Bell could potentially be recruited by the Freya familia so long as Freya herself notices him before he finds somewhere else. It would be a very Freya thing to set her new potential genius recruit against the other rising star of the day. Yes that would make Bell an antagonist.

I really like this idea actually. It's spawning plot bunnies in my head about what if QA had encountered Freya before Hestia lol. Actually, how does Freya normally treat her Familia? Alexander notes she takes great effort to scoop up talented adventurers, maybe even stealing them from still-grieving gods, but does she do anything with her adventurers once she gets them? Or are they just like collectibles she displays?
 
I like the idea of Bell ending up with Miach if not in Hestia's group - it's still a small enough Familia (and the debt problem severe enough) for him to have most of the same pressure to drive his progress, and still close enough to not be too contrived to remain in contact with the plot. It would also let Miach's fortunes rise, and a stronger support infrastructure like a friendly consumable item crafter is a big force multiplier even if not directly counted in a group's strength.
 
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I like Bell okay. He's hardly my favorite character ever, or even in the setting, but that doesn't mean he's bad or even counterproductive to the story. I trust Alivaril to be able to do something with him and make it interesting.

As a character if you added him to Hestia's family he'd be in awe of 'Big sister' Queenie, and there's potential there. Maybe QA boosts him somehow, or tries to get Taylor to make a Bud for him 'Aka' set her sister / host up with the cute boy. Maybe he grows at about his canon rate because he wants to impress Taylor and Hestia. Maybe he grows fast and thinks it's totally normal due to how fast Taylor / Queenie grows too, and then Hestia family gets a reputation for being absurdly quick growing lvl 1 monsters.
You can have him be the eternal understudy and try to start mimicking Queenie's mannerisms. Maybe due to his growth rate people think that QA's 'homeland' sent her a professional bodyguard / adventurer / man-servant after the whole title / Ishtar debacle.
He can help Queenie and Aiz with their plan to lower Loki / Hestia hostilities, he vehicles well into helping other people around Orario as well. He can help with all these ex-Ishtar women, or more canon focused characters.

You're worried about the story becoming a fix-fic, but I'd still read it, so long as we get to see Queenie's sheer alien views of the world.

Just so long as it doesn't become a Bell harem centered story it's fine to add him in. There could be a some funny scenes where he tries his 'meet girls in the dungeon thing' and Queenie starts accidentally destroying his goal. 'But there are so many more females above ground,' 'Trying to express hormonal desires in a combat scenario is not a terrible plan, but such relationships will likely be short lived,' or noting something like 'if you wish to copulate with a females strength is a desirable trait for you hormonal mammals' to encourage his growth rate.
 
Oh if only we had more @Alivaril s then we could read every version of the story that people are talking about.

Very late edit: @Alivaril is a space whale maybe he could split off a few newborn shards to write spin-offs?
 
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. If all three goddesses were like the first of their number to accept her invitation, Lachesis, then they would collectively possess all the menace of a litter of inebriated kittens. Dreamer wasn't even sure the black-suited, silver-haired woman could speak in anything other than past tense.
... wonder what the Norns gonna do when they hear about this place? or other deities of destiny and fate?
 
Nell has abandonment issues from his gramps

And that's why he wants a harem

And QA LOVES abandonment issues
He doesn't want a harem. Bell wants to be a hero but he was raised by his grandfather who said that hero's always get the girl.
A big plot point is him remembering that he wanted to be a hero because of his grandfather and not to get the girl.

...also hes kinda a Shojo anime protag.
 
So, Alexander was a reason I wanted to know about the diplomatic situation, but the main reason was for something else. Alas, the answers mean this scene will never be. :p (There are plenty of alternative routes, but this was my favorite)

"Are you here to ask to join, too?" Hestia asked. "Don't you think you should wait a few more years...?"

The child shook her head.

"Ah, Lili is sorry, but she is already part of the Soma Familia," she said apologetically. "Lili would like to know if Queen Administrator is home."

"Ahhh, not yet?" Hestia replied slowly.

