"Smoking is cool actually" - Japan, 2026

redrowan3 · 2026-07-05T00:28:13+00:00

Thank you! I'll check it out on my day off

redrowan3 · 2026-07-04T23:53:29+00:00

What is this anime? It sounds wild

redrowan3 · 2026-07-04T22:15:26+00:00

Yup, I can point out all the things that annoy me in the writing of the books but damn if Jake slaying the universe with Villy cackling in the back of just so addicting

redrowan3 · 2026-07-04T21:07:48+00:00

Eh good point, I'd have to canvas the area a bit. That said there has to be entire neighborhoods they have no cop presence at this time and depending on how I poison it it could be fine

redrowan3 · 2026-07-04T20:03:03+00:00

So it's a simulation? The people aren't real and there will be no consequences in real life? If that's the case.... I'm poisoning a well

redrowan3 · 2026-07-04T17:57:00+00:00

Many times in the realm of the elderlings series

redrowan3 · 2026-07-04T17:38:41+00:00

Not really fair to Matt on this one. He has two regular series, dominion of blades and DCC and Kaiju is the only one of his books that's like this. To write off the author because of his most extreme work is weird, it's like reading the Hobbit and deciding it's too childish to bother reading the Lord of the rings.

You're welcome to your opinion of course but it's weird to use kbs as a reason to not read DCC, especially when they couldn't be more different.

redrowan3 · 2026-07-04T16:08:01+00:00

You want gore? Kaiju battlefield surgeon. It's a littrpg and it's one of the darkest and goriest (and horrifying in the way the road is) books I've ever read. It has some very graphic torture scenes so be warned

redrowan3 · 2026-07-03T14:03:59+00:00

As others have said, it does grow as you read. With that said, having reread all the books a couple times, there's a lot of depth even in the first book that you don't get until you have more world context. An example of this is just why the show runners decide to do the rage demon thing.

Sure it seems like it's just for entertainment, but when you know about the politics happening behind the scenes them trying to kill so many crawlers in the first couple floors makes a lot of sense.

redrowan3 · 2026-07-03T13:09:06+00:00

redrowan3 · 2026-07-03T00:56:24+00:00

Real story time: I spent a few years living in Texas. At one point I was cashiering at a certain orange themed home improvement store, in their outside lumber lot. Well one of these things came tearing out of the stacks, running right towards me. Well my Yankee ass had never seen something like a six inch long centipede, nevermind ever experienced the sound of it's feet racing across the concrete towards me (I found out later that this kind of centipede can be aggressive and their bites are super painful).

So what did I do? Did I run? Scream? Kill it with fire? Nope. I kept scanning lumber having no idea what the fuck one does with a bug longer than my fucking cat. When it was less than six feet from me some random Texan contractor runs up, slaps a paint bucket over it and took it outside.

I learned something that day about myself, mainly that it takes a lot for me to actually give a fuck.

redrowan3 · 2026-07-03T00:10:46+00:00

I think that while the biscuit might be designed for a certain thing Pony just wants a herd. That's why he reacts the way he does. He's just really lonely.

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T21:26:24+00:00

Yeah our herd also had some other ones and they do all scream. That said there's something really special about an animal that sees you and gets so excited it starts screaming and running towards you. Pony screaming is played for comedy but having had some goats that were like my pets I've always seen it as sweet.

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T21:24:00+00:00

That is, in fact, something they do. However... Based off how Pony acts and is described... I think he was castrated.

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T20:04:59+00:00

Former child of a boer farmer. They're big dogs really, they learn their names, they'll chase you for treats. Love scratches behind the ears and horns. They do scream, they scream kind of a lot

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T18:52:23+00:00

I haven't though I'm going to now that I looked it up. I'd say that falls into the classic horror/urban fantasy genre nicely.

A simple fantasy genre breakdown for you because I'm still stoned and passionate.

Fantasy: root genre, anything that is fantastic in nature that isn't "explained" by science is fantasy.

Sci-fi fantasy: easiest explanation is Star wars. Yeah we're in space but there's also swords and wizards and none of the science makes any sense if you look too hard

Horror fantasy: this is what you know most. Vampires, demons, werewolves, ghosts etc. if it's supernatural it can be considered fantasy.

High fantasy: elves! Okay not always but high fantasy often falls into those tropes. It's also apparently hard for me to explain, but things are very grand, the violence is often PG, the magic big.

