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I got transported to another world and didn't even become the main protagonist! (Isekai Quest)

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Metrux said:
Well, any romantic setup has sexuality involved, or it wouldn't be true romance, only a imaginary one. But I do see your point.
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Eh? It's entirely possible to have an asexual romantic relationship. Romance is based on emotional attraction towards an individual. Sexual attraction can be a factor, but isn't necessarily so.

For a real relationship? Harem is ridiculous and shouldn't ever be attempted. For something fantastical, magical and unreal? It's a diferent perspective, one where we can, and should, do things we can't on our real life. Roleplaying came to be exactly because of that, we must hear of and experiment with things beyond what life gives to us, be it because the world has changed with time, we don't have the resources or the world simply don't work that way. Quests are an extension to that, and thus you choosing to not experience a little of everything is, most of the time, simply caging yourself from finding more abotu yourself. Even if you end up not liking something, trying it once in a no consequences situation will help you better understand why and what part you don't like, leading you so becoming better.

That said, I got a lil bit philosophical here... Anyway: Try new things, and don't worry if they are right or wrong in quests or rps. Roleplaying a villain for my friends campaign of rpg was one of the most enlightening situations in my life. Also, go ahead and vote against Harem, I probably will only vote for what I'm feeling lie at the time xD
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You make a good point about making a distinction between reality and roleplay, which I can respect and agree with. But it's not a case of a me being unwilling to try (I too like to roleplay the villain and do morally heinous stuff that I would never contemplate advocating for in real life: see my standard Stellaris run) so much as just having a distaste for it which is in part based on what it entails in real life situations as opposed to how it tends to be portrayed in fiction.

Anya Homura said:
Yes, mostly because I'm just really fucking grateful for people being interested in this.
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Create the quest for writing purposes. Keep updating it for the intricate discussions on the nature of human interpersonal relationships. :V
 
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Metrux said:
Well, any romantic setup has sexuality involved, or it wouldn't be true romance, only a imaginary one. But I do see your point.



I liked the video, thank the Anime Pope for me xD Also, are you liing all comments on the thread? o.o



For a real relationship? Harem is ridiculous and shouldn't ever be attempted. For something fantastical, magical and unreal? It's a diferent perspective, one where we can, and should, do things we can't on our real life. Roleplaying came to be exactly because of that, we must hear of and experiment with things beyond what life gives to us, be it because the world has changed with time, we don't have the resources or the world simply don't work that way. Quests are an extension to that, and thus you choosing to not experience a little of everything is, most of the time, simply caging yourself from finding more abotu yourself. Even if you end up not liking something, trying it once in a no consequences situation will help you better understand why and what part you don't like, leading you so becoming better.

That said, I got a lil bit philosophical here... Anyway: Try new things, and don't worry if they are right or wrong in quests or rps. Roleplaying a villain for my friends campaign of rpg was one of the most enlightening situations in my life. Also, go ahead and vote against Harem, I probably will only vote for what I'm feeling lie at the time xD
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Enlightening.
For me, it feels like I have a moral obligation to behave at least like a normal human being with a set of morals, be it fiction or reality.
Because, you know, being a dick in an imaginary word just for the sake of it feels too much like power fantasy to me.

That said. Leaving that aside, I have a feeling that harems deprive the participants of their agency and characterization, a certain death for a fictional entity. Having too many waifus will ruin their laifus.

I honestly can't recall any well-written harems. I mean, they are probably out there, somewhere, but I ain't seen it. Anyway, these are my arguments on the matter, but I won't be forcing the issue, because I can enjoy different aspects of the story even if the heroine's love life becomes an ungodly mess with no hope for a brighter future. :V
 
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Metrux said:
Well, don't assume she's lesbian! She can be bi :B
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Fair enough, bi erasure is bad. Broad strokes are also bad. (And I'm going to assume that we can dodge Cupid's Arrow for now. Just be careful.)

