Me: I hate America so much, I'm the opposite of a patriot, I will never be loyal to this cursed place.
Someone: How do you fold your paper, vertically or horizontally?
Me: Excuse me, what did you just say? What the fuck did you just say to me? I am an AMERICAN, we will call it HOTDOG STYLE or HAMBURGER STYLE.
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Aziraphale’s Flaming Sword
get your mind out of the gutter - seriously it’s gonna get worse
i’m sure someone has already pointed this out and some meta post have been made but I just wanted to infodump about the actual history behind this sword so yeah
His sword is modeled after the Roman Gladius -or is it the other way around ;) - specifically the Pompeii version - so let’s just get into breaking this sword down
The Hilt
This type of sword has a three part hilt consisting of a pommel (which is used to counterweight the blade), a grooved wood grip (so your fingers fit better and thus have a stronger grip), and a guard (protects the hands from slipping onto the blade)
The Blade
For the Pompeii version of this sword it has double-edge sides that are parallel and come to a short, strong point - typically it would be made out of steel
Size
Usually ranged from 18-28 inches as it continually got smaller and smaller over the years
The History
(the most widely excepted one at least)
The Pompeii is actually one of the latest versions of the Roman Gladius so let’s go back to the beginning
The official origins of this sword have been up for debate but as for how it came under Roman influence that is credited to the Punic Wars in 3rd century B.C. (Republican Rome) - specifically to the Iberians who were allies to the Carthaginians and used a short sword that came to be called the “gladius Hispaniensis.” After the wars the Roman army (besides the cavalry) adopted these swords and began to make changes to better suit their needs.
Thus the Mainz-Fulham gladii came to be. It was their first attempts at making this devastatingly destructive sword the perfect sword for their use so they pretty much ended up retaining the shape (wasp-waisted) and only really making it shorter - mainly used to get through chainmail
Then the Pompeii version comes along with new parallel sides and a shorter tip - along with also making the whole sword smaller once again - mainly used to get through plate armor
This sword would then last the Roman legionary and auxiliary infantry until 2nd century A.D. when they are replaced with the spatha
But in the end this sword served the Roman Empire for more than three centuries, in both their Republic and Imperial times - that’s pretty damn impressive
Fighting Tactics
The Romans are pretty iconic for their tight formations and their Scutum shields
They also carried three different types weapons with them - couple of spears/javelins, a short sword, and a dagger. Obviously we are going to focus on the short sword
Soldiers actually wore their swords on their right side instead of their left because they were in such tight formation they didn’t have room to draw it across their body
With the exception for a Roman Centurion - who were commanders of a unit of about 100 soldiers and 60 of these guys(and their men) made up a Legion - as they wore their swords on the left
Now for what made the gladius so useful to the Romans was that it is mainly a thrusting sword - quick and efficient stabbing - which worked best with their formation but because it was also a double-edged sword it was great at cutting too if their formation ever broke
What they would do is while they were in their formations and trying to advance on the battleground they would take their sword and thrust it beside or above the shield - if they hit their target it more than likely resulted in a fatal injury. Though they weren’t above cutting their opponents at the knees - quite literally because if the opportunity arose they would lift their shields above them and slash at their knees.
It was all a very efficient way of fighting that served them well
obviously this is a very condensed version of a lot of history but it is the Human history behind Aziraphale sword
(and yes this is the type of sword the Roman soldiers have on them at Jesus’s crucifixion)
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my goal is to one day be a published author and have a dedicated fanbase where i can peruse fanart and fanfics.
i will also post fanfics in my own fandom, under an alias of course. i will not put disclaimers about not owning the work. i will make elaborate headcanons and put the characters into different scenarios
then one day, someone will comment that they are out of character, or that my headcanon of my oc being a competitive table hockey player is wrong, and i will reply "but its canon."and they will say "no, you dont own the work, do you see the author ever saying that stuff? its a high fantasy world, dumbass." and then i will make a tweet with a screenshot on my professional author account and laugh. "but i am the author"
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