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insipid-drivel · 1 month

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Horses: Since There Seems To Be A Knowledge Gap

I'm going to go ahead and preface this with: I comment pretty regularly on clips and photos featuring horses and horseback riding, often answering questions or providing explanations for how or why certain things are done. I was a stable hand and barrel racer growing up, and during my 11 year tenure on tumblr, Professional Horse Commentary is a very niche, yet very necessary, subject that needs filling. Here are some of the literary and creative gaps I've noticed in well meaning (and very good!) creators trying to portray horses and riding realistically that... well, most of you don't seem to even be aware of, because you wouldn't know unless you worked with horses directly!

Some Of The Most Common Horse + Riding Mistakes I See:

-Anybody can ride any horse if you hold on tight enough/have ridden once before.

Nope. No, no, no, no, aaaaaaaand, no. Horseback riding has, historically, been treated as a life skill taught from surprisingly young ages. It wasn't unusual in the pre-vehicular eras to start teaching children as young as 4 to begin to ride, because horses don't come with airbags, and every horse is different. For most adults, it can take months or years of regular lessons to learn to ride well in the saddle, and that's just riding; not working or practicing a sport.

Furthermore, horses often reject riders they don't know. Unless a horse has been trained like a teaching horse, which is taught to tolerate riders of all skill and experience levels, it will take extreme issue with having some random person try to climb on their back. Royalty, nobility, and the knighted classes are commonly associated with the "having a favorite special horse" trope, because it's true! Just like you can have a particularly special bond with a pet or service animal that verges on parental, the same can apply with horses. Happy horses love their owners/riders, and will straight-up do their best to murder anyone that tries to ride them without permission.

-Horses are stupid/have no personality.

There isn't a more dangerous assumption to make than assuming a horse is stupid. Every horse has a unique personality, with traits that can be consistent between breeds (again, like cat and dog breeds often have distinct behavior traits associated with them), but those traits manifest differently from animal to animal.

My mother had an Arabian horse, Zipper, that hated being kicked as a signal to gallop. One day, her mom and stepdad had a particularly unpleasant visitor; an older gentleman that insisted on riding Zipper, but refused to listen to my mother's warnings never to kick him. "Kicking" constitutes hitting the horse's side(s) with your heels, whether you have spurs on or not. Most horses only need a gentle squeeze to know what you want them to do.

Anyway, Zipper made eye-contact with my mom, asking for permission. He understood what she meant when she nodded at him. He proceeded to give this asshole of a rider road rash on the side of the paddock fence and sent him to the emergency room. He wouldn't have done it if he didn't have the permission from the rider he respected, and was intelligent enough to ask, "mind if I teach this guy a lesson?" with his eyes, and understand, "Go for it, buddy," from my mom in return.

-Riding bareback is possible to do if you hold onto the horse's mane really tight.

Riding a horse bareback (with no saddle, stirrups, or traditional harness around the horse's head) is unbelievably difficult to learn, particularly have testicles and value keeping them. Even professional riders and equestrians find ourselves relying on tack (the stuff you put on a horse to ride it) to stay stable on our horses, even if we've been riding that particular horse for years and have a very positive, trusting relationship.

Horses sweat like people do. The more they run, the more their hair saturates with sweat and makes staying seated on them slippery. Hell, an overworked horse can sweat so heavily that the saddle slips off its back. It's also essential to brush and bathe a horse before it's ridden in order to keep it healthier, so their hair is often quite slick from either being very clean or very damp. In order to ride like that, you have to develop the ability to synchronize your entire body's rhythm's with the rhythm of the horse's body beneath you, and quite literally move as one. Without stirrups, most people can't do it, and some people can never master bareback riding no matter how many years they spend trying to learn.

-You can be distracted and make casual conversation while a horse is standing untethered in the middle of a barn or field.

At every barn I've ever worked at, it's been standard practice with every single horse, regardless of age or temperament, to secure their heads while they're being tacked up or tacked down. The secures for doing this are simple ropes with clips that are designed to attach to the horse's halter (the headwear for a horse that isn't being ridden; they have no bit that goes in the horse's mouth, and no reins for a rider to hold) on metal O rings on either side of the horse's head. This is not distressing to the horse, because we give them plenty of slack to turn their heads and look around comfortably.

The problem with trying to tack up an unrestrained horse while chatting with fellow stable hands or riders is that horses know when you're distracted! And they often try to get away with stuff when they know you're not looking! In a barn, a horse often knows where the food is stored, and will often try to tiptoe off to sneak into the feed room.

Horses that get into the feed room are often at a high risk of dying. While extremely intelligent, they don't have the ability to throw up, and they don't have the ability to tell that their stomach is full and should stop eating. Allowing a horse into a feed/grain room WILL allow it to eat itself to death.

Other common woes stable hands and riders deal with when trying to handle a horse with an unrestrained head is getting bitten! Horses express affection between members of their own herd, and those they consider friends and family, through nibbling and surprisingly rough biting. It's not called "horseplay" for nothing, because during my years working with horses out in the pasture, it wasn't uncommon at all for me to find individuals with bloody bite marks on their withers (that high part on the middle of the back of their shoulders most people instinctively reach for when they try to get up), and on their backsides. I've been love-bitten by horses before, and while flattering, they hurt like hell on fleshy human skin.

So, for the safety of the horse, and everybody else, always make a show of somehow controlling the animal's head when hands-on and on the ground with them.

-Big Horse = War Horse

Startlingly, the opposite is usually the case! Draft and carriage horses, like Percherons and Friesians, were never meant to be used in warfare. Draft horses are usually bred to be extremely even-tempered, hard to spook, and trustworthy around small children and animals. Historically, they're the tractors of the farm if you could afford to upgrade from oxen, and were never built to be fast or agile in a battlefield situation.

More importantly, just because a horse is imposing and huge doesn't make it a good candidate for carrying heavy weights. A real thing that I had to be part of enforcing when I worked at a teaching ranch was a weight limit. Yeah, it felt shitty to tell people they couldn't ride because we didn't have any horses strong enough to carry them due to their weight, but it's a matter of the animal's safety. A big/tall/chonky horse is more likely to be built to pull heavy loads, but not carry them flat on their spines. Horses' muscular power is predominantly in their ability to run and pull things, and too heavy a rider can literally break a horse's spine and force us to euthanize it.

Some of the best war horses out there are from the "hot blood" family. Hot blooded horses are often from dry, hot, arid climates, are very small and slight (such as Arabian horses), and are notoriously fickle and flighty. They're also a lot more likely to paw/bite/kick when spooked, and have even sometimes been historically trained to fight alongside their rider if their rider is dismounted in combat; kicking and rearing to keep other soldiers at a distance.

-Any horse can be ridden if it likes you enough.

Just like it can take a lifetime to learn to ride easily, it can take a lifetime of training for a horse to comfortably take to being ridden or taking part in a job, like pulling a carriage. Much like service animals, horses are typically trained from extremely young ages to be reared into the job that's given to them, and an adult horse with no experience carrying a rider is going to be just as scared as a rider who's never actually ridden a horse.

Just as well, the process of tacking up a horse isn't always the most comfortable experience for the horse. To keep the saddle centered on the horse's back when moving at rough or fast paces, it's essential to tighten the belly strap (cinch) of the saddle as tightly as possible around the horse's belly. For the horse, it's like wearing a tight corset, chafes, and even leaves indents in their skin afterward that they love having rinsed with water and scratched. Some horses will learn to inflate their bellies while you're tightening the cinch so you can't get it as tight as it needs to be, and then exhale when they think you're done tightening it.

When you're working with a horse wearing a bridle, especially one with a bit, it can be a shocking sensory experience to a horse that's never used a bit before. While they lack a set of teeth naturally, so the bit doesn't actually hurt them, imagine having a metal rod shoved in your mouth horizontally! Unless you understand why it's important for the person you care about not dying, you'd be pretty pissed about having to keep it in there!

