage show. Bravi to all three. Bulgaria has emerged as a powerhouse in the making having beaten their personal record twice on the trot with Poli and now Kristian. It’ll be interesting to see if it’ll be third time lucky to bring the contest to Sofia - and if the other two countries can build on their success last year.

◆ While we are mentioning political voting, however, that ugly beast did raise its head a number of times this year. Audible boos were heard when Cyprus and Greece embarked upon their annual exchange of douzes, but I wonder if that is more cultural than political. What I found lamentable was the overtly political voting of Azerbaijan and Armenia, who put each other last once again - and the former even put Cyprus second last thanks in no small part to the Cypriot being ethnic Armenian and pals with Artsvik.

My particular award for “how unprofessional can you get?” goes to the Bulgarian jury, which tried to sink their closest rivals - giving no points to the much-vaunted Italians, placing Portugal’s Salvador just a few places below last and giving extremely lowball scores to Belgium, the latter countries that did very well in the televote. Juries on the whole made some very curious choices and seem to be less scrupulous than the televoters in many ways.

◆ They seem to have favourites year in, year out - Sweden may never slip from the top 5 thanks to jurors’ lip service, and the most curious thing is their continued obsession with Australia, who would have not qualified from the semis were it up to the televoters alone - and received a humiliating two points from them in the final. More conspiracy-prone individuals may wonder if jurors are being encouraged to award Oz so that it has decent enough results to keep in the competition. On the other hand, their lowball scores to very musically meritorious entries like that of Hungary, who entered the top 10 mostly on the strength of its televotes. It feels like the juries do not know on what criteria they are judging.

◆ At least this year should be controversy free as there was a convergence on the top 2 candidates, with both televoters and jurors agreeing that the best song was Portugal’s and the second best Bulgaria’s. It’s the first time that the jury hasn’t overriden the public vote for 3 years, and the first time ever since the introduction of this 50/50 system that they agree on both winner and runner-up. After two years of scandals and angry televoters, that can only be good for the contest. Unfortunately, there are some “fans” living in a world of alternative facts who claim it was a hoax. I feel sorry for them not being able to acknowledge the win of a country who’s waited so long to dispel their bad luck.

◆ Portugal’s win was the ultimate revindication of using your own language at the Eurovision, but not the only one. Italy did not soar to its expected heights, but got into the combined top 10, as did the tour de force from Joci Pápai, which showed that bilingual songs in which neither language is English can work! (My boss and some of my students ended up singing jáloma loma for the rest of the week xD.) The televoters, once again, show themselves much more open to other languages than many jurors: they would also have elevated the bilingual and bipolar entry from Croatia into the top 10 alongside France, making half the songs in the top 10 featuring another language than English partially or entirely - not a bad figure when that means 5 of the 7 songs featuring another language got into the televoters’ top 10, with Belarus not far behind. Will the qualification and relative success of all the non-English songs finally dispel the myth that one must sing in English to do well? I truly hope so.

◆ A less positive thing to remember the year for was the numerous fiascos at national final level. Spain screwed over its televoters by having the jury pick the winner rather than the public in the event of a tie - the opposite of what happened when Brequette and Ruth Lorenzo were tied some years prior. There were only 5 national finals this year where the public had 100% of the say at all stages - dwarved by the 9 national finals where jurors overrode the televoters’ top choice. It was a bad year for democracy at the national finals, and resulted in a number of “unloved” candidates who could not count on their country’s support.

◆ At the end of each year, I take a look at some geographic trends in the contest and calculate the geographical midpoint between qualifiers and non-qualifiers (not counting Australia as its outlying location is enough to strongly alter the results) to find the contest’s “centre of gravity.”

