Chemslayer's recent activity

  1. Comment on Any good sites for e-book bundles besides Humble Bundle? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    Thank you! I didn't realize Fanatical also did book bundles, I'll definitely keep an eye on them. And thanks for the golden roll tip, I'd never heard of that site but glad to have a place to get...

    Thank you! I didn't realize Fanatical also did book bundles, I'll definitely keep an eye on them. And thanks for the golden roll tip, I'd never heard of that site but glad to have a place to get Saga again! Now I just have to come to terms with the fact that volumes are $16 each, they know what they got ha

  2. Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Gonna share my recipe for Texas Fried Rice, which I've gotten back into eating a lot lately. The backstory is senior year of college I lived with 3 Korean friends, and as a white boy who didn't...

    Gonna share my recipe for Texas Fried Rice, which I've gotten back into eating a lot lately. The backstory is senior year of college I lived with 3 Korean friends, and as a white boy who didn't really experience asian foods very much I was pretty uninformed. One time I walked through the kitchen while one of them was cooking fried rice, and later attempted to make fried rice using only that knowledge for some reason. Later I discovered this is nothing even close to actual fried rice ha, but it's one of my favorite dishes that my inexperienced self makes, especially since it's my creation.

    Ingredients per serving:
    1-1.5 links good sausage (should be meaty. My personal fave is Opa's Jalapeno Cheddar, but this may be very regional. Sorry to California but you don't have any good sausage everyone, moving back to Texas and finally being able to make this again is how the dish got its new name ha).

    1 cup fresh white rice

    Thick pad of butter

    Some frozen mixed veggies (the peas/corn/carrot mix) ~1/2 cup

    Shredded cheese, big handful (I prefer Mexican)

    Instructions:

    Melt butter in pan. Chop sausage into semi-circles, fry in butter until crispy. Meanwhile, microwave frozen veggies 2 mins to mostly thaw them. Add veggies to pan and cook for a little while. Add rice, and use two wooden spoons to thoroughly mix other ingredients in. Sprinkle large handful of cheese on top, mix again to mix cheese into rice, and serve.

    Simple, easy, has rice and vegetables. You can also season, but the sausage and cheese usually adds enough for me.

  3. Comment on Any good sites for e-book bundles besides Humble Bundle? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Another random tangent, but does anyone know how to get Saga comic series DRM-free? The only storefront I can find is Google books, but the downloadable DRM-free copies have some pretty severe...

    Another random tangent, but does anyone know how to get Saga comic series DRM-free? The only storefront I can find is Google books, but the downloadable DRM-free copies have some pretty severe formatting issues that require hacky calibre editing. I got vol 1-10 in a humble bundle and those copies were perfect, so I know they exist in the world, but idk where!

  4. Any good sites for e-book bundles besides Humble Bundle?

    ~books Ask (recommendations)
    Hello, I want to pick your brains for recommendations for good, cheap e-book bundles. I buy a lot of my e-books the old fashioned way, one at a time, but Humble Bundle book bundles has scored me a...

    Hello,

    I want to pick your brains for recommendations for good, cheap e-book bundles. I buy a lot of my e-books the old fashioned way, one at a time, but Humble Bundle book bundles has scored me a ton of great reading for cheap, including the entire Wheel of Time series, the entirety of Discworld, lots of Comic and Manga bundles, and such, usually for $18 a bundle which is a crazy discount. I'm very happy with them and will continue to refresh their bundles regularly, but my desire to hoard books is great and I'd love to know if there's any similar sites out there regularly offering those kinds of sales.

    My only strict requirement is said books have to be either DRM-Free or (the very trivially-cracked) Adobe DRM. I'm also looking specifically to purchase books, I know libraries etc are really cool (and also easy to crack) but I get a lot of enjoyment from owning the books I own (and don't feel good about cracking library copies, I don't judge anyone else for doing so but I'm privileged to have the ability to easily afford my books and figure I should do my part, even if my part is heavily discounted ha).

    As an aside, for anyone who doesn't already know, humble bundle normally has at least half a dozen book bundles at any given time, and there's some crazy value on occasion (see above), would highly recommend if you're into ebooks!

    6 votes

  5. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    Curious to hear why you give Moby Dick the #1 spot? I finished it recently myself (via audiobook), and really enjoyed it, including the in-depth tangents into whales and whaling that I have not...

