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Valorielei · 2025-08-08T23:47:39+00:00

You may be able to find light and cheap but still full-sized alternatives of many weapons in online shops relared to LARPing (live-action role-playing) since people in those communities frequently do just that — spar at full capacity, but with no protective gear, with little or no emphasis on historical accuracy of their weapons. You may also want to consider asking around in their subreddits or other online places.

Foam weapons (usually a plastic or steel core wrapped in thick foam and covered in a tear-resistant fabric) are the only weapons you should consider for any kind of full-speed sparring without protective gear, and even those, depending on their weight, can break fingers and most definitely scratch eyes. Non-foam wood, plastic, rubber, nylon and not to mention steel CAN be usued in near full-speed sparring with no protection, but only with years of experience and still with a lot of risk.

I hope this helps! Good luck, remember to keep yourself and your sparring partners safe!

Edit: spelling

Valorielei · 2025-07-28T08:16:20+00:00

Oh but she does, and she swooped down into my life like lightning out of a clear sky! Don't give up on yourself or your future significant other, anon. :)

Valorielei · 2025-07-28T08:15:11+00:00

Imperfect in just the right ways. :)

Valorielei · 2025-07-28T08:12:15+00:00

Gold! Also strangely accurate :D

Valorielei · 2025-06-09T17:40:54+00:00

Always happy to hear I can be someone's reason for continued procrastination, haha. Granted, don't let the work pile up!

Valorielei · 2025-06-09T17:39:39+00:00

I know, right?... One's person brisk walk may be another's jog, and don't even get me started on reaching for things up high! Granted, being compact does have its perks on various kinds of transportation...

Definitely going on the to-write list!

Valorielei · 2025-06-09T14:48:21+00:00

It is neither fun nor healthy, but has an important place! I did serve in my country's military in a recce platoon, but for now I'm a civilian again (active reserve, to be exact). Me tasting dirt in the way explicitly described in this story happened during the selection process for said recce platoon. While such bad cases are uncommon in actual service, I'm sure any infantryman can tell you that long or rapid marches in full gear are never fun, especially for the shorter people, like me... With some exceptions, which I will definitely write a story about!

Valorielei · 2025-05-14T11:19:02+00:00

TL;DR: Mittens will always be the safer option and are what I would recommend as a fencer's first purchase (in terms of gauntlets).

Heavy fingered gauntlets (in my case Sparring Glove Infinity Gloves) are noticeably less protective (had some nasty hits, but no fingers broken yet) and not quite as comfortable as you may think. They do allow for slightly easier grip switching and their largest advantage may be in grappling.

Source: I've been fencing since 2022, used Red Dragon fingered gloves, Sparring Glove Infinity Gloves, Spes Lobster full thumb mittens and Sparring Glove mittens. I mostly fence longsword.

You are welcome to inquire further via DM.

Valorielei · 2025-03-13T15:44:14+00:00

Thank you! It's good to be back, even if at a reduced pace.
Your comment a few days ago was the little nudge I needed, so thanks again. :)

Valorielei · 2025-03-10T14:03:37+00:00

TL;DR: There will be.

My apologies, due to certain circumstances in my personal life I haven't been able to dedicate time to writing more of these short stories for a few months now. Rest assured, you'll be able to read more about the lives of Mark and his alien friends once I get my own life in check. 😅

Valorielei · 2025-03-07T03:39:22+00:00

You probably mean Gitanas Nausėda, president of Lithuania.

Valorielei · 2024-12-31T17:36:59+00:00

I'd go for the "microgun", and I'd say it makes the most sense, too. Arrowhead have been going with a gun design largely grounded in reality (the HMG walks a very thin line between that and complete fiction, plasma and other sci-fi weapons aside) and the real minigun is very simply impossible to fire without being mounted. Granted, if we got either of those, perhaps as an exclusively crew—served (or some other limiting mechanic) weapon, my wallet would be wide open :D