2014 was the most geographically equal Eurovision, with only one degree of latitude and two degrees of longitude separating the average qualifier from the average non-qualifier. In 2015, we had the most disparate Eurovision in a decade, with the equidistant point between qualifiers being way south-east in Romania whilst the equidistant point between non-qualifiers was as far west as Germany. 2016 saw a more notable distribution of qualifiers between west and east - but with the failure to qualify of all the Nordic states except the hosts, the average qualifier midpoint dropped further south than it had ever been since 2007. 2017 is a more geographically balanced contest than the prior two, with the difference between the number of western and eastern qualifiers shrinking considerably - the distance from the qualifiers’ midpoint to that of the non-qualifiers is only 600km, compared to 1300km last year and 1750km the year before that. For the third year in a row, however, southern qualifiers outnumbered northern qualifiers, but by less extreme a degree as in 2016.

◆ I thought that the ‘16 season would be hard to beat, and whilst I do miss a lot of things from that year, this has been the best year of the Eurosong blog to date. The analyses here have been liked and shared tens of thousands and we’ve received more (on the whole, very positive) requests, queries and comments than ever before. It has been an absolute pleasure and so motivating. Thank you all for taking part. I cannot wait until next year!

#eurovision #esc 2017 #eurovision song contest #eurovision 2017 #esc

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junker-town · 6 years ago

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A spit take on the Lakers’ suspensions

We have that and more in Monday’s NBA newsletter.

On Saturday, on national TV, the Lakers and Rockets got into a brawl. It involved Brandon Ingram shoving James Harden in frustration, Rajon Rondo spitting at Chris Paul, Chris Paul booping Rajon Rondo, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul punching each other in the face, and Brandon Ingram belligerently tossing a long-range fist at Chris Paul.

On Sunday, the NBA handed down suspensions: two games for Chris Paul, three games for Rajon Rondo, and four games for Brandon Ingram.

Thus continues Kiki Vandeweghe’s campaign completely arbitrary punishment.

Ingram deserved a couple of games for the wild punch he threw, but tacking on two more games because he supposedly instigated the whole thing by pushing Harden and coming crazy at ref is unfair. Brandon Ingram isn’t the reason Rondo spit at CP3. Giving Ingram extra time because the situation got out of hand is punishing him for the crimes of other.

Two games for CP3 is absurd. He didn’t swing on Rondo when he got spit on -- he swung only once Rondo started throwing haymakers. The NBA concluded that Rondo spit on CP3. That’s the instigation to the actual fight. Rondo then threw the first punch in the ordeal.

Rondo should be getting punished at least double of what CP3 is getting, if not more. And there’s no way Ingram should have a bigger sanction than Rondo, who has a decent disciplinary record. (This is something that’s supposed to matter.)

Of course, this is all a far cry from the 15 games Carmelo Anthony once got for swinging on some Knicks. But there remains little rhyme or reason to the NBA’s suspension rulings.

Scores Galore

Friday scoreboard

Saturday scoreboard

Hawks 133, Cavaliers 111 Kings 131, Thunder 120 Warriors 98, Nuggets 100 Rockets 112, Clippers 115

Schedule Check

Players’ Only on NBA TV: Magic at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET Spurs at Lakers, 10:30 p.m. ET

Other games worth checking out: Pacers at Timberwolves, 8 p.m. ET Grizzlies at Jazz, 9 p.m. ET Wizards at Blazers, 10 p.m. ET

Full schedule here.

Links Galore

The Nuggets beat the Warriors on Sunday. Something does indeed seem different about this edition of Denver.

Seerat Sohi on how Kawhi Leonard has already changed minds about the Raptors. Here’s Seerat on how Danny Green can make the big trade work.

Kristian Winfield on Caris LeVert, the Nets’ best kept secret.

On Friday, Timberwolves fans went from booing Jimmy Butler to showering him with MVP chants in two quarters. (I assume there’s a split within the Church of Timberwolf on Butler, and the anti-Jimmies are booing and the pro-Jimmies are cheering.)

Six NBA trade requests, ranked by efficiency.

The game of the season so far had to be Jazz vs. Warriors on Friday. It featured an 81-point half for Utah, a Joe Ingles career game, a massive Steph Curry-led comeback and Jonas Jerebko’s revenge.

I wrote about how insignificant the NBA’s G League select contract effort will be in the grand scheme.

Spencer Dinwiddie wore some custom shoes thanking the ... news media?

What if Mo Bamba isn’t a long-term project?

Trae Young!

