I
will never take a vow to marry only someone who can
defeat me. I will learn of those laws which limit my
marriage options and work towards their repeal. I
will decided when and who I marry, thank you very
much.
I
will not freeze in terror in the presence of
monsters or servants of the Evil Overlord.
If
I have a friend who never seems to be around when
the Hero shows up and clobbers the Bad Guys, I will
draw the appropriate conclusions.
If
I am captured by the Evil Overlord and escape, I
will assume that he is tracking me in some manner.
If I am going to the hidden rebel base, I shall
first go to an alternate location, change clothing,
equipment and means of transportation, and then go
to the hidden rebel base.
If
I have a copy of the Evil Overlord's plans and my
capture is imminent, I will not send the only copy
of those plans away with a cute little sidekick. I
will make many copies of the plans and send them
away with many cute little sidekicks.
I
will obtain skill in unarmed combat, so that I can
kick Bad Guys between the legs, and put my elbow
into the Evil Overlord's solar plexus when he uses
me as a human shield. I will not, however, attempt
to tackle a Bad Guy bare-handed as long as more
practical alternatives exist.
I
will obtain skill in armed combat, so that when the
Evil Overlord and the Hero are engaged in mortal
combat, I can grab some dead henchman's weapons and
help tilt the odds in the Hero's favor.
I
will obtain skill in the use of my legs and feet, so
that I can actually run from one place to another
without tripping over every shadow, crack, and
pebble along my path.
If
the Evil Overlord tries to force me into marriage, I
will insist on a ceremony so expensive that it will
debilitate his industrial capacity. I will be picky
about the tiniest details of the ceremony and change
my mind frequently so that the resulting delay will
give the Hero more time to rescue me.
My
own sidekicks will be picked for brains, not looks.
Since
liberated women are still allowed to have it both
ways, I will not rule out using my womanly wiles to
defeat the Evil Overlord. Even if it only works on
Stupid Bad Guys, it never hurts to try.
After
being forced into a compromising situation, I will
not grab a weapon from the Bad Guy and toss it to
the Hero when he walks in; I will instead grab a
weapon from the Bad Guy and use it on him myself,
before the Hero walks in.
Likewise,
if I catch the Hero in a compromising situation with
another woman, I will give the Hero the benefit of
whatever doubt might reasonably exist.
When
the Evil Overlord forces me to help betray the Hero,
I will make a show of resistance and then feign
capitulation. I will then use whatever resources are
placed at my disposal to screw the Evil Overlord (in
a metaphorical sense, of course).
My
clothing and footwear will always be appropriate for
the occasion. It will enable me to run, climb, and
fight, and will hide as large an assortment of
personal weaponry as is practical. It will also
protect me from frostbite and hypothermia. If my
clothing becomes torn in a manner which threatens to
kill me from exposure or transform me into
cheesecake, I'll steal a jacket from some bad guy.
As I am confident that my charm, loyalty and wit are
enough to maintain the Hero's love, the harem girl
outfit is reserved for private moments when we are
living happily ever after.
I
will not hesitate to lie about the Secret Location
of the Rebel Base.
If
I have any odd phobias to spiders, snakes,
lightning, und so weiter, I will seek therapy and
overcome them, so that when lives depend on my
ability to behave intelligently, I won't panic.
Since liberated women can still have it both ways, I
will feign phobias in order to deceive or distract
Bad Guys.
If
I am offered a bribe, I will accept it, and inform
the Hero by a pre-arranged means. The
happily-ever-after will be happier if we have a good
nest egg to start on.
The
Hero and I will have a pre-arranged signal so that
if one of us is held at gunpoint and the other is
ordered to drop his/her weapon, the hostage will
know when to duck while the other one plugs the Bad
Guy.
Knowing
that tentacles have a preference for True Loves, I
will keep an eye out for any and all creatures that
might have them.
I
will obtain some basic mountaineering skills so that
when I am dangling off of a cliff the Hero can
finish off the Evil Overlord instead of letting him
escape in order to rescue me.
If
I am presented with a reasonable opportunity to save
the day myself, I will at least try, and not wait
for the Hero to do it.
I
will never buy an apple from peddlers plying their
craft in remote places where the customer base could
not possibly support a full-time merchant.
I
will not give sloppy, wet kisses to the Hero until I
verify that he isn't related to me.
I
will not jump out of a lifeboat as it's being
lowered over the side of a sinking ship. I'll either
give my spot to a mother with a baby and join the
Hero in a noble death, or sensibly stay on the
lifeboat and treasure my memories of him forever.
I
will not steal confidential information from the
Hero in an attempt to further my career, thus
causing the Hero's dismissal from the team assembled
to save the earth and severely damaging his efforts
to succeed.
If
the Hero tells me he wants to break up with me or
quit his dangerous job for my protection, it's
already too late; a kidnapping is already in the
planning, and I will take all reasonable precautions
against it.
I
will obtain a device that the hero can use to locate
me when I, despite my best efforts, am kidnapped.
I
will refrain from converting the Captain of the
Guard to our side, as it means he will be killed
while helping me to escape.
I
will refuse all gifts from the Evil Overlord. They
probably contain mind-control devices that would
make me giddily happy to marry him. It's demeaning
enough to be head-over-heels for the Hero, let alone
a creep like the EO.
When
the Sidekick rescues me, I will dump any gifts
received from the Evil Overlord. They probably
contain tracking devices, which would result in the
Sidekick getting killed; then I'd have to listen to
his confession of undying love while he croaks, and
feel obligated to say some comforting baloney before
his eyes close for the last time, and then after
telling the Hero about his friend's courageous
sacrifice, wind up naming our first child after him.
There
is a fifty-fifty chance that the Hero's Sidekick is
in love with me. I'll find him a spunky,
moderately-attractive tomboy type about his height,
and steer them towards each other. If they quarrel,
they're in love; if they hit it off, she loves him,
but he's secretly unhappy with her and still loves
me, and the Hero will need to send them off on a
mission together.
If
I absolutely must scream, I'll use actual words with
useful information. "I'M BEING EATEN BY A
SHUGGOTH!" better enables the Hero to rescue me
than does a simple ear-splitting "AAARRRGGHH!"
When
the Evil Overlord says that he was driven in his
evil by my radiant beauty, I'll just kill him.
I
will never vow to slay the killer of my brother or
other near relative; there is a fair-to-middling
chance that the Hero did it, that it was an
accident, and that I won't learn he did it until
after I fall in love with him.
If
someone capable of feeling pain covers my mouth with
their hand, I will make use of my pearly whites at
the moment when my captor can least afford to be
distracted.
I
will save my ethical dilemmas for times when I don't
have an enemy at gunpoint.