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Black August posted:Any experience or practical advice on the reality of the situation is valuable to me. I know the scene is decaying and changing year to year. So I should save my aces for publication, my trash for Kindle, and my smaller stuff for Amazon. Sounds like I got a lot of pen names to lock down. I really liked his collection called Robots Have No Tails. It's about an inventor who could only invent while drunk, and would wake up trying to figure out what the hell he had made. It was really fun, but has warts/shows its age at times. (I think there was some l sexism stuff that was actually light for the period, but that's the worst I remember.) Speaking of bad stuff: Piers Anthony has exactly 1(one) series that isn't creepy from memory. It's about a space dentist, and there's no "romance" (aka being a creep) just fun weird stuff about a human dentist uprooted from earth doing his thing in space and helping aliens.
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Sep 21, 2020 04:52
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BattleMaster posted:Replace Kenders with Ken Penders I made a very sad sound that I can't transliterate. I think kender work more as an rpg mechanic than compelling book characters. Because of this thread I've thought of how I'd handle one were I running a game/building a world. I remember them being described as not often even aware they had filched something. So, I'd essentially build it into the world that the party members likely know the dangers of having them around, and that they would simply just be a culture that didn't get the whole personal property thing, as they would personally just share their own resources. Because of the lil fingats that seem to think for themselves, I'd have the player roll a dice at the end of a session or just every so often to see what they'd picked up. It could be a fun extra for the character, something that could cause trouble, or a really really easy way for me to plant a plot hook on someone. "And now you find a jade statue of a dragon. It looks like the one that was in the wizard's office! But I bet it's nothing, right?" "That signet ring was totally planted on you!" Of course, this would be a thing I spoke to all players on, and would make sure everyone was okay with. Otherwise, why do it? I might make it a thing where pcs just don't get stolen from, or, if they're ok, maybe they do a good-natured shakedown of the lil guy at the end of every session. Have some items that are just immune, etc. I can see how it could be cute and fun, but if it got annoying or caused trouble, we'd drop it. Depends on the group and what they want.
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Sep 23, 2020 06:32
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poisonpill posted:A kender, wild mage, paladin, and a chaotic neutral psionic walk into a tavern. I would enjoy this game, but only because I like stupid things.
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Sep 24, 2020 06:47
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xcheopis posted:All three are just mobile packs of protein. Frankly, so are you and I, what's your point?
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Oct 7, 2020 05:44
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I just found out my dm and his fiance meet in a dragonlance game. Most of the people in the canon characters even ended up marrying. I'm going to tease him mercilessly.
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Jan 8, 2021 07:23
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My dad likes the Redshirts series, which is hilarious bc Scalzi is pretty opposite his politics.
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Mar 10, 2022 21:13
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Terry Goodkind looked exactly like you expected Terry Goodkind to look from the body of his work.
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Mar 14, 2022 21:27
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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:Okay there's only two genuinely good moments in the Dragonlance universe There are a few times the editor didn't catch that Sturm's name was spelled wrong as "Strum" and it got to print. Those are good moments in the book.
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Mar 16, 2022 03:54
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Atopian posted:If it's weird fantasy amphetamine binges that you're after, just play Morrowind and read all the background lore books. Can't you actually get a version of this that's been collected and bound? Or was that an art project someone did?
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Mar 18, 2022 03:00
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Mr.Chill posted:I remember being frustrated that most Dragonlance books were not specifically about and starring dragons, then found the Douglas Niles book "Dragonlance: The Dragons" and my wish was granted. Dang I'm gonna look that up, I like dragons.
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Mar 19, 2022 16:16
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Mr.Chill posted:I remember enjoying the heck out of The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey (no one ever brings her up when discussing fantasy, which is weird because she was quite prolific and not a bad writer), mainly because of how different it was. Hey! I read that one! I really enjoyed it. I liked Lackey. I remember reading quite a few of her books. There was a set about elves that had really complex (at least for a middleschooler) society where elves took over and treated humans as particularly intelligent pack animals. There was a lot that was said about sexism, as their society was really male-oriented. Like, the dude elves kept harems of humans, but it was framed as a mega hosed up thing that isn't sexy or cool, and is fact a bad thing. The main character of the first book (Elvenbane?) was a rare half-elf born from a human concubine who was dumped in the desert after a rival hosed up her birth control. She was then raised by dragons because they are good and cool in this series. There was a lot of nuance, though, bc while the elven society was a den of snakes, there were still decent elves that were just regular people mixed in with the mega rich assholes. One character is actually an elf noble who was a very "weak" mage and couldn't do combat magic, but she found she could do much more subtle magic than any combat mage that was actually insanely useful, like altering the structures of living things creating new plant breeds and such. Even with the harem thing, I don't recall anything overtly egregious, as with any male writer at the time.
