And So the Story Begins...

Ever read a story you think is going to be really epic, and it fizzles out about five pages in? It just seems like a pre-teen trying to write adult characters; no real adult emotion, communication, or attraction because the writer doesn’t have the mental maturity yet. Yeah, you know the stories. But if that’s not enough to make you groan, the same cardboard cutout characters come out on top by pure luck. Yep, everything just “magically works out for them” simply because they are the leads. The entire world is built for them to succeed in their “romance” story and have a happily ever after. Well, guess who’s stuck in one of those stories? If you guessed “you”, as in “me”, you’re correct! How did this all go wrong, you may or may not ask? I don’t even have an obvious answer.

I stumbled upon a used bookstore in a city I was visiting and excavated a vintage, leather-bound book with an intricate gold design on the cover. I was immediately taken aback by the beauty of the cover and binding. I blew the dust off and tried reading the foreign-sounding name, but further surprise came when I opened the book and it was in my language. Even more shocking was that it read too modern for the style of the book. I was so intrigued that I knew I had to take it home and soak in its contents comfortably. And that was that. I bought the book and took it home. That night I began reading, but to my dismay, the story quickly became less interesting as it progressed, even painful to stomach.

It ended up taking two whole weeks for me to finish reading because it got that bad, but once I completed reading, the book literally fell apart! Not the whole thing, just the gold emblem on the front. I was sad when it happened because the cover was the only redeeming feature of the book, but when I went to pick up the decoration, I fainted and woke up within the story. All I gotta say at this point is that this story had better not be never ending…I’m trying to keep chipper, but in order for you to properly “appreciate” my predicament, I’ll need to give you the story’s basics.

Seren, the lead, has a rags to riches story. She has a fun, lighthearted, and spunky personality. In the beginning, her inner thoughts center around who she aspires to be and what kinds of things she plans to do to repay the Count who adopted her. Her positives outweigh the negatives; the most glaring negatives are “possessing little to no flaws” and being instantaneously “loved by everyone”. Though her most annoying trait is “helpless” flirtatiousness. At first it isn’t obvious, but as the story progresses her flirtatious behavior becomes distressing. However, once she meets Eligius, Seren loses all hope and becomes one-dimensional; her inner monologue never strays far from her secret, not so secret, crush on him. The “intelligence” that she was described to have seems to evaporate, alongside her initial ambitions, once she “falls in love”. To be fair, she never really has to “use her head” to plan or work anything out because the “goodness of her heart” always wins people over. Even things meant to harm her are transformed into good, simply because she “believes”. Everyone praises and loves her…or falls in love with her.

Now let’s discuss her “helpless” flirtatiousness. She is written as being uninterested in men, until Eligius, but she is “touchy-feely” with all suitors. As the story progresses, she becomes more brazen and always finds excuses to brush up against or whisper into a suitor’s ear. She means nothing by it, so says the story, but apparently she can’t be a proper female lead unless she has the love of every possible male lead, and there are quite a few. The king has four sons, three of whom are in love with her; then there are three knights she “innocently” seduces, as well as two lesser nobles that she needs financial support from. She shamelessly uses the men she flirts with to climb the social ladder until she becomes queen, but is still somehow seen as innocent and good. Yes, this is the main character, the person you are meant to relate to. But the worst character is her eventual husband, Eligius.

Where to start? Eligius is a womanizer; that is his character. He’s written to be so handsome that “women are as jealous as they are lustful,” but, really? This is the man Seren chooses to marry out of all her possible suitors? It’s like she just shallowly marries the most attractive man in the group. Their meeting is written as “love at first sight”, but shouldn’t there be more to their “love” story? Even their dialogue with each other offers nothing beyond the superficial. Eligius seems to exist to be Seren’s arm candy and to constantly save her from harm. But what about the fact that he’s had relations with just about every noble woman in the capital, married or unmarried? Leaving that aside, he’s entitled, spoiled, and kind of a jerk. Not to Seren, no, not to the woman he “loves”, but everyone else? He thinks he’s above them in every way. Well, he does become the crown prince, but there is little about him that deems him worthy of the title.

I have so much dislike for Eligius, but let’s continue. Now that the two main characters have been introduced, it’s time to unveil the villain of the story. Duke Aleos, the fourth prince; his “crime,” you wonder? Proving that he is a better ruler than the rest of his spoiled brothers. Yep, that’s what it takes to make him out to be the villain. Not only is Aleos the one character that has any semblance of actual intelligence, I greatly appreciate that he never harbors romantic feelings towards Seren. In fact, he wants nothing to do with her. However, since she is the female lead, she always ends up crossing paths with him no matter how he tries to avoid her. I’d like to say that his rebuffs toward her have something to do with his wife, but that is another matter altogether. Duke Aleos deserves better than the plot gave him, but since his father and brothers hates him, he’s set in the antagonist’s role. And as the villain, his fate is to take his own life in madness after Eligius ascends the throne.

The story never states exactly why they all hate Aleos, but he was banished to an unkempt dukedom when he was young. Though, because of his quick wits and understanding, he is able to transform a barren dukedom into a thriving hub in only seven years. And while Duke Aleos is revitalizing a “lost cause”, Prince Eligius squanders his fiefdom’s resources because he can’t be bothered to learn how to maintain something that was working well to begin with. Of course, this is before Seren appears in his life, and his overwhelmingly glaring flaws exist only to show how much he transforms after meeting her…riiight…

So where does this leave me? Who am I possessing in this generic-wannabe-reverse-harem-Mary-Sue-tale? I’m getting there.

Though Aleos builds up the dukedom in seven years, he doesn’t do it with his abilities alone. In order to secure certain resources and gain access to a very advantageous port, he marries a neighboring country’s noble daughter, Laveda…that’s me. *sigh* Laveda and Aleos are rather indifferent to each other; there is no love, hate, or anything between them. Well, that is until she falls head over heels in love…with Prince Eligius. Everything for her changes once that happens, and she becomes an excruciatingly irritating character. The Duke’s indifference turns into annoyance, and eventually disdain. He ends up killing her somewhere in the middle of the story. It’s kinda a footnote, as she isn’t an important character for the plot. She exists only to be a vexing thorn in the villain’s side that further drives him into madness.

So where are we in the plot? As far as I can tell, there are only a few months left until Prince Eligius and Lady Seren meet. Unfortunately, my character, Duchess Laveda, has already fallen for Prince Eligius. Of course I’d have to possess her after the relationship with Duke Aleos has marred. It’s been about a year since she began publicly pining after the prince and Aleos is at the “disdain” stage of his feelings towards…me. He’s also showing signs of madness, according to the hushed rumors amongst the maids. What does that mean for me, exactly? Nothing good, so I’ll give him a wide berth.

The reality of my possession tale finally sunk in recently, even though I’ve been living in Laveda’s body for a week. I’ve already gone through the stages of, what I’ve coined to be D.A.R.D.A.R.: Disbelief, Alarm, Reflection, Denial, Acceptance and Resignation. Well, maybe…here’s the thing: I’ve got nothing to lose. This story sucks, “my” marriage is over, Laveda is an annoying groveling type, and the Duke and I are going to die. So instead of “resignation”—“rebellion”. I’d love nothing more than to set fire to this terrible story’s end myself. Sure, I could try becoming the lead and raise myself up from the ashes that are Laveda’s life…but frankly, I’d rather choose destruction. So, today marks the day that I begin my rebellious possession story.