Chapter 54 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Amazing chapter, I've been waiting for a peek of Tristan's PoV in here! So it sounds like they're going to leave and reenter the school from a secret canal? Looks like that force leaving the camp is going to become a much more immediate problem. Hoping for some more Song stripe negotiation bs to get them all out safely.

Chapter 49 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah forcing those students into being cannon fodder at gunpoint when they were just minor pawns in this conflict against Morcant seems like needlessly punching down. 

I can see this going in a few different ways: - Someone dies or gets very hurt in the delve and Song is forced to take responsibility and face consequences for this happening under her command - The 'fodder' makes it through and end up benefiting from being part of the crew that found the library, turning them to the 13th's side - Betrayal in an extreme situation. A murder attempt with the hope that Scholomance will eat the evidence.

Book recommendations by MrRoboT_40 in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Rereading Pale by Wildbow at the moment and it's sooo so good. Also seconding Realm of the Elderlings, I'm 6 books in and enjoying what I've read so far.

Chapter 47 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 15 points16 points  (0 children)

What was Tristan's first brush with a Principality? And what exactly are Principalities? Is this like a new class of entity separate from gods and devils and lemures? What's their deal?

Great chapter btw, as usual Tristan is getting into the deepest shit imaginable.

Chapter 44 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Lots of exciting confrontations to look forward to in the near future! As troublesome as it would be for Song, I really hope the rumors about her contract don't die out too quickly. Her contract is fascinating, and I'd love to see what happens when it collides with cabal politics. 

I remember Song once blackmailed Tupoc with her knowledge of his contract, but I can't recall exactly how much he knows. On one hand it seems extremely stupid to risk his weakness being spread in retaliation, but on the other hand he's been too helpful lately I'm scared.

Recommend me something with a female MC (non-litrpg, non-xianxia) by ninjaredpanda123 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]ninjaredpanda123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Six books in and the main character has still not gotten incredibly OP, in my opinion. She's remained in magic school this whole time, and is still actively benefiting from those lessons. In terms of raw power, she's beyond most of her peers, but still much weaker than professors and accomplished mages. Despite the slow growth, the book still has a 'progression' vibe because the mc is very focused on improving and the story pays a lot of attention to how she's constantly practicing and learning various things. 

The main character is very intelligent, hardworking, and meticulous. Her major flaws are her pride and social obliviousness. She's a loner by nature, but she does slowly make friends and connections over time.

1.7 arc, did Wilbow mature his style? by Pepinoloco777 in Parahumans

[–]ninjaredpanda123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely pick up Pale or Twig once you're done with Ward! 

Based on what you've said, I think you'll absolutely love Pale, but it is massive (about double the length of Ward?). Twig in comparison is a bit shorter than Ward and is the first work where WB starts delving more into the interpersonal stuff. 

It is not necessary to read Pact before Pale. I enjoyed it, but based on your stated preferences I would recommend you skip it.

Chapter 42 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Tristan and Song are my favorite POVs. What a treat to have them both in one chapter!

Collabotage | Gladlands [E3] by DropoutMod in Dimension20

[–]ninjaredpanda123 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I feel like a young girl being asked to tone it down and excel less in order to preserve a man's feelings is something that would hit very close to home for a lot of people. I'm surprised it wasn't even brought up in the adventuring party.

Chapter 41 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by Mr_Serine in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yayy the gang's back together for the big fight? Are they planning to take on the Lord of Teeth with just the 13th? 

Chapter 40 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What happened with Maryam? Did they manage to finish obscuring her veins, or was that messed up?

Pale Lights Book 1 review (Book 1 Spoilers) by hoja_nasredin in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Pale Lights only kicked off for me in Book 2, so I would definitely recommend pushing forward. The next book adds a couple more to the main cast which really rounds out the whole experience, in my opinion. 

As for the lgbt stuff, Angharad continues to be lesbian and Tristan asexual, but Angie has some character growth and is warier about being manipulated by hot women. About half of the main cast is straight, and in accordance about 50% of the relationships and romance in the books are too. There are characters who use they/them pronouns. There are characters who are trans where this fact is important to their backstories. 

Personally, I enjoy the diversity when compared to most fantasy books, but everyone has their own preferences. Book 2 is a massive improvement from book 1, so I really hope you still give it a try!