The child was just off in a way she found all too familiar. It was like looking at a crimson-haired mini-Administrator with worse posture — and this time, Hestia doubted a traumatic brain injury was responsible for the too-happy mask. A traumatic something, though, definitely. The goddess patted the bench beside herself and began filling another bowl with vegetable stew.

"You could have a snack with me while you wait," Hestia offered. "What did you need?"

The diminutive child shook her head, her fake smile never wavering.

"Lili would like to beg for asylum, please!"
 
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Bell could end up in the Hestia Familia by having QA take Ais place in saving Bell from the Minotaur, likely by having one of her Friends come out of nowhere and eat it with her riding on top. Bell ends up being awed, eventually finds out that she's also a level one that started not much longer than him and part of a small familia that's looking for members. He joins, he tries to use Taylor as the standard he has to meet if he wants to succeed in being a hero and despite Hestia's protests he does start to grow ludicrously fast which sinks Hestia's hopes of the nice normal kid adventurer being a voice of reason or way to keep QA's more impulsive antics in check.
 
So, Alexander was a reason I wanted to know about the diplomatic situation, but the main reason was for something else. Alas, the answers mean this scene will never be. :p (There are plenty of alternative routes, but this was my favorite)

"Are you here to ask to join, too?" Hestia asked. "Don't you think you should wait a few more years...?"

The child shook her head.

"Ah, Lili is sorry, but she is already part of the Soma Familia," she said apologetically. "Lili would like to know if Queen Administrator is home."

"Ahhh, not yet?" Hestia replied slowly.

The child was just off in a way she found all too familiar. It was like looking at a crimson-haired mini-Administrator with worse posture — and this time, Hestia doubted a traumatic brain injury was responsible for the too-happy mask. A traumatic something, though, definitely. The goddess patted the bench beside herself and began filling another bowl with vegetable stew.

"You could have a snack with me while you wait," Hestia offered. "What did you need?"

The diminutive child shook her head, her fake smile never wavering.

"Lili would like to beg for asylum, please!"
I want to know more about what the situation would have had to have been to get this scene in. What were you imagining for the context...?
 
I want to know more about what the situation would have had to have been to get this scene in. What were you imagining for the context...?
Ah, I should probably just keep writing the actual story instead of a dead what-if. Sorry. Basically just Hestia waiting in the church, though.

...Or sleep. Sleep works too. Oops. Good night, all!
 
Maybe he grows at about his canon rate because he wants to impress Taylor and Hestia. Maybe he grows fast and thinks it's totally normal due to how fast Taylor / Queenie grows too, and then Hestia family gets a reputation for being absurdly quick growing lvl 1 monsters.
It could be how he gets his canon skill.
Liaris Freese (憧憬一途リアリス・フレーゼ): Liaris Freese increases the speed of Bell's growth as long as his feelings last. The strength of the effects is related to the strength of Bell's feelings. As a side effect, it makes him immune to charms.
It says "feelings" which is a pretty broad term.
 
He doesn't want a harem. Bell wants to be a hero but he was raised by his grandfather who said that hero's always get the girl.
A big plot point is him remembering that he wanted to be a hero because of his grandfather and not to get the girl.

...also hes kinda a Shojo anime protag.
Huh neat

Still abandonment issues

Also he's a dumbass and QA probs has an interesting view of them

They invite so much conflict into their lives but never come up with satisfactory solutions. But the problems that they create are things I would NEVER think to ask
 
I just have to say this, I'm in full awe of how the author here seems able to update their story so often and so regularly. The fact they can write so fast... I'm kinda jealous. :)
 
It's not Bell's fault - take a look at that skill again. He's immune to charms! Only Ais, whatsername catgirl from the inn, and (if not for having been friend-/pseudo-parent-zoned) Hestia had any chance at attracting him as women, since they interacted with him before getting it! [/missingthepoint]
 
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@Alivaril i think Bell should be included in the story, but I agree that the dynamic might be forced if he joins Hestia.

If you really want to make use of him, and not have him be a cardboard cutout there actually is a really good solution.

Miach.

