#throwing that disclaimer out there bc i just know someone will try and twist my words

[arvadthecursed]

My criticisms of RWBY rn under the cut.

I'm going to focus on volumes 4 and beyond. HBomberguy did an amazing job on the issues with volumes 1-3, and I agree with all his points. I'm mostly going to be discussing plot and the handling of queer relationships.

First, the plot. It's like Miles and Kerry finally decided on the story they wanted to tell... 4 volumes in. So, to catch the viewers up, they spend massive amounts of time on exposition dumps that just grind the pace of the story to a halt. RWBY does have cool ideas in it, it just... Cannot communicate them in the way necessary to actually tell a compelling story. I believe it was V6 with the giant lore dump about Salem and Ozpin/Ozma. Now, don't get me wrong: there are times in a story where someone will have to explain a plot element to someone else. Nothing wrong with that. But the absolutely hamfisted way the story was handled makes it bad. The constant exposition dumps got to be exhausting.

Penny is another major issue. You're telling me you killed her off, brought her back, very explicitly made her human, only to kill her off again? That's... Stupid. No other way to put it. I was fine with Penny returning! I was happy about it, actually! I thought the concept of an android taking on the powers of a Maiden was a super interesting idea. What makes a person human? What makes them have a soul? If Penny, as an android, is basically immortal, is the Winter Maiden's power permanently protected, in a way? Could she pass it on without dying? How would this affect her relationship with Winter, who was supposed to inherit the Maiden's power? But nope. Miles and Kerry wanted to kill her off again for really, what is no reason (except making viewers sad. But deaths need to be motivated...). If you wanted Winter to be the Maiden so badly, just make her the Maiden in the first place. The Penny plot with it ended up being really dumb.

Fairgame was another problem. I didn't personally ship it, but it was being pretty strongly hinted at, and I don't blame MLM for feeling betrayed by the way it ended -- again, very stupidly. The fight that killed Clover made absolutely no sense, and his death felt wasteful. I'm not MLM so I don't have as much to say, and others can make the criticism better than I can. Just wanted to touch on it.

And... The Bees. They're still dancing around each other, and at this point, yeah, it's queerbait. I would have disagreed before Vol9, but... It's ridiculous at this point how Miles and Kerry are dragging it out. "But it's slow burn!!!" That ship sailed a long time ago. Either make it explicit that Blake and Yang are together, quit having them dance around the notion, or drop it. It's especially egregious because it feels like Miles and Kerry are like, "Look at this ~progressive queer relationship~ in our story!!" without actually doing the work necessary. You can make Jaune's sister wlw (and name her after Sappho for more sweet, sweet Progressive Points!) but you can't explicitly state that Blake and Yang are a couple? It's cowardly.

And the new plot in the Everafter isn't very good either. We've never heard of this story about Alex before in the show. It feels like another plot point that got randomly added without a ton of thought. It could've been such an easy fix, too. Blake and Ruby both enjoy reading. Just have one of them reading the story in an earlier volume, and have another character comment "oh, I read that as a kid, too!" Boom. Now, you've got an actual through-line! But I just can't be invested in the story as it stands. I don't know who Alex is. I don't know why her story matters, even when RWBY is insisting it does matter. The gimmick with fairy tales/folk tales/etc is wearing thin, and I'm tired.

I really did enjoy RWBY, but in its current state, I have fallen out of love with it. I hope it gets better, because the fans deserve better.

[hazard-c-horror]

spawns in ur inbox with my hands politely folded. hello hazard-c-horror. it's been quite a few days now, and i've only Continued to fall down the dandy's world rabbit hole eihsihssh SO, since you're the only Other Person i know about that's Insane abt D.W *and* SAMS, i would like to throw Thoughts inspired by your SAMS x D.W au I've been having .D.

i was hella inspired by the character sheets you made for moon, eclipse, lunar, and solar, so. take some Thoughts for how sun, earth, and kc would work in the game digsgskqj

(btw- this disclaimer might be a bit silly- but idk if you already have Planned Out Stuff for these characters n their abilities n stuff, and i Apologize if you do- this isnt me trynna like take over your au or smtn, its just me being autistic dgsigaiya that being said, do with these ideas as you will, you have free reign over anything you do w them lmao)

Sun:

OKAY so yk how he can turn ppl into geese n stuff in canon? i feel like his transformation magic could actually be his ability. as a toon, he has the ability to turn either Himself or other toons into an object (like a soda can or chocolate bar) for 5-ish seconds. he could do this to Instantly de-agro any twisted's chasing either him or other toons, and the 5 second break could be just enough time for stamina to rebuild so even if the twisted does still spot the de-transformed toon again, they have more time/stamina to run and hide

THAT BEING SAID. his twisted form would be the exact Opposite of this- he'd be able to mask himself as an item and attack/agro onto any toon who'd try to pick him up. he'd be a lot like twisted rodger, just for items instead of capsules. and ofc there would be things making it obvious that the item wasn't trustworthy- like discoloration or added bits on it. if you have a keen eye, avoiding him is Easy :)

i have like a couple thoughts for his mastery item. first one that came to mind was a Cat Plush, which when equipped it has a “calming effect”, and ups your stealth up by around 10-ish percent, making it harder for twisted's to spot you. but then i also thought “haha Wine Bottle”, which i thought that (when close enough) it could instill the “confused” effect on nearby twisted's, and make it harder for them to see nearby toons. so both items would do the same thing, just go about it in different ways

Earth:

she deffo has an ability like tisha's or shelly's, where it helps out the other players instead of herself. im thinking she's able to heal others for one heart every two minutes. a basic ability, but bro methinks this game needs a healer besides teagen, who can only heal herself dosyohsshs the Easy way to go about it is that she can just.. go up to (aka Click) on another player to heal them, but she could also just have a “medical bag” on hand where she whips hella bandages out the wazoo and gives them to whoever needs em dishiaha

okay as a twisted this girl gives me MAD razzle and dazzle vibes in how she functions. but instead of sleeping, i can imagine her constantly Crying and remaining in one smalllll specific area, patrolling it, almost. she can be led away by Distractors (goob, pebble, ect), but once they've de-agroed her, she'll start slowly walking back to her patrol spot. the best way to deal with her is to have someone else agro her and lead her around while You fix the machine she's working on, or vice versa :) but you Can still beat her on a solo run, bc she has rather slow walk-speed when getting back to her patrol spot where you could beat her back to it after leading her away. it'd just be a Lot easier w multiple people digdihsah

and her item?? first thing that came to mind is a barbie doll. or just a “pink girl doll” bc. copyright sigsiszvah it would be an Active item (like the wrench or bottle of pop), where at the start of every round, she could place it down somewhere, and it makes noise, which leads the nearest twisted right to it. ofc we dont want it Too op, so once a twisted makes contact with it, its destroyed and returns back in earths inventory, ready to be used next round .D.

