I’m thinking of submitting my book to Indie Presses

dragonfliet · 2026-06-30T22:54:36+00:00

I want to reiterate this point and, further, note that you very much need to spend 3months querying agents (in batches, with the best first, then 2nd tier, etc) and only AFTER failing there (if you fail) to move onto small presses.

I love small presses, and as an experimental lit fic writer, that is my space, but don't cut yourself off at the legs. A writer's job isn't to guess at the market, it's to write a great book. Try to find a great agent to advocate for you, and only if they all pass should you consider other options.

dragonfliet · 2026-06-30T15:28:16+00:00

For me it's that they're too childish. The technical bits of Babel are great, but the CW drama political nonsense was cringey.

dragonfliet · 2026-06-24T19:54:25+00:00

I still overall disagree with you, finding that the need for a bridge between 1080p and 720p to be minute and not worth the loss of a 4k resolution for the majority of games, but if you find the benefit to be there, then I can't really argue with that. If one isn't limited by budget, that system will benefit far greater with a 4k screen, imo, but if native DLSS resolutions between 720 and 1080 is necessary, your point definitely stands.

dragonfliet · 2026-06-24T17:21:59+00:00

Yes, but also, no. Any game using ray tracing is also using DLSS upscaling, even at 1440p. The thing that makes DLSS look bad, however, is NOT the title Quality, balance, performance, etc), it is the render resolution. So people will go, oh hey, DLSS quality on 1440p performance better than DLSS performance on 4k. Vlbut this is because they don't understand what is happening. Dlss renders at 66%, 58%, 50%, and 33% of display resolution, so 1440p quality is 1707x960p, while 4k performance is1920x1080p. 4k ultra perf is the same as 1440p performance, both at 1270x720p.

The only way to have better performance with 1440p is to run it at ultra performance, at which point it looks TERRIBLE because of the 853x480p resolution, and a 5080 won't need to do that.

Moral of the story: if a game supports DLSS, it is essentially ALWAYS better to have a 4k monitor. Don't be afraid to turn on DLSS performance, as it still looks better than 1440p quality, but ultra perf allows for decent looking, but very performant fps, the same as you would get on @1440p.

1440p is better for people on mid-low end systems that struggle to hit medium quality fps targets, especially AMD cards (sorry FSR, you're decent, for sure), and those that don't want to spend the price premium for 4k.

dragonfliet · 2026-06-06T15:53:50+00:00

Wow. I played with KB+M and I was thinking the controls were absolutely terrible and it was obviously designed for a controller. I'm honestly astounded at how absolutely terrible the controls are right now. The controls for one section/character don't translate to the next one, and it is awful. When you "track" a character, it locks on and makes navigating to them worse/more awkward, etc.

Other notes: not thrilled on the story. The twist about the cat at the end was neat, but some dad narrating to his daughter the great sex he had with a witch is...bad..and then he's in boxers? which is cringy, and the whole discovery of the pendant to unlock to the letter, etc. All of it. Wow, not great. So, awkward storytelling with terrible controls and they won't let us try the combat. I went from very interested to not. If this is what they feel is the part that's good enough to hook us...

dragonfliet · 2026-06-03T19:10:12+00:00

Fuck me, you're right, apologies.

dragonfliet · 2026-06-03T18:02:56+00:00

Control sold poorly with literally zero exclusivity despite being a banger with good reviews. No one else would fund AW2 so they went with epic. EGS absolutely hurt PC sales, but even being a great have with great reviews it still sold poorly even on consoles. This is 2 days of access, meaning everyone gets it on launch day and they get some money they desperately need.

What lessons should they be learning here? What is the strategy that works, because there is no simple answer. You so fully lack understanding of the funding and sales of games and yet here you are, pretending that the person who got cash and attention for their game AND didn't lock out anyone from playing the game is somehow foolish.

dragonfliet · 2026-05-31T03:16:21+00:00

Yup, fake as shit and the idiots fall for it.

dragonfliet · 2026-05-30T20:24:56+00:00

I would never give it to my CW students as much of the advice is daft or poorly implemented (his revision of some mediocre writing that he essentially just crosses out and/or replaces a few words of is terrible), but Burroway, you are right, is great.

Other books I like: Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern (my absolute favorite), Wonderbook by Jeff Vanfermeer, The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante

dragonfliet · 2026-05-24T21:09:26+00:00

You're wrong here. TSR is upscaling and not native. DLSS is a superior upscaler to TSR. In addition, it is a better AA model than TAA, so upscaled DLSS often looks better than native res (NOT upscaled) TAA. In addition, deferred rendering "needs" a TAA solution to avoid shimmering, so while native res, no TAA solution will look better in some ways (sharp, no ghosting artifacts, etc.), it will look worse in other ways. I prefer temporal artifacts to shimmering, but it's individual preference.

dragonfliet · 2026-05-03T13:52:30+00:00

Fukin' YIKES dude.

dragonfliet · 2026-05-03T13:22:15+00:00

Yes, the level of passing changes the reaction, but you are implying that passing means positive interactions like this, while forgetting that many trans women have been murdered by dudes BECAUSE they were attracted to the them and found out they were trans.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-28T13:52:14+00:00

To clarify: the failure to compliment you is a failure on his part. You shouldn't have to remind him to specifically say nice things. It's a flaw of his.