His familia is suffering under debt, but he's just so kind. I could see Bell joining with the goal of repaying their kindness and helping them rise to prominence.

It could be one of those things we see in the background that influences events quite wildly without anyone really knowing why.

In other words, a good way to use him without putting him on a boat.
 
Hestia would love to have Bell (Danmachi's Harem protagonist) on board for being a bastion of morality to temper QA, but ironically enough, he doesn't match QA's standards. "Wanting to pick up girls" is not a motive she would be even remotely impressed by. OFC, I'm afraid of having my throat ripped out if we have a rejected interview scene. :V
Couple things:

1) Aren't you forgetting that it's Dreamer who gets to decide who gets to become a new Host, not QA?

2) Hestia clearly hasn't the foggiest clue how to properly appeal to QA's humanity, or else she'd know it's not possible in the first place, so her thinking Bell would be an ideal morality pet for QA is perfectly sensible.

3) QA being a straightman foil to shut down Bell's more... impractical notions would be a near endless source of hilarity.

4) Regarding QA's ideal Host target, I'll remind you that individual doesn't show up in canon for at least a week or two after series start, meaning that you'd have the better part of a month before even getting to said individual even if you bring in Bell in the next chapter. If Taylor/Dreamer doesn't already know about that Familia's issues, simply being in proximity with said Host-candidate wouldn't bring it up unless she specifically looked. Which isn't a likely thing given how hard said individual worked to hide their issues from Bell at first.
 
Bell didn't really want to pick up girls what he really wanted to be was to be a hero like the ones from the stories. It's just his pervert of a grandfather taught him true heroes have harems.

Besides it's obvious that Bell wasn't the true Hero protag but actually the main Heroine in Ais's harem. :V


Lili and Bell both seem to fit the Familia rather well, given how things are going.

Interaction-wise, Bell drops another "alien common sense" member in Hestia's lap, because at this point she badly wants some NORMAL familia members. Meanwhile, Lili ends up as the semi-normie in the room who gets to comfort and or share a freak-out with Hestia every time QA and Bell do something absurd.

Lili's whole thing at the start is wanting to get free of what amounts to the Danmachi version of the Merchants, but she can't because she's not allowed to talk to her god, and even if she could he's a self-absorbed asshole. (Which explains why a rando level 2 with a shoddy flame dagger is running the place, nobody gets Falna updates.)

Problem with that now is that Ishtar just got hit with orbital lasers over a similar problem.

Odds are that current Lili can slip past everyone, talk to Soma, have him actually feel bad about how his Familia has turned out this time, or at least deeply concerned about the potential consequences and their impact on him being left alone to work, followed by Lili showing up to join Hestia Familia herself with no canon "free Lili" arc needed. Unlike the Ishtar refugees, Lili isn't incapable of going up to people.

Lili joining after fleeing Soma Familia would also get the Ishtar refugees thinking "wait, we can just do that?" which could lead to some of them getting closer in, setting things up for Haruhime and Aisha to turn up together and ask to join once things with Lili and Bell are mostly resolved. Lili joining gives Hestia the impression that things will be normal, then Bell shatters that, then QA makes Bell even worse, then Haruhime and Aisha join after that chaos settles down a bit. Or they join in the middle of QA halping corrupt Bell, and being bemused by the chaos, but happy to be there anyway.

Bell, on the other hand, just wants to be a hero. Which fits because that was literally Taylor's shtick, starting out. I could easily see QA setting him straight then taking Bell under her wing while indoctrinating him on her very strange take about what that means, as Dreamer!Taylor is ROFL in the background and adding fuel to the fire.

We still get Bell, it's just that his "oblivious harem protagonist" flag isn't going to last long. Even if QA didn't kill it by sticking strange ideas in Bell's head, Bell's harem route wold catch fire the first time QA tried to ask about whatever girl was showing interest in him. Persistent directness, especially when Hestia's asked Bell to help QA with human interaction, is not going to stand up well to oblivious harem protag "it's fine if I never confront it" behavior.