Killcode:

kc is a Complex one- i think this guy would have slow walk speed, but a fast run speed. so i think he'd be a good “distraction” character, like goob or pebble. HOWEVER. i think it'd be sick as *hell* if his ability, using his size, literally made it so that he could momentarily Pick Up Other Toons and carry them away from any twisted's chasing them. he'd prolly only be able to do so for 3-ish seconds, but it could be a saving grace for anyone out of stamina being chased .D.

now. as a Twisted. this👏man👏deserves👏lethal👏status👏 his name is LITERALLY KILLCODE i refuse to believe he cant one-shot a bitch sisgiaga due to him literally being a Being made to perfectly hunt/kill, i think how twisted kc would act is that he'd spawn in at the start of a new floor, a Sound Queue would play so that toons know he's on the floor. and now he's just.. somewhere. hiding. *waiting*. hes normally spawned behind corners or nearby machines, where its either easy to run into him or hard to avoid him. hes not Impossible to beat tho- i imagine he emimates a very quiet sound byte, so hes still avoidable on blackout floors, even if he's not visible. and that byte also helps on just normal floors too ofc. best way to deal with him is to listen to his sound queues and *be very aware of your surroundings*. cause if he spots someone, he is *hard* to lose, and hes lethal if he gets ya. once freed from his waiting spot, he's not going back to it. instead, he'll be moving around the map like a faster, but also Louder, dandy. Scary!!

aaand his item. i came up with a “soup ladel”. cause. heh. yk, because he volunteered in soup kitchens in canon? .D.? i think im Funny siosgiaa what it'd do is up the spawn rate of better Food/Drink items on every floor. think instead of soda cans spawning on floor 1, there's a higher/better chance for soda bottles to spawn instead .D.

. this is over 1K WORDS LONG OF AN ASK hazard im so sorry, im Unwell sigihgaisg okay now i go eep for tonight good nini honk shoo honk shoo

Why hello there. Longest inbox I’ve ever received

I love this a lot actually, and thank you for some ideas! Love the trinket ideas especially, will probably use them

I’m just be reading over this like 12 times, because I just love it

It’s also funny bc I had the same idea about Earths ability, so that’s nice. Great minds think alike

I don’t know if I’ll be incorporating Sun’s magic into this, but I did include Eclipse’s so I may use your idea. Bc I also don’t have any ideas for him at the moment

One unfortunate. KC will not be in this au, but I could make a non canon character sheet for him a Solar flare if people wish. Really like your ideas for him!

The soup ladle is my favorite for a trinket lol

In return of theses amazing ideas, I give you a sneak peek

[pixelfun20]

for the trope grading thing: yes i'll bite grade hermit!tommy

Oh boy here we go. So many issues.

TL;DR, Hermit!Tommy is a solid grade F for me. I see why people like it, but as a Hermit main who's followed the DSMP since August 2020, I find it generally harmful to the Hermitcraft fandom and unfaithful to c!Tommy.

Disclaimer: While I was in the DSMP fandom for around half a year, I have not considered myself part of the fandom since June. I personally have never been a fan of c!Tommy, but I talked to people who are in writing this so hopefully the bias isn't too pronounced. I've been watching Hermitcraft since March 2020, right around the start of season 7. While this will be critical of the Hermit!Tommy trope, I don’t intend it to be negative. If you like it, good for you! Write what you love! These are just the reasons I don't.

For those of you who want my full breakdown of the trope, brave the read more below.

Initially, I was actually really open to the idea of the Hermit!Tommy trope. The first big fics to start this up began around the time of Exile, and as someone who personally really didn't like that arc, I was more than ready for something that wasn't angst-centered. I followed a few fics with this trope for a while, the longest for 2 months-ish before I dropped it and started avoiding it.

Why? Well for one, a lot of these fics seem to come from people who are DSMP mains and only know cursory information about Hermitcraft. Nothing wrong with that, have fun with it, but as someone who is a Hermit main, it rubbed me the wrong way. Hermitcraft would be portrayed as this utopia where everybody got along and had perfect coping techniques and would drop everything to help this random dude who dropped in their server.

Which, um, this would not happen. Hermitcraft is chaotic. They are certainly healthier than the DSMP, but that's a low bar. ZombieCleo held a game where people hunted for each other's heads. The Turf war and Mayor race were whole things. C!Docm77 would not trust a random teenager on his server as far as he could throw him. Above all, Hermitcraft is private. Getting in requires not only getting sponsored by an existing Hermit, but the unanimous consent of every member of the server. Random teenagers don't mix in well, traumatized or not. (Also, they would not tolerate swearing).

Secondly, the characters of the Hermits often are twisted to center almost entirely around Tommy. It got to the point where a friend and I made a parody of the Sexy Lamp Test, the Generic Father Figure Test. If a Hermit can be replaced with any other Generic Father Figure (Phil, Wilbur, Batman, etc), they fail the test. The Hermits would not all simultaneously adopt Tommy for reasons explained above. While I can very much see them worry and provide help where needed, it would not be the whole server and it would not be at the level of parent/child.

For my last point, we'll talk about Tommy. Like I said before, though, I'm biased against Tommy, so I found a friend who rather likes him, and got their opinion, so these are their points below:

1) Infantilization: "When I hit rock bottom, I need support, not someone to smother me or shove me onto a healing arc. A lot of fics treat Tommy's like he's incapable."

2) Stubbornness: "Tommy's so fucking stubborn he refuses to accept help. It results in a lot of fics having a constant cycle of tommy refusing to get healed and fleeing while the hermits try to force it."

3) Fanfic Therapy: "The one hermit tommy story I like was good bc it wasn't forced, he just came around bit by bit. Most fics don't do that."

Anyways, that's my rant grading of Hermit!Tommy. If you like it, I really don't begrudge you of it. I’m sure there are fics out there that are great and might not even fall into my criticisms listed here. At the end of the day, you can choose how you want to characterize the Hermits and Tommy, and for a lot of people, including me at one point, it was/is loved mostly for the angsty, hurt/comfort vibes. Which is valid. It's just... not for me. At all.

