TheRtRevKaiser's recent activity

  1. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Oh I definitely mean it fondly when I say garbage.

    Oh I definitely mean it fondly when I say garbage.

  2. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Big Hitchhikers Guide and Discworld fan here. The HHGttG influence on DCC should have been obvious to me but I honestly never thought about it. I've heard of VanDerMeer but never read any of his...

    Big Hitchhikers Guide and Discworld fan here. The HHGttG influence on DCC should have been obvious to me but I honestly never thought about it.

    I've heard of VanDerMeer but never read any of his stuff. How dark would you say he gets?

    3 votes
  3. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I've dipped a toe into cultivation stuff a few times - enough to be at least aware of some of the tropes. I've heard of Beware of Chicken but never checked it out. I'll put it on my tbr! Am I...

    I've dipped a toe into cultivation stuff a few times - enough to be at least aware of some of the tropes. I've heard of Beware of Chicken but never checked it out. I'll put it on my tbr!

    Am I right in thinking that your other two recommendations are audio stories? I haven't listened to a good audio series since the Nightvale days but I might check them out. Thanks!

    2 votes
  4. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Yeah Chasing Sunlight is an easy recommend for me. It's maybe not quite as oblique as the writing in FL got at times, but it's got a similar vibe.

    Yeah Chasing Sunlight is an easy recommend for me. It's maybe not quite as oblique as the writing in FL got at times, but it's got a similar vibe.

    1 vote
  5. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

  6. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Yeah I'm aware of the genre. There's a lot of trash and not a lot of treasure, although I've found a few...well, I wouldn't say gems but like, cubic zirconia at least.

    Yeah I'm aware of the genre. There's a lot of trash and not a lot of treasure, although I've found a few...well, I wouldn't say gems but like, cubic zirconia at least.

    3 votes
  7. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Oh I like garbage. Just straight-up LitRPG/progression fiction trash, lol. My follow list right now is: The Legend of William Oh (recommend - it's solidly written, reasonably paced, and has a...

    Oh I like garbage. Just straight-up LitRPG/progression fiction trash, lol.

    My follow list right now is:
    The Legend of William Oh (recommend - it's solidly written, reasonably paced, and has a regular update schedule. Chapters are really short, though)
    The Cloudfarers (It's fine.)
    The Center for Dungeon Management (Decentish writing, fun plot and setting, crazy frequent update schedule)
    Aura Overload (Noir Cyberpunk LitRPG nonsense, but it nails the vibe)
    The Hedge Wizard (Honestly not very good, I think I'm reading it because of Stockholm Syndrome at this point)
    The Daily Grind (Some of the better prose on Royal Road, very queer, pretty anarchist, but the pacing and plotting is batshit. I don't think the author had any idea where this story was going at any point in the process and it shows. Would recommend, kind of)

    Honorable Mentions:
    12 Miles Below (solid writing, good plotting but I got enough behind on it that the part I was on got stubbed and I'm not subscribing to KU)
    Dancer (Pretty solid and actually complete cosmic horror/sci fi. Would recommend)
    Shades of Forever (Pretty unique blend of cosmic horror and progression, but it's stubbed on RR)
    Chasing Sunlight (This is just Sunless Skies but in RR serial form. It actually has a beginning/middle/end though, and the writing is competent)
    Kitty Cat Kill Sat (Strongly recommend, complete story)

    ETA: This is all just RR stuff, I've read other serial fiction elsewhere but it's been a while and RR is the easiest place to follow non-fanfic stuff. I'd also recommend checking out Wildbow, IMO his prose and worldbuilding is a cut above most RR writers, but his wordcounts are...daunting to say the least, and his stuff tends to get really dark, to the point where I had to stop reading most of the way through Pale.

    2 votes
  8. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I'd love to hear about books that do similar things to DCC. I read a good bit, although lately a lot of what I've been reading is serialized trash webfiction, and I'm getting a little tired of...

    I'd love to hear about books that do similar things to DCC.

    I read a good bit, although lately a lot of what I've been reading is serialized trash webfiction, and I'm getting a little tired of struggling to find the decent stuff in the sea of garbage and slop.

    2 votes
  9. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of May 25 in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    This one is a bit of a surprise. If you'd asked me to put money on it I would have bet that Bret Michaels was hardcore MAGA. That's based on pretty much zero info except for briefly hatewatching...

    This one is a bit of a surprise. If you'd asked me to put money on it I would have bet that Bret Michaels was hardcore MAGA. That's based on pretty much zero info except for briefly hatewatching his godawful train wreck of a reality dating show like, 20 years ago.

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

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I found Parade of Horribles to be a little slow at the start as well but it definitely does pick up.

    I found Parade of Horribles to be a little slow at the start as well but it definitely does pick up.

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

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I struggled more with the beginning of Nona than I did with the other two, but I'm really glad I stuck with it because it wound up being a really good read.

