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every wn that manages some level of originality and success is immediately followed by dozens of pale imitations. sometimes one of those becomes popular in turn, leading to a deluge of copies of copies. if it goes on long enough each of these clusters of derivative works can become a genre unto itself. but my point is, this process produces a huge amount of subpar amateur fiction that no one ever cares about. the same thing has happened during each pulp fiction boom.
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Oct 31, 2023 05:07
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You're absolutely correct and I don't disagree on that, I just disagree with singling out RR.
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Oct 31, 2023 05:59
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GateOfD posted:RR has a lot of western writers, western isekai web writers are at a much lower level than the Asian counterparts, just has a bigger more competitive community I don't really think this is the case anymore. If anything, I'd probably say that the English stuff that rises to the top of the popularity ranks tends to be at least somewhat better. I don't even like Wandering Inn, but I'd still say it compares favorably with most of the super popular titles I can think of in the Japanese and Chinese WN spaces (less familiar with Korean). I think part of it is that the Asian stuff has a greater tendency to strictly segregate itself along gender lines, with the accompanying tropes. So you get more harems, in either direction. Edit: Feel like I should mention that this post is "a thing I think is true but might be wrong about"
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Oct 31, 2023 06:54
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I think most/all LN publishers ban isekai submissions now, there might be a few new ones now and again but i believe those were a dont call us we'll call you deal.
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Oct 31, 2023 09:38
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gimme the GOD drat candy posted:one thing that bugs me about rr isekais is how often the supporting cast has no apparent reason to stick around. rather, they have every reason to get the gently caress out and never look back due to how unpleasant the mc is to be near. they aren't friends, they don't obtain benefits, they usually aren't romantically interested, they aren't united by a common cause, etc. they just show up and never leave despite the ridiculous bullshit the mc puts them through. they are closer to hostages than allies. every single one of these protagonists is also a loner and so you end up enduring a nonstop stream of the most boring and self-indulgent series of monologues imaginable. GateOfD posted:RR has a lot of western writers, western isekai web writers are at a much lower level than the Asian counterparts, just has a bigger more competitive community Highly debatable. The asian counterparts have far more homogenized tropes and established settings, but that can only provide temporary cover if the writer lacks skill. I find a lot of the stories to be incredibly immature compared to their Western counterparts, especially in regards to romance. You have characters who show obvious interest in each other, but it never materializes into anything but awkward puppy love. Any discussion of RL politics is a mess, though honestly Western ones are bad about it too. I can think of a lot of stories that glorify capitalism way too much. I know of a few where the MC's big dream was to be a loving landlord. You're in a world of magic and monsters and your desire is to be a loving landlord. Another story had a particularly egregious "the weekend was part of the evolution capitalism brought to society" which is just so laughably wrong I don't know where to start. Oddly enough the worst political groups are the animal rights groups, of all things. If any of those appear in the story they are always depicted as "PETA members with 0 IQ" the narrative never even tries to be sympathetic to them they're always used as like a borderline meme. Both types of WNs are real bad about jingoism. Both types basically have a kind of "bringing light to the unwashed, backward masses" which just becomes incredibly shallow and self-indulgent; usually the MC invents guns and then calls it a day. Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Nov 1, 2023 |
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Nov 1, 2023 17:59
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SubNat posted:A new group dropped in with chapter 15 of The One Within The Villainess. I love this one so much. The villainess coming to love the reincarnator and being evil but not really evil because she's not wanting to be the kind of person who'd upset the girl who saved her ends up being just perfect. "I'm being evil but not really but going for revenge in a way that makes everyone's lives better except the horrible people who hurt and betrayed the one I love" is the best premise and I hope the two can actually be happy together at the same time.
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Nov 1, 2023 19:51
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Yeah, it's one of my faves alongside Yakuza Reincarnation. (Where are those updates, damnit?) It's great how you can absolutely see how Remilia could be/is a villainess, just channeling that drive towards a better objective. Surprisingly many series shift so far away from the original personality that it's hard to see how they were originally villains. With her you can absolutely see how she'd go about loving up the world in the original timeline, with a similar drive and vindication. It does also help that the antagonist isn't powered by a dark god to overturn the story or whatever, she's just a real piece of poo poo put into a position where she can abuse her knowledge/status and will actively manipulate others to do so. It's kind of refreshingly human how she doesn't have actual mind-control powers or anything like that. (Once she lost access to the premium store atleast.) A lot of her actions seemed to be more misdirection and manipulation of people, aided by some pay2win cookies. I think her
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Nov 1, 2023 20:32
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Seraphic Neoman posted:I find a lot of the stories to be incredibly immature compared to their Western counterparts, especially in regards to romance. You have characters who show obvious interest in each other, but it never materializes into anything but awkward puppy love. a lot of this i would attribute to stagnant romcom-esque romance writing just being easier to write. dragging out will-they-wont-they or one character throwing themself at another with 0 progress is way easier than writing two characters in a developing romantic relationship with any kind of push and pull or friction. Seraphic Neoman posted:Any discussion of RL politics is a mess [...] i love it when asian webnovels try to depict american politics. its always wrong in such delightful ways. one author wrote a group of protestors storming the pentagon.