    Curious to hear why you give Moby Dick the #1 spot? I finished it recently myself (via audiobook), and really enjoyed it, including the in-depth tangents into whales and whaling that I have not bothered to verify the accuracy of. I wouldn't put it at my #1, but I do agree it's a great story, and I'd like to hear about what you enjoyed if you're happy to share

    1 vote

  6. Comment on As Hitman 3 turns five years old, we surely have enough hindsight to declare it – this is one of the greatest of all time, right? in ~games

    Chemslayer
    Link
    I absolutely adore Hitman 3, it's a fantastic stealth, assassin, secret puzzle game. The campaign is fun, the alternate missions are great, the rogue like mode is genius, overall one of my...

    I absolutely adore Hitman 3, it's a fantastic stealth, assassin, secret puzzle game. The campaign is fun, the alternate missions are great, the rogue like mode is genius, overall one of my favorite games of all time. The only mar on its otherwise stellar performance is the continued existence of the absurd always-online requirement, I really wish they'd drop that so the game could be perfect (and also properly archived for future generations)

    9 votes

  7. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Continuing the grind on Rogue Trader and having a lot of fun. I'm nearly done with Chapter 2, based on my quest log. I really enjoy how it's sort of a "Monster-of-the-week" type adventure, there...

    Continuing the grind on Rogue Trader and having a lot of fun. I'm nearly done with Chapter 2, based on my quest log. I really enjoy how it's sort of a "Monster-of-the-week" type adventure, there is a consistent narrative through line but the individual adventures are just classic scifi "show up onto the planet and get caught up in shenanigans". The build variety and power/synergy continues to be a blast, and finding all new ways to make my dudes more and more useful and powerful is so much fun.

    As a small gripe, I don't really enjoy the space naval combat. The mechanics themselves are alright, but it just feels so slow, especially since you only ever get the one ship. I did manage to get a second ship through some specific (and DLC-gated) events, but it's just another NPC that you don't control directly. It also feels much harder to find upgrades and equipment for your ship compared to your party. Overall it's a neat idea but I think could do with some fleshing out (or, if I'm dreaming, the option to skip entirely).

    The writing continues to be great, and very 40k, if you love the setting you'll get a consistent kick from the interactions. There nothing mind-blowing about any of the tropes or twists, but it feels very comfortable and fun as a sci-fi adventure.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Working on Book 5 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I've really enjoyed the series so far, and I appreciate the serious tone that he keeps in his very serious epic fantasy western. Don't know...

    Working on Book 5 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I've really enjoyed the series so far, and I appreciate the serious tone that he keeps in his very serious epic fantasy western. Don't know if I'm sad or relieved that this is the first book in the series that he didn't reprint his "On Being Nineteen" intro (which I read dutifully every time, I figured it was part of the experience ha).

    Spoilers for the first 150 pages of book 5

    Holy shit, I just made the connection between that intro and the fact that the number "19" keeps being foreshadowed heavily as important. Was that a setup this whole time?? I guess I'll find out

    Also read the third Murderbot book, as a short and more fun interlude between serious epic novels.

    mild Murderbot spoilers

    Enjoying seeing Murderbot have to deal more and more with its identity, and having to contend with the fact that you can't just opt out of having agency in your decisions and feelings

    Currently shower-listening, recently wrapped Frankenstein and am now on Paradise Lost (inspired by Frankenstein's description of it ha). The only other time I read Franky was in high school, and I must've had an abridged version, as I didn't remember nearly this many details being included, so I was glad to have the full story. Paradise lost has been fun, and the audiobook I got has short chapter summaries before each chapter, so you can quickly understand what the plot is, and just enjoy the following flowery verse without worrying too much about parsing details

    1 vote

  9. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    I don't know exactly what your humor is, but a short silly recommendation I don't see very often is Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Basically some normal dude inherits his formerly-unknown-uncle's...

    I don't know exactly what your humor is, but a short silly recommendation I don't see very often is Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Basically some normal dude inherits his formerly-unknown-uncle's super-villain organization, and figures out how to manage that. It's not very long (kinda wish it was a little longer tbh) but it's got fun goofs and some actual tension too

    2 votes

  10. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    Sorry if slightly off topic for the thread, but congrats on the switch to ebooks! While regular books still have several advantages, I think e-books are one of the places where the digitization of...

