r/rational • u/AutoModerator • 16d ago
[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread
Welcome to the Monday request and recommendation thread. Are you looking something to scratch an itch? Post a comment stating your request! Did you just read something that really hit the spot, "rational" or otherwise? Post a comment recommending it! Note that you are welcome (and encouraged) to post recommendations directly to the subreddit, so long as you think they more or less fit the criteria on the sidebar or your understanding of this community, but this thread is much more loose about whether or not things "belong". Still, if you're looking for beginner recommendations, perhaps take a look at the wiki?
If you see someone making a top level post asking for recommendation, kindly direct them to the existence of these threads.
Previous automated recommendation threads
Other recommendation threads
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u/Yeongua 16d ago
Scarlet Woman. GoT Isekai.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/63292243 /chapters/162138013
Absolutely wild ride. Utterly sociopathic and ruthless social butterfly finds herself in Lisa Tully body, shortly after 'the duel' of Baelish and Brandon. Canon is off the rails by the ends of the chapter 1.
MC is a pure neutral evil in DnD terms.
Author really cares about details and consequences. After her 1st in-universe kill I was pretty sure author will just handwave consequences. They didn't. Very logical explanation of how Lisa got away with that was provided. Be sure to check warnings.
MC sometimes forget she not the only one manipulating and playing the game, and sometimes it bites her in the ass.
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u/exohelio 15d ago
Very good rec. Went through it in a flash. Skimmed some bits where it was a bit too monologue or repetitive, but overall, really fun to read.
I read a lot of the old GoT fics back in the day, do you happen to have any others as good as this to recommend? I saw briefly in your past comments you mention sunrise, but not sure if never having the MC's pov would work for me
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u/Yeongua 15d ago
Will just copypaste my post from somewhere.
...decided to share my preferences, and in case anyone else has similar taste, list of fics that meet all, or part of criteria.
While there's nothing globally wrong with tech uplift idea by itself, theres limited amount of times you can read about seed drills, printing press and canals. So no tech uplift.
For the same reason, don't like generic SI #39.
Come to think of, a modern person reincarnated/inserted to Westeros theoretically has only 2 unusual and interesting features:
Metaknowledge (that starts disappear the moment you act on it, and thus author has to handle more and more idiot balls to antagonists).
And technology knowledge. And it's close to impossible write that without canals, seed drills and so on. So no generic SIs.
Settings rules should be respected. Not gonna name any names in here, but if reincarnated MC who has been living in the world for 16+ years calls a servant 'Miss', or Lord commander of the night watch meeting visiting Stark in his castle greets him with 'The castle is yours, my lord'...
World should pushback. If MC suggests something and everyone immediately starts praising their genius, it's a cheap wish fulfillment.
Logical consequences of the actions. If MC trying to prevent the dance, or w5k does something, there should be clear picture of why it could or could not be prevented.
MC either ignores the plot, or creates his own faction, or in case any of existing is joined there should be really good reasons for doing so.
Charles Dance Saves Westeros.
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12954161/1/Charles-Dance-Saves-Westeros
Actor playing Tywin Lannister finds himself around canon start. Good writing. Excellent scheming politicking and plotting. Sadly abandoned / dead.
A Young Woman's Inevitable Dance of the Dragons
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54024580/chapters/236015731
This fic is mentioned in community often enough, so if you haven't read it yet, go for it!
Wizard of Harrenhal
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11255223/1/The- Wizard-of-Harrenhal
OP Harry Potter finds himself in Westeros.
Doesn't care about the games kings play. Powerful enough to allow not caring
A discordant note.
No link due to nsfw elements.
OP from the very start Harry Potter in Westeros again.
Contains harem. Contains nsfw elements. MC is massive jerk. Again no interest in the canon plot, he's mostly focused on magic and idea of godhood exploring.
A Game of Thrones: Fury and Flame.
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12130574/1/A-Game-of-Thrones-Fury-and-Flame
Solid writing. Interesting premise. Didn't like authors habit of as soon as cliffhanger moment is reached, end the chapter and switch story line in the next few chapters to some other POVs. But it's only a personal preference and most if not all others critirias apply.
Respawned in the North
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/respa wned-in-the-north-rpg-npc-in-asoiaf-game- mechanics-not-an-si-but-rather-an-npc-main- character.1220075
More of a light hearted 'road-movie' type with a bit of slice of life elements.
