#isekai trope

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

Reincarnation/body swap Isekai manhwa where the MC becomes the villainess, but instead of all the male leads falling for her she steals the FL

[alex-wolfdragon]

Does anyone else feel like it's a bit off when someone writes an Isekai for their fandom where the MC is deeply in love with their love interest(s) because MC is a huge fan, but the love interest(s) know nothing about the MC?

Cause for me, it feels like a stalker situation. Or at least one in which the love interest(s) will only see the MC as a stalker because they've never met before yet MC just seems to know everything about them. Even things they've never told anyone before. And it just feels creepy. I think it'd go smoother if the MC was a general fan, not obsessed with any specific character, just in love with the fandom, or even completely new to it, and can fall in love naturally.

[centuryberry]

I hope Yue is successful at bringing modern conveniences to flower fruit mountain. she does have the help of yellow tusk, Red son who is a genius in lmk and wukong full support at anything she wants to do.

I am so looking forward to everyone's reactions to everything she creates like refrigerators, air conditioning, all that kind of stuff. After all you can't have a good Isekai without the protagonist bringing the items they missed from their old life.

FFM adores their innovative little queen and her ingenious inventions via a clever combination of seals. Yue is still in the beginnings of bringing back modern conveniences and sharing it with her people, but she’s determined to make it a reality.

(She’s also trying super hard to recreate a hot spring somewhere on the island. They’re so nice and relaxing. She wants Wukong and Macaque to try it out too.)

Yellowtusk, Yue, Red Son, and Ba being the nerd team FTW.

[multiverse-imagines]

Just an isekai snippet I wanted to share

Ease The Pain

You had no idea how long it had been since you'd been placed in this dingy cell by the Gung-Ho Guns. You lay half awake when the changing of the guard took place. You recognized the voice of Midvalley the HornFreak, who had now taken Legato's place as guard. You flopped onto your back, staring at the ceiling. You missed Vash.

"Midvalley the HornFreak, is that you?"

"Legato said I shouldn't talk to you. You speak of things before the space-faring age and of the future. I don't want to talk to you."

"Then don't talk. I just want you to play something for me. Something sweet, and relaxing. Something to take my mind off of the pain of my shattered bones." There was a pause of silence before a sigh was heard from outside the cell.

"Got any requests?"

"Do you know Careless Whisper?"

"Oh fuck off."

Aw, come on, Middy, don't be that way!"

"No! Zazie The Beast Makes me play that one all the time!"

"Ugh, I Fucking hate it here." You grumbled.

[bagelbucket]

thinking about venti genshin barbatos alien isolation isekai again

[kkangkkangie]

Rule of Neutrality will be a prequel to a specific ending of Orwell Chess b/c I said so.

Plotline: The writer (lmao) gets isekai-ed into her own story only to find out that it’s like 1970s and not the 1990s. But she puts together in her brain that it’s the marauder’s era, and it’s before her story. How does she know? Because Vincent Phantomhive exists in this storyline.

So, she ends up going to Hogwarts & meets the characters. She befriends Snape somehow after a weird incident to which now the entire castle believes she’s a psychic, and is setting up for Orwell Chess. 

The best part (in my opinion) is that she got isekai-ed when this era was a WIP, so she’s going based of canon and shoddy notes that she remembers drafting. To everyone else, she’s either the greatest conman to exist or an actual seer.

[profoundmakerdreamerss-blog]

Tomarry AU where Tom HATES this book he read because his favourite character dies a miserable death. So what if his favorite character was a no-named side villain? Why does it matter that he only had like seven lines (seven is Tom's favourite number anyways)? He was still gorgeous, smart and strong and beautiful — and it doesn't matter that others think he isn't all that because they would never know him— understand him like TOM DOES.

An AU where Tom has a healthy obsession with a character named Harry Potter, a no named baron's son who was the first to go against the king (MC's father, and the mc who is incidentally known as Draco Malfoy, ahem anyways); he tries to “poison” him. But he gets caught or to be more precise he ends up sacrificing himself for the common girl Hermione Granger (the female lead, I'm sorry guys but imagine the fucking drama.) who gets blamed for his transgressions.

