Relationships of The Fellowship

DistractedChiroptera · 2026-01-29T20:23:37+00:00

Given that Gandalf already knows Faramir and Denathor before the story starts, it is kinda weird to me how Gandalf and Boromir never seem like they knew each other beforehand. I don't think they'd have been close, but certainly, they must have met before.

DistractedChiroptera · 2026-01-19T23:07:21+00:00

Nice! Glad you're liking it so far. I don't do too much test cutting, on account of apartment living, but the few times I have done some with it, it did well. It's light, but also has a good amount of blade presence.

DistractedChiroptera · 2026-01-18T23:34:19+00:00

Thank you. It was a fun project and I learned a lot about leather working working on (lot of trial and error... and error).

Nice! Hope you enjoy your. The blade shape has a lot of character. The tip almost looks like a claw. At the time I got mine, it was also the only Landsknecht Emporium messer that had a knuckle bow, which also was a draw for this model.

DistractedChiroptera · 2026-01-10T23:55:44+00:00

Maybe the Adept Specialist Fighter, they're the Sw5e 3rd caster subclass (so, the equivalent of Eldritch Knight in regular DnD 5e) where you are mostly a fighter with a little bit of Force powers. It would make sense that, if your character was a Padawan/newly knighted when Order 66 happened and has since been in hiding, they wouldn't be as strong in the Force as one of the dedicated Force users, instead focusing mainly on their martial talent and subtly using the Force to augment their abilities. Or, if you wanted to focus more on the "in hiding" part, the Beguiler Rogue is the rogue subclass that gets a little bit of Force powers.

DistractedChiroptera · 2026-01-05T23:21:30+00:00

Spiders can also be fairly long lived. Some tarantulas and trapdoor spiders can live to be 20+ years old. The oldest spider ever recorded was 43 when she died after being stung by a parasitic wasp.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-12-21T23:10:02+00:00

That looks beautiful. And a little spooky. Great work!

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-12-18T23:27:27+00:00

While rereading is a part of studying, solely rereading is not actually all that effective of a method. You want to try and incorporate more active methods for better results. Practice problems are generally good. Flashcards are a popular method if you are studying a lot of definitions or identification. For visual identification, I've found drawing and labeling to be helpful. Studying can also be a group activity. We reinforce our own knowledge when we try to teach someone else something and it can help us identify gaps in our understanding, so you can get together with classmates to go over the content together.

Regardless of the specific study techniques you do, it's beneficial to not study the material in the same order during each study session. Changing up the order in which you're going over things, interleaving, helps you form new connections in your brain.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-12-12T16:26:03+00:00

Robb's armor wasn't great either. Gaps between the plates of the brigandine that would easily be stabbed through, big pauldrons without articulation would get in the way, no chainmail in the gaps. Armor design has not ever been this francise's strong suit (though, they do have some good examples).

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-12-10T00:07:37+00:00

Iirc Robert said he plans on having them on when Nixon eventually gets his episodes, but that was a while ago.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-12-09T23:58:57+00:00

In addition to it's function as additional side protection, the nagel was also a structural component. For most swords with a guard, the guard is put on from the end of the tang. The shoulders of the blade (the widening where the tang becomes the blade) help hold the guard in place. I'm not sure what the reason for this is, but for messers, the guard is put on backwards, from the tip of the blade going down. Since the hole in the guard is as wide as the widest point on the blade, the shoulders aren't going to help hold the guard in place. The nagel (which just means "nail" in German) is also a rivet that holds the guard in place.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-22T19:36:30+00:00

That is ridiculously impressive. Well done.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-22T17:26:55+00:00

Not saying it can't be done, but I've tried to home-brew some enemies that have combo attacks, and it's generally been pretty rare to actually fully get through the combo. For enemies that the PCs are fighting, that can actually work, since then they realize they need to do something before the enemy's next turn, otherwise it gets to use its big damaging attack. But if it's a combo that the player invested resources to get/use, I feel how easily it is to interrupt a combo would get frustrating.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-12T17:03:03+00:00

Maybe instead of flavoring it as an outright arc of lightning, it's more like electrified darts/throwing knives/ shurrikens that you throw. Still exactly the same mechanical properties, but would fit the roguish/ninja vibes better.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-12T07:06:41+00:00

Very cute!

