´ ▽ ` )ﾉ hi, my name is Parisa and I love the sea.

* Expect lots of Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, art, birds, food, weapons, fashion, and tag screaming.

* My fanart blog is hardinhightown! And me and fellowadventurers run an ask Haytham and Ziio blog c;

ink-moth:

A short list of several types of poisons and their effects.

moraniarty:

shelivesin221c:

I DON’T KNOW THIS JUST FEELS LIKE THE MOST USEFUL THING IMAGINABLE RIGHT NOW

this is one of the most beautiful things on the internet

diabebus:

amandaonwriting:

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) - Resource for Crime Writers

SOURCE

Welp time to reblog for future VR pictures

kalidraws:

Today I gave my students a quick presentation on some of the basic considerations for composition, which I am now sharing with you! I’ve given them separate talks about color and tonal value/contrast, which are also super important compositional concerns. (I’ll be sharing those presentations too once I properly format them)

I personally love learning about different compositional techniques. It’s fun to think about the ways that the brain views & sorts images, and how we can trick it into feeling a certain way or looking at certain aspects of an image first! It’s easy to fall into compositional ruts (which I am also guilty of) because a lot of art gets by with mediocre, though serviceable, compositions. If you can generally understand what’s happening in an image then it’s generally fine. However, it’s the truly great compositions, where everything in the whole image has been considered and ‘clicks’ together, that bump up an illustration to a visual slam dunk. NC Wyeth is one of my favorite artists for this reason: his compositions are rock solid, varied based on the image’s intent, and always enhance the mood or action he is depicting.

For extra reading, some online compositional resources that I’ve found helpful or interesting include:
Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis (download it for FREE. Such a great book all-around.)
Gurney Journey (check out the “Composition” tag, but really everything he posts is great)
The Schweitzer guide to spotting tangents
Cinemosaic (a blog by Lou Romano with some truly WONDERFUL compositions captured from various films)
Where to Put the Cow by Anita Griffin

Happy composition-ing!

whaatnext:

• everything you need to know about pixel art and how to start (best one so far)
• pixel art, what is it? 
• an introduction to pixel art by richard janes
• 2D will never die’s tutorials page
• ultrashock’s pixel art tutorials: part i | part ii | part iii | part iv
• wikihow’s become a pixel artist
• great list of 30 tutorials
• create a 3D characters from pixel art

the big list of pixel art tutorials by pixelprospector

pixel art tutorials

• HUGE Collection of Pixel Art Tutorials (pixeljoint)
• Pixel Art Tutorials (Derek Yu)
• Pixel Art Tutorial (Natomic / Mark)
• Big Collection of Pixel Art Tutorials (Gas 13)
• Pixel Art (drbubu)
• Pixel Tutorial (Final Boss Blues)
• Pixel Art Tutorials (deviantART)
• More Pixel Art Tutorials (TIGSource Forums)
• Even More Pixel Art Tutorials (Pixel-Zone / Some dead links…)
• Learning Pixel Art (Black Golem)
• A Beginner’s Guide To Spriting (TIGSource Forums)
• 2D Tile Art Basics (Flash Game Dojo)

pixel art inspiration

• HUGE collection of Pixel Art, Mockups and more from TIGSource forums!!
• Tzigla (a place for collaborative pixelated drawings in 100×100 pixel squares)
• Pixel Art Guild (site that features Pixel Art)
• Pixel Art Mega Thread (Something Awful Forums)
• Pixel Art Rebirth In Digital Animations (Game Comments)
• Hall of Fame for Games Featuring Outstanding Pixel Art (TIGSource Forums)

pixel art forums

• Pixel Joint
• Pixelation – Way Of The Pixel
• Show Us Some Of Your Pixel Work (TIGSource Forums)

freelance guide

• Pixel Art Freelance Guide (Adam “Atomic” Saltsman)

graphic style analysis

• Graphic Style Analysis – Part I (Black Golem)
• Graphic Style Analysis – Part II (Black Golem)
• Graphic Style Analysis – Part III (Black Golem)

tutorials about glowy graphics

• We Love Glow (Rob Fearon)
• The Radiangames Style (Luke Schneider)

bowlofnouilles:

YES PERFECT

emmugh:

The Secret Door could take you anywhere in the world. Only unlike completely randomised websites that drop you in the middle of the Australian outback, it’s likely to take you somewhere really, really cool.

saylemstudios:

American Military 1812-1815

How To: use the coalesced utility to change around casual clothes for ME3 

goddessofcheese:

For CommanderBishojou and really anyone else who hates the rubber dress in ME3; under the Read More due to a bit of length since I used pictures to help illustrate.

