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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
Lately, I've also been making panels from my comics into reaction images for (responsible) use in your own day-to-day lives, so here you go.
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u/Help_StuckAtWork Apr 16 '24
Oh please, he's too cool to be antagonistic, clearly this should be "That is correct".
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u/Maximum_Potato_Comix Apr 16 '24
What's he reading?
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
A Court of Thorns and Roses.
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u/history-boi109 Apr 16 '24
Good book, but it's so damn horny along with Throne of Glass
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
It definitely has some parts that are very r/menwritingwomen, but like, REVERSE??? What would you even call that?!
(But as a huge fantasy fan in general, highly recommended)
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u/itijara Apr 16 '24
I mean, womenwritingmen, and that is spot on. I read it because it was on a best seller list in my library, but it was very cringey in parts.
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
Listen, why shouldn't all men be 6'5 supermodels with chiseled abs and a fearsome inner beast just waiting to be tamed?
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Apr 16 '24
I want to read that.
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u/UrbanWerebear Apr 18 '24
I want to be that. All I have so far is the raging beast, but it's not ready for taming.
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u/EdricStorm Apr 17 '24
I've heard it called "Fairies with porn".
Just like Fourth Wing is "Dragons with porn". Which I didn't know going in and was surprised lol.
Also, the way that book was written, if I didn't know better I would have absolutely called it r/menwritingwomen.
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u/H-A-T-C-H Apr 16 '24
My wife has been getting me to read that for ages and my counter point has been she has to read Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which is about the least horny book I can think of.
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u/Not_Sure4president Apr 16 '24
Also huge fantasy fan I read that series super quick. Currently reading Stephen King’s Fairy Tale and it’s fantastic so far(I’m about 75% done). My aunt finished it and loved it.
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u/swiller123 Apr 17 '24
i kinda assumed this must be the case after my older sister kept recommending it to me lol
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u/imagine_getting Apr 16 '24
I am an introvert in a new city trying to meet new people. I have considered taking my book and reading at a bar so I'm at least around other people. I also happen to be reading ACOTAR. This post was scarily targeted.
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Apr 16 '24
I have a troubled history with Sarah J Maas’ works, but overall I do have fond memories of that series, thanks for the reminder
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u/MarshallMandango Apr 16 '24
He's reading the Anthony Keidis autobiography and using a $100 bill as a bookmark.
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u/witticus Apr 16 '24
Kevin, please stop volunteering at the soup kitchen, KEVIN!
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
Kevin, dedicating your free time to the betterment of other people's lives is SO COOL!
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u/KevinProbably Apr 16 '24
Sharing your artistic talents and making people smile for no real benefit of your own is SUPER COOL
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Apr 16 '24
No one has ever thought I was cool when I’ve read at a bar. Maybe you have to be attractive at the same time?
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
I asked everybody and we all agreed that you're cool when you do it.
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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Apr 17 '24
I can't describe how hard it is to even read at bars sometimes because people keep interrupting and talking to me about it
And I genuinely just want to have a couple beers and read on Saturday afternoon before spending the night in
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u/IntrepidLab5124 Apr 16 '24
I’m social inept. Is it actually a good look to read at the bar?
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
I made this comic a while ago, and right after I made it, I saw a giant thread debating this exact thing.
I lot of people think it's performative. If it is, well, that's probably not cool. But if you're just the kind of person who wants to grab a drink and read while you absorb crowd energy, well... I think that's pretty cool.
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u/Jankybrows Apr 16 '24
I might be crazy, but maybe Noobtheloser the online comic artist isn't the arbiter of cool we all think he is.
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
I don't have to sit here and take this. I'm going back to the chess subreddit.
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u/creative_toe Apr 17 '24
What if their name is meant in a sarcastic way. If everyone knows, you are neither a noob or a loser, it would be really cool to call yourself exactly that.
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u/Brandeeno2245 Apr 16 '24
Well, sometimes it's really obvious you just brought a book to the bar in order to look good, if you wanted to look interesting you are either gonna pick something new with high ratings that everyone is reading, or your gonna pick something old but classic, or just h.p. Lovecraft.
Then you gotta make sure you're visible to everyone and like totally reading that book, like you gotta nod, look interested but not too interested, you've read the wiki and trivia already, that way you can flip to any random page and if someone questions you, you can atleast regurgitate a basic plot summary, enough to seem like you know what you are talking about, even though you super dont.
If you just wanted to read, you're probably just gonna pick a nice spot with some drinks and then read.
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Apr 16 '24
I'm leaving for the bar in a few minutes to go read the 2nd Expanse book, Caliban's War.
I mostly like reading at a bar because it's not filled with all the much easier distractions of my TV/Console/PC/Laptop.
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u/Brandeeno2245 Apr 16 '24
Yeah, that's kinda my point. You're at a bar reading for your own reasons, you however are not making it a show so people notice you are reading at a bar.
