Isn’t the text on the dust jacket written by the publisher, anyway? I wouldn’t trust it as far as I can throw it, about what’s in the book. I might trust the author bibliography in it, but that’s not the same thing.
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I wrote the copy for my dust jacket, FWIW, and I imagine a lot of publishers ask the author to at least have the first stab at it.
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Come to think of it, do we know Gandalf actually fell with the Balrog? I think the narrator was lying to us. He was with the group the whole time and they just forgot he was there, and the narration had to cover for him.
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Now I’m picturing a circle of authors taking turns stabbing a book, great. 
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Followed almost immediately by the critics!
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Come to think of it, most of how magic works is elaborated on by characters or in universe narration, since we’ve established that prophecies can’t possibly work because they don’t irl, I’m going to assume that, much like irl, Gandalf and Saruman are just con men making stuff up while doing copious amounts of cocaine. Hey, Tolkien never said they weren’t, and anything that doesn’t have word of god is whatever I want. This logic is like reverse death of the author, where NO reading of the story matters and ONLY the author clarifying every detail matters.
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What we really need to be sure is novel-length dust jacket blurbs.
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…does that make the author a zombie or a vampire? Or maybe something else, there are different kinds of undead.
(Churchfolk, if you go by the Finnish magic. You do not want the author to become Churchfolk.)
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It does lack a little bit of the trolley problem element in that the Chosen One’s dilemma isn’t necessarily centered around the possibility that whatever choice they make, they are committing to an action that causes harm. If they go and fulfill the prophecy, in a lot of cases, that’s it, they did it without anyone suffering as a direct result of their actions (beside the personal risk or suffering or what have you they might undertake). There are a bunch of narratives where it is the case that what they do inflicts suffering or harm on others, and I do find those much more compelling compared to cases where there isn’t hesitancy or doubt regarding the moral valence of whatever the task is at hand.
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It is the Ides of March, perfect time for stabbing.
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There are variants of the problem where you have to jump on the track to stop it from hitting someone else (ignore how no human could have that much mass) but in this case not only would you save the people on the tracks but also in most cases you will not die, it’ll just hurt for a bit.
Actually the fact that no human has that much mass IS relevant in that you are in the unique position to be able to stop the train without dying while other people, if they try, will die AND not stop the train.
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Chosen One
Yeah I aint taking that trip.
Event of what supposed to be on trip happens anyway and involves CO.
CO events in things I experienced that went interestingly.
Honkai Star Rail: choice to stay or leave a planet. Left? Ok. So the cure doesn’t happen on the world, they needed a MC that can stand against a mighty force which already within MC themself. No one else can. So death?! Partner going into crystal state can’t be undone due to same power within MC. This story ends via just travelling, not gaining whats needed to stop BBEG. Most likely end of verse too. Only one could stop the inevitable path. OR Accept going and aiding, saving lives. Yes a gacha story has had more than one ending of MC chosen one not being the hero. There was two times could forgo the path and game goes to credits after a speil.
Another story.
Final Destination 5. Your chosen but not chosen?! Ride the ride or don’t. I didn’t. Less than 5 minutes and its over. I returned that movie after that. I HATE those rides, NEVER will ride one.
Depending on story and how engaging that aspect is makes a huge difference.
Or sequences like Farcry’s. Just do the sensible thing, miss out on majority of everything.
IFs that did this might get more attention from anti-chosen aspects to go on with story. Usually allowing readers, nah, within story itself.
Unless it requires a roller coaster. Fuck. NO.
There are only two acceptable solutions to the trolley problem. In one, one of the tracks has nothing but Nazis, so you send the trolley down that track, full speed ahead, and regret the lack of backwards-moving ability so you can run them over again. The other is to pull the lever at the time that makes the trolley go off the rails. This has never been hard. The trolley problem is only ever a problem if you don’t actually think about it.
Have you considered they ALL are? 
You’re the one who brought up “historically” into the discussion, not me.
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If you grant yourself the power to handwave ways out of thought experiments rather than accepting the parameters as given, then yes, it’s pretty simple.
And since I’m in total sympathy with “always be suspicious when someone tells you the only way to save a bunch of people is to kill other people,” I’m not going to argue.
Tricksy! FALSE!