[marimopeace]

there's a limit on how much you can be an isekai intellectual...

a bunch of analyses have been popping up before me all day so i wanted to throw my hat into the ring. all love to ppl who are exercising their creative minds + ppl like geoff here who just talk about these things because of fan interest but i feel like there reaches a point where exploring the "types" of isekai is pointless? i've seen ppl list out the different types of villainess revenge isekai or fantasy mmorpg isekai but eh why fit them all into separate boxes like that?

i think it's easier to think of isekai as a "type" (genre) of itself with only two categories: 1) a focus on isekai (lit. another world) 2) tensei (lit. to be reborn). this allows for a variety of applications and thus tropes that ppl see so many trends of!

with isekai - in another world

you see everything from:

pure fantasy (inuyasha, digimon wait maybe not the best example but in my childhood mind i count digimon as pure fantasy, fushigi yugi)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (.hack//legend of twilight, sao ugh, log horizon, overlord (LOVE OVERLORD!)

otome game-esque worlds >>> this is where it gets complicated with "villainess routes" since i admit there are multiple villainess tropes but this is why it's nice to not think of this as a "sub-type/genre" bc it frees you from those complications! (the saint's magic power is omnipotent, the white cat's revenge as plotted from the dragon king's lap soso cute!, the savior's book cafe in another world, i'm a villainous daughter so i'm going to keep the last boss wait i can't remember if she's reborn in this one lmaooo see this is why rules make everything hard)

with tensei storylines - being reincarnated/reborn in another world as *insert character/role*

you see...

the same tropes!!

pure fantasy (a returner's magic should be special, reminiscence adonis, the lady and the beast, light and shadow, i can't think of a manga off the top of my head for this ah)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (so i'm a spider so what i stan kumoko so hard, her majesty's swarm, can't name another off the top of my head ah i hate lists shorter than two things...)

self-insert based games/novels (fiance's observation log of a self-proclaimed villainess, who made me a princess, death is the only ending for the villainess, the villainess wants to marry a commoner, honestly games vs novels are different applications but i'm not in the headspace to try to remember a bunch of both lol)

*insert line break to give random ppl a break from scrolling but tl; dr just enjoy things for what they are no need to micro analyze*

similar variations occur in both genres (if ppl want to be super technical i guess i'm arguing that isekai itself is a massive genre that has the "another world" subgenre and "reincarnation" subgenre tl; dr) so i think it's honestly a huge pain to try to separate all these trends into so many different types of stories. for me personally it's easier to not get overwhelmed by this gigantic umbrella of "isekai" that spans light novels, manhwa, manga, and mobile games by just stripping each story down into its trademark tropes (aka character archetypes, story structures) and slapping "oh this is a person going to a world that's not ours" and "this person gets reborn as blank in another world". none of this "omg this power fantasy is such a this kind of isekai moment" or "there are 14 different types of villainess revenge stories and this series fits into this" bc AH labels! limitations! circle-jerks via ppl trying to compartmentalize everything and sound smart for leaving a comment on story analysis instead of ooh-ahhing over a character's face! dividing things into light novel manga vs manga vs korean manhwa ft. female characters!

the last bit is mainly why i feel frustrated by ppl's insistence to group everything?

the video linked at the beginning of the post (honestly good video essay, i enjoyed it, i just kept thinking in my head the whole time "marimo these are tropes do not take the genre talk literally") has a baby comment thread talking about "korean isekai manhwas" as a genre featuring nothing but reincarnated villainess' and i can't.

like i cannot acknowledge that as a genre of any sort. the energy i felt reading through some of those insights takes me back to 2012 when all yt americans discovered k-pop and deemed all korean music k-pop from then on! (ppl still do this now, yes you are seen and don't talk to me pls i don't like you. k-pop is korean pop music and nothing less and nothing more. take a few seconds and try to parse apart aspects of korean culture instead of slamming everything into a monolithic label that has the letter k and a hyphen.) it feels so odd to see a bunch of young ppl on ig and tiktok acknowledge korean media that happens to be in the form of a webtoon as "oh stories all about young girls becoming villains in stories they made/played" bc it feels so reductive u.u

(positionality disclaimer that i'm praying isn't actually necessary: i am a 3rd-generation korean of japanese descent do not fite me i am exhausted irl of ppl asking for validation/verification bc massive shove off.)

breaking news! korean manhwa...is just as multifaceted as japanese manga...bc how can comics as an art-form not have multiple genres...huh such a shocker?!?! same likely applies to media in other parts of the world like chinese manhwa and french comics--not my place to explain either of those i just know those industries exist bc of wakfu and donghua shows by Tencent.

at the end of the day it's not like analyzing any kind of isekai is wrong--absolutely not!! i think it can be super fun to think about how isekai elements complicate a story (MCs trying to go back home, ppl from the og world, reincarnation plot-twists) or maybe even bash a series for including some kind of other world element when they could have just written a super fun fantasy.

insert marimo's brief ramble that hey you can get sick of truck-kun's hitting disillusioned guys who happen to be super duper smart or girls who happen to be master chefs/craftsmen but transporting a fully-grown being into a fantasy setting is the ultimate cheat code for making mundane modern technology seem cool and overpowered, and being reincarnated as a fully grown person in a world with a pre-made story/game set-up completely bypasses the need for an author to slowly flesh out world-building in a natural progression so isekai is actually a really smart writing tool it's just that there are some series where the author didn't use it well at all and it's cheesy or clearly isekai was misused as a vehicle for character/story development and it was pointless *DEEP BREATH OUT*

in this essay i will argue...lol i am such a culture studies major!! if i were an english major i would be talking all about writing but here i am having a side-tangent about world-building via someone being reborn wow i love this for me (don't get me started on when an author has someone reincarnate as a baby and the story is mostly them having warm fluffy moments with their family--typically father figures--and getting lots of powers i could and would and probably will rant about east asian toxicity)

but anyway am i crazy????? like yes for being passionate about the technical use of a word like genre (i am a scorpio rising let me be fussy pls) but i don't think it's a lot to ask for ppl to not unironically see "villainess revenge isekai" as the definition of korean manhwa.

idk as someone who resonates with why japanese isekai is so popular domestically + why a lot of korean manhwa feat. the same tropes (it's not for great reasons lads it's actually depressing tbh) i'm just starting to feel kind of pained by the generalization and need to separate "cute japanese girl in an otome game"/"japanese boy finds a harem in another world" from "korean girl dies and comes back as a villainess" bc they are just! applications to the same story device!!

recommendations for any who makes it this far down below <3

// also gladly recommend any of the examples i've listed in the above rant as i've read/watched all of them and adore them v much! //

save me princess

super refreshing fantasy manhwa ft. a princess and her ex-boyfriend having to save the world!

