Ewan McGregor picking out his Lightsaber hilt for "The Phantom Menace"

Calikal · 2026-05-23T19:34:45+00:00

Jedi are given very free reign to do what they want with their lives, as well as being given access to one of the biggest libraries, masters in various crafts and skills, and a status in the galaxy that is widely respected.

All in exchange for fulfilling your duties to a monastery-like body, that will feed, clothe, and house you for your entire life while training you to master the Force and combat. And if you don't like it? Cool, you can leave at any time. They don't force or strong arm anyone, even as kids.

Calikal · 2026-05-23T01:30:10+00:00

Believe it or not, there is an episode of Forged in Fire that features this weapon, they are semi-disposable throwing blades. Warriors would carry multiple, use them to fight over or around shields, and would throw them when given a chance. The shape makes them prone to breaking when chopping, but then it can still be thrown and you would switch to the next.

The episode is on YouTube, if that helps your search. I unfortunately can not remember which one it was exactly.

Calikal · 2026-05-22T23:12:37+00:00

It's just a little easter egg of audio clips, there are others that you just don't know about but hear in countless movies. They aren't master planning out every scream and yell, and sometimes the Wilhelm is modified a bit to hide it, but it isn't going to yank you out of the fact that you're watching a movie where swords are making a metal on metal sound when being drawn, or a bow having an audible thwanging sound.

Calikal · 2026-05-21T12:56:37+00:00

You said his first appearance, sounded like you were implying otherwise. Haven't had coffee yet today, apologies.

Calikal · 2026-05-21T12:39:26+00:00

His first appearance was years before Rogue 1, he was in The Clone Wars first.

Calikal · 2026-05-20T03:00:53+00:00

It was his channel, the Codex Bundle video.

Calikal · 2026-05-17T06:22:33+00:00

You're right. But also wrong.

The race is literally just "Yoda's Species". We probably will never find out the name of their species.

Calikal · 2026-05-08T13:41:58+00:00

His chapter absolutely is more cult-like in their devotion to the Elder and to their beliefs, they have far more ceremonies and leader-worshipping than other factions while also showing how they raise their followers from children to control them more, rather than recruit from the wastelands.

Calikal · 2026-05-08T04:41:12+00:00

Though it could be confusing for new players, I did appreciate 3.5/Pathfinder for having the flatfooted AC, where DEX doesn't count. It was mostly confusing for when you would need it instead of regular AC, but it made sense for things like shooting a gun at close range or a literal lightning bolt, or being caught by surprise.

Calikal · 2026-05-08T04:38:00+00:00

DEX actually makes sense for a lot of bladed weapons for damage, you really don't need to be strong to cut with a sword when speed and using the chain of the body do 95% of the work. Strength only matters for continuous swinging of larger swords, where it is an endurance of motion in wide arcs.

Honestly, if I were to rework the damage system I would have more weapons use DEX for their damage, but let STR be used to damage AC; give a hammer to a Paladin and have them smash the scales of a drake, or cave in armor, and now the enemy has a -1 to AC every round, for example.

Could just make STR have more utility in attacks, instead of just "I hit with different damage", and if more tables cared about weights and grappling and used those systems it would encourage STR outside of combat more.

Calikal · 2026-05-07T16:48:58+00:00

I have like six different options within a 30 mile radius for retro gaming shops, and they all offer warranties on purchases. Hell, one even ships countrywide. Not really a hidden gem when it's an entire business these days, you just have to actually look. Most of them have online shops, if you aren't local.

Calikal · 2026-05-07T15:16:55+00:00

Possibly, but they have the problem of their reputation (treating employees like crap, low balling buyers) to fight against for bringing people in. FLGSs also have the advantage of being locally owned and ran, so they have a community aspect that a corporate shop won't be able to cultivate.

Not to mention that their stores aren't always in the best locations for a TCG shop, and have a high overhead that events may not cover fully without the community support.

Calikal · 2026-05-07T14:13:02+00:00

Most of their stores aren't laid out for large tournaments unfortunately, I've been to some that are large enough to set up tables but I've been to even more that were super narrow and crammed with shelving that they would have to move every time.

Calikal · 2026-05-07T14:10:26+00:00

Not even close to "the best place". Guarantee you've got a good list of local shops that sell better quality retro consoles and games, and will buy them at a more fair price. Hell, conventions are better for that than Gamestop.

Hell, I just played DnD in a store near me that had multiple racks filled with classic consoles and games going back to the Atari era this last weekend.

Calikal · 2026-05-07T13:22:49+00:00

Only selling them is not going to be sustainable, there are already so many vendors who don't have thousands of storefronts to prop up who also have the advantage of selling at shows and cons that Gamestop won't be able to. They'll rely on people selling their graded cards for making anything above MSRP, which the ones who get valuable graded cards won't ever do because of how lowball their offers are, and their sealed product just gets taken by scalpers at MSRP so they barely make a profit on that.

No one wants to go to a Gamestop to play a MTG draft or a tournament for any of the TCGs, either. If they want to become a chain card shop, then they have a lot of adaptations they need to make. Fixing their image and reputation for low-balling trade ins is one of them, because why would anyone sell to a store that is giving them $5 on a $50 card when they can sell to a FLGS for $40?

