scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/1ew2jku.md

[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread

• Author: u/AutoModerator *

• URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/1ew2jku/d_monday_request_and_recommendation_thread/

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• Created: 2024-08-19T14:00:13

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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

Comments:

u/DrTerminater [+22] (5 hours later)

Industrial Strength Magic by Macronomicon just ended, I enjoyed the story overall, though some parts, including the ending, were a bit lackluster.

As a sort of palate cleanser, Macronomicon has started a new series, The Legend of William Oh, which I’ve been following on Patreon for a month. It’s now released on RoyalRoad with a solid start of 15 chapters. The author sold the story as similar to Diablo or Remnant 2, a classic Tower climber fantasy built around creating synergies between different items and abilities.

This story has a lot of charm for me. It’s very modern writing, with humor that sometimes borders on crack-fic, yet it’s well-executed and genuinely funny. The protagonist isn’t an adult, and the story leans into the idea that kids do dumb stuff in a way that I appreciate. Despite this, the main character is highly driven and shows a lot of potential for growth.

Unlike other Macronomicon protagonists, Will doesn’t start out overly strong, which I appreciate. He’s going to have to build a team with others who have their own unique item combinations. Some of these combinations get pretty broken. For example, there’s a character who can control bugs to a limited extent, and gains an item that increases the movement speed of his controlled creatures by 1 foot per second. As you can imagine, the scaling gets fun and wacky.

While definitely not for everyone, I find this story a breath of fresh air compared to much of the fantasy I’ve been reading lately. It’s still early days, but the first 17 chapters on Patreon sold me on the story. It’s quick and efficient—read the first 5 chapters, and you’ll definitely know if it’s for you.

u/Dragongeek [+5] Path to Victory (6 days later)

It's fun so far--Macronomicon is just a good writer--and it really moves fast and with agency.

It is very similar to the author's other works though. Young male protagonist with basically no relational attachments embodies the /r/wizardposting ideal: being a kickass wizard is the only correct choice when faced with any decision.

Props to Macronomicon finding a fiction-writing recipe that works.

u/DrTerminater [+3] (7 days later)

You’re definitely right, I’m lucky in that I both enjoy most of that formula, and find the twists he adds to each series interesting.

u/Seraphaestus [+1] (5 days later)

Your description kind of recalls one of my favourite fics, Harry Potter and the Natural 20. Worth a try if you haven't read it

u/Ala_Alba [+1] (5 days later)

I have enjoyed what's on RoyalRoad so far, but it reminds me a lot of his previous story "Wake of the Ravager".

I also enjoyed that story in the beginning, even if I eventually lost interest.

u/Tiraon [+9] (3 hours later)

What are rational-ish stories that have as at least a strong side focus on a relationship/s not necessarily romantic though preferred?

The ones I am aware of and read are in no particular order:

• Worth the Candle
• Fall of Doc Future universe
• Birds of Feather
• Luminosity/Radiance
• later third or so of Mother of Learning

u/CaramilkThief [+5] (16 hours later)

If you're okay with quests, Marked for Death is as naruto quest with a strong focus on relationships (not just romantic). Sometimes it gets a bit too much though I'd say, since there's a feeling of putting out relationships fires instead of handling the dangers of ninja life.

The Years of the Apocalypse is touted to be like Mother of Learning except the story explores the protagonist's relationships with other people while living in a time loop. How making and remaking bonds with people takes a toll on the protagonist's psyche, etc.

Similarly, Re:Monarch is another time loop story with some well developed relationships (not just romantic).

For something less rational, you could also take a look at Warby Picus' stories. His main schtick is writing stories where a socially ostracized person goes on a journey to find a community he can feel safe in, along with some sweet romantic subplots. They aren't rational in the problem solving sense, but I feel like they're all emotionally mature stories. Warby understands the human condition well, and emotional developments don't feel unearned or out of character. I highly recommend his Slumrat Rising, and To the Far Shore is also great.

u/cannabisius [+1] (6 days later)

To The Far Shore is one of my favorite books I've read, and I'm so sad that the author dropped the sequel/same universe follow-up book in favor of a litRPG. That was pretty disappointing.

u/CaramilkThief [+1] (6 days later)

To be fair it's a litRPG in name only, the main power system is cultivation, and later on even that gets changed and expanded on. I really liked To The Far Shore but imo Slumrat Rising is overall a stronger story. He has started a new story on Patreon though called Salinas, and so far it doesn't have any litrpg elements.

u/MagicWeasel [+6] Cheela Astronaut (10 hours later)

Vampire Flower Language (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13710744/chapters/31496223) is a rational vampire romance novel, and focuses entirely on relationships and interpersonal stuff, mostly romantic.

