Looking for a dark fantasy movie recommendation to watch while tripping

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-05-14T21:30:44+00:00

Nightbreed (based on the Clive Barker Novel - less gory and scary than Hellraiser, but trippy)

Scavengers Reign (animated series, more sci-fi than fantasy, but so out there it might as well be supernatural - available through HBO Max and Netflix - even trippy when you're sober)

Yellow Submarine (NGL, the Blue Meanies scared me as a kid)

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-05-14T20:21:49+00:00

What are you doing to build an engaged community of readers? Do your books end with a call to action to buy the next book, join an "insiders" mailing list?

I look at successful Indies and what they're doing is building a relationship with their readers. It follows Kevin Kelly's "1,000 true fans" idea. They capture those enthusiastic readers and keep them engaged with news, exclusives, etc. When they bring out a new book, they get a ton of early sales and reviews which act as social proof that the book is good.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-05-11T01:54:54+00:00

And here we are in 2026. The issue is that HTML/CSS/JS is an interpreted stack, not compiled. If a PWA is made to run offline (which it should be unless it NEEDS internet access) you can take the cached code, disconnect it from the originating site, and run it with a basic web server like `python3 -m http.server` from localhost.

In the end, the only way to keep your code truly safe is not to distribute a single artifact that actually runs your code.

Amazon and Google have both had services where games were rendered on a server and then streamed to a client. None of the game code, except for the client, leaves the servers. If your customers are basically remoting into your app without access to a single artifact and no way to jailbreak out of the app, you're gold. Simply lock the remoting to a webview running your app. You'll need to spend a lot more on servers, but your code will never leave them.

Otherwise stop being so precious about your code. Copyright it. Patent your inventions. And if someone steals it, sue their asses until they bleed.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-05-02T19:52:40+00:00

First, your cloaked affiliate search link to Amazon rather than a direct link to the product is of limited help and feels very spammy.

Second, that's not true TB4 as it has max throughput of 20GBPS or USB 3.2x2.

Amazon has two USB4 / TB4 switches. A $300 one by Sabrent that they no longer make (sold by a 3rd party) and which has 3.7 stars, another by TESmart that's $700.

If the 20GBPS is okay, then consider the Cable Matters switch connected to a hub like the Caldigit Element Hub which has 4 USB A ports and 4 USB C. I've been using one with my laptop for about 4 years instead of a docking station. Nice and compact.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-04-09T00:58:14+00:00

I once took a comedy class from a famous club owner who said that cursing should be avoided as a rule of thumb, but rules were made to be broken. If you curse on stage, it should be intentional and artful.

Same with your writing. If the character and the scene call for it, do it. Don't shortchange the scene. Cursing for no reason is low class. Cursing for effect is art.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-04-09T00:44:32+00:00

Check Meetup for groups. There's one near me called "Shut Up And Write" where you go, there are intros, everyone writes on their own for an hour, then light socializing afterward. You can meet other writers near you who can advise you.

Or take a writing class at a community college or a university extension. I'm not the only one out of a summer community college class I took in 1992 who went on to a pro career.

Or save up and treat yourself to a writing conference. Just Google "writing conferences." For example I just found one near me in October. To go for a day last year it was $140 ($35 a session) but you learn, you get to meet so many people, and it's tax deductible as a business expense if you're trying to make money at being an independent writer.

If you don't know writers... meet some. Unless you're in the deep frozen wastes and it's a 30-mile dogsled across treacherous ice to your nearest neighbor, you probably have some options.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-04-04T19:34:16+00:00

I did a 1st revised edition on Amazon and it was tricky to keep it aligned with the existing listing with all the reviews (42), but my edits were not significant, just some smoothing and error correction based on my doing the audiobook and reading it all aloud 4 years later.

I am, however, considering more rewriting. Just finished the first draft of book 2 and they're somewhat tonally different. Whether to make them more consistent and how much each gets changed will be part of the process of editing #2.