But that is not why Tom falls for this weak villain, no — it's because he respects how this no-named orphan became a baron on his own two feet without anyone being there for him especially in a world where old money and title is everything— and he hates how he had to give his life for the MC to notice the female lead? (Harry is better looking and smarter than her anyways — Tom, in an online forum perhaps.)

Anyways, now imagine Tom dying (he hated it so yes he ends up looking for immorality anyways.) and waking up in the world he hated. Now imagine, Tom Riddle, waking up in the body of a Duke who wasn't even given a name in the novel. (He would know because he has a photographic memory, ok? It's totally not because he read it more than 14 times) and then saying fuck it and owning it.

Just think, Tom taking over the world slowly with his worldly knowledge while trying to keep Harry alive because even though he was right about Harry being smart; the guy treats his life like Draco treats his money - you get the idea.

[paper-mario-wiki]

i've been avoiding the greatest estate developer because i thought it would be stupid in a way that would make me angry, but now thanks to your posting i see that it's actually stupid in a way that i will become obsessed with. i am going to read it immediately thank you

i think that the ridiculously titled subsection of literature ("my boobs wife is transformed into a million dollar wizard and having sex with me is like antidepressants to her?!?!?!" ya know light novels and doujins and whatnot with names like that) allow for a lot of sneaky high concept writers to play around in subversive long form story telling. and when its good, baby its good.

i love wading through shlocky literature. if you never stop eating trash you will always be the first rat to find the perfectly preserved cornbread in the dumpster. the thrill of the hunt and finding love for the trash along the way makes me feel wonderful.

[hisui-dreamer]

twst but with the additional magical monsters and smth smth demon lord in typical fantasy aus...

riddle, who is the perfect model student, magnificent grades, spectacular magical capabilities, always following rules to the letter, with an aspiring career as a royal mage

riddle, who just so happens to be matched with you as your buddy, meaning your grades and lessons may be affected by each other

riddle, who will not stand having his grades and perfect record ruined by you, and demands you keep up with his standards so you won't be dead weight

riddle, who starts spending a ridiculous amount of time with you, tutoring academics and practising magic, making sure you're listening properly and will scold you if you're lazing around

riddle, who is so strict with how much you practice, requesting you cast the same spell so many times you think you might just overblot

riddle, who scoffs as you complain about his draconic training, saying repeated practice is required for learning mages

riddle, who always points out your mistakes firmly, but offers specific and detailed advice that always helps you improve

riddle, who will rant off about how unhealthy the dessert you're having for lunch is, listing all sorts of nutritional facts non-stop, but shuts up the moment you shove a piece of tart in his mouth

riddle, who becomes more accepting of desserts after you've made a habit of sharing a few bites of yours with him

riddle, who is your partner for your assignment to defeat low-ranking monsters in the nearby forest, and he's visibly excited to be encountering the creatures

riddle, who shields you from your fall after you've stepped on a loose piece of ground, tumbling into a more dangerous section of the forest

riddle, who nags you about not being careful and how you could have gotten seriously injured as he ties your injured foot with a shredded piece of his uniform

riddle, who shields you from the high-ranking monsters that have sensed your presence

riddle, who doesn't hesitate to use up all of his mana and set the forest ablaze just to protect you

[prokopetz]

Cave man gets run over by one of those giant stone wheels that cave people are always rolling down hills in cartoons and wakes up in present-day Detroit.

[luckyxmisfortune]

heard of the new farmer?

◇ • ☆ • ◇

[daily-tropes-provider]

TROPE: "I thought that I could save myself and live a peaceful life upon marrying my husband, however, how can I have a quiet life when my In-Laws seems to like me way too much?!"

