What are your honest thoughts on harem stories?

RepresentingWrath

RepresentingWrath

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Piisfun said:
A recent idea of mine: a boy with a skill that his girlfriend knows will result in a harem if she lets any other girl get too close (she's personally already succumbed and she knows it)… until she says "If sharing my boyfriend is the only way to save my best friend's life, then I'll do it!" (This line needs to be delivered with as much emotional impact as possible).
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What if MC's GF is a cuckold though? :blob_hide:
 
Okram

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I personally dislike them because the vast majority makes every girl nothing but a shell of what they could be, other than being in MC's Harem.

"Oh hey, a new girl!" *Gets forgotten after the arc ends KEKW*
 
Piisfun

Piisfun

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RepresentingWrath said:
What if MC's GF is a cuckold though? :blob_hide:
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I do believe that falls under the "no smut" rule.

The full idea is something like a "modern world with dungeons/labrynths" story. The boy has a skill that is a super-powerful enhancement ability that physically transforms the target (kitsune, valkyrie, rattlesnake lamia, etc)… but it only works on girlfriends/fiancés/wives. The first girl (kitsune) instinctively understands that it is designed to create a harem after her initial temporary transformation, and desperately tries to keep him away from other girls, until for some reason her best friend's life is in danger and boosting her (valkyrie) is the only way to save her. After that at some point they decide that he should take in a girl who has been paralyzed below the waist since she was a child (rattlesnake lamia)… and that's as much as I thought of it.

Well, other than the fact that once their relationship with him passes a certain threshold, the transformation becomes permanent.

Hence the line of "If sharing my boyfriend is the only way to save my best friend's life, then—then I'll do it!”
 
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I don't really like harem, but I don't care about them either. Harems are what they be.
 
S

SeaJay

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To date, I have not seen a single harem story that is remotely close to what I call 'good'.
RepresentingWrath said:
Piece of crap genre for total degenerates! *Ptui* Every harem writer should repent and write a GL with vampire, witch, or witchpire MC.
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I'm scared to say that I actually agree with you.
Every single time, the reverse harems are not good stories, technically worse than the male harem ones. But the male harems have an MC who does nothing to deserve his harem, and the girls exist only to orbit MC. They just happen to have fancy titles that they did not earn.
That's my experience with harem stories thus far.
 
WhaleSprite

WhaleSprite

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Not a fan of harems. Most of them are just MC's collecting women like they're pokemon or something. Also, the women are usually written unrealistically, too. Like who's going to fight or willingly share the trash MC unless they're really stupid, or are with MC for other reasons other than love. MC just enjoys their love or sex while he gives them the bare minimum?

Not really fond of the reverse harem trope either, but for different reasons.

I'm someone who easily feels drained having to connect with people, especially multiple at the same time. Having multiple partners that I'd need to pay attention to and provide physical or emotional needs for sounds like a literal nightmare to me. If I have spend my time and energy, I rather do that with just one person. So I can't relate to the harem or reverse harem mindset.
 
melchi

melchi

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I generally don't like harem stories. Most of them treat the harem members more like trophies than people.

The only one I do like is Apothecary Dairies but a certain princess tells me that isn't a real harem story.
 
kosamsel

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I like them in theory, but the execution often falls flat for… a number of reasons LOL. Other people have already harped on harem stories that treat women like collectibles to be gathered, admired once, or twice, and then thrown away, but I’d also like to say that I wish I could find more harem romances that have fun with political intrigue and more complex interpersonal relationships—and, ideally, ones that treat those dynamics seriously. Harem and comedy mesh well because fictional harems are kind of inherently funny, but I’d love to see more settings where the lore provides solid reasons for people to enter relationships like this.
 
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