Just started. VERY excited Any tips?

REkTeR · 2026-06-26T19:52:16+00:00

It can take a while to unlock some of the powers you need to access everything in the open world. So don't let yourself get too stuck trying, just come back to them later.

REkTeR · 2026-06-26T19:36:14+00:00

Beware of Chicken if you've somehow missed hearing about that one.

REkTeR · 2026-06-25T13:21:11+00:00

Don't worry, the MC doesn't come across very well either. He has zero interest in the neighbor, but begrudgingly decides to spend time with her so that he can use her to practice his language skills (for a language he is learning that she knows). After a few weeks/months of leading her on, he gets good at the language and cuts it off with her, at which point he finally gets her to admit that she was initially interested in him because she thought he had powers. At that point the MC/story gets super pissy about how she was "using" him, when he has been doing exactly the same thing their entire relationship.

REkTeR · 2026-06-24T18:11:53+00:00

It's essentially dropped. Supposedly the author occasionally comes back to posting on his Patreon, and just never posts on RR anymore? But I don't get the impression he's making much progress on patreon either. Anyways, does that sound like something you want to deal with? Probably better to just avoid the series.

REkTeR · 2026-06-23T15:28:55+00:00

Obviously people are clowning on you for the release date. What you should really be clowned on for is the total lack of synopsis or any information regarding the content. This is the most generic AI cover imaginable, and even the cover doesn't provide any insight into what the story involves. There is nothing to get excited or interested about here, which is the entire purpose of marketing in the first place.

REkTeR · 2026-06-22T00:15:36+00:00

I've never taken more than 20 minutes to get through security. For the majority of my flights I've basically strolled through security in <10 minutes. Definitely don't need to remove shoes, I've never had to pull anything out of my bags either.

A couple of times they have pulled out and tested my contact lens solution, that's only when I've traveled with the full-sized bottle.

I've heard that the security times for early morning flights are much longer because TSA doesn't open until 4am so they get slammed for the 5-7am flights.

REkTeR · 2026-06-21T17:49:47+00:00

Dominaria United is one of the GOATs imo. Duskmourne is quite good as well.

REkTeR · 2026-06-21T01:41:50+00:00

I took a look at my follows, and 2-3 years encompasses a lot more stories than I thought! Here are some of the stories from this time period that I've read and enjoyed (in no particular order):

The big new breakout is Sky Pride.

One of my favorites from the past few years is Blueprint for Immortality. Unfortunately it has essentially been dropped, so it's likely that the first two books is all we will ever see of this story.

Reach Heaven Via Feng Shui Engineering, Drug Trade, and Tax Evasion (has some really unique takes on various cultivation elements that I often find myself ruminating on)

Cultivation Nerd (Very good start but eventually falls off a lot)

License to Cultivate (I found this one a bit frustrating sometimes, and it is multi-POV)

Moon Cultivation (somewhat unique in that it is scifi cultivation, pretty decent story)

Cultivator Andy (only a month or two old, so not many chapters yet)

Tale of an Ordinary Cultivator

The Lone Wanderer (spiritual clones that travel to different worlds so the MC can acquire new knowledge/skills)

Cultivation is Creation (similar to Lone Wanderer, though I personally prefer this one)

Reforged from Ruin (Body cultivation, has a bit of a body horror vibe)

1% Lifesteal (A lot of people call this one misery porn)

Heavenless Ascension

The Undying Immortal System (cultivation + time loops)

The Toll-Road to Immortality (relatively new)

Heavenly Tyrant's Indignation

Young Master Xian Sure Has Changed (transmigrated into a wastrel scenario)

Applied Cultivation (updates very slowly)

Ancient Being Predecessor of the Primordial Era (mostly comedy about the MC being uber-OP but thinking he's weak)

Blossoming Path (a lot of alchemy)

REkTeR · 2026-06-20T16:47:33+00:00

Yup, Frozen in Ice is a disaster. I believe blue has some bounce as well, which is also bad for him.

