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masters-of-void · 5 days ago

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EXCELLENT questions op, let's gooo, they're super long cause i HAVE already thought about these in my big character doc >:D

the drifter, left powerless; the operator, overwhelmed with it. each timeline was no less harrowing (lol). they both starved, but in his reality, the operator took charge. he had the strength to and kept his whole group intact, his "new family." nothing would happen to them so long as he was around. drifter on the other hand became frail and nonverbal, cowed by the indifference's betrayal, and he had to rely on the others to protect him until they vanished suddenly (the operator's zariman being pulled from the void dragged all the eternalism'd versions of the kids out with it). completely alone with nothing but the angels, he well and truly lost his mind

being without void powers while the rest of the kids were granted it, drifter allowed them to kill his parents, but the situation was happening too fast for him to make a clear choice about it. that weakness of indecision has haunted him ever since. it's made it to where sometimes he can't help acting recklessly, terrified that one moment of hesitation will result in disaster. for the operator tho, he killed them himself, and it's made him comfortable (he thinks) with the hard choices. unlike drifter, he carries deep anger against his parents, and so he'll execute the worm queen because it's his sacred duty, his ordained right. there is no other choice because death and oppression is all that awaits otherwise. (fun avatar reference to illustrate them: drifter is an earthbender who must learn when and how to take action, and the operator is a firebender who must learn to temper his volatility)

the operator hated margulis at first. she was just another adult who wanted to cage him, a scientist there to prod him, but when she'd hold him after a nightmare, give him and the other kids good food, and sing them to sleep, he realized he couldn't remember the last time his own parents had treated him so tenderly. she was 'mother' now and always would be. how dare the orokin take her when he'd already lost so much

the courtiers were entertaining and companionable in their own ways, but there was always an undercurrent of discomfort, of going too far. though they never missed an oration, thrax would make it a point to put bombastine down afterwards to impress drifter. they'd tease sythel until she was delirious with terror and he didn't know why he did it, he just 'had' to because it's what thrax wanted to do. mathila was maternal towards him as they would often play with her children, but if the kids got an injury or were upset at all, even over valid things, she'd crush it with her suffocating 'turn that frown upside down,' and lodun was...lodun. they had the most fun getting a rise out of him, knowing he'd ~never~ be able to strike back against royalty. and luscinia, wise to the king's intentions with spreading misery to everyone around him, kept her distance. but she'd let drifter spend quiet, kind times with her, singing to him as margulis had to the operator, igniting thrax's jealousy, and so she was the first one thrax turned against him. when he'd grown to adulthood and announced that he wanted to leave, he was chased from the palace and spent the next decade on the run as the Outlaw. she was the only one who'd give him refuge in times of need. they were kindred spirits, both weighed down by a sadness they couldn't fathom. but after ten long years, he confided that he was tired (no concept yet of just how Tired he could get), and she turned him in. she wept even as she destroyed him in the very first execution, her twisted hope being that he would never have to feel pain again only for thrax to do exactly that

it would depend on how many loops have passed already. this man is not immune to the timeloop, no matter how much he tells himself he's stronger now. if he's not extremely, pathologically mindful, i think by yeah idk, 300 or so, that apathy is going to try creeping back in, and there's a good chance he'll start resetting memories just so the hex don't realize how much time has passed in an effort to preserve their mental health. then he'll really be in for it. (this is just a thought experiment tho. i actually hc that he doesn't have any control over their memories because i don't see why he would. i think my hc is like, memories are linked to the specific person's amount of apathy in the moment of reset, so like arthur barely remembers his death because at that point, he'd lost all of his hope). if it's something human like 20 years of marriage, he'll break for sure lol. but if it's just the first year? that's fine, we can figure it out, there's just something i need to learn about how this works so it doesn't happen again, it's fine