-Horseback riding isn't exercise.

If you're not using every muscle in your body to ride with, you're not doing it right.

Riding requires every ounce of muscle control you have in your entire body - although this doesn't mean it wasn't realistic for people with fat bodies to stay their weight while also being avid riders; it doesn't mean the muscles aren't there. To stay on the horse, you need to learn how it feels when it moves at different gaits (walk, trot, canter, gallop), how to instruct it to switch leads (dominant legs; essential for precise turning and ease of communication between you and the horse), and not falling off. While good riders look like they're barely moving at all, that's only because they're good riders. They know how to move so seamlessly with the horse, feeling their movements like their own, that they can compensate with their legs and waists to not bounce out of the saddle altogether or slide off to one side. I guarantee if you ride a horse longer than 30 minutes for the first time, your legs alone will barely work and feel like rubber.

-Horses aren't affectionate.

Horses are extraordinarily affectionate toward the right people. As prey animals, they're usually wary of people they don't know, or have only recently met. They also - again, like service animals - have a "work mode" and a "casual mode" depending upon what they're doing at the time. Horses will give kisses like puppies, wiggle their upper lips on your hair/arms to groom you, lean into neck-hugs, and even cuddle in their pasture or stall if it's time to nap and you join them by leaning against their sides. If they see you coming up from afar and are excited to see you, they'll whinny and squeal while galloping to meet you at the gate. They'll deliberately swat you with their tails to tease you, and will often follow you around the pasture if they're allowed to regardless of what you're up to.

-Riding crops are cruel.

Only cruel people use riding crops to hurt their horses. Spurs? I personally object to, because any horse that knows you well doesn't need something sharp jabbing them in the side for emphasis when you're trying to tell them where you want them to go. Crops? Are genuinely harmless tools used for signalling a horse.

I mean, think about it. Why would crops be inherently cruel instruments if you need to trust a horse not to be afraid of you and throw you off when you're riding it?

Crops are best used just to lightly tap on the left or right flank of the horse, and aren't universally used with all forms of riding. You'll mainly see crops used with English riding, and they're just tools for communicating with the horse without needing to speak.

-There's only one way to ride a horse.

Not. At. All. At most teaching ranches, you'll get two options: Western, or English, because they tend to be the most popular for shows and also the most common to find equipment for. English riding uses a thinner, smaller saddle, narrower stirrups, and much thinner bridles. I, personally, didn't like English style riding because I never felt very stable in such a thin saddle with such small stirrups, and didn't start learning until my mid teens. English style riding tends to focus more on your posture and deportment in the saddle, and your ability to show off your stability and apparent immovability on the horse. It was generally just a bit too stiff and formal for me.

Western style riding utilizes heavier bridles, bigger saddles (with the iconic horn on the front), and broader stirrups. Like its name may suggest, Western riding is more about figuring out how to be steady in the saddle while going fast and being mobile with your upper body. Western style riding is generally the style preferred for working-type shows, such as horseback archery, gunning, barrel racing, and even rodeo riding.

-Wealthy horse owners have no relationship with their horses.

This is loosely untrue, but I've seen cases where it is. Basically, horses need to feel like they're working for someone that matters to them in order to behave well with a rider and not get impatient or bored. While it's common for people to board horses at off-property ranches (boarding ranches) for cost and space purposes, it's been historically the truth that having help is usually necessary with horses at some point. What matters is who spends the most time with the animal treating it like a living being, rather than a mode of transport or a tool. There's no harm in stable hands handling the daily upkeep; hay bales and water buckets are heavy, and we're there to profit off the labor you don't want or have the time to do. You get up early to go to work; we get up early to look after your horses. Good owners/boarders visit often and spend as much of their spare time as they can with spending quality work and playtime with their horses. Otherwise, the horses look to the stable hands for emotional support and care.

So, maybe you're writing a knight that doesn't really care much for looking after his horse, but his squire is really dedicated to keeping up with it? There's a better chance of the horse having a more affectionate relationship with the squire thanks to the time the squire spends on looking after it, while the horse is more likely to tolerate the knight that owns it as being a source of discipline if it misbehaves. That doesn't mean the knight is its favorite person. When it comes to horses, their love must be earned, and you can only earn it by spending time with them hands-on.

-Horses can graze anywhere without concern.

This is a mistake that results in a lot of premature deaths! A big part of the cost of owning a horse - even before you buy one - is having the property that will be its pasture assessed for poisonous plants, and having those plants removed from being within the animal's reach. This is an essential part of farm upkeep every year, because horses really can't tell what's toxic and what isn't. One of the reasons it's essential to secure a horse when you aren't riding it is to ensure it only has a very limited range to graze on, and it's your responsibility as the owner/rider to know how to identify dangerous plants and keep your horses away from them.

There's probably more. AMA in my askbox if you have any questions, but that's all for now. Happy writing.

#horses #horseback riding #writing #writing tips #long post

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physalian · 5 months

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Color in Fiction! (Once You See it, You Cannot Unsee it)

White versus black, red versus blue, Gatsby’s green light, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, Belle’s blue dress.

Color is perhaps the most ubiquitous motif used across both fiction and reality to thread people or objects through a common theme, or to pit two ideologies against each other beyond their verbal spats. Color is also perhaps the simplest motif, but that doesn’t make it any lesser in its potency.

In fiction, color is an easy way for the audience to learn as fast as possible who’s on whose side, and who their opponents are, and today, we’re going to look at a few.

But first: Crash course into color theory:

Warmer colors evoke passion or uncertainty, movement and excitement, happiness and warmth, but also rage, aggression, love, and lust. The cooler colors evoke sadness and serenity, but also youth and spring and winter and death.

Most of the time when a creator wants to juxtapose color in a narrative or other work, they’re going to use inverses, just google one of the hundreds of teal and orange movie posters. Inverses are whatever colors lie at opposite sides of the wheel. Blue and Orange, Red and Green, Purple and Yellow. These pairs show up either in opposition, or as an ensemble of one character or a group or team.

Part 1: Black and White

Yes it has grounds in racism, but black and white are also accepted to mean chaos and order, good and evil, death and life.

In a show like Lost, themes of black and white are constant. The black and white backgammon pieces, the colors of the Dharma station logos, the show’s main title card, God stand-in Jacob (Lucifer from Supernatural), and his unnamed brother, the Man in Black.

Black and white show up *everywhere,* in some places subtler than others. In fiction with a male and female lead, if they are coded in black and white, the man is almost always the one in black. Black means strength and mystery and this deep, almost corrupted darkness. White is purity, femininity, youth, and nurturing, when a woman wears it, unless she's the villain.

Villains in white are very often surprise villains:

The White Witch (Chronicles of Narnia)

Saruman (Lord of the Rings)

President Coin (Hunger Games)

Hans (Frozen), Mayor Bellweather (Zootopia), Auto (Wall-E)

Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean is an interesting case. She begins the first movie wearing light colors and being trapped in the pure and lawful life of the governor’s daughter. She ends her arc in the third movie in solid black (through several costumes) a badass Pirate King and wife of the new Captain of the Flying Dutchman.

Men in black are chivalrous, dark knights, or morally grey vigilantes, silent badasses, or edgy badboys. Black is also of course reserved for villains a la Darth Vader, or Severus Snape and Voldemort and a million others. The "Black Knight" is his own trope, whether he's in a fantasy setting or not.

Women in black are temptresses, or seductive badasses. Black is the color of corruption, sin, and angst in western media 9 times out of 10 unless a narrative wants to subvert it.

I could do an entire essay on black and white in Lord of the Rings alone but here's a few other contrasts: The white Tower of Ecthelion, Minas Tirith, the "White City", the White Tree, Gandalf the White. The Black Riders, Black Speech, Black Land of Mordor, Orthanc (Saruman's Tower).

