- #1
A direct quote from the MC:"Don't get me wrong, though. I wasn't inspired by the noble spirit of sacrifice or anything, nor had I fashioned an illusion of love through the almighty power of Stockholm Syndrome. I felt nothing of the sort.I just really, really wanted to leave that place so I would never see that little sh*t of a male protagonist ever again."And that's when I knew this would be a fun one :) Our MC has just isekaid into her 3rd novel. Having just escaped one where she was the lamentable female lead and unfortunate obsession of a psycho yandere male lead, (which was not nearly so fun to live as to read,) she is relieved to be a secondary character. However, she knows this is the same exact sort of story as the last... but her character's misused sister is going to be the tortured female lead to this new psycho male lead.Nay-nay! our MC says. No one should have to go through that, and sets out to help her.This is just a touch satire, though not a slap stick/ funny one. More genre-savvy. It's on the serious and darker side of the gray scale. It points out some major flaws of this sort of novel, which are normally glossed over:Spoiler
Such as:
- How can a main character who finds herself in a book remember all the details of a random story she read years, decades, or possibly even lifetimes ago? Our MC gets a mental copy when she wakes up in a book. She can recall the entire story, and refer to different passages at will.
- Why does no one ever notice that their loved one is now possessed by a completely new person? They do. This has caused the MC significant pain in the past, attempting to balance being herself, and needing to be the character. And she has failed to fully be the character in the past, resulting in the character's family rejecting her, or being horrified and trying to find their real loved one. The MC's multi-life experience and omniscience also shine through at times, striking the others that there is something about her they can't quite comprehend.
- Aren't some of the situation set ups in novels ridiculous and make no sense? Absolutely. The MC calls out how ridiculous and unrealistic it is that her character's mother, a lowly maid, got her hands on two highly specialized drugs in an elaborate plot to sleep with the Duke one time, plan to get pregnant from that, and then create a scheme to return, become his second wife, and 'kill' his Duchess with grief.
Rather than the more plausible and realistic scenario of the Duke was super drunk and r*ped a maid. Because he's, y'know, a Duke, who was drunk, and she was there. And that he then he killed her to hide his guilt and look good to his wife. MC is actively exasperated with the drama of novel situations. - Doesn't being in someone else's body really mess with you, mentally? Totally. Our MC has some bad dysmorphia and crisis of identity from being in someone else's body and life. She can't remember her own name, and struggles to find where she ends and the character she pretends to be begins. She's actually relieved her current character is so poorly liked her 'family' knows nothing about her, so there's no pressure.
- How does an isekaied person know what to do? She doesn't. She is completely flailing in the dark. Is she supposed to complete the story as written? Is she supposed to rewrite it in her favor? Is she supposed to avenge her character? No idea. She is just trying and seeing what works.