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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 8m

It is sort of encouraging to me that the general expectations of autism have gone from the Rainman-era "non-functional adult with a slight chance of super powers" to a much more reasonable "sometimes awkward, likes trains, puts a ton of effort into niche hobbies."

Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 54m

I don’t exactly how to phrase this, but like… is autism that bad???? Like, why is it such a source of fear??? Of course there are challenges but you can be autistic and have a rich, fulfilling life! Many people do! I don’t understand the preoccupation.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 2h

I did really like all the little vignettes in FNV where like two guys tell you there's something "neat" down an alley, then proceed to draw the shittiest weapons imaginable and declare that they intend to kill you.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 2h

Find yourself a girl who can bring you to your ground in just a full stroke, a fore-thrust and a quarter, lightly delivered.

Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 2h

I need to remember to do an April Fools bit where I pretend a new edition of Ledall Roll's manuscript was found that had "4/5, ask for Bess" next to every play.

Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 2h

On the other hand, Ledall Roll wrote his book in English, but I have no idea what he's talking about. Put a woman's name and a rating out of five next to any of his "chases" and he could be reviewing his favorite brothel for all anyone knows.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 2h

On the other hand, Ledall Roll wrote his book in English, but I have no idea what he's talking about. Put a woman's name and a rating out of five next to any of his "chases" and he could be reviewing his favorite brothel for all anyone knows.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 2h

I teach historical fencing based on mostly medieval and early-modern sources, and I have caught myself preferring translations of German or Italian texts to ones written in early-modern English.

Fiore dei Liberi, for example, writes quite clearly if you get past the fact he's writing in Italian.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 2h

This just needs to be rephrased as "Henry Kissinger was one of the statesmen and academics of all time" and they'd get it

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 21h

Likewise, our concerns today are often the result of political choices as much as scarcity; we could absolutely build more housing, run public works projects better, enact political reforms, etc.

The reasons we don't relate to everyone from political or business leaders to voters and workers.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 21h

Hell, the literal moral of A Christmas Carol is still relevant today if you change some of the details around.

Cratchet is poor largely because Scrooge pays him as little as possible. Scrooge's business makes enough money that he could - and eventually does - pay him quite a bit more.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 23h

It is absurd to claim there has been no improvement in standard of living since 1843.

Not to mention, many of our modern problems stem from the fact that our lives *have* gotten better, but in ways that incurred costs.

Burning fossil fuels made us richer, but also gave us climate change, etc.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 23h

Yeah, like, our introduction to Cratchet's relationship with Scrooge is Cratchet having to ask for time off on Christmas day and Scrooge being very reluctant to grant it.

This guy probably works Monday to Saturday minimum.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

That's a kick to the upper leg or abdomen, similar to what you see in Fiore and Talhoffer's books (left).

It's more the kicks to the head (right) that don't show up until the 19th century.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

Likewise, all kicks in martial arts from before the 19th century are directed to the abdomen or lower. These are much easier to learn and pose substantially lower risks of being unbalanced, though they do not allow you to KO your opponent with your heel or shin.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

But both contexts are very artificial and required quite a few things to happen to social norms related to recreational violence.

Before that, people tended to strike with the palm, the bottom of the fist, or the back of the knuckles. All are safer for the hand when bare-knuckled.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

High kicks come from Savate, which started as a training game for swordsmanship where you use kicks to mimic attacks with a sword.

Same deal here: after a few years of playing kick tag, savateurs noticed that slamming your foot into someone's face can actually be pretty effective!

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

The straight punch was first documented in a peculiar Venician practice called bridge fighting, which is exactly what it sounds like.

The straight punch gets more popular in England with the advent of boxing, which develops gloves to protect the hand and rules against using weapons or wrestling.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

Also, the high kick was probably invented in 19th century France.

In both cases, these can be very effective strikes. But if you do them poorly, you risk serious injury. So there needs to be a reason to learn to do something like this well, and such contexts can be rare.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

Today in historical hot takes: a well-supported argument that the straight punch was invented in early-modern Venice and likely didn't exist before that. hemamisfits.com/2025/10/05/a...

A paucity of punches: why was punching so rare in pre-modern martial arts

by Maxime Chouinard To most people, punching seems like one of the most natural ways of fighting when unarmed. Most movies will show protagonists and villains alike dealing numerous punches, and kn…

hemamisfits.com

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

From Gladiatoria, a helmet grounded on the cuirass and buckled to the back plate.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

Depends on the helmet. A knight is going to be wearing a good one, though, and by the end of the 15th century is was common to buckle the helmet to the breastplate, effectively transferring most of the force away from your head. I've taken heavy hits in my reproduction S-18 that I barely felt.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

This meant that Rome had access to way more numerous and better-equipped infantry in proportion to its population than any of its competitors, but less access to actual money except through wars of conquest (to vastly oversimplify things). The Empire changed to professionals for various reasons.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

Rome had a fairly unusual system of universal conscription throughout the Republic, which effectively allowed citizens to perform military service in lieu of taxes. Since they provided their own equipment, tax evasion was basically impossible and roman troops bought the best kit they could afford.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

I've even heard an argument that the hammer was considered "safe" enough that knights could use them for practice fights against their friends, actually.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

A two-handed hammer, as seen on pollaxes, stands a better chance of damaging armour (and the pollaxe is 100% a knightly weapon).

However, it's debatable how effective the hammer is alone. It could be used to set up a takedown (as @preachypreach.bsky.social said) or break hands and fingers.

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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 1d

Maces were good in basically two contexts:
1) against people wearing mostly mail (which doesn't resist impact very well)
2) on horseback once you'd already lost you spear and sword (where the speed of the charging horse increases your hitting power)

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