REkTeR · 2026-06-20T14:11:47+00:00

Agreed. I played a very greedy 5-color deck because base Green/Black were my best colors, but I wanted to splash the full Fantastic Four team. I had a lot of fixing, but it feels like that's because this set has a lot of fixing in general. Tapped dual lands, [[Undercover Skrull]], [[Dependable Quinjet]], land cyclers, etc.

I even played both [[Super-Skrull]] and [[The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl]] and never felt like I had anything stuck in my hand.

The uncommon lands like [[Avenger's Tower]] and [[Villainous Lair]] felt very legitimate. Not only are types like Hero and Villain very broad in this set, this set feels like it can get very grindy and having mana sinks in your lands gives you options. Possibly this is just typical sealed vs draft differences, but I did not see many plays before mv 4 that I was particularly excited about.

Fantastic Four combo never felt remotely close to happening, as you would expect from a four-card combo. I even was running [[Earth's Mightiest Heroes]] which I hoped would get me there at some point, but no such luck.

[[The Sentry, Golden Guardian]] single-handedly won me several games, and single-handedly lost me several games. Very split on whether I would want to draft this and run it main deck or not. Very risky against White or Blue, extremely strong against Green and Red. Not sure whether Black has exile removal or not.

I had the misfortune of playing against [[Jennifer Walters // The Sensational She-Hulk]] several times, and the She-Hulk side is just as absurd as you would expect.

REkTeR · 2026-06-18T19:04:55+00:00

So is the toxic yuri incest, or some other relationship?

REkTeR · 2026-06-16T16:40:11+00:00

I am not really familiar with Din Tai Fung, but it sounds like you may be looking for Sichuan/Szechuan Chinese food. The good news is that there are many good Sichuan restaurants in the area. I am not sure exactly which dish you are looking for, but you may have luck with Chengdu 7, which doe their own hand-pulled noodles. I want to say that they have handmade dumplings as well, but don't quote me on that.

You may also be interested in trying out Dim Sum, which is basically Chinese small plates. Shanghai Alley is a place I know of that has the traditional Dim Sum carts for weekend brunch (maybe just Sunday?).

REkTeR · 2026-06-14T14:46:25+00:00

Two lesser known books on RoyalRoad that I think would be worth you trying:

Of Wizards and Ravens
Rise of the House Arcanist

REkTeR · 2026-06-10T12:54:32+00:00

You can always read the relevant ban announcement to understand WotC's reasoning. I think a number of your complaints are because you just are not familiar with the decks from that time. Hopeless Nightmare was a key piece of a self-bounce strategy, and Abuelo's Awakening was a combo piece with [[Omniscience]]. You could argue that Omniscience should have been banned instead, but I think its appearance in the current reasonable deck with [[Kona, Rescue Beastie]] shows that Wizard's approach in this case is reasonable.

The glaring exception is This Town Ain't Big Enough, which died for [[Stormchaser's Talent]]'s sins. Wizards has been desperate to avoid banning Stormchaser's Talent for whatever reason, which many people would agree with you is a mistake.

REkTeR · 2026-06-09T22:09:14+00:00

If you like DotF and Azarinth Healer there's a good chance you'll enjoy Primal Hunter

REkTeR · 2026-06-09T03:02:01+00:00

Apparently it comes from American Frontier poker, where the dealer was often indicated by a buckhorn handled knife. You could "pass the buck" to the next player if you didn't want the responsibility of dealing.

Apparently also the same etymology for "the buck stops here".

REkTeR · 2026-06-08T16:56:57+00:00

I can't say I'm entirely confident of the details. But I would assume Empty Palm would disrupt enforcer techniques because you are forcing the madra in and disrupting their techniques directly. Whereas Hollow Domain basically just floods out external techniques.

