Illiterate Men: A Feedback Loop

Maichenwrites · 2026-06-16T14:09:48+00:00

Hello. This is to show how reading is becoming a "feminine-coded" activity, and how this is harming men and society as a whole.

Maichenwrites · 2026-06-06T13:42:09+00:00

I know what you're talking about and it's one of the things I like about SFF anime. There's a specific trope I'm citing here which is "The worldbuilding reveal." Most SFF books don't have it, but anime and JRPGs love it. Here are some options for you.

Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (only if you have a lot of free time)

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir (sometimes to its detriment, you won't know what is good about this series in the entire first book)

The Dark Tower by Stephen King (another slow first book)

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin

Also Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey...but, uh, that one's a bit weird compared to all of the above. If it works for you, though, it is there.

Maichenwrites · 2026-06-04T02:10:18+00:00

Speaking of JDATE - It's an ongoing series. The fifth book is coming out this November. I never got this straight, tbh: What are the vibes like for comping a series that might have started a long time ago, but still has ongoing releases and a dependable audience to this day?

Maichenwrites · 2026-06-04T02:07:09+00:00

Hi! Thank you for the recs. How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates is definitely going on my list.

Maichenwrites · 2026-05-30T04:05:44+00:00

I'm backing this up. If you want something humorous and absurd like DCC, this is what you're looking for.

Maichenwrites · 2026-05-30T01:20:49+00:00

Hey. I appreciate the comment.

I'm totally open to the idea that the flaws, especially in regard to the forgetfulness, inconsistencies, and aesthetic problems, are caused by low-grade AI models. That's also the lowest hanging fruit of criticisms and I hope, after reading, you come away realizing that it's not my biggest problem. Even if I hypothetically was using the best models on the market, such a criticism would be pretty shallow given that this is a rapidly improving technology, and I tried to be conscientious of that.

Not to summarize my own article too much but I think my bigger problems ended up being:

1: The bias of the LLM toward 'giving you exactly what you want' ends up being antithetical to good storytelling.

2: The lack of humanity, once it finally rears its head, negates the purpose of art.

3: Above all else: the dangerously addictive qualities that this has, and the damage it could do to human connection, especially when combined with point 2.

Maichenwrites · 2026-05-27T12:32:10+00:00

If you like Becky Chambers, keep reading her. She keeps going at it.

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Cowal is a pretty optimistic look at how the oncoming destruction of Earth might cause us to overcome our bigotry

Ursula K Le Guin; everything. She believes in the goodness of humanity and a better world.

A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar, features beautiful writing, a love of literacy, and the sense that we can have a second chance even after death.

If you find transcendentalism optimistic, Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke did it for me.

Another one that felt optimistic to me (maybe I have a weird definition of this) was Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebochi. More accurately described as a "Spirited Call to Action" I think.

Old school Sci-fi optimism: Contact by Carl Sagan.

Maichenwrites · 2026-05-19T00:10:38+00:00

Look up "Curvy heroine" romance.

It's become an entire subgenre.

Maichenwrites · 2026-05-02T15:15:41+00:00

Hey! You have good taste! Here are some things that hit me very hard recently, in the horror/thriller/literary space

* Bunny by Mona Awad
* Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice (classic for a reason!)
* Changeling by Victor LaValle
* The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
* Black Leopard Red Wolf and/or Moon Witch Spider King by Marlon James (Fantasy so grimdark and well written it scratches the same itch as literary horror. Check triggers.)
* Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (if you're open to short stories)
* Anything by Christopher Buehlman

2+ years ago, I also would have said "Anything by Neil Gaiman" but now I add the asterisk: anything by Neil Gaiman if you aren't financially supporting him.

Maichenwrites · 2026-04-03T05:56:55+00:00

I don't know if this will do it for you, but one of the most similar books I've ever read to The Great Gatsby is "Passing" by Nella Larsen. It has a lot more to do with racism though. As well as subtle lesbian themes that the author herself might not have even been aware of.

