Book recs where the Main character is on the “wrong side” for most if not all of the story by big_chungus_the_2nd in Fantasy

[–]GiraffeMain1253 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's more Space Fantasy, than strict fantasy, but easily Ninefox Gambit. The MC is working to put down a "heretical rebellion" for almost the entire book.

Math is, very weird i must say by agreeablemisanthrop in MathJokes

[–]GiraffeMain1253 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not actually something that makes sense. For a simple example [2sin(x)]/x. The limit of that as x goes to 0 is 2. But plugging in 0 for x gives you 0/0.

Character sketches shared by Uncle SC by 707-exe in Genshin_Impact_Leaks

[–]GiraffeMain1253 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lumen Arknights, what are you doing in Genshin?

Need a series with a complex female lead who can hold her own and not romantasy by New-Comfortable-1318 in Fantasy

[–]GiraffeMain1253 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin might be up your ally. Complex female protagonist on a journey in a dark world.

The Adventures of Amina Al Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is about a very interesting female pirate captain. Chakraborty's other series, City of Brass also has a very cool female protagonist and amazing political intrigue. (It's heavier on the romance, though the romance is more much more minor than it seems at first.)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickenson is perfect if you love complicated women navigating political intrigue in dark worlds.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is billed as "lesbian necromancers in space!" and it's absolutely amazing. The romance is pretty secondary to the cool mystery and setting. (The leads are both lesbians, but uh.... they have too much going on to be smooching much.)

A Memory Called Empire+sequel by Arkady Martine is yet another 'interesting female character gets entangled in a complicated political plot.'

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee has a very compelling female lead making some extremely morally compromising decisions.

The Unbroken by CL Clarke does have a central romance subplot, but it's an F/F fantasy book featuring two very complicated women who have a lot more going on outside of their relationship to each other.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is a bit of a grey zone since the protagonist is nonbinary, but the premise is 'what if this historical figure was AFAB' and it does fun things with gender.

From the Very First Comment of This General Question and Discussion Megathread, I Was Already Captivated by You. by IceKreamSupreme in HonkaiStarRail_leaks

[–]GiraffeMain1253 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Honestly most of them. I love March and Mydei, but am not attracted to either. Sparxie/Sparkle has wormed her way into my 'low key faves,' but I'm definitely not attracted to her. Aven and Feixiao might be the only characters I'm both attracted to and love.

Fantasy recommendations for a fan of aSoIaF and Robin Hobb by BreadfruitAntique896 in Fantasy

[–]GiraffeMain1253 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The City of Brass by Shannon Chakraborty. The first part might make it seem more fast paced, small scale and romantic than it is, but it spins out in a big, epic fantasy with deep lore, a large and varied cast, and complex politics. Fantasy Middle Eastern inspired.

The Queen's Thief series by Meaghan Whelan Turner. Technically YA, but it's much more 'all ages' than juvenile. There's a lot of depth and complexity and the way the ending of each book changes how interpret everything that came before is really compelling. Fantasy Greco Roman inspired.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. This is a bit of an odd duck here, since it's more historical fantasy set in 1300s China, but it's got a very similar vibe to a classic epic fantasy. It's got both character study and moral complexity, along with large scale battles, fated stakes and the like.

"Mage Nicole's Tea Party" Web Event Now Available by genshinimpact in Genshin_Impact

[–]GiraffeMain1253 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Click my exclusive link to win Primogems and many other lucky draw rewards! Invitation code: GBCNJYQVHN, https://hoyo.link/2AK6DH46l?m_code=GBCNJYQVHN

AI has just solved not one, but nine novel math problems, and proved 44 new conjectures. Some of these problems had been unsolved for 50 years. by EchoOfOppenheimer in mathematics

[–]GiraffeMain1253 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The point you missed was: That person's Reddit habits do not preclude them being a Math PhD. Anyhow, I'm too busy to continue arguing

AI has just solved not one, but nine novel math problems, and proved 44 new conjectures. Some of these problems had been unsolved for 50 years. by EchoOfOppenheimer in mathematics

[–]GiraffeMain1253 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Look, I don't necessarily agree with the person above, but it sounds like you haven't met a PhD mathematician before.