But you don’t have to make your character’s entire costumes black and white, no, you can just make their hair light and dark.

Part 2: Hair

**Possibly also because racism but we don’t have time to unpack all that right now**

When you have your male protagonist and his male foil, love interest, competition, companion, lancer, or villain, most of the time (in western media where blonds are in abundance) the more noble or “good” character of the two will be blond, the other brunet, especially in a love triangle. If two male characters have opposing ideologies on any level, they will often have opposing hair. A male and female lead duo will also tend to have opposing hair, but it’s most obvious what they’re doing when it’s two dudes and not just coincidence.

Here’s a nonexhaustive list, with the brunet first (ignoring if the adaptation was faithful):

Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamnee (LoTR)

Aragorn and Boromir (LoTR)

Aragorn and Theoden (LoTR)

Denethor and Faramir (LoTR)

Thorin and Bilbo (Hobbit)

Jack Shephard and James “Sawyer” Ford (Lost)

Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar (Brokeback Mountain) *Also have opposing hats*

Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent (The Dark Knight)

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers (Marvel)

Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers (Marvel)

Loki and Thor (Marvel)

Nico di Angelo and Will Solace (Percy Jackson)

Percy Jackson and Jason Grace (Percy Jackson)

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (the Cumberbatch one)

Sam Winchester and Dean Winchester (Supernatural)

Edmund Pevensie and Peter Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia)

Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark (Hunger Games)

Damon Salvatore and Stefan Salvatore (Vampire Diaries)

Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby (2013 Gatsby)

Caledon Hockley and Jack Dawson (Titanic)

Notable nonexhaustive exceptions:

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter)

Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan (Percy Jackson)

Jacob Black and Edward Cullen (Twilight)

Batman and Superman (DC Comics)

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo (Star Wars)

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars) *wardrobe makes up for it*

*Feel free to tag the ones I missed

Not every brunet on the list is a “bad” guy, nor is every blond the “good” guy, but compared to each other, the brunet tends to be the more morally grey, the more corrupted, the one who’s ideologies end up getting them hurt or killed or proving them wrong. Or, the brunet faces more demons, has a darker personality, or tends to have a “shoot first ask questions later” philosophy.

This of course goes out the window if the media is set in a region or with a cast of characters who are meant to share similar features, like how there’s no blondes at all in Last Airbender (otherwise Aang would absolutely fit the pattern).

Whether that’s Frodo getting corrupted by the Ring and Sam being his rock, Jack Twist getting murdered while Ennis lives on, or the beloved Dark Knight and his bat-black demons while Harvey’s White legacy saves Gotham, next time you write a brunet and his blond competition, ask yourself just why you’re doing it.

*Side note, I’m pretty sure Harvey Dent, when he’s animated, is usually a brunet, but he’s also usually Two-Face by then and no longer a hero*

I don’t even have time for black and white in anime or the trope of the white-haired anime boy and since natural hair colors are kind of moot, I don’t think the same rules apply. But outside of the westernized “black knight vs white knight” I do want to dig deeper into color motifs in anime at some point.

Here's some notable dark and light dichotomies nonetheless in wardrobe and/or hair:

Kirito and Asuna (Sword Art Online)

Lelouch and Suzaku (Code Geass)

Midoriya and Bakugo (My Hero Academia)

L and Light (Death Note)

Medusa and Stein (Soul Eater)

Sasuke and Naruto (Naruto)

Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Eiji and Ash (Banana Fish)

Kyoya and Tamaki (OHSHC)

Yuri and Viktor (Yuri!!! On Ice)

Dracula and Alucard (Castlevania)

Part 3: Red v. Blue and everything in between

The megalith that is the color motif extends past the white/black dichotomy.

It’s also red and blue.

If red is pitted against blue in any story, red is always the team the audience is supposed to root against, unless this is sports. Red is the color of the Sith, the Fire Nation, red eyes are seen as evil, red is blood and rage and wrath and fire. Red is the color of evil empires. Blue is the color of heroes. It’s water and healing and camaraderie, serenity. Blue is the color of rebels and underdogs.

Red versus blue is in everything from the color of lightsabers in Star Wars to the color of cybertronian eyes in Transformers, to the color of the Water Tribes and Fire Nations (with some exceptions a la Azula’s blue fire) to the colors of the pills in the Matrix. Red is the ‘dangerous’ choice, blue is the ‘safe’ choice. Unless your character is patriotically sporting the red, white and blue of the UK, USA, or France.

Villains usually only wear blue if they're ice-coded, or belong to a faction wearing navy blue uniforms.

Red versus blue also shows up between leaders and their lancers. The first one I can think up off the top of my head is Robin and Raven from Teen Titans.

Purple is also usually lumped in with the bad guys and green with the good guys, but purple and green also show up a ton as contrasting colors of the same character like the Hulk or the Joker. But both can swing either way. The Decepticons in the early cartoons for Transformers had purple everywhere and reclaimed it in Transformers: Prime. Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, the Vehicons, Airachnid, and the Dark Star Saber, and some G1s]. Prime also has three sets of red-blue dichotomies within their factions: [Arcee/Cliffjumper, Optimus/Ratchet, and Knockout/Breakdown].

Green is the color of more Jedi, and the Green Lanterns, but green also represents sickness or disease or generic evil energy a la Loki, Dr. Facilier (Princess and the Frog) or the Hyenas and Scar in the Lion King.

Pink is really up in the air, as is orange and yellow, especially when it comes to female characters, especially female anime characters.

But enough about color dichotomy.

Part 4: Color Singularity

Color singularly is either meant to evoke a specific emotion, like using blue everywhere to represent sadness, or it’s meant to be a bold statement in an otherwise grayscale world.

I mentioned a few at the top of the post and I’ll elaborate on them here:

In Great Gatsby, green and yellow are very important colors. The “green light” is this real object at the end of the titular character’s love interest’s dock. This light and this color are motifs that represent Gatsby’s longing for Daisy and to return to a glorious past he can never have again (it’s also the color of American money). Yellow is also everywhere in this book. It’s the color of his chekov’s car and several dresses at his extravagant party. Yellow is the color of his current life of glitz and glam and riches (and is also the color of gold). If you listen to one of the accompanying songs to the 2013 film, Florence and the Machine’s “Over the Love” recognizes the importance of yellow in the narrative.

Dorothy’s red slippers in the Wizard of Oz are hyperbolically bold, especially since the movie starts out in black and white. Color is a huge piece of this film- the Emerald City, the Yellow Brick Road, the horse of many colors. Red scientifically is the color humans tend to notice first, those shoes were made to be remembered. Color in Wizard of Oz is the symbol of the fantastical, which was really helped by the time the film was made and simply seeing so much color on screen dazzled audiences.

Red catches your eye faster than any other color, and red in a world of black and white sticks in your mind, just look at Schindler’s List.

Belle from Beauty and the Beast, along with a lot of fictional women wear blue. Blue is biblically Mary’s color, and at one time was the color marketed to women before the shift to “blue for boys”. In the original Beauty and the Beast, Belle was the only character who wore blue, because she was an outsider, and outlier, a free-thinker. Or at least, Belle is the only one who wears blue until she dances with the Beast. The live-action remake didn’t maintain this extra level of the narrative and that’s a shame.

I didn't mention eye color much above (also maybe because racism) but blue eyes, especially animated blue and green eyes, go to characters who are more hopeful, heroic, nurturing, morally just, honest, or brave than their brown-eyed counterparts, unless he's a blue-eyed Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Blue-eyed people tend to be blond, so the traits go hand in hand for the "good" character.

Weirdly enough, this also applies to blue-eyed animal characters -- your animated anthropomorphised villain is rarely going to be drawn with eyes that aren't brown, black, green, red, orange, or yellow.

Because color is also a subliminal or overt way of foreshadowing in both written and visual media as much as any other motif and recurring symbol. You can foreshadow death, or impending doom, or an eventual identity reveal, whatever you want.