    I struggled more with the beginning of Nona than I did with the other two, but I'm really glad I stuck with it because it wound up being a really good read.

    1 vote
  12. Comment on US Pentagon puts building blocks in place for Cuba invasion in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I broadly agree with you, but the US currently houses ~100 nuclear weapons (that we know of) in bases in five countries around Europe, well within bomber range of Moscow.

    accepted nuclear weapons from the soviets within our living memory

    I broadly agree with you, but the US currently houses ~100 nuclear weapons (that we know of) in bases in five countries around Europe, well within bomber range of Moscow.

    1 vote
  13. Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I thought the first half or so was a little slow, but I feel like that was even lampshaded a bit by the book itself, and once it took off it was a wild ride to the end. I'd probably still rate it...

    I thought the first half or so was a little slow, but I feel like that was even lampshaded a bit by the book itself, and once it took off it was a wild ride to the end. I'd probably still rate it below book 7 but it was good. I had just come off a reread of the whole series, though, so I dunno how that affected things.

    3 votes
  14. Comment on 'The report's so stupid': The DNC 2024 autopsy is roiling US Democrats in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    This is how the far right has taken over the republican party. They vote for the republican candidate religiously, but relentlessly push their representatives to the right and primary any that...

    This is how the far right has taken over the republican party. They vote for the republican candidate religiously, but relentlessly push their representatives to the right and primary any that don't fall in line.

    9 votes
  15. Comment on Mel Gibson unveils ‘Resurrection of the Christ’ first look, delays release dates for two-part biblical epic in ~movies

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Honestly if it weren't being made by Mel Gibson, the Harrowing of Hell could make a pretty kickass movie...

    Honestly if it weren't being made by Mel Gibson, the Harrowing of Hell could make a pretty kickass movie...

    5 votes
  16. Comment on Excerpts from actual one-star Amazon.com reviews of books from Time’s list of the 100 best novels from 1923 to the present in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link
    Hemingway do be like that, though

    The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)
    Here’s the first half of the book: ‘We had dinner and a few drinks. We went to a cafe and talked and had some drinks. We ate dinner and had a few drinks. Dinner. Drinks. More dinner. More drinks. We took a cab here (or there) in Paris and had some drinks, and maybe we danced and flirted and talked sh*t about somebody. More dinner. More drinks. I love you, I hate you, maybe you should come up to my room, no you can’t’… I flipped through the second half of the book a day or two later and saw the words ‘dinner’ and ‘drinks’ on nearly every page and figured it wasn’t worth the risk.

    Hemingway do be like that, though

    39 votes
  17. Comment on What do folks carry in their hiking/backpacking/camping first aid kits these days? in ~hobbies

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Depending on where/when you're hiking in the US, even if it's national or state forest/parkland, hunting may be allowed. It's not completely unheard of for hikers to be shot at, although I don't...

    unless you expect the trees to shoot at you

    Depending on where/when you're hiking in the US, even if it's national or state forest/parkland, hunting may be allowed. It's not completely unheard of for hikers to be shot at, although I don't think it's a particularly common occurrence by any means.

    9 votes
  18. Comment on MP3 player recommendations in ~tech

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link
    I was going to recommend the SanDisk Clip Jam that my 7th grader keeps with him pretty much all the time, but it seems to not be available any longer.

    I was going to recommend the SanDisk Clip Jam that my 7th grader keeps with him pretty much all the time, but it seems to not be available any longer.

    5 votes
  19. Comment on US Government UFO document release in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link
    Why does that web page look like it's from a 2005-era COD ARG? It's like a video-game brained LARP of a government website...

    Why does that web page look like it's from a 2005-era COD ARG? It's like a video-game brained LARP of a government website...

    19 votes
  20. Comment on Did wokeness leave us worse off? (gifted link) in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    From looking at the discussion on this thread, it kind of seems like everyone's perception of this whole topic has been primarily shaped by online "discourse" to the point where the whole thing...

    But the people who seemed most riled up about 'all these pronouns being forced on us' seem to hang out online more than offline.

    From looking at the discussion on this thread, it kind of seems like everyone's perception of this whole topic has been primarily shaped by online "discourse" to the point where the whole thing seems incredibly warped. And you can't just say "online isn't real life" because of course it is - an increasingly significant proportion of our time is spent in online spaces, which is something that I am coming to believe may be much more of a negative than a positive.

    But I think Twitter in particular probably had an outsized effect on shaping people's thinking about this subject, and Twitter is such a distortion of reality. It functioned to amplify the loudest, most strident voices in every discussion, and was prone to forming mobs about every topic, not just this one. There are a lot of comments about progressives "crucifying" people for getting pronouns wrong, and I don't doubt that happened, but I suspect it was primarily driven by Twitter and similar online spaces. I think a huge component of our current political/social disfunction is mainly due all of us being subjected to a social experiment where me move all of our collective discourse onto a set of platforms that seem to have been the worst possible places for those discussions to take place in any meaningful, substantive way.

    4 votes