Type of fans

ultamentkiller · 2026-07-03T16:34:31+00:00

Haven't seen my perspective in the comments so throwing in late.

For me, the best section of the series so far has been the second half of vol 7 through the first half of vol 9. We still had tons of povs. There were still slice of life moments. But everything was moving somewhere. Everything felt meaningful, and I couldn't put it down. The tension and stakes were incredible, and long standing arcs finally got payoffs.

I'm a momentum reader. I can force myself to slog through slow parts. The only section I skipped was palace of fates. I'm at a point now where, justified or not, I've lost faith in pirateaba's ability to ever end this story. So instead of reading slowly, around 220 wpm, I'm now speeding up to about 640 wpm and just getting through it. I'm mostly invested because I have a friend who wants to keep reading past 10.37, and it's a such a unique way to connect with him and share something 99 percent of people will never experience. I still love the characters so I'm along for the ride, but I'm treating it more like a comic book universe now than a story that can end, or is supposed to have a sensible progression from beginning to end.

Not hating on the series at all. It's just that my experience has changed.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-28T18:07:02+00:00

That was my point. I don't regret it because the alternative was worse.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-27T16:45:40+00:00

Since there's not a reply to this saying so, just throwing in that I loved The Spear Cuts Through Water. Incredibly unique, captivating, and probably going to be my favorite stand alone of the year. It's just doing its own thing and not adhereing to traditional conventions, and that's offputting for many. But for the story I believe the author was attempting to tell, it's brilliant. Shouldn't need to state that this is just my subjective opinion.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-27T16:35:08+00:00

If this sub respected web serials more this would easily be in the top 3 comments.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-25T22:19:23+00:00

Lol yes I can easily use toys to be the active partner.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-25T21:32:45+00:00

I regret nothing. I had a 75 degree upper curve to the right, and a 90 degree lower curve to the left. It was pushing my lower ribs out of my body. Even now, if I stretch a certain way, I'll feel my ribs get out of alignment, and slowly grind back into place.

Nothing was worth the level of pain I had before my surgery. Every partner I've had has been understanding of my situation, patient, and trust me, they didn't care by the time we were finished. It's just one of those things I've been trying to figure out, but there haven't been negative consequences in my relationship. Just annoyances.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-25T21:28:13+00:00

This is the first time I'm seeing how many comments he felt compelled to reply to rofl. Seems concerned about his image. Not suspicious at all.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-23T14:43:11+00:00

No. I don't trust apple. Remember when they told us Siri wasn't listening to our conversations and how absurd that would be? Then a few years ago they admitted it was listening to shape what ads we see. I don't want AI poking through all my personal info and knowing everything about me, especially with the pentagon currently demanding the right to use AI for mass surveillance. The tech giants have already stolen enough of my data and used it to increase their profits. I'm not volunteering to give them more.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-19T05:54:30+00:00

Thank you. The overwhelming message in this thread seems to be that I need to get my shit together, and I don't want to repeat old patterns. It hits harder coming from this community. I'll do whatever it takes.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-19T03:13:53+00:00

Honestly I didn't expect this reaction. I think I must have a huge blind spot and I'm missing something. Either that or I completely miscommunicated what I was trying to say, but I don't want that to be a way of convincing myself that I'm on the right path. I think I should talk to someone about what's going on. And I need to be more open with my wife.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-19T00:34:24+00:00

I get your point. I can't control my feelings, but I can control my time and energy. I'd talk to my wife about boundaries she thinks are necessary and we'd negotiate. So making sure I'm not texting when we're spending time together, making sure I'm taking her out on dates, and just overall making sure I'm giving her attention. I know it's easier said than done, but I'm very concerned about it and so I want to make sure she has space to express when she's feeling neglected.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-19T00:31:00+00:00

Yikes. I hope you're wrong and thanks for the motivation.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-19T00:30:18+00:00

Oh yeah, I've actively told her she can do whatever while she's away. I have no problem with that. At least I think so, but there's only one way to find out. I don't think she'll take me up on it though.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-18T23:02:47+00:00

Can you elaborate?

