Harry's Blasting Rod

[Ananda]

My wife read it; was not impressed.

It’s funny because it’s so objectively bad, but the author made (I think) around 50million USD from the books. The series began as Twilight fan fiction and she’d never written anything beforehand. Also, all the bdsm in the series was just her fantasy, not based on any real life experience. If only I could be as terrible a writer as she!

[Kindler]

I read that and the Twilight books as part of my "studies" as a college professor in an attempt to stay in touch with what the youth reads. The writing (in both, mind you) was so pathetically awful that I briefly lost all faith in the coming generation. Then my students agreed it was bad, and I felt better about the future. Also, having read Twilight, I understand the crossover between fans; they're both simply dreadful, in mechanic construction, plot, and characterization that if you're a fan of crap, you'll be a fan of both.

As far as Harry's staff, he mentions that he and Ebenezer's are from a lightning-struck oak. Eb specifically mentions giving him another "blank" from that tree, so I'm assuming all of Harry's staves are made from that same tree. It's odd, because most trees are killed when struck by lightning; they explode, or they're injured so severely that they die (but will survive for a while). If the outside of the tree is soaked from the rain, it's possible that the lightning flashes over it, which could char the outside.

Regardless, lightning-struck trees are generally regarded as weaker than ones that are not. If it is stronger than standard oak, it must be as a result of magic channeled through it. Harry's got big hands, and he mentions being able to wrap his whole hand around it. Judging from a height of 6'9" (which I've seen here) that would give it a circumference no greater than 8.91 inches. That puts its diameter somewhere around 2.8 inches or less, unless I've forgotten what math is. I'd figure it's about two and a half inches across. For reference, regulation baseball bats are no greater than 2.61 inches across at its thickest.

Anyway, that's a whole lot of wood. Wouldn't weigh much either; American Red Oak is dense, but not that dense. Probably somewhere around ten pounds if it's six feet long. But yeah, it's got heft.

Meanwhile, his blasting rod is frequently stated to be as thick as his thumb, so it's pretty narrow. I always thought of it as more of a magic wand that he called a rod because it sounded more buff.

[Mr. Death]

A while ago, I made a blasting rod for a cosplay, and I think it's pretty close.



So I figure a wand is typically something thinner, like maybe the width of a pinky.

(Unfortunately, the main event I cosplay at -- Magfest -- is in Maryland and the blasting rod falls under billy club laws, so I can't carry it at the con. The nearly-six-feet length of holly I made into a staff, however, is perfectly safe, apparently)

[Kindler]

A while ago, I made a blasting rod for a cosplay, and I think it's pretty close.

So I figure a wand is typically something thinner, like maybe the width of a pinky.

(Unfortunately, the main event I cosplay at -- Magfest -- is in Maryland and the blasting rod falls under billy club laws, so I can't carry it at the con. The nearly-six-feet length of holly I made into a staff, however, is perfectly safe, apparently)

That's pretty cool. Nice carving work.

I have an old, illegal-as-anything-but-an-antique billy club cops in Brooklyn used to carry in the fifties, with a thick cylinder of freaking lead in the middle. That one I can understand, but yours doesn't look particularly dangerous. Whatever, laws, amirite?

And yeah, I'd suppose the blasting rod is thicker than a wand might be; we don't have a description of Molly's pair, at least not their dimensions (does he call one of them "anemic," or am I thinking of a different story altogether?), which, as far as I can remember, are the only ones shown on page. (For the record, I still think that the term "blasting rod" is made up by Harry because it's manlier than "wand.")

[Mr. Death]

That's pretty cool. Nice carving work.

Thanks! I did it with a wood burner, and the runes read (phonetically) "AIM AWAY FROM FACE."

The runes on the staff read, "Not all those who wander are lost." I figured Harry would appreciate the Tolkien.

I have an old, illegal-as-anything-but-an-antique billy club cops in Brooklyn used to carry in the fifties, with a thick cylinder of freaking lead in the middle. That one I can understand, but yours doesn't look particularly dangerous. Whatever, laws, amirite?

Yeah, it was kinda silly -- the guy who told me about it said the way the law is worded, the little souvenir baseball bats you'd get at a game are illegal, but an actual bat is perfectly fine to carry around.

