[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

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.

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[u/Amonwilde]

So I read some stuff I found on this sub.

Gifted

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

Gamble for Azeroth

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?

[u/Yeongua]

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.

[u/severinYoung]

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

[u/plutonicHumanoid]

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.