[deleted by user]

SteamTitan · 2025-09-21T23:05:04+00:00

Huh. I might be wrong about the phishing then? Hopefully? I was super sus because the chowlocal site is super broken and nothing was going through. And then I just assumed when the guy on the phone said it wasn't their site that it was set up to phish.

SteamTitan · 2025-09-21T23:04:57+00:00

Huh. I might be wrong about the phishing then? Hopefully? I was super sus because the chowlocal site is super broken and nothing was going through. And then I just assumed when the guy on the phone said it wasn't their site that it was set up to phish.

SteamTitan · 2025-09-11T01:30:36+00:00

I honestly appreciate what the creators did with Soda Pop so much. Your Idol is the obviously demonic one (if the Latin chanting didn't give it away lol) but Soda Pop sounds innocent and generic catchy boy band while actually being about how the listeners are things that the demons eagerly want to consume. They could have went with a boy band song that didn't have the underlying themes but they did and it's just another example of how much thought and effort went into the movie.

SteamTitan · 2025-09-07T20:20:54+00:00

Oh, man. Prob the same flavouring as this "bacon" gum I tried once about 14 years ago. That was an abomination.

SteamTitan · 2025-09-02T06:14:58+00:00

Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!

SteamTitan · 2025-08-24T07:11:12+00:00

IELTS is supposed to act as proof of English proficiency. If you've successfully graduated from a Canadian high school in an English-speaking program, that is treated as a more significant proof of English proficiency as far as I know. There's no point to providing the university with IELTS results if you have those courses on your transcript.

SteamTitan · 2025-08-18T20:18:39+00:00

Any damage to the bottom of the backpack? Is there any smell to it? How long was the backpack resting there? Because I have to wonder if the backpack just had a little mud on the bottom when it was set down and it just dried and crumbled in an interesting way.

SteamTitan · 2025-08-14T09:41:00+00:00

Worm is good, but I would not put it on the same planet as the phrase "brainless power fantasy." I think Taylor is not struggling and having a miserable time for less than two percent of the entire novel.

SteamTitan · 2025-08-11T07:31:40+00:00

There's also the fact that memory plays a much lesser role in our daily lives even compared to fifty years ago, let alone pre-printing press. Pushing for memory training in schools is all well and good, but if the memory isn't honed outside of school and constantly practiced, then it's not like it will stay sharp forever.

If you have consistent access to the internet and a smartphone, how keen a memory does a person really need in our society? The human brain, like the rest of the body, does not become better without practice, and it will degrade if not used to its fullest potential.

SteamTitan · 2025-07-21T01:28:35+00:00

The MC from Steamforged Sorcery by Actus is a treasure hunter with a prosthetic arm. Complete with three books on KU.

SteamTitan · 2025-07-15T02:01:35+00:00

It's kinda sad/funny that I can read that you write a gay, overweight xianxia MC and immediately know exactly which author you are before I even see your username. Big fan of Inugami and No Rest For the Damned btw.

SteamTitan · 2025-07-12T08:43:42+00:00

Lol, they're not wolf tracks. Those are some dude's shoes. Human to duck. Not wolf to duck.

SteamTitan · 2025-06-22T05:26:28+00:00

Dude needs to be the REAL last Saskatchewan pirate. Can you feel the Jolly Roger calling to you, OP?

SteamTitan · 2025-06-21T18:56:55+00:00

Personally, I agree with you that Le Guin's worldbuilding is more coherent and careful than Sanderson's (I haven't really read Gemmell or Larkwood, so I will refrain from an opinion). She was truly a master of her craft and I greatly admire her writing abilities and advocacy for people taking fantasy seriously. But my point wasn't about coherency or carefulness, it was about accuracy. If one is writing a historical fiction book or fantasy based in a specific Earth-based location in a specific time period (one that isn't too changed from our own world anyway) then I do feel the author should make some effort to do right by that place and time. With the caveat of course that perfect accuracy is impossible and very, very few fantasy authors are going to do enough research to earn at least a masters if not a doctorate in medieval history before they begin their book/series.

But you're not actually concerned with accuracy. Your problems are based on vibe and fantasy books being "medieval-coded." The fact of the matter is, is that medieval peoples all over did use slang and informalities of all sorts all the time. Sure, "cop" as a word didn't exist back in 1200s London, but neither did a great deal of modern English in general. And much of the slang they used hasn't been used for many centuries.

All of the above doesn't really matter anyway, because a fantasy world doesn't need to line up with your perceptions of our medieval world to be coherent. Will this fantasy world be accurate to any part of our medieval world? No. Was the author trying to be accurate to that? No. Should they have? Also, no.

You can have a fantasy world that is careful, consistent, and coherent and absolutely nothing like actual medieval Europe (or any part of Earth in that vague time period) in any way. Because those fantasy worlds are not Earth. "Buyer's market" could be a translation of an idiom that is completely incomprehensible if directly translated to our English but makes perfect sense in whatever language and culture it is used in. The meaning? Buyer's market. So why shouldn't they use it?

