Two drawings for this prompt because Heart and Spade love to dance!! (And I love to draw people dancing <3) They're great dancers, especially when together, because they can read each other's cues so well. Always in sync, no matter who ends up leading.
hello do you have any thoughts to share on heart and spade ✨👀 idk what specific questions to ask I just keep seeing them and they’re So Good. I’m like deeply obsessed with them dare I say
Kicking my feet!!! OH I have SO many thoughts about them (and I was actually planning on reblogging one of those oc question memes thangs for em once artfight concludes! if anyone would be interested in that ofc!)
But!! I think a good place to start would be just kinda explaining them a little better here, I reckon! Get ready for some reading!! 💖✨ thank you in advance if you read all of this!! they consume my waking moments
Part One: The Beginnings (and "The Incident")
Heart and Spade grew up as childhood friends... and when they finally outgrew their hometown, they left together, eventually ending up forming their identities as Spade and Heart: two gambling addicts turned outlaws. A couple of charming hustlers looking for their next jackpot with a little mischief. They thought themselves completely untouchable until their luck finally ran out.
Something to note about the world the Jokers hail from is that it's positively rife with the supernatural... and while most folks live their lives without having ever experienced something themselves outside of old stories, many still find themselves entangled with these things before they can even realize it's too late.
Which is what happened to our boys!
They happened to sit down at the wrong table with the wrong fella- neither recognized how off this stranger looked until the moment Heart cheated and was instantly shot dead with his own gun. Only then did Spade see how inhuman its amber eyes were, the fuzzy jaw, the sharp teeth curled in a smile. Sitting across from them was The Coyote, an entity that embodied luck itself. And those hubristic few, like Spade and Heart, always find their way to its table and end up being ruined. Humbled and brought back down to earth with a crash. Heart believed himself above the rules of the table: No cheating. And he paid the ultimate price. (If you wanna read Heart's POV on this moment, click here!! My friend wrote it!)
But then Spade was offered a chance to amend this... to now play for Heart's life back, so long as he wished to make a significant bet and play by the game's rules. Having no time to grieve, to think, just overwhelmed with the desire to get his companion back (they're scarily codependent), Spade puts his own heart up as a wager. A heart for his Heart. And miraculously, Spade ends up winning the game.
Heart comes back with Spade's heart now beating within his chest, granting his body its life back, but putting Spade one foot in the grave. But it didn't matter because they were together again.
However, Spade soon realizes Heart didn't come back alone. There's a dark force looming over his partner, something that obscures his features from Spade, no matter how much he tries to look around it. A separate entity (later to be known as 'The House') ended up tagging a ride as Heart's soul returned, claiming his body as its vessel. The only thing now stopping it from completely overtaking him is the warm heart that now sits in his chest.
Part Two: It Gets Really Looney Tunes in Here for a Second (but it's also complicating their situation so much more):
Not long after the Jokers had their incident in that private room, they had to quickly turn tail and start running again after a man from their past had come to claim a bounty on their heads. (His name is Whitestone! But I'd need a whole other post to explain his deal with the Jokers LOL)
In their efforts to get away, they made it to a ranch and were able to snag one of the horses and hoof it. However, as it turns out, this horse was actually a shapeshifter, and the ranch they had raided belonged to none other than Wilder, an occultist who made a hobby out of breeding and raising these creatures. And shapeshifters feed on misfortune and negative energy, and the entity currently entwined with Heart's soul was practically made of the stuff.
Spade only realized something was wrong with the "horse" far too late, being able to see its true form with his Supernatural Sight... but by then, the horse was stuck with them. Feeding off of the entity, which would in turn make Heart pretty sick... So now the mission for Spade becomes: get rid of that damn horse. He has to keep The House alive so that Heart can stay alive.
The task of getting rid of the shapeshifter proved difficult though. The "horse" makes itself look extremely decrepit to make selling it or giving it away basically impossible. And it would just follow after them if they tried anyways. All the while, the Jokers are being hunted down by Whitestone, and now Wilder as well, because he wants his shapeshifter back. The Jokers can't even return the creature to him because there's a crazy man with a gun pointed at their heads in that direction LOL-- So now you see the conundrum!
Part Three (they're so doomed, chat, it's getting bad!):
Spade begins doing everything in his power to keep this entity alive, and he also begins trying to speak with it when it's around, trying to understand it... and trying to cut some kind of deal for Heart, to grant him more time as himself.
All the while, he and Heart do not discuss their respective experiences with The House. Heart's having dreams where he can see it, see the void he was sent to when he died, but he refuses to believe anything is actually wrong with him (rather he just denies it, he's not a fool he just... is a good liar, even to himself)... even when he's spitting black ichor and blacking out frequently, losing time, doing things that he doesn't remember doing.
Spade doesn't talk about communicating with this entity at all, never lets Heart know he can see it or even that it's in him,,, because he wants to fix it all on his own. Because he feels like this must be partly his fault, Heart ending up with this thing in him just because Spade couldn't let him go. But also, how could he ever explain why he did what he did? The enormity of it all? And the enormity of what he feels now, even trying to look at Heart and only seeing The House. Not to mention... Spade never grieved the loss; he never had the chance. Heart was gone and then back again in the next moment, but he still seemed out of reach. And Spade just knew that he needed to Fix It. Get rid of this thing between them, then it can all go back to normal.