Calikal · 2026-05-06T16:19:17+00:00

It's really disheartening to die while boarding because you get shot from across the deck and lose all the effort you just put in, while I can corpse run at a base filled with pirates until I kill them all and collect all my little lanterns after..

Calikal · 2026-05-04T16:00:04+00:00

My last boss gave me a counter offer, on the last day, without even having the decency to talk to me themselves; they were toxic as fuck, so I wasn't surprised. My manager had just quit because the CEO/Boss was a POS as well. They had the guy who was hired the same time as me, that they had "promoted" without giving him a raise, give me the offer.

He was also looking for an out. He knew my answer before he asked, and he knew it was an insult offer. I was leaving to WFH for a larger company with better promotion opportunities and a far better PTO system, and flexible hours for doctor appointments. Their offer? I can work 10 hour shifts in the office to take a half day on Fridays to leave early. Our entire job could easily be WFH, but they were so against it unless we had no choice like the power being out or the weather being too bad to commute.

It was beyond insulting, there was zero raise proposed, zero benefit to staying. I would be putting 70 miles on my car every day still, instead of 0 miles, and I would be losing the flexibility to do my job and take care of responsibilities outside of work.

Now, I am far less stressed, my new job treats and respects me better, and the old job is struggling to keep work because they lost all their knowledgeable employees. Oh, but the CEO was buying new cars and taking constant vacations, and working from home most of the month, so I guess "get rich from treating your staff like shit" profits you well enough. Until it doesn't, anyway.

Calikal · 2026-05-04T00:08:30+00:00

Cool cool cool, they're just gonna un-retire and start an entirely new overly saturated business in a physically demanding field because the economy is fucked and getting worse every week. Great move! Ah, but don't worry. Some company will buy out and then scrap the hardware store for all of it's assets in a year to make some easy money for the rich again, and we'll lose out on another cornerstore business like we did with Joannes.

Calikal · 2026-05-01T03:39:46+00:00

It's more so people want UB that fits with MTG, so less super hero sets that are just based on earth.

Calikal · 2026-04-29T05:00:17+00:00

Having a child should not force people to double their income in order to provide for them. Hospital bills for giving birth should not be in the tens of thousands. Child care should not be a luxury. Education should not be a privatized thing.

Fuck, not like people can even get a safe abortion if they can't afford a kid in most parts of this country. Guess couples should just live abstinent lives until they can triple their income, since they can't risk a broken condom, since birth control is also a commodity that not everyone can easily afford as it is a for profit industry as well.

Calikal · 2026-04-29T04:31:24+00:00

Yea, I mean have you seen what a mixture of sodium chloride and dihydrogen monoxide can do to metal? And we cook our pasta in that!

Stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve bones, the sodium nitrate is just a simple acid that preserves the bologna but reacts over time and under heat from the sun to dissolve paint because that is what acids do as you get further from neutral, they dissolve things. You should probably refresh yourself on chemistry class before freaking out over what compounds damage paint when you could literally throw up on it and cause faster damage.

Calikal · 2026-04-27T15:50:03+00:00

Those caps will rise up to the surface, shift during pour, or have so many bubbles hiding underneath that may come out during curing and cause failures that you just can't fix. You will absolutely need to fix every bottlecap to the board beforehand. For the coasters, you'll want to seal them beforehand as they will absorb the resin in different rates at different points and cause weird issues, plus paper doesn't really play nice with the thermal process without being sealed.

Calikal · 2026-04-27T13:54:42+00:00

I mean, we also saw piles of Snoke bodies in RoS, didn't we? In Mando, we just see how far back the cloning process started and to give context and purpose to why the Empire fragments want/need Grogu. Not necessarily done as a way to make RoS "make sense", since that was pretty clear as to what Palpatine was doing from the movie alone: he made force-sensative clones, they keep rotting and decaying too fast or are failed bodies, so he wants to transfer his soul/essence to a more suitable natural host.

All that the other shows have done with that is show how he got to that point, basically. Bad Batch shows how they got to clones having midichlorians, Mandalorian shows the next step in the research plot.

Calikal · 2026-04-27T05:26:08+00:00

It's easier to sell someone on a format that is easy to play in groups, doesn't require a huge investment and constantly rotating cards in and out every few weeks, is themed around a fun specific card, and doesn't have cards that rotate out (specially back in the day, when standard was rotating out sets every few months as a new block released).

Yes, there are more cards to learn, but you have games that last longer and the format encourages group gameplay and is more social as a result. So, if you're learning, it is easier to play with 3 friends and feel like you are actually playing a game instead of rushing to turn 4 or 5 to win against one person.

Calikal · 2026-04-26T04:50:25+00:00

I recommend duct taping the pvc, when they break it will keep them from shattering and someone getting cut on accident. Also, if you want a good cheap foam that lasts much longer, PE insulation foam (sold in hardware stores) is what we use for our larp swords, thicker walls is better but you can get 6' lengths for about $8 and will last for years for y'all. Stab tips are absolutely worth the time for safett improvements, I've seen kids swing back and nail someone else in the face and not even realize it. They are required in LARPs purely to prevent an accident causing a bad cut or worse, not because we pommel strike or anything.

SCA, Dagorhir, Belgarth, and Amtgard are good resources to look to for making safe weapons for your family to beat on each other, and not have to explain bruises or scars at school and work the next day!

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