You can also subvert the usual associations with specific colors. Black doesn’t have to mean evil in your world. Black can be life, too. White doesn’t have to be pure, white can be clinical and sterile and lifeless (but please no more lady villains in white pantsuits, that's its own cliche at this point). Shake it up a bit every once in a while.

So whether it’s dueling ideologies or the very forces of good and evil, a harbinger of doom or a secret tell, or community and camaraderie, or an enduring hope, you can represent it all with a careful dose of color.

#writing advice #writing tips #writing resources #color theory #literary analysis

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fiddles-ifs · 10 months

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〔 DEMO (COMING SOON!) 〕〔 CHARACTERS 〕〔 PLAYLIST 〕

Rated 18+ for violence and sexual content. Trigger warnings will be provided at the beginning of each chapter.

Twenty-seven years ago, the Giants woke up. Behemoth machines powered by AI machine learning, they destroyed much of the infrastructure of the world in a period known as The Fall. Humanity retreated to walled Cities -- first Kowloon, then others. And then Rider happened. A shining star in a half-formed mech, Rider beat back the Giants and became humanity's first and greatest hope. Then they died. And now there's you -- a carbon copy ten years later, built from a smattering of cells to kill the Giants and set the Cities free, an exact replica of the Rider the world knew and loved. You are one link in a chain of fallen soldiers. Cannon fodder, in smooth, pretty, porcelain white mechs. The white knights of the globe. They named you Fury. You're about to prove them right.

〔 FEATURES 〕

Customizable MC. Play as male, female, or non-binary; trans or cisgender; customizable pronouns.* Customize your appearance.

An angry clone. The anger keeps you alive, sure -- but what about the rest of you? Is your anger calm or explosive? Do you prefer to solve problems with violence or words? Do you meet problems head on, or work around them?

Who was Rider to you? Someone to look up to? A rival? A messiah?

Romance!! Or not!!!! Two romance options. Play as gay, straight, bisexual, or asexual; aro or alloromantic.

Get in the robot, Fury. Pilot your mech, DANIEL, and fight giant robots on the post-apocalyptic Great Plains. Exploit their weaknesses as rogue AI -- or just beat them into paste.

〔 ROMANCE OPTIONS 〕

Lane Black Kettle. [They/them] An Off-Gridder raised in surprisingly pleasant post-apocalyptia, Lane is in City 17 possibly illegally -- and definitely has a warrant out for their arrest. They can show you the nitty gritty underbelly of City 17, and a unique perspective on life outside the Walls. You just have to let each other in. Flavor of romance: The Outsider, enemies to lovers, snark as a love language.

Matthew "Mattie" Sorenson. [He/him] A computer genius whose obsession with the Giants tends to put people off, bug his overwhelming charisma and jovial nature reel them in again. Mattie wants to fix humanity's mistakes -- and you will help him. Flavor of romance: The Insider, competing egos, saving the world (and each other)

〔 OTHER DRAMATIS PERSONAE 〕

Luka Marik. [He/him] Your creator, the Alpha and Omega -- and a sad little man. Originally the creator of the mechs used to fight the Giants, Rider's death has left him with one purpose -- to bring them back to life.

Rider. [He/him or she/her] Begone, foul spirit, and let me not mourn you! Your genetic template, messianic savior of humanity, tragically killed in action ten years ago. Haunter of your narrative, very much against your will.

*Although many characters assume Fury is cis, the player will have several opportunities as the story progresses to transition -- including changing Fury's pronouns and aspects of their gender expression. Fury's transition will be a major plot point, if the player so chooses.

〔 TAGS + LINKS 〕

[FITM ASKS] [LANE] | [MATTIE] | [MARIK] [DISCORD]

#erinys: fury in the machine #intro post #interactive fiction #twine wip #cyberpunk #mecha

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comicavalcade · 15 days

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RIP Don Perlin

Legendary comic creator/artist Don Perlin, co-creator of MOON KNIGHT and BLOODSHOT and known for his notable work on GHOST RIDER, THE DEFENDERS, and WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, has died. He was 94.

#rip #don perlin #moon knight #ghost rider #werewolf by night #bloodshot #defenders #marvel comics #valiant comics #a master has been lost

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ohmystarrynight · 2 months

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Just getting myself to checking the Knight Rider art from you. Looks really nice! Love your humanized KITT. Speaking of humanized KITT, how would his first meeting with Michael Knight would be like in your point of view? How different would it be from the actual show?

Aaaaa tysm!! So in my au he was turned human, sometime after he and Michael already were working together and all that. I feel like I do this to every one of your asks and I’m so sorry for it but I’m aboutta lore dump again lmao

Specifically about how different things would be now that he’s suddenly human and thus experiencing all of human sensation and emotion. How overwhelming that must be like holy shit???? But also like… it can be so beautiful??

And as for Bonnie, she quite literally gets to witness her creation once again defy the odds and astound her. So I’d like to think she’d be sure to be the one running all of the tests herself because hey, how many cars turn human?????

But they’d get this moment, Creator to Creation, in the very same lab that he was made in in the first place. I just think they’re neat your honor :,)

Michael would have a blast showing him all the fun parts of being human too, all the burger joints and movies and music and beaches and whatever else he thinks Kitt would like.

TLDR: Michael and Kitt have fun together and Bonnie is literally a very proud mum. And so long as nobody messes up their perfect little family then everything’s groovy the end :,)) sorry for the infodump 🫡

Note to all bad guys: if you’re gonna capture any member of flag, don’t pick Kitt or you’ll get your shit rocked :)

#concept art #illustration #digital art #pilot's art!#pilot speaks!#knight rider #knight rider fan art #kitt knight rider #kitt #human!kitt #k.i.t.t.#god like… its my favorite thing to think about #they are a FAMILY

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fandomtrumpshate · 1 year

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By the Numbers update!!

With just over a day left to sign up as a creator for Fandom Trumps Hate 2023, here's a quick roundup of all of the numbers:

We have 705 offers by 527 creators (I've had to update this three times while writing this post!). Of those, 97 are offering to work in ANY fandom! The rest have signed up offering fanworks in 273 fandoms, including 177 write-in fandoms! (To compare that with roughly the same time last year, as we approached 24 hours left to sign up for FTH2022 we had 680 offers from 525 creators in 257 fandoms including 153 write-ins … meaning we have 23 more offers in 16 more fandoms by the same number of creators for 2023 … SO FAR.)

A look at the offers, broken down by type (with last year's numbers in italics for comparison purposes) -

458 Written fanwork (fic, fan poetry, etc) (457) 107 Fan art (103) 63 Fan labor (beta services, translation, Brit-picking, etc) (70) 59 Podfic (39) 13 Other Digital Fanwork (7) 5 Video (4)

Nearly 65% of creators are opting to let their bidders choose which org to support with their donation. The orgs most often chosen by those who wish to direct donations to a particular nonprofit remain the Transgender Legal and Education Defense Fund, any/all abortion fund, Rainbow Railroad, and the Navajo Water Project. The orgs selected least often are The Appeal, Razom, and Violence Policy Center.

In our listed fandoms Good Omens has increased its lead and its lock on the top spot. MCU caught up with Sherlock and Teen Wolf for a brief 3-way tie for 4th place behind HP and K-pop, but has since gained an additional signup to claim that spot, leaving Sherlock and Teen Wolf tied for fifth ahead of Star Wars, Stranger things, SVSSS, The Untamed, and The Sandman.

A handful of signups could still shake things up here, or over in the unlisted fandoms, where the Young Royals lead has been cut in half … see the full list of all 177 write-in fandoms under the cut. Sign up to create fanworks to push your fandom up in the rankings! Reblog FTH posts so your fandom friends can do the same! Sign ups are open until Sunday Feb 19 at 11:59 PM Pacific.

