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i'm actually going crazy, i'm actually obsessed /lh

So I’ve been having many thoughts about Simon and Betty.

Cuz the Fionna and Cake brain rot.

And something I’ve seen brought up a few times on here is Simon’s unintended selfishness in his and Betty’s relationship turning point interactions. Namely reaching out to forgive Betty rather than apologise through the portal in “Betty” and telling Betty he wants her to stay by his side at the bus stop in the latest episode.

But I don’t think it’s unintentional selfishness. Or maybe it is, but not in the way that’s been discussed. Simon’s not looking for his own reassurance or edification - however subconsciously - in either of these situations. I think, rather, that in both cases his words are intended as reassurance, as comfort, for Betty. A compulsion to prevent her from feeling any confusion or pain or guilt at the situation they are in. And a compulsion that is just as detrimental as if he was doing it for himself.

Let me explain.

In “Betty”, in the two instances when Simon explains his plan about reaching out to Betty - both on the phone with Marcy and in the lab with Marcy, Finn, and Jake - he says he’s doing it to apologise to Betty. There’s no resentment or anger about her leaving him. He is entirely swept up in his guilt about hurting her. He wants to apologise. He wants to reach out and soothe her pain with the few moment he has left. He wants to say he’s sorry.

Except. When he sees her. The first thing Betty expresses isn’t an anger or upset at him, but an upset at herself for not being there for him. A painful confusion about why she would ever leave him. And that’s when Simon switches response. That’s when he says he forgives her for leaving. Not because that was why he called, but because he was responding to what he felt was her greatest emotional need in the moment. The response he thought would stop her feeling pain.

In the latest episode, a lot of people have pointed out that Simon goes to Betty saying he wants her by his side - inadvertently asking her to stay. But not a lot of people are pointing out that he is borrowing her words when he says this. Her letter tells him that she wishes she “could be by his side forever”, so when he’s telling her that, I don’t think it’s necessarily that he doesn’t want her to go, but that he mistakenly believes that she wants to stay. That using her words to tell her she can stay by his side is what Betty wants, is the most comforting thing he could give her.

We see in all Simon’s interactions, both in the flashbacks with Marcy in Adventure Time and in his relationship with Fionna this season, that he is driven by comfort. He is a carer, he is a soother. He expresses love through the ways he comforts people. There’s a reason we’re all obsessed with the dad energy this series. Simon Petrikov, at his core, will always comfort those he cares about.

BUT

In the case of his relationship with Betty, it’s become unhealthy. Simon is so intent on Betty’s comfort, on making sure that Betty isn’t ever hurt or unhappy or guilty that - in the case of the portal - he doesn’t express what actually needs to be said. And, in the case of the bus stop, he will take the easier option and assume that Betty wants to stay - to reassure her that she can stay - to save her what he perceives as the pain or uncertainty of leaving. Even if her leaving, whether with or without him, would have been better for her.

It never occurred to Simon that he would go with her, because he truly believed that Betty was going because she didn’t believe that she could stay.

And both times Betty chooses Simon. She leaps at the portal, without looking back, for a Simon that she sees is hers again and free of the curse of the crown. She turns her back on the bus and reaches for Simon without hesitation because she wasn’t lying in her letter. She wants to be by his side.

Simon’s compulsion to comfort, to assuage all negative emotion to the point of detriment - to the point of avoidance of difficult things that truly need to be felt or said or done. And Betty’s complete disregard for consequence, for her own wellbeing and future when it comes to her love for Simon. It’s an endless loop. Betty throwing everything away for a love she has let consume her. And Simon doing his level best to make sure she never feels the pain of those decisions.

These two have set up permanent camp in my brain and I am FERAL.

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Words to Live by!

Based on this one time I tried to have an adult conversation with my mom

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