Casocial's recent activity

  1. Comment on The CRPG Book in ~games

    Casocial
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    There's clearly a lot of effort put into this book, but I have to say my eyebrows shot right up when I saw Slay The Spire listed in the index. I have never encountered anyone calling that a CRPG...

    There's clearly a lot of effort put into this book, but I have to say my eyebrows shot right up when I saw Slay The Spire listed in the index. I have never encountered anyone calling that a CRPG before!

    EDIT: Also FTL and Card Hunter? All great games, but that's an extremely broad definition what counts as a CRPG lol.

    5 votes

  2. Comment on The Beths - Metal (2025) in ~music

    Casocial
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    I really like The Beths, and this was my favourite of the three tracks they released before the album drop. Happy to see another fan hanging out here.

    I really like The Beths, and this was my favourite of the three tracks they released before the album drop. Happy to see another fan hanging out here.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech

    Casocial
    Link Parent
    Heh, no. I also do the same for my work computer, but I've always customized my personal one.

    Heh, no. I also do the same for my work computer, but I've always customized my personal one.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on Session report: 496-Seed-18, in which two PCs eat nightshade in ~games.tabletop

    Casocial
    (edited )
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    Hmmm, this is AD&D? I've got my wires crossed with the classes you posted. I thought the magus was introduced by Paizo in Pathfinder 1e (aka D&D 3.75). Was it a magic-user kit? Does it also...

    Hmmm, this is AD&D? I've got my wires crossed with the classes you posted.

    I thought the magus was introduced by Paizo in Pathfinder 1e (aka D&D 3.75). Was it a magic-user kit? Does it also spellstrike?

    3 votes

  6. Comment on Recommendations for a obscure newer games in ~games

    Casocial
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    I can throw in my support for CrossCode! Beyond the amazing pixel art, the characters are all charming and the gameplay is smooth as butter.

    I can throw in my support for CrossCode! Beyond the amazing pixel art, the characters are all charming and the gameplay is smooth as butter.

    1 vote

  7. Comment on Recommendations for a obscure newer games in ~games

    Casocial
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    I bet nobody's heard of this one. The Thief, the Witch, the Toad, and the Mushroom is a darkly whimsical choose-your-own-adventure style game, with fantastic art and solid writing. It's a one man...

    I bet nobody's heard of this one. The Thief, the Witch, the Toad, and the Mushroom is a darkly whimsical choose-your-own-adventure style game, with fantastic art and solid writing. It's a one man project, as far as I know, and when you're done you can check out the designer's blog at https://rottenpulp.blogspot.com.

    7 votes

  8. Cas’ Short Slices, #1 to #5

    ~books Text 1392 words
    Cas' Short Slices were a series of reviews for my favorite short stories, previously posted on reddit. Each comes paired with a full length novel or novella that comes stylistically or...

    Cas' Short Slices were a series of reviews for my favorite short stories, previously posted on reddit. Each comes paired with a full length novel or novella that comes stylistically or thematically close. These are #1 to #5 (by date of posting, not ranking!).

    • Selkie Stories Are For Losers, by Sofia Samatar

    There are stories to read and forget. There are stories that linger in my head long after, shouting to be remembered. Then there are stories that haunt me like a ghost, that don’t need to shout for me to never let them go.

    Selkie Stories… draws you into the heartbreak of a teenage girl lost in the mysteries of her broken home and the stories she tells herself to make sense of it all. It carves a window into her burgeoning relationship with her co-worker Mona and her own darknesses. In the narrator, Sofia writes pain and hope and grief and the reckless desperation only young love can bring.

    Even for a short story this piece is brief, spanning a mere three thousand words. But those words pack a hell of a punch, enough to leave me breathless – and that’s a magic of its own.

    Read it yourself here at Strange Horizons.

    Hungry for more? Check out How To Be Both by Ali Smith, a Man Booker-nominated novel with similar themes running throughout, gorgeous prose and characters that’ll make you cry.

    • Love Is Never Still, by Rachel Swirsky

    Sometimes when you chase after something, you find in the end that what you’ve been looking for only exists in the figment of your imagination. Inside your head, the object takes on a life of its own until it diverges from real life. It’s always painful to realize what you wanted all along was never really there in the first place.