oh god real word vomit incoming. i'd pictured it as drifter waking up in bed alone that morning in a place utterly unfamiliar. he slinks around in the shadows, trying to get any details on just where the hell he is, not understanding why there's half human warframes all over the place because he doesn't even remember the dossiers on them loid had him read before he left. eleanor can hear his confusion and tries to talk to him telepathically before he sees her, and it makes him think he's back in duviri somehow. it's like hearing euleria's voice in the sky and he can't figure out what kind of spiral this is supposed to be. it's all 'very funny thrax.' 'darling who are you talking to? your dominus thrax isn't here.' 'leave me alone asshole.' extremely concerned now, eleanor warns the team. they try to pin him down but he probably jumps into amir (recognizing a fast volt) and escapes out to the city. amir just lets him be in control, trying to reason with him, remind him of who they are, and it freaks him out enough that he jumps back out and void slings away, right into an encounter with scaldra. with no warframe on him, he's in deep trouble. he takes some efervon to the arm, but the hex catch up and save him, giving him reason to hear them out. his natural distrust is not going to help matters tho, and he'll likely go back to the future for a while. but there's nothing there for him. maybe there was something to what they'd told him, to the way the beautiful telepath had looked at him with the most profound sadness he'd seen since luscinia. all of this would be interspersed with moments of backstory leading up to why he lost his memory and how he'll get it back, but that's for another time...

a few things could break them up but most of it is presupposing they never get out of the loop (which i don't think will happen so). deliberately erasing memories, treating each other disrespectfully, willingly giving in to the hero virus for petty reasons, stuff that could happen after so long in the loop that the apathy sets in, but all of that is 'what if.' like just what if one of them acts out and refuses to reconcile or apologize, like what happens in so many real marriages that break under the weight of time. but i don't think it'll get that bad with them. instead, if they never get out of the loop, the bounds of their relationship will simply shift like a riverbank. they're immortal soulmates and nothing will change that, even when they're not 'traditionally' together. again tho, i'm gonna live in lala land that they do get out and have a normal one, happily growing old together lol

oough this one is so linked to exactly how the wally storyline plays out so i can't really say for sure, but drifter tries to live in the moment, to make the best of things while he still has it, all the while searching for a way to change the rules. he's not going to take it lying down. operator pretends the bad stuff doesn't get to him, so he keeps 'mortals' and those that remind him of death at a distance

drifter's a simple guy. the wife and family, the perfect mental health, no violence to speak of, his parents still around and the little cottage in the mountains overlooking the lake, getting to be a quiet nothing part of the evolving universe

will it tho? will it? DE won't do that to us....surely. drifter is a hard-won rule breaker now. he will save them or die trying

for drifter, it's that johnny cash quote about how his own happy ending looked: "This morning, with her, having a coffee." for operator, it's getting to grow up and live his own life without external directive from powers beyond him, but i think he'll never really be able to shake that latter part

Headcanon Questions Version 6: The Uncomfortable Questions.

Buckle up kiddies, cause this is an exercise of things you didn't want to think about but answered nonetheless.

1. What happened to your Drifter/Operator during the Zariman Incident?

2. How did the Drifter/Operator's parents die? - I am referring to that one KIM conversation with Quincy. If you know you know.

3. What was your Operator's relationship with Margulis? Why did they feel so strongly about her death?

4. What was the Drifter's relationship like with the Courtiers (Luscinia, Bombastine, etc) before and after Drifter expressed wanting to leave Duviri?

5. Despite all your best efforts, the Hex forgets about you when New Year's Eve strikes. What happens to your Drifter?

6. If say the reverse happened, like Drifter forgot the Hex and the Roundtable Crew but they all remembered them, how would this play out?

7. What would be the most likely reason why your Drifter and s/o would break up?

8. Drifter and Operator can't die but their loved ones can. They'll age and die as life should. Will they continue on as they are currently or things will change?

9. Ever seen an episode of Justice League Unlimited's "For the Man who Has Everything" episode where Superman is trapped by an alien who attached itself to him, that reads his mind and basically traps him in a waking state based on the individual's deepest desires? Well the question here would be what would be your Drifter's most deepest desire that would trap them in that state forever?

10. The Helminth will eventually take over our dear Protoframes. When that day comes, and you know it's inevitable. How is your Drifter handling it?

These ain't easy questions and I apologize.

Here's the bonus question

If you could write an actual happier end for either or both the Drifter/Operator, what would it look like?

#drifter anyu #operator anyu #void twins #warframe spoilers

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