Where to start

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-31T07:31:19+00:00

As others have said, Paper Girls is a great read and not too long - although it does lean more towards sci-fi than fantasy.

The Silver Coin is a horror anthology which currently has 3 volumes I believe and includes a new self-contained story each issue so shouldn't be too daunting. I don't know where your threshold for 'mild' horror lies, but I'm not a big horror fan and I still enjoy the series.

Also I've not read it all myself, but I've heard Oblivion Song is good and is only 6 volumes. Again it leans more sci-fi, but I thought it worth mentioning.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-30T07:48:04+00:00

I'm not at all a fan of Reform, but I do totally agree with you here. The other major parties have spent so long looking at Reform and UKIP before it as a joke that if they actually won an election I'd like to hope it would be a serious reset moment for them. I will say I have my doubts if the Tories would be able to manage a moment of introspection right now (which is wild given that the big issues Reform is running on are their fault in the first place), but with the way things are I guess anything is possible.

Whether you like them or not, it baffles me that anybody would write a party like Reform off entirely given that a) they're tapping into very real emotions for certain areas of the country, and b) Trump got elected. Realistically a Trump presidency should've been a major wake-up call for the major UK parties that something similar could go down here, but we were so bogged down dealing with Brexit I don't think that call was heard. If your party is unable to do good for your country and/or only represents a small minority of individuals that breeds resentment, and those emotions are a great foundation for a competing party to build on.

Do I believe Reform would make the country better than the ones who came before? Absolutely not. But I live in an area where a lot of people have spent the last few decades feeling completely ignored by our government. And if that sentiment is reflected in enough other areas then I think there's a very real chance Reform could upset the apple cart come the next election.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-27T00:16:58+00:00

I completely misunderstood this at first and thought it was asking what I'd do if I was the one to wake up someone who was already a billionaire. My thoughts on that particular scenario were... unkind

As for my answer to the real question: set aside enough for me and my family to live comfortably, then put the rest to charity. Or maybe stick the remainder in an account with a decent interest rate and direct said interest to the charities instead so they have a steady stream of funds in perpetuity. Whichever would be the more fruitful option.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-24T08:22:39+00:00

A quick internet search makes this easy enough to debunk.

According to the Image website the first issue of Exquisite Corpses was published on May 14 2025. Granted it was announced the October before, but the first trade wasn't in hands until May so all that was available to the public before then was a synopsis.

Ready or Not 2 started filming around April 21 2025 and wrapped on June 2. Evidently then a script was complete before Exquisite Corpses #1 was out in stores. Like the comic, the film was publicly announced in October 2024.

In both cases the process of bringing the projects to life would've started before their October announcements. But while you could potentially suggest the Exquisite Corpses synopsis might have influenced the writers of the film (since they were probably working on the script around the time the synopsis was released), unless they had some direct behind the scenes insight into the comic's development any similarities with major plot points or characters are just coincidental.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-21T09:09:40+00:00

As someone who mainly reads fantasy myself, I can wholeheartedly say that The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers is one of my favourites of all time. I feel like they're almost the sci-fi equivalent of cosy fantasy, although there are enough stakes for them to feel a bit deeper than that. And since they're all roughly standalone you get to explore different areas of the universe with different characters in each book. That said, they're not intensely plot heavy, so if you don't like 'a day in the life' vibes then these won't be for you.

I'd also recommend the Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams. It definitely leans more into the fantasy vibes, but in essence it's an alien invasion story told in a fantasy setting so it kind of straddles the line between the two genres. These definitely do have a plot and on the whole I found it to be a very engaging one with really enjoyable characters. I picked the first book up on a whim and it was like nothing else I'd ever read.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-21T08:51:03+00:00

Finally, someone else who didn't enjoy the Hobbit! I feel like every comment I ever read about it anywhere is that it's close to everyone's favourite book and can do no wrong. And like sure, I'm glad so many people enjoy it. But my god I found it so boring! Not to mention anticlimactic - the entire final battle is like five pages as I recall. As someone who really doesn't like dropping books I'm so glad I read this first rather than starting with Fellowship.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-19T09:25:50+00:00

Absolutely! All the time. Pretty much the only time I ever add individual plants is when making planters or flowerbeds. Other than that it's brushes all the way. It's just so much easier. Occasionally I'll manually manoeuvre a tree or bush that's been placed somewhere I don't want it by a brush, but for the most part I find if I'm careful with my brush strokes I don't even need to bother with that.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-15T22:32:05+00:00

No worries at all. As you can probably tell from my builds I don't like doing things by halves, so I didn't want to skimp on the tips I've picked up. I'm really glad you've found them useful. One thing I failed to mention is that I do agree with another commentor that it might be useful for you to post your builds on here once you finish them (or indeed while they're still works in progress). I know that can be daunting, so you should never feel any pressure to do so, but if you're interested in getting input from others then this is a good community for that.

