Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I'm a hobbyist blacksmith and I'm here to help!
Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don't realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here's a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!
Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.
You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they're not the only things that can be made. I've made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it's really amazing what can be done.
"Red-hot" is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)
Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.
As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like "okay, cool! I'm gonna make stuff, and I'm gonna end up in the hospital at some point!" Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I've been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don't even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you'll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)
A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that's relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there's a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you're writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it's like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.
Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you're working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you're welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.
Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.
Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn't invented to make small things.
If there's anything here I didn't mention, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.
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panem dash simulator
peeniss4everlark Follow
NOOOOOOOOOO
officialsenecacrane Follow
me when i lie
districtfun Follow
i heard from my uncle who works at hunger games that they're only pulling from everlark shippers when they do the quarter quell
gurlonfire
thats funny because when i was fucking your uncle last night he told me they're only pulling from bitchy district one stans
catohead69 Follow
we poppin the biggest bottles when cato wins
catohead69 Follow
theeclove Follow
okay but is anyone else pissed how the district 11 guy literally did favoritism for late districts or what
rues-song
the careers literally did an alliance r u fucking kidding me i hope u get reaped
theeclove
clearly SOMEBODY doesnt understand the strategy of the games
career-sweep Follow
PLEASE tag your hunger games spoilers. this is literally common sense the games have been going on for 74 years you should know better by now
#hunger games spoilers #SOOO pissed rn theres never been a live announcement and now i found out from fucking everlarks
maytheodds Follow
Yes I'm a 30 yr old hunger games watcher. I've been watching kids die since you were in diapers. You have NO idea the tragedies I've endured. Hunger games is escapism for many of us when I come home from a long day of logging the last thing I need is for some 13 yr old tribute dying in a high stakes competition that we ALL knew was high stakes starting a riot and destroying all the nations grain
corholeanussnow
lmao. get a load of this guy
girlalcoholic Follow
haymitch stans rise tf up
#yes girl get that salve #i would fuck that old man
cinnagirl3000 Follow
i wld nvr survive in thg fr baby im killing myself
#thnk goddddd im cap 😁 #i woulda stepped tf off that platform cinna its been an honor
caeserflickerwoman Follow
does anyone else think it was fucked that peeta invaded ceasar's space when he CLEARLY wasn't comfortable with being SNIFFED by a STRANGER
softgreenpillow
fuck you this is clearly so fucking capitol-centric no one in the capitol would ever be comfortable with any districtperson doing ANYTHING these days. it is capitol-boot-licking scum like you that holds the movement back. get BLOCKED idiot
butchjohanna Follow
Just something I've noticed I think we as a fandom have gotten WAY too comfortable using the phrase "get reaped" as an insult, when it's a very serious reality that many children live with and should not be taken this lightly. Some people online have had to put their names in more for necessities like bread or water and the absolute terror that grips a person waiting for their name to be called doesn't leave you even in adulthood. Please think before you speak
#many of you are not acting in a way that johanna would be proud of. get it together #reaping mention
starcrossedluvrs Follow
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so there's a lot of speculation whether or not they're gonna have mike be michael or not in the fnaf movie. and so far even i thought it was pretty unlikely considering the little things we've been shown. but now that the full trailers been revealed there's something that caught my eye. and maybe i'm puling a matpat here and over analyzing one little frame but. just hear me out alright. so in the little snippet we see of a phone call between mike and william, it's pretty normal and well, there's nothing to show that they know each other. clearly mike doesn't know who he's talking to, he just wants a job.
and honestly for me i was losing hope that they were gonna have mike be revealed to be michael. since initially i thought this was just them confirming that he's not since, surely if he was michael then he'd recognize his fathers voice? but. that might not be the case.
my theory/speculation for the route they're going (again, emphasis on the theory i'm not saying this is 100% canon) is that it's heavily implied there's going to be SOME kind of flashback with mike as a young teenager, since a boy was cast and listed as "young mike" too. and this information about his character given back when casting for the roles were announced.
"riddled with guilt over a tragedy in his past" which only further strengthens the possibility of a flashback to the bite of 83 where michael pranked his brother and inadvertently caused his death. it's the aftermath of this event with determines how this theory could work. either, william and his wife divorced shortly after, and his wife got custody of mike - they married into another family, the schmidt's. this could lead to abby either being his step-sister or his half-sister.
OR. mike was taken away from william either because of the bite or because the police were heavily suspicious that william was responsible for the missing children. he was put into the system and adopted by - again - the schmidt's. and the reason he doesn't remember anything is because the trauma and the guilt from the bite of 83 and the death of his little brother caused him to heavily repress those memories and in turn, a lot of others (william) without realizing.
so mike doesn't recognize william's voice here. but william?
this is the frame that caught me here. his expression, the subtle smile on his face. the gears are turning in his head, something clicked.
what if william was keeping tabs on mike this whole time? and he carefully plotted to ensure he got the job at freddy's. for reasons unknown. maybe he just wanted to mess with him, make him remember everything he repressed from his childhood - he's trying to get him to remember by bringing him back to the place where it all started. he remembers his son, but mike doesn't remember his father.
