Discussion Transmigration Novels and Parasitism

Alright, so I wanna talk about transmigration and how uncomfortable it makes me feel.

Anyone ever wonders what the fuck happened to the original souls of the bodies the MCs transmigrate to?

And if so, doesn't it make you feel kinda gross reading someone just shamelessly stealing another person's whole identity, achievements and relationships with no guilt whatsoever?

All the MC thinks about is either, 'omg I'm in another persons body?! WTH?!', 'this body so weak tf I hate this', 'omg I'm so ugly wtf', 'omg I'm so bootiful', 'omg I'm rich now' or, 'omg I'm poor now'. They never think along the lines of, 'oh my God I just stole another person's body. HELP! ORIGINAL SOUL, YOU THERE?! COME BACK! YOUR BODY IS FINE! PLS LET ME GO HOME!'. They don't even feel the slightest bit of guilt for stealing a person's whole ass identity even if it wasn't their choice. Like, WHAT???

After reading Mulan has no elder brother, Lord of Mysteries and Cannon Fodder’s Record of Counterattacks and seeing how the MCs in those books react and feel towards them being in another person's body made it so that I literally CANNOT stomach transmigration stories anymore. The MCs in transmigration books now come off as selfish, heartless, narcissistic and just utterly shameless. It grosses me tf out when they just do whatever the hell they want to the body when it wasn't even THEIRS to begin with. Especially grosses me out when they make the body do shit like killing. Even worse when they don't even have the decency to NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS IN A BODY NOT THEIRS! EVEN WORSE WHEN ITS SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH SEXES THE ORIGINAL PERSON WASN'T INTERESTED IN! (FKIN LOOKING AT YOU BL TF)

Ugh I'm sorry, I'm just really grossed out LMAO. What y'all think?

 

in all respect, is it really that deep tho? dunno what explanation your novels gave but mine tend to explicitly state that the og owner died and thats why the soul was replaced and even then, whats the guarantee that you'll go back to your own body? are the MCs supposed to lock themselves in the room to perform witchcraft or smth? lol
also you wrote stole like they chose the body themselves? like dude it literally just happened.

 

Revival/Return from the Grave
is a great short story dealing with the immorality of transmigrating into someone else's body.
I generally don't mind transmigration all that much, but I do dislike transmigration into a body that already has established familial and romantic relationships, even kids. In that case, transmigration seems more like possession to me.

If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend reading Don't Pick Up Boyfriends From The Trash Bin. It makes a great point about using the body one transmigrates into and having sex with the one the original hated. It's the only novel I read that mentions this topic.

 

It usually isn't. Transmigration is a mindless genre for wish fulfilment, I'm just talking about the ethics of it ig. Like, at least be a little guilty of it and have the decency to keep the body in an identical state it was when you possessed it. This isn't your body yet you're out here fucking anything that moves, getting tattoos, killing their chickens, and selling their houses for money to move to the town next door. feels so gross to me

 

i get it, its weird but after some point of time you gotta accept that youre not ging back to your own body. youre stuck. now that is your body. so they can do whatever they want no

 

TRUE!

Ig I can take it if MC transmigrates to an orphan who lived in the woods as a hermit, but a little remembrance of the original owner of the body would be nice as fuuuk

Btw, thx for the rec LMAO

 

Even ignoring the fact that the host bodies usually have more troubles and burdens than achievements and the original souls are presumably dead (if alive, I definitely don't see them ever making their presence felt), why should the transmigrated soul feel guilty for an unwilful action in which he/she had no say? Isn't parasitism more deliberate? From their perspective, it's being trapped in an unknown body, in an alien environment and in often hostile circumstances which they have to make the best of; it's hardly conducive to reflection and self-reproach. The instinct of seeking survival and navigating the brave new world to that effect would take over. I imagine that's how people with gender dysphoria might feel; desecrating the bodies might take second place to making them more suitable to themselves.

