Monsters to Slay

Another rejection! Hurray! It's not even news anymore, but I give the agent credit for getting back to me. Pretty much if they haven't gotten back by now, I'm figuring the answer is no.

A lot of writers really fret the no response thing from agents. I don't. I have no need to hear back from absolutely everybody. Moving forward. After a month or so, I already know.

So a friend of mine turned me onto a game called "Braid" yesterday and it has some gorgeous art and sound. A bit like a Mario Bros. game with Impressionist art and beautiful violin. The only thing that bothers me about this video game is that it is obviously an about a girl. The intro talks about how the main character, Tim, is off to rescue the princess from the monster. But the princess actually left of her own accord because Tim made a lot of mistakes. It then goes on about the culture of causality and the miserliness of forgiveness and how wouldn't it be nice if we could learn from our mistakes and that we'd be rewarded for learning instead of punished for making them.

A girlfriend of mine was over when I was looking at this and we both had the same comment. This was written by a guy. And I don't know anything about Tim and the Princess's relationship, but how many mistakes did the guy make? Did he just keep making them and only 'learn' after it became clear he lost her? And did he really learn anything at all? Because by making it about the miserliness of forgiveness, he's essentially saying the relationship broke down, not because of his mistakes, but because she couldn't forgive. It's her fault. (I am totally over-analyzing a game here, I know.)

So here it is: Just because you are forgiven doesn't mean someone let's you back into his or her life. They're not the same thing. And chasing after saying, "Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me!" is essentially saying, "Give me! Give me! Give me!" It's a self-centered act.

If I were the Princess's friend I would look at the game and say, "Awesome game. Really talented guy. Don't go back there."

If Tim had really learned something it would say, "I'm sorry. I did it. I know it. And the next Princess I meet I will be more giving to her." How many monsters do you have to slay to get the girl? One. Yourself.