friendships end. relationships end. fictional man whos doing even worse than you is forever

All spies need to feel they are loved. One of the most powerful forces in espionage and intelligence work (and one of its central myths) is the emotional bond between spy and spymaster, agent and handler. Spies want to feel wanted, part of a secret community, rewarded, trusted, and cherished...Exploiting and manipulating that hunger for affection and affirmation is one of the most important skills of an agent-runner. There has never been a successful spy who did not feel that the connection with his handler was something more profound than a marriage of convenience, politics, or profit: a true, enduring communion, amid the lies and deception. - The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre

[blinding you with multiple extremely detailed and passionate analyses on the fascinating relationships between two characters only then to reveal that i have been perceiving them through purely platonic and/or aromantic lens after all this time]

please god, take that man’s pain, double it, and put it on ao3

River Cartwright tinnitus warrior