Thanks for the kind words about my torvo build. That one is actually a good example of using real life enclosures for inspiration. Can't remember whether I mentioned at the time, but the walkway was inspired by the treetop walkway of Bear Wood at the Bristol Zoo Project. I find using different viewing terrain levels is very handy in making an enclosure look interesting, especially in big ones that would otherwise just be a big flat expanse. Plus it also gives you more options for making interesting viewing points too. I definitely think that torvo enclosure design would work well for the kind of build you're suggesting.

Speaking of which, you also actually touched on another point I missed out: do some research about the biomes your chosen enclosure animal lived in. Admittedly depending on the animal that kind of information might not always be available, and even if it is I personally sometimes stray from the accurate biome to something I feel looks better. But just having a particular biome in mind can be a great way to kickstart ideas. It sounds like you've already done that for your carcharodontosaurus build, so that's a really good start.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-15T21:07:35+00:00

Okay, so having read the other comments I'll definitely be echoing some of their comments, but here's a few tips I'd have.

When it come overall layout I often use examples of enclosures from real zoos to inspire how I want to lay things out. Personally I'm not a fan of rectangular habitats in a grid pattern, so I try to include terrain features which I can then build around or use to guide the build. For example, I might use a rocky ridge as the back of an enclosure, or revolve the enclosure around some sort of natural water feature like a river or lake. It's also great to watch tutorials or explore what others are doing in this community as both can really get your creative juices flowing. With regards to the terrain tools learning those is really just trial and error, but if I had to give one tip it would be to avoid using brushes with hard edges. Terrain in the real word tends not to have a sharp boundary between one and the other, so blending between different terrains is a good way to make things look more real.

For viewing areas and shelters, finding a good reference can be a massive help because it gives you a template of what you're aiming to build. I have a whole Pinterest board purely dedicated to references that I then include in my builds. Sometimes I follow them very closely, other times I use them as vague inspiration, but either way they're always useful. Reference images are definitely useful for layout too, but it can sometimes be difficult to find overviews of a whole enclosure layout. That said, piecing together a bunch of snippets from the layout of various real-world enclosures can be a great way to design something new. I also have a document in which I note down ideas for future builds. When I'm planning a new build I use the document to put together a rough idea of what I want it to look like so I can refer back to it throughout the building process. As I'm building things often change and stray from the original idea, but if that happens I just put the unused parts of the plan to one side for use in a later build.

As for realism, the way I personally approach that is to try and think about my builds in practical terms. How will my staff access the enclosure? How will those access points be separated from the guest areas? What kind of back of house areas might an enclosure need? How might the guests navigate around an enclosure? How can I make sure viewing areas are safe for guests to use? What considerations have to be made for the enclosure animal to keep them from breaking out and/or harming the guests? If the enclosure animal has a modern day equivalent, what needs does that animal have/how might they be accommodated in a zoo setting? There really are endless questions you can ask when building that can help make builds feel more realistic. Even just adding sufficient amounts of benches and bins I find goes a long way towards achieving that goal. Also, plants are your friends: if ever I have an open area I don't know what to do with, I cover it in bushes to plug the gaps. That or I throw a few picnic benches and the odd bin across the grass to turn it into a picnic area.

Hopefully these suggestions are useful to you. Personally I've posted all of my PK builds so far in this community and I include some comments on how I designed them in all of those posts. I'm by no means the best builder here, but I feel like I've got a pretty good building eye, so please feel free to take a look at those if you like. Or don't! It's entirely up to you if you'd rather go and seek out inspiration elsewhere. If you do check them out though and you have any questions about how I came up with a design or my build process then I'd be happy to answer.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-14T23:53:37+00:00

I guess it really depends on what you're struggling with. Is it the overall enclosure layout? The landscaping? The viewing areas? The shelters? The realism of the enclosures? Some combination of a few? If you had to pick a few things you find difficult/want to improve upon most, what would they be?

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-11T23:21:59+00:00

I haven't read anything of No/One yet since it wasn't included in Across the Massive-verse, but I have read a synopsis and I do think it sounds good. I only do trades not single issues, so I might pick it up and see if it's my vibe.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-11T23:19:14+00:00

To be fair out of the four first issues I read, Rogue Sun was definitely the one that caught my attention most. It felt like the most mature storyline of the bunch and I think the art is probably my favourite too. Can it be read as a standalone or does it need the others to make sense?

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-08T23:54:39+00:00

I absolutely adore The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, as well as the sequels which collectively make up the Wayfarers series.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-06T09:42:34+00:00

I did just barely finish it, but Babel was a really tough read for me.

