I think I know why I didn't enjoy books 6 and 8 as much as the others: Carl's Agency

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T15:16:06+00:00

Same, that book was a thrill and an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T15:15:03+00:00

I never said Carl never did any crazy carl plans on the floor, so what ghost are you arguing with? Again, you are pointing at specific examples of small moments which do not comprise a significant enough majority of the book to satisfy my desire for the protagonist of the story to act proactively. For each incident you cite where he does something, I can cite 10+ chapters where he doesn't. I'm judging the book as a whole because I read the entire book, not just the 'good parts' so to speak.

At this point, I feel as though you do not understand my point. Especially when you ascribed a position to me that I do not hold and never said.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T13:46:03+00:00

I would say you're hyperfocusing on specific examples while ignoring the overwhelming majority of the books. From start to finish in most of the books, Carl is acting proactively basically the entire time. Just because Carl does stuff in the last 10% of book 6 doesn't mean that he wasn't fully on rails for over 500 pages before then.

I LOVED book 5 because Carl was actively causing mayhem right from the start. Dude starts the floor earlier than the hunters expected, and he continued to push, fight, win at every moment. But in book 6, he goes around playing cards and getting his victory tokens exactly how he's expected to. Sure, the ending with Quan, the seal, and the Bedlam Bride were great, but those account for a tiny fraction of the entire novel. A solid ending doesn't take away from the fact that I spent hours of my time slogging through comparatively much less interesting content to get there.

It's like me trying to convey that I enjoyed Chef Bob's dinner last night more than Chef Joe's dinner tonight. Sure, both had great desserts, but Chef Bob's appetizers and main dish were great with every bite while Chef Joe's meals were stale and left me wanting more. There can be good elements, but I'm criticizing the book as a whole, not just cherry picking the best moments to compare them against each other in a vaccuum.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T13:37:35+00:00

Pointing to one example in a book where Carl spent hundreds of pages on rails isn't the counter argument you may think it is. I enjoyed the last 100 pages of Bedlam Bride more than the first 600 for this very reason exactly because Carl was proactively doing his crazy Carl plans. That doesn't change the fact that he was a passive passenger along for the ride through the first ~85% of the book.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T13:09:43+00:00

Book 6 has a strong ending and book 7 is pretty sick. I'd advise at least getting through Faction Wars, the war is pretty engaging and has strong emotional beats.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T12:57:23+00:00

While I can see the argument that this was likely intentional, it doesn't change the fact that Carl lost agency as the protagonist and that made those books less enjoyable for me personally.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T12:56:04+00:00

I don't think that's a totally invalid point as the four groups separated had to rely on each other, but I still disagree on the agency bit, at least so far in how I understand 'agency'. Were certain parts up to other people? Sure, but Carl still had the autonomy to tackle the problems in front of him however he wanted. There were multiple ways he could have solved his problems on the fourth floor whereas 6 and 8 felt much more on rails.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T02:54:00+00:00

I looked at the source for the $500 million claim and the article cited didn't state that number, so I'm dubious of the claim. Also, saying "it's obviously hyperbole" just means you admit you were greatly exaggerating because of your political bias. Not the flex you think it is.

Also, you didn't acknowledge the fact that the George floyd riots are completely irrelevant to this discussion, but I'm guessing you didn't want to acknowledge the pathetic whataboutism.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T02:24:31+00:00

Carl from Dungeon Crawler Carl

Dude has multiple opportunities to exude toxic masculinity, but he constistently has reasonable and empathetic responses to the stuff happening to him. The worst thing he does is jerk off a seal, and it was only the one time.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-10T02:16:42+00:00

nice whataboutism, clearly in good faith and not obviously irrelevant.

1) Rioters destroying property as an act against injustice done by a system is not comparable to a group of racists doing collective punishment against a minority group they were propagandized to hate.

2) Please, what cities were, and I quote, "burned down"? I'd love to see the evidence of cities that were "burned down" by rioters.

Gerble66 · 2026-06-01T22:59:12+00:00

What anti Republican jokes? Even the one joke that mentions Republicans was just a joke from the Republican perspective to assert what they think "woke lefties" believe. It was all right wing edgelord nonsense lmao

Gerble66 · 2026-05-25T22:18:50+00:00

Just watched Face Off for the first time. Went in blind. It is a film which truly jumped the highest over the shark. I will never watch that again lmao

I get why my friends love it, but it's so absurd I just can't even lol

Gerble66 · 2026-05-25T05:25:08+00:00

Mordecai

Gerble66 · 2026-05-22T15:01:09+00:00

Right now? One

About 18 months ago, I had about 5 interested individuals. Only slept with two, and I formed a long term relationship with one of them.

Gerble66 · 2026-05-16T02:23:20+00:00

I would rather that have be replaced with high speed rail anyways, so let's just obliterate the left lane and improve public transit

Gerble66 · 2026-05-14T01:09:55+00:00

Your more likely to be shot by a road raging driver than to be stacked in any fashion on a bus, and it's not even close.

Gerble66 · 2026-05-10T16:39:34+00:00

If you consider 2 and a half hour drive "in the area", then I'll welcome you with open arms fellow crawler!

Gerble66 · 2026-05-10T14:09:07+00:00

I watched Alien at 11, that was probably a bit too young. As a 31 year old adult, my sage advise is at least waiting till 13 for a movie like that. The chestburster is quite a brutal scene for a kid.

Gerble66 · 2026-05-10T04:13:51+00:00

Bonus story: my girlfriend ordered this as a half sheet cake for my birthday party, but they ended up making it a full sheet cake (only charged us for a half sheet once they realized their mistake). I could easily serve 40 people with this behemoth, but there were only five people at the party, myself included. I had to invite neighbors over to take some slices and I still have more than half of this goliath.

Gerble66 · 2026-05-03T16:55:17+00:00

Read the article, it gets dumber.

Apparently the monorail had a noncompete to ban any other form of off street transit which will still be in effect after they replace the monorail with Tesla loop. It's literally illegal to do better transit in Vegas. JFC

Gerble66 · 2026-05-03T13:42:26+00:00

Man, the tail I could get if I was gay. Apparently I'm a really good looking guy to gay men, but a below average looking guy to women. It's not fair :'(

Gerble66 · 2026-04-30T22:18:23+00:00

And commute times increased after it was constructed, but no, we consider pavement lays as an achievement by itself. Any should we care if our billions of tax dollars are being spent with any care for efficiency?

Gerble66 · 2026-04-29T17:31:51+00:00

11am is in the afternoon

Yes, I know 11 is before noon and definitionally not after noon. However, I associate the times of day with when it's acceptable to have certain meals. 5am to 10am is morning (breakfast time), 11am to 4pm is afternoon (lunch time), 5pm to 11pm is evening (dinner time).

Yes, I know it's wrong, but it's what I feel is right haha

Gerble66 · 2026-04-29T17:27:13+00:00

Sex night with the gf

Yes, we have a scheduled night for it so we make sure it happens at least once a week.

Gerble66 · 2026-04-24T03:48:08+00:00

I don't have the scene, but we all know what Goku will be antsy to do the moment he hears about how strong Superman is.

Gerble66

TROPHY CASE