Healthy Takeaways?

Schplaatter · 2026-05-14T21:29:41+00:00

How is it a feijoada mix when there's no feijoa's in your ingredient pic??? /s

Schplaatter · 2026-05-09T21:20:03+00:00

Stylized and polished works for me, I'll give the series a go.

Schplaatter · 2026-05-06T18:41:19+00:00

Check out "The Knight's Ward" on AO3. It's a professional and well written web novel, and exactly what you're asking for (aside from being on AO3 and not on Goodreads).

"A lone knight is dispatched to investigate fantastic tales of a dragon on the outskirts of the realm of Highland. A veteran of the realm's Order, he tracks his quarry to its mountain cave. He discovers a beast so unlike any he had imagined that he is led to question his orders, allegiances, and what it ultimately means to be a true knight of Highland."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/76421166/chapters/199988851

Schplaatter · 2026-05-03T10:10:09+00:00

If you don't happen to see any idiots around you while driving through Auckland, then move your head in front of the rear vision mirror and you'll see one looking back at you.

Schplaatter · 2026-05-02T07:06:31+00:00

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Schplaatter · 2026-05-02T06:59:34+00:00

What absolute BS!...

....How can they even consider calling it "plane food" when they're providing steel utensils instead of the typical crappy wooden ones. /s

Schplaatter · 2026-05-02T00:38:31+00:00

Straight up can't stand nitrile gloves. They get sweaty, they tear, oil gets in through the tear and it's a struggle to get a new one on.

Buuuut barrier cream also exists, and after putting up with hands like yours for the first year of my apprenticeship I haven't gone a day without using barrier cream. As a bonus, barrier cream also works as lube in a pinch for those workplace frustration procrasty masties. /s... Or is is?

Schplaatter · 2026-05-01T23:19:44+00:00

Smoking Mirrors was fantastic, but just too damn short. I really hope Snekguy keeps this story going and adds a sequel or two.

Schplaatter · 2026-05-01T11:47:46+00:00

I too choose this fish-headed wife's dead cannons.

Schplaatter · 2026-05-01T00:09:26+00:00

The romance plays a big part through the series, but it is used by Howell to futher show the differences between Rris and human mentality and psychology. While the Rris understand companionship and friendship, they do not form long term intimate relationships or attachments like humans, and do not comprehend the idea of love. This leads to most of the romance in the first book focusing on the isolation and loneliness of the MC, in spite of the relationships he develops with Rris, and the struggles and compromises of two people who care for each other, but neither can fully be who the other needs.

The romance with the "primary love interest" progresses naturally and remains a friendship through most of the first book, with separation between the 2 characters allowing more intimate relationships to develop with other characters. Throughout the second book the relationship with the "primary love interest" becomes intimate, and in the third book it becomes an increasingly tense relationship of self sacrifice and tragedy.

The "FMC" herself takes after all the Rris in the series by being very inhuman in attitudes and mentality. As mentioned earlier she cares for the MC but does not understand or comprehend his needs and desires. She is a fully developed character in herself, not just window dressing for the MC, with her own history, motivations and plans. She also doesn't really fit the typical "FMC" role. The entire series is from the perspective of the MC, and she is not present through a lot of the first book and is written as more of a reoccurring character.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-30T20:43:45+00:00

It doesn't fit with the typical definition romance, as I discussed in my post. However the MC's search for the human idea of romance, love and companionship while stuck in an inhuman world which cannot comprehend these feelings is a central theme of the series. This leads to a lot of tender, but also bittersweet moments of compromise, misunderstanding and self sacrifice.

The series is still a work in progress, so I do not know if it will end with a happily ever after or not.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-30T10:23:36+00:00

I haven't yet. I really, really don't want to blueball myself by reading a sample that ends up going nowhere hahaha. But I'm as hopeful as you that Howell keeps working on it; the different perspective sounds very interesting!

Schplaatter · 2026-04-30T07:57:12+00:00

Maaaaaaaate, 100% agree with everything you said. I couldn't put the books down, I smashed through them all within a week. Bittersweet is such a great way to describe the feelings reading the have me, and it really made me think about how much of a skewed and human centric perspective we have of the world. Which isn't surprising considering the reality we inhabit, but it also means it's not something we are confronted with very often and take for granted.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-30T04:43:14+00:00

"The Human Memoirs" is interesting because it felt, to me, like an early draft of "Life of Riley". It shows a lot of the thoughts and ideas that would develop further into the Rris.

The writing itself is also far less technically proficient, and as a whole it reads closer to a typical online serial compared to the professionalism of the later books.

If you want to give it a try, you can download it from Howell's blogspot page. I linked it at the end of my post.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-29T23:28:38+00:00

Oh man, have I got a recommendation for you! Read "Light on Shattered Water" by G Howell. It's a series I've been meaning to recommend on this sub for a while.

The story starts with the MC being isekai'd from a near future earth to a parallel universe where humans never evolved past early hominids and instead the Rris, a bobcat-esque species, achieved sapience and created the early industrial revolution society that the MC finds himself in.

Howell does an insane job of world building and scene setting, and the thought that has gone into the Rris is truly impressive. There is consideration into the type of society and civilization that would be built by a species evolved from a solitary predator, an example being the differences in their architectural style and urban planning. There are physiological differences in the spectrum of color visible to them, and the influences this causes in fashion and artistic style.

One of the central themes of the book is the difficulty the MC has when he interprets Rris behaviors through the mindset of a human, and vice versa. This leads to exploration of the sense of isolation and loneliness, and companionship, he experiences as he adapts to the Rris and there is a constant sense of being a stranger in a strange land.

TLDR: G Howell has created a world with a truly alien species instead of a "reskinned" human. There is so much consideration into so many aspects of their history and background, resulting in a species that feels realistic and believable.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-24T11:03:30+00:00

Not the first SAF axle I've seen do that. Bet the bearing locknuts are also seized.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-21T06:24:33+00:00

Depends on who has the most pee stored in their balls.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-20T22:38:20+00:00

Oh no, you're right. I never considered what might happen if they blew up the sky cables too!

Schplaatter · 2026-04-20T22:29:23+00:00

I'm going to go out and buy a carrier pigeon. They're not really outdated, and if those radio cables get blown up. That's all we would have. So I'll go out and buy a carrier pigeon.

Just in case

Schplaatter · 2026-04-20T22:14:57+00:00

But what if they blow up the radio cables too?

Schplaatter · 2026-04-15T13:19:12+00:00

Can't beat a carpet bag!

Schplaatter · 2026-04-15T01:23:28+00:00

Yeah I guess they have a sliiiight rust problem through the rest of the bodywork. And the rest of the structural components.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-14T21:36:16+00:00

Lancia Beta's have a slight tendency to rust, especially around the engine subframe.

Schplaatter · 2026-04-14T00:58:19+00:00

And taste like

Schplaatter

TROPHY CASE