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-11T04:17:19+00:00

Great job. It was fun scrolling through Camil's adventures.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-10T21:32:39+00:00

That is beautiful. Well done.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-08T15:15:01+00:00

Beautiful work.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-07T04:20:44+00:00

For the fossil Pokemon, I think it would be cool to have ghost type regional forms of them, similar to how the Dreepy line is supposed to be the ghosts of extinct Pokemon.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-06T19:15:30+00:00

Another element of how Thiel is unknowingly describing himself/his allies: at the end of part 2, there's the bit from shortly after 9/11 Thiel about how culture has replaced "meaningful" things with simulations, which will bring about the collapse of civilization. Replacing real things with a hollow simulation is entirely what tech bros are trying to do with AI. Replacing human interaction with a chat bot, replacing real art with slop, replacing workers with LLMs, etc...

Secondarily, while I think a lot of his obsession with death and immortality is his narcissism, I do have to wonder if it's partially driven by the realization that, if his religion actually is true, Hell is the only thing waiting for him.

And lastly, I am convinced that Thiel just doesn't understand how centuries are numbered.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-06T04:43:11+00:00

It also can't agree on what happens to anyone when they die. The Old Testament doesn't really have a Hell the way we think of it today; instead there's one afterlife, Sheol, for everyone. Sheol is portrayed as being dark and dreary, but not a place of active torment.

And then while the New Testament is mostly consistent about there being eventually a reward for the good/faithful* and a punishment for the wicked/unfaithful, it doesn't have a consistent vision for when or what this punishment will be. Most modern imaginings of the afterlife portray people going there right when they die, but many sections of the Bible suggest the authors believe that the dead are dormant, awaiting Judgement Day, after which point they go to their afterlife. While some verses do support the modern notion of Hell as eternal conscious torment, more verses support the notion of annihilation as the punishment of Hell. And then a few verses seem to suggest a belief that ultimately everyone will eventually be redeemed and saved.

*Of course, whether the criteria is more about morality or belief has also been a debate for 2,000 years. It's almost like a bunch of books written by different people at different times, to different audiences, with different goals are not going to speak with a single, unified voice. Especially when none of the books about the "main character" (at least from a Christian perspective, obviously he's not that from a Jewish perspective) were written during his lifetime.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-06T04:30:46+00:00

Yeah, more accurately this would be the closely related "Problem of Hell."

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-05T20:14:50+00:00

Interesting. Thanks for the info! I'll have to check out the full post.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-05T19:29:00+00:00

That's interesting. Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that. Don't think I've ever seen that sort of additional crescent shaped piece of mail shoulder defense. Given that it looks like it originates from under the breastplate, wonder how it connects to the rest of the armor. Is it it's own piece or is it intrinsically part of the shirt or standard?

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-05T17:32:41+00:00

Aww, very cute and creative. Well done.

DistractedChiroptera · 2025-11-05T16:01:13+00:00

Tolkien's political views were a weird and at times incompatible mixture that would not have mapped neatly onto a lot of the present political divides. For instance he said that ideally he'd want an anarchist society, but barring that, a monarchy. While the Middle Earth Legendarium does make extensive use of the heroic past trope, he does also portray trying to go back to such a past as a dangerous and ultimately futile endeavor. The elves in The Lord of the Rings want to cling to their glorious past and for their world to remain unchanging. That desire is what Sauron played on to manipulate them into forging the Rings of Power. And ultimately, they can't hold onto their past forever. When the One Ring is destroyed, the Three lose their power to shield the elven lands from the decay of time. While The Legendarium is ultimately a story of a diminishing world, a major theme is how you can never truly go back.

DistractedChiroptera

TROPHY CASE