ArisKatsaris comments on January 2014 Media Thread - Less Wrong

6 Post author: ArisKatsaris 01 January 2014 03:19PM

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Comment author: ArisKatsaris 01 January 2014 03:20:06PM 1 point [-]

Fanfiction Thread

Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 03 January 2014 10:03:50AM 7 points [-]

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9915682/1/The-Last-Christmas

Rational!Munchkin!Santa meets neutral!genie!elves.

Comment author: somervta 04 January 2014 05:02:56AM 3 points [-]
Comment author: lmm 02 January 2014 07:27:57PM *  3 points [-]

The recommendation may have been from here originally but I can't find it now: To The Stars - incomplete, set in the far future of the Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica universe, contriving to shape the plot and tone into something resembling Starship Troopers (or more likely Old Man's War). I find the way it forces a fantasy story into quite hard sci-fi rather interesting; there are places where you can see the strain, but mostly it works well, and the characters strike a good balance, developed from but solidly rooted in their canon originals. I will say it's not that well written - the phrasing is distinctly clunky at times - but for me the plot, characters and especially the worldbuilding were good enough to shine through.

Comment author: Dorikka 03 January 2014 04:05:21AM 4 points [-]
Comment author: beoShaffer 03 January 2014 02:44:27AM 3 points [-]

The recommendation may have been from here originally but I can't find it now:

It's been recommended multiply times on LW and in the HPMoR author notes, but is worth re-recommending, particularly since you gave and above average summary. Also, the author lists Old Man's War as a significant inspiration, but has said elsewhere that he just took a few specific ideas and didn't actually like Old Man's War overall.

Comment author: ShardPhoenix 06 January 2014 07:17:59AM 2 points [-]

I've finally got around to reading this and I'm quite enjoying it so far, though it's a bit heavy on exposition and flashbacks.

Comment author: lmm 07 January 2014 09:27:03PM 0 points [-]

Ah yes, I'd forgotten how clunky those early exposition chapters are. Should've mentioned that.

Comment author: ShardPhoenix 08 January 2014 06:39:52AM *  0 points [-]

I think some parts would have been better if I was familiar with the Oriko Magica spinoff. At any rate I'm up to chapter 14 and it's moving much more smoothly. At this point I'm thinking that Ryouku is n pybar bs Znqbxn, juvyr ure tenaqcneragf ner cebonoyl Uvgbzv Fuvmhxv naq Xlōfhxr Xnzvwō (ylvat nobhg gurve ntrf).

edit: I appear to have mixed up maternal and paternal grandparents so I guess the second speculation above doesn't apply (at least not how I was thinking of it). Also chapter 14 clears things up a bit on this front anyway...

Comment author: jaime2000 19 January 2014 12:13:37AM 1 point [-]

Currently reading Hard Reset 2: Reset Harder. It's better than the original Hard Reset. In fact, I'd say it's the best time-loop fic I've read since Time Braid.

Comment author: Leonhart 24 January 2014 11:27:00PM 1 point [-]

Ooh, new Eakin? Sweet. Not that it will live up to the greatness of Twilight Tries To Explain The Monty Hall Problem, of course, but what could?

Comment author: jaime2000 24 January 2014 11:40:16PM *  0 points [-]

It's not Eakin actually; it's horizon. He got Eakin's permission for a Hard Reset Alternate Universe story.

Comment author: ArisKatsaris 19 January 2014 01:35:56AM 0 points [-]

Only three chapters out so far, it's too soon to tell whether I'll like it or not -- but I like that the author seems to be establishing very specific rules about how the loops work and applying them with bizarre but consistent results...

Comment author: jaime2000 24 January 2014 10:06:00PM *  0 points [-]

Welp, chapter four's out. I don't think it's quite as good as the first three, but it's still excellent.

Also, I liked the old cover better.

Comment author: ikacer 04 January 2014 12:43:11AM 0 points [-]

I have an author recommendation: Rathanel. His stories are noteworthy in that all his characters feel like they have agency. While not explicitly rationalist, many of his characters do a good job at weighing evidence and updating their beliefs throughout the stories. Also, (and I'm not quite sure how to phrase this) his worlds feel like they operate on a rational rule set, as opposed to the plot driven rules which many stories seem to follow. He has two series, both in the Naruto-verse.

In The Empty Cage the main character is a demon (the 9 tail fox) who is posing as a human (Naruto). The character is interesting in that he has his own set of non-human morals. There is a spin off story, Swapping the Cage, in which this character is inserted into the canon universe.

Naruto: Ramen Days is a VideoGame!Naruto story. It's written in first person, in the perspective of Canon!Naruto, as he goes through the time travel-like loops of a video game. It has an interesting juxtaposition between a world where rational behavior is optimal (and there are many intelligent characters), and a main character who is really not smart.