8 Young Royals 7 Malevolent (Podcast) 5 The Queen's Thief 4 911 Lone Star 4 Homestuck 4 Overwatch 4 Red White & Royal Blue 4 The Owl House 3 Alex Rider 3 Attack on Titan 3 Between Us 3 Chainsaw Man 3 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency 3 Disney's Descendants 3 Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (The Husky & His White Cat Shizun) 3 Justified 3 Lout of the Count's Family / Trash of the Count's Family 3 Love in the Air 3 Miraculous Ladybug 3 Not Me 3 Pokemon 3 The Legend of Zelda 3 Top Gun Movies 3 Witch Hat Atelier 3 X-men 2 Aphmau MyStreet 2 Bungou Stray Dogs 2 Carmen Sandiego 2 Danganronpa 2 Destiny 2 2 Digimon 2 Escaflowne 2 Gravity Falls 2 Hollow Knight 2 Howl's Moving Castle 2 Kingsman 2 NU: Carnival 2 Professional Wrestling 2 Scholomance 2 Stargate: Atlantis 2 Stephen King's IT 2 Suits 2 Supergirl 2 The Song of Achilles 2 Twilight 2 Video Blogging RPF 2 Warrior Nun (TV Show) 2 What We Do in the Shadows 2 YuYu Hakusho 1 A Series of Unfortunate Events 1 A Voice from Darkness (Podcast) 1 Ace Attorney 1 Alex Stern series - Leigh Bardugo 1 All The Wrong Questions 1 Animorphs 1 Be Kind My Neighbor 1 Bioshock 1&2 (only) 1 Blood of Youth 1 Blue Exorcist 1 Blue Lock 1 Bug Fables 1 Cabin Pressure 1 Call the Midwife 1 Cats the Musical 1 Cherry Magic 1 Citizen Sleeper 1 Cobra Kai 1 Coco Pixar 1 Cosmere (Brandon Sanderson) 1 Crossover Chaos AU (multifandom crossover AU) 1 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 1 Dead by Daylight 1 Dead Poets Society 1 Derry Girls 1 Dice Punks (podcast) 1 Divergent (Movies) 1 DMBJ/Grave Robber's Chronicles 1 Downton Abbey 1 Dr. STONE (anime/manga) 1 Dragon Ball Z 1 Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey 1 Dungeons and Daddies 1 Eerie Indiana 1 Elder Scrolls 1 Emma - Jane Austen 1 Fire Country 1 Firefly 1 For All Mankind 1 Glee 1 Grace and Frankie 1 Greys Anatomy 1 Grimm 1 Guardian/Zhen Hun 1 Gundam 1 Half-Life 1 Hello From The Hallowoods 1 Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni / Higurashi When They Cry 1 Hit the floor 1 House of the Dragon 1 Hudson & Rex 1 IDOLiSH7 1 Ikemen Vampire 1 Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie 1 Infinity Train 1 Jane Austen (any novel any pairing) 1 Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse 1 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 1 Jurassic Park 1 King of Scars Duology 1 Les Misérables 1 Los Simuladores 1 Love Between Fairy and Devil 1 Madre Solo Hay Dos 1 Miss Scarlet and The Duke 1 Mob Psycho 100 1 Monochrome Factor 1 Motorcity 1 Obey Me! 1 One Last Stop 1 Outlast 1 Paper Girls (TV) 1 Parasol Protectorate 1 Peacemaker 1 Persuasion - Jane Austen 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 1 Psych 1 Qi Ye 1 Ranger's Apprentice 1 Ranma 1/2 1 RPF 1 Sable 1 Sanders Sides 1 Scooby Doo 1 Shadow and Bone 1 Shameless (US) 1 Sidemen 1 Silicon Valley (TV) 1 Skins (UK) 1 Tamora Pierce works 1 Tangled the Series 1 Ted Lasso 1 Teen Titans (Animated Series) 1 Temple of the White Rat series by T. Kingfisher 1 The Ancient Magus Bride 1 The Boys 1 The Daevabad Trilogy 1 The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes 1 The Diviners (Libba Bray) 1 The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison 1 The King: Eternal Monarch 1 The L Word: Generation Q 1 The Legend of Drizzt 1 The Lion Hunters Series - Elizabeth Wein 1 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) 1 The Man From UNCLE (TV) 1 The Princess Weiyoung (Jinxiu Weiyang) 1 The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards 1 The Terror (TV 2018) 1 The Vampire Diaries (TV) 1 The Wilds (TV 2020) 1 This Way Up 1 Tortall - Tamora Pierce 1 Tower of God 1 Transformers 1 True Blood (TV) 1 Until We Meet Again 1 UuultraC 1 Valorant 1 Velvet Goldmine (1998) 1 Vikings (TV) 1 Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold 1 Warframe 1 White Collar 1 Whiteley Foster's Mansong 1 Xena: Warrior Princess 1 Yellowjackets (TV) 1 Yu-Gi-Oh!

#fth 2023 #fanworks charity auction #by the numbers #signups are open #closing soon!#signal boost!

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its-to-the-death · 10 months

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Fictional Weapon War Round 1

Now that our preliminaries are over, we're ready to fight!

Here is our bracket:

It is kind of ugly and I used the names instead of pictures because I did not want to figure out the logistics of fitting all those pictures (that are probably a bunch of different weird sizes) on here together.

I still need to get all the pictures together for the matchups but I am planning for round 1 to start on Tuesday, July 25. All polls last a week.

Propaganda is always welcome as long as you are being nice. Have fun!

Matchups below the cut. I'll link them to the polls once they start.

Bridget's yo-yo (Guilty Gear) vs Sasha (Team Fortress 2)

Myrtenaster (RWBY) vs Funkfreed (One Piece)

The Wabbajack (The Elder Scrolls) vs Frostmourne (World of Warcraft)

Portal gun (Portal) vs Buster Sword (Final Fantasy VII)

The Punisher (Trigun) vs Orb (Pondering My Orb meme)

The Spear of the Non-Believer (SCP Wiki) vs R.Y.N.O. (Ratchet and Clank 2002)

Bat'leth (Star Trek) vs Nightblood (Warbreaker/The Starlight Archive)

Ness' bat (Earthbound) vs Kendal (Aurora webcomic)

The Throngler (Twitter) vs Shardblades (The Stormlight Archive)

Kurapika's chains (Hunter x Hunter) vs Kenji Kon's butter knife (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous)

Jack/Sumarbrander (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard) vs Xena's chakram (Xena Warrior Princess)

Soul Evan's scythe form (Soul Eater) vs Lightsaber (Star Wars)

The Master Sword (The Legend of Zelda) vs Ryuko's scissor blade (Kill la Kill)

Riptide (Percy Jackson) vs Rapunzel's frying pan (Tangled)

Riz Gukgak's Arquebus (Dimension 20 Fantasy High) vs Ichaival (Symphogear)

Meta Knight's Galaxia (Kirby) vs Aang's staff (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Piecemaker (Discworld) vs The List (Critical Role/The Legend of Vox Machina)

Sailor Moon's tiara (Sailor Moon) vs Batarangs (Batman)

Bit Stave (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury) vs Oathkeeper (Kingdom Hearts)

Meowmere (Terraria) vs The Sword of the Creator (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Splattershot (Splatoon) vs Amy's Piko Piko Hammer (Sonic)

Pit's Sacred Bow of Palutena (Kid Icarus) vs Sokka's space sword (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

King Dedede's Hammer (Kirby) vs Shingou-Ax (Kamen Rider Drive)

Gideon Nav's two handed sword (The Locked Tomb) vs Needle Whip (Fear and Hunger 2)

Crescent Rose (RWBY) vs Sting (Lord of the Rings)

Kingdom Key (Kingdom Hearts) vs Ghirahim (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)

E.G.O. Weapon Mimicry (Project Moon) vs Dangeresque's Nunchuck Gun (Homestar Runner)

Tissue Compression Eliminator (Doctor Who) vs Spider-ham's mallet (Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse)

Sokka's boomerang (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs Knife (knife crow)

Gungnir (Symphogear) vs Baby 5 (One Piece)

Oblivion (Kingdom Hearts) vs Brisingr (The Inheritance Cycle)

Martin the Warrior's sword (Redwall) vs Morgoth's mace, Grand (Lord of the Rings)

#After much ado #fictional weapon war #fictional weapon war round 1 #brackets

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scarlet--wiccan · 1 year

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Okayyyyy, turns out Contest of Chaos is going to be a magic/Wanda related event, but not quite how I expected. From Marvel:

The story will star the newly rejuvenated Agatha Harkness, fresh off her exciting role in MIDNIGHT SUNS, as she attempts to craft a new Darkhold book using chaos magic. Led by writer Stephanie Phillips (ROGUE & GAMBIT, COSMIC GHOST RIDER), CONTEST OF CHAOS will unfold in multiple annuals throughout the summer by a host of all-star creators, beginning with a prelude issue in SCARLET WITCH ANNUAL #1.