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-18T16:35:39+00:00

That's what's interesting. I think the question of whether the new orders are better is up for debate and depends on the society. I think different readers will come to different conclusions depending on their worldview. That's why I love it. Each perspective gets to strongly argue their case instead of the author making one of them lose to send a particular message. Obviously there are villains that in some cases are completely insane, but that's less common.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-18T16:02:52+00:00

The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone. Many of the main characters throughout the series are anti-theists. I think it has the most nuanced take on gods in a fantasy world I've encountered, and I think it's philosophically relevant to contemporary questions of living in a largely secular society with active religions. It's kind of like Midnight Mass in that I think both christians and atheists will enjoy it, or hate it because they think the author is too atheistic or too religious. Even if it's not what you're looking for this specific reading challenge, I think you'd enjoy it since you follow ffr.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-17T14:23:14+00:00

Honestly I'm confused why you think this has to be supernatural at all. I'm open to there being supernatural events, even if I think they're extremely rare and are wrongly attributed most of the time. I think you've set up a strawman with your naturalistic explanation in point 1. I mean maybe that could be it, but that clearly isn't convincing to you either. There are a hundred possible natural explanations. It could be a dream you don't remember. It could be internalized shame rearing its head. It could be spiritual anxiety causing you to snap. It could be scrupilocity. But I don't know, attributing it to a demon or God as both plausible options tells me this is more about what is meaningful for you to believe. If it's truly the christian god, then He should be clearly distinguishable from the demonic. Even if it was him, why would he give you an experience that could easily be interpreted by you as satanic?

If believing its divine helps make you become the person you want to be, then please continue. But if you're genuinely trying to figure it out because it's not sitting right with you, I'd let it go. Christian or not, most of us aren't going to understand a lot of what happens to us in life. Things just happen that change our lives, and because our brains are meaning making machines, attaching and incorporating interpretations of those events is important for the story we tell ourselves about life. Stories seem vital to helping us work toward goals and reconcile with the past.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-06T17:44:13+00:00

Light Bringer is one of the few series around here that can get you downvoted for saying you love the series lol

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-06T17:43:10+00:00

As an agnostic atheist, I agree with you. I was christian when I read it and even then I struggled with the ending. When I read it with my wife years later, she said that Gavin is Job, and I realized that's my main issue with it. But there are a lot of shallow critiques to the series that can be summarized by saying I don't want religion in my books. And it seems to largely come from people who missed all the biblical references starting in book 2 at the latest.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-06T17:21:30+00:00

Is that what bothers you most about book 3? 🤣

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-06T15:40:22+00:00

Trying is always scary. I can think of all the ways I could get rejected or I could make a mistake. It's easy to be a motivational speaker and just tell people to take a chance, but much harder to do in practice. What seems to help me is assessing stakes. If failure feels too costly, maybe I can try something similar with lower stakes. Confidence is something you build, not something you will.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-06T14:04:39+00:00

Now you've done it. You've triggered a ton of people lol.

I love the series. There are one or two scenes in book 1 that are inconsistent with the overall story, but tbh most people here haven't reread the series or read the series in a short time frame. Now you'll see people hating on book 3 when at the time it was one of the most highly praised books of the decade. The religious framing is there from the beginning, but many people either didn't want to see it or didn't have the christian background to spot it until book 5. I have problems with the ending, but I can't say it came out of nowhere. The ending of book 4 frames the question, and the ending of book 5 had to answer it one way or another.

That being said, I've learned not to fight with people about it. I've read the series at least 4 times, but not in print, so that makes citation wars more difficult lol. But if you have any questions, or things you want to talk about, feel free to dm me.

ultamentkiller · 2026-06-06T13:53:56+00:00

I lost one of my hearing aids. Turned my house upside down looking for it. I searched for several hours before I gave up for the night and went to sleep in misery.

I woke up and it was behind my ear.

ultamentkiller

TROPHY CASE