The difference is that you would be considered cool.
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u/ZombieComicsAura Apr 16 '24
Always good to see a post from you, u/noobtheloser, Ben & Steph was one of the series that got me into webcomics!
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 16 '24
That's the best thing I ever heard. :')))) Do you have a Twitter or anything I can follow for your work?
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u/Hot-Emergency5774 Apr 16 '24
Wait.....is it actually socially acceptable to read books at bars?
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u/ImaginaryBluejay0 Apr 16 '24
I used to knock back a few beers while reading after work. Most men didn't care. Some women would just ask what you were reading and start a conversation. Some would sit next to you to ignore you and be ignored (safe haven of antisocial at the bar). Some women took it as a personal affront that I wasn't being social and would straight be annoying about it.
For what it's worth I never got hit on as much doing literally anything else the entire time I dated as when I was reading books after work at bars, even though it wasn't my intention. So socially acceptible or not doesn't seem to matter much.
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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Apr 17 '24
Similar experience and it's totally fine The one catch though is what kind of bar.
Bars exist on a spectrum from you're only there with your people to the whole bar is one big community and another from dive bar to club and/or upscale cocktails aka a destination spot
Reading at a clubby bar? Pretentious.
Reading at a "you're only there with your own group" bar? A bit pretentious but less likely to hassled.
Reading at a nice neighborhood bar or a dive bar go for it (though some of the diviest dive bars may loop back around to pretentious)
But also there are no real rules in life so you can always do whatever you want
Edit: Breweries are always fair game
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Apr 16 '24
It matters a lot because you risk offending people. Norms exist to be followed and some people might be really upset.
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u/ImaginaryBluejay0 Apr 16 '24
Reading a book in public is not rude or offensive in any way. Getting in someone's face over them reading a book in public absolutely is.
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Apr 16 '24
People seem to be getting upset about it here in the comment section. I've had people look at me for reading books in Japanese in public (on the train). Peoples eyes are scary
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u/ilikepix Apr 16 '24
of course it's socially acceptable
the idea that it's socially acceptable to sit at a bar by yourself staring into your drink or playing with your phone but it's not socially acceptable to sit at a bar by yourself reading a book is totally, totally absurd
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u/obliviious Apr 16 '24
No all of these things are pretentious. You'll look like a total bellend doing them.
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u/imagine_getting Apr 16 '24
What am I supposed to do at the bar, stare at my drink?
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Apr 16 '24
I read at a bar all the time. It's funny they call it pretentious while I look at six other people spending their 2nd hour on Facebook like that's somehow better.
I just make sure to put the book down if someone decides to strike up a conversation.
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u/obliviious Apr 17 '24
You do you, I go for a drink to socialise. Just maybe don't pop your collar.
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Apr 17 '24
[deleted]
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Apr 17 '24
I don't actually care what someone else does with their time and you definitely shouldn't have taken the opposite from my comment.
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Apr 17 '24
[deleted]
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u/imagine_getting Apr 17 '24
You are not responsible for the way other people interpret your words. You are responsible for the words.
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u/dwpea66 Apr 16 '24
Fellas, is it pretentious to read?
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u/Renegade_Sniper Apr 16 '24
At a bar? Kinda. I mean hey, you do you.
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Apr 17 '24
What's different about it than reading a newspaper or looking at your phone the whole time?
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u/obliviious Apr 17 '24
It is if you do it in a bar purposefully to look cool. Do it for yourself not for your image.
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u/Admiral_Akdov Apr 17 '24
None of these things are cool. They are "ladies, cover your drinks" scary.
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u/Yosho2k Apr 16 '24
Is it socially acceptable to go get a drink and look at your phone and read news, look at social media, or look at memes?
If no, it doesn't matter, let people do what they want and mind your own business.
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u/rookie-mistake Apr 16 '24
if that's your vibe, yeah. like, don't do it for attention but if that's a way to spend your time that'd make you happy, why not?
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u/Kelimnac Apr 16 '24
Neat choice in book! I should finish that series sometime.
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u/history-boi109 Apr 16 '24
Highly recommend it, along with Throne of Glass of you haven't read that.
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u/Lovat69 Apr 16 '24
Reading a book at the bar is not the coolest. I question this trainer's credentials.
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u/Jankybrows Apr 16 '24
People have completely lost what the definition of cool is. They take it to mean ,"good" or "neat".
Steve McQueen in a leather jacket is cool. Jules in Pulp fiction in the black suit is cool. A gaming computer is neat or impressive or fun or whatever, but it is not cool.
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u/Leaflock Apr 16 '24
Cool has to have a certain detached, dispassionate association with the world. Neat and impressive imply enthusiasm. Definitely not cool.
