Actually why im on the topic of arranged royal marriage tropes in fantasy books i have to say I've never come across one that was like a human marrying a different race (elf, fairy, mermaid, etc) to solidify a alliance (i can see the humans like allying with this race because they're going to war with them against someone else)
Like talk about culture shock
i havent read a real non-school mandated book in 5 years bc fanfiction exists so im searching up popular fantasy books right? And so many of them are summarized by "young Princess is betrothed to a man twice her age she never met. How will she take command of her own destiny?" And like i had two reactions to that 1) none of these are my thing at all but I've never actually read one so maybe i should give it a try 2) but what if he was hot?
Like tell me you cant see a 17-22 year old princess (or any woman) being like "i cant believe my parents are doing this to me! Hes older than me! They're just marrying me off and sending me to live in a forgein land with nobody i know how can they do this!" doing a complete 180° because hes hot "oh my! Are you sure thats the person im marrying? Hes so handsome" "i know hes seven years older than me but you know 'age is just a number'! And besides men mature later then women so im sure mentally were the same age" and everyone in the palace is like "omg Princess your so lucky that YOU are the one who gets to marry that" "you're not marrying a boy, you're marrying a MAN. Oh i wish i could be that lucky" "since you dont want to marry him can i?" "Mom! Why does she get to marry the hot Prince!"
