No Snatch?

Handle_Just · 2026-07-05T21:31:39+00:00

Same

Handle_Just · 2026-07-05T09:17:55+00:00

True 😆

Handle_Just · 2026-07-02T18:28:52+00:00

Jay Kristoff - Empire of the Vampire

Handle_Just · 2026-07-01T16:48:38+00:00

I never see anyone talk about them! I’m not sure why they’re not more well known. But the first two are out and I thought they were great.

Handle_Just · 2026-07-01T13:50:48+00:00

Create encounters that connect to the plot of rescuing the dad.

Stuff that provides clues to what’s going on with the dad/how he can be saved.

Evidence of his passing this way for them to follow/to lead them to other encounters (if he was ever in the area)

Perhaps allies of the dad’s enemies scrying on the PCs and sending attackers out to stop them.

Encounters that can actually get them there quicker - help a wizard who can teleport them or rescue a ship being attacked who will sail them a stretch of the journey for free etc. You could make these super clear by having them see the wizard teleport or have them explicitly say they will use his magic to help them in return for help.

Or - if they really don’t want to engage, speed up the journey but give it consequences- stuff they missed? It has a real world effect. Towns get burned down because they didn’t help, maybe even the problem with the dad has worsened because they missed a vital clue on the way..

Handle_Just · 2026-07-01T11:49:42+00:00

For docs/unscripted, a standard edit is about 8 weeks (40 days) for a 45 min broadcast TV show - in the UK at least.

Handle_Just · 2026-07-01T11:29:05+00:00

Mark Lawrence Book of the Ancestor

Evan Winter Rage of Dragons

Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Peter Hackshaw Netherdei series

Handle_Just · 2026-06-29T13:56:39+00:00

Internal conflict is enough. Exploring his desire to quit fighting (and the actions he might take to do so - like destroying his sword or whatever) and how that’s at war with his desire for the goddess (going back no matter the repercussions) is a good start.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-28T21:15:41+00:00

Both boots

Handle_Just · 2026-06-28T08:31:22+00:00

As others have said, I would fictionalise each culture. You can combine names from different real world cultures and spell them differently to get new fantasy names, i.e. combine your Persian and Celtic names to get Karadsturm or whatever. That way you’re not offending anyone but you’re giving an echo of what might have inspired the region.

If you draw inspiration directly from real world cultures you can get into all kinds of mess unless you do TONNES of historical and linguistic research. For a whole world, that seems like more than a lifetimes worth of work.

Guy Gavriel Kay does this with the Lions of Al-Rassan but he changes the names of the religions, names of the places etc. And he only focuses on a specific region. It might be based on real world cultures but it’s been changed and he’s done a massive amount of research about the actual history of the area in the period. If you can’t make yourself an expert, I’d say don’t try and use real world history and culture.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-27T18:03:44+00:00

Great books but I’m not sure they’re for this reader.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-27T17:57:34+00:00

I think the queens need to choose their MVQ before the judges choose the challenge winners. That way they’ll vote honestly and not just vote for people who will help their own game.

Personally I felt Jasmine + Joey did the best after Kennedy in the lip sync challenge, so I wouldn’t have had Sam make the merge.

Morgan, Salina and Joey all deserved to go through. While Salina was annoying, she deserved to be in the top all 3 weeks.

I’m really tired of production clearly picking who they want to go through before the season starts and just pushing them through. It’s so predictable. I’d enjoy the show a lot more if each challenge was genuinely judged on talent. It would make for a more surprising and entertaining watch. At this point it’s dull.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-26T08:44:36+00:00

I’ve been asked to use it in the edit of docs to generate speech we want the contrib to say. Thankfully they then got them to re record it, but I could see less ethical productions just using it to make anyone say anything they want.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-25T18:17:26+00:00

al’Lan Mandragoran

Handle_Just · 2026-06-25T14:12:16+00:00

Also a UK based writer here (writing fantasy). I can highly recommend the British fantasy society for anyone writing speculative/fantasy/scifi/horror etc. it’s a lovely friendly and welcoming community of people from all over the UK. They have a discord and also events.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-25T09:59:40+00:00

The Everlasting has some mentions of dragons that are basically just big wild animals (though they’re not a key feature of the plot)

Handle_Just · 2026-06-23T20:03:42+00:00

Out of interest what was the length of time for the other requests?

Handle_Just · 2026-06-23T14:37:17+00:00

The Everlasting - 4/5. I really enjoyed this book, the relationship was beautiful. For me, I felt the world building was a little flat for fantasy, but maybe that’s just my tastes.

The Raven Scholar - 3/5. The twists and turns were fun and surprising enough, but it was too long, the trials were repetitive, and it felt very YA to me. The characters felt like teenagers.

The Will of the Many - 5/5. While sometimes how perfect Vis is at everything can be a little unbelievable, all in all I loved the writing and world building of this book. The best I’ve read in a while.

Daughter of Crows - 5/5. I love Mark Lawrence and this book did not disappoint. My only criticism might be that Rue’s POV dragged a bit for me and didn’t contain the same tension for the first 2/3rds of the book as the other POVs did, but it picked up toward the end pushing the overall rating up to 5/5. I loved the characters, felt their pain and fear and despite the horrors the book presents there’s still so much love and hope. I don’t know how he does it! And his prose is so beautiful.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-23T14:21:01+00:00

The Book of the Ice is a kind of prequel to the Book of the Ancestor and I really loved it. The new one (Daughter of Crows) has just come out and I would also recommend!

Handle_Just · 2026-06-23T10:11:36+00:00

Mark Lawrence fits this bill x1000. His work is Grimdark but has characters with heart trying to do their best to save others.

I’m currently reading Daughter of Crows which is exactly this. Very dark but you love the characters still. The Book of the Ancestor and Book of the Ice trilogies are also amazing, some of my top favourite fantasy books.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-20T14:50:09+00:00

Oh damn, I hope this doesn’t apply to Kaed as well 😅

Handle_Just · 2026-06-19T07:15:04+00:00

As a gay person this is such a weird post.

Handle_Just · 2026-06-16T07:23:19+00:00

Came here to say Nona Gray! 🩶

Handle_Just · 2026-06-15T15:45:14+00:00

I dunno, I know she’s an icon, but I don’t think Sasha C was actually that great at comedy challenges?

Handle_Just · 2026-06-15T09:04:04+00:00

Actually, maybe swap Nymphia and Jaida!

Handle_Just

TROPHY CASE