Very different from Luminosity/Radiance.

(note: in the interest of full disclosure, I am one of the work's two authors)

u/erwgv3g34 [+2] (5 days later)

Time Braid (Sakura/Hinata/Naruto) would be my top recommendation by far, with some of the most beautiful romance I have ever read. A few others:

• The Moon's Apprentice (Twilight Sparkle/Twinkleshine)
• Myou've Gotta be Kidding Me, first half (Missy/Miss Cheerilee)
• "The Thousand Year Romance Of Clover The Clever" (Clover The Clever/Smart Cookie)
• Friendship is Optimal (David/Butterscotch)
• Mortal/"Mother of Nations" (not so so much shipping, but very strong focus on character relations)

u/DrTerminater [+1] (5 hours later)

Ward by Wildbow maybe.

u/BavarianBarbarian_ [+0] (a day later)

If you're okay with polyamorous relationships, Katalepsis is a good read. Urban fantasy story about a girl who all her life thought she was suffering from psychosis; turns out she really can see otherworldly things and sometimes randomly slips into other worlds.

u/Fencedevin [+1] (14 days later)

I recommend Fid's Crusade. He never shows romantic interest in any characters in the 3 books, but he forms bonds and relationships with the people that come into his life. Book summary is he is a power armor super villain who hates false heroes.

u/fish312 [+17] humanifest destiny (3 hours later)

Are there any good stories (preferably Isekai) where the main character's strength is fantasy engineering on a personal scale (imagine a Tinker MC from Worm)?

I used the word engineering very loosely. It could be any kind of applied magitek, potion-making, spell-crafting, artificing-magic-items, you get the idea.

I'm not looking for societal wide changes - think less "uplift-society-by-inventing-tractors-and-guns" and more "tony-stark-runecrafting-logic-gates".

Ideally the engineering shouldn't be hand waved away. Bonus points if they're the underdog of the setting.

u/GlueBoy [+24] anti-skub (3 hours later)

There's 2 that spring to mind, but fair warning, they both quickly descend into cringy harem wish fullfilment territory.

• Daniel Black series: Daniel gets isekai'd by the greek goddess Hecate to save her last follower in a Europe where the Norse pantheon wiped away all competition and Ragnarok is about to begin. Pros: Lots of magical theorycrafting and problem solving. Cons: The author has never known the touch of a woman.
• Conrad Stargard series: Conrad gets sent back in time to Poland just prior to the mongol invasion for inscrutable very scrutable reasons. Pros: The uplift is... not terrible, as uplifts go. Conrad eventually fucks >!his magic shapeshifting horse!<. Cons: The author doesn't even try to depict what people in medieval Poland would actually be like. Conrad eventually fucks >!his magic shapeshifting horse!<.

u/josephwdye [+24] I love you (12 hours later)

Cons: The author has never known the touch of a woman.

LOL'ed. Facts.

u/Dragongeek [+3] Path to Victory (20 hours later)

The dude mostly writes pretty wierd (borderline illegal) erotica

u/GlueBoy [+11] anti-skub (a day later)

Borderline illegal? Which one is that. I know he has 3 published series, Daniel Black which I mentioned above, Perilous Waif, a space opera with a female protagonist which he manages to pull off surprisingly well, and Jungles of Alabama, a system apolcalypse litrpg featuring a BDSM swinger(?) who gets mentalist powers or something and his golden retriever becomes a sexy dog girl. I nope'd out of that one pretty fast when I saw where that was going.

u/Dragongeek [+7] Path to Victory (a day later)

Well he writes all sorts of unpublished stuff on QQ (username "ShaperV") but the biggest issue is fetishizing underage characters. Like in Perilous Waif, it's handwaved away because the protagonist is a transhuman who "matures faster" or whatever it was, but it has the same energy as young girl characters in anime where "it's okay because she's actually a 600 y/o vampire".

