Imagine the guilt Havers has - like James came all this way, had to find him, had to be there, had to see him and tell him everything they’d never dared speak in wartime.
And then his old CO is ridiculed, pointed and laughed at, different to the other men, just because he wanted to see you. And then he dies.
Havers must think it’s his fault to some extent, maybe to a large one since he isn’t really known after the war (Button House Archives: ‘unknown soldier’), stuck with his own questions and time stolen from him. From them both.
He’s stuck with the regret of not reaching out to James, not finding him first, even leaving him all those years ago without another word said in between.
Okay yes I agree cap was insane for falling in love with havers within a 2 month period but you gotta remember that havers loves him back!!! He’s just as insane!!! They’re perfect for each other!!! Except one is a bit more put together!!!!!
Just realised that Havers being referred to as an unknown soldier means that he probably didn't survive long after the war. He had no family, nobody to identify him. He didn't achieve anything that made him stand out from the rest of the thousands of faceless soldiers who fought in the war. He left no legacy. Like the Captain, he was forgotten. The only person who remembers him is long dead, and this photograph is the only evidence that he lived.
my experience of ghosts: the button house archives so far
captain's parts
a bunch of gay jokes, pining for havers, and then the saddest thing you've ever heard in your life. and then gay jokes again
kitty's parts
jesus god but her sister sucked so very bad
fanny's parts
rules of proper society for women narrated by someone who clearly deeply clashes with everything she tries so hard to uphold and hates everyone she's forced to interact with. also she's freakily good at math
julian's parts
uh oh darling, i'm being investigated for inappropriate use of government funds
thomas' parts
nearly incomprehensible and kind of horny musings of a very self involved individual. except for the european journal, which is nice
pat's parts
this man was this close to dying at like every point in his life????
i think mostly we as a culture need to stop pretending media is for us and instead recognize that it's for the people making it. "the show didn't do the thing I wanted it to" is so not the point. did it do what the people making it wanted it to do? did it tell the story they were trying to tell? than it was successful. if that doesn't align with what you wanted to happen, don't get up in arms about it. don't badmouth the creators and throw a tantrum. that's what fan works are for. the text is the text, and it told the story it was telling. you wouldn't be like "ugh shakespeare is insane for act v btw like there was no reason for juliet to kill herself she should've just waited and then her and romeo could have been together wtf this ruined the whole play" like no!!! the themes were there the set-up was there the foreshadowing was there shakespeare did what he intended to. just because it wasn't a happy ending and just because you thought it should've went differently doesn't mean it was bad. read a fic where juliet lives and move on.
spoilers for the button house archives but GOD fanny deserves to scream in george's face. like real sobbing agonised "woman who gave up her dreams and individuality to be forced into marriage with you and became nasty and bitter and obsessed with making other women as self conscious and miserable as herself because that made what happened to her hurt just a little bit less" screaming. she's an intelligent woman, she's RIDICULOUSLY intelligent, she knew what was going on I guarantee you she knew it she just convinced herself it wasn't happening and she lay down and was docile and STILL. still she was SO kind to george. she looked out for him, she was his wife and mother and servant and nymph and ornament. she called him a poor mite, she stayed out of his way, she ignored that her heart was breaking and then he killed her. and he let everyone believe he was grief-stricken when he could not have cared less about her. she was less than nothing to him and he was, however reluctantly, her whole world.
In that episode, they say that Kitty died on March 8, 1780.
But in the page from the Ghosts book where it has the timeline of all of the ghosts’ lives, it says that she died in 1790 and was 22 at the time of her death. Using the same birthdate from the book, a death date in 1780 would make her… 12, and obviously she’s not 12.