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Nov 1, 2023 20:39
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Are the shield hero books as bad as the anime?
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Nov 3, 2023 05:46
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I have seen or read neither, but I am going to guess they are worse. Generally an anime adaptation will try to clean things up a little.
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Nov 3, 2023 07:17
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SubNat posted:Yeah, it's one of my faves alongside Yakuza Reincarnation. (Where are those updates, damnit?) Good news!
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Nov 3, 2023 14:54
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Clarste posted:I have seen or read neither, but I am going to guess they are worse. Generally an anime adaptation will try to clean things up a little. This is completely right. The Light Novel is more gross than the anime adaptation for shield hero, and the Web Novel is more gross than the Light Novel.
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Nov 3, 2023 21:03
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There's an isekai I rather like, because it has a premise that appeals to me tremendously, but it.... has its problems. https://mangadex.org/title/8791c515...oshite-jiyuu-ni AKA Isekai Mercenary Dude wakes up inside his favorite game, and lo and behold? The game is sort of an elite dangerous/freelancer/Privateer like game. AKA : Space combat! As a lifelong fan of those styles of games, it appeals to me tremendously. Space dogfighting, looting, star colonies, power armor suits, lots and lots and lots of high technology. The downside? Mainly just the relationships. The MC buys off a girl's debt because he wants to be heroic, and invites her to live with him, but then they immediately sleep together which felt forced Still, it's not as bad as many others. No rape, no slavery, mostly just lots of fun adventures in space. It scratches an itch that none of the other Isekai series I've read do, since it focuses more on sci-fi space adventures than fantasy. (Though if there's others like this I don't know about, I'm always up for suggestions!)
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Nov 4, 2023 02:10
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khy posted:There's an isekai I rather like, because it has a premise that appeals to me tremendously, but it.... has its problems. Yeah this ones a really good ones. I've been grabbing the Mangas as they come out at Barnes and Noble.
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Nov 4, 2023 02:12
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I read the first 5-6 LNs, yes the harem keeps growing. It’s a pretty casual, he just goes around touring planets and eating all the different foods. Instead of rice, it’s soda he’s on a neverending quest for since I guess carbonation is difficult in space? There’s like no danger at all since he just destroys everything with no danger. Space loli elf is the best
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Nov 4, 2023 04:42
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This whole arc is going to be our guy getting interrupted when he just wants to enjoy his sake huh? The 2nd to last panel about sums up my feelings on the matter. Interesting that for how fantastical all the other places we've visited are compared to real life, this new country is just straight up Japan in a microcosm.
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Nov 4, 2023 04:48
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Brought To You By posted:This whole arc is going to be our guy getting interrupted when he just wants to enjoy his sake huh? The 2nd to last panel about sums up my feelings on the matter. Interesting that for how fantastical all the other places we've visited are compared to real life, this new country is just straight up Japan in a microcosm. Its the obligatory not-japan in an isekai
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Nov 4, 2023 13:26
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GateOfD posted:It’s a pretty casual, he just goes around touring planets and eating all the different foods. Instead of rice, it’s soda he’s on a neverending quest for since I guess carbonation is difficult in space? Is he too stupid to realize that all you need to do is add a bit of CO2 to liquid, and make sure it incorporates? " Oh wow, a space sodastream! Only 13000 spacebux! (Obligatory isekai currency to yen comparison: 13000 spacebux = 1300 yen). " " Oh wow, the space sodastream turned into a horny android. " (Harem +1.)
