Since it's #nationalbestfriendday today, I figured I'd post something about my favorite unlikely friendship, Robin and John. I've always been fascinated by the enemies-to-friends plots in stories. And while sometimes it can be done pretty poorly, a lot of times stories that show two opposing characters learning that they're really not so different leave me feeling hopeful. Many times, the way these stories are written means one character has to go through the experiences of the other character to understand them, like the classic tale of the Prince and the Pauper, who exchange lives for a day to find out what it's like to be in the other person's shoes. In fact, that's such a common storyline that it's WHY that shoe cliche exists. What I chose to do with John and Robin isn't quite that. John doesn't have to experience Robin's life to learn to care about him, he has to learn who Robin IS, as a person. Which I think is much more relevant for me, and maybe for a lot of other readers too. We can't always step into the shoes, literally or metaphorically, of other people. But we can always listen. We can always learn to see the individual, the human being, behind the differences in circumstances, in experiences, and the ways we see the world. And that's the kind of friendships I think we need to see a lot more of. #friendship #magic&silver #meetthecharactersmonday #amwriting #writersofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CBL1pyJnEuG/?igshid=1r31tp4sr78b4