Shevanel's recent activity
-
Comment on Saros | Gameplay reveal trailer in ~games
-
Comment on What writing 'tics' stand out to you? Repeated phrases, strange words, or otherwise weird stuff that jumps out at you. in ~books
Shevanel (edited )Link ParentFor writing that is really quite tame, I’m always taken out when Jordan makes it a point to call out an item (medallion / necklace / whatever) that’s hanging between a female character’s breasts....For writing that is really quite tame, I’m always taken out when Jordan makes it a point to call out an item (medallion / necklace / whatever) that’s hanging between a female character’s breasts. It’s such a specific thing, and the rest of his writing is so un-sexualized, that it surprises me every time it comes up, which is weirdly often. I feel like said item “hugging her chest” or “close to her bosom” would have been way less tonally jarring and conveyed the same point, but again, this is so anatomically specific that the entire premise of it always throws me a bit.
One other totally unrelated thing: Jordan often starts new chapters or paragraphs with “He” or “She” or “They” referring to a character from a previous chapter as if it was a contiguous passage. If you’re reading the sections in one sitting, it’s not a big deal, but it’s always felt like a bad practice to me and I’ve had to flip back a page more than once to remember who “he/she/they” is in context.
-
Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
Shevanel Link ParentAgreed. I went with a hatchback and have nothing but good things to say about it. It fits my whole drum set in it better than half of the subcompact SUVs we tried out. Big fan!Agreed. I went with a hatchback and have nothing but good things to say about it. It fits my whole drum set in it better than half of the subcompact SUVs we tried out. Big fan!
-
Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
Shevanel Link ParentThat’s great to know - I think my Civic is the same “generation” as yours so it’ll hopefully be easy to find. Appreciate the insight!That’s great to know - I think my Civic is the same “generation” as yours so it’ll hopefully be easy to find. Appreciate the insight!
-
Comment on Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor | Official version 1.0 launch trailer in ~games
Shevanel Link ParentSo I tried this out in its very first live demo, which must have been a year ago? Or at least felt like it. It’s been a minute, at any rate. I adore DRG, and I really like some survivor games...So I tried this out in its very first live demo, which must have been a year ago? Or at least felt like it. It’s been a minute, at any rate. I adore DRG, and I really like some survivor games (Vampire Survivors is still one of my faves). But that very first demo just didn’t grab me. It wasn’t bad, it just felt tedious. Would you recommend that I give the game another shot? GSG has my fervent support so I’m more than happy to spend the money, I’m just hoping to hear from someone that there has been a noticeable boost to the gameplay loop since that first demo. Thoughts?
Edit: tagging @terr in the parent comment since they weighed in as well!
-
Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
Shevanel LinkThis one is kind of obtuse to explain, and I definitely can’t help folks find it on a case-by-case basis, but both my wife’s and my car have door unlock default settings wherein, when your car is...This one is kind of obtuse to explain, and I definitely can’t help folks find it on a case-by-case basis, but both my wife’s and my car have door unlock default settings wherein, when your car is locked and you have the keyless remote in your pocket, touching the driver door handle unlocked only the driver’s door, but touching the passenger side door handle unlocked every car door. This is nice in theory for individuals who want to only unlock their door when getting in to drive, but in a couples / family context, it’s super annoying. The driver gets to the car first, unlocks the door, gets in, then manually has to unlock the rest of the doors for their passengers.
So, my setting tip is that if you find yourself in a similar situation, look into your car’s system settings (usually buried several screens deep in whatever UI it has) and see if you can toggle your car to unlock every door no matter where the touch comes from. We were able to do this on my wife’s 2014 Toyota, and haven’t tried with my car yet but I intend to look for it this week. Game-changer!
-
Comment on Does anyone here enjoy a whisk(e)y ? in ~food
Shevanel LinkI’m a big fan of Redbreast 12 Year. It’s a single pot still and manages to provide some nice complexity while still maintaining the well-rounded profile I’ve come to appreciate in Irish offerings....I’m a big fan of Redbreast 12 Year. It’s a single pot still and manages to provide some nice complexity while still maintaining the well-rounded profile I’ve come to appreciate in Irish offerings.
That said, I’m also providing this parent comment as an outlet for folks who may prefer offerings from across the pond—I’m a pretty big bourbon hound and would love to talk shop about American (or American-styled) whiskey and rye offerings!