MANHWAS:

• Lady Isabella's Path to Happiness

• My In-Laws are Obsessed with Me

• The Siren: Becoming the Villain's Family

• I'm Living with my Mother-in-law

• I Don't Want to be the Duke's Adopted Daughter-in-law

• The Archvillain's Daughter In law

[lordofwought]

[asteriass]

The progression of the “Villainess” trope

Y'know, thinking about it, it's very ironic how a trope made to subvert one's expectations & give more depth to 1 dimensional villains in cliche novels by "humanizing" them more & providing their side of the story, eventually became oversaturated with cartoony villains & flat MCs. Thus, completely failing in its goal to "subvert expectations" as it too turned into mind numbing cliche, becoming the exact opposite of what the troupe initially aimed to achieved.

I am talking about "Villainess" series.

I remember seeing a twitter post a while back saying how a lot of the villainess stuff the authors & studios are putting out nowadays lack any sort of nuance when it comes to its characters. And how a lot authors simply switch the roles of the cast (Like: OG MC -> villain | OG villain -> MC) & call it a day. And I 100% agree with that.

This troupe kinda ended up becoming the dictionary definition of the saying, "You either die as a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain” lmao

What could've been an opportunity to write nuanced villains & morally ambiguous main characters, turned EXACTLY into the cliche it was pocking fun at.

In an attempt to reveal how the MCs of your typical cliche novels can also be in the wrong at times, flaws that the story & its (in-canon) fandom may purposefully ignore, the villainess stories ended up doing EXACT SAME thing EXECPT this time it's the "villains" doing it rather than the OG FL or OG ML of the “OG novel”. In an attempt to stop cliche villains from remaining cliche, while we did ended up getting slightly more nuance for the “OG villain” characters, in the process, the OG MCs turned exactly into those flat cliche villains.

Alot of villainess series poke fun at the troupes they themself use, but not in a satirical way.

So many villainess series poke fun at the OG novels for being problematic or stupid & the fandom of said novels basically ignoring its flaws & problems, only gushing over the OG FL. Which yea, is nice & all, but y'know... that's exactly what those villainess series do too. SO MANYY of them borderline have the FLs participating in literal slavery. & More often than not have a borderline colonizer ML. Not to mention the numerous which carry weird undertones of colorism, and many such other things. All the while, the fandom of these villainess series continue to ignore their glaring problems & flaws & instead just gush over the FL and ML.

And I'm not even saying this in a hating sort of way (well, aside from the series with issues of colorism, orientalism, etc). Moreover, this is all not to say that one can not enjoy such stories, because admittedly, there is indeed fun in just reading a simple and familiar story line. But this is all more me being intrigued by this trope’s almost ironic progression as companies rush their staff to produce something which they think will be able to ride the waves of the current trends, only for the vast majority to simply drown in a sea of mediocrity (with many even being canceled due to this)

[Though I mean, something as simple as villainess tropes won’t be the only one to go through this. Like a lot of Shakespearean works, a subversion of the classics & typical troupes back then, got turned into ones of those classics and by many are now considered cliche. And that's just scrapping the bottom of the barrel!]

[dulcesiabits]

What if we met the manwa boys as kids? What would happen? ( Reader is a kid too.)

(referencing this fic)

Riddle: His world is small, and the only people who exist in it are his parents, and the nameless, faceless people they expect him to lead in the future. Riddle dutifully fulfills all his tasks and lessons to become the perfect duke. There’s no time for childish things like friends... at least, there isn’t until he meets you. Then his world blooms, and you show him so many exciting things. You’re the person he looks forward to seeing the most, his cheeks warming whenever you pop up at his windowsill with a smile.

Leona: He doesn’t pay much attention to other people; that way, when they inevitably start comparing him to his brother, he won’t be so disappointed. He’s too smart for his own good, and doesn’t enjoy playing nice to placate others, which is why it’s so strange that you approached him in the first place. You even smile like you enjoy his company... and maybe Leona doesn’t mind keeping you around, as long as you promise to be his friend before you’re anyone else’s.