Read More

art-of-swords:

Sword Replicas

Source & Copyright: © 2012 Supreme Replicas Gmbh

nolacousland:

This is a really good article about how quickly people actually die from cuts and punctures inflicted by swords and knives.  However, it’s really really long and I figured that since I was summarizing for my own benefit I’d share it for anyone else who is writing fiction that involves hacking and slashing your villain(s) to death.  If you want the nitty gritty of the hows and whys of this, you can find it at the original source.

…even in the case of mortal wounds, pain may not reach levels of magnitude sufficient to incapacitate a determined swordsman.

Causes of death from stabs and cuts:

• massive bleeding (exsanguination) - most common
• air in the bloodstream (air embolism)
• suffocation (asphyxia)
• air in the chest cavity (pneumothorax)
• infection
  

Stabbing vs cutting:

• Stabbing someone actually takes very little force if you don’t hit bone or hard cartilage.
• The most important factor in the ease of stabbing is the velocity of the blade at impact with the skin, followed by the sharpness of the blade.
• Stabbing wounds tend to close after the weapon is withdrawn.
• Stabbing wounds to muscles are not typically very damaging.  Damage increases with the width of the blade.
• Cutting wounds are typically deepest at the site of initial impact and get shallower as force is transferred from the initial swing to pushing and pressing.
• Cutting wounds have a huge number of factors that dictate how deep they are and how easily they damage someone: skill, radial velocity, mass of the blade, and the size of the initial impact.
• Cutting wounds along the grain of musculature are not typically very damaging but cutting wounds across the grain can incapacitate.

Arteries vs veins:

• Severed veins have almost zero blood pressure and sometimes even negative pressure.  They do not spurt but major veins can suck air in causing an air embolism.
• Cutting or puncturing a vein is usually not fatal.
• Severed arteries have high blood pressure.  The larger arteries do spurt and can often cause death due to exsanguination.

Body parts as targets:

• Severing a jugular vein in the neck causes an air embolism and will make the victim collapse after one or two gasps for air.
• Severing a carotid artery in the neck cuts off the blood supply to the brain but the victim may be conscious for up to thirty seconds.
• Stabbing or cutting the neck also causes the victim to aspirate blood that causes asphyxiation and death.
• Severing a major abdominal artery or vein would cause immediate collapse, but this takes a fairly heavy blade and a significant amount of effort because they are situated near the spine.
• Abdominal wounds that only impact the organs can cause death but they do not immediately incapacitate.
• Severing an artery in the interior of the upper arm causes exsanguination and death but does not immediately incapacitate.
• Severing an artery in the palm side of the forearm causes exsanguination and death but does not immediately incapacitate.
• Severing the femoral artery at a point just above and behind the knee is the best location.  Higher up the leg it is too well protected to easily hit.  This disables and will eventually kill the victim but does not immediately incapacitate.
• Cutting across the muscles of the forearm can immediately end the opponent’s ability to hold their weapon.
• Cutting across the palm side of the wrist causes immediate loss of ability to hold a weapon.
• Stab wounds to the arm do not significantly impact the ability to wield a weapon or use it.
• Cuts and stab wounds to the front and back of the legs generally do not do enough muscle damage to cause total loss of use of that leg.
• Bone anywhere in the body can bend or otherwise disfigure a blade.
• The brain can be stabbed fairly easily through the eyes, the temples, and the sinuses.  
• Stabs to the brain are more often not incapacitating.