ShadowAngelBeta said:
... SV's going to go for the first girl to pop up again. Granted, Cherry's a pretty good one so far, but still.
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I mean, like I said, keeping my options open. We don't even have any idea if Cherry is straight yet. They just started out kinda cute together so I'll root for them for now.

In terms of the whole harem thing- I LIKE poly relationships. The issue is that they're super hard to write well, and easy to screw up. No offense to the QM (I'd tell basically every QM/playerbase this), it's safer to just stick with.

And wow you guys are having a legit intellectual conversation while I'm posting shit like this.
 
Broken Base said:
In terms of the whole harem thing- I LIKE poly relationships. The issue is that they're super hard to write well, and easy to screw up. No offense to the QM (I'd tell basically every QM/playerbase this), it's safer to just stick with.
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I make a distinction between harem and poly relationships and hence have a different attitude towards the latter. For poly, my attitude can be best summed up as "wary but accepting". Wary because, as you said, they can be hard to make work both fictionally and in real life. Accepting, because they it is possible for them to work (both in real life and in fiction).

Allow me to explain the distinction via the use of graphs...



3 and 7 are necessarily harem-biased situations. 9 has the potential of winding up in a harem situation but can also end with b and c merely "getting over" a and going off on their own independent relationship. 8 can either be harem or polymorous, depending on the participants realization of their own feelings. If no-ones figured it out based on the above, the key difference between a harem and a polyamorous situation is whether the relationships are all focused on a single individual or are shared between all participants. The former is harem, the latter is poly.

*this has been "Harem/Poly 101 with Professor ObssesedNuker* :V
 
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Broken Base said:
I mean, like I said, keeping my options open. We don't even have any idea if Cherry is straight yet. They just started out kinda cute together so I'll root for them for now.
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Personally in the short term what I want is for Cherry to make fun of Joanna for her super-obvious crush-on-first-sight on Alva.

Ribbing each other over crushes is the foundation of any good friendship :)

Also much sympathy for Joanna here, sometimes you meet someone and you just immediately think 'oh no they're gorgeous' and all you can do is blush and try and hide.
 
deadcrystal said:
Personally in the short term what I want is for Cherry to make fun of Joanna for her super-obvious crush-on-first-sight on Alva.

Ribbing each other over crushes is the foundation of any good friendship :)

Also much sympathy for Joanna here, sometimes you meet someone and you just immediately think 'oh no they're gorgeous' and all you can do is blush and try and hide.
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I didn't even interpret the vote as Joanna having a crush, merely being off balanced by Alva's charisma enough to phrase a genuine question as if it was a pick-up line.
 
obssesednuker said:
3 and 7 are necessarily harem-biased situations. 9 has the potential of winding up in a harem situation but can also end with b and c merely "getting over" a and going off on their own independent relationship. 8 can either be harem or polymorous, depending on the participants realization of their own feelings. If no-ones figured it out based on the above, the key difference between a harem and a polyamorous situation is whether the relationships are all focused on a single individual or are shared between all participants. The former is harem, the latter is poly.

*this has been "Harem/Poly 101 with Professor ObssesedNuker* :V
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I wasn't going to bring it up, but I have basically the same views.

8 is the only one that can potentially work because all parties love and treat each other equally. Though they don't necessarily have to be in a romantic relationship to make it work with the 3rd party they are romantically involved with.
 
deadcrystal said:
Also much sympathy for Joanna here, sometimes you meet someone and you just immediately think 'oh no they're gorgeous' and all you can do is blush and try and hide.
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I think that it is definitely worth noting that given that it was especially noted that we're kinda overwhelmed by the charisma of the character, there could be other factors at play. What she actually SAYS kind of balances that out, but..

Also, as a pan girl, I've had to walk up and just talk, about the fundamentals, to a fucking grocery clerk and froze because I had the holy shit dear god she's hot reaction. If that is what is going on, I can sympathize.
 
obssesednuker said:
I didn't even interpret the vote as Joanna having a crush, merely being off balanced by Alva's charisma enough to phrase a genuine question as if it was a pick-up line.
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Joanna reacts to her quite before Alva says or does anything. As seen below.