Sorta like how after 9/11, they banned knives on planes based on length, so a 3" razor sharp utility knife was fine, but an 8" butter knife was not.

And yeah, I'd suppose the blasting rod is thicker than a wand might be; we don't have a description of Molly's pair, at least not their dimensions (does he call one of them "anemic," or am I thinking of a different story altogether?), which, as far as I can remember, are the only ones shown on page. (For the record, I still think that the term "blasting rod" is made up by Harry because it's manlier than "wand.")

I did get the sense that hers were more "traditional" wands, like the sticks with crystals you see in occult shops and such.

[Kindler]

Thanks! I did it with a wood burner, and the runes read (phonetically) "AIM AWAY FROM FACE."

That made me snork coffee out of my nose.

[Rasins]

It’s funny because it’s so objectively bad, but the author made (I think) around 50million USD from the books. The series began as Twilight fan fiction and she’d never written anything beforehand. Also, all the bdsm in the series was just her fantasy, not based on any real life experience. If only I could be as terrible a writer as she!

I know some folks who are into that lifestyle.  They all, to a person, say that book and the movie were crap.  Not just not well done, but just WRONG.

I laugh at this. 

Does it matter?  It raised awareness and made the author some money. 

[Rasins]

A while ago, I made a blasting rod for a cosplay, and I think it's pretty close.



So I figure a wand is typically something thinner, like maybe the width of a pinky.

(Unfortunately, the main event I cosplay at -- Magfest -- is in Maryland and the blasting rod falls under billy club laws, so I can't carry it at the con. The nearly-six-feet length of holly I made into a staff, however, is perfectly safe, apparently)

I think that's way cool

[Mr. Death]

I know some folks who are into that lifestyle.  They all, to a person, say that book and the movie were crap.  Not just not well done, but just WRONG.

I laugh at this. 

Does it matter?  It raised awareness and made the author some money.

From what I understand, Gray is less of a BDSM dream man and more of an abusive stalker.

Seriously, you don't have to change the script much to turn it into a horror story.

[Kindler]

From what I understand, Gray is less of a BDSM dream man and more of an abusive stalker.

Seriously, you don't have to change the script much to turn it into a horror story.

Just change the soundtrack. Ditto Twilight.

[wardenferry419]

I can see that. Twilight with original music by Rob Zombie.

[Talby16]

A while ago, I made a blasting rod for a cosplay, and I think it's pretty close.



So I figure a wand is typically something thinner, like maybe the width of a pinky.

(Unfortunately, the main event I cosplay at -- Magfest -- is in Maryland and the blasting rod falls under billy club laws, so I can't carry it at the con. The nearly-six-feet length of holly I made into a staff, however, is perfectly safe, apparently)

Out of curiosity, what is the blasting rod made out of?

[Ananda]

I know some folks who are into that lifestyle.  They all, to a person, say that book and the movie were crap.  Not just not well done, but just WRONG.

I laugh at this. 

Does it matter?  It raised awareness and made the author some money.

Jepp, that’s true. I had a friend who was into that scene and I’d occasionally go to those types of parties with her because you need to try everything once or thrice in life. ;P The stuff in the books was just the middle aged writer’s sex fantasies based on nothing. The nonsense that Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey get up to is pretty boring and is missing all of the things like safewords. (And, yes, those are really the names of the characters! Anastasia bites her lip nonstop as well and it drives Christian mad with lust. Need to try that trick next time I meet a bdsm billionaire.)

[Mr. Death]

Out of curiosity, what is the blasting rod made out of?

A pine dowel from Home Depot.

[Rasins]

So .... I'm a big supporter of Boy Scouts, and this last summer was my 9th year going to the same summer camp.  This camp has big meaning for me.

While I was there, I was allowed to harvest three small oak trees.  I gave one to my son (who went to camp with me the first 7 times) and kept the other two.

I'm letting them dry out now, but will begin my carving of them, probably summer of 2020.  Though I'll admit, I'm a bit impatient, and I may start one of them at summer camp THIS summer.

They each are about 6 feet long, but they'll be trimmed down a bit.

I'm saying this because I plan on acquiring some more oak from here to carve a blasting rod.

Any suggestions for where I can find the types of runes for the carvings?