-
Comment on Playing tricks with web browser tabs in ~comp
Shevanel LinkIt’s a cool article, thanks for sharing @xk3! But TBH I’m even more appreciative of the share because I’ve never come across sizeof.cat before, and I really enjoyed exploring their site after...It’s a cool article, thanks for sharing @xk3! But TBH I’m even more appreciative of the share because I’ve never come across sizeof.cat before, and I really enjoyed exploring their site after reading the linked article. What a gem of a place. Gives me the Internet Warm Fuzzies.
-
Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Shevanel Link ParentIt is :) I use it as my username whenever I’m able, but I usually show up to sites too late and it’s taken. But not this time!!It is :) I use it as my username whenever I’m able, but I usually show up to sites too late and it’s taken. But not this time!!
-
Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Shevanel (edited )Link ParentI’m so happy to help you discover that! But also oh jeez, that’s a near-impossible question to answer haha. I haven’t listened to the back half of “The Blue Nowhere” album, so I can’t tell you for...I’m so happy to help you discover that! But also oh jeez, that’s a near-impossible question to answer haha. I haven’t listened to the back half of “The Blue Nowhere” album, so I can’t tell you for sure either way on that one yet. Really enjoyed what I’ve heard so far, and I’m sure you’d appreciate its progginess either way.
I’ve been listening along with their discography in real time since ~2005 when I was still in HS so my journey with them is somewhat hard to emulate retroactively! I will say that their sound has gotten less metal and more proggy over time, but it certainly wasn’t an Opeth-level pivot. It was like they used to be 60-40 and now they’re 40-60 if that makes sense. So, if you’re excited about their sound being more progressive sounding, probably the newer the better.
If I was forced to rank their albums, I’d probably go as follows—do note that this is VERY much gut, as I haven’t listened to their full discography in years, and also acknowledging that I definitely prefer a more metal sound than straight prog:
- Parallax II
- Colors
- Parallax I
- Coma Ecliptic
- Alaska
- Colors II
- The Great Misdirect
- Automata I/II
- Automata I/II (no particular order between the Automata albums)
- The Silent Circus
- Self-titled
(Not ranking TBN yet)
I love all of their albums, to be clear—calling an album “their worst” is like acknowledging the slowest Olympian in an event. Silent Circus and their ST album are their two oldest, and the band’s lineup was different. They were almost grindcore-adjacent at that time (but still proggy).
-
Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Shevanel (edited )LinkHaven’t had time to listen all the way through it yet, but I’ve been enjoying Between the Buried and Me’s newest album, “The Blue Nowhere,” which dropped today. It’s just more BTBAM, and I mean...Haven’t had time to listen all the way through it yet, but I’ve been enjoying Between the Buried and Me’s newest album, “The Blue Nowhere,” which dropped today. It’s just more BTBAM, and I mean that in a good way!
Edit: figured I’d tag on some extra info - I’d ostensibly describe Between the Buried and Me as “progressive death metal” but that’s really reductive. They pull from whatever genre suits their needs for any given tune. It’s still firmly rooted in a proggy sound, but it’s entirely in the realm of possibility for a song to segue from a crushing breakdown straight into a blues jam, twangy strings and everything, then into something that sounds like a pop anthem, and right back into some nasty crunchy metal to top it off. It’s never too disparate though, IMO—there’s still a sense of cohesion through all their material, it doesn’t feel random.
-
Comment on Looking for some video game suggestions based off some specific parameters in ~games
Shevanel Link ParentNice! I hear you on not wanting to use a controller with FPSes. Some folks swear by FPSes on the Deck by using gyroscopic aim; I was never able to get into it but it seems pretty popular with the...Nice! I hear you on not wanting to use a controller with FPSes. Some folks swear by FPSes on the Deck by using gyroscopic aim; I was never able to get into it but it seems pretty popular with the folks who do enjoy it.
Quake 1 and 2 came out after DOOM did, and they’re fully 3D. They feel a lot more like DUSK—I believe Quake was the biggest influence on DUSK. Unfortunately, that means you’ll probably feel the same way about them as you do with other 3D FPSes on controller.
The one exception I can think of is Nightdive’s recent remaster of Rise of the Triad. It was built in the id1 (Wolfenstein) engine and feels pretty comfortable to play with controller /on Deck.