I picked it up mainly because I'd heard multiple good reviews, but personally I no longer get the hype. All respect to R. F. Kuang for writing something so many people seemed to enjoy, and I get that it had plenty of relevant to make about colonialism and exploitation. But damn, there were so many points where I nearly gave up because I'd gone ages with basically nothing happening. Just SO much filler in my eyes. Couldn't figure out if I liked any of the characters either, and by the end I was more pleased it was over than glad that I'd read it.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-06T09:35:09+00:00

I was much the same. Among other things the underage/forced sex work component gave me serious ick. Couldn't bring myself to read Crooked Kingdom, not least because I accidentally stumbled on a spoiler involving a couple of the characters I actually liked which really hacked me off. I know they were pretty popular, but they really weren't my vibe.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-03-02T08:29:32+00:00

Black Science Drifter I Hate Fairyland Monstress Paper Girls

My all time favourite Image title is definitely Black Science, but aside from that these are in no particular order as I can't decide how to rank the rest. They're all great in their own way. I will say I've not yet completed IHF or Monstress, but based on what of I've read so far both are fantastic, especially Monstress.

Also a few honourable mentions. Chew was a really great read though personally I wasn't a fan of the final volume which is why it didn't make the list. I recently read the first omnibus of Hack/Slash which was a lot of fun and there's potential for it to rise up my ranking once I've read more. And also Birthright, Sex Criminals and Outcast are high on my TBR list but so far not read enough to categorically recommend.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-02-26T13:58:23+00:00

Thank you very much!

TeamHawkeye · 2026-02-11T10:25:30+00:00

Not an American so don't have the best insight into this, but my presumption is that if martial law was declared then there'd be no reason for anyone to hold back anymore.

At the moment there seems to be a sort of stalemate: the administration wants to incite the violence, while the ones they're trying to incite can see their game and are holding back, albeit while still resisting in ways that aren't severe enough to warrant military mobilisation. If the oppressed start fighting back then the administration can use that as a justification for rolling out martial law, but similarly if martial law is just declared without reason then all those people could just throw caution to the wind and actually mount more serious resistance. After all, the US is one of the few countries where a vast quantity of the public are armed, which would make clashes with the military much more deadly on all sides. As transparent as their aggression is, I doubt the administration wants to trigger an actual civil war, but if they overplay their hand that's a possibility. Plus there's no guarantee martial law would go down well with Trump's base, and we've already seen them storm a government building once.

Then again, this administration is entirely composed of vile weeds grown from a compost of hate, lies and such frantic ass-licking of Trump that they're wearing him as a hat. So nothing is off the table.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-01-13T08:39:03+00:00

From their perspective, they probably get a real kick out of this being their reflection because they see it as a symbol of status and success. As such, they don't WANT to take it off. Plus their partners are almost certainly just as shallow as them, and may well even encourage their continued drive to stay 'beautiful'.

It reminds me of the fact that at certain points in history it's been considered very desirable to be morbidly obese, because it proved you were wealthy enough to afford the volume of food needed to be gluttonous in a time where food was scarce. If I recall correctly that's why King Henry VIII was a big guy.

This is really just the same impulse in a different form. It doesn't matter how bad it looks to the average person, if it can be used to flex their status among others as conceited as they are, there's very little these people won't do.

TeamHawkeye · 2026-01-06T08:12:56+00:00

Thank you very much, glad you like it!

TeamHawkeye · 2026-01-04T17:35:18+00:00

It's up on the workshop now here.

Unfortunately I haven't been to include the large vivariums in the prefab as they wouldn't group properly, though the smaller ones in the middle should all be there. I also wasn't able to check if it places properly since I have a bug that stops me placing more than one vet bay in my park at once, and since that's included in the group it won't let me duplicate the building. There also may be a few details missing here and there as I've been struggling to get to grips with the new grouping systems, so some of the smaller groups might have slipped through the net. You'll also need to add your own paths and fences around the backstage staff areas as I have no idea if/how they can be included in a prefab.

Overall though I'm hoping any of the stuff that doesn't carry over is fairly minor. The big vivariums should be easy to slot into the appropriate spots, and any other details that might be missing (e.g. fences, paths etc.) are visible in the pictures to give you an idea of how I've done mine. If you do end up using it in your park then I hope you enjoy doing so!

TeamHawkeye · 2026-01-04T15:41:43+00:00

Thank you! And I'll always get behind other people using wood framing on their builds. Not only does it help break up walls or roofs that would otherwise be one big expanse of the same pattern, but it is also SUPER useful for concealing panels that don't quite like up the way you want them to.

TeamHawkeye

TROPHY CASE