Perilous Waif is interesting though (I've written a full-length review on it before) and cautiously recommended it as solid sci-fi that does a bunch of cool new things, if you can deal with the squick factor.

u/k5josh [+20] (2 days later)

That's not borderline illegal, though. In the US, it's extremely difficult for text-only erotica to be borderline illegal.

u/Dragongeek [-4] Path to Victory (2 days later)

I dunno about that. AFAIK, in the US, there are specific carveouts from first amendment rights for "obscenity" and CP that open authors who write things that meet these definitions (or "tests") to criminal prosecution. 

Granted, this stuff is almost never enforced because, frankly speaking, prosecutor's offices have better things to do than track down anonymous people on the internet who write lewd fanfiction and run messy trials.

u/ReproachfulWombat [+17] (2 days later)

You do realise that all pornography falls afoul of US Obscenity law, right? Any work that

"Does not contain serious literary merit, appeals to the prurient interest, and which a jury may find offensive."

...Is actually illegal.

Heck, the Simpsons and Rick and Morty arguably fail that test. (Especially when you add in the extra bits in the law about swearing too many times.)

I'm not Shaper's biggest fan, but I don't think it's fair to single him out for having 'borderline illegal' work when most fanfiction fails the same standards, or is technically illegal in other ways (such as copyright).

u/Dragongeek [+1] Path to Victory (3 days later)

IANAL but "literary merit" is very easy to argue. Specifically for your examples of R&M or the Simpsons, they have both won Emmy awards for essentially their artistic merit, so that's a slam-dunk of a case (nor would I really consider either show having appealing to "the prurient interest" / lust as defining characteristics).

More broadly, the third prong of the Miller test is essentially about the work having any "value" beyond titillation, and it is really hard to write a story where you can argue there is absolutely zero literary value. Same with visual porn, it is very difficult to argue a photo (or video) completely lacks artistic merit as photography and videography are forms of art (this is why porn is legal).

This is why, in the past couple decades, there have essentially been no prosecutions for written work, in part due to strong precedent.

That said, CP is handled separately from Obscenity law AND different laws exist in different countries. I think that if you were to write lewd content featuring children who exist in real life and the work became popular enough for someone to notice, there is a very good chance at a successful prosecution.

Also, I'm not really singling out ShaperV, BUT, I think there is some fairness to singling him out, because unlike the overwhelming majority of people who write questionable smut on QQ, AO3, or elsewhere, he is a published and moderately successful author.

u/ReproachfulWombat [+11] (3 days later)

That said, CP is handled separately from Obscenity law AND different laws exist in different countries. I think that if you were to write lewd content featuring children who exist in real life and the work became popular enough for someone to notice, there is a very good chance at a successful prosecution.

I feel skeevy just saying saying this, but...

While your hypothetical is probably correct, ShaperV has never referenced or used real children in any of his works, and when it comes to fictional characters, the law actually explicitly requires that a work falls foul of obscenity law.

In Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234 (2002), the Supreme Court held that material that is produced without using an actual minor (computer-generated images, for example) is protected by the First Amendment if not found to be obscene.

Regardless, you'd have to argue that Shaper's work contains Zero literary merit for it to be illegal by these standards. Weird, I grant you, but not illegal, I don't think.

u/Dragongeek [+2] Path to Victory (3 days later)

I agree that ShaperV's works are not illegal, that's why I said "borderline" 🤷‍♂️

u/None [+0] (a day later)

[deleted]

u/fish312 [+12] humanifest destiny (a day later)

Time braid was an excellent read though, despite the gratuitous smut. It deals with character progression is a very satisfying way, with a good pacing and is one of my favorite time loop stories

u/Nick_named_Nick [+10] (2 days later)

Isn’t it also like the spiritual grandparent of mother of learning?

u/ReproachfulWombat [+7] (2 days later)

I'd like to add to the list of Cons for the Daniel Black series that the author has strongly-held Political and Social Views and will use the characters as mouthpieces for them in almost everything he writes. Expect them to regularly turn to the reader and recite in droning monotone the evils of Big Government, Feminism, The Left, and Social Justice Warriors and so-on, even if they're in the middle of an apocalypse. Admittedly, I only read the first book of DB, so I'm not sure if he was as bad in that as he is in his later work. As an example, he wrote Jungles of Alabama after being criticised a bunch for his sexualisation of minors (rightly or wrongly), and so we got this wonderful gem early on in the book:

    “She’s usually not like that! Look, I can’t just, just shrug and
    let a couple of strangers walk off with Shasa. We don’t have any
    procedures for something like this. For all I know you could be
    child predators or something. I mean, she’s like a little girl
    in an adult body!”