    Rachel Swirsky takes the classic story of Galatea and Pygmalion and casts all players under scrutiny. Not just the artist and his sculptor but behind them, the affairs of Aphrodite who gave life to a statue and her contentious relations with the remaining Greek pantheon. It’s a love story, but also more than that. This story explores how nature shapes who we are, the many faces of desire and how it can change into something darker, something unpleasant.

    I tend to wax over good prose but it’s such a hard quality to define, let alone master, that I have to give it mention here. The descriptions are vivid and strong, each scene painted clear without falling into the pitfall of purple prose. And these words aren’t window dressing – the author knows what she wants to say and how to say it. This story is a long one – more novelette than short story – but definitely well-worth the read.

    Read it yourself here at Uncanny Magazine.

    Hungry for more? Check out Glimpses by Lewis Shiner.

    This is a book I really love, and it’s all but unknown in these parts. Ray works as a radio repairman in 90s’ Texas, who finds one day an album by The Doors appearing in his workshop. Only thing is, the album’s never been recorded and released. Over time, Ray learns to walk down alternate timelines into the past – where he has the possibility to change things and make a difference.

    Lewis tackles difficult themes such as the obligations of someone trapped in a loveless marriage, alcoholism and the struggle not to project your needs onto others. What’s more, he does them justice.
    On surface level, these two are nothing alike but the parallels are there in the characters of Ray and Pygmalion, both of them are looking for something more without knowing what it is they really want.

    Want something closer to Love Is… in theme? Try Galatea, by Emily Blunt. A different take on the story, presented in the unusual form of interaction fiction. It’s well-written and considered to be one of the best in it’s genre. Available online here.

    • The Dancer On The Stairs, by Sarah Tolmie

    There's been a lot of clamour recently for stories that aren't entrenched in darkness and grit. We're all tired of seeing depressing things in social media, in the news. Sometimes all you want is to see a ray of light shining at the end.

    Enter The Dancer... where a young woman finds herself awakening on an empty flight of stairs, stretching forever in both directions. She's thrust into another world with no preparation, not even sharing a common language with the people there. Without crichtén - the coin of the stairway - she has no way past the guards stationed on each floor. And crichtén isn't something that can be bargained for. So she wanders on, lost and hungry and desperate to learn and navigate a culture entirely alien from her own.

    Why I love The Dancer... is that ultimately, it's a story about kindnesses. From the guard sympathizing with her plight to the old pilgrim sharing his knowledge of the world with someone hapless as a newborn, it tells you that while the world may be cold, it isn't cruel. There are people out there who are willing to reach out to those in want, and to extend a hand into the dark.

    Read it yourself here at Strange Horizons.

    Hungry for more? Check out The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. Much lauded by /r/fantasy, this book contains much the same warm tones and hope carried by The Dancer... If you haven't checked it out yet, I'm adding my voice to the chorus telling you to do so now!

    • Fox Magic, by Kij Johnson

    Throughout mythologies there are countless variations of the story of the changeling wife. Selkies, huldras and crane wives play on the theme of captive spirits lured into the world of men by force or trickery.

    In Fox Magic, Kij Johnson allows us a glimpse of the inverse through the eyes of a kitsune, or fox maiden. The unnamed narrator grows infatuated with the master of the property on which she and her family resides. The man is married with a wife and son. She is a fox, she does not care. And in this way the story delves into the quiet horror of seeing a person trapped in a waking dream, in what another thinks is love.

    The nature of magic is that it's often cruel, giving power to one and not another - easy enough to parallel in the real world. So we have to not just look but see, and realize when it's past time to let things go.

    Read it yourself here at Kij Johnson's website.

    Hungry for more? Check out The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld by Patricia McKillip. Though she writes with a lighter touch than Kij, Forgotten Beasts... is very much in line with the themes in this short story - how strongly magic tempts when it promises to give you your heart's desire, how affection needs to be a two-way street.

    • Second Person, Present Tense by Daryl Gregory

    Nobody can choose the circumstances of their own birth, and some people come into being in more unusual ways than others. Most of us create an identity for ourselves through the passing of time and gathered experience. For Terry, it's nowhere near that simple.

