What if Transmigration Was Like a Debuff?

Wretch

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So I've had this idea for a while, but why does every single person who transmigrates suddenly become a cheat? They have a system, game screen, or nifty-difty memory download packs, but what if they didn't?

I know from experience that learning a language is hard. It's easy for babies because they don't know anything else, but if you have preexisting knowledge it will always interfere with the learning process. So you can rest assured it would probs take more than a few years for them to learn an entirely foreign new one. Not to mention the lapses back into their first language. So here we got a down-syndrome kid who babbles nonsense. If you're an adult, you have a horrible speech impediment and/or have been injured in some way and may need to see a doctor.

Next is up prejudices/biases and preexisting ideals. This one's simple, no kid I've ever will read deeply into the social structure, so 0-5 yr old who does is mildly terrifying and a sure sign that something is up with their kid. And if you transmigrated into an adult it's even more obvious.

How 'bout this? Someone you know really well gets hurt/sick/tries to commit suicide, but survive. They've changed, maybe before you hated them, maybe you loved them, but now they can't seem to recognize you? Well, either its a bad case of amnesia or they've experienced a nervous breakdown and are mentally unstable. You don't let them run around on their own, c'mon people. That or their doppelganger took over their body, and you're about to go capture and question them.

So yeah, idk how anybody would get transmigration=cheat code. You can tell me how wrong I am now.
 

PrincessFelicie

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Objectively, you're right. Isekai, if taken seriously, would be an awful experience for the reincarnated on the grounds of learning a new language and culture, let alone all the other stuff. But realistically, incredibly few authors have the knowledge in linguistics Tolkien had, and you can only write what you know, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

Wretch

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Objectively, you're right. Isekai, if taken seriously, would be an awful experience for the reincarnated on learning a new language and culture already, let alone all the other stuff. But realistically, incredibly few authors have the knowledge in linguistics Tolkien had, and you can only write what you know, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
True, but then they should at least try to make it a bit more realistic. The memory of previous owners actually is the least "plot-amour" ish type of trope I've seen. There are other ways besides having some kind of weird game-like interface to get around such a problem.
 

PenPaperToad

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Transmigrator(Debuff): You are a transmigrator and regardless how hard you try to hide it everyone else can tell something is wrong with you. Your every gesture and word is unnatural to those around you and the longer you stay in their presence the worse the feeling gets for watchers. Due to knowledge of language and culture from your previous world your efforts to learn the new culture and language, as well as adapt to them, are much less effective than those of the inhabitants of your new world.

Debuff aside, as long as the transmigrator either transmigrated into a body with the knowledge or it was specifically stated at some point that the God/Goddess that transmigrated them granted them the knowledge it wouldn't be a problem, but I do agree that it seems quite unusual that the other transmigrator types can easily learn the language and culture without seriously disturbing their parents/spectators.
 

Wretch

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Transmigrator(Debuff): You are a transmigrator and regardless how hard you try to hide it everyone else can tell something is wrong with you. Your every gesture and word is unnatural to those around you and the longer you stay in their presence the worse the feeling gets for watchers. Due to knowledge of language and culture from your previous world your efforts to learn the new culture and language, as well as adapt to them, are much less effective than those of the inhabitants of your new world.

Debuff aside, as long as the transmigrator either transmigrated into a body with the knowledge or it was specifically stated at some point that the God/Goddess that transmigrated them granted them the knowledge it wouldn't be a problem, but I do agree that it seems quite unusual that the other transmigrator types can easily learn the language and culture without seriously disturbing their parents/spectators.
Yes, there are certain allowances you have to make if you don't have enough knowledge, and I'll admit the first few times I read some really cliche transmigration novels I thought it was an amazing idea. Becuase it was new to me, but after the millions of books with the exact same settings, it gets old. Of course putting anew spin on it can be fun.

Also what if everyone else had a game interface but the transmigrator?
 

Assurbanipal_II

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So I've had this idea for a while, but why does every single person who transmigrates suddenly become a cheat? They have a system, game screen, or nifty-difty memory download packs, but what if they didn't?

I know from experience that learning a language is hard. It's easy for babies because they don't know anything else, but if you have preexisting knowledge it will always interfere with the learning process. So you can rest assured it would probs take more than a few years for them to learn an entirely foreign new one. Not to mention the lapses back into their first language. So here we got a down-syndrome kid who babbles nonsense. If you're an adult, you have a horrible speech impediment and/or have been injured in some way and may need to see a doctor.

Next is up prejudices/biases and preexisting ideals. This one's simple, no kid I've ever will read deeply into the social structure, so 0-5 yr old who does is mildly terrifying and a sure sign that something is up with their kid. And if you transmigrated into an adult it's even more obvious.

How 'bout this? Someone you know really well gets hurt/sick/tries to commit suicide, but survive. They've changed, maybe before you hated them, maybe you loved them, but now they can't seem to recognize you? Well, either its a bad case of amnesia or they've experienced a nervous breakdown and are mentally unstable. You don't let them run around on their own, c'mon people. That or their doppelganger took over their body, and you're about to go capture and question them.

So yeah, idk how anybody would get transmigration=cheat code. You can tell me how wrong I am now.

Why so complicated? If we are realistic, then the majority of transmigrators would die from hypothermia in a wood because they don't know how to light a fire. A night can be quite cold without suitable equipment.
 

Wretch

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Why so complicated? If we are realistic, then the majority of transmigrators would die from hypothermia in a wood because they don't know how to light a fire. A night can be quite cold without suitable equipment.
true, but what if they're transmigrated into a house, or someone else's body?
 