So he closes himself off in a way and distance builds between them as they don't communicate for the first time ever in their lives. The first time they're not both in on the "bit." And it eats them both up inside, but they try to keep up those poker faces because what else can you do? Bide their time. Unfortunately, though... time is a precious thing we all have a limited amount of.
Shit eventually hits the fan, they reach their breaking point, missing each other so badly and having this Thing between them finally shoved right in their faces- so neither could avoid it nor deny it. And they play a game of Go Fish, like they used to as kids. And they talk, finally.
It was a start. A start over. But it was soon to be the end.
The House eventually finds another vessel, and when it pulls out of Heart, his body/soul is far too weak to carry on, and he succumbs. But... this time, he and Spade have enough time to hold each other and tell one another what they really feel. To quit beating around the bush when it comes to their feelings for each other. They won't have another chance after this.
(AH... but, spoiler: they actually Do have another chance later on! Heart comes back as a ghost down the line- it's a whole thang. again, that would require a separate post to explain LMFAO but!!! they WILL get their happy ending, it just takes like so so so much pain and adjustment to get to it. the torment nexus has its claws in them frfr)
ANYWAYS... Things I think about A Lot:
After making his deal to get Heart back, Spade doesn't have a heartbeat, having given his literal heart to his partner. He also becomes somewhat cold to the touch, in addition to having the life dull from his eyes. A symptom of having one foot in the grave, allowing him to see what exists between the material and ethereal planes. (Spade has supernatural vision! It was a "boon" granted to him after playing a fair game with The Coyote.)
Heart's features are obscured from Spade when he looks at him because Spade can see supernatural entities/forces now, and when the House is not possessing Heart, it just clings to him like a shadow. It drives Spade mad that the only time he can see Heart's features again is when the entity disappears inside of him and puppets him around.
The entity inside of Heart is known as The House! (Because The House always wins.) -- It enjoys toying around with Spade, who can always see it exactly for what it is, even when it tries to pretend to be Heart. Using his voice and his face to taunt Spade, saying things he wished he could hear from the real Heart. (You'll notice I tag things with Ship: Jokers and Ship: Three of a Kind. Both of those tags reference Spade and Heart, but the latter references The House as being part of that dynamic too !! World's most fucked up polycule that's not a polycule, it's just like receiving a wretched third that likes to torment you)
Spade can only look Heart in the eye for an extended period when he's drunk. It's difficult for him to meet Heart's eyes outside of that because... he can only be reminded of how Wrong things are. And he's just been sitting with that knowledge on his own, trying desperately to resolve it by himself.
Their breaking point occurs when Heart sees the entity's reflection in Spade's eyes when they're just a bit too close one night... and suddenly everything gets thrown out onto the table. Realizing they both knew about this and both made the conscious effort to not bring it up to the other man. Realizing how truly distant they'd become. That they let this thing keep them apart,,, even though losing each other is their greatest fear above all else.
UGH i'm sick. sickkkkkk in the head about these guys. thank you so much for reading all of this if you made it this far!!! they're my sillies <33 i know this is just like an insane amount of angst that i've just written out but i promise they are also goofy as hell AHGSHJDK
Misery don't sleep, dying to take back what it gave me
Tragedy comes in threes, third-degree apathy.
A piece featuring the dynamic between The House (the entity possessing Heart), Spade, and Heart!! Based on that one Twelfth Night Kiss image, you know the one.
Carrd | INPRNT | Kofi
Food for thought about this piece:
The House is frequently depicted with smoke/shadows because it doesn't really have a form of its own; it's just like a shadowy figure that overtakes the vessels it inhabits. A parasite.
Hence, the use of smoke in this piece!! Why there's no smoke covering up The House’s features, but how it wraps around Heart, obscuring half of his face. Like it’s trying to swallow him up. It’s replacing him. (Also heyo, y’all know about shotgunning smoke? That’s also what’s happening here)
Spade’s gaze being on the The House as opposed to Heart. — Lore-wise, Heart's features are obscured from Spade when he looks at him, due to Spade’s supernatural sight picking up the House’s interference. When the House is not actively possessing Heart, it just clings to him like a shadow and it’s all Spade can see. The only time Spade can see Heart's features again is when the entity disappears inside of him and puppets him around. And yet, it’s always with the knowledge that what he’s seeing isn’t really his Heart.
Heart's in a losing battle with the House, as it slowly takes more and more time from him, weakening him… and Spade won’t even look at him in the eyes anymore. It’s like he’s being forgotten, like he’s losing his connection with him. — Meanwhile, the House uses its stolen face and voice to mess with Spade, to play into the love he has for Heart. Saying or doing things he’d have wished for from Heart, but it just makes him feel so sick when it’s done by this false pretender. (A pretender who is actually kinda obsessed with Spade a little after all of this messing. It loves tormenting this guy specifically. And he’s the guy it wants to watch it while it brings down the rest of the world.) so yeah 💖
TLDR: both boys are suffering bad 💖 but the House always wins.
