#I can't in good conscience rate this higher

[sonicasura]

I come with a humble offering.

Kaiju No.8 x Pacific Rim crossover

Warning: I don't know much about Pacific Rim.

There are two types of Kaijus, those with cores and those that are coreless. The ones with cores are the usual Kaiju No.8 Kaijus, the largest among them are as tall as fairly tall buildings. They are pretty much everywhere in the world. Because of their size and obvious weak point that would immediately incapacitate them once destroyed, these Kaijus are disposed of by the local DF.

The coreless Kaijus are the ones from Pacific Rim. In this crossover I'd like to say they're much larger than a building. They need to be lethally wounded to be killed, like chop their head off. They have much slower regeneration compared to their cored counterparts, a factor being their sheer size and the energy required. Coreless Kaijus only appear from the ocean and their emergence is much easier to detect than that of cored Kaijus.

Weapons wielded by the defense troops are either too small or too weak, with the only exception being some numbered weapons. Even numbered weapons still have difficulty because of the sheer size difference, the human wielders still have to somehow get out to sea to fight them or get rid of them as quickly as possible when they get near the coast. Numbered weapons and suitable wielders are few in number so not a very good idea. Which is why they're handled by a different division, the Jaeger pilots and their respective Jaegers.

I think that both Jaeger pilots and defense troops are pretty much all under the DF collectively as two different divisions. Just that off duty Jaeger pilots are sometimes put to use in the defense troops because coreless Kaijus appear at a lesser rate. There is definitely a rivalry between the divisions.

Kafka qualified into the Jaeger division for the sole reason of him being uniquely drift compatible with nearly anyone. He's just very easy to synchronize with, but he does get the non dominant pilot position quite a lot because of his lackluster combat ability early on. He's pretty much a backup partner in case someone in a pilot pairing is out of commission for one reason or another.

This wasn't the position he wanted, but it was better than nothing. He'll still be with Mina, just not as close as either of them would've liked. Maybe, if he works hard enough he could apply for a division transfer.

He still gets turned into Kaiju no.8 when he's in the mainland and off duty. It's not something he can really hide as a Jaeger pilot since mind melding means sharing memories.

The reveal happens much more early and this time it's the entirety of the Jaeger division defending and vouching for their emotional support Kaiju/dad-friend. They know the inside of Kafka's head like it's the back of their own hands. Even as a Kaiju this guy can't hurt a fly.

I also think if any of the Jaeger pilots tried out numbered weapon, they'd immediately be able to detect if there's still a conscience in the suit. They're the most knowledgeable when it comes to having someone else in their headspace.

In all honesty, this is just my world building ramblings mostly. Haven't really figured out what'll happen to the usual kn8 characters and how most stuff is gonna work but I'm gonna throw this in anyways.

Honestly what you got so far is very solid. The Defense Force could be separate from the PR's Defense Corps as even though they both fight kaiju, there are different protocols alongside combat styles for each. Also there's a potential rivalry between the Jaegers operators and field officers though. Especially during joint exercises as the higher ups don't want any rivalry become bad blood.

I don't know why but I imagine Kafka's kaiju form being much bigger since Pacific Rim kaiju need more effort to kill since they have no cores. Definitely takes a while for him to realize he can make it human size but the default size proves helpful in training new pilots. Also Kafka just being a massive dork as a kaiju and the Jaeger Division being used to it.

They totally call him 'BFG' so much it becomes a codename whenever he has to go No.8 mode on the field.

[brownhairedbookworm]

“My my, what great weapons you have acquired! Now on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your skill in handling these weapons. One being rather poor and ten being…hmm…almost perfect. There is always room to improve after all.”

"Uh, the scythe makes up for my inexperience by being powerful, but... I can't give myself higher than a 3 for either weapon, in good conscience. I'm... Very inexperienced."

[ohwolfling]

I think something being missed in conversations about voting or not is that we're no longer asking a percentage of people who are going to suffer either way to split hairs. We are asking a percentage of people who are dying/permanently disable or who will die either way to split those hairs. This is just speaking on understanding, because I think that's more helpful than what I've seen go around here so far.

If you CAN vote*, research which third party candidate is the most viable so that more money could go to third parties. That's a choice that might be meaningful to your grandchildren.

