I'm sick of people romantizing life before the orbs. I'm old enough to remember what that was like, and let me tell you: it sucked. Yes, it's true that it's easy to get hooked on doompondering and neglect your duties. And yes, it's true that sometimes demons can possess you through the orb. But the orbs have advanced wizardry more than any other invention since the wizard staff. We can't stay stuck in the past.

[–] Ioughttamow@kbin.run 42 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

One day you’re pondering the orb. The next you’re strung out, fuckeating some tomatoes, and denying that your son even exists

[–] BodilessGaze@sh.itjust.works 40 points 3 months ago

First off, that's not the orb's fault. Denethor's Palantir was hacked by Sauron. If a Maia wants to hack your wizardry equipment, then they're going to get in, orb or not. Any threat model that tries to defend from the fucking Dark Lord himself is completely bonkers. The only way to protect yourself from threat actors with that much power is to not make yourself interesting enough to be worth their time (see the Blue Wizards).

Second, Denethor wasn't even a wizard. If he was, he may have been able to recognize Sauron's influence and avoid pondering. But again, it's ridiculous to think you can defend yourself from those kind of threats.

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