all i can do is dream

alright, so, context. I stumbled across someone who said their headcanon was that fanon!Columbina — the eldritch creepy Columbina — is who Columbina would have become if Dottore had experimented on her. and when I tell you my brain latched onto this concept

imagining a situation where Columbina learns Wanderer's story somehow and wonders whether The Balladeer getting Dottore's attention is what spared her from having a fate like his. seeing herself in him... the different path her story could have gone. relating to his pain in leaving his family behind and winding up at the Fatui, only to learn again that relationships are transactional.

but where Columbina ended up in Sandrone's side, Scaramouche ended up with Dottore. and I imagine that would make her a little horrified... that all that was going on right there while she was unaware of it

could she have done something? ...would she have done something, if she'd known? could she trust the person she once was to have cared? maybe not... but she can trust the person she is now to care. this Columbina — this one with a home and friends — is no longer afraid to care