Anya Homura said:
You grab a bottle and walk out to the front where... Oh.

A pale haired woman in a black outfit leans over the counter, a slight smile on her face. You feel intimidated and flustered, all at once.
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Broken Base said:
Also, as a pan girl, I've had to walk up and just talk, about the fundamentals, to a fucking grocery clerk and froze because I had the holy shit dear god she's hot reaction. If that is what is going on, I can sympathize.
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Personally I find worst the days when you go out into town and it's just like...all of a sudden everyone is pretty. End up just wanting to hide in my room. :p
 
deadcrystal said:
Joanna reacts to her quite before Alva says or does anything. As seen below.
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Eh, I still stand by my statement since personal appearance is a factor in charisma. My perspective is that having a momentary hang-up from a "Gosh, they are pretty!" reaction isn't necessarily the same thing as a crush, which I tend to view as a longer-term deal. It can still be off-balancing for a little bit though.
Adhoc vote count started by obssesednuker on Jul 27, 2018 at 6:17 PM, finished with 97 posts and 25 votes.
  • [X] You surprise yourself, and let yourself fall into it-- to discover it doesn't harm you, and lets you search for color and warmth beyond the darkness.
    [x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."
    [X] Emotions blast through you-- and leaves to batter at the darkness around it, swirling it around and taking it away as if it was caught by a tornado.
    [X] Thunder echoes in your mind-- lightning fills the darkness and destroys it from within.
    [X] Everything overflows inside your mind-- you're left watching the waves wash away the darkness that held you.
    [X] Something burns in you-- your rage consumes you and leaves you with an inner fire of anger, and flames leap at and destroy the darkness around you.
    [x] Do... you come here often? ...Ah! As in, uh, buying fire ley?!
    [x] Do... you come here often? ...Ah! As in, uh, buying fire ley?!​
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Adhoc vote count started by obssesednuker on Jul 27, 2018 at 6:18 PM, finished with 37 posts and 6 votes.
  • [x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."
    [x] Do... you come here often? ...Ah! As in, uh, buying fire ley?!
    [x] Do... you come here often? ...Ah! As in, uh, buying fire ley?!​
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Adhoc vote count started by obssesednuker on Jul 27, 2018 at 6:19 PM, finished with 38 posts and 6 votes.
  • [x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."
    [x] Do... you come here often? ...Ah! As in, uh, buying fire ley?!
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obssesednuker said:
Eh, I still stand by my statement since personal appearance is a factor in charisma. My perspective is that having a momentary hang-up from a "Gosh, they are pretty!" reaction isn't necessarily the same thing as a crush, which I tend to view as a longer-term deal.
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I don't think any of us are saying that it's a crush; what happened to me certainly wasn't a crush. It was just an extreme reaction to somebody I found super attractive and I became absolutely dumbstruck, and it's definitely possible that that's what is happening here.

I think both are decent possibilities, and I think maybe more conversation will give us further inight.

(I can't believe we're having an extended debate about this)
 
[X] "W-well I—"
-[X] Proceed to vomit on the floor like Stan from South Park

If the protag doesn't watch South Park, I can just remove the reference but keep the vomit
 
[X] Do... you come here often? ...Ah! As in, uh, buying fire ley?!

Shade ley is harem ley.

On a serious note, emotional effect could be one of the powers of shade ley. If ya wanna play into cliches, that is.
 
Broken Base said:
I don't think any of us are saying that it's a crush; what happened to me certainly wasn't a crush. It was just an extreme reaction to somebody I found super attractive and I became absolutely dumbstruck, and it's definitely possible that that's what is happening here.
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So if forced to suddenly to talk with that person immediately after you first having that reaction, would you be more likely to give a concise answer or stick your foot in your mouth?