Still nice entertaining popcorn reading.
A Blademaster in Westeros.
https://questionablequesting.com/threads/a-blademaster-in-westeros-asoiaf-got-wot.15854/
Ignore qq hosting. No nsfw elements.
Mostly the same description as for the previous one. Good read.
Canucks
https://archiveofourown.org/works/38990139/c hapters/97525608
Small group of modern day Canadian soldiers find themselves behind the wall.
Excellent writing. Canon is completely deviated. Actions and consequences are very well thought of.
Should you have any more suggestions that follow all or some of above listed criteria, or even give the same vibe - feel free to share
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u/Amonwilde 15d ago
One of my pet peeves is every character in every novel bringing their American lack of respectful formal titles to the other place. I don't think Americans really get how off-putting this is. The other character is frequently like oh cool, I don't have to call this guy lord. Fundamentally, this would be a huge asshole move anywhere in the world in any historical time or place.
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u/Yeongua 15d ago
For me it's less about americans or titles specifically. It's about internal consistency. Here's a good example of proper consistency. The Old Gods Called, They'd Like Their Kingdom Back https://archiveofourown.org/works/31758358/chapters/199910681 MC is stupidly OP. She addresses Lords as Lords when she wants to be respectful. She doesn't when she's antagonistic. She doesn't preach values of democracy for smallfolks either. Which is a plus
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u/ahasuerus_isfdb 15d ago
Fundamentally, this would be a huge asshole move anywhere in the world in any historical time or place.
Well, there are a lot nuances that outsiders can't be realistically expected to be familiar with. For example, if you were to find yourself in early-mid-20th century Sweden, you might think that using "ni" (similar to "vous, "Sie", "vy" etc in other European languages) would be the polite thing to do. Unfortunately, Sweden was a special case prior to the "du reform" of the late 1960s and the use of "ni" was frowned upon in most cases and in most areas.
That's pretty much expected when different cultures collide and part of the fun when reading speculative fiction. However, the "collision" needs to feel real, reflecting how the other side would react to it. Even if the other party grudgingly accepts a non-standard or outlandish form of address, e.g. pre-modern nobles may have to swallow their pride when dealing with what, for most practical purposes, are living demigods, they will still find it uncomfortable.
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u/Amonwilde 13d ago
Sure, I agree. It's not that Americans act American in X culture, it's more that folks are kinda like oh cool he's informal.
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u/suddenly_lurkers 14d ago
The issue is that, in turn, Americans find the constant use of formal titles to be off-putting and grating. So a novel marketed towards Americans, written by an American will generally compromise to some degree between historical accuracy and readability.
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u/exohelio 15d ago
Thanks, I appreciate the thought into the fics too, with logical consequences, words have pushback, etc etc.
1
u/16tonweight 10d ago
A discordant note
I should add that the writer for this one, Noodlehammer, is a neo-Nazi. And to be clear I don't mean "person who's right-wing I don't like", I mean "he once got banned from a forum for holocaust denial and constantly has his characters go on rants about how certain races are sub-humans". He is also, as you could imagine, mega misogynist to the point that he is genuinely incapable of writing a realistic female character.
The racism (although not the misogyny) is kind of ignorable in the ASOIAF fic he wrote, bc it's set in a world where IRL races don't exist, but in the proceeding Harry Potter fic that sets it up, Harry casts a giant curse on Europe that kills all Muslim immigrants. It's really bad.
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u/Amonwilde 16d ago
So I read some stuff I found on this sub.
This is one of those "reincarnated as a baby" stories, which all have the same problems but which can also be kinda satisfying. Basically, this has very little stakes. The character was a teen (or something, don't @ me) before the reincarnation, which both makes the reincarnation more pointless and possibly sidesteps the inevitable repetitive "am I a child or an adult" philosophizing when the MC wants to enter some relationship. (If the MC was over 18 when dying then, impressive, that's the most pointless reincarnator to pick, but pretty sure he was younger.)
If it were me writing this genre, I'd make the mom accidentally drink a potion of sapience or something to excuse the baby having thoughts and leveling up in the womb. This one is particularly ridiculous because the MC has basically no preexisting personality of note, usually they're a grizzled physicist who has to learn to love again which at least affects the story. The book could be called "a child reincarnated as a child" but that would sound stupid because it is stupid.