Azul: There is hardly anyone who remembers his past, and Azul intends to keep it that way. As a child, he grew up in a seaside town, too small to be put on a map. The children are cruel, and the adults simply ignore him whenever he’s bullied. His only solace is the beach... and you, the one person who bothers to stick up for him, who wipes away his tears. One day, he wants to take you away from this place, so it can just be the two of you, together.

Jamil: Kalim is the center of his world, and at this age, Jamil doesn’t quite have the words to express why it bothers him so. It’s just the way it is, and with everyone around him telling him to accept it, then that’s what he has to do. It’s fine. He doesn’t mind, not if the peaceful days running around with you through the estate doesn’t change. It’s funny, though. He has a vague feeling that you’re the one person he can’t give up to Kalim, no matter what.

Vil: His father often tells him he’s smart for his age, precocious and talented, and Vil takes those words to heart. He’ll work hard, harder than everyone else, to prove himself and dazzle the gossiping nobility into silence. Most kids give him a wide berth for his sharp manner or try to pick fights because of his commoner status, but you’ll always run in to stand up for him and chase them away. You’re his loyal knight, someone who will always be there for him.

Idia: He and his little brother aren’t allowed to leave the magic tower, and there’s no one else there his age. But it’s not so boring once you show up, and Idia finally has someone else to sneak onto the roof with and to read books under the covers until you can’t keep your eyes open. He’s more adventurous as a child, outgoing, with a cheer that makes you and Ortho follow him around everywhere. Taking your hand, he promises to be your hero, forever and ever.

Malleus: Even at a young age, there’s a lot of pressure on Malleus to be the perfect crown prince. Everyone is watching his every move, and the slightest misstep will send a cascade of whispers through court. But it’s not so bad when he has you, his best and only friend. Out in the garden, with no one watching, he can play just like any other kid, leading you through clumsy dance steps until you fall down giggling. It’s always going to be you and him, no matter what.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

In your opinion what makes a good Isekai?

To further the question what makes a good overpowered Isekai?

There no one thing that makes a good story in any genre. It depends what the story is trying to do.

For example, lots of Stupidly Overpowered Protagonist isekai suck because they try to draw their narrative tension from battles, and the stupidly overpowered protagonist completely undercuts any sense of peril. Reincarnated As A Slime is one of my personal bugbears on that front.

Bofuri, on the other hand, cheerfully overpowers Maple in the dumbest ways because it doesn't need her to be vulnerable in combat. It's an anime about cute girls hanging out in a video game and being friends, its drama is social rather than action based, it actively does not WANT to have tension. It's a chill hangout session, and having Maple be OP as hell supports that concept by sapping all tension from combat scenarios.

There's been a bunch of Slow Life style isekai doing the same kinda thing, and it makes the OP protagonist way more fun than your SAO knockoffs, or that horrid trash genre of revenge porn fantasies like Redo of Healer or Shield Hero.

The OP protagonist is a power fantasy, so what matters is what that power fantasy is used for. In Bofuri it's "being the social binding joint for a group of friends doing activities together."

In Reincarnated As A Slime and many other bad isekai of its kind it is "be the coolest most great dude who's great at everything and everyone thinks he's cool and wants to bang him because he's inherently better," which to me is just tedious ego masturbation. I can't find any joy in it.

I really like Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill, whose OP protagonist fantasy is "cooking really nice meals for people and making them happy," and I did enjoy the low stakes lesbian-coded family building of I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level (I hate the titling convention so much though).

To return to your question, what makes isekai good are the same things that make anything good: interesting characters, compelling plot, strong themes etc. But one of the common isekai pitfalls is using genre tropes that actively undercut the tension of the story structure. Like an OP protagonist who makes all battle tension meaningless in a story that draws its narrative tension exclusively from battles.

(side note: I have deeply fallen for the Reincarnated As A Villainess In An Otome Game subgenre, so readers, recommend me good ones if you have them!)