the beginning after the end

an AMERICAN web novel turned into a comic (but see it being not korean/japanese doesn't really matter when you just consider isekai as a genre...isn't it nice to not overthink it?) ft. a super-powerful wizard king reincarnated into another world and starting from scratch--gives mushoku tensei vibes but huge twists!

the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion

love love LOVE this story--read the title and you'll learn how this girl reincarnated as the character raeliana in a book gets married to a duke!

trash of the count's family

such a good novel!! a guy gets reborn as a lazy oaf and he takes the hero of the story under his wing...plot twists come up later on!

this time i will definitely be happy!

v good and refreshing for a shorter series! she's been reborn 3 times and remembers every time the hero's stabbed her in the back, and now she just wants to break up with him!

silver diamond

older manga but v good adventure w intrigue! a boy who loves plants get sucked into a desert world with demonic lizards and a mysterious bodyguard by his side. shonen-ai not BL but wonderful vibes nonetheless + great side characters!

the princess imprints a traitor

adore everything in this from the world (not in that way this society makes me so angry) to the machinations at play and the dynamic between the fl and ml

[capricxs]

so you’ve been roleplaying for years... things change, the way the community does things shift, and sometimes there’s new skills you need to pick up and adjust to in order to make your time rping as creatively rich and fulfilling as it can be. one of those things that’s become extremely important is plotting & hcing. either in groups, in indie, or doing 1x1s, these two are the foundation to your interaction (unless you’re the type to wing it). sometimes when i interact with people, it seems they don’t really click with this process, so in the guide below, i’ll help to explain why these are so important, and how to do it in a way that not only gives you a rich plot, but helps inspire and keep your writing partner engaged with you.

disclaimer --- this is just my personal experience and opinions being shared. i am not the end-all-be-all on how to interact with writing partners. this is just here to get people to begin thinking about things they otherwise wouldn’t have thought about.

questions regarding this help post can be found here. let’s jump in!

WHY IS PLOTTING & HCING SO IMPORTANT?

firstly, rp has changed a lot since the days of launching into an rp or writing a random starter for a new follower. things are a lot more established and regardless of if you’re in a bio/skeleton rp with pre-written connections, or you’re in a new plotless group or indie and you’re coming up with them on your own, it’s a major foundation to your writing experience, so don’t treat it lightly!

secondly, regardless of format, and with the shifts in rp culture, behind the scenes plotting & hcing is crucial to the development of your plot & characters. as writers, we take more time with our replies so development on dash happens a lot slower. personally i don’t mind that, but i don’t want that to hinder my writing experience so i like taking things behind the scenes to help build up dynamics and situations so the whole relationship isn’t based off one or two threads/instances.

lastly, it helps to keep things inspiring. sound dumb? you bet, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles baby. so many times i have plotted ships, sibling relationships, best friends, or other core relationships, and wanted to sink my teeth in relationship lore and background and dynamics, only to be returned with “hahah yes! i love that!” now i understand this is never ill-intentioned, but it does suck the muse right out the situation. if you do not validate & expand on your partner’s ideas, it’s not going to make that writer’s ideas feel appreciated or loved. the way to tell them you love their ideas? sink your teeth right back and send an equally meaty response right back!

PART ONE: SO YOU WANT TO PLOT

you don’t need this post to tell you how to come up with plot ideas, that’s a whole different guide, but let’s say you’re in the brainstorming process. you’re throwing ideas back and forth based on your muse’s two backgrounds and seeing what sticks. what is SUCH a downer, is when a writing partner is just ... not contributing. yes, we are all guilty of the line “i’m open to anything!” but try and limit yourself to using that line once in a conversation. hell, i prefer it when a person doesn’t even say it at all and they’re HONEST. if i come in guns-a-blazing and i ask ‘what plots do you need filled?’ if a person responds with ‘i need someone who hurt my muse’ there’s two option, i fill that plot, or i don’t. it’s that simple. don’t be afraid to say what you want, the worst that can happen is the person says ‘eh, i don’t really think that fits my character’ and you come up with something else! but when you’re already passionate about the idea, you’re setting yourself up for such great success!

so what do you do when your one (1) braincell isn’t working and you can’t come up with any connection ideas? two options, you can either go to one of the dozens of guides for basic connection ideas and give your partner something, or you can look at the other person’s bio, and your muse, and try and find connections between them. both of these are painfully easy! i’m a personal fan of the latter as it seems a bit more grounded and juicy than the former, but those can be twisted into something great too! **if you’re in a group setting, even asking what that person’s other connections are, and piggybacking off of that. these create super spicy connections. example: you find out muse a is muse b’s ex, and your muse, muse c, is best friends w muse b, so it’s safe to assume your muse c will probably not get along with muse a.

this important thing is not to make your partner feel like they’re doing all the work. because that’s never fun, and truthfully, it doesn’t make that person want to write with you if you’re not also putting in the elbow grease. plotting is fun, not a chore! make it a party!

PART TWO: NOW YOU HAVE TO BACK IT UP

you’ve got your plot now, congrats! and you’re so excited. but now you need that plot to be fleshed out a bit. there’s some history there so you’ve got to establish it. in comes the powerhouse--- my favorite part to this whole thing: HCING. it’s the most laid back, and in my opinion, creative part of the rping process. truthfully, i enjoy it more than threads because of the absolute insanity you can dig up. but i only love it if my partner can hand it back just as i can serve it.

maybe you’ve never quite thought that this part was that important, but i can assure you, if a person is giving you 3+ sentences about the dynamic of your characters, they’re trying to hc with you, and if you don’t enrich them, your dynamic is going to wither away.

i brought up an idea in the first part of this guide that’s extremely important to how you hc with your writing partner: VALIDATE & EXPAND. it’s the idea that no matter how much or how little your rp partner gives you in terms of an hc, you respond to it with a validation, which can range anywhere from ‘i LOVE that’ to as simple as a key smash and the pleading emotion, or even repeating a fraction of what they said to show you understand their vision. but then you have to back that up with expanding on that idea. hcs could be about a situation or about your writing partner’s character, so expand on how your character feels and reacts to things. it’s beyond discouraging when i write a whole idea out, explaining how my character feels in this emotionally intense setting, and my writing partner only gives me the validation portion, and now i have no idea how my opp’s character thinks, feels, or interacts.