PenPaperToad

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Yes, there are certain allowances you have to make if you don't have enough knowledge, and I'll admit the first few times I read some really cliche transmigration novels I thought it was an amazing idea. Becuase it was new to me, but after the millions of books with the exact same settings, it gets old. Of course putting anew spin on it can be fun.

Also what if everyone else had a game interface but the transmigrator?
That would actually be an interesting turn of events...

"Wretched Ralph was an ordinary man until one day a potted plant landed on his head and sent him into another world with nary a word from a God or Goddess. His elation upon arriving in a fantasy world quickly plummeted when everyone constantly stared at him, their fierce gazes boring into his skin as they spoke in their unintelligible language. Little did Ralph know that everyone else in the world has a status screen and the ability to see other's, everyone but him."
 

PenPaperToad

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You wrote "transmigration" not "reincarnation" or "possession". Migrating is an action.
Transmigration, the word at least, includes reincarnation and possession to a certain degree because it means moving from one place to another or into another body after death.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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Transmigration, the word at least, includes reincarnation and possession to a certain degree because it means moving from one place to another or into another body after death.

Not it doesn't. It just like the fine difference between conceding and admitting, property and possession, few care.
 

Wretch

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Not it doesn't. It just like the fine difference between conceding and admitting, property and possession, few care.
Actually if you look the word up it says it's the act of moving a soul into another body, so technically it can refer to either.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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Actually if you look the word up it says it's the act of moving a soul into another body, so technically it can refer to either.

My friend, the verb "move in the English language can be transitive as well as intransitive, the verb "transmigrate" however not.
 
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the only thing that came to mind was something like jet lag. like you move in across dimensions and feel like you want to puke your enemy's ancestors.

can be interesting if it's temporary, but permanent, no.

personally i don't care about realism, as long the story's interesting enough, it's worth reading for me.
 

Wretch

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My friend, the verb "move in the English language can be transitive as well as intransitive, the verb "transmigrate" however not.
If what u say is true, than the whole meaning of t ransmigration as a word is moot.
 

PenPaperToad

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My friend, the verb "move in the English language can be transitive as well as intransitive, the verb "transmigrate" however not.
Def 1: "to cause to go from one state of existence or place to another " is transitive
Def 2: "of the soul : to pass at death from one body or being to another" and Def 3: "Migrate" (to move from one country, place, or locality to another) are intransitive
source: Merriam Webster

the only thing that came to mind was something like jet lag. like you move in across dimensions and feel like you want to puke your enemy's ancestors.

can be interesting if it's temporary, but permanent, no.

personally i don't care about realism, as long the story's interesting enough, it's worth reading for me.
That could be an alternative for any story where the character was put into a body with knowledge or was granted knowledge by a more powerful being if someone wanted there to still be a debuff of some sort.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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Def 1: "to cause to go from one state of existence or place to another " is transitive
Def 2: "of the soul : to pass at death from one body or being to another" and Def 3: "Migrate" (to move from one country, place, or locality to another) are intransitive
source: Merriam Webster


That could be an alternative for any story where the character was put into a body with knowledge or was granted knowledge by a more powerful being if someone wanted there to still be a debuff of some sort.

Example please for the transitive definition and usage in a sentence.
 

LWFlouisa

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The only time I transmigrated, was when I moved to WA. But I guess that wasn't the question.

Also one can have a large academic vocabulary, without being pretencious.
 

Yorda

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So my MC Garnet was a man who transmigrated into the body of an otome game villainess, but this causes incredible problems for them. They are utterly unable to adapt properly to their situation and desperately struggle with their everyday life to just keep it together. Garnet's new life requires a certain skillset that she does not have, thus she is incompetent and doesn't know how to live properly. They are not able to keep their identity fully concealed and many people become suspicious of her. This desperation and despair is what I want to use to cultivate a villain.

Also, I have another character in my story that reincarnated into absolute poverty. They have nothing, and live a dismal life as the third child of some serf family. They have no magic power. People with magic power are uncommon in the world and it is something that sets the ruling class and peasants apart. Discrimination, class distinction, religious problems, and some social biological superiority problems.

I would say it is utterly shocking to them. Being a person who previously lived a plentiful modern life in a good country and now they are living under a system where they can barely clothe and feed themselves as a poor child. They have no special abilities; they have no magic; they are trash. Even worse, this was the world of their most beloved otome game. They are now forced to realize that their new life is meaningless. They are just a dirty child that has nothing to do with the world that they loved the most.

I plan to have them become the antagonist or tragic hero of my story. Frankly, the one and only thing they have going for them is their knowledge of the future, which they will abuse in every way possible. They will give up nearly all their sense of morality and do anything to escape their troubles and fix the world in part because they are terrified of their helplessness and meaningless life, and can't stand to see such a distortion of their beloved world. So they do the only thing they can do. They lie and lie and lie. They trick and manipulate others. And more.

I would say that they have a really hard time coping with the reality of the world they now live in. Like permanent culture shock and homesickness. It's like how losing a loved one can leave a lingering sadness for the rest of a person's life.

So you see ... I wanted to write a story where the transmigration/reincarnation has nothing to do with wish fulfillment like ALL THE OTHER stories. These seem to be the characters with the biggest problems in my story. No happiness to be found here MFs.

I'm pretty sure that both of these two characters Garnet and the Reincarnator are villains. I really like them as characters and it's hard to develop them properly. How does the reincarnator manage to thrive in a world where they are helpless peasant scum? How does Garnet manage to live on despite being unable to fake her identity?
 
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