    The moment Terry comes into existence her parents are waiting to claim her, parents she doesn't remember. The doctor informs her that the drug Zen is responsible for stripping away her knowledge of who she was. Whoever inhabited her body before the overdose, she's gone now and left Terry there in her place. And already she's started to form memories of her own, disparate from the expectations of the people calling her their daughter and wanting her back again.

    Second Person... is centered around the themes of self-actualization despite the expectations of those around you. Whoever you were is unimportant, what matters is who you are in the now and in the end, it's up to you to make your identity.

    Read it yourself here at Clarkesword Magazine.

    Hungry for more? Check out The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker. Chava, the titular golem, comes to life during a voyage to a promised future in New York. But the one who's commissioned her dies in an unexpected manner, she's left unmoored to find her own way in a strange new city.

    7 votes

  9. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2025 in ~games

    Casocial
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    Just activated it on Steam, thanks sleepydave and kfwyre!

    Just activated it on Steam, thanks sleepydave and kfwyre!

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2025 in ~games

    Casocial
    Link Parent
    Hi, I'd be interested in Rain World if the offer's open. Thanks!

    Hi, I'd be interested in Rain World if the offer's open. Thanks!

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Three months free subscription to Lightspeed Magazine in ~books

    Casocial
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    Lightspeed Magazine, a premier short story publication, is currently making available three months of subscription for free. No credit card info is required, only an email address. They've...

    Lightspeed Magazine, a premier short story publication, is currently making available three months of subscription for free. No credit card info is required, only an email address.

    They've published a ton of amazing speculative short fiction I love and are definitely worth checking out. Highlights include:

    5 votes

  13. Comment on Is there a digital D&D that is turn-based and go at your own pace? in ~games.tabletop

    Casocial
    Link Parent
    There are also forums set up which are far superior for asynchronous play in my experience, rather than having to scroll endlessly through Discord messages. I've been playing a variety of TTRPGs...

    There are also forums set up which are far superior for asynchronous play in my experience, rather than having to scroll endlessly through Discord messages. I've been playing a variety of TTRPGs via play-by-post for a couple of years now, and it's great for gaming at your own pace.

    10 votes

  14. Comment on I'm visiting the region you're from, what's your favorite food I should try? in ~food

  15. Comment on How are you dealing with AI generated results in your searches? in ~tech

    Casocial
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    Yeah, the text search results for DDG are subpar, but for some reason their image search returns far less AI generated works than Google does. Perhaps the AI compilation websites are not hitting...

    Yeah, the text search results for DDG are subpar, but for some reason their image search returns far less AI generated works than Google does. Perhaps the AI compilation websites are not hitting its SEO, since it's a more niche search engine.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on The 2024 /r/Fantasy book bingo challenge thread in ~books

    Casocial
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    Hmm, I was really amped about doing this challenge last year, then the third party app wipe killed off much of my motivation to participate on reddit. Since you've shared the bingo card here,...

    Hmm, I was really amped about doing this challenge last year, then the third party app wipe killed off much of my motivation to participate on reddit. Since you've shared the bingo card here, let's see if I can muster up some of the old enthusiasm.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Which anime or manga transcend the boundaries of genre and medium? in ~anime

    Casocial
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    As someone else who loves melancholic stories like Yokohama Shopping Trip, I would recommend watching the Mushishi series as well. Some of episodes really carry a similar tone and feel to them.

    As someone else who loves melancholic stories like Yokohama Shopping Trip, I would recommend watching the Mushishi series as well. Some of episodes really carry a similar tone and feel to them.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on Book recommendations, specifically in ~books

    Casocial
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    No, I can't say I have. That's not a pairing I would have expected.

    No, I can't say I have. That's not a pairing I would have expected.

  19. Comment on Book recommendations, specifically in ~books

    Casocial
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    Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View Of Hills might invoke a similar atmosphere.

    Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View Of Hills might invoke a similar atmosphere.

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Book recommendations, specifically in ~books

    Casocial
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    Works for Railsea, The Scar and Iron Council too, all by the same author.

    Works for Railsea, The Scar and Iron Council too, all by the same author.

    4 votes