#toy swords

[petermorwood]

Here's a photo of the real Albrecht II sword, along with a handsome repro by Paul Chen / Hanwei from CAS Iberia.

Not quite identical but pretty close, here's a toy (!) sword from Liongate Armoury.

Here are photos of the real Edward III sword...

...and a couple of repros, one from Arms-n-Armor, the other from Manning Imperial.

And a much, much more affordable toy one from Liongate.

I would have LOVED to have a toy sword that looked this good when I was a kid... :->

I wouldn't have minded a kid-sized mail shirt, either, and I'd have saved my pocket-money like nobody's business to get one...

This started out as a straightforward attempt to create the first of a series of model sheets for the Daz Studio versions of the Middle Kingdoms characters, and then turned into something else.

(Adding a cut for the discussion of digital-design and medieval-history stuff. Caution: contains more than most people's recommended daily dosage of iron.)

In particular, the above was supposed to be a straightforward side-by-side, which-one-is-longer comparison of the two products used to represent Herewiss's sword Khávrinen and Freelorn's sword Hergótha. (And naturally, where these two are involved, who's-got-the-longer-one discussions are routinely likely to devolve into good-natured teasing of a very different kind. So the original sketch-y version of this was tagged "Size Queens.") :)

...What still amuses me at this end of time was that from the start of the series, I had an extremely clear sense of what Khávrinen looked like. Probably this wasn't a bad thing, in that The Door Into Fire has as a constant background motif the (until then hopeless) business of Dusty actually forging it. So it shocked me to discover some years after finishing the first novel that the sword I'd invented in my head was absolutely a dead ringer for one in the typology of medieval swords categorized by the renowned weapons scholar Ewart Oakeshott: the Oakeshott type XVIIIa.

It's a good sword for a man to be forging when he's intent on never having to do it again once he's got it right. The hand-and-a-half sword, also sometimes called the "bastard sword", was developed to cope with 15th-century European battlefields on which the styles of fighting (and of armor) were changing, and which required a more versatile weapon that was good both for cutting and thrusting. Fortunately the digital-object maker who goes by Valandar has had a group of historically-accurate swords on sale for some time now, and the one I use for Khávrinen is one of these: a digital replica of the so-called Sword of Albrecht II.

The other sword in question—the one needed to stand in for the ancient rulers' sword of Arlen—caused me a bit more trouble.* For the first two books of the series (and most of the third) it was missing; so there was no real need, early on, to give too much consideration about what it needed to look like. But when work on book 3 started, I then knew about Oakeshott (and was married to someone who knew a whole more about him than I did). So I did my homework, and the choice for the sword devised in the deeps of time by Héalhra Whitemane eventually fell on yet another of the Type XVIIIa swords: the so-called Sword of Edward III.* Valandar's digital version of this weapon now stands in for Hergótha the Great—Freelorn finally (during the events of The Door Into Sunset) having relocated the family heirloom after its seven-year MIA period.

...Anyway, the model sheets will have to wait for the time being, as there's more time-sensitive work on the desk. I may come back to this concept later using more neutral backgrounds... assuming I can solve the problem that means characters sited inside these lighting schemes seem to have trouble actually getting their feet (and/or swordpoints) to rest flat on the surface under them. The floating-an-inch-above-the-ground thing kind of breaks the sense of reality...

*After having been thought a fake for most of the last century, it's now looking as if this actually was Edward III's sword. A rarity, when misattributions are so common...

[harrowedsoup]

I refuse to change my headcanon that most of the other people at Canaan House probably thought Gideon was Harrow’s pretty boy toy until she showed them she could actually fight because she acted exactly nothing like a real Cav in anyway. A teenage ruler shows up with a hot butch that clearly isn’t trained to be a ninth Cav or even a normal-ish one? Come on. They probably thought griddlehark were over compensating trying to hide by staying away from each other. 

[dailypokemoncrochet]

Eternatus Amigurumi!

Here's a video of my crochet Eternatus bumpily spinning so you can see some better angles

And here are 6 more pictures!

[shiftythrifting]

More finds from Portland OR

The sword was a totally separate toy from the dog but they do look good together in there

Wretched little golf ball creature. I can see it skittering across the floor in the dark in an abandoned house. (It vibrates when you press the button)

Bald is better

Classic stocking holder letter config

This amazing shirt I really regret not getting (I told myself I should leave it for a real lesbian farmer to find)

[apelsinys]

SWORD BEAN PLUSH!

With him i have a lot of troubles... I think i will be remake him

and patterns! (People asked about it. I do!)

[matenr0u]

Very normal about this Belle/Beast parallel in particular:

I came to fight for Belle.

And though I am on my own, I will fight.

I won’t leave without her.

That’s why I’m here.

[chimpukampu]

Bork of the Wild

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was in a school that banned toys but allowed swords. Also, I had Danny Phantom powers and was covering people in liquid cheese.

[returntodreamland]

Never celebrate too early!

[basil-the-bulbasaur]

We all know Jimmy would try to stop Tango from hurting anyone when he's upset, but we don't talk a lot about the reverse

C!Jimmy is so easily frustrated. And he's impulsive. He gets into fights over getting called a toy or whatever the latest joke-to-rile-up-Jimmy is.

I think Tango would calm him down. Not dismiss his feelings, but still convince him to let it go. 'You're not wrong but you'll only get hurt' sort of thing.

I just think they'd mellow each other out. Not quite an NaCl pairing, but similar concept

[moozyfreak]

it takes two to zosan

[fatedroses]

tfw youre so mad about your healer getting hurt under your watch that you turn into a dragon and consequently cant turn back for a bit. (or alternatively, shrinryu if he was a light party platform instead of a full party one.)

[transfem-kirito-truther]

huge thanks to for @heyyallitsbeth today’s image of Kirito. LOOK AT HERRRRRR

[dynamite124]

You have my full attention.

Ok, ok. Swords right?

But hear me out. Ok. How about...

✨Swords✨

[bogkeep]

fletcher from this episode of drawfee!! jacob keeps designing characters that really appeal to me...

[maimoncat]

He's HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Unfortunately I just came back from the sea, so we'll have to wait for those long walks on the beach. I could stillread him some Schiller though.

@swordscomic I caved