    Right, because of course every male is a vile monster constantly
    looking for a chance to abuse any poor, helpless woman he can
    get his paws on. People like that piss me off so much.

    I thought about pointing out that she'd been an adult dog before
    the change, and her human form looked to be about twenty. Or
    that the mere fact that she'd been in the clinic when she
    changed didn't give the vet's office any particular legal or
    moral authority to determine her fate. Or that I was looking for
    a survival companion, not a sex object. Jesus fuck, she was
    literally a dog a few hours ago. What kind of person immediately
    jumps to thoughts of sexing her up?

I should also point out that yes, the protagonist gets sexual with her pretty much immediately, which sort of undercuts the argument.

I personally find that this sort of thinly veiled soapboxing pulls me right out of my immersion.

Edit: I've just realised, but the protagonist actually >!fucks his magical shapeshifting animal companion!< in both of these recommendations. Huh.

u/GlueBoy [+5] anti-skub (3 days later)

edit:

Umm ackchyually, I never recommended Jungles of Alabama. As I said elsewhere, the dog thing combined with Alabama as a setting made me nope out pretty early in the book. Godspeed, dogfucker!

In Daniel Black he does >!fuck a demi-goddess who is part wolf creature and another who is basically a tree!<, but only in their human forms, which is totally okay, right? Right?!

/Moral high ground

Anyway, Conrad does fuck the shit out of his magical supercomputer horse, lol

u/None [+1] (2 days later)

[deleted]

u/DrTerminater [+8] (5 hours later)

Arcane Ascension is a pretty hard magic system that follows an Enchanter. Pretty good, not isekai.

Lindon in Cradle does Soul-smithing which is similar, but I wouldn’t say it’s the main focus. Also not isekai.

u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 [+5] (7 hours later)

The Runesmith

The writing can be quite redundant at times, but once you get used to it you can just skim those paragraphs, and whats left is a very solid story of becoming isekai ironmam

It helps a lot that the mc needs to relocate every time he ranks up, looking for more knowledge and resources, and the trade flow to fund his research, so it truly feels like he is chasing his goals

His personality is introverted and just a little paranoid, so it feels natural when he holes up to craft

The side characters are very serviceable too, they are introduced, they met, camera cut, a little timeskip and they already have a dinamic going on, so it doesnt have those forced first interactions that can become so annoying

(Dis) Honorable mention to May As Well Cheat, a horny novel and manga about an isekaid guy who can materialize potions

He sells them to live on easy mode visiting brothels, until he discovers the world has mechs and tries to become a certified pilot

The magic flow of sex techniques translates into magic flow for mech control, but its up to him to discover how exactly that can be used

Its one of the few isekais with a reasonable inner workings of the army, including dealing with the guilds

And the world is very sexually liberated

The manga has the particularity of the sex scenes being replaced with wrestling, naval battles, swordsmanship, spelunking, and many other methapors

u/Flashbunny [+9] (20 hours later)

The manga has the particularity of the sex scenes being replaced with wrestling, naval battles, swordsmanship, spelunking, and many other methapors

I wasn't interested in this until you clarified it's not porn, this sounds really funny.

u/CaramilkThief [+9] (16 hours later)

What are some stories where the protagonist's main power is being the sanest person in the party?

This is not a strong requirement though, just the vibe. I want a neurotypical (I guess?) protagonist with side characters that decidedly aren't. Their power also doesn't literally have to be being sane, just their role in the party has to be the voice of reason I guess.

u/CatInAPot [+7] (19 hours later)

Been awhile but I remember Handyman Saitou, guy gets isekai'd and joins a relatively classical RPG party, his power is just having experience as a handyman.

World Trigger has a genuinely very weak MC, he's really just a relatively normal, slightly clever dude. Story has very well done, tactical combat.

u/viewlesspath [+6] (3 days later)

Did you catch this r/rational classic zombie short story from eight goddamn years ago(!!!) yesteryear, A rationalist in the Zombie Apocalypse?

u/Smartjedi [+8] (42 minutes later)

I've come to realize that I love multi-perspective novels, especially where the POV's have either asymmetrical information or have directly competing interests. Think Andy Weir's The Martian for the first one, Michael Grant's Gone series or Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon for the second.