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Mar 21, 2022 18:37
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I can't imagine there's 40+ books of things to say about them.
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Mar 22, 2022 11:05
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I hate humans for invading this planet, so I must be evil.
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Mar 22, 2022 20:56
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Attitude Indicator posted:I read bad fantasy books for bad fantasy sex! It’s all I have! My dude, there is a world of kindleporn waiting for you. Don't worry, we won't take it.
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Mar 27, 2022 14:19
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carrionman posted:Finding out Brandon "I've read at least 6 of your books but who the gently caress are you again?" Sanderson was continuing the wheel of time after old matey bored himself to death was just perfect.  That's a... take. I'm not super into WoT, so I've got no dog in the fight, aside from knowing Jordan ended up bloviating a bunch to make more books and take care of his sick wife. I can't hate the man for that, or muster a spicy take on the contents due to it. I just kind of don't want to read them. Actually- there could be a market for an abridged WoT series that cuts the fat. It could be a pretty decent set.
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Mar 27, 2022 14:30
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Groke posted:However. At the very end, once the tentacle monsters are defeated and the survivors get to go home for a victory parade and some well-deserved R&R... she heads straight to a beauty parlor, as is ever the unchanging way of her sex. I died laughing. I think it's really hokey and silly, kind of cringey in that old time sexist way, but realistically I think I would want a haircut and a mani after a long space voyage and defeating a monster, especially if I were to be in a parade! Like, how did you even cut your hair in space? Clippings all over! Miserable! If you turn it on its head, it's kind of a reasonable reaction, though the writer was just being a patronizing, typical example of his type.
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Mar 29, 2022 13:59
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The Moon Monster posted:No it's just strongly encouraged. Also when not casting spells. Wait what? I read like... two of them? Before wandering off to something else, and I don't recall this! (Whatever the reason for bloviating may have been, noble or not, Jordan did bloviate.) All I remember was some questionable gender politics (dudes can't do magic bc it makes the crazy evil, bc men suck, ooh bad men with no self control or agency to not be evil!) with the wizard ladies.
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Mar 30, 2022 18:36
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Kchama posted:The Wizard Ladies were the epitome of MAN-HATING EVIL FEMINAZIS and everyone hated them and disrespected them and there was huge anti-Wizard Lady murder squads roaming the countryside despite the Wizard Ladies supposedly running the continent. I thought only the.... red? Green? Ones hated men? They were by colors, I recall that. Part of why I did fall off the wagon was that I could see where it was going, the male half of magic was sick, but more powerful. Don't divide your magic on gender lines, that's dumb. I don't even know what a trans person would be able to do in such a world. A nonbinary individual might just be a god.
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Mar 31, 2022 13:20
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Empty Sandwich posted:after all, there wouldn't be a top spanking There absolutely is top spanking, if you're a power bottom and your top is that kind of submissive!
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Apr 2, 2022 11:26
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ChubbyChecker posted:when he found out that his disease was terminal he absolutely increased spankings in the books A man panics when his time becomes more precious.
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Apr 2, 2022 15:41
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Trimson Grondag 3 posted:Oh I'm so glad someone else has read this. Its such an oddity, sort of early take on urban fantasy plus combined with some weird sex stuff (I know they go hand in hand now but this seems like an early example?). Then portals into a non traditional fantasy world. Heavy on the FEMALE SPIRIT VS MALE SPIRIT stuff but with what is sort of a intersex character to mediate it. I essentially write off authors that go hard into magic and spirit being by gender as a universal truth in settings. I can see women and men falling into certain roles in a magic society, but only for similar reasons to why we take certain jobs. Culture can push you one way or another, regardless of what you could actually be good at, or your gender. I mean, trans woman tech pro is so common it's a joke. Why do you not see as many trans men in the field? We're actively discouraged from tech in childhood, unlike our counterparts. So dudes might be seen as better at fireballs or whatever not because they are, but because they have better access to that education, are encouraged to it, creating the self-fulfilling perception they're inclined to it by nature. But, you know, that's just an obvious, puddle-deep sort of nuance that isn't important when you're a big important writer that's getting deep into philosophy or something. I think I like the concept of books with dragons more than the reality, at times.
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Apr 4, 2022 06:43
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:Is there some kind of cutoff date for that? Like, authors prior to 2000 or whenever get some kind of a begrudging pass? Yeah, no, I don't really give things like that a pass, either. Context and time period is a thing, but it doesn't excuse it. That sounds pretty dire.
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Apr 4, 2022 15:01
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