see, a point i mentioned above is the fact that threads don’t work like they used to. and that’s fine! but hcing is an easy and fun way to make up for the fact that we take time with our threads now. if you’re rping to find rich, in-depth, satisfying dynamics, it’s going to take many many months to get your understanding of your opp’s muse, and the relationship they have, hcing fast tracks that process. i’m writing with you, i love your muse, give me the dirty details, i promise it’s not obnoxious. the more your give back, the more you will receive. so why wait around, sitting on our thumbs for me to fully get a grasp of your character’s voice, and your character’s thoughts, when we could do that on chat and have a grand time.

but now you’re thinking to yourself: okay, but how exactly do i validate and expand? and for that, we go to EXAMPLE-BOT 3000 !! not a real bot, unfortunately, but example bot has dug up a personal interaction i’ve had hcing. for context, this is a 1x1 writing partner i’ve had for years. we have an excellent dynamic and they are perfect. they have also given me permission to use our convos as example.

here is my message [ CONTEXT: this is a sandbox-star-wars-esque verse]

Okay but I had a thot in the shower,,, where the best thoughts are had. And what if,,, after this meeting and they part ways and such and it was just another weird occurrence in their lives, blastis gets a mission and it’s either to protecc salia or like guide salia across the galaxy to do something smth and save some lives or whatever. And ofc not because she couldn’t take care of herself but he has smth she doesn’t that gives an edge or just a close loved one of her’s didn’t want to see her get hurt. So you have these two traveling across the galaxy,,, sometimes arguing bc she can manage herself but he’s just fulfilling the mission. And them both kicking but. And all the steamy tension and cliches.

let’s break this message down before we get into the response. first, hcs don’t have to be formal. they are the most fun when they’re less together and don’t rely so much on “sounding good”. you’re just rolling off the top of your brain, chatting like you would with a friend, don’t worry too much on formalities because this isn’t the place for that.

i am also presenting my idea in a way that is confident, and with plenty of ideas to work on. i am involving my partner’s character but not godmodding. i am taking things i have learned from character introductions (like salia being independent and empowered, and wanting to do good/help others) and not disrespecting them, but having her take part in the plot. there are also small bits at the end of this idea that are little nuggets to build off of.

let’s look at my partner’s response.

AAAAH okay i love the idea!!! however shes a v. freelance kinda healer and doesnt really take official things. and she doesnt have loved ones that would know if there was danger - she can telepathically communicate with her own people but if she doesnt want them to know things they cant just. force their way in its a Closed Communication line not an open invitation into her thoughts asdfghjsh. But i could imagine that some guy or family hire her to find their children maybe who were lost on their adventure/mission with friends and the last message sounded like one was hurt,,, badly. and the other cant help for some reason. and they hire blastis to both protect her and later the people shes supposed to heal??

but anYWAY the Important part is ofc. the tension. and his big ass in her ship bc why would she?? take another if hers is right there. so hes gonna take that single bed and not complain. but ooof those two?? just kicking ass and being amazing. growing on each other more and more.

right off the bat is validation. and validation doesn’t have to be as direct as it is in this message. the validation is important here specifically, my partner showed they were interested and supportive of the idea i presented, but needed the plot to fit in their character’s story better. we see them making adjustments--- this is a collaborative experience so i alone shouldn’t be the one coming up with the plot, nor would i want my idea taken just as is. instead they mold it to fit what makes sense, getting more specific than my idea with a “mission purpose”. this is where the bouncing off of each other begins.

they then take the “bait” and start building on the tension our muses will experience (this is a ship afterall). while this is the beginning of our conversation, and there’s aren’t specific moments we’re working off of, this is setting the ground for future headcanons (see: the focus on sexual tension, living in a ship together, kicking butt), we are both mutually giving each other little tethers to take hold of. this is a very good start to begin working out the dynamic and situations these two characters are found in, with multiple different launch-off points.

CONCLUSION

there’s no right or wrong way to rp. even the tips listed here might not be applicable to your style, just having the idea in the back of your mind helps. the important thing is you and the person you’re writing with are having fun. you both are respecting each other’s time and ideas and creating a beautiful dynamic or world or relationship. this is a collaborative experience, and it’s important not to leave your partner feeling like they’re doing all the heavy lifting creatively.

hope this helped! as always, you can send me any questions you have in regards to this topic HERE. you can find a tag of answered questions in relation to this topic HERE.

[bronanlynch]

I enjoyed doing this last week so this is. a thing now I guess. click through for roundup of whatever media I’ve been into in the past week (will normally be on thursdays I think bc that’s the day I’m usually free but my schedule this week was weird) (inspired by the tuesday again thing that @girlfriendsofthegalaxy does)

listening: the new Mountain Goats album Getting Into Knives is very fun and full of bops, for a given value of both “fun” and “bops” because it’s The Mountain Goats so it does have that edge of depression but quite a few of the songs are a bit more. cheerful? than a lot of their other stuff, for lack of a better word

favorite track is probably The Rat Queen

listening (podcast edition): this very fun episode of Overinvested tearing apart the new movie adaptation of Rebecca which I have not seen and was not planning on seeing but I do enjoy people smartly analyzing why things aren’t good and also I do love discussions about Gothic romance

reading: The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is probably a very good book that someone else will enjoy very much, as lots of people whose opinions I generally trust already have enjoyed it. and I possibly will enjoy more if I give it another chance, once I’ve gotten over being disappointed that it wasn’t what I was looking for right now. the premise is neat! the worldbuilding is cool! the characters are interesting! mermaids, witches, and seas are three of my favorite things and also there are pirates, my other fave thing!

the reason I bounced off of it so hard is that I kept seeing it hyped up as a trans/nonbinary book, and then felt kinda let down when I started reading it and realized that the main character whom I’ve seen described as genderqueer is 1) dressing as a guy because someone else suggested it for safety reasons and 2) this was several years before the story starts and this character still refers to herself exclusively (disclaimer that I didn’t read the full thing but. as far as I got and also I skimmed toward the ending) as she and by her feminine birthname. and those things are fine, that’s a valid gender story, nonbinary people can absolutely keep their old pronouns and names and it doesn’t make them any less nonbinary, but the way it was framed in the parts that I read felt to me more like the old classic ‘girl dresses as guy for plot reasons’ thing, which isn’t something I personally wanted to read more of right now, especially not when I went in expecting something that would resonate more with my gender experience

watching: I’ve been rewatching Leverage, since I only ever watched the first season many years ago because that’s what was free on hulu at the time, and the thing that’s really getting to me is how fundamentally hopeful it is. like, yeah, sure, the premise of it is about how capitalism is designed to fuck people over and there is A Lot about specifically health insurance being really really awful. so there are parts of it that are a lil bit too real, but then at the end of the day they always win and punish the rich capitalists and help their victims and it’s just. nice to see that kind of happy ending