    Sorry if slightly off topic for the thread, but congrats on the switch to ebooks! While regular books still have several advantages, I think e-books are one of the places where the digitization of a thing made it way better in almost every way, especially with an e-reader.

    More on task, how did you get Dungeon Crawler Carl working on your non-kindle device? I've been wanting to read the series, but I don't get my books from Amazon anymore since they keep tightening the noose on DRM. Did you find another digital storefront to get them from, or did you perform some sorcery on Amazon files?

    1 vote

  11. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Started Mob Psycho 100 manga, since I've enjoyed one punch man. The humor is very similar so far, and even trades in some similar themes (including a kinda nonchalant overpowered MC), and I'm...

    Started Mob Psycho 100 manga, since I've enjoyed one punch man. The humor is very similar so far, and even trades in some similar themes (including a kinda nonchalant overpowered MC), and I'm enjoying it very much so far (partway through Vol 3). The art, being by One himself rather than Murata, is still good and serviceable, and I tend to be art/graphics blind to a large extent anyway.

    I picked up all the available volumes as Kobo was having a sale for whatever reason, and I look forward to finishing them. Slightly annoying there's only one more english-translated volume left to come out in May, as it'll be weird to leave it nearly but not quite done, but alas

    3 votes

  12. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Just wrapped up the Kaguya Sama: Love is War manga! It was a great rom-com, with a good emphasis on the comedy. It went a little off the rails towards the end, but still tied up nicely. Highly...

    Just wrapped up the Kaguya Sama: Love is War manga! It was a great rom-com, with a good emphasis on the comedy. It went a little off the rails towards the end, but still tied up nicely. Highly recommend, and a great example of a romance story that I don't have to give any warnings about.

    2 votes

  13. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I was curious how Sanderson would handle taking over the project. I'm a big fan of his Stormlight Archive, and I plan on reading some of his other stuff eventually, but as I mentioned in my...

    Yeah, I was curious how Sanderson would handle taking over the project. I'm a big fan of his Stormlight Archive, and I plan on reading some of his other stuff eventually, but as I mentioned in my post about WoT I really appreciate how straight and serious the fantasy is played, and Sanderson is not that. (Not to say that Stormlight doesn't have serious parts, but the overall adventure etc is much more "modern people" style of interactions and reasoning, as opposed to WoT's almost LotR-like tone of epic yesteryear prophecies and magic).

    I'm at least happy to know that the major plot points are Jordan originals, and ofc I'll make my own judgements when I get there

  14. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    Oh yeah I always have at least 2 books going (one of the many reasons I love ebooks!). Right now it's a novel, a manga, and a comic. Usually I'll also have a non-fiction or edutainment-style book...

    Oh yeah I always have at least 2 books going (one of the many reasons I love ebooks!). Right now it's a novel, a manga, and a comic. Usually I'll also have a non-fiction or edutainment-style book too. I tend to read books chapter by chapter and swap between them constantly, it lets my brain really settle into the drama of each chapter ending

    1 vote

  15. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    Interesting take on Monster Train 2, having put about 130 hours into it (and some amount into the first, on GoG so I don't have a count but I beat all the stuff) I feel like MT2 is just the first...

    Interesting take on Monster Train 2, having put about 130 hours into it (and some amount into the first, on GoG so I don't have a count but I beat all the stuff) I feel like MT2 is just the first game but better in every way. I really like how the new deployment phase takes what was previously a hidden mechanic (banner units) and makes it non-hidden and thus much easier to play with and plan for.

    Mild story/mechanical spoilers

    I really enjoy the Titans as final bosses too, I think their boss fight is much more interesting than the last divinity was, and I like the aesthetics of each titan

    MAJOR MECHANICAL SPOILERS

    Also lost my head when all the clans from the first game came back! Literally just makes MT2 everything the first game was and more, can confidently suggest to new players to just get MT2 and you're not really missing anything

    Do agree the partitioning of mechanics into new named abilities is confusing at first, but once you get used to them they do make a lot more satisfying sense wrt synergies and such. I hope you keep up with the game and would love to hear more of your thoughts!

    5 votes

  16. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Been playing Rogue Trader lately, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm a big fan of Warhammer 40k in general, and all the over the top absurdity being played straight is wonderful (and I appreciate...