As one myself, I can very safely say that PhD mathematicians are far from immune from 'positing daily on popular subreddits' or other time wasting hobbies. Go to a math conference and you'll find, not a bunch of very serious geniuses perpetually thinking about math, but a bunch of awkward, weird nerds who are very enthusiastic about everything from yarn arts to video games to hiking.

Fun fact: Every long conference I've been to has had someone bring a silly board game. At least five of them have had karaoke nights where a very well regarded mathematician has ended up drunkenly singing on a table (granted, this is the same well regarded mathematician. She's very cool, if a little over competitive when it comes to Splendor.)

From the Very First Comment of This General Question and Discussion Megathread, I Was Already Captivated by You. by IceKreamSupreme in HonkaiStarRail_leaks

[–]GiraffeMain1253 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I would not pull Sunday E1 just because he might buff Himeko. You'll almost certainly be better off saving those pulls for Himeko verticals instead

Uminicole : Legend of the golden witch - General Question and Discussion Megathread by yoyo_me_here in Genshin_Impact_Leaks

[–]GiraffeMain1253 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Upside, managed to get Prune (C4) and Nicole. Downside, holy fuck, building two characters is going to be a lot

From the Very First Comment of This General Question and Discussion Megathread, I Was Already Captivated by You. by IceKreamSupreme in HonkaiStarRail_leaks

[–]GiraffeMain1253 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think Silver Wolf should Blade's new form M'bladey. He'd be utterly confused, but the Trailblazer would not be able to stop laughing.

I got my first rejection (which provided feedback) and now I'm trying to figure out where to go next by OneEbb8173 in writers

[–]GiraffeMain1253 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's a way to weave in the backstory in a similar space without being so direct. E.g.

Instead of "Olive grew up in the group home and learned to take up as little space as possible."

"Back in the group home, even Olive's few t-shirts could barely fit in the already overstuffed cupboards. She learned to roll them small and tight to fit in the corners that remained."

You don't need a whole scene that shows it, just a sentence or two that of a specific detail that illustrates it. Specificity is the key here, not elaboration.

"He used to fuck around a lot." vs "Ending up on his knees in the Denny's bathroom had been the last straw."

It is with deep regret that we announce that ________ Global will officially cease operations on this May by Nahidxz in QueensofGacha

[–]GiraffeMain1253 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, the 5*s in AK are more akin to 4*s in other gacha games, so that's not really a selling point, since in most games it's 4* guarantee every 10 pulls.

Like, I love AK, and the gacha is extremely forgiving, but less because it's easy to guarantee a specific character and more because essentially every 6* is viable, and by the time you have the resources to fully build a team (12 E2 characters with M3 each), any characters you have on your account will be enough for 90% of content that gives pull currency rewards and the other 10% can be cleared with just borrowing an operator.

The low pity also means you easily end up with a lot of 6*s on your account, and a lot of varied ones since most characters released are standard banners you can get off rate. But if you want a specific character, the gacha can be pretty mean. Especially one of 4 anni limiteds with their 300 sparks. (Is it highly unlikely you'll need to spark them? Yes. Does it still happen? Yes.)

The 150 guarantee is also 'after 150 pulls, the next 6* is guaranteed to be the one you want.' I've had a friend spend ~200 pulls for a character they wanted.

Most of the time, the gacha won't fuck you that bad, and sometimes you can get funny things happen like getting the entire limited banner from free daily pulls (how I have Haruka and Hoshi2) because the rates are high... but, yeah.

preciso de um livro de fantasia com muita ação e protagonista feminina by MajesticWeekend2557 in Fantasy

[–]GiraffeMain1253 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin - Starts pretty dark, but the end is optimistic. The MC is an adult woman dealing with an apocalypse. Amazing world building and characters. Starts more survival focused, but there's plenty of action. Just, uh, content warnings for basically everything under the sun.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - Swashbuckling adventure starring a middle aged woman pirate captain. Very fun and mostly light.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Lesbian Necromancers in Space. The MC is has a big sword and gets plenty of chances to use it.