the specific episode I’m having lots of thoughts about is the Mile High Job, which is about the team is trying to protect a potential corporate whistleblower from being murdered by her coworker while on an airplane. at first they’re not sure what’s going on because they weren’t expecting two people from the corporation to be on that flight, so they don’t know which person is the one they should be focusing on. one of them is an anxious younger woman and the other is an extremely generic man, and from the moment they decided that the woman was the one they had to protect I was dreading the plot twist of “no actually you just helped her take out her target and you should’ve been protecting the other guy” which would’ve felt just. so mean-spirited and cynical but it’s the kind of thing I expect from media I guess. and then once it was clear that nope, that twist wasn’t going to happen, I expected her to turn around at the end and be like “actually no I’m not gonna testify against the corporation because I’ve realized how dangerous it is.” and I kind of hate that I’ve become so jaded by both media and also the real world that I’m so ready to expect the most cynical option, because I’m not used to stories about how even though the system is corrupt and oppressive and exploitative, people can still help each and they do and sometimes they make things better

playing: got back into playing Dishonored after taking a couple weeks off because I got stuck and frustrated and also kept playing for too long at a time and giving myself headaches. Lady Boyle’s Last Party (which I am going to completely and entirely spoil so if you don’t want that this is your warning) is probably the mission that I have the strongest mixed feelings about. I love the approach to the party, I love the concept of sneaking into a masquerade ball, I love signing the guestbook with your actual legal wanted fugitive name while wearing the mask that you commit all of your crimes in, I love a good fancy party mission I cannot stress that enough it’s the sexiest possible setting

HOWEVER. trying to sneak around upstairs fucking sucks because the ceilings aren’t high enough for there to be places to hide, like convenient hanging lamps or pipes to blink up to. my least favorite room in this entire game is that art gallery because you can get on top of the cases and you think you’re safe because you’re Up but then the guards spot you instantly and sound the alarm and the entire party shuts down and then you let them kill you so that you can go back to your last save

ADDITIONALLY, fuck the nonlethal option for this one. I hate it so much and feel so incredibly gross about choosing it but I also feel extremely not great about tricking her into meeting me alone and then actually assassinating her. the conversation is so uncomfortable that I tried to be like “actually no nevermind” which causes her to think you’re weird and creepy and she has the guards ““throw you out”“ which apparently in Dunwall is just how you say that she’s gonna have the guards murder you. but anyway. she's a shitty rich lady but she doesn't deserve either of the things that could happen to her and she's only a target because she's sleeping w a guy who sucks. she hasn’t done anything! she isn’t actually responsible for what happened to Jessamine or Emily! which works on a narrative level in my opinion because this is the last mission before you go after the lord regent and it’s becoming clear that the loyalists are just using Corvo for their own agenda and don’t actually care about Jessamine. but it’s still unpleasant to be the one enacting it, y’know?

also on a narrative level, I really like the concept of doing a clean hands run except killing each of the actual targets, because I feel like that would be a cool inversion of the trope where the hero kills a bunch of mooks and then refuses to kill the big bad because murder is wrong. on a gameplay level, I’m still gonna do the nonlethal options because I refuse to risk getting the bad ending, and I’m proud of the fact that I haven’t killed anyone since getting out of prison. I do wanna do a high chaos playthrough at some point though just to see how it goes, since I went low chaos last time too

sorry for writing an entire essay about Dishonored but. the funniest thing from that mission is that apparently if you get spotted by one of the maids in the basement where you are not supposed to be (the guards will immediately attack if they see you) instead of raising the alarm she just says “welcome to the party.” love that solidarity.

making: none of my cosplay stuff is at an especially picture-worthy stage and I didn’t get pictures of the pesto I made for dinner last night so there’s not gonna be much that’s interesting here but I did go to Spirit Halloween after Halloween when everything was on clearance and got a bunch of stuff that I’m gonna use for cosplay eventually

writing: soon I will finish the Eddis/Attolia Queen’s Thief fic that’s been rattling around in my brain ever since I finished the last book. hopefully.

[althealuisa]

Trust

BASED ON Doubt by @jinmukangwrites (this is the URL bc I don’t trust Tumblr yet) , one of my favourite authors that brightens my day, every day <3

Go read that first, it’s basically like part one. Please leave a kind comment <3 <3

Just as a disclaimer, I’m not native and I didn’t even check for typos more than once soooooooo... Expect to find a few here and there

I’m tired now and need to go to bed. i wrote this in class the last two days bc I was bored and  actually came up with this Idea while not being able to sleep after reading Doubt. Oh well.

________________________________________________________________

Twilight stood and stretched his hand out to Wild. “Let’s go back. The others are worried.” For a second, Wilds panicked mind told him to run. He didn’t want to go back to the others. He didn’t want to talk to them. He wasn’t ready to tell them yet. He never was ready to begin with.

They wouldn’t want to know anyway.

He grabbed Twis Hand and stood up. “You know that we need to tell them, right?” Twilights voice was wary, as if he was afraid to break something. Wild nodded. Twilight frowned. “I mean now. Like, I mean right now. They will want to know. And, I’m sorry, but they deserve to know” Wild stared at the ground, rolling the words around in his head. “Okay” He hated how sore and tired his voice was.

Twilight turned around and started slowly walking back towards camp, not noticing how Wilds back straightened, how his breathing evened into an forcefully slow and pressed rhythm, how the torment on his face faded into an emotionless mask. This wasn’t the first time he did this, and he guessed it wouldn’t be the last. He followed his predecessor, his steps too stiff and even, his movements too controlled.

Look at you. Do you think they won’t see right through you? This is ridiculous.

They won’t. He caught up to Twilight, walking just a few steps behind him. They moved in silence, the conversation they were to have looming over them. They could hear the others arguing from far away. “I just want to search for them, come on!”, “You can’t just waltz of on your own. Twilight can handle this.” Obviously, Twilight had been right. Wind didn’t seem too happy with just waiting for their return. Although Time seemed more than calm, Wild could hear the slight worry in his voice.

Twilight stepped into the small clearing and all the Links fell silent. “Did you find him?” Time asked concerned. Twilight nodded and continued to walk forwards without a word. His expression had changed into an almost angry stare. He sat down at the fire place and said nothing as Wild stepped out of the woods. “Wild! Are you alright?” Wind shouted, bolting forwards and throwing his arms around Wilds waist, breaking the upright posture he had remained in. Wild froze in place, not moving at all.