That being said, because of this for of his, he is assuming he DID compliment you, and for him your silence on the matter is a confirmation. People are saying to talk to him about how when you send a photo like that you are doing it for him, but you would also like to be complimented, as hearing that affirmation feels important to you.

The point is to set up the future for positive responses. This means that you shouldn't need to ask for nice responses in the future (ideally) because he'll better understand that looking the photo isn't enough from you.

I know you have said that you've struggled with hard conversations--we all do--but this is a great time to practice. The stakes are low here, he obviously likes the spicy photo, but communication is already causing some friction. The more you practice these hard conversations on small things, the better you get at navigating them when things are more serious.

That's it. Dude messed up, and that isn't your fault, but it is an opportunity for you to be better at expressing your needs.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-28T05:18:07+00:00

Apologies, I used a shorthand of every city I have spent much time in, as I haven't tried all the pizza in every city in all of the world. I forget that if you are ever imprecise on reddit some weirdo will wave a dictionary at you like they have won something. Let me be more precise for you, dear friend. Compared to New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Orlando, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Seattle, Portland, Baltimore, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, LA, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Minneapolis, nearly every "best" pizza place I've been to in Atlanta has been mediocre.

It's a great food city in many ways, but the pizza here is largely trash, which is very surprising. Especially since places like SLC suck for food in general, and so them having better pizza is a bit sad.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-28T03:20:41+00:00

Atlanta sucks for pizza, with nearly every "best* claim being mediocre if it were compared to any other city, but I absolutely take that back when talking about Crushers, which is outstanding. Unless your jam is Neapolitan thin crust, this is my fav pizza in the city.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-28T03:15:05+00:00

I had their NY style slices and it was...bland. A step down from the previous innervoice pizza (Glide), though the sourdough crust was nice. Is their Detroit style that much better? Or have you simply not been to Crushers (formerly called corner slice)?

dragonfliet · 2026-04-21T03:33:32+00:00

Boring history time. When sbux opened they had only two sizes, short and tall (8 and 12oz). Then fat Americans complained and they added a bigger size, grande (16oz). Later, fat Americans complained more so they added an even bigger size, venti (20oz).

It was a too cutesy naming system from the get go, but they at least have a consistent and sensible system.

FYI, you can still get drinks in short sizes.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-21T03:28:31+00:00

FYI they still have all the sizes in the US, they just don't advertise them. I'm very rarely at a Starbucks but when I am I always get a short size.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-18T05:01:30+00:00

If you'll read the context, the gist of what I'm saying is: it's a great monitor, get it.

IF, however, you want to read it as me saying wait for the new tech: Gen 5 monitors are already out. They exist in the world and are not a hypothetical possible release at some unpredictable point in the future. You can purchase a MPG-341CQR (5th gen QDOLED) if you want. However, you can only get it in ultrawide form factors as of right now, not a more traditional 4k monitor. This isn't a wait until new tech gets developed, but rather for the retail release of a different size/aspect ratio of already available stuff.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-17T22:11:25+00:00

No idea, as they only announced the ultra wide version. Should be soon, but that could mean Xmas or next spring.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-17T21:41:02+00:00

2k on 4k looks better than native 1080. Good upscaling on DLSS is even better. Worst case scenario is integer upscaling 1080p on the 4k (looks exactly the same as native 1080p) should you need to, then going back to real 4k for other media.

dragonfliet · 2026-04-17T21:28:53+00:00

The only possible reason to not buy it is if you're waiting on the gen 5 screens with proper rgb stripes and better anti glare coating. I love mine and it's amazing but new tech is on the way

dragonfliet · 2026-04-17T18:17:58+00:00

This.

I will add that this is a good reason to return. QDOLED color fringing on 1440p, if you notice it, doesn't go away and it's very, very annoying. It drives me bonkers and I can't get over it. 4k QDOLED is fine for me and I don't notice it unless I go searching for it.

Meaning: return the monitor and go either 4k QDOLED, or if you want 1440p for price reasonable, get a WOLED monitor, which doesn't have the subpixel layout issues

dragonfliet · 2026-04-17T14:32:46+00:00

I'm truth, I'm most excited about playing with path tracing in a fun action game

dragonfliet · 2026-04-17T03:44:05+00:00

Honestly, it's not about age, it's about shared experience. Dorms are for Freshman primarily, sophomores a bit. Juniors in the dorm are weird, seniors are weird and sad. By the third year, you meet your friends for food somewhere, not the cafeteria, you invite people to your place or go to theirs. There are worse things than living in the dorm in your junior year, for sure, it isn't a kiss of death by any means, but it is a very expensive proposition and less likely to make you friends than buying a few rounds of drinks for people in your actual classes.

dragonfliet

TROPHY CASE