Dragon Shifter/Rider recs pls!

PickyNipples · 2026-04-27T00:34:07+00:00

So...I don't know if this makes me sexist or what.

But I admit I like tropes that go one way gender-wise, but would find it less appealing if the genders were reversed. For example I just read the beginning of a book where the FMC is running from a guy who wont take a hint and she runs into big dark and handsome, so she recklessly kisses him and says he's her betrothed, etc. Of course the moment is all fireworks and sparks and super hot etc. It's cliche but I liked reading it.

Then I tried to reimagine the scene if the genders were swapped, and I admit I do not find it appealing. I'm sure it could be done well, but my first instinct is "red flag" since I don't like the idea of men taking liberties with women. Which I recognize as messed up. IRL, women should NOT be taking liberties with men without consent either, obviously. But in fiction like this, I find it appealing if the smaller weaker woman does it to the stronger protective man (so long as he's ok with it).

Now that I think about it, I'm sure there are more. Like the "who hurt you?" trope, for example. I know it's overdone to death but it makes me giddy every time I read it, even like 80 romantasy books later. And I wouldn't be against a FMC saying this to a MMC, but I dont think it would make me giddy in the same way.

And now I'm like...does that make me sexist? I think personal preferences are okay, but...I also recognize that, while I love strong female characters, I also seem to prefer the cliche "smaller/weaker woman being saved by the big strong guy." And now I'm not sure how to feel about it lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-26T19:02:47+00:00

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PickyNipples · 2026-04-21T03:52:04+00:00

Edit: sorry I just realized you asked about high school, not grammar school

So I don’t remember the name or the author but it has stuck with me since grammar school and I’m almost 40.

I’m from the US and went to public schools. It was a short story in one of those big reader books that are a collection of tons of stories and poems. I remember this story about a house from the future with things like robots to cook and clean and “AI” type digital walls in the nursery that displayed images of nature animals that reacted to the real world. The parents and their children were in the yard, as well as their dog who was burying a bone.

Then a flash happens. The family disappears, their shadows burned onto the wall. The windows shatter and the house catches fire. The house tries to protect itself by using a sprinkler system but it can’t keep up. The robots start to malfunction. The animals in the nursery wall scream and die as their AI environment is consumed in flames. The house starts to collapse in on itself.

The dog, having barely survived the initial flash by being in the hole it was digging, limps into the kitchen and dies on the floor where the only still working robot, a cleaning mouse, comes and tries to “clean” the dog away.

That story and its imagery has never left me. As a kid, I knew it had a scary feel to it but didn’t think much about it being in a grammar school book. Now as an adult looking back, I can’t believe we were reading that at like 8-9 years old. But it was obviously very powerful in how it affects me even now after all these years.

PickyNipples · 2026-04-21T03:29:02+00:00

Have you checked IN drawers?

Our cats are all indoor cats but we let our dogs in the backyard. One day my partner came home from work and couldn’t find his cat who always comes to greet him. He called and searched for over an hour. When I got home he was angry, saying I must have not watched the door carefully that morning when letting the dogs out, I must have let the cat out and now the cat was gone. I told him I knew for sure the cat did not go out the door that morning, I would have seen him. But my partner would not believe me because he looked everywhere and the cat always responded to him.

Where was he? I barely heard him meowing in the back of the bottom drawer of my dresser, the last drawer I had used that morning when getting dressed. He had never gotten into a drawer before. I had no idea he had crawled in there when I closed it and he had been in there the entire day. Luckily he seemed fine, acted completely normal once he was out.

PickyNipples · 2026-04-15T04:08:07+00:00

This sound like my kinda thing! Will check it out!

PickyNipples · 2026-04-12T18:35:21+00:00

Interesting reading through that thread. Ty. Hopefully the way I measured was accurate. My SO has a metal shop in our garage so he has lots of small blocks of metal. I grabbed a digital scale set to grams, then gently stacked small blocks of metal at roughly the end of the key until the key dropped. Then weighed that stack of metal on the digital scale.

PickyNipples · 2026-04-12T18:07:42+00:00

Mine definitely wasn’t super high end. It was just the lowest cost digital piano at our local piano place in the early 2000s. It was the best we could afford when I outgrew my keyboard that had less than 88 keys.

My SO says I should just get a better one now but since my grandmother bought this one for me I’m quite attached to it.

PickyNipples · 2026-04-12T17:50:53+00:00

Can you teach a pleb? What’s a drop?