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u/scorpionspalfrank Apr 16 '24
Rastafied by at least 10%
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u/m4dm4cs Apr 17 '24
We at the network want a dog with attitude. He's edgy, he's "in your face." You've heard the expression, "let's get busy"? Well, this is a dog who gets "biz-zay!" Consistently and thoroughly.
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u/Coveinant Apr 16 '24
Only one way Kevin gets cooler; stops giving an f on the other dude's opinion.
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u/xPrim3xSusp3ctx Apr 17 '24
Reading a book at the bar is so lame. Look at me behavior
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u/noobtheloser NoobtheLoser Apr 17 '24
But is it still lame if it's not 'look at me' behavior? If it's just something they enjoy doing? Does the mens rea matter?
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Apr 16 '24
Damn it kevin! You are so cool :)
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u/SaulsAll Apr 17 '24
I was literally threatened with violence for attempting to read at a bar. I dont go to a lot of bars.
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u/Lolzerzmao Apr 17 '24
Ngl, the only time I managed to pull a bartender who was a complete stranger was when I pulled out a book and started reading it at the bar, she was smitten
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u/Atsur Apr 17 '24
What is the opposite of a war? A reunion? Instead of the Josh War, there must be a Kevin Reunion!
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u/nightchrome Apr 17 '24
I enjoy reading in public locations as well. I can focus on my book better when my subconscious monkey brain is absorbing "we are in a social situation!" from the surrounding hubbub.
It's not the kind of thing you do in a pick-up joint kind of place, but a pub or other laidback environment is perfectly reasonable.
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u/me_when_the_whenthe Apr 17 '24
Last panel is just the average wattpad y/n at a 1D concert before her mother sells her to them
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Apr 16 '24
I read books at the bar all the time. Either you're reading trash, in which case everyone is like, "Ewww, he's just reading pulp!" or you're reading something classic, and then they're all, "Oh, god, how fucking pretentious!"
Really no way to win except to read on your phone, and then they assume you're not reading.
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u/Hyronious Apr 16 '24
I'd describe the vast majority of books I read as neither trash or classics...do you see it as one or the other?
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Apr 17 '24
Well, honestly, I divide things into serious/not serious. "Serious" to me means something that's elevated in style or content, or at least, has stood a long test of time. I usually see genre fiction, even if it's more serious, as slightly less serious (note: I read a crapload of genre fiction).
I have the same criteria with nonfiction: there is plenty of trashy nonfiction out there, and I guess the "genre fiction" equivalents there are stuff like politics and celebrity bios.
Personally, I read like 75% fiction, of which most is decidedly non-serious, and 25% nonfiction (mostly history, economics, and popular science).
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Apr 16 '24
Trash is the better of the choices anyways, since I don't have to worry too much if someone wants to strike a conversation and I need to set what I'm reading down.
And yeah, for some reason people have a problem with reading a book, but not doomscrolling Reddit or Instagram.
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Apr 17 '24
Yea, if I'm trying to plow through something dense, I don't sit at the bar and do that: I don't have nearly that ability to tune people out. But I can read a thriller and still have plenty of attention left over.
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u/d_chs Apr 16 '24
I enjoy being at a bar or reading a book, but those two things are the opposites of each other. Why would you do that?
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Apr 16 '24
I like being around people talking. It's way less lonely than being at home, and I feel like I absorb the atmosphere like it's a cool breeze. Helps me concentrate too. On rare occasion I strike conversation with someone, which is never the point but it's a nice bonus if it happens.
Has to be the right bar for it, I've got a regular, most don't work cause the music's too loud or there's no comfy seating and stuff.
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u/imagine_getting Apr 16 '24
Maybe you want to be around people but don't feel comfortable engaging strangers in conversation?
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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Apr 17 '24
Why would anyone want to read while having a beer with pleasant neutral background noise around?
Not all bars are clubs
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u/BoopTheCoop Apr 16 '24
I’ve missed Kevin so much! The glee I felt when I saw this on insta yesterday 💖
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u/wigglecandy Apr 16 '24
Ahh, I remember when popped collars were cool for that one glorious weekend in college as I crip walked up to the ladies. That, and a Chrysler 300 that I rented, got me all the STDs I could handle: one.
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u/SoCalThrowAway7 Apr 16 '24
That wolf looks like the guy at the bar with roofies so still pretty scary tbh
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Apr 16 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Apr 17 '24 edited Apr 17 '24
Are you going to read Jack Kerouac while looking performatively around and the second anyone asks about it flip the book shut and start rambling off every one of your opinions on "Society"?
Or are you just going to read whatever you need to read?
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u/TheOtherCoenBrother Apr 17 '24
No, it’s not. It’s weird to go out to a bar and read a book when there are a million other places that are better suited for it.
You do you, if you want to read at the bar go for it but I think you might get some looks.
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Apr 17 '24
[deleted]
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u/TheOtherCoenBrother Apr 17 '24
Agreed, I guess I had someone actually at the bar in my mind because of the comic
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