❝Find out which character the fans like, and make sure that the main character never crosses them. A little pandering never hurt anyone. (Unless there was an undercover cop involved. But we’re getting far afield.) Fans develop favorite characters, and taking those characters out at the knees won’t make the fans stop liking them. They’ll make the fans stop liking whoever took them out. Your character doesn’t have to like the fan-favorite character. They can even fight them and win. They just can’t humiliate them, cheat them, or completely destroy them. They also shouldn’t be indifferent. A few moments of understanding between sworn enemies will get people liking a main character far more than the utter defeat of the character they love at the hands of the star.❞