Don’t look now but the Kings are fun.

Good news: Russell Westbrook is back. Bad news: the Thunder are 0-3.

Be excellent to each other.

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formerly-rosaline · 5 years ago

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About Olechka

Full name: Olechka Enkhjargal Polovina Markovskaya (О́лечка Энхжаргал Половина Марковская - called Lyalya, Ля́ля, by her twin and Olya, О́ля, by all);

American name: Alexa Demi Mars

DOB: 24 July, 1991

POB: St. Petersburg/Leningrad, Russia (Санкт-Петербург/Ленинград, Россия)

Parents:

Father: Vikentiy Arseniy Markovskiy (Викентий Арсений Марковский, 28 May, 1942, a demon) - born of wartime, his father Daniil (Даниил, ???, 1923, a demon) was desperate to keep his mother Yelizaveta (елизавета, called Veta, вета, 3 May, 1924) in the picture and intentionally impregnated her without her consent and without wedding her before leaving for the war. Vikentiy is the oldest of three brothers, with a half-brother Branislav (Бранислав, affectionately called Slávek, the middle name of Vikentiy’s youngest son, 19 January, 1943) who was born of an affair with a Czech man named Wojtek in Daniil’s absence, and Kristian (Кристиан, called Tyan, тян, 12 August, 1950) who was born of Daniil after his return from the war (1944) and his parents’ subsequent wedding (1946). Veta wisely covered her tracks, as her oldest boys were similar in age and grew at about the same rate, hiding from her husband her indiscretion. As soon as she caught wind he was returning due to injury with accolades and money to spare, she burned all letters from her Czech lover and raised her oldest boys as twins.

Vikentiy knew his mother’s secret and kept it diligently. Slavek and Tyan were blissfully unaware. Vikentiy originally modeled himself after the more remarkable traits of his father, urgently desiring to join the military as a young boy growing up in wartime and the product of a man he viewed as a warrior. Daniil was far from his glory days, hurting both mentally and physically from his time abroad. We would recognize it as PTSD today, but at the time the West only called it shell shock, and it was not even acknowledged in Russian culture. Like many veterans of the time, he turned to more harmful mechanisms to cope, such as alcoholism and beating his wife and children. Vikentiy stood by as his mother and brothers were beaten, and he never quite forgave himself for it. Always the perfect son, he was saved from his father’s wrath, and received only his pride, or drunken indifference.

Vikentiy himself became remarkably emotionally unavailable due to his upbringing, often having to father his brothers when their father was too inebriated or off sleeping around. Despite his scars, mental and otherwise, Daniil was quite an attractive man, only in his 30s and quite charismatic. He had suitors of all sorts lined up, a secret known only to Vikentiy as well, and one that influenced his thought on the matter of homosexuality deeply. Like many Russians, and many globally at the time in general, Vikentiy hated homosexuals - but most of all, he hated his father personally after witnessing what he considered now to be an abomination. Their mother never suspected his sexuality was a root cause of their marital strife, but she knew Daniil was having an affair. It wasn’t until much later, in the late 1970s when they were both in their 50s, that Veta found out her husband’s dark secret. Daniil had been ailing for some time now, having contracted HIV a decade prior, and eventually passed of pneumonia in the winter of 1979 at the age of 56. It was after his passing, with doctors baffled by his long-term immunosuppression, that Veta was tested and found to be positive herself. Her subsequent death only increased Vikentiy’s hatred for homosexuality, as he was always more fond of his mother. He never saw, as his brothers did, that she groomed and manipulated Vikentiy all of his life when the darker secrets, not all aforementioned, of the family were revealed to them.

By age 8, following Stalin’s death and Lenin’s rise, nuclear war seemed ever on the horizon. Exposed by his mother’s family, when they visited, to information that was hidden beyond the Iron Curtain, Vikentiy’s mind started to shift. Long before their parents’ death, Vikentiy realized they weren’t the picture of family unity, and that the USSR was the villain to the rest of the world. Growing up in the Union, and well-aware of his father’s sins, he quickly became jaded. He acted the part, a perfect Communist and son, and never vocalized an opposing thought to any of his nuclear family, but made other arrangements. He defected to stay with his mother’s family at the age of 17, where he eventually met his future wife, Khioniya, and after saving for a while, left to be educated in the UK. He returned, newly educated, to his young sweetheart, who had - to his surprise - waited for him. They were wed in 1972, but suffered fertility issues. Eventually, a son was born.

