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The Disposable by Katherine Vick
The Narrative Must Be Obeyed
Everyone in the Taskmaster’s Realm knows how the story goes: the boy of destiny goes on a quest, defeats the dark lord, and gets the swooning princess.  It’s a great story, if you happen to be a knight or a wizard or a hero.  But it’s pretty odious if you’re Ordinary: a barmaid who has to inflate her bosom and have her backside pinched, a homely prince who can’t buckle his swash because his face doesn’t fit, or a soldier who gets killed over and over and over again just to progress the plot.
Fodder of Humble Village is one of those soldiers, and, frankly, he’s sick and tired of getting speared, decapitated, and disembowelled twice a day so the good guys can look glorious.  In fact, he’s not going to take it anymore.
No matter what The Narrative tries to make him do.

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