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.
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.
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...
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...
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.
Fanfiction Thread
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9915682/1/The-Last-Christmas
Rational!Munchkin!Santa meets neutral!genie!elves.
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.
Link.
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.
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.
Ah yes, I’d forgotten how clunky those early exposition chapters are. Should’ve mentioned that.
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...
Rational!Munchkin!D&Dfic
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.
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?
It’s not Eakin actually; it’s horizon. He got Eakin’s permission for a Hard Reset Alternate Universe story.
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...
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.
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.