It wasn’t until Yeltsin was elected that Vikentiy returned to Russia, his wife heavily pregnant and about to give birth. Against all rational judgment, he wanted his youngest children to be born on Russian soil and to be Russian citizens, and the twins were born less than a month later. Tyan never forgave his brother, who left when he was merely five and being beaten like a whipped horse. He refused to exchange letters with his traitorous brother, and their relationship didn’t improve until Vikentiy’s return in 1991. Vikentiy’s mother, and “twin”, stayed in frequent touch, unbeknownst to Daniil. They often visited, Daniil unaware Vikentiy was there and uninterested in Veta’s family, and were quite fond of Khioniya. In fact, Veta was present for the births of all four of her grandchildren, and she loved them deeply. Upon discovering Slávek was gay, Vikentiy severed all ties with his family, who supported and hid his homosexuality, depriving his children of their beloved grandmother.

Mother: Khioniya Oksana Baatar (Хиония Оксана баатар, ???, 1954, called Niya, ния, by her husband, a phoenix) - born an orphan, but adopted and loved dearly by a Russian family who had defected long before Vikentiy. They were infertile, and she had no adopted siblings. However, both her parents had many siblings, so she had many cousins she was close with like siblings. Her favorite was the same age as her, named Tatiana (татьяна). They were inseparable. She lived a simple life, pledging herself to the man she met in passing through her cousin. Her parents pled with her to wed, but she waited.

Unbeknownst to Khioniya, Tati slept with and saw Vikentiy long before the two had met. Even more hidden, Vikentiy was responsible for the death of her beloved cousin. He swore to never allow such a thing to happen again, and repressed it deeply. He had shared his family information so freely with her and the children that when Niya found letters in an old hat box written in her cousin’s handwriting confirming their love, she could only dumbly stare.

When her husband returned from one of his trips, which she had never before suspected could have been affairs, but now suddenly did, she met his gaze with horror and betrayal. This was why he had never pressured her to get pregnant. This was why he had left to study abroad. This was why he never batted an eye at her when she was young. He had impregnated her cousin, and her cousin had died of complications as a result. No one had even known she was pregnant save him and the doctor. He smiled that smile at her, not aware what papers she was holding in her hand, and she flew into an uncontrollable rage. They had had four children together. She was raising his infants alone. He had the audacity to be so forthcoming with his entire childhood, his entire life, but had left out that he had been responsible for killing her cousin. She knew, of course she knew, about his dark secrets. So why had he kept this one? He could tell her he was in the mafia, for fuck’s sake, but not this?

It was exactly this reaction that had caused Vikentiy to keep this secret, though. He told her so, only enraging her further. What could she do about it - leave her children? He was a man of money and influence, and her whole life had been built around him. Her parents were long dead, she was in a foreign country, and he was the only thing she had besides her children. He could take it all away if she left with them. She was trapped. Everything had shattered; her perfect life was gone. The Markovskiy mansion was now her cell. The children didn’t understand what had happened, and only Sacha was made aware of the situation by their mother. Vikentiy’s trips became much longer and more frequent, allowing Niya space at the expense of himself and his children.

Ethnicity: Russian-Ukrainian and Mongolian-Chinese

Siblings:

Aleksandr Vasiliy Ganzorig Markovskiy (Александр Василий Ганзориг Марковский, 29 October, 1979 - called Sacha, Сача, by all, Tyshka - Тишка - by Vikentiy) - the problem child. Always acting out, Vikentiy nicknamed him after his youngest brother, who his mother had assured him was a handful. Sacha was a mother’s boy, and resented his father his absences. He constantly revealed harmful information about his father to the children when he deemed them old enough, but they thought it slander and paid him no mind. A violent child, especially to his mother, Sacha had a dark side everyone should have seen coming; he was the firstborn of a demon in disguise, after all.