 

Can't agree with that. Ig its just a difference of perspective. I

Gonna have to disagree with that. To me that body will never be theirs. They might forever be stuck and it, but it ain't theirs. Best metaphor I can give for how I feel is when you find an unopened letter for a deceased parent. It's in your possession forever but it's not yours. It's theirs, you just have it now after they died but it's always going to be THEIR letter and have THEIR name on it. Now imagine someone finds a letter for their deceased parent and they use it as a freaking coaster or paint the paper in white to reuse it or something. They don't even feel guilt about it. Isn't that shameless as hell???
(Lmao just realised I accidently pressed post on the last one)

Why I used parasitism as the title isn't because they willingly stole the person's identity. More as in, they shamelessly use it without feeling guilt. Like, MC could transmigrate to a regular ol' farmer and make them turn into a serial murderer without feeling a little guilty for committing crimes in a body that isn't even theirs. Also, I shoulda been a lil more precise, but I'm more talking about MCs who transmigrates into rich and/or famous villains/villainess/canon fodder.

 

See, the thing is the questions of ethics might have been more relevant had:

• the transmigrated soul decided to deliberately snatch some poor sod's body
• the host actually been alive
• the transmigrated soul the ability to leave the host's body at will but had chosen not to

Otherwise, I'd argue that adaptation, which humans are inhumanly good at, should take priority over any reservations or considerations. Making the best of what you have, as they say.

 

Now imagine that letter is actually a death threat and snuff-letter-something-or-another. That's the body that got taken. Usually really trashy, trashy personality, trashy environment, trashy relationships.

Also, kinda spoiler for Cannon Fodder's Record:

Spoiler

Later on when she gets a bit stronger, she can speak to the soul and see what they want specifically. So they voluntarily give the body to her.

 

i dont understand your metaphor at all? 1.the letter was taken by choice. body was not.
2. letter is not alive. human is.

why would you feel guilty about something you had no control over? its like the house next to mine burned down but mine didnt so i should feel guilty.

why would MC give up living solely because they ended up in a situation that they didnt want??? in any case the other person had either DIED or was living as MC in their world.

 

Still, it isn't their body. I would be delighted if someone transmigrates into the angry German man, but if they started to do things like selling off his properties, tattooing his body with flowers and birds, making it so that he divorces his wife just bc that person 'found their true love'... Well. Safe to say i'd feel a little iffy about that.

 

I have read a good number of transmigration novels.
I have only read transmigration of 2 types till now.
1. Original soul died and MC came into body. MC will get plot of original soul and injustice faced by it and he will make sure to reverse that and becoming the best at whatever he is doing.
2. MC coming to body because original soul left it for the MC so that MC can fulfill their wishes for them.
I never really felt anything problematic about this because the original soul knows that MC is in their body.

I do remember reading an original story of MC transmigrating and feeling absolutely horrible and feeling like he is taking the affection the original soul should have got. That made me realise the other side of the coin for the first time. But like I said the novels I read all have the original soul consenting to it or is unable to do so because they died of grief or inustice, so I never felt it was never really a problem.

 

Well, yes, you who is imagining that situation without experiencing it yourself might feel iffy; that's quite understandable. But as for the body's rights, if one can presume that the death of the soul results in death of the body as well (unless it's magically revived by a transmigrated soul, but don't ask me about the mechanics of it or about than intangible thing called soul either; let's just roll along with the transmigration trope logic), then think in terms of autopsies, cremations, burials and the various other necessary indignities the corpse is subjected to... the one who is best judge and arbiter to how the body should be treated is available no more.

 

If not guilt, some sympathy would suffice. Problem is, the MCs in those novels never feel it!

Also, the letter metaphor was more about the lack of respect the MCs have over the body. Thought of a better metaphor, It's like obtaining your dead parent's old trophies, writing your name on top of theirs and saying it's yours now and using it to store your condoms.

 

Are those trophies for: Worst Human Being, or Last Place at being bad at everything?

 

Yup, already read up to ch 1822. That's why I don't find cannon fodders record gross. MC does her job of counter attacking, leaves the body for the original and moves on with her life. For Klein, he at least feels guilt. That's more than I've seen in any other MCs. For Mulan has no elder brother, at least she had the decency to try and maintain the original's body state and relationships.

 

Not a proper comparison, reducing humans and ethics to trophies.
Again the supposition that the transmigrated soul must feel for someone who he doesn't even know or cares about, unlike a parent-child relationship and its necessary bonds it implies.

 

Oh mb, thought you were speaking about it in a negative way.

 

Again, it's about respect. Not your trophy, treat it with a decent amount of respect and not store your condoms in it

NEVER! Ning Shu's the love of my life