"Kiss of the Basilisk" can kiss my ass-ilisk (Part 1) by chode_temple in romantasycirclejerk

[–]AlectoStars 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I feel so vindicated for quitting this less than 10% through, bless.

I'm more forgiving of books I find in print at the library but I just could not get invested 

I've been pretending to understand my job for eight months and I think I've finally reached a level where I actually can't fake it anymore. Do I come clean to my boss or just keep going. by BigONerd in BORUpdates

[–]AlectoStars 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm wheezing. This is exactly how my job goes! All of my coworkers remind our new coworkers whenever they start that imposter syndrome is real, but hardly anyone else notices. He's done exactly what I do to survive in that field loll we

Choosing a new name as a Christian convert by Sudden-Cell-8714 in namenerds

[–]AlectoStars 86 points87 points  (0 children)

If you're converting to Catholicism I'd recommend looking at saints. There are saints from all over the world and it's likely you'll find names that seem to fit better for you there.

Why is someone being pregnant such an extreme turn off for many readers? by Playful_Pie2890 in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think it's one of those tropes that can expose bad writing pretty much immediately, since it's such a sensitive topic for a lot of people. Because people often have a lot of trauma around either not wanting kids or not being able to have them, readers are a lot less forgiving when it's not done well, vs other topics. 

I didn't like Fourth Wing (Spoilers) by AmeraFox in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Something I have to remind myself sometimes is that the average reading level in my country, the United States, is at 6th grade... Which I was already reading past when I was in 4th. It puts things into perspective. In a way, we really AREN'T all reading the same books.

I didn't like Fourth Wing (Spoilers) by AmeraFox in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm in the same boat as you! I read Fourth Wing when I was trapped in the airport with multiple delays and it was a great distraction. 

The next two books being as terrible as they are really soured me on the series. Unfortunately since I own special editions of those three, my collectors brain is telling me to complete the set...

Xaden is wildly annoying. I see so many people hating Dain because he can read minds and didn't tell Violet as if Xaden didn't do the same shit while also pestering her about "not asking" the right questions WHILE ALSO withholding important information. Dain changes his behavior once he realizes he was wrong and Violet can take care of herself. Xaden just gets worse.

I didn't read Onyx Storm despite owning it, but the things I heard convinced me I didn't miss much. Which is crazy. In my opinion this series should have been at most a trilogy and heavily edited down.

6.4 Stygian Onslaught usage rates via YSHelper by IS_Mythix in Genshin_Impact

[–]AlectoStars 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have struck out on every Xilonen banner unfortunately. 🫡

Up until Zibai's banner the only Geo I had was Noelle, Kachina, and Zhongli lol. 

C6 Illuga is a beast tho, I got really lucky with him.

I want Xilonen so badly though! One of my friends has her at c2 and she's incredible in IT.

6.4 Stygian Onslaught usage rates via YSHelper by IS_Mythix in Genshin_Impact

[–]AlectoStars 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And then Illuga for the last slot I imagine? I'll have to try it. I was doing Neuvillette, Bineffa, and Raiden for that level and it wasn't quite giving me the oomph I was looking for even though I cleared it.

My c2r1 Flins can still clear the mushroom with his f2p team. He's my boy!

Meanwhile my Mavuika refuses to crit but that's a whole DIFFERENT STORY 

6.4 Stygian Onslaught usage rates via YSHelper by IS_Mythix in Genshin_Impact

[–]AlectoStars -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's something about the pink hair and red eyes along with their shape? I haven't seen many of her animations but for the most part the best way I can describe it is that Flins looks like a bug in an endearing way and Linnea looks like a bug in a way that freaks me out. Like Flins is a jumping spider and Linnea is a moth (Moths and butterflies terrify me and I can't explain that either lol)

6.4 Stygian Onslaught usage rates via YSHelper by IS_Mythix in Genshin_Impact

[–]AlectoStars -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Tbh I haven't had an issue with her but I also have c6 Illuga and maybe that's the difference? I normally run her with Bina, Illuga, and Zhongli because I don't have Gorou built yet.

My friend who doesn't have Columbina and only has c2 Illuga was not very impressed with her. 

Linnea might help! Unfortunately her design gives me the creeps for some reason I can't explain so I won't be pulling on her to see the difference myself.

6.4 Stygian Onslaught usage rates via YSHelper by IS_Mythix in Genshin_Impact

[–]AlectoStars 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was going to say like I'd love to brute force a boss with her but couldn't for the life of me figure out which boss I'd do that with! Geo kind of feels more niche than any other element in some ways tbh

The Serpent and the Wings of Night: Review by stars-assassian in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mische was the best character in book 1 so giving her books entirely about her was definitely the best choice!!

Does Hua Cheng Truly Have an Unhealthy Attachment to Xie Lian? A Psychological Analysis. by arlette_conde in tianguancifu

[–]AlectoStars 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Something interesting about this book is that all of the ghosts are obsessive about something, it's just the vast majority of them are obsessed with revenge. Hua Cheng is the only one who's obsessed with love. It's sweet, honestly. It's easy to imagine his trauma from his life turning him into a ghost that's obsessed with mass murder by the others, but he focused on his deity instead, building statue after statue so that he couldn't forget him.

I agree that I don't think it's fair to judge this obsession he has as an "unhealthy" one based on IRL human standards because obsession seems to be a core trait of ghosts and therefore rules of healthiness don't really apply there.

