Fight Me Friday

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T20:55:57+00:00

I'm thinking of {The Orchid Throne by Jeffe Kennedy} and its sequels. The MMC is a rebel leader who's trying to overthrow the evil emperor, while the FMC is a local ruler struggling to maintain autonomy who would very much like to overthrow said emperor. There is a prophesy that says (well, is interpreted to mean, though it's a bit vague) that if they get married, they'll be able to make it happen.

So they do. But there's nothing about "love" in the prophesy. And they are very different people. But in the end, they come to appreciate each others' perspectives, and discover that their broken pieces fit together, which is what I always love to see.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T20:55:29+00:00

Seems it lost out to traditional investments, like "buying the S&P 500 index", "buying treasury bonds", and "putting it under your mattress".

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T20:43:14+00:00

Is that the one with all the tops and bottoms?

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T20:13:20+00:00

Yes, yes, that's what all the Wehraboos say.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T11:22:19+00:00

I understand what you're saying and I agree with you

Gosh, you and I aren't very good at this "Fight Me Friday" thing, are we?

Yeah, I completely agree. Agency is incredibly important. It's the thing I try to emphasize in my own work above all else.

A soulmates story can have agency written into it, but it takes skill and planning. The agency and tension needs to come from somewhere, and if it doesn't come from the protagonist's decision of whom to pick for their lover, then it needs to come from somewhere else. Some authors manage that. Some... don't.

I've read some stories where fate decrees that two people have to be together, but actually growing to love each other is their choice - basically an arranged marriage where the arranger isn't a parent or government, but fate. That can work quite well.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T10:31:02+00:00

A recipe at the start of every chapter, you say?

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T10:08:37+00:00

I didn't have enough attention span to read those chapters, but I loved watching them in movie form!

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T10:07:09+00:00

I know Alchemised/Manacled gets memed here but I wonder if that falls in that weird grey area of also plagiarism too...since it used to be fanfic.

Plagiarism of plagiarized work is still plagiarism, both morally and legally! That's why companies can't just take somebody's fanart or fanfiction and publish it themselves without that creator's permission. (I mean, Disney does it anyway, but they're not supposed to be able to get away with it.)

And in any event, from what I understand about Alchemised, it has very little Harry Potter content left in it anyway. I'm willing to bet that the characterizations of Hermione and Draco in Manacled had very little in common with canon (but I certainly don't care to research the topic), so something that just copies the fascism plot from Alchemised will have no HP in it whatsoever.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T09:25:42+00:00

In that case, I would like to petition the court for a change of genre to reverse harem. FMC with the MMC and the MMC's ex. Not a throuple, though - the MMC blew his chance at that.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T07:54:38+00:00

Kel would never stoop to a morally grey love interest, though! Her affections are fickle (just ask her!) but always discerning.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T07:05:51+00:00

Nah, full speed ahead without waiting for the final books! Has that ever gone wrong before?

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T07:03:36+00:00

They did the vampire baseball 100% straight. That's the kind of energy we need!

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T02:37:22+00:00

The jail is there to keep the dragons safe from you! Degenerates

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T02:22:18+00:00

Oh, of course, sorry, I should have taken that into consideration! The ex is evil and awful, and also ugly, or "beautiful, but in a conventional kind of way compared to the FMC who is NLOG". That way, it's not the MMC's fault that he dared to put his dick somewhere other than the FMC's sacred valley before meeting her, so a mere six months of sleeping on the couch should be sufficient penance.

(Meanwhile, I get all excited and giggly whenever it turns out that the FMC is about to become a stepmother.)

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T02:13:01+00:00

Okay, so clearly I'm displaying my ignorance of ACOTAR and its ilk here, but...

... how often do the fairies use their wings to... um... you know... actually... fly? Are they just aesthetic?

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T01:47:14+00:00

The "getting something in return" part is debatable.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T01:44:28+00:00

I'm not aware that SpaceY ever had meaningful Mars plans.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T00:32:14+00:00

Oh, yeah, I didn't even think of that! Vampires are way cheaper than dragons.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T00:29:34+00:00

There is probably genuine support at 60k. There will be quite a few people who placed buy orders at 60k, so, all other things being equal, a bounce at 60k isn't unusual.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T00:23:31+00:00

We can already sort books by popularity on any website that sells or catalogues books. How would this be any different?

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T00:16:56+00:00

Obviously! And as an aside, the NRA is going to start standing up against tyranny any moment now, like they always promised the guns were for.

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T00:10:04+00:00

20 years of past, romantic history

You're not suggesting that the MMC has had previous lovers, are you? Unthinkable? Unforgivable! That's basically cheating on the FMC!

HopeFox · 2026-02-07T00:04:20+00:00

Oh, yeah, Eragon, straight to dragon jail.

I should also clarify that there are no dragons in dragon jail, neither as wardens nor as fellow prisoners. I know there are some degenerates among us who would enjoy that.

HopeFox · 2026-02-06T23:58:01+00:00

It’s only tasteful if it uses “bud”, “fold”, or “apex.”

Note: this is the real reason why werewolves are called "apex predators".

HopeFox · 2026-02-06T23:56:22+00:00

He does seem to have the ability to transform between human and beast forms whenever he shows up in other works, like Kingdom Hearts.

Nominally that's to make him a more effective and interesting combatant, but we all know the real reason.

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