For better or worse, fantasy is often whittled down to where heroes (and villains) fall in the grand scheme of things.
In my experience, it's never that simple.
I grew up as a gamer where heroes and villains were always clearly defined. The most visible instances of either were things I could start attributing to the people closest to me at any point in my life.
As I have mentioned before, I like to hop on Quora sometimes and lately, I've seen the plight of psychopaths, assuring the rest of us that they aren't all bad. Maybe you have also seen the movie Unbreakable, where the theme is that everyone has a natural nemesis.
For someone who has come to terms with where they are on the sociopathic spectrum (and we aren't all bad either, for the record), psychopaths ARE the natural nemesis. I'll leave it to you if you want to go do some research on sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies, but to make a long story short, here we go. Sociopaths are very honest, to the point where we come off as blunt, bossy and insufferable. I know it and I do try not to, but I'm a horrible liar where social situations are concerned. Even for my own sake, I do not see manipulation or flattery as possible weapons in my repertoire. If you are charmed by me, chances are you've caught one of my rare passionate moments where I feel both secure and enthused to talk about something I am confident about. On the flipside, psychopaths have that side of themselves on constant point. While we both share a limited sense of empathy, psychopaths are not above using charisma to manipulate or flatter, creating a security that they can exploit, not considering those they hurt. I would not say that all psychopaths do this, but that particular exploit is a sure weapon against the credibility of any sociopath.
I will defend my position with facts and over time, you will realize I am right and trustworthy. A psychopath, however, will immediately win you over with their charisma and you will be more tempted to believe them in that moment, only seeing the truth of the deception when they are well out of reach of the consequences of it.
If I haven't lost you in the aside there, then you better understand what more often makes the theme between heroes and villains. You may have heard it said that actions define the hero or villain. However, the supposed hero is often the charismatic favorite with a dark side you aren't seeing, which makes them very probably a villain at any given moment. The same goes for the villain, where they might just be unpopular or misunderstood, but given access to the red button, they're actually the ones that save all of us ungrateful bastards.
The world needs a hero, yes, but often we are not equipped to know who the heroes are. I am easily both at any given time, so neither put me on a pedestal or lock me away underneath it. This goes for everyone you meet. Be prepared to find your heroes in unlikely places.
In case I've been too distracted to say so, this week has largely been about helping my nephew with his science fair project, although I did get some writing done (woo hoo!). I'd like to resume cover work ASAP next week since there hasn't been a good window for much else outside of organizing some rough templates for them. Nonetheless, it's been a busy week (all the good ones are) and I hope to get back into more intense sessions as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading and keep writing! Hopefully, I can dig up some new tips for everyone.
