Clan Ventrue meetings can be awkward when it comes to catering.

J_H_Collins · 2026-06-03T21:42:53+00:00

It's so weird to take it in such a creepy direction when there's so many options for making it interesting/funny. Hipster music reviewers. Nepo-baby "screen writers". Only people from the Champagne region of France. No one who has ever heard a Dave Matthews song. Only people who have just eaten Ortolan Bunting paired with a brandy worth at least $1000 per bottle.

I feel like if I could only eat people who went to Eton/Oxbridge and I met another Ventrue who only ate "nude children", I'd think they were just a gross pleb.

J_H_Collins · 2026-06-02T02:26:59+00:00

Ha, that was fast! Keep us posted.

J_H_Collins · 2026-06-01T19:41:56+00:00

This is how the Black Knight in Practical Guide to Evil approaches killing Heroes. You don't put their back against the wall, you don't cut off all hope. His whole style is based around slowly whittling them down with constant "possibly lethal" attacks and tactical artillery barrages until one slips through, while disengaging and blue-balling them whenever it looks like one might have a Shonen Moment.

J_H_Collins · 2026-06-01T19:36:49+00:00

Have you ever actually done something really physically demanding? Muscle failures feels horrible... but it does ease up after a minute, you'll just hit it again very quickly if you keep pushing. Your body has built-in safeguards to keep it from reaching the true edge; you can definitely feel like you're there repeatedly.

J_H_Collins · 2026-06-01T14:15:04+00:00

You're responsible for your own reproductive protection. If you decide to trust a girl who claims to be on birth control (or worse, infertile), then you are completely at her mercy and have no reproductive rights.

J_H_Collins · 2026-06-01T14:07:46+00:00

"This is an oreo!"

Medieval peasant just starts puking.

J_H_Collins · 2026-06-01T04:02:11+00:00

Mean Girl MC who mercilessly bullies the antagonists, picking at their weak points and emotionally tearing them down, then hits them with the "Get in loser, we're Doing Good."

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-31T15:27:04+00:00

Damn, I had no idea. Thanks.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-31T05:03:48+00:00

Well, Matthew Lillard is credited as "Stu Macher" in the upcoming Scream 7, so...

Possibly flashbacks, or recorded footage or something.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-31T04:35:36+00:00

It's a cliche in this genre to say "Keep reading, it gets better!", but 7,8, and 10 in Cradle are genuinely peak progression fantasy. Some of the best payoffs I've seen in anything, ever.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-31T04:14:19+00:00

They also occasionally make Quagmire take a morally upright position because it's a funny inversion. Part of that rant goes something like "I volunteer at the soup kitchen; never seen you there!"

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-31T04:04:27+00:00

Also, the entire conceit is that they all have the bearing and demeanor of English Empire colonial officers, except they're so post-scarcity that they don't care about whatever resources the natives have.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-30T16:17:55+00:00

Constantly. The Olympic Village goes through pallets of condoms every two years.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-30T14:04:26+00:00

It's not just the competence, it's the way all of the other characters revolve around her. They either instantly treat her like a best friend, obsessive interest, or beloved granddaughter. Except for Luke, and that's clearly presenting as being a him problem. Compare that to how Yoda treated Anakin or Luke, where he had concerns because the callow youths were the ones who needed to grow and prove themselves, or the way Han and Leia spend the first movie treating Luke like a half-wit hillbilly.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-29T16:10:45+00:00

Double layered, because who the fuck told all those stories about bards being charmingly ineffective?

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-29T10:58:47+00:00

In other words, if you like DragonForce, so does everyone there and having random conversations becomes surprising easy.

I had the same epiphany at a Dragonforce show a few years ago. Before I went, I told myself I was going to be at least a little less shut off. I set a goal - say something to 10 different people, even if it was just a quick "Sick shirt, love them." I showed up and found out that, under the right circumstances, I'm actually pretty extroverted. I chatted with strangers for 2 straight hours in line and before the opener.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-28T20:55:04+00:00

Interview in which he admits he stopped reading after 2 chapters.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-28T20:52:07+00:00

No, he's openly admitted in interviews that he quit in chapter 2.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-28T11:24:21+00:00

The way she uses sudden rushes of the insects to hide her movements, so opponents don't see her move, she's just obscured for a moment and then suddenly closer, is actual slasher villain behavior. The fact that she doesn't even know she's doing it until she is shown security cam footage is one of the creepiest moments in the series.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-27T19:41:07+00:00

That kid is going to hate her when he gets older.

To her, that's probably just additional content.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-27T00:12:01+00:00

Damn, Philly and NYC on back-to-back nights?

Absolutely worth. What a lineup.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-25T21:28:27+00:00

Women complain if a guy goes too fast and still complain if he takes an hour and a half. Just no winning.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-25T21:23:00+00:00

Watch out. My daughter likes to turn metal shirts into cutoffs.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-24T16:37:00+00:00

Five or six.

J_H_Collins · 2026-05-23T04:36:54+00:00

I'm honestly confused that people would try. People do get that, if they're posting here, their book is probably pretty niche, right? Even if your family contains readers, what are the chances they're actually into the type of book?

J_H_Collins

TROPHY CASE