    Been playing Rogue Trader lately, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm a big fan of Warhammer 40k in general, and all the over the top absurdity being played straight is wonderful (and I appreciate that dialog choices give you a choice between being normal or playing into the same dogma). The combat system feels much more fun and fluid for me than BG3 did, while I imagine playing it on the tabletop is probably a nightmare this system lends itself to much more engaging video game gameplay than D&D does IMO.

    Only just wrapped chapter 1, so don't have a lot of insight on the story yet, but so far it's been fun and seems to have a good amount of choice involved. I've been playing a pompous, mostly dogmatic but not entirely aloof rogue trader (I love the recurring gag of making Abelard introduce me in all sorts of tense scenarios).

    The game is dense, and the number of choices you have to make constantly wrt gear and level ups is heavy, but I'm just taking it as part of the process. You do have the option to respec characters, so if you do make mistakes or want changes you're not locked in.

    Overall excited to play more of it, and unusually for me for these types of games I kind of want to play a second time, the large space in build variety intrigues me. I'm loving my current highly-lethal sniper, but just from peeks at the other characters I can see so many more options for so many other fun builds

    2 votes

  17. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    Chemslayer
    (edited )
    Link
    Still working through Kaguya-Sama: Love is War manga! Nearly done with Vol 18. There's edit: 28 total, so I'm still got a good amount to go with the Manga in general, and while I'll be sad to see...

    Still working through Kaguya-Sama: Love is War manga! Nearly done with Vol 18. There's 22 edit: 28 total, so I'm nearly done still got a good amount to go with the Manga in general, and while I'll be sad to see it go I'll be excited to see the end!

    I've really enjoyed this rom-com immensely, the romance parts are cute and well developed, and the comedy is my exact humor taste, after learning the mangaka is apparently a notorious shit poster I realized why I enjoyed it so much as that's my ideal jokes. I feel like the manga also does a great job of handling mature topics (eg sex and sexuality) wrt it's high-school cast, in ways that are realistic to how high schoolers actually act and think about it without being weird or fan-service-y.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link Parent
    Oh yes that seems insane to me too! I'd never skip. What I mean is I don't read series' all at once, eg I'll read Wheel of time 1, go read some other books, come back and read Wheel of time 2, go...

    Oh yes that seems insane to me too! I'd never skip. What I mean is I don't read series' all at once, eg I'll read Wheel of time 1, go read some other books, come back and read Wheel of time 2, go read other things, etc. So with this non-consecutive reading pattern, and the length of the series, it'll probably be years and years before I finish ha

    2 votes

  19. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Nearly done with The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time book 3). It's taken me longer than usual to finish since I've been more sucked into Manga, but I'm really enjoying the series and can see how...

    Nearly done with The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time book 3). It's taken me longer than usual to finish since I've been more sucked into Manga, but I'm really enjoying the series and can see how it is so acclaimed. I'm at the part

    major spoilers

    where everyone is just starting to break into The Stone. I really appreciate how each of the main cast has their own "thing" going on.

    I really enjoy how straight the fantasy is played, everything is really important and serious and epic. I jump around between series when reading so it'll be a long time before I finish the series, but I'm really looking forward to it

    2 votes

  20. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Chemslayer
    Link
    Put the bow on Hades 2, after 2 months and 140 hours of gameplay. Absolutely phenomenal game, second only to Binding of Isaac in my rogue like rankings. Liked it so much I got 100% of the...

    Put the bow on Hades 2, after 2 months and 140 hours of gameplay. Absolutely phenomenal game, second only to Binding of Isaac in my rogue like rankings. Liked it so much I got 100% of the achievements (only the second game on steam after BoI), and even ground out the last annoyingly-long bond

    Who the Bond is with

    Icarus, my man...

    Tips for how to actually get above bond

    apparently you need to encounter him with his keepsake equipped, to get a unique dialogue tree, that finally allows him to unlock the rest of his nonsense. Besides that it's just a lot of topside runs and hoping to encounter him there and/or the crossroads. Got real good at clearing runs fast ha

    It's a shame that the beautiful characterizations and dialogue that make the game so great have to run out at some point. While mechanically the game is still solid, without the character interactions I'm moving on. Hoping to start up Hollow Knight soon, but in a classic "hard to start a new thing" rut.

    5 votes