While I am a huge fan of Pokemon: The Origin of Species, this is less aligned with what I'm looking for in this particular request. This story does follow three perspectives, but it's more akin to getting different looks into careers/life in the Pokemon world and how each POV manages to make a change oftentimes independent of each other. The POV's in the first three examples all take action that directly affect actions taken by the next POV. This results in games of cat and mouse, plans gone astray, and sometimes utter chaos which is fun to see unwind.

Would love more recommendations to put on the to-read-list. Can be any genre, and does not have to be rational, so long as none of the POV's hold the idiot ball.

u/lillarty [+15] (2 hours later)

Malazan is great at this. Usually at the beginning of each book the POVs are independent, but as each book goes on you'll see how interconnected they actually are.

u/Jokey665 [+12] Worth the Candle (an hour later)

A Song of Ice and Fire and The Stormlight Archive are both multi-perspective stories, if you somehow haven't read them yet.

Also try out This Is How You Lose the Time War. It alternates perspectives each chapter, with a different author writing each of the perspectives. I didn't love it but I know a lot of people did.

u/Smartjedi [+2] (an hour later)

Thanks for the recs. I only watched half of Game Of Thrones, and I didn't love it so I haven't tried the book series yet. If they are markedly different or more enjoyable I might consider giving it another shot.

Sanderson somehow has been on my plan to read list for the past decade but never got around to him. If Stormlight Archive is multi-perspective that jumps it up higher.

u/k5josh [+7] (4 hours later)

If they are markedly different or more enjoyable I might consider giving it another shot.

I would say the books are vastly better than the show, personally.

u/quick-math [+1] (6 days later)

Except that they will never be finished, sadly.

u/NnaelKysumu [+6] (3 days later)

The Gods are Bastards. It's the "yo dawg, I heard you like povs" of webfiction while also being exceedingly good.

u/Turniper [+6] (2 hours later)

A Practical Guide To Evil is great for this. Many villainous or side characters get quite a few POV chapters, and there's a lot of information hidden from the protagonists/blue orange morality/very distinct character voices going on. It's not true multi-pov, it's probably 60% from the MC's point of view, but it's a master class on the usage of interludes to advance the story and build the world.

u/Weerdo5255 [+7] SG-1 (5 hours later)

A Thing of Vikings

This has the How to Train Your Dragons setting put into the 'real' world, and does a fairly good job of it. I get the feeling the Author has an actual history degree for the time period.

This has the perspective of Kings, Emperors, common folk, main cast, OC characters, etc.

The knock on effects of a tribe of Vikings getting control of Dragons and the one in control being relatively kind for the era.

u/Smartjedi [+3] (6 hours later)

Oh, How to Train Your Dragon is one of my favorite film franchises so will definitely check this one out. Thanks for the rec!

u/Revlar [+1] (8 days later)

I read a lot of this one a couple years ago and there's a lot of great stuff in it. I did get tired of it, though. I don't remember all of my problems with it, but I do remember this gnawing feeling that the villains were obnoxiously invisible to the protagonists, being able to operate without risk of discovery pretty much always, which made them always be one step away from winning and destroying everyone's efforts. I think I just got tired of the author putting their glass down at the very edge of the table, basically

u/Weerdo5255 [+1] SG-1 (8 days later)

I wouldn't disagree. I would say the glass has fallen from the table now, but it took until 85% of the way through so far.

Worse, the enemies before this are all beaten by quick bouts and dumb luck. Realistic dumb luck at least, but Hiccup's errors as being too nice and believing hasn't come back and bitten him as much as it should.

u/Revlar [+1] (8 days later)

It wasn't so much that him being nice felt like a mistake as much as it felt like he was in a parallel world. The author seems insistent in portraying the villains as immensely capable of harm, while the heroes are living a rosy melodrama. It still worked, mind you. Some of the villains eventually get found and dealt with before they can fuck up everything, butthen there's setup for other, even more insidious villains. The Snotlout stuff was also very entertaining from what I remember, except that it kind of turned into romance and ended right when it was about to get interesting, unless I'm misremembering.