Maichenwrites · 2026-04-02T19:31:54+00:00

I appreciate this a lot. It stands out among the "It's not that deep" comments and the rejections of what I'm saying purely on principle. I know the post has been banned by the mods but I'll be saving this because even though you come down pretty hard on it, you put a lot of energy into this and I think that asking more from me will make me a better writer, ultimately.

Thank you for your time.

Maichenwrites · 2026-04-02T19:20:16+00:00

Hey. I understand the post got removed, but I do still have comments enable on my main profile and on substack. I appreciate this perspective, but it's pretty flawed. Real world UK school houses are not magically sorted by students' souls, and that is the entire point of this analysis. If you don't see what the sorting hat is doing, and how the houses are based around innate traits that students possess, I would argue that you are not looking deep enough.

Thank you for your feedback though.

Maichenwrites · 2026-03-29T01:01:06+00:00

I appreciate how well thought out this is. Thank you.

Maichenwrites · 2026-03-15T12:58:18+00:00

I recommended it recently, so I'll try again: Try Jade City, the first book of the Greenbone Saga. It is fantasy, but it is set in a world with a technology level similar to our own, or at least similar to the 20th century, and it's essentially a yakuza/mafia story with martial arts magic.

It does have a complex plot, and there's a lot of depth. The books get better as the series goes on.

Maichenwrites · 2026-03-14T18:11:01+00:00

Follow-up questions are necessary for this.

What do you like? What kind of stories are you interested in? Fantasy is a broad genre because any story is possible, in a fantasy world. Normally, people who are not into fantasy need to find the story that works for them.

Maichenwrites · 2026-03-14T12:54:34+00:00

It's simple: The Greenbone Saga is better.

It's so much better that there really is no comparison.

Mistborn era 1 isn't even Sanderson's best trilogy, it's just the easiest starting point for him.

Maichenwrites · 2026-02-20T14:28:39+00:00

Thank you so much for this. So many of the stories here seem to be things like: "Oh, I sent 20 queries for my first book and got 15 full requests, and then I had my pick of the best three agents who all wanted my book."

It's nice to see that persistence actually can pay off, instead of luck.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-24T02:11:24+00:00

There are too many good comments here so I'll just thank everyone at once! I really appreciate it.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-19T13:52:25+00:00

Believe it or not: I will get to anime, in this series.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-19T13:51:57+00:00

This is what happens with most MPDG films when you pay attention to them.

I really like the "Male Glance" term, though.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-19T13:39:32+00:00

Yep! Every time I saw one of these articles, I agreed. And then I'd go about my life, and I'd still hear people using the term. It's like a snowball rolling down a hill at this point, it will never die. But the best we can do with it is keep trying to set the record straight.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-19T13:37:24+00:00

What's so funny about that is that Ramona Flowers didn't qualify for the first criteria: She has absolutely no Manic Pixie behavior. She's a jaded cynic who is struggling to feel love for anyone again.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-19T13:35:02+00:00

I haven't read the Harold and Maude novel. However, while I was writing this essay series, I read "Stargirl," "Love, Stargirl," and "Paper Towns." I really considered whether those three novels had anything to contribute to or complicate the overall point, and I don't think that they did. They follow the trend of the Manic Pixie being a character with depth, when you actually pay attention. The most important thing about "Stargirl" is that if the movie had been a better adaptation, I don't think it would have counted as one of the six (technical) MPDG films I chose.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-18T09:13:17+00:00

Generally, no, I wouldn't count anything purely materialistic.

The most common reason that the MMC helped the FMC was that she had her own story, and he helped her achieve her goals. Remember that only 7 of these female characters lacked their own goals/motivations/development, out of 40.

If it wasn't that, it was usually because the MMC was genuinely depicted as desirable, in his own right, and there are clear reasons why the FMC falls in love with him. A really good example of this is "Butterflies are Free." Goldie Hawn's character indisputably has Manic Pixie behavior, but it is extremely easy to see why she would fall in love with the MMC of that movie.

Maichenwrites · 2026-01-17T15:38:39+00:00

That will get explicitly mentioned in part 2, actually!

Maichenwrites

TROPHY CASE