-
Comment on Looking for some video game suggestions based off some specific parameters in ~games
Shevanel LinkYou haven’t mentioned a single FPS, but if you liked Cuphead and Furi, I would imagine that “boomer shooter” style FPSes might work well for you, even if you choose to go for a lower difficulty...You haven’t mentioned a single FPS, but if you liked Cuphead and Furi, I would imagine that “boomer shooter” style FPSes might work well for you, even if you choose to go for a lower difficulty per the points you mentioned in your post. They obviously don’t play like any of the other games you’ve mentioned, but they offer a high skill ceiling and often have little to no required exploration or story. There are often secrets hidden in the levels, but they’re never necessary to find, and outside of that, it’s just solid core gameplay loops and some fast paced strategic decisions, I.e. entering a room and deciding how to tackle the enemies you see in the moment.
Some of my (somewhat) recent favorites in the genre include DUSK, Amid Evil, and the newer DOOM games (though the original entries from the 90s are great too if you haven’t played them, as well as games like Quake and Quake 2).
-
Comment on Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Official trailer in ~movies
Shevanel Link ParentMy disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. (/noise)My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. (/noise)
-
Comment on Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Official trailer in ~movies
Shevanel LinkSpoiler for the preview I’m dying to know if Jeremy Renner is playing himself, especially since Jeremy Renner canonically exists in the Knives Out universe.Spoiler for the preview
I’m dying to know if Jeremy Renner is playing himself, especially since Jeremy Renner canonically exists in the Knives Out universe.
-
Comment on <deleted topic> in ~arts
Shevanel LinkI thought this blurb was especially poignant. It’s shocking how quickly and handily a piece of high quality, earnest creation can “pull you out” of mindless algorithm-crawling, at least for a...And lately, I’ve had this experience when I actually encounter a piece of text where you can really feel the work that has been done to make it do what writing can do best as writing, availing itself of the tools of comparison and metaphor and style and POV that may not be optimized for quick scanning, but that make writing uniquely good… My brain lights up as if I have just bitten into a piece of fruit. As if suddenly realizing, by contrast, that I have been eating exclusively on fruit-flavored candy for some time. “Finally, something with some nutrients!”
I thought this blurb was especially poignant. It’s shocking how quickly and handily a piece of high quality, earnest creation can “pull you out” of mindless algorithm-crawling, at least for a little while.
-
Comment on Igorrr - HEADBUTT (2025) in ~music
Shevanel Link ParentI’ll second this - really enjoy Corpo Mente. They almost feels like a good “gateway band” for folks trying to familiarize themselves with Igorrr’s sound.I’ll second this - really enjoy Corpo Mente. They almost feels like a good “gateway band” for folks trying to familiarize themselves with Igorrr’s sound.
-
Comment on Igorrr - HEADBUTT (2025) in ~music
Shevanel Link ParentNot familiar! Any other acts you discovered during the process that you’d recommend?Ad Noiseam
Not familiar! Any other acts you discovered during the process that you’d recommend?
-
Comment on Igorrr - HEADBUTT (2025) in ~music
Shevanel LinkIgorrr's back with another banger. I'm really enjoying these live recording videos they've been putting out, as well as the sheer variety we've already heard out of these singles. I also wanted to...Igorrr's back with another banger. I'm really enjoying these live recording videos they've been putting out, as well as the sheer variety we've already heard out of these singles. I also wanted to include the disclaimer from the video re: the piano, which I thought was a very thoughtful add on Igorrr's part:
Disclaimer : The piano at the end of the video is not the same piano we used at the beginning. The piano that got destroyed at the end of the video was an already broken piano that we intercepted on its way to the waste reception center and that was unfixable.
We had neither the budget nor the heart to break a working piano. We gave it one very last moment to shine.
-
Igorrr - HEADBUTT (2025)
11 votes
I felt similarly at first watch but the more I think about it, I would be okay with this playing like (a hopefully very well fleshed-out) Returnal DLC on a new planet(?) with a new main character, different progression systems, etc… because my favorite part of Returnal was that incredible story told via the gameplay mechanics and the world itself. Once I got to the true “end” of Selene’s story (in both the main game & the Tower), I basically felt like I could put the game down. Having a reason to re-enter that world, even if it feels same-y, doesn’t bug me too much.
Returnal mid-game spoiler
I still think about the buildup and reveal of the Hyperion fight to this day. Anything even coming close to that would be a real treat.