Spinning out of writer Steve Orlando and Sara Pichelli’s hit SCARLET WITCH ongoing series, SCARLET WITCH ANNUAL #1 will be written by Orlando and drawn by Carlos Nieto, a rising star who recently made his Marvel Comics debut in MURDERWORLD: WOLVERINE. The exciting prelude will see Agatha, reenergized and more motivated than ever before, put her bold new plans for the Marvel Universe into motion as she reunites with Scarlet Witch for the first time since her rejuvenation.

When she learns of Wanda’s recent absorption of Chthon, she decides to educate her former student on the dangers of such an endeavor. But Wanda is not the meek pupil she once was—and Agatha’s intentions are not so straightforward. This epic clash between Marvel’s most powerful witches will set off a chain reaction that will erupt across special annual issues of Marvel’s hottest ongoing titles.

The CONTEST OF CHAOS annuals will center around Agatha’s quest to bring Chaos magic to the forefront so she can take her rightful place as one of the universe’s greatest sorcerers. In order to do so, she’ll orchestrate a mystically-charged challenge involving your favorite heroes. Watch as Wolverine, Spider-Man, Venom, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Cyclops, Storm, Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Human Torch, Taegukgi, Ghost-Spider, White Fox, and Deadpool are corrupted by chaos and pitted against each other in a thunderous tournament! Each annual will introduce a new matchup with each showdown, upping the stakes and building toward an explosive final round, all part of Agatha’s grand scheme to reinvent Marvel magic!

#scarlet witch #wanda maximoff #Agatha Harkness

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bluenpinkcastle · 26 days

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20240504: the History of LEGO Castle day 125. Knights Kingdom / Knights Kingdom I (2000) All 15 sets within the Knights Kingdom series were produced in 2000, with an additional related accessory pack in 2002 and two picture frames in 2002 and 2003. BrickLink and Rebrickable agree that these are the sets included within this LEGO castle subtheme. -1286 King Leo's Cart -1287 / 4801 / 4811 Crossbows -1288 / 4807 Fire Cart / Fire Attack -1289 Catapult -4806 Axe Cart -4816 Knight's Catapult -4817 Dungeon -4818 Dragon Rider -4819 Rebel Chariot -6026 King Leo -6032 Catapult Crusher -6091 / 6098 King Leo's Castle -6094 Guarded Treasury -6095 Royal Joust -6096 Bull's Attack Sets 4816-4819 were designed by Bjarke Lykke Madsen, and more information on other sets he designed can be found on BrickSet. Steen Sig Andersen designed 6032, 6095, and 6096 and more of his set designs can also be found on BrickSet. Additional castle-adjacent sets included: -10066 Castle Accessories -5924 Photo Frame LEGOLAND Castle -4212662 Photo Frame Kingdom Knights There was also a 5723 LEGO Creator Knights Kingdom PC-computer game produced in 2000 and LEGOLAND Windsor developed a Knights Kingdom attraction. Knights Kingdom was also the first of the LEGO castle subthemes to have a fully developed storyline with named characters, including a royal family. Check Brickipedia for the full story of this theme.

#lego knights kingdom #lego knights kingdom I #lego castles #lego #lego castle #lego history #lego castle history #history of lego castle #lego system castle #lego castle system

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dirtyriver · 7 months

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youtube

WORLD PREMIER: LES GHOULS - locked away in the vault of Roy Thomas, released for the first time in 65 years for your viewing pleasure!

Les Ghouls is a 12½-minute, mostly black-&-white film made circa 1958 by a group of six teenagers in Jackson, Missouri, including Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich, who went on in the 1960s to become writers and editors at Marvel Comics. It was intended as an homage to/ripoff of the 1948 movie classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, just filmed for a lark. It was filmed largely in black-&-white despite the relative difficulty of obtaining that kind of film even then. John Short, who owned the (new) movie camera, served as primary director; Roy Thomas scripted the movie (in synopsis form) and supplied all art and lettering appearing in the film. There were vague plans to eventually either record a soundtrack or to at least have the cast members accompany showings by narration and dialogue, but those plans never materialized.

CAST:

Slim--------------------------------------------------- Gary Friedrich

Slat ---------------------------------------------------- Ron Lowes

Dr. Sturdley ------------------------------------------ Andy Leonard

Melvin ------------------------------------------------ Lyle Hutteger

The Monster ------------------------------------------ John Short

Werewolf ---------------------------------------------- Roy Thomas

Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich went on to become major writers in the comicbook industry.

Roy Thomas was an editor of Marvel from 1965-80, and editor-in-chief from 1972-74. He also scripted runs on such series as X-Men, Avengers, Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan, Star Wars, Red Sonja, Kull the Conqueror, Daredevil, Captain Marvel, The Invaders, Incredible Hulk, Sub-Mariner, etc. He also co-created the likes of Wolverine, Carol Danvers (future Captain Marvel), The Vision, Ultron, The Squadron Supreme, The Invaders, Union Jack, Spitfire, Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Morbius the Living Vampire, Sunfire, Banshee, Valkyrie, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Doc Samson, Brother Voodoo, Warlock, Ghost Rider, Son of Satan, Thundra, Captain 3D, What If, Not Brand Echh, and others. In the ’80s he defected to DC Comics, where he co-created, wrote, and often edited All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc., Arak – Son of Thunder, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!, Young All-Stars, and Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt, as well as writing the likes of Wonder Woman, Shazam!, Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, and Justice League of America. He has also written comics for Topps, Heroic, etc. He co-created both a super-hero comic and a comics-history magazine which were titled Alter Ego. His and wife Dann’s independent series Captain Thunder and Blue Bolt was optioned for a film in the ’90s. He has also written for films, TV animation, and live-action TV.

Gary Friedrich wrote several series runs for Marvel, including Sgt. Fury, Captain America, Nick Fury – Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Frankenstein, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man, Daredevil, [the Western] Ghost Rider, Combat Kelly, Captain Savage, and Captain Marvel—and was the major creator of [the motorcycle-riding, supernatural] Ghost Rider and the co-creator and first writer of Son of Satan. He served as assistant editor at Marvel from late 1966 to 1968. He and Roy Thomas co-created the concept for the Marvel comicbook Not Brand Echh. Gary also wrote for Skywald, Topps, and other comics companies. He passed away in August 2018.

(via Bleeding Cool)

#Comics #Movies #Horror #Roy Thomas #Gary Friedrich #Werewolf #Frankenstein #Frankenstein's Monster #Youtube

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insipid-drivel · 27 days

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Warhorses: Which horses are actually good candidates, anyway?

This post is in honor of @warrioreowynofrohan, who asked the question in the comments under my guide, "Horses: Since There Seems To Be A Knowledge Gap". Their question, "Given what you said about too much weight breaking a horse’s spine, how did that work with knights in plate armour?" is one I'm going to try to answer here, since the answer can be very nuanced depending on where and when you're talking about.