The lungs as targets:

• Slicing into the lung stops that lung from functioning, but the other lung continues to function normally.  This also requires either luck to get between the ribs or a great deal of force to penetrate the ribs.
• Stabbing the lung stops that lung from functioning, but the other lung continues to function normally.  It is significantly easier to stab between ribs than to slice.
• It is possible to stab the victim from the side and pass through both lungs with an adequate length blade.  It is very unlikely that this will happen with a slicing hit.
• “Death caused solely by pneumothorax is generally a slow process, occurring as much as several hours after the wound is inflicted.”
• Lung punctures also typically involve the lung filling with blood, but this is a slow process.

The heart as a target:

I’m just going to quote this paragraph outright with a few omissions and formatting changes for clarity because it’s chock-full of good info:

…[stabbing] wounds to the heart the location, depth of penetration, blade width, and the presence or absence of cutting edges are important factors influencing a wounded duelist’s ability to continue a combat.

• Large cuts that transect the heart may be expected to result in swift incapacitation…
• …stab wounds, similar to those that might be inflicted by a thrust with a sword with a narrow, pointed blade may leave a mortally wounded victim capable of surprisingly athletic endeavors. 

Essentially, the heart can temporarily seal itself well enough to keep pressure up for a little while if it’s a simple stab.  The arteries around the heart, while they are smaller and harder to hit, actually cause incapacitation much more quickly.

stockade:

You’re welcome

Writing Advice: Epithets - What Are They And How Should You Use Them? 

sorveharth:

One of my pet peeves as an editor is the irrelevant epithet. An epithet is many things, but in this context it is a descriptive word used in place of a noun or name, as an identifier. An example is below:

“I wanna be loved by you,” Marilyn sang. — noun

“I wanna be loved by you,” the blonde sang. — epithet

One of the common things I see people do is to use epithets in situations where they really aren’t relevant. I’ve also seen people say that you should NEVER use epithets, but I think that’s a little much. They can be used effectively to add more depth and meaning to a scene, but just like most things, can be really out of place if not used correctly.

If you’re using an epithet to describe a person, try to be sure that it is relevant to their position in the scene. One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen people make is to refer to someone by their profession in situations where their profession is completely irrelevant.

For example: They kissed, and the mechanic responded enthusiastically.

Now, unless this is a set-up where it’s important that we remember one character is a mechanic (is someone having an affair with a mechanic? Did they start up a porno in the middle of changing the oil in the car? Is one of the partners a trust fund kid who’s slumming it with a blue-collar worker and it’s important to reinforce that difference right now?), this is ridiculous. Why do we need to be reminded right at this moment that the character is a mechanic? If the answer is, “we don’t,” then don’t use that epithet.

A good rule of thumb is that if your narrator is familiar with the other character’s name, use that unless you are specifically reminding readers of one of the character’s traits. Think of it this way: When you first meet a stranger, you may identify them by obvious traits or by their role in the current situation. It’s not uncommon to identify the person bringing you your food at the restaurant as “the waiter” or “the waitress,” even though they may have introduced themselves by name at the beginning of the evening.

On the other hand, if you go to a restaurant where one of your friend works and they wait on you at the table, you’re probably going to mentally identify them as who they are, a full concept of what you know of their personality, summed up by their name.

This happens in fiction too. Once you’ve become familiar with a character, it’s kind of jarring to have them reduced to one single trait. You know who they are; you know their personality and maybe some of their motivations. You’re friends, in a sense. Using an epithet in this circumstance is distancing. It puts space between you and the character. It says “Forget everything you know about this character except the trait being emphasized right now.” 

You can see why this should be used sparingly and not tossed in at random. I know a lot of people use it as shorthand to keep from getting pronouns confused, especially if you’re writing a scene with multiple people who use the same pronouns, but that’s like using a bomb to ward off a few mosquitoes. It’s overkill, and you start losing the effectiveness of the scene. It IS possible to write a lot of similarly pronouned people in the same scene without resorting to irrelevant epithets. (I’ve written a third-person POV m/m/m threesome, so I understand it can take a lot of work, but you’re a writer! You’re not scared of a little work!) 

Anyway, keep that in mind when you’re writing: The words you use to describe people are important. They add things to the scene. And if you’re not careful, you might add things you didn’t mean to, and then you’ll end up with the equivalent of a banana on top of a pasta-marinara dish.