But I don't think we can shame & berate people who have lived through repeatedly mass disabling, mass death events that Biden did in fact worsen- as well as genocides ACCELERATED by Biden- for not prioritizing the comfort of a dwindling upper middle class in four year chunks any more.

Additionally, many of the people who died from COVID & who are losing loved ones to these Biden funded genocides are the groups of people the Dems rely on for their votes. The Democrats are functionally a fundraising group. I would not even consider them a political party any more. I don't think it's fair to tell people their lived experience of mass death, eugenics, growing poverty and homelessness under Biden's term alone is not an adequate summation of his time.

I'm from Appalachia. I've worked very hard to keep communities out of the hands of the corrupt men who would imagine & present themselves as the South. I've been volunteering since I was a teenager to move voting blocks there left because once upon a time it meant the difference between no child eating and 20% of kids getting free and reduced lunch. I've always closed my eyes and swallowed the bitter taste of one sprinkle of progress from someone who thinks I'm dumb & doesn't actually care if I live or die. But this is not the poverty my family has survived for a hundred years. It's meaner. And Biden's handful of band aids on a handful of bullet holes is laughable compared to the damage. I can't in good conscience ask anyone to grin and bare it.... because Biden keeps moving right instead of listening to his base and my family has died and continues to die & suffer anyway as a direct result of his policy.

You have to do you. You have to make your choices. But your ire shouldn't be at people whose line in the sand is being systemically killed at a higher rate that the U.S. was already doing that and funding an accelerationist genocide that ultimately serves and enables an evangelical right. Take your anger to the DNC. Take it to town halls. Think bigger than four years at a time. Think bigger than YOU. Bigger than YOUR survival.

Again, people are DYING either way. It's not just a tantrum for the sake of clean hands. It's people saying if I am going to die, it will not be cosigning Pick-A-Tyrant (which is where we are, which in my opinion is an acceleration from Fascism or Oligarchy, because Biden and the Dems truly said "BOTH ✌🏻🏳️‍🌈🖤").

*I am personally an example of another way the Dems have destroyed their own voter base - I have been transient/homeless for so long now I can no longer prove I live anywhere and so I cannot vote

[stonedsoul]

Rate the Stones based on clothing style! ✨👅

this is sooo hard why would you do this to me. probably gonna change in 2 days but here is how i feel atm: 1. Keith - he just always looks amazing dunno what to say. 10/10 2. Ronnie - ok this one is biased because i feel like ronnie's style is the one i personally most vibe with. i wanna wear all of his fits so 3. Brian - absolutely love whatever Brian had going on aesthetically, he looked great, he was doing his own thing, personally not rlly my vibe as much as keith or ronnie but u gotta admit he looked cool 4. Charlie - i love his suits!! 5. Mick - i'm ngl my guy has made some questionable fashion choices. like he's absolutely made some great ones also and i love the whole androgynous thing obviously but sometimes i find myself asking does this actually look good, or is it just mick jagger? so as much as i love him i can't in good conscience put him any higher. most of the time i do love the fits tho don't get me wrong, just sometimes... 6. Bill - see i don't pay attention to Bill that much so i probably can't give an objective account compared to the others, although i will say he has had his fashion moments where i think he looks really good. but yh aside from those moments eh it's alright 7. Mick T - only putting him here because tbh i haven't seen enough of him to compare with the others. I rlly liked that hat he wore that one time tho

[cassatine]

13, 20, 28 for the writing ask

13. Rate your worldbuilding skills from 1 to 10.

i LOVE doing worldbuilding but since i mostly riff on already created things i can't in good conscience rate my skills higher than a solid 5.

20. Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you?

many (too many), but i usually try to prioritize one project. i don't like working on only one thing because it can start feeling like a chore and i like variety but also without a priority project i'd never finish shit. my posting rate says it doesn't work great but i have fun with my hobby so i say it works fine.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

don't be afraid of having fun or being too self-indulgent or too cringe that's the devil talking. also the rules exist for you to break them.