Broken Base said:
(I can't believe we're having an extended debate about this)
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I want to turn this into a "you best believe" joke-reference, but I'm not sure how.​
 
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obssesednuker said:
So if forced to suddenly to talk with that person immediately after you first having that reaction, would you be more likely to give a concise answer or stick your foot in your mouth?
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From my experience, my answer would typically be the latter. The thing is, though, that protag-chan has already gone through that; not necessarily stuttering, but definitely stumbling over exactly what she wants to say and babbling. That's basically the kind of thing I'd expect. It's not like the effect, I guess, lasts forever; after a few seconds you manage to at least mostly recover and can function again. Really the only reason to not do a purely straight-forward, non-embarassing answer is that the charisma probably just makes things worse, and also that's less fun.

Honestly I admit more kind of embarrassed fun stuff could be entertaining, but eh, the lead option just feels kind of... cliche to me. Kinda expected? The Cherry one is at least a bit different terms of a response to this kind of thing. Like honestly the main thing that might push me in the other vote's direction is the implied shipping of Cherry and Protag-chan. As I've said, want to keep my options open, and I'm not sure I want the narrative implying/pushing it.
 
Broken Base said:
From my experience, my answer would typically be the latter. The thing is, though, that protag-chan has already gone through that; not necessarily stuttering, but definitely stumbling over exactly what she wants to say and babbling. That's basically the kind of thing I'd expect. It's not like the effect, I guess, lasts forever; after a few seconds you manage to at least mostly recover and can function again. Really the only reason to not do a purely straight-forward, non-embarassing answer is that the charisma probably just makes things worse, and also that's less fun.

Honestly I admit more kind of embarrassed fun stuff could be entertaining, but eh, the lead option just feels kind of... cliche to me. Kinda expected? The Cherry one is at least a bit different terms of a response to this kind of thing. Like honestly the main thing that might push me in the other vote's direction is the implied shipping of Cherry and Protag-chan. As I've said, want to keep my options open, and I'm not sure I want the narrative implying/pushing it.
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Fair enough, I can respect that.
 
[x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."

Heaven Sent, Sweet Cher~ry Pie ♪.

IMHO, we've only met two characters so while a fluster is fine it's not time to find 'Best-Waifu-Forever' just yet. Hell, we haven't even left the house I don't think. This option on the other hand reads more as 'Buddy-Buddy' in my eyes, but leaves room for something down the line if we ever get to it.
 
King_Rule said:
IMHO, we've only met two characters so while a fluster is fine it's not time to find 'Best-Waifu-Forever' just yet. Hell, we haven't even left the house I don't think. This option on the other hand reads more as 'Buddy-Buddy' in my eyes, but leaves room for something down the line if we ever get to it.
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This'll probably be my final lengthy, non-vote post in this weirdly chatty voting stage- that went interesting directions- but like, here's how I see the Cherry option.

The Cherry option, to me, isn't really about "picking" a love interest, because as you say we've met two people. I have a mild preference for Cherry based on what we've seen, but it's really mild given the lack of writing time.

I see it more from the narrative perspective- I don't think it's going to effect Protag-chan that much; if she gets any implications she'll get flustered, then move on. Not like this has any reason to cause her to develop any feelings for Cherry. I do think in terms of the broad Isekai narrative we're in though, it's basically ship-teasing. Which in itself doesn't mean that much, ship-teasing doesn't indicate anything long term, but it's kind of a nod and a wink.

(I like to think of this in meta terms because I enjoy meta elements in quests even if the quest doesn't strictly have any)
 
Broken Base said:
Hm. I kind of like that- it manages to not necessarily feel like an overdone sort of flustered joke, but can still lead to flustered times. It helps that currently (keeping my options open) I'm on the Cherry/Protag wagon[1] because the two are pretty cute together- like that domestic scene at the beginning was delightful.

So before you can wake up and regret it, I'm going to try and make it into a bandwagon. Your move, Edgedancer.

[x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."

1. I like how like... two updates ago I was like "Hahaha this is totally SV but let's not assume she's gay." Welp GG me.
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Honestly, I half assumed some kind of proto-waifu war would have started by the time I come back. Instead there was an intelligent discussion on romance. For once I can say:
I regret nothing.

(Well, except that one thing. :ninja: )

Anyway, you pretty much took that option as I meant it, so I don't have that much to add. Let's see where it takes us, assuming it wins.