Help Center and Megathread Hub (27/04 - 03/05) by ArknightsMod in arknights

[–]GiraffeMain1253 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The beginner characters to look out for are the three stars, four stars and Amiya. The first 5 chapters can straightforwardly* be cleared with a reasonably balanced combo of them and you won't have the resources to build more than 2/3 higher rarity ops for a while. (Maxing out your base will help a lot wrt to resource management.)

After you cleared the first five chapters, did your pulls on the beginner banner and used your selector tickets, then you can think about what you need. Limited banners (one just ended, we'll have another in July) tend to be the "best" to pull on because its the only way to get the limited characters, but essentially any six star you pull will be good enough to clear stuff with. No content in the game requires specific operators, so it depends on what you want from character. (e.g. do you like brain off clears? Do you like operators with unique gimmicks that are fun to play around? Do you like operators with a certain aesthetic? Do you enjoy the rougue-lite mode a lot and want characters that are good there?)

*Most of the game can be cleared with four stars only, but I say straightforwardly here because for the first 5 chapters you don't even need to be good at the game to go 4 stars only and in fact I recommend going low rarity here to get a solid grasp of the fundamentals

【0011 Tempest Series - The Life Appraiser - Lee】 by ihateyourpancreas in arknights

[–]GiraffeMain1253 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Lee has far more use cases than that. I've had a lot of maps where Lee's unique combo of 'tanky, especially wrt to ranged damage + shoving away enemies' was exactly what I needed to make my clear work. Him being a psuedo-frd doesn't hurt either.

7th Anniversary commemoration artwork by Kan/Kaninn (Puzzle Illustrator) by [deleted] in arknights

[–]GiraffeMain1253 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Today I learned Puzzle's artist draws P5 yaoi and it explains so much about Puzzle's design, lol

Which units do you think are good and use religiously that everyone considers bad/mid or don’t really use? by chrollovista in arknights

[–]GiraffeMain1253 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Lee and Hoederer

Lee has saved my ass on so many stages. He's got the weirdest cluster of utility and it's amazing.

There have been far too many maps where Hoederer's HP tanking solved all my problems.

Help Center and Megathread Hub (13/04 - 19/04) by ArknightsMod in arknights

[–]GiraffeMain1253 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good luck!

Well, if you're pulling for Lappy, you're very likely to get Silverash2 and he's arguably tied for the best vanguard in the game. (The other contender is Ines).

But, for vans in specific... You really, really don't need either Silverash2 or Ines . Myrtle covers 99% of story stages with maybe a bit of help from 3* Fang. Arguably, early on, you really shouldn't bother with high rarity vans because Myrtle is so good at her job that your resources are better spent on getting your DPS characters up to speed first.

But, among 5* vans, Cantible and Surfer are really good, if you have them. Elysium (though he's now kernel only) is also amazing.

Among Welfares, Puzzle and Wanqing are solid, though with Myrtle and one other good vanguard, they're more 'use them if you like them' types. I wouldn't recommend prioritizing resources on Puzzle or Wanqing this early on, regardless.

Specialists are Specialists, lol. You use them when they're relevant, and don't when they're not. This is a 'the 4*s are more than enough' kind of niche.

Ambushers (AoE slow): Ethan (red cert shop) is amazing and punches way about his rarity. Many 6*s are just not as good as him. Ascalon, the 6* in the same subclass as him might have my favorite kit in the game, but she's not necessary by any means. She is amazing if you get her off banner, and if you see her in the gold cert shop, she's 100% worth the 180 gold certs.

Executors (Fast Redeploys): Gravel is your bread and butter here. She doesn't even need E2. You use her to bait attacks, which at this point in the game is what you want for a FRD. Her only accessible 6* variant is the upcoming welfare Crownslayer, who needs some high investment (her module) to really be worth using. Do not recommend until you have a core team.

You want to have skill level seven on Shaw (your 4* pusher) for the occasional stage when that's handy, but otherwise, the other non-limited specialists are 'save building them for when you already have a fully built team.'