[whimsyandmetaphor]

Can confirm, as an Australian indie author, the IngramSpark rates are so bad that I've actually made the step to self-distribution as well as self-publishing, because I just cannot any other way. If you look at the big Australian stores that IngramSpark distributes to, my books go for like $40 minimum, and I know Australian books are a bit ridiculous compared to other countries ($21-25 AUD is not unexpected for a trade paperback novel), but $40 is just ... I can't in good conscience advertise that! That IngramSpark mandatory discount markup was the last straw for me.

Now, I'm pretty lucky that I have the capacity to learn to self-distribute, but it's definitely going to cut me off from a lot of things until I can get all my systems up and running, and until I can make some decent connections and, as noted, learn how to do all these things. And I still can't compete with the distribution from IS on US/UK/Europe markets (or basically anywhere outside Australia, New Zealand and some of South East Asia) because of shipping costs! So for a lot of the world I'm *still* earning like 10c per book and the book prices are creeping higher.

So yeah, self-publishing books kinda sucks right now. Sorry that you're in such a shitty situation, Bibliosphere, sending solidarity from Australia.

That last ask made me check my Ingram Spark rates because I couldn't remember some stuff, and in case you're wondering what book distribution in Australia is like right now:

Country: Australia Recommended price: $ 29.99 Retailer Discount: 40% Compensation to author: $ 0.15

A thirty dollar book, and the author is earning 15 cents.

So, yeah. If you're ever upset that you're favorite author isn't available down under, we're so sorry. This is why.

We're being gouged left, right and center by the industry, and it's honestly not much better for the rest of the world either.

I'm earning just under $4 per book on US sales ($2.80 on Amazon because, lol, I was so stressed with Ingram I forgot to update the Zon. Price changes are pending.) for a book, I was forced to mark up to $24.99 because Ingram Spark made the 40% discount to retailers mandatory* as well as increasing the fee they take, and if I'd kept my books at $17.99, they would have taken it off the market because I would have been earning negative dollars.

In the span of a single year, my book went from $14.99 to $17.99 to $24.99 because of "inflation." And I'm earning, uh, well, in some cases, 15 cents.

Capitalism 🌈✨🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

----

*They are still pushing us to give retailers a 55% discount, or we won't be stocked in stores. Because, aha, fuck our lives, I guess. I also suspect Ingram are not actually giving that discount to retailers, but I can't prove it beyond a couple of book retailers reaching out to me and Ingram never acknowledged my emails, so doubly fuck my life I guess.

[itashiro-hitsuchiha]

Rate Mavis Vermilion

Oh boy. Mavis is.....a very weird case. I can't in good conscience give her anything more than a B cuz she is cute and adorable. The reasons I can't rank her any higher should be obvious.

[stockholm-zealot]

Review: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker

Pages: 643 || Genre: Fiction || Rating: 2/5 stars

TLDR: Skip this one, there are other books that accomplish the same things in less time and without problematic themes.

This book was difficult to rate on a simple 5-star scale. If one basic plot point had been modified, if the author had simply made Nola at or above consenting age, I could have given this book a higher rating. That said, I can't in good conscience give this book a good review when it ultimately condones a relationship between a man in his 30's and a high school girl, and even goes so far as to describe their relationship as true love.

The pros of this book include an interesting plot line that breadcrumbs information at an appropriate pace for a murder mystery, as well as enough complexity to keep the big reveal hidden. I'm not personally a fan of books within books, but it could be a huge plus for other readers. The characters were entertaining and provided intermittent comic relief to alleviate the tension of the main story. The story was accessible and easy to read, without feeling overly simplistic.

Ultimately, all of the good aspects of this book can be found elsewhere, in stories less than 600 pages long. Most importantly, none of the pros of this book overcome the terrible baseline premise of depicting the abuse of a child as a tragic love story.

[christinaroseandrews]

Brenna is a wolf. A changeling. But she’s also the sole Survivor of a sadistic Psy serial killer. Which makes it very odd that she feels drawn to another ice cold Psy, Judd Lauren. But when death strikes at the very heart of the pack, Brina knows that there is no one else she can trust. No one else she wants. And so she’s going to have him. Even though he is an ice cold Psy. Judd is a Psy. A telekinetic. And one of the elites know as an Arrow. He used to work for the council, but when the council decided his family was slated for rehabilitation--a gentle way to refer to death of personality-- he knew that he had to defect. Now a guest of the wolves, Judd works to disrupt the rotten core of the Psy. Even as he must embrace the Silence himself. Because if he allows himself to feel, bad things could happen(tm). And he could never live with himself if he hurts someone he loved. A small group which now includes a very persistent wolf.