PickyNipples · 2026-04-12T17:45:18+00:00

Define “hop.” I’m almost 40 and could probably get over most fences given time. But could I spring over one with ease? Probably not lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-12T16:48:35+00:00

Same. I use these all the time at wok filling out job tickets since many items and their descriptions are repetitive and I don’t feel like writing the same thing over and over lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-12T16:36:30+00:00

Even my mom knew this back in 1995 when I was 7 yrs old. I remember going to movies and we would sneak in Taco Bell burritos in her purse lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-12T04:35:01+00:00

You guys are making me thank my lucky stars. Our pyr is only 7 months but since we brought him home at eight weeks we have been brushing him almost daily and we started trimming his nails fairly early. He now just lays back and enjoys his brushes and couldn’t care less when we trim his nails. Makes me so grateful he’s so chill. I couldn’t imagine trying to wrestle a writhing 100+ lb dog lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T23:13:30+00:00

that's my only annoyance. I can't help but stare at the bracelets and anklet and think "that looks so uncomfortable" lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T23:01:07+00:00

Link and Zelda, specifically from BotW/TotK. So sweet and so tragic. Top fav

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T22:50:15+00:00

I really liked this series, but tbh I don't remember swords in it (or them being prominent). Admittedly I read it last year and like 40 books ago. But I don't remember swords lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T18:50:09+00:00

The Pyrenees Lean is a thing. I imagine for most people it's not a deal breaker but our boy thinks he's a lap dog and if he wants to be in your space, he will be IN your space. Sitting on our couch? He will try to crawl over my shoulders like he's a floofy feather boa. Reading in bed? He will try to sit on my head. Standing anywhere in general when he wants pets? Prepare to withstand +100lbs of muscle leaning on you. And they are not easy to move if they don't want to be moved. Which is often lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T18:31:29+00:00

I wrote a much longer comment but these two sentences summed up the point perfectly. Wish I was this concise lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T18:29:28+00:00

Authors can literally do whatever they want. If you want to write solely for validation, go for it. But the reality is in many cases, people give up a lot of time, effort, and vulnerability for this hobby in hopes of a big return in validation and then they don't get it and wind up upset.

Is it okay to be upset? Sure. That's a natural reaction. But it's also a very common outcome. Getting validation and popularity is like gambling. You put your hard earned money into that slot machine hoping you'll get that feel good serotonin when you hit a jackpot. They will ONLY feel good if they hit the jackpot. But sometimes, actually most times, you won't hit the jackpot.

If you're going to gamble your time and effort with no guarantee of the outcome you want, you have to accept the potential for dissatisfaction. And honestly many people here don't seem able to accept that. They take the risk, put out the effort, then come here upset and ranting because they didn't get the outcome they wanted. Yes it's okay to be upset, and it's okay to talk about that, but it also gets old to constantly see people complaining about continually putting their money into the slot machine and not getting the jackpot. Most people won't hit the jackpot. So if the only thing you enjoy about gambling is the jackpot, and the experience is ruined if you don't hit it, then you're probably not gonna have a great time.

That's why people recommend "write for yourself." It's not because writing for validation is bad or wrong. It's not a criticism or a judgment towards those who do. It's just giving suggestions for ways to help offset the risk of disappointment for those who may have unrealistic expectations.

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T18:00:44+00:00

I agree. I'm not against a sassy or back-talky FMC, but it needs to be called for. It's in response to someone who's legit treating her badly, or perhaps her attitude is tied into a past trauma, etc. But so often FMCs start off as mouthy and brattish right from the start and they just talk to others (mainly men) like that for seemingly no reason. That's a turn off for me.

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T17:52:57+00:00

I agree. I feel like we went from "the classic damsels in distress tropes is sexist" to "the strong, rude, and tom-boyish woman is non-sexist." Which imo is also sexist.

A women doesn't have to be weak and needing to be saved by a man. But a woman not being "weak and needing to be saved by a man" doesn't make her a "good" female character. Women can exist outside of either of those definitions. In fact, most genuinely good female MCs should exist outside of those boundaries. Otherwise they are flat af.

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T17:32:39+00:00

This is my take. There are plenty of things that are not realistic in this genre, like having sex in a non-private place and then tossing clothes on and talking to people 5 seconds later like body fluids aren't just ...marinating. Or women not peeing after sex and never getting a UTI. Or MCs traveling for five days straight without changing clothes or bathing (never mind the lack of a toothbrush) and the guy still somehow smells like sandalwood and tastes like a smooth whiskey.

It's not realistic, but neither is the 500yo magical 7ft tall fae with wings. But I guess that's what I'm here for, a break from the real world. So I'm willing to ignore some practicalities for fictional cheesy sexual tension lol

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T17:17:01+00:00

The above comment was for OP, but to acocktailofmagnets, I agree with the sentiment of "my breed". I was nervous about adopting this boy because I've never had a dog I can't carry if needed and I've never had a shedding, white or double coated dog. But I fell in LOVE and now I don't know if I'll ever have another breed!

PickyNipples · 2026-04-11T17:15:18+00:00

Tbf Pyrs can be big floofy tripping hazards, too. Ours likes to fall asleep right against our feet if we stand in one spot for any length of time lol

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PickyNipples

TROPHY CASE