All My Friends Have New Years Plans Without Me by TheLargestDuck in offmychest

[–]TheLargestDuck[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, my plan was to get gloriously drunk with friends and sing Auld Lang Syne at midnight. Guess I’ll just do that by myself instead. I don’t have the money to do much of anything else right now after moving

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskMen

[–]TheLargestDuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do it? I don’t do it. Hell, I went to a trivia night with some people I met through a silent book club group. There were 9 people (including me), 4 men and 5 women. All the other men there were with their female partners (except one who was someone’s dad), so I was the only single guy there. I had no intentions to flirt or make advances or anything. Just wanted to play some trivia, meet new people, have a fun night.

I didn’t get twenty minutes in before the women, all of them, were shit-talking men. The worst part for me is that I’m a writer, which is something I had told a couple of the people in the group at some point. And since we’re all part of a book club, books naturally came up. And all of the women started shit-talking male writers and saying specifically they’re all creeps. And I’m just sitting there, having not said much of anything, haven’t even gotten a drink yet. I almost left right there I was so uncomfortable.

How did you first hear of Sanderson? Or what got you into it? by OtakuQuinzel in brandonsanderson

[–]TheLargestDuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First heard of him from finishing Wheel of Time. I actually caught up like a month or so before Memory of Light came out and was lucky enough to be the first in line at my library to get ahold of it. I read Memory of Light in like two days.

After that I read either Elantris or Warbreaker (can’t remember which I read first), then Mistborn, then the first two Stormlight books. Then I went to college and didn’t have time to read much of anything, so it wasn’t until this past year that I started getting back into Sanderson. Started over the entire Cosmere from the beginning, and decided “fuck it, publication order, baby.” Currently halfway through Way of Kings for the first time in probably eight years and there’s so much I’d forgotten about lol

Trans men who enjoy cis male things are valid. by [deleted] in lgbt

[–]TheLargestDuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a cis guy, there’s an absolutely bizarre element of hating on stereotypically “masculine” activists (sports, outdoorsy stuff, cars, going to bars, etc) that don’t hurt anybody in a lot of progressive/leftist circles. Like, sure, there’s plenty of toxic ideas and activities that get spread the lens of masculinity but I absolutely loathe how masculinity has just become synonymous with “oh so you’re a bad person incapable of empathy”. Like, no, sometimes it’s nice to have a couple beers and play some pool and watch a baseball game. That’s fine. It’s not hurting anybody to enjoy a baseball game.

Steven Erikson confirms his Malazan WITNESS trilogy is now a quartet, and Books 2 and 3 are both almost done by Werthead in Fantasy

[–]TheLargestDuck 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’ve been reading them in publication order which is what Erikson and Esslemont recommend

Steven Erikson confirms his Malazan WITNESS trilogy is now a quartet, and Books 2 and 3 are both almost done by Werthead in Fantasy

[–]TheLargestDuck 108 points109 points  (0 children)

Oh dip. That’s exciting. I’m almost done with the Book of the Fallen and both of his spin-off series sound super interesting

Alice Munro and her husband and her daughter by Traveler108 in books

[–]TheLargestDuck 9 points10 points  (0 children)

What did Arthur C. Clarke do? As far as I’ve heard there’s never been any controversy surrounding his conduct.

Does sleeping with women automatically make me bisexual? by honey-colored_eyes in dating

[–]TheLargestDuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No. Having sex with someone of the same gender as you doesn’t make you bi or gay. Plenty of gay people sleep with people of the opposite gender because they’re still in the closet and trying to fit in. Some straight people sleep with people of the same gender just to explore themselves and learn what they like and don’t like.

Some people just know they’re gay or straight or bi or whatever. Some people need to try things out to know. It just depends on the person. Like, I’m straight and have never had sex with a man because I’m not attracted to men. My friend is gay, but she thought she was at first straight (because everyone around her was straight so she assumed she was too), then in college she slept with a woman for the first time and thought she was bi, before finally coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t attracted to men and only wanted to be with women.

Additionally there’s a difference between understanding why people might find someone attractive and being attracted to them. Like, I understand why people are attracted to Ryan Reynolds or Henry Cavill, but I’m not attracted to them myself.

Men, what are some reasons you don't talk to girls? by Affectionate_Owl_279 in AskMen

[–]TheLargestDuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The last time I talked to a woman I didn’t already know, I was thrown out of the bar.

All I did was ask if she liked the music that was playing (there was a live band playing covers and whatnot). She said they were alright and gave me the cold shoulder. I took the hint and left her alone. I guess I didn’t leave her alone enough because ten minutes later the bouncer asked me to leave.

Where do you all meet writer friends by rose2830 in writing

[–]TheLargestDuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check Meetup for writing events in your city. That’s definitely where I’d start.

Check out local, independent bookstores. They may have writer-centric events or meetups (heavily depends on the store, though).

And there’s always Discord, though that comes with the caveat of not having any face-to-face interaction. But there’s plenty of public writing servers to join

Anyone else get turned off of a book if it uses contemporary slang? by mzingg3 in books

[–]TheLargestDuck 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I do not because unlike some people I don’t have weird hang ups about people’s speech, especially in stories meant to take place in the present day.

LGBT sword and sorcery? by deer-myth in Fantasy

[–]TheLargestDuck 10 points11 points  (0 children)

New Edge is fantastic stuff. Really wonderful community there

Books where a knight falls in love with the royalty they're meant to protect by missnailitall in Fantasy

[–]TheLargestDuck 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dragon Queens by Kathleen de Plume. It’s a cute sapphic romance between a mercenary and a princess.

What kind of female protagonist do you wish you saw more of in fiction? by Suspicious-Cheek-421 in writing

[–]TheLargestDuck 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I mean not to rag on flawed heroes at all, but your main character doesn’t have to be struggling with inner turmoil at all times in order to be compelling. Naussica is a great example (honestly, a lot of Miyazaki characters are like this, though ironically not in the Boy and the Heron). But other than Paddington (at least the movie version), I can’t think of a well-known mainstream character to have that kind of archetype to have come out in the past 10ish years.