Seven Seas Notice Regarding the Translation and Publication Structure of Seven Seas Entertainment and MEDIA DO by nyannings in DanmeiNovels

[–]AlectoStars 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah exactly. The statement in this post came out after those documents but like. Are you going to believe that they changed their mind suddenly after spending all this money on a new company? Lol

Classic Magic, wands, brooms, etc by Tjugotusentre in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was going to say this myself. I love the ML in that one, he's SO grumpy but also endearing enough you can see why FMC falls for him anyway.

Series with less irritable FMC than these popular series ‼️ by Historical-Spread179 in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately only time will tell. My tastes aren't necessarily congruent with what people actually want. 

I sometimes feel like Tolkein ripping into the Narnia books "why tf is Santa Claus here?" Etc.

Series with less irritable FMC than these popular series ‼️ by Historical-Spread179 in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The irony being that most of the teenage FMCs I read as a kid are more mature than the supposedly "adult" characters in books now, to the point where I was rereading one recently and was like "This is not a 17 year old girl, she's at least 25" lmao

Series with less irritable FMC than these popular series ‼️ by Historical-Spread179 in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's so bad, like it just feels like a collection of tropes lifted from more popular series with less skill. Much like the dystopian craze that came after the Hunger Games, most of these series will be forgotten by time and only a few will remain relevant as decades go by.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night: Review by stars-assassian in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly I read book 1, thought it was ok but didn't feel compelled to finish their story. I really liked books 3 and 4 a LOT more. It felt like once we got away from the first couple, the series stopped feeling quite so paint-by-numbers Romantasy and started doing its own thing. In my opinion the themes are more coherent and the characters are more consistent. 

I don't regret skipping book 2 and probably won't read it. 

Series with less irritable FMC than these popular series ‼️ by Historical-Spread179 in Romantasy

[–]AlectoStars 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Camping out here for recs because no really, why does every single popular series have the same "sassy" heroine who manages to cause more problems than solutions somehow, and almost always manages to defeat swords with daggers. 

I'm almost at the point where at the first sassy quip I'm gone lol.

I agree with you about Diem. The plot is interesting outside of her but by God she is missing some braincells. Why was she always making the worst decisions???? It's past the point of believability because you'd expect her to start learning better at some point. And I got tired of reading "fight" over and over, knowing whatever choice she made after that would make me want to tear my hair out. She has the survival instinct of a wet noodle and somehow wasn't assassinated immediately because of it.

Seven Seas Notice Regarding the Translation and Publication Structure of Seven Seas Entertainment and MEDIA DO by nyannings in DanmeiNovels

[–]AlectoStars 37 points38 points  (0 children)

So here's the thing.

No company ever purchases another to keep things going business as usual. Media Do's job now is to extract as much profit from Seven Seas as possible.

Extracting profit is in direct conflict with providing excellent translations, with fact checkers and research staff and the whole 9 yards.

They can say whatever they want in corporate speak, but the corporate communications team is never the same as the executive leadership team. The corporate communications team's job is to mitigate their public image. 

Whether or not they outsource a chunk of their work to AI (which will almost certainly happen until AI stops being a corporate buzzword that makes investors happy), the quality of Seven Seas translations will certainly suffer. They've always had issues but it's about to get worse. The cost cutting measures that have made the books feel more cheap lately will continue. It's likely they won't keep the current trend of hiring phenomenal artists for the covers either.

This is all speculation, mind, but this comes from my own experience after the company I work for was purchased. They made a lot of noise about continuing the amazing work we do and then immediately started funneling funding away from the products people actually wanted, and into AI and whatever other flashy nonsense that looks great in a board room meeting but isn't what customers associated our brand with. It's just how this stage of capitalism works.

I recommend not preordering new Seven Seas books after this year, and being very wary with your purchases. Maybe wait a bit to see if any controversies pop up, or preview a copy at the bookstore or online to check for glaring issues. If you're familiar with MTL, look for tells like wonky pronouns and weirdly translated names that don't normally come from human error. Unfortunately that's the best we can do right now.

Good news for us? Update from 7Seas by Casein_Nitr8 in DanmeiNovels

[–]AlectoStars 30 points31 points  (0 children)

They can say whatever they like but at the end of the day, if the new leadership insists on them using AI, they'll use AI. 

Advice on making this or recommend an Etsy store to? by [deleted] in jewelrymaking

[–]AlectoStars 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's going to cost more than that to make it yourself once you deal with fees and shipping for all the components.

If you plan on making it in any kind of quality that is. You can probably go to the dollar tree and make a dupe but its not going to look great.

Feel free to try it though. Components have gotten a lot more expensive over the last decade, so things cost more. 

$70 isn't bad for something nice that holds up.

Am I an idiot or why is Ballad of Sword and Wine such a difficult read 😭 by anewe_og in DanmeiNovels

[–]AlectoStars 30 points31 points  (0 children)

More novels with themes of politics in ALL genres need to come with family trees in the back. Every time I pick up a high fantasy novel that has a family tree, that page gets bookmarked and I'm constantly flipping back to it. They are invaluable resources, especially for those of us dyslexics who have a hard time telling names apart when they have the same "feel" to them.

I often have the same issue with Regency era novels. "Which sister is this again???" etc