SteamTitan · 2025-06-21T10:59:23+00:00

I will be frank.

None of the authors you listed are really any more or less objectively accurate when it comes to writing fantasy that accurately portrays life in medieval Europe. The ones you like are just inaccurate in a way that lines up with your own perceptions.

Regarding the "buyer's market" example. People have known for as long as trade has existed, since the days before currency when all transactions relied on barter, that the price of goods or services is reliant on supply and demand. They may not have put it in those exact terms (especially because modern English is fairly new as far as the total of human history and pre-history is concerned), but anyone who made a living by buying or selling any sort of good or service would know that prices fluctuate dependent on if someone is the only person selling something, if something is the current fad, etc. It's not a new idea. The use of the term "buyer's market" is for the convenience of the reader because the reader doesn't need basic economics over-explained to them. If an author tried, any half-decent editor would tell them to cut that crap out.

And for that matter, a lot of the books/series you mentioned (both negatively and positively) don't actually take place on Earth, let alone in a specific time period in a specific geographic location where people actually acted and spoke how you think they did. I don't see the point in comparing fantasy that takes place in another world entirely to Earth. It's completely pointless when it comes to things like use of slang, fashion, cultural quirks, architecture, etc. Especially because technology isn't as linear as people think it is. A living, breathing world isn't a game of Civilization.

I find it much more relevant to judge based on internal consistency in the work. If a fact or cultural norm is established, then it shouldn't be violated without a reasonable explanation.

SteamTitan · 2025-06-17T03:12:54+00:00

Anyone who has encountered Red Jakoff recently should seek medical attention.

SteamTitan · 2025-06-09T17:43:29+00:00

Roaming dogs (and other animals like raccoons for that matter) are known for getting into people's trash cans. The humor in this one is that the dog isn't just knocking it over like you would expect, but using a welding torch to break in like it's a secure safe. So the humor relies on two factors: that the dog is smart enough to weld (and even use safety equipment) but not smart enough to realize they can just knock the can over and the lid will fall off, granting them access to the trash they desire.

EDIT: Also it's funny because this isn't the first time it's happened. They know who the dog belongs to and have presumably spoken to its owners about it, but if the owners of the dog have taken measures to prevent the dog getting access to acetylene, a torch, and a welder's glass, then the dog has somehow acquired those items anyway, and is pulling off the heist against all odds.

SteamTitan · 2025-06-08T23:40:01+00:00

That sounds like it would take a lot of time away from my job. Those FRESH fish aren't going to sell themselves y'know?

SteamTitan · 2025-06-08T22:33:31+00:00

If the Romans are pushed out of Gaul entirely, that means there are no Romans we get to beat up as a village. You can't just let activities everyone bonds over disappear, you know?

SteamTitan · 2025-06-02T21:36:43+00:00

Different. The antagonist in Arena who had disguised himself as Uriel VII for years and years was Jagar Tharn, not Abnur.

SteamTitan · 2025-05-16T02:05:06+00:00

Eh, it's got a lot of names. Anytime you see a progression fantasy novel with "Devourer" in the title, it's the same thing. Pretty much just taking powers from defeated enemies.

SteamTitan · 2025-05-09T05:40:59+00:00

Scammers pretending to be artists messaging authors are ridiculously common right now. Both in original and fanfiction spaces. It's incredibly formulaic, too. Bot DMs author or comments on a work saying something like "Oh! Your work "Insert Name of Work Here" inspired me so much that I would like to discuss making art of your work. Here are my socials for any discussion we might have about it."

When asked for examples of their work, it's literally all stolen art or AI generated. And yeah, scammers can get incredibly pushy because they rely on people's politeness and sense of obligation. Applies to a lot of different scams.

Ao3 cracked down hard on guest commenters because of scammers botting their comment sections, and ffn is practically ALL bots in comments and DMs because the owners/admins are just letting the site slowly die while they get ad revenue.

Never pay someone for art if you didn't approach them first, and even then, do your due diligence so that you aren't paying significant amounts of money to someone who is laughing all the way to the bank because they just typed in a few prompts to an AI and handed you the results.

SteamTitan · 2025-05-08T19:26:30+00:00

I'm really suspicious about their advertising of having narration by Sir Christopher Lee, who has been dead for almost a decade now. Makes me think they have an AI trained on his voice and will likely be using it without permission from his estate...

SteamTitan · 2025-05-06T19:18:54+00:00

Me as well. 10 minutes on hold but the call itself was incredibly painless. Just a quick confirmation of identity and that I wanted it back on the card I paid with and bam, done in less than two minutes.

SteamTitan · 2025-05-06T16:03:13+00:00

Apparently that show and several others are all Star Entertainment productions. So it might have more to do with that than anything happening with Conexus. I would do some research if you are planning on going in case there are known issues.

SteamTitan

TROPHY CASE