So...I mostly like this book. Kinda. Sorta. It’s complicated.

Here’s some trigger warnings: discussion of sexual assault, discussion of suicide, discussion of torture, ableism, stalking, child endangerment, and more that I’m likely forgetting since I read this book months ago.

Straight out, I love Judd. And now having read the rest of the series, I still love Judd. Judd is great. And this book introduces so many great characters and concepts. But... Yeah.

So going into the book, I was intrigued by Judd’s character. I thought his history was interesting. The fact that he was an Arrow... one of the Psy Council’s assissins... fascinating. We also got to learn more of why the Lauren family defected and were willing risk so much to get out of the Psy Council’s sphere of influence. I also was fully invested in Judd’s self imposed quest.

But in a way, I felt this book spent a bit too much time on seeding the threads for future plots. I mean there’s the ghost... which the foreshadowing there is well done. There’s the whole issue with the Arrows. There’s the stuff with the Psy Council. There’s the stuff with Hawke’s dead mate. So much stuff. So while I liked Judd and I liked the overarching plot of the series, I was less impressed with Brenna. Some of the information regarding her came way too late. I also didn’t like how pushy she was. While I understand her reasons, Judd makes her feel safe. I’m just never fond of somebody who doesn’t respect somebody else’s no. It doesn’t matter who the person is... no means no. And as someone who was assaulted they should really get that. It felt hella hypocritical. And it dropped the book a star for me.

I did like that we got to see more from some of the earlier couples and the POV’s of other characters including Kaleb and Faith. That said, I’ve noticed a tendency in these books to head hop randomly and it is very random and it is distracting. Additionally I did not feel that the antagonist was foreshadowed well. The first book did it better. Heck the whole “main” plot of the book was poorly done. It was a repeat of books 1 and 2.

Also, spoiler alert, I didn’t love that Brenna has a disability now because of her trauma... which okay... that’s fine. But it gets better by the end of the book because of the “Oh My God, Judd’s Magical Healing Cock of Doom”. It’s ableistic. And it drops this book another star.

This book is also when I started noticing two things... 1. the author’s tendency to have EVERYONE bite their partner’s lips while kissing. (Which for me is a thing I do not like when kissing but YMMV) And 2. A sameness in plots and characters. 

For instance... so far all of the heroines are “damaged” in some way. And all of the heroes are “alpha/Dominant”.  Each of the books has introduced a new and unique Psychic Type (Empath, Foreseer, Tk-Cell).  Each of the books has dealt with a serial killer. It’s gotten so bad that a friend @meiedwards/ @backwardsandinhighheels​ made a spreadsheet to keep track of some of this.

I’ll be sharing snippets of this spread sheet as I go... I’m also documenting if the book is series arc necessary or not.

That said I did enjoy the book mostly. But I had enough problems with it that I can only give this... Three Stars.

If this is your jam, you can get it here.

If you like these kind of honest reviews, please consider supporting us here!

[deltaengineering]

Spring Anime 2021: Embarrassment of Riches

So this current anime season absolutely stinks, which just makes the last one look even more impressive. Well, maybe not all of it...

Zombieland Saga Revenge

First off, you don't need to tell me that the following is a severe outlier opinion. We good? Ok. ZLSR is, in a word, subpar. I liked S1 back in the day, but it was already in the process of getting lazy towards the end. S2 continues this trend and is basically just another idol show. And as someone who actually does watch other idol shows I have to say that it's not a particularly good one of those either. The zombie gimmick has mostly stopped mattering and we're just doing what every idol show does, only with the odd occasional sight gag. The alleged subversive qualities mostly amount to a flashback for Yuugiri, which is admittedly the best part of the show but feels like it barely has anything to do with anything. Apart from that, it's a bunch of generic idol plots, rehashed character beats, shoddy attempts at twists (while not connecting to any setups from S1), and the obligatory "idols give us hope" ending, which is terribly hackneyed and flat out bad. Tae gets further memed into the ground, because of course she does. And there's stuff that was simply never good to begin with, like Kotarou and his comedy schtick, which gets truly insufferable now that there's no qualities to distract from it. It really makes me think that S1 wasn't even all that good to begin with and seems like an attempt to turn this surprise success into an easy money longrunner with no edge and no ambitions. "The idol show for people who don't watch idol shows" indeed, but not the way you mean it. 4/10

