Hi, I’ve made a new set of hi-res phone wallpapers from my recent illustrations! They’re free for personal use, as always ♡

Art nouveau necklace “Fuchsias” by Georges Fouquet, 1905. Visible in Petit Palais, Paris. [OC] [1232x1848]

Source: https://reddit.com/r/ArtefactPorn/comments/a7979m/art_nouveau_necklace_fuchsias_by_georges_fouquet/

Blood drop/cut throat pearl necklace by Hell’s Belle designs.

Margaret Atwood, from Good Bones and Simple Murders; “Let Us Now Praise Stupid Women,” (via violentwavesofemotion)

Christian Dior, fall 2005

Lucretia, 1664 (detail) Rembrandt.

unappreciated ships → queen consort & don luis de vega, affairs of the court

“The Gothic Bride” by Bhumika Sharma | SS 2016

Model | Varsha Gopal

theme 14

Sword Fighting for Fic Writers: Chapter 12

You can follow the tag #Swords for Fics if you want to keep up without following me :)

Available Chapters: 1: Dumb Ways to Die  2.May Your Blade Be True! 3.On Your Guard! 4. Making the Cut 5.Stick ‘em With the Pointy End 6. It’s Like a Dance 7. The Measure of A Man 8.A Crossing of Blades 9.Like Chess, but with Knives An Interlude About Story Telling 10. You Can Barely Lift Your Sword 11.Buckle Some Swash 12.Dual Wielding 13.Everything is a Weapon 14.Got Your Sword!

Dual Wielding Fighting with Two Swords or an Offhand Dagger

Fighting with a dagger in the offhand instead of a shield was a common practice. A long dagger made an excellent tool for catching the opponent’s weapon while attacking with your own. While attacks were made with the dagger, it’s greatest benefit was as a defensive tool.

Here the dagger is being used to restrain the attacker’s weapon (note: The big guy’s sword is pointed away from the dagger guy. Again, the problem with flat images and flat swords is swords tend to disappear in perspective. My apologies for the unclear drawing.) The dagger user is now free to attack with their sword in their next action.

I have more experience with double swords so we’ll be talking mostly about that now. We both know that’s why you’re reading this chapter anyways.

Two Swords are used like off-sync partners, with one movement slightly behind the other while they’re in motion. One might temporarily stay still to cover a line while the other attacks, but you’re not going to be fighting two battles at once except for in exaggerated cartoon circumstances. We’ll talk about fighting multiple opponents in “I’ll Take You All On” (chapter coming soon)

As an example, if two downward cutting attacks are being used, what this off sync movement achieves is that as the first sword finishes it’s blow, it deals with the opponent’s weapon. The second sword is a split second behind the first, and now has a clear path to finish it’s blow. The first sword continues to restrain the opponent’s weapon.

In one pattern of attack, the lower sword begins with a thrust, forcing a defence from the opponent then the upper sword begins it’s preparation. The lower sword then follows and does it’s own cut ending as the new top sword. Beginning with the thrust provokes a reaction from the defender and buys time for the first sword to swing back in preparation while the attacker remains covered.

When defending with two swords you can use any of your usual defences as outlined in “A Crossing of Blades” but you need to be careful that you’re not criss crossing your arms and getting tangled up. That’s another reason for the off sync movements. If they follow their patterns and both do the same action, the arms will stay untangled.

Crossing the blades to collect the attacker’s sword is one of the coolest looking defences you can do with two weapons. This one also works well with a dagger in the offhand.

Things get more complicated when both opponents are dual wielding. Now each opponent can restrain with one sword and attack with the other. Even so, they’ll still be following those same slightly out of sync patterns. 

It might feel like we can do two things at once, but really we’re just switching quickly between two tasks. It’s better to have two swords working towards one goal then trying to have them both achieve two different things.

Often in one action you’ll still be catching both of your opponent’s swords in the defence.

I’m not feeling ambitious enough to try breaking down two dual wielding fighters anymore than that though, so we’ll leave off here. In the next chapter we’ll look into things you can do with a free hand that’s not holding anything.

Paintings by Henrik Aa. Uldalen

Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen (1986)is a self-taught artist whose creative production revolves around classic figurative painting, presented in a contemporary manner. Henrik explores the dark sides of life, nihilism, existentialism, longing and loneliness, juxtaposed with fragile beauty. 

The atmosphere in his subject matter is often presented in a dream or limbo-like state, with elements of surrealism. His focus on atmospheres rather than narratives and realism leaves his painting open for many interpretations. Check out his website.

If you aren’t following Cross Connect, you’re missing out.

posted by Margaret

Pumpkin Chai Latte with Maple Whipped Cream & Clove Caramel

bestof-society6:

ART PRINTS BY MICKLYN 

I GOT A PHONE CASE BY THIS ARTIST and I get complimented on it all the time.

Theme #017 - Colors

pastebin // static preview

Crock Pot Recipes for Fall and Winter

I love cooking hearty dishes, and warm treats in the Fall and Winter, which is why I also love slow cooker recipes. So here is massive list of recipes that are great for this time of year!

Soups, Stews, and Entrées

Desserts and Sweet Treats

Beverages

Breakfasts

Vegetarian Crock Pot Recipes for Fall & Winter | Spring & Summer Crock Pot Recipes | 18 Crock Pot Recipes | 10 Best Low-Carb Soups for Fall  | What’s Cooking this Fall & Winter 1, 2, & 3 | Fall & Winter Desserts

I made these as a way to compile all the geographical vocabulary that I thought was useful and interesting for writers. Some descriptors share categories, and some are simplified, but for the most part everything is in its proper place. Not all the words are as useable as others, and some might take tricky wording to pull off, but I hope these prove useful to all you writers out there!

(save the images to zoom in on the pics)

oh this is REALLY nice

A flock of birds fly up from an enclosed courtyard in Old Havana, December 1987.Photograph by James L. Stanfield, National Geographic

Ghost plants.

Sets, then rises.