[x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."

Anya Homura said:
Yes, mostly because I'm just really fucking grateful for people being interested in this.
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First, you put out the good stuff flavoured lure. Then you hope and pray.
 
Broken Base said:
Fair enough, bi erasure is bad. Broad strokes are also bad. (And I'm going to assume that we can dodge Cupid's Arrow for now. Just be careful.)

I mean, like I said, keeping my options open. We don't even have any idea if Cherry is straight yet. They just started out kinda cute together so I'll root for them for now.

In terms of the whole harem thing- I LIKE poly relationships. The issue is that they're super hard to write well, and easy to screw up. No offense to the QM (I'd tell basically every QM/playerbase this), it's safer to just stick with.

And wow you guys are having a legit intellectual conversation while I'm posting shit like this.
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This kind of nice discussion is what I trully consider a discussion. It's good and most of the time we learn from it.

Broken Base said:
I don't think any of us are saying that it's a crush; what happened to me certainly wasn't a crush. It was just an extreme reaction to somebody I found super attractive and I became absolutely dumbstruck, and it's definitely possible that that's what is happening here.

I think both are decent possibilities, and I think maybe more conversation will give us further inight.

(I can't believe we're having an extended debate about this)
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It's not a crush... Yet :D Seriously now, don't worry about the debate, it's a nice thing, everyone concurs ^^

Broken Base said:
From my experience, my answer would typically be the latter. The thing is, though, that protag-chan has already gone through that; not necessarily stuttering, but definitely stumbling over exactly what she wants to say and babbling. That's basically the kind of thing I'd expect. It's not like the effect, I guess, lasts forever; after a few seconds you manage to at least mostly recover and can function again. Really the only reason to not do a purely straight-forward, non-embarassing answer is that the charisma probably just makes things worse, and also that's less fun.

Honestly I admit more kind of embarrassed fun stuff could be entertaining, but eh, the lead option just feels kind of... cliche to me. Kinda expected? The Cherry one is at least a bit different terms of a response to this kind of thing. Like honestly the main thing that might push me in the other vote's direction is the implied shipping of Cherry and Protag-chan. As I've said, want to keep my options open, and I'm not sure I want the narrative implying/pushing it.
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To me I just do what I feel like at most times, and the wrong way it can be interpreted seems just too funny. I don't want to go for any romance for now.

Edgedancer said:
Honestly, I half assumed some kind of proto-waifu war would have started by the time I come back. Instead there was an intelligent discussion on romance. For once I can say:
I regret nothing.

(Well, except that one thing. :ninja: )

Anyway, you pretty much took that option as I meant it, so I don't have that much to add. Let's see where it takes us, assuming it wins.

[x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."


First, you put out the good stuff flavoured lure. Then you hope and pray.
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I bow to you. This idea is the best for now :D
 
@Anya Homura I actually had a similar idea to this quest, although it was closer to (I am an NPC even in an Isekai adventure...)

Basically, the MC would have been dragged into a portal along with the eight actual heroes that were intentionally summoned. Big problem is the MC is still a normal person with zero magic whereas the heroes are now capable of superhuman feats because of the summoning magic providing massive enhancements. Like "Why the hell can I not understand anything that has been said in the 'welcoming speech'?" and no resistance at all to even the most minor of magic 'spells'. All in all, the MC pretty much is a huge liability to the heroes and the country that summoned him/her (still undecided about the MC) so the MC is trying to find ways to help out while the ones in power are debating whether or not just to cut the MC loose (abandon him/her to a lethal fate) so vital resources are not drained uselessly.

Anyway, the vote:
[x] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."
 
Eh.
[Q] Reply in a husky voice:
-[Q] "Do you?"
-–[Q] Don't forget to wink.

[X] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."
 
[X] "Until now, I've only been spending time with Cherry, so there wasn't anything to dislike."

*tries to be smooth and respond to the pretty lady*
*accidentally hits on Cherry*
'D-damn it!'
 
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