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A modern person in an Isekai world, issues to keep in mind.

Katanasoul_91

The guardian of the hopeless, lost and damned
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This is intended as a serious topic in order to trade ideas and debate certain topics. Of course, different cultures in the world nowadays see things very differently due to each other's backgrounds, so it should be important to address those along the way for a more constructive argument.

I, the author, am Argentinian and autistic, with mild Asperger syndrome, for example, and that will lead to some issues of my own or what I consider important if I were to go to another world.

Now, for realistic issues to be addressed in those:

Language: As with most authors, those issues are more often than not handwaved one way or another, by the use of magic or divine gifts; none the less, most often than not, they exclude the written languages. Due to the low literacy rates in medieval times, even if we only know how to speak and write our own language, it can be seen as valuable by others.

Academic: Even someone who never finished high school is considered a highly educated person and comes from a wealthy family if they were able to spend so much time learning instead of working.

Physical state: Let's be real; most of us can't even walk for a full day. Compared to most people in that world, we are very feeble unless we actively go to the gym or practice demanding sports.

Healthy: Oh boy. We are screwed when it comes to diseases. This is a whole new world, meaning there are a whole lot of viruses and bacteria our body has no idea how to handle in the best of cases. But let's play nice and say they are the same. In that case, we shouldn't underestimate how much our body is boosted by the existence of vaccines.

Beauty: Due to growing up in our modern world, most of us internet dwellers have more white skin than most around us, and in most cases, we will be considered pale in medieval settings, which could be seen as a sign of nobility or perhaps an illness if the population has different skin color.

Slavery: Like it or not, for most of humanity, slavery was an open thing; what is left is either hidden away or the cameras actively don't show it. So for lots of us, it will be a bitter pill to swallow. More so because its even possible we end up enslaved depending on the society in question.

Racism: Not only will we most likely be discriminated against by being clearly foreigners, but also, depending on the setting for being human, we may consider our fascination for other races strange, if not gross, in most cases.

Food: A sad reality is that the food is not going to be scares but also taste very bad or bland in the best cases due to the hundred years of husbandry for better tasting, more abundant, and better tasting food. Always remember that carrots were purple like five centuries ago; the variety of chicken we eat is Japanese; potatoes and tomatoes are from South America; watermelon's was like 5% edible; and strawberries are a crossbreed between the American giant but bland ones with the European ones, small but very tasty.

Magic: Well, depending on the power system, we can use it or not, but the main issue is the ability to get personal power. This, curiously enough, seems to come at the cost of neglecting technology in almost all cases, as tyranny comes more easily when you are harder to kill or remove from power. Also, technology depends on the development of the society, resulting in stagnation.

Relationship: This is a hot mess, but hear me out. Why the eff could anyone hook up with the MC? Because he was nice? It sounds like the real reason in most cases is because we are so desperate, and with our modern manners, we are suckers they can depend on for an easy life. I'm not hating women for this, because I could totally do the same if I were to land in a world where males are the gatekeepers of the bedroom.
Regardless, most isekai are wish fulfillment tales, but even the darker ones like Re:Zero have enough girls interested in Saburu, so IDK.
 
Realistically: Best case scenario, Average case scenario, and Worst case scenario.

But enough of the party pooping bullshit. Thing is most of the genre's problem lies in the lack of worldbuilding and fear on the part of authors to write any genuine risk, which is a byproduct of the social economic conditions of the dying [socially] middle class in the developed economies.

Also there's already a general isekai discussion thread over at NSFW CW Index.
 
Academic: Even someone who never finished high school is considered a highly educated person and comes from a wealthy family if they were able to spend so much time learning instead of working..
This one I have to disagree with. An actually educated person from European Middle -ages could quote Bible and Aristotle by heart. In Latin. Can you? ;) I know I can't despite actually liking Aristotle and knowing a bit of Latin... Other settings had their equivalent.
Otherwise, mostly agree with the previous responder, it's been done many times. I personally remember discussing this in 1990s. %) Some points it's important to remember, of course, but, again, it's a long list...
The book where it was done well - and called by some authors as the trope-starter - is Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Kamp. From 1950s iirc. Recommend it. Plus, there are some books titled like Guide to Medieval England, etc. partly aimed to authors wanting to make research for this...
Upd: on the other hand, I do have a friend who knows some 7 languages (including Sanskrit), practices Taichi for 20+ years and is a good amateur chef. Not counting his actual IT work and passing knowledge of history of some regions. ;)) So, there are people who could pull a good impression of a flawless protagonist out there. ;)
Upd2: and another thing I forgot. Rememembered on reading an unrelated thread: THE main problem of modern-day isekaied person would not be lack of common skills or physical weakness. Modern person, if they are into amateur sports, can be actually more fit than undernourished peasants of the place they appeared in. THE main problem would be preconceptions aka, illusion of understanding. Modern people are often sure that they know how the past events turned out, know who "the bad guys" are and sure that they can Fix Everything. In the most acute forms - how to Fix Everything Easily. This would kill. In lucky cases, only the cute isekai protagonist. In more probable ones... ;(
 
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