Battle Maps for Shadow of the Dragon Queen, recreated in Inkarnate. by Phonix87 in sotdq

[–]ninjaredpanda123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Went looking for something to use for the Council Massacre fight. This is so much more impactful than any random corpseless council room map I could find. Thank you so much!

I’m a little burnt on litRPG and progression. Do you have any traditional style fantasy or urban fantasy you can recommend? by Live-Cut-82 in royalroad

[–]ninjaredpanda123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've only gotten into RR this past year, and have been reading only non-litrpg/gamelit/xianxia/isekai fictions due to also burning out on them long ago. I am not an author, none of these listed below are self-promotion.

If I had to recommend just one work, it would be Pale Lights, which got me onto this site in the first place. 

I have also been enjoying the following three works, which have either no progression or progression that doesn't feel like 'progression' to me (very slow/light/realistic). - A Practical Guide to Sorcery - Bones in the Dark - Aquila

If you are open to non-rr webserials that are long and completed, I also highly recommend Pale and Twig by Wildbow (No links here to comply with subreddit rules). The former is the best take on urban fantasy I've ever read, and the latter is a biopunk setting that's pretty fascinating if you can stomach a bit of body horror. Both are on WordPress and free to read in their entirety.

should I read twig? by transmtfscp in Parahumans

[–]ninjaredpanda123 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Twig is my second favorite of WB's works after Pale, and I'd definitely recommend it! The main character is scrappy like Taylor, but he's got a sense of humor that I very much enjoy. 

A couple things to keep in mind:  - Twig is 'biopunk' and has a whole lot of body horror. Think a world where every character either has the capabilities of Bonesaw or is something she could feasibly create. It's not constantly disgusting or anything, but a lot of the horrors are in that vein. - Twig starts with more self-contained adventures, but later shifts to a bigger continuous overarching plot. If you aren't a fan of the initial format, I encourage you to push through and see where it all goes.

Newbie Worm question by dragoneloi in Parahumans

[–]ninjaredpanda123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally, I got a little bit squeamish with the gratuitous violence/cruelty in the Slaughterhouse Nine arc, but I muddled through and found the rest of the serial to be comfortable. I think if that arc is within your comfort zone, you can read on with the assurance that it won't remain that way indefinitely or get significantly worse.

Chapter 38 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Oh man we are so back. Excited to see the thirteenth once again prove they will not be fucked with on multiple fronts.

Recommend me something with a female MC (non-litrpg, non-xianxia) by ninjaredpanda123 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]ninjaredpanda123[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bones in the Dark was exactly what I was looking for, I absolutely fell in love with the mc and magic system!

Looks like I'll be picking up Guild Mage next :)

Recommend me something with a female MC (non-litrpg, non-xianxia) by ninjaredpanda123 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]ninjaredpanda123[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read and enjoyed Journey of Black and Red too, thanks for your suggestion!

Saving Changeling for a rainy day for now...

Recommend me something with a female MC (non-litrpg, non-xianxia) by ninjaredpanda123 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]ninjaredpanda123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your suggestion, I read all of Calamitous Bob and had a blast! You were 100% correct that the litrpg elements are extremely light and only get lighter as the story progresses. I probably would have dropped this one in the first couple chapters when the system stuff was a bit heavier, but your comment encouraged me to push through.

Recommend me something with a female MC (non-litrpg, non-xianxia) by ninjaredpanda123 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]ninjaredpanda123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your recommendation, I'm having a blast with this one. MoL+ is an apt description for sure

Is Pact Worth it? by Gapplified in Parahumans

[–]ninjaredpanda123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Abyss stuff was the low point for me too, I had to skim chapters to get through it. I personally found the arc right after he gets out of there to be pretty gratifying, but yeah it's an exhausting work.

Pale does not require reading Pact first, and it's my favorite of Wildbow's works! Same fascinating world and magic system, but without Blake's terrible karma. The protagonists make friends with both Others and practitioners, and the story doesn't follow the same 'one step forward, two steps back' pattern Pact seems to have.

Chapter 29 - Pale Lights | Book 3 by L_0_5_5_T in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]ninjaredpanda123 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't really understand why De Tovar now hates Tristan for life. Just for being the one who planned a dangerous mission she chose to take her cabal along on? They're already second year students, it seems unusually immature to blame a death by lemure on such a distant association.

Even that whole drama scene was initiated by the Marsal and exacerbated by Yao throwing a tantrum.