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Nov 4, 2023 15:52
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SubNat posted:Is he too stupid to realize that all you need to do is add a bit of CO2 to liquid, and make sure it incorporates? Sodas actually do not work great in zero G environments, and even assuming they have gravity in the cabin, during shipping it would like mess up the carbonation, and it basically turns into a slurry of soda and carbonation. Also, you'd need to burp more due to lack of gravity making it difficult for the gasses to separate from liquids, so everytims you'd burp, you'd burp up stomach acid as well. Not great. https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/04/27/this-is-what-happens-when-you-drink-soda-in-space-and-its-not-fun/?sh=4c1ed1603f32 CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Nov 4, 2023 |
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Nov 4, 2023 16:24
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Yeah, but this setting has artificial gravity all over the place, including on the spaceships. Even if you were generous and let them have 'There isn't actually gravity on the ship, the artist/s simply aren't showing it.', the first station shown has a centripetal gravity setup for the living areas. In that case it'd not be an issue to have carbonated stuff on the stations, while only idiots would bring these aboard ships to consume outside of a gravity well. If it was a hard scifi setting then it'd be perfectly fine, and carbonation on ships would be a messy affair, but this seems to be a standard space soap where artificial gravity is everywhere and only vanishes when narratively/dramatically convenient. You are correct, I'm just punching down on the setting being a typical soft scifi thing, where it doesn't makes sense outside of a 'game developers failed to get a partnership with mountain dew, so there's no soda in the universe because they couldn't be bothered to retexture the cans and reimplement them.' context. (If the MC would install the modding tools, he could simple re-implement the mt. dew cans and go 'player.additem 000245e 10' to get 10 cans of mt.dew code red.)
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Nov 4, 2023 16:58
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I found a bunch of isekai manga that haven't updated in a long time are now on J-Novel club. Is the sub an ok value if all I want is the manga and don't care for the LN?
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Nov 4, 2023 17:31
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SubNat posted:Yeah, but this setting has artificial gravity all over the place, including on the spaceships. The other part is that he's picky about the flavor. He doesn't just want soda, he wants something that tastes exactly like the not-Coke he grew up with.
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Nov 4, 2023 17:40
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Myok posted:The other part is that he's picky about the flavor. He doesn't just want soda, he wants something that tastes exactly like the not-Coke he grew up with. I did think it was hilarious when he went down to a planet and they had Dr Pepper, Sprite, and other sodas but not Cola. Just to gently caress with him. But it does seem like carbonated drinks in that universe are not very popular probably due to them falling out of favor when low-g environments were the norm in space, and that probably explains why finding a space-sodastream isn't easy. Either way, it's kind of fun seeing a character on a quest for soda instead of a quest for japanese food. Presumably because if he has a magical cooking station that can turn 'cartridges' into hamburgers they should be able to replicate rice quite easily. But yeah, as a lifelong fan of space shooters wing commander, freespace, freelancer, the X series, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, etc etc etc. this series just appeals to me on the setting alone in ways that no other does. I admit it's very flawed but I cannot stop reading it because it's the Isekai I'd choose 150% given the option.
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Nov 4, 2023 17:58
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Spookydonut posted:Are the shield hero books as bad as the anime? Worse. Naofumi's dipshit attitude is actually tuned down in the anime. khy posted:https://mangadex.org/title/8791c515...oshite-jiyuu-ni I like this one, I just wish the author could stick the landing better. Like when I talked about weird swipes about animal rights groups, this is one of the stories that came to mind. You have a terrorist group that goes around shutting off evolutionary limiters of factory-grown meat worms so that they become Resident Evil monsters why the gently caress are you not making them one of the primary villains of the series holy poo poo. Also the android maid girl is the best. khy posted:Still, it's not as bad as many others. No rape, no slavery, mostly just lots of fun adventures in space. It scratches an itch that none of the other Isekai series I've read do, since it focuses more on sci-fi space adventures than fantasy. (Though if there's others like this I don't know about, I'm always up for suggestions!) Sadly none come to mind, usually whenever it's sci-fi it's usually VRMMO. If you like Star Ocean there's https://mangadex.org/title/48221bce-0fd2-4519-b5f3-4fdc1921007b/kouchuugun-shikan-boukensha-ni-naru Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Nov 4, 2023 |
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Nov 4, 2023 20:22
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SubNat posted:Yeah, but this setting has artificial gravity all over the place, including on the spaceships. I mean, to be fair - its fiction, the writer could do whatever they want soda wise, but I find it hilarious that's the reason he wants to buy a house initially
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Nov 4, 2023 20:25
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Seraphic Neoman posted:Worse. Naofumi's dipshit attitude is actually tuned down in the anime. It's really amazing how bad it is. The protagonist (and the writing in general) is like some over-the-top parody of "a misanthropic incel." The most depressing thing about stuff like that (and a number of other similar isekai things - IIRC this other one called Arifureta something-or-other has similar vibes) is that they're presumably written by adults, but channel the exact same energy as a teenager angry at their popular peers. You can sense that the author is seething about people they knew as adolescents.
