Regression stories

[owotrucked]

I get what you’re saying though, they always try to put an ordinary guy growing powerful due to regression despite the talent gap.

I find regression stories to be better if it’s about revenge or preventing something from happening that they know about.

True, true, it feels different when the regression is aimed towards a very specific narrow objective, instead of a slice-of-life power fantasy where 90% of what the MC is a side quest grind.

In re-do of a healer, I think the only relevant knowledge he gets from his regression are the weaknesses of the heroes to kill them. In his new life, there's no focus in getting stronger and receiving clout, it's all about messing with the heroes, and he goes at it very hard ( ͡• ͜ʖ ͡• ) straight from the beginning. His knowledge of past events also serves very little because of how different his new life is (except his knowledge about heroes weaknesses) and he also gains the advantage that the heroes don't know he's coming at them.

In returner's magic should be special, the enemies also have fucking bullshit time redo and the antagonists are some ancient beings from the earliest civilizations, so I guess it's fair, and MC is mostly focused on upgrading his teammates to overcome the challenges, because even him has no fucking idea how to break is power ceiling.

When a regression story is about going to XX place at YY time to fight the ZZ guardian to receive the Mcguffin, it just reinforces how the MC is just a scammer who's nothing without getting spoon fed

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Regressing teaches the MC that they irredeemably suck and the only way for them to shine and be happy is to be an imposter who got spoon fed crucial opportunities that would require the time and the mind of a dedicated gold seeker.

Plot armor?

I find regression stories to be better if it’s about revenge or preventing something from happening that they know about.

Bruh.

 

[Succubiome]

Regression is the ultimate fantasy for people with serious regrets, I think

It is like when you are thousands of years old as a vampire. Dating is a challenge. No one can relate to your plight of remembering things from Egypt that are different from history, and having the whole world say you are the one that is wrong.

Just date people who don't know official history well, and they'll believe you? Or y'know, date other thousand of year old vampires who will sympathize, rather than robbing the cradle and dating senior citizens or whatever.

 

[owotrucked]

Plot armor?

It's even worse than plot armor, it's litteraly the author shoving the intel on where to get powerups in the MC's throat

Authors don't have to do such bullshit to justify powerups.

Look at The Breaker, the MC is a bullied brat who receives the pity of a murim dude. He's fed some stolen pill and get taught how to rekt bullies. Thanks to the murim dude amazing lack of foresight, this throws the MC in a worse bottle of pickles than just high school bullies and get repeatedly beaten to near death. No need for any time regression, just put a benevolent dude around who guides the MC a bit.

Look at Solo leveling, the MC is just beaten to death and receives a guiding system.

Of course all of this is author plot armor-like bullshit.

But, time regression is a worse substitute to the mentor. In a perverse way, it denies some fundamentals of Life about how it's ok to not optimize your childhood. It's a denial of the efforts you made to experience and discover what's life. No matter how old you are, it's still difficult to know wtf you're actually doing, and so a regression story is like "screw everything you lived for so far, just do XX and YY. Happy now?"

But like anon says, it's way better when it's aimed at a specific goal like saving someone rather than selfish goals. Even revenge is dubious, because MC and the targets of revenge are likely still alive in the original timeline.

In Vivy, the FMC gets a time regressing guide/mentor that assigns her tasks to prevent a specific future calamity, and the story is awesome as they selflessly struggle to save the world in secret (by the author of Re:Zero btw)

Philosophically wise, there's a problem about redoing your life to get a better outcome.

But reader popularity wise, it might be entertaining, because MC knows what they have to do, instead of being cluelessly searching around which isn't that interesting.

Still, you could have a talking sword to do the job of teaching the MC what they have to do. Unfortunately, it's only doable in fantasy, so regression is the only way to go about it in modern contemporary setting without introducing a magical third-party.

Regression is the ultimate fantasy for people with serious regrets, I think

I guess... It feels like a really sad dead end.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

It's even worse than plot armor, it's litteraly the author shoving the intel on where to get powerups in the MC's throat

Authors don't have to do such bullshit to justify powerups.

Look at The Breaker, the MC is a bullied brat who receives the pity of a murim dude. He's fed some stolen pill and get taught how to rekt bullies. Thanks to the murim dude amazing lack of foresight, this throws the MC in a worse bottle of pickles than just high school bullies and get repeatedly beaten to near death. No need for any time regression, just put a benevolent dude around who guides the MC a bit.

Look at Solo leveling, the MC is just beaten to death and receives a guiding system.

Of course all of this is author plot armor-like bullshit.

But, time regression is a worse substitute to the mentor. In a perverse way, it denies some fundamentals of Life about how it's ok to not optimize your childhood. It's a denial of the efforts you made to experience and discover what's life. No matter how old you are, it's still difficult to know wtf you're actually doing, and so a regression story is like "screw everything you lived for so far, just do XX and YY. Happy now?"