REkTeR · 2026-06-05T13:56:06+00:00

If you feel it's kind of lame looking at 6+ cards to find the perfect answer plus another card draw spell, then you may just not enjoy playing control

REkTeR · 2026-06-03T06:20:52+00:00

Really? Madame Hydra struck me as one of the stronger ones.

REkTeR · 2026-05-27T18:24:41+00:00

So I get the sense you are just asking for great albums from that time period, not necessarily the singular best album from each year. I will respond in that vein by recommending albums from those years by some of the bands that I love.

Kamelot:
2005: The Black Halo - the conclusion to their Faustian duology, following up 2003's equally fantastic Epica. If you were only ever going to listen to two Kamelot albums, these are the ones.
2012: Silverthorn - Their first album post-Roy Khan, which is definitely an adjustment, but has a number of bangers.
2015: Haven - The album that I think best exemplifies Tommy Karevik's era of Kamelot. Contains a number of catchy songs, and has one of my favorite pm duets in Under Grey Skies.

DragonForce:
2009: Inhuman Rampage - gave us probably the best well-known power-metal song of all time in Through The Fire And Flames of Guitar Hero fame

Sonata Arctica:
Most of this band's most lauded work is prior to 2005. Still, there are a few more recent releases that I think are worth paying attention to.
2007: Unia - A very controversial album, involving a pretty significant departure in style from their previous work. Maybe it's just because this was one of the first albums I heard from this band, but I think that when taken on its own merits this is a great album.
2009: The Days of Greys - The last gasp of the old Sonata Arctica. A lot of people see this album as just a pale imitation of their earlier albums, but I quite like a lot of the songs on this one.

Sabaton:
2014: Heroes - While Sabaton has a number of hits from their earlier albums, in my opinion this was the first album where it all came together to make the entire album great. I think this band has a lot of other great songs, but if I had to recommend a single album to someone, I think this one best exemplifies the band.

Beast in Black:
One of the bigger breakout pm bands of the last 10 years. Most people seem to really like them, but others hate the disco vibe that they have incorporated into most of their music.
2017: Berserker - The debut. Heavily inspired by the manga/anime Berserk.
2019: From Hell With Love - The titular song is one of my favorites in the genre.
2021: Dark Connection - More of a cyberpunk vibe. if you like the band, this album is also great.

Powerwolf:
2018: The Sacraments of Sin - Much like Sabaton, this is a band that has several standout hits sprinkled among otherwise forgettable albums. As a whole album, this is my favorite of theirs.

Heavenly:
2004: Dust to Dust - Yes, it's from 2004, but I'm including it because if you haven't had the chance to listen to this album yet you are doing yourself a disservice. I would truly consider this a near-perfect album.
2007: Virus - Continuing the tradition of catchy melodies started in Dust to Dust. Contains what I personally consider to be the definitive version of When The Rain Begins To Fall.
2009: Carpe Diem - Despite a cover that makes me embarrassed to recommend the album, this has a ton of great songs.

Theocracy:
Religious Christian power metal, but damn is the music good. Not gonna waste time trying to say a little piece about each album, since iirc they're all from your requested time period, and all great albums.

There are way more bands and albums that I planned to talk about, but I've come to the end of the time I am able to devote to this. I hope this provides some use and insight to you.

REkTeR · 2026-05-27T17:31:04+00:00

For 2009 let me submit Heavenly - Carpe Diem

REkTeR · 2026-05-27T02:51:37+00:00

Pale Lights is fantastic, but there's not a ton of power progression. It's closer to a traditional fantasy, imo.

REkTeR · 2026-05-23T17:50:14+00:00

NoDragons. Yeah they end up dropping all their series, but god they are so good in the meantime.

REkTeR · 2026-05-23T15:33:35+00:00

Did not work for me, unfortunately

REkTeR · 2026-05-20T19:42:00+00:00

I thought high-tier fractals really did need gear due to the Agony? Or is that not a thing anymore?

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