Edit: I was. I now remember that >!he met the Berk cast later on and there was a lot of drama because of it. I do kind of wish the story had focused more on his homesteading as a landowner and failing to live up to the Roman standard in a good way!<

I think my only other complaint is that the author really shouldn't have introduced that Astrid's dragon is of the species that has miscarriage-inducing needles and then still have her ride her dragon everywhere while pregnant. That shit annoyed me

u/dalkef [+3] (7 hours later)

You might enjoy this: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/80545/red-wishes-black-ink

u/SvalbardCaretaker [+6] Mouse Army (2 hours later)

Planecrash! https://glowfic.com/posts/4582

Its glowfic, heres to to read it. Make sure to heed the warnings at the top.

u/hwc [+12] (4 hours later)

Planecrash would be wonderful if an editor came in to chop out about 75% of the words.

u/Dragongeek [+23] Path to Victory (7 hours later)

Glowfic in general might be wonderful if the format and reader experience weren't absolute ass

u/Do_Not_Go_In_There [+1] (3 hours later)

The Wheel of Time

A Song of Ice and Fire

Worm (kinda, with its interludes)

u/Master_Employer_5123 [+11] (2 hours later)

Looking for your most hyper-intelligent main characters from novels or fanfics.

If you have any characters similar to Fang Yuan from Reverend Insanity or Harry Potter from HPMOR I would appreciate it.

Preferably longer stories.

Thanks.

u/SvalbardCaretaker [+10] Mouse Army (4 hours later)

Fall of Doc Future and its sequel are really very good. https://www.tumblr.com/docfuture/82363551272/fall-of-doc-future-contents

u/Darkpiplumon [+7] (a day later)

Doc Future is great, and has great scenes. It has some issues though.

I personally can't deal with Doc Future's love interest, Mary Sue, who is incredible at everything and whose vaguely formulated secondary intellectual powers are astronomical and manage to solve too many problems.

Ok, I may be too aggressive, but tell me it doesn't feel like a Star Trek Spock love interest self insert.

u/SvalbardCaretaker [+1] Mouse Army (a day later)

Its all in the title!

IE. Doc Future, with his level 3 augments intact, is literally the worlds foremost hero, saving it multiple times a week, including but not limited to timeloop precognition which he invented himself.

In the Fall, his top level augment is broken, whereas his love interests are not, and so she of course promotes to the most formidable entity on the planet.

u/Master_Employer_5123 [+1] (9 hours later)

Thank you

u/lehyde [+1] Nudist Beach (a day later)

I second this, though I'll warn you that the chapters on Donner and Flicker are a bit disappointing if you're looking for intelligent characters. Fortunately, it's only 5 of the 39 chapters.

u/GittyGudy [+8] silly billy (the fool) (3 hours later)

I’ve yet to read RI, but from what I know of it, Fang Yuan is supposed to be a schemer right?

In that case, you might want to check out Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker. Its main character, Orhan, is a cunning bastard that’s willing to do anything to survive a siege.

Although I wouldn’t considering him hyper intelligent, he’s definitely clever in a way that feels realistic. Like I said, never read RI, but I get the impression that he’s more similar to Fang Yuan than he is to Harry from MoR.

Edit: it’s not a very long story, but it is apart of a trilogy that includes spinoffs - I haven’t read those yet.

u/Rhamni [+20] Aspiring author (6 hours later)

I’ve yet to read RI

I gave up around chapter 230. He's not shown to be intelligent, just constantly claims to be, while benefiting from a time reversal that leaves him alone in possession of some secret knowledge. Like "Where is the treasure hidden" or "This sect leader is vulnerable to blackmail because his son is an idiot who provably passed a test thanks to daddy helping him cheat."

The main character in Reverand Insanity lives life on Extra Easy mode. His main appeal to some readers is that he's a sociopath who doesn't mind picking the evil option if it's faster/easier/safer, but is quite happy to help other people when it's genuinely helpful to him as well.

u/gfe98 [+8] (13 hours later)

Reverend Insanity does vaguely have the Xianxia trope of the MC starting in the weakest family of the weakest village of the weakest mountain of the weakest region, etc.

So there indeed aren't any remotely impressive antagonists in Gu Yue village or while Fang Yuan is escaping with Bai Ning Bing. There is gradual escalation in the antagonists and how much pressure Fang Yuan is under over the course of the novel.

I've seen some people drop the story at certain points because they felt like the author was too harsh on the MC. That may only be relative to other translated Xianxia though...

u/Rhamni [+3] Aspiring author (20 hours later)

Thank you for providing an actual argument. I can see how that would lead to a shift over the course of the story.

u/Trew_McGuffin [+8] Dao = Improve Yourself (20 hours later)

Took a quick look at 230 since you mentioned it. He just started leaving the starting village and it's after the bone heist, dang what a blast from the past. Same with 300 XD. Half of me would like to read your thoughts on 398 but the other half kinda figures 399 would disinterest you further on RI as a whole. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan's opposition doesn't start getting good until immortals rank 6 and up start getting involved. In my opinion.