Also, while I was a stable hand for years as well as a rider, I never had the opportunity to directly learn more ancient styles of tacking, horse training, and combat, so I don't have any direct experience to draw from with regard to horses used for military purposes. I'm still gonna do my best here with what I know, and research what I don't.

As I've covered in the past, large horses (draft horses) make less-than-ideal warhorses, and so do carriage horses like the elegant and dramatic Friesians.

Let's begin by addressing this from the perspective of creative writing. For you writers and content creators out there, an essential part to the continuity of any historically-themed work you do involving horses will be depicting breeds of horses that didn't exist before a certain time in history. I'm going to approach this question from the stance of, "Medieval-type era warhorses". Horses were used in warfare as late was World War II, but actual horses you ride into battle with knights and archers and bannermen? We actually have to drop the subject of specific modern breeds altogether aside from using them for comparisons.

When discussing warhorses, various cultures have approached them differently. Some cultures will value a specific type of horse above all others, such as the Mongolian Steppe Horse or the American Mustang. Other cultures, which may be from biomes and territories where multiple types of horses are needed for different forms of warfare and tactics, value whichever horses can get their jobs done without their riders getting killed.

Carrying vs. Pulling:

Horses have been used in warfare since as far back as 4000 BC, but their first applications were more as chariot horses. Humans have been riding and working with horses since before we even had stirrups to more easily ride them with! As archaeologists and anthropologists make more discoveries, the more we learn that we humans have been working closely with horses since before we had specialized tools to ride them with. The very first warhorses pulled chariots or carts, which is much easier for a horse's anatomy to handle compared to carrying a heavy weight like an armored rider on their backs, which puts stress directly on their spines where they have very little supporting muscle for supporting a lot of heavy downward weight.

Warhorse Size Categories:

Really, any breed of horse can apply to a niche in warfare if it's needed enough. Even very small, delicate horses have had their place in the history of human combat! Before I continue, it's important to know that there's a unique unit of measuring a horse's height. Rather than measuring a horse's height in centimeters or inches, they're measured in units called "hands". A single "hand" = ~4 inches/10.16cm, and a horse's height is measured based upon the distance between the bottom of their hoof to the tallest part of their shoulders, just at the base of the back of their necks. We don't actually include neck length/head height in a horse's measurements with traditional measuring.

Another rule of thumb: The average horse cannot safely carry anything heavier than about 30% of their total body weight. This is a serious factor to take into mind when deciding on a type of or breed of horse for a mounted warrior of any kind: You need to factor in the OC's starting body weight, and then add on the weight of armor, weapons, and any armor the horse itself may wear along with the weight of its tack.

Light-Weight Horses:

A few examples of lightweight horse breeds whose ancestors have historically been used in combat are Arabians, Barber Horses, and the magnificent Akhal-Teke. Lightweight and delicately-boned horses like those are best applied for military maneuvers that require precision, speed, and endurance, and the rider themselves should specialize in some form of combat or reconnaissance that doesn't require them to wear heavy metal or laminated armors. Archers are good candidates for riding smaller horses, or lightly-armored swordsmen like an Ottoman Janissary.

Central-Asian and North African horses also benefit from having a higher tolerance for hot climates. They can absolutely suffer from heatstroke and cardiac arrest from being forced to run and work in extreme temperatures and should always be provided with the same protective measures in a heatwave as any other horse, but they have a little bit of an edge over horses descended from freezing and temperate climates.

Medium-Weight Horses:

Medium-weight horses started showing up in the archaeological record around about the Iron Age, where chariot warfare was becoming an increasingly utilized form of mobile combat, and people needed bigger, stronger horses capable of pulling heavier loads - such as a chariot with two passengers rather than just one. As cultures began to develop heavier-duty armors made of metals and laminated materials, it also became important to breed horses that were tall and stocky (muscular and with relatively short spines compared to their height), and therefore more capable of carrying riders in increasingly heavy armor. Medium-weight horses were also essential at the dawn of the gunpowder age when the cannon came into use in siege warfare for pulling the heavy, iron cannons into position.

Medium-weight horses are really where we see the beginnings of knights and other warrior classes on horseback come into the forefront of warfare. When you have a horse that's big and strong enough to carry heavier armor and heavier weapons along with a rider wielding them, you have a much deadlier force at your disposal. Strikes from a sword or spear from the back of a galloping horse basically results in a sword capable of cutting through enemy soldiers like a hot knife through butter.

Important Note: Traditionally, cavalrymen wield blunt swords when attacking from a charging horse's back. When a horse is charging at full speed, the sharpness of a blade becomes less important than the blade's ability to stay in one piece when it impacts hard armor and bone. A blunted edge basically turns a cavalryman's sword into a thin club that's better at holding up against smashing through multiple layers of armor and bone compared to a thinner, more delicate sharpened edge that can shatter from a high-speed impact.

Heavy-Weight Horses:

The direct ancestors of modern draft horses, such as the Shire Horse, only began to appear around about the beginning of the European Medieval Era, and were far and away not even close to the enormous sizes of the draft horses we have today. Any horse counts as a "Heavy-weight" classed horse if its weight exceeds 1500lbs/680kgs.

Heavy-weight horses were really more bred for pulling enormous weights rather than carrying knights. While yeah, there is some evidence that suggests that heavy-weight horses were used by heavily-armored knights, historians argue a lot about whether it was a rule or an exception (such as with Henry VIII, who continued to ride well after he had begun to weigh more than 350lbs/158kgs, and even went to war in France in his final years on horseback). Generally speaking, medium-weight horses tend to be the right balance of agile and strong for carrying someone that's going to actively be fighting. Heavy-weight horses were bred to be a lot more tolerant to the chaos and frightening stimulation of the sounds of battle, but medium-weighted horses generally tended to be more suited to moving efficiently through dense packs of soldiers and weaving around other horses.

Ponies:

While actually being the smallest class of warhorse, ponies were essential when it came to carrying cargo and working as pack-horses. In certain forms of terrain, such as mountains, large horses pulling big carts full of supplies or soldiers could often be extremely impractical. In situations where an army needed to move on foot and form a narrow line in order to travel, ponies were able to traverse much narrower and rougher terrain while carrying smaller loads to their destination, when heavier horses would struggle more under their own weight and dexterity.

Europe-Specific Terminologies:

If you're a writer reading this and writing a piece set in the European Medieval age, there are specific terms used for the different classes I listed of warhorses above that I'm gonna list:

Destriers: The Destrier was a universal term for the iconic knight-carrying, jousting horse. They were also sometimes referred to as "Great Horses" due to their reputations in combat settings. Destriers could have just about any appearance, but were rarely taller than 15.2 hands, or 62inches/157cm. They were capable of carrying heavily-armored knights (although knights in full plate mail rarely rode into battle and stayed on the horse the entire time - they tended to specialize at grouping up and killing a lot of footsoldiers swarming them at once and preventing breaks in defenses from being overwhelmed by an oncoming army; in the case of Edward the Black Prince, we have substantial evidence in the form of his surviving brigandine that a mounted soldier or knight was more likely to wear chainmail and brigandine with a tabard on their body with their arms, feet, and heads the most heavily armored in plate when they intended to fight on horseback, making them a little lighter and more maneuverable, but I may be waaay off base there because I'm thinking of more of Italian soldiers who used full plate and how they applied it in battle more than any other example) and wearing armor themselves.

Interestingly, the sex of a destrier was often chosen strategically. Stallions (horses that haven't been neutered) are more aggressive, and could both act as combatants on their own if their knight was dismounted or killed, but could give away an army's location if they were attempting to move stealthily. Stallions whinny and shriek a lot when they're horny or arguing with each other, which is most of the time.

