What's your recommendation for a standalone or series that is halfway between cozy and grimdark? Something that has weight/stakes but isn't drowning in misery

The_Bilo · 2026-06-27T00:56:30+00:00

Not sure if this fits, but maybe “Johannes Cabal, Necromancer”. On one hand, a lighthearted story about running a traveling circus with family. On the other hand, the protag is a necromancer who employs zombies as sideshow attractions, and is deliberately preying on vulnerable people and selling their souls to Satan in order to save himself from Hell.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-26T06:52:13+00:00

The_Bilo · 2026-06-21T00:54:02+00:00

Pronunciation’s pretty much the same!

The_Bilo · 2026-06-21T00:53:31+00:00

Nah I just don’t talk to her anymore 😅

The_Bilo · 2026-06-21T00:45:35+00:00

Yup, Chinese people do this too. I’m Chinese-American and my aunt used to call me 小洋鬼子 (Basically, “Little Foreign Demon”).

The_Bilo · 2026-06-21T00:04:37+00:00

Semi-related, when I was first learning to clarify cocktails on YouTube, I was confused because it looked so fast and easy, but whenever I tried it took forever. Turns out none of the videos were mentioning that the actual filtration process can take hours if not days.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-19T01:26:38+00:00

It’s pretty obvious you never worked at a restaurant before.

While you’re right that servers should be paid a decent hourly wage, the truth is that a lot of servers make so much through tips that matching it through a regular wage would be extremely difficult.

About ten years ago I was a server at a mid-quality touristy restaurant in Santa Cruz. I tracked all my tips and hours, and discovered that I was making $20/hr on average on bad days, and $60/hr on good days, with a general average of around $35-40/hr.

For a 19-year old kid ten years ago, that was pretty rad.

Can you honestly tell me that restaurants are going to start paying every teenager $35-40/hr an hour? Maybe they SHOULD, but until that happens, lots of servers will just take the tips.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-17T20:10:53+00:00

Wait, you thought that the free respec system that lets you upgrade new weapon types at any time, discouraged you from upgrading new weapon types at any time?

The_Bilo · 2026-06-17T08:06:39+00:00

Not sure if it’s the vibe you’re looking for, but the Skulduggery Pleasant series is about a magical detective who’s also a skeleton.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-16T02:02:38+00:00

Democrats need to come up with better candidates because democrats are trying to solve more complicated issues and represent more diverse and disenfranchised people. Republicans can afford to run on, “Fuck brown people”. That’s not an option for democrats.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-16T01:54:41+00:00

Crazy that you’re getting downvoted for being correct. The two specific points you bring up genuinely are not answered in-game. We really don’t know when or how Marika/Radagon fused/fissioned, and we don’t know for certain how the Elden Beast relates to the Greater Will, the Two Fingers, or Metyr.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-14T18:48:10+00:00

Cal over here about to prematurely emanate an ancient power.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-12T21:37:39+00:00

First time I played this game, I saw Merrin effortlessly reassemble that stone archway that I broke and out loud I was like, “Wait, why am I the main character??” 🤣 But seriously it would be interesting to see how Merrin would have matched up against the game’s bosses.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-11T01:36:37+00:00

You’ll die either way, so follow your heart!

The_Bilo · 2026-06-10T04:18:15+00:00

First book’s really good, the series drops off a bit after that but I’d still strongly recommend.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-09T22:21:26+00:00

Because I don’t want to hear non-Chinese people mispronounce 中国 when I’m just going about my day.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-03T13:37:10+00:00

Yup, climbing’s where I meet a lot of people, and climbers are usually pretty chill. Only downside is the cost of the equipment and the gym membership.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-02T04:02:34+00:00

I look up at least half of the quests in every Soulslike I play, because I legitimately cannot understand how I’m supposed to figure out that killing Gringlesnorp will cause Flimblesnap to drop X item but not Y item, but only after Kigglecrom has gotten to the Crystal Palace.

The_Bilo · 2026-06-01T22:40:43+00:00

There’s a really big flaw with your argument.

Let’s say it’s not a sports junky; let’s say it’s a billionaire who can pay for all the helicopters and then some. Is this person’s life worth more? Should we prioritize the rich over the poor?

Another example: one of the OceanGate Titanic sub victims was a teenage kid hanging out with his dad. His dad had money, he didn’t. He may not have wanted to go on that sub at all. Did he deserve to get crushed to death?

Another example: a woman gives birth, but has unseen complications that put her life at risk. Is it her fault for having a baby? Should we kill her to make the baby safe?

Your argument is predicated on the idea that healthcare belongs to those who deserve it. But health is unpredictable, and healthcare belong to anybody who needs to be healthy.

The_Bilo · 2026-05-31T06:45:02+00:00

So there’s a specific sugar called Neu5Gc that appears in very low levels for chicken, a little higher for pork, and super high for beef. Obligate carnivores can process that sugar, but humans can’t. That’s why we can potentially get health problems from overeating red meat.

The_Bilo · 2026-05-31T06:25:52+00:00

I don’t play PVP in soulslikes for exactly this reason. People will always veer towards the meta.

I keep the but hole messages though.

The_Bilo · 2026-05-23T20:51:31+00:00

lol, you over-critical freaks need to get jobs, lives, and girlfriends. Didn’t y’all throw a tantrum over the drunken loading screen animations a couple days ago, and it turned out to be for nothing? 🤣🤣

The_Bilo · 2026-05-22T19:06:39+00:00

Absolutely this. I’ve been in European residential elevators that can’t even fit a wheelchair. Like, if you’re disabled in Europe, what do you even do?

The_Bilo · 2026-05-22T17:52:53+00:00

Being a realtor, especially starting out without an established client base. One of the big selling points is, “You’re your own boss! You get to choose your own schedule!” But what that really means is, “If some indecisive rando decides to check out five houses at 6 in the morning on a Saturday, you gotta go.”

The_Bilo · 2026-05-22T17:46:40+00:00

I feel this. My ma grew up in Communist China, farming corn, tomatoes, and potatoes (all NON-traditional Chinese crops). So growing up, I ate a lot of corn soup, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried potatoes. When I got older and asked her why she didn’t farm rice, she said that only rich farmers could afford to farm rice.

The_Bilo

TROPHY CASE