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PaperclipPerfector  8d ago (text post)   1576 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 28, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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A genre I really enjoy is "competence porn," in which a character or characters overcome challenges and trials via being really good at what they do, either against the uncaring Universe or against an opponent who is also really good at what they do

I've just finished Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by Parker. Loved it, fits your genre perfectly, and it was a nice first for me in that it's in a fantasy universe, but there's no magic or monsters. It's a quick read.

There's also an interesting subtheme of the meaning of duty and loyalty - the protagonist defending empire, even though empire is of course fundamentally unjust, even to the protagonist personally.

the protagonist defending empire, even though empire is of course fundamentally unjust, even to the protagonist personally.

well, he is defending it against enemy who is even worse

Is that clear? The enemy certainly is competent, and good-enough to recruit the empire's foreign auxiliary legions, which presumably would have many reasons to stay loyal. And sure, the enemy is straight up genozidal, but that's not terribly outside the ordinary when a city resists a siege.

And besides switching sides, the engineers would always have had the options to just desert, vanishing unopposed into the night, selling their high-value skills to whoever payed most. But they decided to defend empire instead.

OK, I missed successful recruitment parts (have not read this one in full) and I remember repeated mentions of enemy being quite genocidal.

Is there a better way to do spoilers on TheMotte?

There's a "formatting help" button right under the text-input area.

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by Parker.

How cringey is the first-person narration?

How cringey is the first-person narration?

I had already forgotten that it's first person. Flipped through it again, I think it's well done.

Thanks for the insight!

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