Mares were often chosen by Muslim armies for being much less vocal, and therefore much more capable of stealth. Geldings (neutered males) were the preferred mounts of the Teutonic Knights, a Catholic military group, since they couldn't be stolen and used to breed more horses for the enemy army.

Coursers:

Coursers were the most common Medieval European warhorse. It's important to remember that in Medieval Europe, most armies were almost entirely comprised of common men - serfs subject to the will of their landlords, not far removed from slaves in many ways - who couldn't afford the highly-prized and expensive Destriers. Coursers were usually a bit lighter than Destriers, but were still strong enough to carry someone wearing armor. Coursers were also a little more utilitarian, because they were also sometimes used in hunting as well as warfare, so they had a valuable use outside of warfare that the owner could benefit from.

Rouncey:

A rouncey was an all-purpose horse that could be used for leisure and travel-riding as well as be trained for war. They were a lot more likely to be found on the farm of a serf or independent farmer of some kind, as they could fill a lot of different roles depending on what they were needed for. Their sizes weren't really important as much as their ability to get the job done.

It's also critical to remember that, when talking about warhorses, we're usually talking about eras long past. In general, thanks to resource availability and incredible advances in medicine, modern humans are significantly taller, and therefore heavier, than people from the European Medieval era and prior. While fatness was valued in many cultures for its suggestion of wealth, most working-class and serf-class people worked intensely physically-demanding daily lives just to maintain their own homes. They were a few inches shorter on average than we are today, had greater fluctuations in body fat distribution depending on how harsh or bountiful the harvest season had been and the season in which a war was taking place (the average person's weight would swing by 30lbs or more on average every year prior to the industrial era), and cavalry were usually chosen based upon skill in the saddle as well as physical size when considering the application of medium or heavy armor being placed on the horse's back and body.

#long post #horses #horseback riding #warhorses #writing #writing resources

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ciara-knightly · 1 year

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knight squad concept notes + tiara thief canon

earlier this week, i reached out to sean w. cunningham, one of the creators of knight squad (as well as the thundermans and julie and the phantoms). i just wanted to say thank you for creating knight squad and tell him it meant a lot to me. to my surprise, he actually responded and he was so nice. he told me he’d reach out to me again later.

then, last night, he followed up! and he sent the following messages (providing image descriptions since tumblr kills the quality rip):

(Image description: Instagram messages from @seanwcunningham. The first message reads “So, I spoke to Dworkin (my writing partner) and he was very appreciative of your comments, too. He said “we should share the title list with her.” You see, on this show we did a little experiment. Instead of sitting around and coming up with ideas, we made a list of fun pun name Knight titles and used those to help us generate ideas. So here is that original list (pardon Dworkin’s terrible handwriting 😂)....” The second message is the photo of the list. The third message reads “Some of those unused titles would have become episodes. Also, we were definitely thinking of making Arc & Ciara a couple eventually. Thanks again for your great note!”)

(Image description: A sheet of paper with a handwritten list in two columns. The first column, from top to bottom, reads: “-Knight Crawler, -The Dark Knight, -Knight at the Museum, -Boogie Knights, -Open Mic Knight, -Saturday Knight Fever, -A Knight’s Tail, -Date Knight, -About Last Knight - Rashomon episode, -Poker Knight, -Knight and Day, -Knight Court, -Knight Rider, -Four Days, Five Knights, -In the Heat of the Knight, -Bay Watch Knights - sea monster, -Good Knight and Good Luck, -Knight of the Comet, -Knight of Living Dead, -A Hard Day’s Knight - beetles swarm the castle, -Good Knight Moon - Cinderella.” The second column, from top to bottom, reads: “-A Knight at the Roxbury, -The Knight Before Christmas, -Late Knight w/ Conan O’Brien, -Knight Clubbin’, -MoonKnighting, -One Knight Only, -Before Knight Falls, -Up All Knight, -Knight Owl, -It Happened One Knight, -A Little Knight Music, -Silent Knight, -OverKnight Delivery, -Tonight is Your Knight, Bro, -A Knight to Remember, -Good Knight, Sleep Tight, -I Love the Knight Life, -The Knight is Young, -Best Knight Ever, -Talladega Knights.”)

---

so yeah, there you have it! some clues about what some future episodes might have been if they had more time, and the confirmation that the creators were definitely thinking arc and ciara would eventually be a canon couple.

super bittersweet to think about what could have been, but hopefully it brings some closure. ⚔️

#i have been a mess all day over this y'all have no idea #knight squad #tiara thief #arc x ciara #arc #ciara #shona

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kachikirby · 3 months

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Hello! Hope you are having a fine day!

I have a question, who's your favorite artist? Sorry if it's kinda like a sudden question, is that i am genuinely curious about what artists inspire you, because your art is so lovely and awesome!

I've been having a great day, thanks! I'm glad that you think my art is lovely and awesome, even though I don't think it stands out too much compared to a lot of other lovely people on this site.

As for my favorite artist, that's a hard question. I have a lot of artists I like, even if we boil it down to just Tumblr or Twitter users, but I feel the most influential artists on my style that I can say are probably my favorite are two artists primarily known for SD Gundam works named Susumu Imaishi and Kouji Yokoi.

(More under the cut since this might be a bit long)

Susumu Imaishi does a lot of the little comics in SD Gundam and his Legend BB art was what primarily inspired me. Especially with his varied expressions in these comics.

Another major artist is Kouji Yokoi, who does a lot of Gundam-related art. He's also one of the main people working on the SD Gundam franchise and is the original creator. He's also done stuff for other mecha series, Godzilla, Kamen Rider, and Ultraman, but I mostly associate him with SD Gundam.

I'm not really going to post his other works, but I do want to mention that the mangaka Tamori Wataru's manga for the SD Gundam carddas booklets has also been an influence on me due to all the expressions he uses for the characters.

Side note, I'd also like to shoutout Knight Gundam Story manga artist Hoshino Ryuichi since he has had a bit of influence on my art style.

EDIT: JA;WEJIAW;EOIJ I FORGOT TO MENTION TITE KUBO!! I LOVE HIS ARTTTT AND CHARACTER DESIGNS

I'm also just gonna drop a few specific artists on Twitter I love who might have influenced me because of how much I like their work.

中西達郎 (Tatsuro Nakanishi) - Love a lot of their art. Also a published mangaka. Jumpscares me whenever they bookmark one of my pieces on Pixiv because they follow me there.

Crafty_121 - An absolute sweetheart, I love how soft her style is.

三輪士郎/Shirow Miwa - Does a lot of stuff for mobages and FGO, but you can tell they love it. They even did an SD Gundam piece that lives rent-free in my head.

八八二三 - I LIVE for their Gundam gijinkas they are SOOOO good.

氷水 (aka IceWater) - Partially biased since I was a contributor to two of their SD Gundam fanbooks, but I love their watercolor drawings a ton. Also, they once did a short animation TRADITIONALLY and I highly respect them for it.

あまきな (aka haguma_karasu)- Ok, so on my server, we have a sort of in-joke where someone yells "WAKE UP BABE NEW HAGUMA KARASU PIECE DROPPED!" whenever they post a new piece and it's like a massive event on the server. And that's for a good reason, their art goes H A R D.

麦茶 (aka yuuno0) - A sort of mini celebrity on my personal server due to being the first major SD Gundam artist to do FGO and SD Gundam crossover art. I've commed them before. :3

coconutsan1 - They don't post much anymore, but when they do, it's great. Also one of the few artists that does Saddrac Knight Saga fan art, which is like a rarity even in the JP SD Gundam fandom.

tabolow01 - There's something strangely wholesome to them, probably one of the most influential fan artists on my own style. I love their detailed SD Gundam guides and how they redraw memes taking them completely seriously.

Moyashi - I love their art because of how haunting it feels, even when it's a more optimistic piece.

#it came from the magic box #rikka random rambles #I feel a bit awkward putting tumblr artists I like so I won't do that unless I get bullied enough #artist talk #tite kubo

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