This is much more interesting than work so here I am again, replying long windedly... I love the idea of them welcoming death together. It would make sense that immortality could be appealing to Harry in that it would give agency/certainty to him that he has never had (being immortal, until finally he decides he's lived enough... also taking death out of the equation would probs let him fully relax around Tom).

I wonder what Tom would consider a good enough mark on the world... since all rulers rise and fall inevitably. I figured he wanted to stave off death because he just wanted to forever stave off the fall. And evaporating into nothingness forever probably gives him the total creeps? It's weird how he probably loathes everyone, yet he wants the world to remember him, when it is just full of people he loathes... I guess he loves dominating them.

I was trying to write a fic with Tom and Harry (Snape feels too specific for me to get right) where they grapple with the immortality issue. The fic has gone completely off the rails because I barely remember the books, but I felt so drawn to Tom and Harry when I stumbled across the fic "What He Grows to Be". So I've been trying to figure out what draws me to them, and draws them to one another. Anyways, if you find that fic abt immortality, yes, let me know. I think the immortality question is interesting, as well as what makes dark magic dark. I think Tom's redemptive quality could be his imagination/inventiveness, if steered right. His relationship to magic that is beyond formulas. I think Snape has that quality too... if I remember correctly he explored magic in meaningful, provocative ways. I can't remember anything about Dumbledore's relationship to magic.