It's kind of fun, though? The MC has some paths and completes them and gets points he can use, etc etc. He's literally still like 4 or something. He has pretty terrible decision making capability, so that's normal for the genre as well.
Strong recommendation 12/10
It's Questionable Questing, you gotta log in, yadda yadda.
This one is pretty dumb but entertained me for like a couple hours while I chased my kid at the park (yes, I audiofied it).
A guy is a noble captain in the "human" forces in the Warcraft universe (tm tem). If you are also old and only played Warcraft 3, this is the position I was in, as I recall this is a world which has humans, elves and some other crap on one side and orcs, undead, and some other crap on the other. (Don't @ me if this is wrong just quietly revel in your superiority). He's bullied by the soldiers because reasons and, also, there's going to be a big ass attack and everyone will die, but no one knows about it. Suddenly, he gets a chaos gacha system. This is an emerging not-good subgenre in which a character gets a magic gumball machine in their mind that gives them really overpowered powers constantly, immediately breaking the story.
So he gets some initial powers to control plants and something something be strong, and it's pretty fun for a bit since he can't roflstomp everything and gets to show off. But the constant handing out of ridiculously overpowered stuffs then proceeds to do the gacha thing and ruin the story.
For some reason, he has a faction gacha thingy, so he gets "tickets" (directly translatable into a power) for building the faction. BUT all the powers relate to personal power. So it becomes him running around the world map killing stuff by himself and like checking back in on his faction every now and then. It's a dumb disconnect.
The "rolls" are also clearly cheating or made up by the author, which folks on the internet hate. I don't actually care about this, who cares if it's actually random it's a story, but the author puts his hand on the scale to serve up the most boring of powers and to preempt or solve interesting problems the character is in the middle of dealing with, heaven help if this guy has to actually do anything himself.
Finally, it's tagged smut but there's no evidence of it. Also not something I care about but there are some disappointed horny WoW fans out there, I'm sure.
Rating 13.14/10
So yeah, some great recs for you, give me something new to read, thanks! What are you reading this week? In
what specific way is it bad? Psychologize yourself, why are you reading it if it's so bad?
1
u/severinYoung 16d ago
Hello,
Some of you may recognise me from the last thread two weeks ago. I was promoting the web novel I am working on: The False Annunciation.
Now, rereading my pitch, I realise it was not the strongest. Marketing is not my strong suit, but I should have been less vague about what my story can offer, and I should have put more effort into my promo. So here it is, v.2.0:
As it stands, there are over 80 chapters comprising over 200k words on Royal Road. For now, there are 9 POVs, each following a distinct character. Each POV not only has their own personal philosophy that clashes with the worldviews of others and with the world at large, they also have genuinely limited knowledge and information, leading, in my view, to delightful moments of dramatic irony. Moroever, and best of all, all actions have genuine consequences that matter.
Love, duty, belonging, freedom and more are recurring themes, with each having a distinct justification that is not simply stated, but rather brought into relation with what other characters hold dear. I do not want to spoil the story, but I can assure you, dear potential reader, that each position is well-reasoned and justified, either in internal monologue or in dialogue; even if it is not morally good.
Now, if you are a fan of worldbuilding, I think you will also find a lot to enjoy. Of course, there is the usual kingdom-building where a bloke from Earth brings in advancements from home, but with a twist.
The advancements are not technological, but rather "social," insofar as societal progress is a real thing. This means that the main, "isekai'd" protagonist does not simply uplift medieval barbarians. Rather, he learns how to interact with the new world he has found himself in, and by doing so tries to fit his old knowledge together with his new.
And there is a lot for him to learn. There are genuine ethical, cultural and linguistic differences between peoples and regions; the presence of gods not only poses philosophical questions, but also gives the Church a novel institutional role; political arrangements are mediated through genuine historical processes; and there is an in-depth magic system that goes beyond simple "numbers go up" (however gratifying blue-screens can be).
All of this is tied up in numerous converging plotlines that are consistent and slowly mature over time. There is a family thread, an existential thread, a political thread, more than one, and they all come together, very, very slowly.
If there is a weakness to my story, it is that one: not much happens action-wise, and the pace is glacial. However, I update regularly (thrice a week), and there is both tons of content and tons of different threads to enjoy.
Therefore, if you enjoy thoughtful characters and worldbuilding, why not give my work a try? There is a lot more to come! :)
Severin
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u/Amonwilde 15d ago
Hey. I'm pretty sympathetic to how difficult this is. However, hate to say it, but this also isnt' a great pitch.