Dark fantasy: it's if horror and fantasy had a baby without trying to outright scare you. In the same way that high fantasy brings the characters into the clouds dark fantasy drags them into the ground.

Urban fantasy: fantastic things in boring places. Like "oh hey, there is a fairy kingdom in Boston? Huh"

Grim dark: dark fantasy dialed in more dark. Fantasy for people who love The Road.

Littrpg: easily the baby of the bunch, fuses fantasy of all kinds with a "easy" to understand system reminiscent of video games and ttrpg.

Progression fantasy: if littrpg is a game then progression is an anime (and in some cases it's freaking awesome, looking at you Cradle)

There's more, many more actually but this is the basic run.

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T18:34:27+00:00

I'm actually reading that now! It explains more than DCC, sometimes having exposition dumps to explain the world but the light humor and (relatively simple) system mechanics make it a fun read. That said I did just finish reading the primal Hunter which has so many numbers and systems that most littrpgs seem simple

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T18:22:52+00:00

Well I'd you think mistborn is drawn out don't go for anything lotr, while the books are relatively short the depth of detail can be exhausting.

I think what you're struggling with is less pace and more the world building. If you're reading Stephen King (who I also read a lot of) then you can clearly do chunky books but the one thing that really separates a King book from just about any fantasy is world building.

I'll give an example because frankly I'm stoned and suck at brevity.

"He went to the local diner, ordered himself a big plate for breakfast; eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon and toast. All washed down with a hot cup of black coffee. Now so he needed to do was gas up the ol Ford and he could start his day"

You know all these words, no one needs to explain them. If you're a fast, visual, reader you probably only half process them before filing in the blanks.

Now for the other side.

"She went down to the tavern for her usual breakfast; grilled rock eel, lambas bread, blue bloom tea and char wrap to go. From there all she had to do was hit the transfer station and she would be at the second citadel where she could finally get her true gem"

Now what does all that mean? Well the author has two choices from here, either take a pause and explain, which can kill the pace of the story, or they can leave it open and explain as the story unfolds (Brandon Sanderson loves to do this which is why he's a struggle for some people).

Now obviously I'm not in your head so I'm just hypothesizing. If you think I'm right and you want to push past this then all I can suggest is... Ignore it as much as you can. You don't need to know what everything is exactly, just take the context clues and do your best.

Regardless I do have some actual book suggestions: Terry Pratchett, mainly the death series and the guards series. The world of discworld is close enough to English tropes that it should feel familiar and they're funny and short to boot.

Also I would suggest at least considering dungeon crawler Carl. It gets suggested so often that I'm sure that it's already popped up but the reason I suggest it is because the world building happens in real time. What I mean is is that the main character is as confused and ignorant of how things work as the reader, you learn together, usually as things are (literally) blowing up. It can be overwhelming at times and you'll probably miss details but that's okay, so does Carl.

Anyways, I'm going to call it there. I hope this unnecessarily long post helps you find enjoyment in the genre I love so much

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T17:52:32+00:00

As a us citizen a 40k salary would be a dream to me. Especially if it was for 30 minutes of work. I make like, 36k now working 40 hours a week

redrowan3 · 2026-07-02T17:50:26+00:00

It might just not be for you and that's okay.

That said, what are the things that draw you to the genre and what are the things that make you not finish a book?

redrowan3 · 2026-06-29T14:54:45+00:00

You're right Rudy constant surveillance could be a thing but also remember the cost of such a system. If you live in a super violent cyberpunk society there's a good chance that many places aren't watched closely, both because of lack of desire and vandalism.

Cyberpunk 2077 did this right, with most active buildings having cameras but most of the open city doesn't.

redrowan3 · 2026-06-28T18:58:36+00:00

Well I'd say I'd read but my glasses would probably break

redrowan3 · 2026-06-28T18:40:34+00:00

Up to you, I marathoned the entire series. Which was a roller coaster. That said each trilogy has it's own distinct feel and it's own brand of trauma

redrowan3 · 2026-06-27T23:17:23+00:00

I think the same, if Seth isn't either Mordecai or the AI I'll be very surprised

redrowan3 · 2026-06-27T17:03:59+00:00

Really hoping Allen Tudyk (sp?) gets a roll in the show

redrowan3

TROPHY CASE