But like anon says, it's way better when it's aimed at a specific goal like saving someone rather than selfish goals. Even revenge is dubious, because MC and the targets of revenge are likely still alive in the original timeline.

In Vivy, the FMC gets a time regressing guide/mentor that assigns her tasks to prevent a specific future calamity, and the story is awesome as they selflessly struggle to save the world in secret (by the author of Re:Zero btw)

Philosophically wise, there's a problem about redoing your life to get a better outcome.

But reader popularity wise, it might be entertaining, because MC knows what they have to do, instead of being cluelessly searching around which isn't that interesting.

Still, you could have a talking sword to do the job of teaching the MC what they have to do. Unfortunately, it's only doable in fantasy, so regression is the only way to go about it in modern contemporary setting without introducing a magical third-party.

Bruh. How should I even respond to this?

 

[Succubiome]

But, time regression is a worse substitute to the mentor. In a perverse way, it denies some fundamentals of Life about how it's ok to not optimize your childhood. It's a denial of the efforts you made to experience and discover what's life. No matter how old you are, it's still difficult to know wtf you're actually doing, and so a regression story is like "screw everything you lived for so far, just do XX and YY. Happy now?"

I mean, the more you deviate from your original life -- which is presumably the goal? -- the less powerful knowledge of the past is.

And, having changed the past, you have to deal with your new set of choices, how they fuck you up in interesting new ways, and the things you left behind.

For example, if you're gonna train as soon and as hard as possible, maybe you were vaunted as a childhood genius, but you lost your relationship with all your siblings and childhood friends as you focused on being the best of the best, and now have gifted child syndrome, and you feel you're a bit of a disappointment because you're no longer as amazing as you were as a child. Maybe your hard training on your once-developing body is beginning to catch up to you.

Or sure, maybe you use your knowledge of the past to gain wealth and power, but people who had no intention of using you when you were just some kid, and maybe even were kind and went out of their way to help you a little so you trusted them, go out of their way to control you, since you apparently have some sort of seer powers or something, and you've shifted yourself from "powerless kid" to "pawn".

I think that sorta thing sounds potentially interesting-- but then, I don't really read Regression stuff, so maybe no one uses it like that, a lotta people like their power fantasies.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

rather than robbing the cradle and dating senior citizens or whatever.

 

[owotrucked]

I just think it's a weird design choice from writers, because there are plenty alternatives that can work.

Maybe one edge of time regression is how quick you can start the story. The drawbacks are only implicit and philosophical, so maybe readers don't care.

Even if I don't like the philosophical implication, I can go past it to enjoy stories. Any readers have to overlook some author's choices if they want to enjoy stories (that or become a writer themselves). It's just that this thought keeps popping up whenever I encounter this plot device. Time regression feels as shameful as running away.

For example, if you're gonna train as soon and as hard as possible, maybe you were vaunted as a childhood genius, but you lost your relationship with all your siblings and childhood friends as you focused on being the best of the best, and now have gifted child syndrome, and you feel you're a bit of a disappointment because you're no longer as amazing as you were as a child. Maybe your hard training on your once-developing body is beginning to catch up to you.

That would be pretty similar to life in the sense that there's no correct way to spend youth, but most time regression are wish fulfillment power fantasy, and who cares about friends when you can slay titans?

Writers need to give good outcomes to fulfill the readers, but the authors need to spend efforts to gaslight the readers about how this is justified, fair, deserved, and convincing.

Getting hit by a truck and sent to Brazil is usually a net neutral that is neither positive of negative. Getting cheat is sort of neutral if it compensates for the ruthlessness of the environment compared to how sheltered the MC are.

Time regression is a built-in net advantage for the MC's young self. Even if it was earned by the MC's old self, it's still kind of undeserved for the younger one.


I like to imagine if I were a dedicated potion researcher who trained all my life, and then a nobody-goblin suddenly publish a paper before I do about exactly what I spent all my life on and was about to break through, racking all the glory and to themselves, just to fuck off to another completely unrelated field and smash it again. That's how absurd time regression is lol

 

[dummycake]

Where's the hairline regression stories?

 

[Thebluedoo]

So, regression stores would be any story where you go back to your own childhood? Do they include stories where the character gets a second childhood (in another world)?

If so, I love these kinds of stories. I can't write them myself, I've tried so many times to write isekai stories where the main character begins their life as a child and ages up, and it's just incompatible with my writing style it feels like. (Though it has been over a year since I've tried, so maybe...) Still the whole moral dilemma of being a child to the world, but having the knowledge and morality of an adult is very fun to read!

Regression is returning to a weaker state so no they do not Include dying and going into another world as a child

 

[Plantorsomething]

Kidnapped Dragons is good shit

 

[Succubiome]

Writers need to give good outcomes to fulfill the readers, but the authors need to spend efforts to gaslight the readers about how this is justified, fair, deserved, and convincing.

Ahh-- we think about stories entirely differently, thus the disconnect.

I can see how regression would be frustrating in that context.