Tossing Bell into another familia just ends us up with a wandering harem protag with a literal plot armor attribute on his status, made worse by being raised by probably Freya thanks to her eyes thing and tendency to poach. Letting QA reform him kills the harem route bullshit dead, keeps him from trying to horn in on QA/Aiz goodness while Luck helps him turn up at the most annoying time, and gives QA a cute little brother to teach horrifying things to. It works out good.
 
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I really want Bell and QA to both end up as Ais' students, because the combined effects of their ridiculous growth plus Ais' Chiron skill will boost her own already absurd growth into high orbit, and Loki standing on top of the highest building in Orario screaming in incoherent glee about Ais' Falna doing zoomies right past the soft cap so fast that it runs out of letter grades and just throws up its metaphorical hands in despair would be a perfect and hilarious way to distract the Gods from Bell and QA. :V

(Considering Bell's 'history' with powerful women that have issues expressing emotion, as well as powerful inhuman women, it's only a matter of time before he starts making googly eyes at QA; who manages to hit both of Bell's types simultaneously. :V)

Especially since if Ais hits level 7, Loki will absolutely rub it all up in Freya's face that she isn't special with the only level 7 in Orario anymore and will be dancing literal circles around Freya while waving Ais' status sheet in the air. If Ais somehow manages to reach level 8 before Ottarl then Loki might actually just explode from a critical mass of smuggery.


Unrelated: The image of Hestia getting a bunch of Ishtar refugees into her Familia and giggling herself into a coma over having all these wonderful children to hug and pamper and mother the crap out of is also one that appeals, though I can't see it happening due to story issues. Which is also a bit sad, because after what they went through they need a Goddess of Hearth and Home to cuddle.
 
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That drifts away from the realm of mortal heroes and into the fictional absurdity of amateur authors trying to make their heroes seem special.
Shots fired at AlivarilTaylor :V Though in seriousness, Taylor doesn't seem to care for the combat aspect at all, so getting it out of the way of her carefree slice of life makes sense.
I'm torn. On the one hand, QA's criteria for a good potential host — and thus, a Familia member she'd like to have — perfectly fits __Lili_. I also think the resultant interactions with QA would be hilarious. On the other, introducing them so soon after the Ishtar Incident might strengthen the impression some mentioned of this feeling like a fix-fic.

Hestia would love to have Bell (Danmachi's Harem protagonist) on board for being a bastion of morality to temper QA, but ironically enough, he doesn't match QA's standards. "Wanting to pick up girls" is not a motive she would be even remotely impressed by. OFC, I'm afraid of having my throat ripped out if we have a rejected interview scene. :V

I'm leaning toward making a multi-option-selection poll between __Lili_ / Bell / Not __Lili_ / Not Bell / indifferent / NOBODY in the next story post. If nothing else, it should help gauge reader interest.

...Actually, how about now? It's not like making them is hard. :p
This seems like something that can use a good old dice roll or two.
 
Oh, and Lili trying to semi-normie all over QA's cheerios would give QA a reason to decide she's going to "fix the next one" that turns up, i.e. Bell. Which puts her on the path of trying to make him make sense according to her standards from the get-go, which leads to him pulling harem protagonist event horizon bullshit in front of QA, which leads to her traumatizing Bell about reproduction and harems (which QA isn't actually against, but in a way that makes Bell decide it's maybe not a great idea after all), which leads to QA deciding to teach not-harem-protagonist Bell about the ways of the True Hero according to QA & Dreamer.
 
Oh, and Lili trying to semi-normie all over QA's cheerios would give QA a reason to decide she's going to "fix the next one" that turns up, i.e. Bell. Which puts her on the path of trying to make him make sense according to her standards from the get-go, which leads to him pulling harem protagonist event horizon bullshit in front of QA, which leads to her traumatizing Bell about reproduction and harems (which QA isn't actually against, but in a way that makes Bell decide it's maybe not a great idea after all), which leads to QA deciding to teach not-harem-protagonist Bell about the ways of the True Hero according to QA & Dreamer.
And that was how Bell ended up following QA around like a lost lovesick puppy rabbit.
 
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