Preemptive: Yes I know "It doesn't get good until X" doesn't inspire one to power through something, I'm not trying to get anyone to.

I don't really recall Fang Yuan himself claiming to be intelligent? ruthless to himself/others, shameless, and willing to go to extremes for his overarching goal yup. Not so much something to the tune of 'I am so smart'.

Not sure how him benefiting from future who, what, where, how, and whys relates to Fang Yuan perceiving himself as intelligent? Apologies, I'm having trouble understanding why you're bringing it up. Minor nitpick, it was an elder not the sect leader. Overall, your first bit falls a bit flat unless you're willing to elaborate or amend what you're trying to get across.

Spoiler but >!Fang Yuan's circumstances, what you call!< "life on Extra Easy mode" >!is a plot point that gets elaborated on. He's a fly in a spider's web!<.

I can't help but disagree with calling Fang Yuan a sociopath, mostly because of the baggage associated with the term but yeah the end bit I feel you got it in one. If he benefits more from being evil then he'll be evil and he gets more from being good than he'll be good. That however isn't his main appeal to what's probably the largest chunk of the fanbase (or at the very least me and those like me).

It's that he's a breath of fresh air in the desolate wasteland of Chinese translated, brain dead, nationalist, sexist, juvenile, system golden finger, pedo/ephebo bait, harem, and I'll repeat this for emphasis b r a i n d e a d xianxia/cultivation genre.

TLDR: Can't say I endorse No_Dragonfruit_1833's responses, chill maybe?

Good, good, good. Junior No_Dragonfruit_1833! You come across as a young master in need of some face slapping. It's enough to make this senior cry tears of blood and suffer qi deviation that you're out here putting Reverend Insanity's worst foot forward. Report to the Punishment Hall immediately and I'll be sure to let you off with only one month of seclusion during which you'll be transcribing The Legends of Ren Zu!

u/serge_cell [+1] (8 days later)

He's not shown to be intelligent, just constantly claims to be, while >benefiting from a time reversal that leaves him alone in possession of some secret knowledge.

Still a Thinker by Worm classification. In fact there is no difference between being intelligent in specific area and have answer for questions in specific area. Intelligence is not transferable between domains and it's not practically important if answer inferred by neural network from noisy dataset or retrieved directly from some database.

u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 [-5] (7 hours later)

*laughs in novel

Life on extra easy mode, sure bro. Totally

u/Rhamni [+12] Aspiring author (7 hours later)

Like I said, I gave up around chapter 230. His knowledge of the future and a mountain's worth of random secrets give him opportunities nobody else has. Are you suggesting he starts facing much harder opposition later in the story, or do you think he's on hard mode from early on?

u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 [-8] (12 hours later)

Fang Yuan has knowledge, but that means nothing without the resources or the backing

Even from the first arc the intelligence is not on the knowledge, but on how he leverages it to gain benefits, but if you cant see that, dont bother continuing

u/Rhamni [+12] Aspiring author (12 hours later)

None of the opponents he faces in the first 300 chapters is intelligent. Most of them are actively holding the idiot ball. It's always him acting, them reacting (poorly), and him using knowledge he couldn't normally have to win without having to outsmart anyone beyond "They weren't prepared for me to have cheater knowledge." This is a very common flaw in cultivation stories with a time travelled MC. You can't just go "Nooo he's super smart you just don't understaaand." You're engaging in pigeon chess, which is not an appropriate level of discourse for this subreddit.

u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 [-5] (13 hours later)

Oh boy, this is going to be fun

The enemies always act in the smart way according to the knowledge they have, and there are plenty of elements where not them nor Fang Yuan had any relevant knowledge and had to wing it

But please enlighten me, which enemy was defeated "just 'cuz foreknowledge"

u/Master_Employer_5123 [+2] (3 hours later)

Thank you

u/Takasugi_Shinsuke [+0] (4 hours later)

Any stories with rational mc on royal road ?

u/Darkpiplumon [+1] (a day later)

Well, Mother of Learning is on RR, and it is a r/rational favorite.

But if you're asking about more obscure but still good recommendations, I can't help you.

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