Yulia Mönkhtsetseg Khristyana Markovskaya (Юлия Мөнхцэцэг Христяна Марковская, 29 February, 1984 - called Liya, Лия, by her mother and Lili, Лили, by the twins; her father uses her full first name to refer to her) - a simple girl. Preoccupied with material things and boys instead of studies, and good but not exceptional in anything she tried her hand at. She was considered the “pretty one” because of her more European features such as rounder, blue eyes and stick-straight brunette locks.

Oleg Slávek Batbayar Markovskiy (Олег Славик Батбаяр Марковский, 24 July, 1991 - called Mishka, мишка, meaning little bear, by all) - Olechka’s older half and a huge mama’s boy. The younger of the two, he was also the stronger.

Background:

Olechka was a sheltered and affluent child growing up. Her parents loved each other quite deeply, she was born with an in-built best friend, and she was very well-educated from a young age. Her father made enough money that her mother was able to stay home and raise the twins, as she had raised their siblings before them. Khioniya seemed restless at times, but not eager to rejoin the workforce. She was content to watch the children; she merely resented her husband his chronic absence due to the lack of adult company she often suffered. Raising a nearly teen aged boy, a prepubescent girl, and two infants was a struggle for Niya; unbeknownst to the lot of them, as a result of Eastern thought of the time, she was suffering long-term postpartum depression and having trouble connecting with all of her children. It only increased her bitterness when Vikentiy returned and the children doted over their loving father. She felt such guilt for her petty jealousy - after all, she should be joyous her husband was home, and she was always glad for the quality time they spent together without the children, but she couldn’t prevent the pangs caused by seeing him so effortlessly flip the switch and become the perfect parent.

At the age of three, she was already under tutelage to be a violin virtuoso, inspired by her father and his taste in music. She was a fast study; Olechka’s love of stringed instruments quickly expanded, and her mother wanted her to embrace her heritage rather than letting it be assimilated and die, so by age 5 she had taken up the morin khuur (морин хуур) and topshur (топшур) as well.

By age six, she spoke and read Russian, Mongolian, and Putonghua (Mandarin) at a college level, with conversational fluency in Yue (Cantonese), Ukrainian, and English. She also spoke Bulgarian and Croatian well enough to get around when on family vacations. She was a bit of a defiant one, to her father’s behest, and wont to get lost. As a result, she had learned the phrase “Have you seen my family?” in almost every language spoken in what was formerly the USSR, as though she were asking for the restroom.

As far as she was concerned, her father was an important dignitary and businessman, constantly on travel for the State - which only spurred her to grow closer to him, and made her cherish the time he was home more - but her older brother Sacha constantly insinuated to the twins that things weren’t as painless or idyllic as they appeared within the walls of the Markovskiy mansion. It wasn’t until she was older that Olechka found out the truth...

When Olechka and Oleg were about to turn eight years old, a tragedy unfurled in their home. While their father was away on “business,” Sacha decided to take out the aggression his sweetheart’s untimely demise arose in him upon his family. He butchered his mother relentlessly, as well as his father’s friend Timoti, who was staying with them to insure their safety. Timoti was like a second father to them all. Yulia, only 15, did a spell to protect the twins and make them invisible, but she had chosen a poor hiding spot. Olechka was the only one spared from the tragedy, or so she thought...

She fled to America with money from her dad’s stash beneath the floorboard under his desk (”This is what I have hidden for you, if anything should happen,” he had always told her) and the clothes on her back. Covered in her brother’s blood, and an obviously unaccompanied minor, the papers barely bought her her way in. It wasn’t until her 20s that Olechka (now called Olga) determined that both her twin and Timoti had survived. She had grown quite famous in America, and they had reached out. None had determiend the whereabouts of her father, who they assumed Sacha was out to kill. Unbeknownst to the three, he also had the twins still in his sights.

We meet Olga at the beginning - her trauma is over, her other half is reunited, and she is reclaiming her familial home; recalling the trauma, but emboldened by it.

#about Olechka #about muse

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