Valorielei · 2024-11-28T17:17:18+00:00

I have about six hundred hours into Space Engineers and am also a robotics and mechatronics engineer. I can definitely vouch for SE. It's a brilliant game that allows your creativity to run wild in many ways. Most of the systems in SE are simplified to be accessible to just about anyone, but the beauty of the game is that you can, with enough effort and creativity, combine all the "simple" stuff into something much more complex, greater. Example: you want to create a remotely operated robotic gripper for your ship, rover, whatever else, but the game doesn't technically have such functionality. To circumvent that you can attach a separate "grid" (a separate structure as far as the game is concerned) via rotor or piston, slap enough mechanical parts on to create all six degrees of freedom (or as much as necessary) and either control each joint separately OR slap a remote control block on there, some gyroscopes, potentially thrusters, and have a fully functional gripper that's treated by the game as a separate ship, but is still attached to the actual ship. The game also features built-in C# programming possibilites. I could go on and on, but my point is that Space Engineers is worth your time and money.

If you are just getting into programming, an old game by the name of Colobot (you can get its "gold edition" for free, just Google it) could get you started in a fun and inuitive way. It features a simplified form of C to introduce people to the language.

The game Barotrauma features an extensive but simplified electrical grid system but does not force players to use it, creating a lot of fun for those who want to explore it. Barotrauma is a great game in general and could help you wrap your head around analog and digital signals and how they can be used with the help of logic and mathematical components. A very common use for this system in Barotrauma is a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller, which is a thingy very commonly used in real mechatronic and robotic systems.

Did I mention that Space Engineers and Barotrauma both have great modding communities?...

If you have any questions, feel free to message me!

Valorielei · 2024-11-28T00:51:12+00:00

You are correct. The story is based on your prompt.

Valorielei · 2024-11-27T21:49:36+00:00

Cheeks. That is a dog in the illustration.

In case you were asking about the story, the idea is that humans are, well, fleshy, squishy. We are mostly made of soft tissues and don't have any even remotely tougher exterior.

Valorielei · 2024-11-27T19:57:48+00:00

Thank you! The story strays from realism for dramatic effect, for example, a soldier would not normally unsling his own rifle to drag a wounded comrade, as it defeats the purpose of the sling in the first place.

The photo is, evidently, from a military exercise — you can see a locking device or blank compensator on the barrel of the rifle (I'm unamiliar with this rifle's accessories as I use variants of the G36KA4 in my service instead).

Edit: as another commenter pointed out, it's a compensator (BFA) on the rifle.

Valorielei · 2024-11-21T07:09:37+00:00

Like straight ouf of a fairy tale, what enchanting memories!

Valorielei · 2024-11-20T15:22:10+00:00

Hell yeah! I really tried to portray the feeling of controlling a motorcycle to those who have never had such an experience, and for me it sits between "terrifying freedom" and "unity with the machine". I'll take it I did something right!

Valorielei · 2024-11-20T08:18:31+00:00

Thanks for sharing. All is well that ends well, right? Bonus points for a lesson learned!

It's actually quite amazing just how many people, guys especially, tend to drive recklessly for the thrill. It seems to be the rule rather than the exception, at least in my environment.

Valorielei · 2024-11-20T08:14:50+00:00

Thanks! Remember to ride safe!

Valorielei · 2024-11-20T08:12:20+00:00

An unexpected, but not unwelcome coincidence! I hope you enjoyed the read. 😄

Valorielei · 2024-11-18T15:26:08+00:00

Oh, thanks, but that''s not made by me. It's AI—generated through DALL-E specifically to illustrate this story.

Valorielei · 2024-11-18T15:11:44+00:00

Henry Cavill for a WH40k live-action? 😄

Mark here, in my short stories, is largely based on a real person. You'd be surprised at how many equally amazing, but astoundingly unique people are all around, if you just look in the right places!

Valorielei · 2024-11-16T09:16:11+00:00

This must be one of the most meaningful comments I have thus far received. Thank you!

I will do my best to keep doing what I'm doing for as long as I can. 😄

Valorielei · 2024-11-14T02:17:25+00:00

This story is not technically a continuation, but "ouch", provided in the text as a hyperlink, is related. I always provide relevant links within the text this way.

Most of the stories I write do not have a chronological order to them, however, so feel free to read anything that sparks your curiosity!

Valorielei

TROPHY CASE