Wind let go of him after a few seconds and studied his face worriedly. “Come”, he said, dragging him towards the fire. He obeyed and sat down next to Twilight. The others followed them. The short, uncomfortable silence that fell was broken by Time. “What is going on Wild, what happened?” His voice was sturdy and calm, his features relaxed. Wild didn’t dare to answer. He knew his voice would fail him and he certainly didn’t want to break into tears in front of the others again. None of them noticed how he straightened his back again and raised his chin, but they all recognised how he lifted his hands.

It’s about the TriForce. He signed. Only Time spoke sign apart from him, so he sighed silently and began translating for him. “It is about the TriForce… He doesn’t have it”. He frowned at the last word as Wild lowered his Hands. A silence fell over the group. Wind shifted uncomfortably. “So?” asked Twilight. “What does it matter?”

“Well, it’s a sign Twilight. We all have the TriForce, we know that we are the Hero of our times because the gods gave it to us. How would we…” Warriors stopped himself seeing the look on Wilds Face. The Facade he had kept up had broken quickly. His features were twisted in pain and his eyes now stood out to them as red and puffy. He lifted his hands again.

“That’s not true” Time answered angrily to Wilds movements, but Wild shook his head and continued. “Time what is he saying?” Asked Hyrule worriedly. Time took a deep breath and began to translate Wilds signs. “He is right. It’s not only the TriForce, there is much more like that. I don’t belong with you, which is not true.” anger was shining in Times eyes as he said the last words. Warriors paled. “Wild, no. That’s not what I meant. You are as much of a hero as everyone of us.” Most of the others either nodded or hummed in agreement. Wild shook his head again. Tears were leaking out from his eyes as he signed. You don’t understand.

Look at you. They are lying to you again, trying to get your hopes up. They always have to care for you.

Time repeated him again and Twilight suddenly stood up, his face twisted in anger and sadness.

All because of you.

“How could you even believe for one second that you are not like us?”

Because you aren’t. You failed. So many dead people.

He spoke, his voice crumbling as he formed the words: “Because I am nothing like you.”

You are a failure.

“Why would you think that?” Hyrule asked, his voice soft and understanding. Suddenly Wild just wanted to get away. Panic flooded every inch in his body, his Head screaming at him to run away, to leave the others and to stop bothering them, to leave them behind for their own good and go back to doing what he did before he was a burden to everyone around him.

So, you want to be dead? Because every second of you being alive was a burden to someone, a problem in their way. How old where you when you pulled the sword? When your mother was killed because of you?

The image suddenly flashed through his mind, and before he knew it, he was sucked into the memory.

  The World was different. Brighter. So colourful. Every little creature strolling by or floating through the air brought joy to his little heart. His father was walking in front of him, a bright smile adorning his features, surrounded by a few more men, all clad in armour bearing the royal crest like him. “Come on my boy! It’s not much further!”

He was right. Only a few minutes later they stood in front of a dense forest. Although he was little, he noticed the uneasiness with which the guards were looking at the fog wavering through the trees.

“The princess and the king are going to be here soon. So, do as I taught you son!” He smiled at him proudly as Link stiffened his back and brought his feet parallel together. They stood to the side as Princess Zelda, barely 6 years old, arrived. Her face seemed too serious, her eyes just too old for her age as though she had seen more than even she herself could comprehend.

Her father walked right behind her, his face more relaxed and happier than you would expect him to be. “Let us begin. As I promised, your Son is allowed to come with us Soren.” The King said and nodded to Links father. The knight nodded and stepped into the fog, tightly holding his sons Hand. “Stay close to me Link.” He drew his sword and walked onwards in a seemingly illogical pattern. The Princess, the King and the knights followed them close behind.

When slowly there appeared, what seemed to be an entrance into a brighter part of the forest, Link had the strange sensation, that it could have been a mistake to follow his father to this place. They stepped through a huge hollow tree trunk and suddenly stood in a brightly lit area. “We have arrived, Sir” Links father said and stood to the side. The Royals walked past them and took the lead further into the forest.

Zelda stopped in front of a big stone pedestal. She looked up at a massive tree right in front of her. “Great Deku tree. Hear our prayers.” Even her voice sounded mature for her age. “We have heard of a prophecy that has told of the return of the great evil, Ganon himself. We seek your advice in this time of need as the gods have proven themselves deaf to our pleas.” She fell silent. A dark chuckle filled the air. “Princess, you have come here without knowing that you have searched in vain.” The Kings shoulders dropped.

“Because what you need has been with you the whole time. As the ancient legend tells, a legendary hero, wielding the sword of evils bane that I have been guarding over the past millenium , and a sacred princess, with the blood of the goddesses have sealed the evil away in the past. You, my dear bear the blood of the goddesses. And the legendary hero is right here with us.” The trees voice sounded almost sad, like he didn’t like what was going on. Links father suddenly paled. He grabbed Links shoulder so strongly, that his knuckles turned white.

“What do you mean?” The king demanded, his voice echoing though the empty forest. “The young boy behind you, he has been chosen by the goddesses. As you know, only the chosen hero himself could pull the sword from its pedestal. Let him try it.” Shocked silence had fallen over the group. The King and his daughter spun around and stared at Link. He was hiding behind his father, panic in his eyes. He didn’t understand all of it, but enough to know that whatever was happening wasn’t good.

“Link.” The King said, his voice sounding almost sorry. “Do as the tree said.” Link didn’t move. “Soren, step away. I am sorry, but if the tree is right…” His father swallowed and stepped aside. Link stared at him, his eyes big and scared. “Do as the king said Link. Like I taught you. Be a good boy…” Soren didn’t look at him as he said those words. Link turned and walked past the King and the princess. Panic was brooding in his stomach.

He could see the sword, its blade buried in the ancient stone. “Pull at it, boy. And don’t let go, whatever happens.” The tree boomed. Link grabbed the hilt, his teeth clenched. He pulled at the handle and suddenly pain fired through his body. He screamed, but he kept pulling, thinking that he might die if he wouldn’t.

He pulled and shouted and screamed, his father screaming something behind him. But Link knew that the tree had been right. Light was erupting from the pedestal and the blade was coming lose. Suddenly, with a loud sound it slipped out of the pedestal. The light died down and the princess shouted something seemingly surprised.

Link sank to his knees, his body shaking and his hands firmly grabbing the hilt of the sword in his hands. He heard faint steps behind him. “Link?” His father asked scared. “He is the chosen hero, Hylian.” The tree said thoughtfully. “I reckon that you will take such actions as to prepare the boy for what is to come. You have loads to do” He continued, directing his words at the King.