BUT that's just me i'm a little insane. anyway i needed to make this post and write down my thoughts or i'd explode.
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Very funny Staged-like opening of BAFTAs 2024 with David and Michael! :D ❤
David: Can you hear me? Michael, how is it going.
Michael: Yeah, I don't have time for pleasantries, David. Some of us are big in America. In fact, I have a zoom with LA in ten minutes.
David: It's 04:00 a.m. in LA.
Michael: Well, that was the only time I could fit them in, so they're getting up early. Anyway, look, I just wanted to confirm, I'm going to drop the new dog off on Sunday morning. We've called him Bark Ruffalo. It's cute isn’t it?
David: That is actually quite good. But listen, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm afraid I can’t dog sit on Sunday.
Georgia: Oh, hi, Michael.
Michael: Yeah, hi, Georgia. Look, I don't want any of your excuses, David, you promised. I can't leave him with a neighbour because he peed in her kitchen.
Georgia: Right. Whereas we are desperate for him to come and pee in our kitchen.
David: I know that I did promise to dog sit on Sunday but since I promised, something else has come up and I-
Michael: Well, that sounds like a you problem.
David: Hi, Stan how are things?
Stanley Tucci: Hi, David. How are you?
David: Okay, listen, I need a favour. Michael Sheen has asked me to look after his dog on Sunday, but I agreed to host the BAFTA Film Awards on the same day. I was wondering if you could look after his dog for me?
Stanley Tucci: I would love to do that for you, David.
David: Oh, Stan, you're a lifesaver. Thank you so much.
Stanley Tucci: Is there anything else I can do for you?
David: No, looking after the dog is... I mean, that's obviously amazing.
Stanley Tucci: I could wash your car or something or the windows in your home.
David: You're not really gonna look after the dog, are you?
Stanley Tucci: And the BAFTA for Catching On Very Quickly goes to...
David: Himesh! Oh, Himesh, I think your computer is frozen. Oh, no it’s not frozen because I just saw someone.
Himesh Patel: Look, I know you're just calling because you want something from me.
David: Yeah. What are you doing on Sunday? Oh for crying out loud. Tom Hiddleston!
Tom Hiddleston: Hey, David. What's the pitch?
David: Pitch is dog sitting for Michael Sheen.
Tom Hiddleston: Wow. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. I'm guessing that we're going for, like, funny.
David: Could be funny, it’s a cute dog.
Tom Hiddleston: Yeah, I suppose the dog sitter initially could present as benign, and then he and the dog get up to all kinds of hijinx and ultimately disrupt stuffy old Michael Sheen's boring life. But for the better.
David: Listen did your agent tell you that I wanted to talk to you about a film?
Tom Hiddleston: Well yeah, obviously, unless you're actually, you know, calling me to ask me to dogsit for Michael Sheen.
David: No. Oh. Dame Judi. Long time no see.
Judi Dench: I thought you were going to be that beautiful Michael Sheen. What do you want?
David: Well, I wonder if you'd be up for a bit of dog sitting. I promised to look after Bark Ruffalo for Michael on Sunday, but I'm double booked.
Judi Dench: David. Bark Ruffalo. He pees everywhere. And anyway, I shall be watching a BAFTA Film Awards with a big glass of champagne. What's with the kilt?
David: Wait and see.
Judi Dench: Ooh.
David: Hi, David Tennant signing in. There's a courier here with something for production.
announcement: David Tennant to stage. David Tennant to stage.
David: Hi. Hello. Hi, everyone. Hi. Hi. Hi there.Sorry. I've got-Are you good with dogs? Yeah, and not on your dress. I'm sorry. Thank you. Hi. Hi. Sorry. Hello. Hello. Hi. This is fine. This is fine. This is. Michael? Michael?! What? What is this?
Michael: What are you doing there?
David: I'm hosting the show.
Michael: What?!
David: This is why you wanted me to dog sit, so you could sit there?
Michael: Yeah.
David: You going to have to take the dog.
Michael: What? What if I have to go up on the stage to be given an award? Yeah. All right. Give me.
David: Yeah. Come on. Get that one. You take that. And this weird thing.
Michael: Was this Scottish man mean to you? All right, come on to me. Oh, darling, hello, hello.
David: Never work with animals or Michael Sheen. Not a great start. Not a great start. Don't worry, though, tonight is going to go smoother than Ken's chest. For one thing, he's not a dog anyway. He is actually being played by Andy Serkis. Look at that. What a performance. Andy.
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