Bakuten

But not to dwell on the failures, with the second show we're already above the cut — barely. This one got my attention with its really impressive performance scenes early on and it totally sticks to that, which is even more impressive. But besides that? Well, this is by far the most predictable show in a season where I watched an unambitious Kiraralike and put ZLS on blast for having no ideas. The characters are a mixed bag, some are cool (Shida, Asawo), some are very annoying (Mashiro), but those are the supports. The main cast is extremely one-dimensional, which is fine until they try to heap a ton of pathos on their lead, which doesn't go well. But I guess execution matters, and Bakuten is slick enough to get by. Writing this down in stark daylight I feel like I overrated this show somewhat (I actually put it over the next one originally, which definitely doesn't hold up when thinking about it), but I was indeed mostly entertained. 6/10

Yakunara Mug Cup mo

Yeah. Of course Mug Cup definitely doesn't invent or subvert anything either, but it's a pretty good Kiraralike that's always entertaining to watch. Explaining the qualities of such a nothing genre is as difficult as ever, but it mostly comes down to me liking the characters and it having nothing to annoy me. It's shorter than normal, which is a plus for slim shows like this. And yeah, you can make an excessive amount of dick jokes with the clay fondling. That helps too. Looks are just fine, pleasant but nothing out of the ordinary. Comfy low-effort anime. 6/10

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song

This one is decent, but sadly still a major letdown. Because the first few episodes of Vivy were excellent and kicked ass, but then it became increasingly clear that the writing can't cash the checks the ideas wrote while the action starts running into severely diminishing returns. Vivy just keeps slowly getting worse and worse as it goes on, not by a huge amount each episode but by the end there's a pretty sizeable gulf between potential and result. Going into detail would probably be a little much for this venue because there's a lot, but from the top level view the issue is that while Vivy has good fundamental ideas and steals at the right places, it just isn't a smart show — it's schlock, and by the end, poorly thought out schlock that tries to smooth out every problem with liberal application of the big feels hammer and le epic twist at that. Yeah, couldn't tell that the Re:Zero dude was aboard here, for sure. That said, it still works pretty well as entertaining schlock that is not to be taken too seriously, and the characters are generally just very fun to watch even when they're doing stupid things. Still, I can't in good conscience rate this higher than Beatless, a show that looks like butt but properly executes on its ideas. 6/10

Super Cub

So this is 100% a Honda commercial, and I got really mad a Yuru Camp last season for being a blatant shill. Yet I'm feeling this, what gives? I think the main difference is that Super Cub is specifically a commercial for one product (and a very iconic product at that), while Yuru Camp is so all over the place that it ends up mostly a commercial for consumerism in general. And when Super Cub goes too hard on the product (which it does), it's at least pretty entertaining. That's something about Super Cub in general: It goes hard. Your regular Kiraralike this is not, because it's uncommonly slow, focused and moody - yes, it almost measures up to Yuru Camp at its best and demolishes it at its worst. Also, it's just extremely amusing to see sadblob Koguma grow a huge grizzly biker beard and become a badass outlaw dad to her goofy wife and cute daughter, all thanks to the power of afforable personal transportation. Needless to say, that can get unintentionally silly, but Super Cub has so much charm that it doesn't matter — it's great when it's good and still funny when it's not. 7/10

Shadows House

Shadows House turned up with a lot of potential, and I have to say it at least delivered on most of it. It has some problems; notably I'm not a fan of how the entire middle turned out to be a tournament arc of sorts that seems curiously inspired by Resident Evil memes, crest-shaped intentations and boulder punching included. I also think that this is a show that would be perfectly fine without explaining much, but I guess it is a shounen manga after all so we got dumped on eventually anyway. At least that came late - close relative Promised Neverland didn't show that much restraint. Shadows House is generally well written though, with great characters, interesting interactions and a great hook. But what really makes it memorable is that it's exceptionally good at the cute/creepy contrast, something that is often tried but rarely works as well as here, with great character designs and very appropriate production. I hope this gets a sequel, because it seems like it's just getting started. 7/10