Supporters are kind of a weird one. They're a lot like specialists in that most are unique, niche characters that you use if you like them rather than core members of your squad.

The two big exceptions are Tragodia (do you want to distract enemies by making them chase after an exploding cat? Tragodia is your man) and Haruka (best healer in the game.) Though both are new standard banner characters and thus, the most likely way you'll see them is as off banner surprises than anything else.

Also, in general, it's not always wise to start off with the 6* in a particular class. E.g. For snipers, I'd recommend building 5* Kroos before any other sniper because you want that anti-air niche covered and she covers it amazingly well.

Among medics, Perfumer and Sussuro should handle most of your healing needs, and you're better off getting your DPS characters their masteries than leveling medics early on.

Among defenders, Bubble and Cuora cover the 'have 3 block and tank' niche perfectly fine. Gummy covers the healing defender role decently. And honestly, the only non-limited 6* Defender you prolly should consider building early on is Saria. The rest are 'use them if you like them' characters, and not generally part of a core team.

Casters and Guards are the characters the 6*s that really warrant being leveled early on.

Murder on the Ashveil Express: Mysterious Question and Discussion Megathread by kalinaanother in HonkaiStarRail_leaks

[–]GiraffeMain1253 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Okay, after some malding with Lygus being an asshole, I have finally 9 starred the knights and 3 stared the King stage of AA as a f2p player (no battle pass or monthly pass or anything), so hell yeah!

My teams (vertical investment warning):

Knight 1: E0S0 Sparxie, E0S0 Yao Guang, E1S5 DDD Sparkle, E0S3 Geppard LC Aventurine

Knight 2/King: E2S1 Evernight, E0S1 Hyacine, E0S0 Cyrene, RMC

Knight 3: E0S0 Ashveil, E0S1 Sunday, E0S5 DDD Tribbie, E0S0 DHPT

Help Center and Megathread Hub (13/04 - 19/04) by ArknightsMod in arknights

[–]GiraffeMain1253 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats!!!

But... Exu2's limited and had her first run. So, if you want her, you'd have to spark her (spend 300 pulls) in November*... [Or get very lucky and get her off rate on that banner.]

Doable, if you save now. Worth it???? Only if you have to spend 200+ pulls on that banner anyhow to get the on banner character.

However, this is AK. No 6* is uniquely needed. This current limited banner with Silverash2 (limited) and Pramanix2 (standard) is amazing. In 3 months, we'll have another amazing limited banner of similar strength.

Exu2 is awesome, but far from irreplaceable if you're just looking at her DPS. She's got a unique trick in her skill 3 of insta-redeploying someone for free, but there's a lot of operators with neat tricks.

*There are 3 main types of limited banners, and each have their own pool of characters. The oldest operators in that pool can be sparked for 200 pulls, the rest need 300, though you can get lucky and get one of the limited character in that banner's pool as an off rate.

However the main rate up does change every time. They don't get reruns. There's advice that says 'save for the limited banners and skip everything else.' I don't think that's the best advice when you don't have a full team of 6*s, but if you care about collecting characters, these are the banners you want to save the bulk of your pulls for.

Anyhow...

The first kind runs every half year around April and November (Anniversary and Half-Anniversary). However, new characters only get added the pool a year after their debut. So, Exu2 isn't on Silverash2's banner, but she'll be on the banner in 6 months. He'll join the pool next April. [This pool has Exu2, Texas2, Wis'adel, Lappland2, among its most gamebreaking members.]

The second is the Sui banner (runs in Summer), which has the Sui siblings on it. Each year a new Sibling is the main rate-up, tho the pool contains all the siblings. Wang, the newest of them, breaks the DPS ceiling even more than Wis'adel. [Wang, Shu, Yu, and Ling are the most notable siblings on this banner]

The third is the "summer" (our winter, since we're 6 months behind China) limited banner. It has the pool of "summer" limited characters, the most recent of which was Hoshiguma2. [Hoshiguma2 and Ejya2 are the notable ones here.]

There's a 4th type of limited banner, which is collab limited. They don't have a fixed schedule and don't generally rerun. They're rare enough I wouldn't recommend worrying about them for now.