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Nov 4, 2023 23:22
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Mechayahiko posted:I found a bunch of isekai manga that haven't updated in a long time are now on J-Novel club. Is the sub an ok value if all I want is the manga and don't care for the LN? If it is just a couple volumes, register a free account and buy the coins you need to exchange for the stuff you want at full price. If if is a whole lot of stuff, then get the full premium subscription, leverage the 15% discount and the 699 free coins they give you every month and you can probably snap up a whole series or two for less than you would spend at full price. Just keep in mind it takes a pretty big buy-in for the premium discounts to actually come out ahead. The paid tiers are mostly for full prepub access, and if you consider the free coin allowance on premium it is the less costly method (assuming you are going to buy 12 LNs anyway). I'll probably let my sub expire once I have all the Ascendance of a Bookworm stuff completed. Indiana_Krom fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Nov 4, 2023 |
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Nov 4, 2023 23:38
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Thanks, sounds like I'll just buy volumes separately.
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Nov 5, 2023 01:37
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Ytlaya posted:It's really amazing how bad it is. The protagonist (and the writing in general) is like some over-the-top parody of "a misanthropic incel." Arifureta is bizarre, especially the part where he basically marries every. single. woman. he. meets but it kinda grew on me. Same kinda deal - MC gets stabbed in the back and betrayed, becomes the most powerful and, frankly, doesn't care and just wants to get home. The real thing that ruins Arifureta is his stupid ability to summon guns and basically nuke any bad guys from orbit To be fair to Naufumi, I don't think its fair to call him an incel, to be frank I don't know how I'd react to being falsely accused, ostracized by basically the entirety of the country, but yeah his character could use some depth.
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Nov 5, 2023 01:58
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What you people expect nao to do, thank her for it? And I think the other 4 heroes acts way more sinful how they treat everything and everyone like a game and playing hero while Nao treated things serious from the beginning. And has to fix all of their messes GateOfD fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Nov 5, 2023 |
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Nov 5, 2023 02:05
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i think that not buying a child slave and then raping her would be a good first step.
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Nov 5, 2023 02:26
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 hmmmm ehhhhhhh. edit: oh I got to the part in the post above me. Bleah. Synthbuttrange fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Nov 5, 2023 |
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Nov 5, 2023 02:47
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GateOfD posted:What you people expect nao to do, thank her for it? the book isn't based on real life, the author can choose to not write other characters like that. also the child slaves.
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Nov 5, 2023 02:48
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Wait which child slave we talking about here, the prepubescent one or the pubescent one? Or is it both somehow in an awful twist.
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Nov 5, 2023 02:48
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the big breasted child slave.  edit: Oh he got another slave now too. -.- im gonna barf Synthbuttrange fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Nov 5, 2023 |
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Nov 5, 2023 02:51
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Are we talking about Naufumi? I wasn't aware he actually slept with either of them at all. Did that happen? I haven't really followed Shield Hero because I found it kinda bleh. If so, jesus that's cringe.
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Nov 5, 2023 03:03
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no, its the space hero one above :v
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Nov 5, 2023 03:08
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Synthbuttrange posted:no, its the space hero one above :v He didn't buy her though? He paid her parents debt so she could leave. They are not slaves. Where are you getting that from? And the elf chick wrecked her ship during the pirate suppression, and he paid off the damage charges from her ramming the battleship so she wouldn't go to prison. He also specifically said she has to pay back what he paid off, and partially did it so he could have an experienced crew member to train Mimi. Mimi specifically asked him to help her as well. That's a long jump from 'slaves' in the usual Isekai sense (like Naufumi who specifically bought his companion as a slave). He also specifically tells Mimi she doesn't have to do anything. CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Nov 5, 2023 |
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Nov 5, 2023 03:13
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That's indentured servitude which is a form of slavery based on debt.
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Nov 5, 2023 03:16
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Kwyndig posted:That's indentured servitude which is a form of slavery based on debt. He pays her, so no, its not quite indentured servitude. Indentured Servitude, you don't get paid, but you are not 'enslaved' either. Her repayment comes out of her own pocket from their earnings. In fact he specifically calls out that she spends a large portion of her income on expensive alcohol rather than paying him back. Mimi and Elma get paid cuts of each of their bounties and missions. CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Nov 5, 2023 |
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Nov 5, 2023 03:18
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