SSSS.Dynazenon

Coming in with a fondness for Gridman, Dynazenon didn't have to do much to convince me. The surprise though is that it's not a rehash even if it's basically the same show, a character drama where occasionally huge and goofy fights break out. Dynazenon is Gridman done better, and the interesting part is how it accomplishes this - mainly by being far more conventional. I do appreciate that Gridman went for something weird and almost experimental, but that only really paid off towards the end while most of the show was a distraction/holding pattern. It just didn't feel like there was enough material for a full series there, more like a movie maybe, if even that. Dynazenon fixes this by just being a TV show, with an actual cast of characters that each have their own arc. And by spreading the material this way, Dynazenon ends up having a lot more nuance than its intensely focused predecessor, while having the same themes and not actually being any deeper. In a way, Gridman ends up looking like the spinoff in retrospect, while Dynazenon is the full package. 8/10

Thunderbolt Fantasy S3

So how good was this season? So good that Thunderbolt Fantasy doesn't end up at the top, that's how. And all the elements that made Tbolt such a sure thing are still there, big hammy puppets doing stunts and scheming never gets old. However, I do have to note that at this point, the writing appears to have gotten too comfortable. I don't expect it to ever top the amazing S1 ending, but at this point it's like Tbolt has stopped trying to deliver on endings at all and seems in the process of retooling itself into a longrunner instead. Barely anything gets resolved in S3 (the climax is that the climax of S2 is resolved again, for good this time... maybe), and everything else is just setting up plotpoints for the next season. Tbolt is truly lucky that it doesn't actually need to resolve anything to be a great time, but at this point I have to say that I'd appreciate it if they wrapped it up with S4. 8/10

Nomad: Megalobox 2

Speaking of sequels to shows I liked, Nomad doesn't so much improve upon its predecessor but steamrolls right over it. This is a tall order, since Megalobox was surprisingly good for a sports shounen and had a real nice, heartwarming ending that Nomad instantly negates for purposes of drama and everyone being extremely miserable. That sounds like a pretty terrible idea - and it would be, if Nomad wasn't as excellent as it is. To call it not the same show would be an understatement, because it's a true sequel, not just the same characters doing their thing some more, or new characters doing the same thing as the old ones did. Indeed my biggest problem with Megalobox was that it still closely adhered to its genre template and was very predictable; Nomad fixes this issue thoroughly. Nomad is about questioning what being a hotblooded shounen protagonist eventually leads you to, and how to fix everything you screwed up by being one. You could call it a deconstruction, but that term has been so abused for cynical, edgy "thing you like actually sucks" takes that I feel like it doesn't really fit here. Nomad isn't cynical at all, it's just a character drama about some boxers past their prime, and it being a sequel to a show that is indeed rather formulaic just enhances the experience. My biggest issue with it was that I really like what they did with Joe in this story, so the big focus on Mac's backstory felt like a distraction for a long time. But in the end that turned out to be absolutely necessary to make the ending work. The ending's just great, by the way, and I shall say not more about it. 9/10

Odd Taxi

Yeah boy, here's the show that has apparently become somewhat of a "greatest show you didn't watch" meme, which I can feel smug about because I don't need YouTubers to tell me what's good and followed this from day one. Anyway, Odd Taxi is indeed great, the greatest show in a few years even. What starts out as seemingly a relaxed hangout show in the vein of Midnight Diners quickly turns into a psychological murder mystery while never losing its quirky humor. The character writing is outstanding, with even small bit players being on a level that the average anime wishes it could have for leads. And the rollout of the mystery is exemplary, with answers given and new questions raised every episode with a satisfying and logical payoff in the end. This is also the rare anime that has rock solid production from the first to the last second; it's never really flashy but excellently done and highly consistent nonetheless. And the music just owns. I have a few complaints, mainly that there's a few logical weaknesses in the story (which wouldn't even register in a lesser show, but sticks out here since the rest is so immaculately constructed) and that the ending overextends on the emotions when the rest of the show is so reserved and dry in comparison. But those are only the reasons why I didn't give it perfect marks, and I almost did that anyway. 9/10