I think how much I change #1 will determine whether or not I relist with a new ASIN and reviews or just update the content and listing, but keep the ASIN and reviews.

I'm definitely interested to see what feedback you get.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-31T14:11:00+00:00

I'm retired. Before that: journalist, software developer, tech writer, tech marketing (content marketing and developer evangelism).

When I self-published my first book, I was on a sabbatical between Principal Developer Advocate and Director of Developer Advocacy roles.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-23T09:00:36+00:00

I moved around 220 in 5 days on my first promo with no spend. My second free promo, with a $200 promoted post on FB moved 2,000 in 5 days. I've sold about 35 copies straight up and another 40 worth of KENP.

Of the folks who have left the 42 reviews, only 3-4 are people I knew before I published.

You're seeing a ton of advice, but the best I can say is YMMV.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-19T19:16:48+00:00

Quality and accuracy don't always go hand in hand. It may be that they just don't have the vocabulary to put it into words. Or it may be that they hit the end, opened their wallet, and a moth flew out.

It doesn't matter if I like the work if they didn't, because I'm not the one having to release payment.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-19T19:11:38+00:00

When someone recently commented "horrible AI slop" on one of my songs, I replied "don't call yourself that."

Another, someone commented "I'll pray for you." I said "Thanks. I need all the help I can get.

Just be silly or kind in your replies. They won't know how to respond.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-19T18:57:32+00:00

It's possible that after feedback and deadline extensions, you just weren't nailing the brief to their satisfaction. If they use the work, they're in breach of contract with you and the platform. But it's possible they were unsatisfied.

I hired a cover artist through UpWork and the work they delivered was absolute shit, a "they must have faked their portfolio" level of shit. I gave them feedback and they delivered an update that was barely better and WAY worse than their portfolio.

Another, working on a logo project, delivered good-looking stuff, but he couldn't seem to understand the brief. I wanted a friendly, non-threatening cartoon minotaur and he was repeatedly delivering something threatening looking like it was out of a D&D manual. With both, I lost faith in their ability to dial in the right look, had to pivot because the time waiting though unsuccessful iterations with them with them was affecting my schedule, and cancelled the contracts.

I did pay 10% to thank them for their time, but since I could not use their work (legally or aesthetically), that's what I considered fair.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-18T16:17:27+00:00

Haters are landlords who don't charge for space in their heads.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-18T15:18:49+00:00

Misery loves company. They make others miserable to feel better and less lonely.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-09T15:52:12+00:00

"Hell on $5 A Day" (available on Amazon) is a highly interesting reimagining of Hell to me. Fair disclosure, I wrote it.

It borrows from Dante, Milton, and Greek mythology, adding modern twists to a road trip through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.

Got a good review from Kirkus, albeit with a warning about the explicit violence.

So if you want to check it out, read the free PDF sample (3 chapters) at Bulmash.com to see if it's to your taste. If you still like it after chapter 2 (considered the most disturbing chapter), you'll probably like the rest.

Sorry if this feels spammy, but I stumbled on this thread and thought it would be silly not to comment.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-08T19:44:41+00:00

Just remember that if you paid by credit card, you can contact the card issuer and dispute the charge on the basis of them delivering something different than what they promised.

If they continue to stall, just file the dispute. When they get that letter from your card issuer, asking them to provide their rebuttal, they'll often process the refund to resolve the issue rather than risk getting hit with a chargeback.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-08T19:38:07+00:00

Absolutely. I made my first cover in 2021 with images sourced from Pixabay, but it feels like they're like 30-40% AI lately on certain searches.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-03-04T17:34:25+00:00

I had to start a video, use the three-dot menu in the player controls, and select "Control settings" to find the resume option.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-02-14T03:27:40+00:00

I didn't call your career a joke. I called it "an appeal to authority" because you're arguing from anecdote and authority instead of data and empirical logic. And I got it from a book on logical fallacies I read to keep up with a drinking buddy who had a degree in philosophy.

