@kasdeya

I read Magic is Programming and have been meaning to talk to you about it, really enjoyed it so far, and really cool concepts, but yeah, it was such a prime example of the portal fantasy trope of "oh cool, you have no qualifications other than your power, cool now you get to run a city and make decisions that affect everyone's lives".

@Shivaekul ooh I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I ran out of chapters at the end of book 1 and still haven’t started reading again (I have no idea how I feel about spoilers ngl) but yeah I’d love to talk about it with you!

and yeah ugh. like their whole society is obviously terrible and based on “might makes right” so it completely makes sense why he would be chosen, but I don’t like what I’ve seen of him. he doesn’t seem to have any interest in helping raise others up or doing other altruistic things like that, although to be fair right now his priority is understandably “don’t die” but I’m hoping that things will get safer and calmer for him over time

like what I really want to see is for the protagonists to get more and more secure in their magic and ability to protect themselves, and then start making moves to overthrow the current regime and put something kinder in its place, letting people freely share information about magic and soul structures

@kasdeya I binged it when you mentioned it, so am caught up till a week or so ago, but think I can avoid actual spoilers.

But yeah, like it definitely feels a bit like a power fantasy, especially with the noblehood stuff, and while the MC isn't bad, he also isn't altruistic in the least. And idk, I wasn't a fan of the way he took over the town and started using his status. And like, I know that was also societal/cultural, but the MC basically acted like it was to be expected too, and idk.

At least the royals in this setting seem to have some level of noblesse oblige, even if they are definitely willing to use their might, but yeah. It is an interesting societal thing with this sort of story, because there are a lot of societal impacts of some people having basically super powers and extended life spans, so it does tend towards a more autocratic/feudal society inherently.

But yeah, idk, I would like to see something more based on bringing everyone up, or sharing knowledge and such, more collaborative as well. I understand that knowledge is power and he doesn't want to give it up, but it does kinda disappoint me also how quickly he jumps into the culture of "house secrets" and nobility.

Interested to see how it goes, and yeah if he learns and starts sharing more once he is less threatened. One thing I always struggle with these types of stories is figuring out how aware the author is. Like is this an intentional thing, will the character improve, or is this just their power fantasy and how the character will stay? I'm leaning towards the second tbh, but not sure.

@kasdeya Also, I thought the programming was super cool, and the structures were interesting. Loved the design aspect of the story a lot, and the universe was interesting, looking forward to learning more, just with you in that I wish the MC was a little more altruistic. Which seems to be a common webnovel issue :(