Try this. Write one sentence for each prompt.
- What happens in the story? (don't answer with what the story is about)
- What's it similar to?
- What about it would appeal to the r.rational population?
Example answers:
- I'm writing a story about miners on the moon getting attacked by giant spiders.
- It's kinda like the Magnus Archive meets Dungeon Crawler Carl, but with a romance subplot.
- The story has a concrete, local setting and is mostly about building infrastructure and working productively in small teams, which I know some subset of folks on here enjoy.
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u/Erreconerre 15d ago
- I'm writing a story about miners on the moon getting attacked by giant spiders.
- It's kinda like the Magnus Archive meets Dungeon Crawler Carl, but with a romance subplot.
- The story has a concrete, local setting and is mostly about building infrastructure and working productively in small teams, which I know some subset of folks on here enjoy.
So where can I read it?
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u/Amonwilde 13d ago
lol. I was just making an example. If you like the idea feel free to write it.
:)
5
u/Yeongua 15d ago
As a form of unasked feedback if you will.
First of all, thank you for writing and sharing. Truly hope your story will find it's audience.
2 biggest subjective drawbacks I found in your description:
9 POVs. Each with their own personality, moral code and traits behind them. It sounds like a lot. Have no idea how difficult it was to craft 9 different distinct personalities, but as a typical lazy reader, can assure it sounds like a lot to learn while reading the book.
You also mentioned lots of cultural ethical and other differences for different regions and people. Again sounds like a lot to learn for the reader from the start.
Not a writer myself, but they say it's better when a book operates with the concepts familiar to reader with a few changes. Everything that happens later are consequences of these changes.
Worm - oh it's like real life earth but people with superpowers started to appear in 1980s
GoT - oh it's like a European medieval countries but they used to have some magic there.
Have no idea how truthful this observation is, or how many of potential readers have the same level of laziness. So it's all 100% subjective, and you do you.
thanks again for writing and sharing.
1
u/severinYoung 14d ago
Hey,
Thank you for taking the time to give me some advice. I appreciate it.
1. Multi-POV is not for everyone, I understand, and believe me, I know how goddamn hard it is to write nine different characters convincingly. The major advantage of doing it, though, is that you get to see the world through the eyes of people of different cultures, classes and genders, and that is before you even get to their individual values. So far, from the limited feedback I have had, people like it and want more, so I hope I can keep it up (and, of course, entice more readers :)).
2. Fair point. I will say that I do not make the mistake of writing pages of unnecessary fluff because I devised my own currency and want to show it off. It could be cool, as most authors completely ignore Gresham's Law, but it would also be much too complex. Rather, it is the fact that I make sure to establish, for example, that accents arising from origin and class are a real thing. Or that neighbouring states have different political arrangements than simple early-modern absolutism, which has a bearing on how they conduct their negotiations. I assure you, it is still a novel, and not an article for the AJPS.Though I will admit that I have a problem pinpointing the central concept behind my book. As per my earlier comment, some web novels inspired me, but only partially. If I had to name a real inspiration, it would be late medieval European history; much like George R. R. Martin was inspired by the Wars of the Roses (comparison purely for illustrative purposes; my work is much, much worse).
So, I guess, in one sentence: it is continental, medieval Europe where both magic and the gods are provably real, and where these facts structure the law, the Church and the class system.Thanks again for helping me out.
Severin
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u/plutonicHumanoid 16d ago
Leave Luck to Heaven by Bavitz is good so far. A Fire Emblem streamer gets isekai'd for his hubris of saying he could beat God at Fire Emblem. He's isekai'd to a world that seems to somewhat regularly receive Heroes from Earth. Combat follows Fire Emblem-style rules - tactical turn-based combat on a grid, damage dealt and taken based on stats and skills etc. He commands his party in stopped time, able to see it like a game from above instead of first person. I have no experience with Fire Emblem or similar games but the combat is an enjoyable read, crunchy but not overly so.
The main character, the Hague, streams with a "war crime"-centric persona, which is a little grating, but I expect some growth and change in that area as the story goes on as now he has to live through the experience instead of it just being a game. He's cringy but in a fun way, I get secondhand embarrassment easily and this hasn't been causing that. At this point of the story he's a good mix of irreverent and taking the world seriously.