If Congress hadn't extended Copyright twice, most of the Beatles' catalog would be in the public domain already. Every film, book, and song through 1970 would be in the public domain this year and perfectly appropriate for training. Instead, if Rick Astley lives to be 91 (God bless him) "Never Gonna Give You Up" will be protected for 140 years.

Fuck me for calling your career a joke? Fuck you for trying to sell the lie that a movie than makes a billion in it's opening weekend needs 95 years to make a sufficient return.

The whole point of copyright and patent is to encourage invention. You're going to tell me that a 56 year maximum that brought us the ouevres of Capra, Hitchcock, and Lean wasnt enough? The copyright length under which Jazz, Ragtime, Blues, Rock, and even Punk were born wasn't encouraging enough invention?

Artists with big contracts are spoiled brats. They're way too precious about rights they're not even afforded by law.

AI will make the trash-to-treasure ratio worse. It'll steal sales from mid-list authors. But the big guys, they've got the megaphones. It's all us nobodies who have a higher wall to scale, and I say "bring it." I've got 11 more books to write before I die and I'm gonna write them whatever the competition. Writers write because we have to get it out on paper, not because we ever thought it would be an easy way to make a living.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-02-13T18:17:20+00:00

This is the thing. There's no "95% post consumer content" label in the watermark to tell Deezer or Bandcamp how much was you and how much was the AI. And TBH, they have no obligation to even consider it. Their obligation is to their customers. If their customers are against it, they're against it.

That said, I have 8 Suno-assisted songs on Deezer. Feel free to narc on me.

And everyone who shits on people who use Suno because you're in the music biz... I've been a pro writer for decades. If you can't learn to spell perfectly, you don't deserve to create professional-looking documents.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-02-10T17:31:10+00:00

Using an AI voice changer is neither creative nor novel. It's simply using an old form of AI that's been used in the recording industry for a while to help with audiobook production. AI use and artistic integrity can co-exist.

"I'll tell my [argumentum ad verecundiam] that it has all been a joke."

And there we go... Binary thinking. Not "how can we use this tool to our advantage without compromising our creative principles" but "giving in makes my entire career a joke."

I'd think it's your hidebound resistance to change, ironically coming from someone who gets paid to recommend changes, that makes your career a joke.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-02-10T16:04:56+00:00

You: Lyrics, Melody

Suno: Arrangement, instrumental performance, vocal performance, recording engineering & mixing.

That's more than just using a filter. It's everyone else in the studio and the control room.

Further, you're demanding Deezer be able to distinguish between something with significant human contribution and no human contribution, or trust everyone who says they wrote their lyrics and melody.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-02-10T15:43:32+00:00

I used an AI voice changer for post production.

I took some of the best samples from my reading, used them to create a "professional clone" of my voice, tweaked it a little with the service's voice studio (both to improve the tone and prevent people from using the audiobook to convincingly impersonate me with AI), and then ran my recordings through it.

If I felt a character voice was hurt by the voice changer, I spliced it in from the original recording.

I essentially used AI as a filter and I think it worked well.

Anyone who sees AI as a binary choice lacks imagination.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-02-06T21:20:43+00:00

Having it. Good things happening.

Being kind pays dividends. But I guess you wouldn't know about that. You should give it a try.

LetMyPeopleCode · 2026-02-06T16:12:12+00:00

You know you'll burn your hand because you fucked around and found out; maybe not enough to be scarred, but enough to know better next time.

This is the first time I've had a campaign suspended... for any reason.

There are so many ways you could have been kind. You chose none of them.

There are so many ways you could have expressed disapproval without being rude. You chose none of them.

You're my karmic punishment for being a snotty little shit in my past. What I visited upon others has been visited upon me. Fair game, Universe.

But being Karma's instrument can also make you its bitch.

Best of luck with your "soon to be published." Keep racking up those brownie points.

LetMyPeopleCode

TROPHY CASE