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The trouble with final destination is actually kinda the flip side of destiny where something terrible will happen to you and you can’t prevent it no matter how hard you try and I actually do hate that one. I don’t see the appeal of watching people futilely struggle against the inevitable miserable end when we know what’s gonna happen. That’s the sort of destiny I don’t vibe with.
With the “refusal of the call by person who is literally the only one who can help” trope, regardless of whether it’s because of destiny, it’s a person whining about doing the very thing we came here to watch, and, with the stories I was specifically complaining about, refusing to do it and being treated as right by the narrative. Compare to ATLA, mentioned above, where it was understandable but Aang still realized he had to do it. With “this innocent character will die or suffer horribly no matter what anyone will do” just feels like a grueling waste of time. Aside from the gore factor of the kills, what meat is there to the story if Mr. Reaper Man never loses?
No I brought up historical context because you were saying that “prophecy” only ever referred to something where a single outcome is guaranteed. You’re the one who kept going on about how that can only be true in a world where prophecies aren’t real and actually, every magical, true prophecy must fit your narrow definition or it doesn’t count as a prophecy.
No because unless that’s actually being suggested by context clues, that’s purely a thought experiment, not an actual, sensible reading of the story. It’d be like if you told me you’re from Portugal (which you did iirc), and I insisted you’re actually from Uzbekistan based on zero evidence just because technically, I have no way to confirm you’re Portuguese so you’re from whatever country fits my argument at any given time. I’ve seen people do this on occasion. It’s ridiculous. It makes seriously engaging with your argument impossible.
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If the hero requires taking a roller coaster ride. Then I will watch everyone die.
If the hero does not require a roller coaster ride.
I will be helping.
Stepping in front of a train without actually knowing mechanics of train, is more liable to do nothing at all. It will shred apart.
Homelander was right about not being able to stop the plane for one reason. But wrong in other factors.
Just cause you are strong doesn’t mean your smart enough to know how to stop the collision. Really gotta know the equipment otherwise will do even more harm than expected.
Yes I would try to stop a train if I was able. But couldn’t ‘superman’ effect with it. That defies physics and physical aspects of the item.
Cars, grabbing the bumper of new cars doesn’t do anything but rip that off. Got a get a hold of the frame itself. That is what I am discussing there. The framework has to be strong enough to handle the speed and the seats, everything comes into play.
Easiest thing to do. Speed across. Get people to grab on and glide them down, strong enough to throw a train, capable of being a parachute then. Or other things.
Gants hero decided upon not saving self but others. Wishing to save everyone else. Even if ends up lost on his own he succeeds saving others. I didnt continue after a certain point. But he is technically a chosen one.
This discussion has gone pretty far off the tracks, if you’ll excuse my pun.
Please allow other people the space to vent about their most hated elements, mechanics, and tropes.
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I AM accepting the parameters as given. There’s a fork in the tracks. There’s a combination of people (or whatever) in both tracks. There’s a trolley coming down the main track. You have control of the… needle, that’s what it’s called, I think? It’s never in the parameters that you HAVE TO send the trolley down one of the tracks.
(just another example of why I’m barred from Bards, and why I have three different DnD characters that are on the Nine Hells’s* No Deal list)
*now I don’t know if this possessive should be written “Nine Hells’s” or “Nine Hells’”. On one hand, it’s sort of a plural, on the other hand, the actual name of the plane is the Nine Hells (of Baator), so it miiiiiiight count as singular, because it’s just one place, but I don’t think it counts as a communal noun, like “herd”? Discuss. Wait, this is a writing thing, should I be posting it on the writer support thread? Discuss THAT, too
Mine are stories of ‘chosen ones’ and how handled. If done right works, if done wrong, doesn’t.
Personally, I find the main pitfalls of the chosen one story are when:
- the chosen one is seemingly unaffected by the idea that their entire life only amounts to saving the day, and how they may very well be killed for the sake of people they might not care about. If you, an average person, worked some middle management position and found out you had to slay the demon king and his army or some other insanity, you would not want to devote yourself to going on a quest for the rest of the world, and even if you did, you are not coming out the same person; there will be serious trauma, and you will curse out whatever higher power determined this was your responsibility.
- everybody else becomes irrelevant or in-universe everybody stops trying to do anything because “the chosen one’s got this, he’s destined to win, so he’ll absolutely clutch this fight and solo the demon lord’s whole army.”
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