Been thinking a ton about the fact that many fanfics of Wels will often incorporate the lack of Hermits acknowledgement of his late start to season 7 - irl it makes sense as his very legitimate reasons but I am talking lore wise - and it is so so so fucking interesting to me. My big huge Hermit thoughts.
Like the implications that the Hermits just never acknowledge it to Wels and therefore he never really brings it up either despite the severity of what transpired. Waking up on a dead world with all your friends gone and barely anyone having even batted an eye at your absence is horrible. Do they not bring it up because they don't know how to navigate the topic, do they not bring it up because Wels has asked for the space to not be obligated to think about it, do they think they are doing a kindness by not making him relive that, or is it an act of self preservation because it would mean acknowledging a hard and terrible thing they did and felt maybe little to no guilt over at the time only to be faced with the consequences of their inaction later.
In my heart, I imagine at least some of the Hermits trying to talk to Wels about it - people like Hypno or maybe Jevin as folks closer to Wels, maybe Xisuma as the server Admin and therefore having some form of responsibility over Wels and his neglect, etc etc - and maybe they try to talk to him about it. Maybe they try and fumble their way through apologies and excuses or take accountability only for it to feel so flat and short. I wonder if there's the unspoken tension of "you wouldn't have forgotten if it were someone else," lacing those conversations, or "you would have fought for anyone else but me," being unsaid but felt. What's worse? Not talking about it at all and pretending it never happened, deluding yourself into thinking it's all okay just because you are looking away from the active hurt; or trying to talk about it only for it to be unspoken and yet felt that you simply didn't care. Is not bringing it up a kindness, and if so, who to? Who tries to make this better, how can you soothe an ache so fierce? Who says sorry and means it and who proves themself enough to Wels he can believe it?
I want this to haunt them. I want Wels to have grown so fucking bitter over this but at the same time that part of his brain that refuses to see them all as anything but kind - he witnesses their kindness, their love for one another, it must be an issue with him, he must be the source - and the obligation of forgiveness masks his underlying and very real growing hurt and resentment. That man is loyal as a dog. I want there to be a crash when it comes to light that Cub never came searching for him because it was strange to him that Wels wasn't there along side them, that he and Ren and Scar never batted an eye despite being Kingdoms guys together, but it was all an accident. Wels was found and rescued by coincidence, not out of intention. How much worse would that sting? He wasn't even worth a search effort.