Suddenly the scenery changed. Link stood in front of a big door, listening to the argument going on behind it. “He is only five sir! You can not ask something like this of a boy this young! He can barely lift the sword by himself, how is he to already train with it?” He heard his father shout, his voice exhausted but determined. “Soren, this is nothing we can debate about. I can not change his destiny as the gods have chosen him. He will begin his training soon. Travel home and let him say goodbye. He will not return for long. That is an order.”

The scene changed again and Link and his father were approaching the door of their home. His father stopped and looked at his son for a second. “Whatever your sister and Mum say, It doesn’t matter.” He kneeled down. “It is not your fault my son. I know you think that I am sad because of you, but I couldn’t be. I love you boy.” He hugged Link for a second, then stood up. Without another word, he knocked at the door. Nothing was to be heard from inside the house. His father opened the door and stopped the second he entered.

He sank to his knees right behind the doorframe. “What’s going on Father?” Link asked worriedly. As he received no answer, he squeezed himself through the gap between his father and the door frame and then turned. He froze in place. His mothers corpse lay on the floor, a big bloody wound in her chest. His father suddenly jumped to his feet. “Stay back Link.” He snarled without looking at him.

He pulled his sword and walked further into the house. Suddenly, a loud cry sounded and the clanging of metal. Another cry followed and another, suddenly 4 people appearing seemingly out of nowhere. One of them was fighting his father, while the others approached him. They were laughing with glee and raising their strangely curved swords, ready to strike him down. He backed away, his way to the door cut off.

But he didn’t need to worry.

Before they could even touch him, they were dead, his father standing above them panting. “Yiga…” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “How could we forget…” suddenly a small cry was to be heard. His father rushed forward and opened the closet. A brown shadow jumped out and threw its small arms around Link’s father. “Daddy!” the little girl cried, tears streaming down her face. The man kneeled down, hugging her close and trying to comfort her. Link watched from afar, the pained expression on his fathers and sisters faces seemed to clench his heart together.

  “I think he’s waking up guys! Wild!” someone shouted as Wild snapped out of his memory. His muscles collapsed beneath him and he tumbled to the ground. Shouting surrounded him that blurred into a confusing mess as he turned to his side and threw up into the grass. His body was trembling, his vision obscured by his tears, his throat seemed to be on fire. He choked as his body was held by two hands, helping him to stay more or less upright. The images of his newly acquired memory were flashing through his mind, confusing him and making his head feel like it exploded. He felt sick, seeing the images of the corpses, but most dominantly guilt seemed to have stuffed his throat.

“Wild calm down!” Twilight shouted, bringing him suddenly back to reality. They helped him sit back up against a tree and tried to hand him a bottle of water. He waved them away as his stuttering breathing started to calm. But the shivering that was rocking his body back and forth only continued on stronger. Time and Twilight had each grabbed one of his shoulders and were holding him tightly. But their firm grip only reminded him of his fathers hand, digging into his back. He choked again, coughing on and on while tears ran down his face. After a few minutes he calmed, his breathing levelling out at least a little bit. “Wild, are you alright?” Time asked seriously. “Yes” Wild choked, His voice hoarse and weak. “You saw one of your memories, didn’t you?” Time asked cautiously, loosening his grip a bit. Wild just nodded in response. “One you knew? Or a new one?“, „A new one”, he answered quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. He could see that the others knew that it couldn’t have been a very pleasant memory. They all looked like they pitied him.

There you go. You finally did it. You managed that they care about you enough to feel sorry for you. And what good did it do?

He lifted his hands and clutched them at his head. The dizziness was confusing him and clouding his mind. “That’s not true”, he whispered quietly. “What do you mean?” asked Hyrule confused. Wild froze. A shadow seemed to go over Times Face. “Wild who were you talking to?” His voice was more than concerned, but he also sounded somehow angry.

“Nobody”, Wild answered carefully, almost scared. Time crouched down, so that he looked into Wilds Face, just a few inches away. “Listen, Wild. You need to let it go. It doesn’t matter how true it sounds, It’s not. Forget it and tell us. Talk to us. We miss you, the way you were before you thought all that nonsense. You are not a burden, you are our friend.” The others looked at Time surprised, but Wild took his hands away from his face and stared at Time, his eyes widened in shock.

“How do you know?” He asked quietly, tears still running down his face. “I knew someone” Time said, looking at him with sadness written all over his features. Wild bit his lip, staring at the ground.

You aren’t strong enough to do this. You are more than just weak. Just give up and let them go.

No, he thought, suddenly determined. They believe in me. I don’t need to protect them. Sometimes… it’s okay to need someone.

“I’m not like you because I failed. I let everyone down. So many people died because of me” he said silently, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady.

What do you expect them to do? To tell you that no one died?

“You didn’t let them down Wild”, Legend said carefully. “You gave your life for them. You did all you could and more. How could anyone tell you that you failed?”

Lies. All lies.

“Sometimes all you have isn’t enough Legend”, he whispered sadly. “So what?” asked Twilight irritated. “After all your torment, after you gave your life, after you saved the kingdom all on your own, without any help, how would anyone still even dare to question what you did? I mean, it was practically the embodiment of heroism if you ask me” Twilight huffed annoyed.

Don’t believe their lies, they are trying to blind you.

“There are so many differences between all of you and me. Different people and villages, even languages in my time. Heck, even the monsters are different!” Wild shouted frustrated throwing his arms around in the air. “We are all different, that’s just the way it is”, said Time slowly.

Distractions. Empty promises. Empty words. Don’t listen to them.

“I think”, Sky started nervously, “That we all feel guilty at some point or another. That we could have stopped the evil earlier. Saved more lives. But the truth is, we couldn’t have. All of us did our best. And although we just don’t seem to understand that, it’s the truth”, he smiled.

NONSENSE!

“I… I think you are right”, Wild slowly nodded. “I’m sorry guys. For all the drama.” He looked down.

THIS WON’T FIX IT!

“Don’t be. We all need that kind of episode sometimes”, Four shrugged. He smiled. “Must be a part of the spirit of courage. You will be very brave but also immensely dramatic when you feel bad. Too bad for you.” The heroes laughed and even Wild managed a smile, a real, genuine smile.

THEY ARE right. I should trust them more.

He felt like a big stone had suddenly been removed from his head. He breathed in slowly.

“I just don’t want to annoy you”, Wild said carefully, but still happily. Time put a hand on his shoulder.

“You couldn’t. We are family, Wild.”