Hi! I love rns and have a quick question about Red and his relationship to Rendog. I remember reading a story of yours where Red actually attacked Ren and seemed to explicitly not like him, but in one of the ficlets he refers to him as his “little brother” when talking to Renbob and seems concerned about his well-being. Did something change between them? If so, may I ask what happened if it’s not too spoilery
I might be getting confused so please correct me if I am
You're not confused!
Those shorts [there are a few of Hels/Wels as well] were written before RnS, and now sit in a place in my dubious "cannon" that is pretty far in the past.
Red held a lot of resentment for Ren when he first spawned in. He was a lot like Helsknight, in that he viewed himself as the stronger necessity bred from his Hermit's faults and weaknesses. Ren didn't think he was strong enough to protect his friends in 3rd Life, so instead of trying, he opted to die and summon a monster in his place [Red, on the black stone altar]. Then that monster was forced to live all the failures Ren himself didn't want to struggle through. It would be jarring to be put in the world with a fierce sense of loyalty and protectiveness, only to be thrust into circumstances where you were doomed to lose everything, no matter how hard you hung on.
He has some vengeance. Mostly through terror, and guilting Ren into facing his own fragility [there are a couple shorts where Ren is on Hermitcraft on a yellow life, with no idea what happens when he goes to red or dies here. Unlike 3rd Life, Hermitcraft is his home server. If he dies here, will his existence simply end?].
I never wrote a resolution, but Red gains his respect for Ren when Ren comes to meet him in hels, so they can have out their grievances. Red has been demanding that Ren grow a spine, prove he's worthy of the life he's been given, and Ren finally swallows [some of] his fear and decides to fight for his right to live unbothered. It ends in a draw, mostly because Red backs down halfway through the scuffle.
Ren very firmly thinks they're on better terms now because of the fight. He made Red on a death server, so it makes sense to him that Red would value combat, and blood, and all those gritty, scary things.
Red, however, knows it's because Ren showed up. He was put in a circumstance where death was present and permanent, where retreat wasn't an option, and where, if he chose, he had a whole server who would wrap him in bubble wrap and keep him safe if he asked. Life would get difficult for sure. Life would get very inconvenient. But the Hermits are powerful, and they would find a way to break Red's curse eventually. All Ren had to do was hide and wait [like he did on 3rd Life. Sacrifice someone or something else so he doesn't have to do the scary, difficult things.]
When Ren instead decides to show up, Red allows his other half some begrudging respect. Respect that, over time, through familiarity, turns into a very cold and distant fondness. It's not that he likes Ren exactly. It's that no one else is allowed to call him out so harshly. It's sibling-like. He's Red's little brother, stumbling through a world he's trying to learn and change from for the better, and Red, who already thinks he's on the top of that mountain, watches and, rarely, offers advice.
And sometimes Ren even listens!
