Oh my, it took long enough. Last 3 days explored and studied his personality to make at least a bit character accurate headcanons on him. His quiet... hard to describe... Nevermind
Today's guest is the Second Fatui Harbinger
Dottore (Zandik) 🧬
If he were capable of falling in love — what would it be like?
He doesn’t believe in love.
At least—not in the way other people talk about it.
To Dottore, love is a mistake in terminology. Too emotional, too imprecise, too human. He would rather call it an anomaly, a deviation, an unstable reaction to an external stimulus. That’s safer. More logical. Easier to maintain his composure in front of himself.
At first, he doesn’t notice anything unusual.Just interest. He lets his gaze linger a little longer. He asks questions a little more often — questions with no practical value. He gets slightly less irritated when the object of that interest invades his personal space — the same space that is forbidden territory for everyone else. He attributes it to professional deformation: a rare specimen, an unusual psychotype, curious material for observation.
But over time, cracks begin to appear in his behavior.
He starts coming back.
Not because he has to, but because he wants to check whether you’re still there.
He doesn’t say that he missed you. He says,
“I expected different results.”
He doesn’t acknowledge attachment, yet he catches himself irritated by your absence—an irritation similar to a failed experiment.
The most frightening thing for him isn’t the feeling itself.
The most frightening thing is the loss of control.
When Dottore realizes he’s in love, it doesn’t happen through emotion — it happens through analysis. He records the symptoms:
• intrusive thoughts;
• reduced interest in unrelated subjects;
• an irrational desire to protect rather than use;
• a disproportionately strong reaction to any potential threat to you.
And in that moment, he is consumed by rage. Not outward rage — internal, cold, silent. He despises the very idea that someone has become his weakness. That a single person can destabilize his system.
He tries to get rid of it.
He becomes sharper, colder, deliberately pushes you away. He tests it: if he hurts you, will the feeling disappear? If you leave, will it get easier? He watches you as if conducting an experiment, yet every step you take away from him triggers a strange, viscous sensation in his chest — one that defies classification.
And then he stops fighting.
Not because he accepted love. But because he realized it can be used.
Dottore does not become gentle. He does not become soft. His love is not flowers or confessions. It is control, attention, absolute involvement. He remembers everything: your habits, fears, weaknesses, the ways you calm yourself. He knows when you’re lying, when you’re tired, when you’re in pain — sometimes before you do.
If you’re near him, you’re under protection. Not out of mercy. Out of ownership.
He doesn’t show jealousy openly. He doesn’t make scenes. But if someone poses a threat — that person disappears from your life. Quietly. Without explanations. Sometimes you don’t even realize how it happened — you just feel that the world around you has become safer, cleaner, emptier.
In intimacy, he is terrifyingly attentive. His touches are precise, calculated, almost investigative, yet there is no coldness in them. On the contrary — he holds you as if afraid of losing you, even if he never says it aloud. Sometimes he freezes with his forehead pressed to your shoulder, as if listening to his own breathing, checking whether this moment is real.
He doesn’t say “I love you.”
But he says:“Stay.”
And for him, that is the utmost honesty.
If you betray him — he won’t forgive.
If you leave — he will search.
If you die — he will try to bring you back.
Dottore’s love is not salvation.It is not romance.It is an experiment without a final stage — one in which, for the first time, he does not want to know the result in advance.
And perhaps that is what frightens him the most.
Against the background of his inferiority complex and his rejection of human emotions and human nature — without really distinguishing between them — it would be incredibly difficult for him to accept a feeling people call “love.” Such irrational things evoke nothing but anger in him.
In truth, there are two possible outcomes with him. The first is described above — if his interest deepens and his patience holds once he becomes involved. The second is your inevitable death, simply because you become something that interferes with him.
In relationships, he is also deeply suspicious. For a long time — perhaps until his death he will not fully believe that he has truly discovered something like this within himself.
I am referring to all the adult segments btw. 8 just chills
Imagine knowing Zandik, being a close subordinate of his.
You two talk so much, at this point always being seen together. You even meet the segments, who at first didn't really turn their attention to you.. Well that was until it started becoming increasingly obvious Zandik was smitten with you.
All the segments got suspicious at even the first slight signs. Suddenly they're observing you both very intensely. They must know why the original is acting this way and why he likes you so much.
It leads to these fools to also fall for you one by one. It was going to happen anyways but its almost as if they were speed running it while treating it as observation.
Only bad part about this is.. they all get jealous of eachother!! Even Zandik himself!!! One time this old man somehow found the strength to yank you away from 25 while you two were talking cause he "wanted your opinion."
He didnt want you opinion on anything, instead he forced you to cuddle with him on the couch in his personal room, while reading a book to you. You couldn't even be mad for too long cause no matter his old age he still has that stupid smile and charm of his.
Your existence has been fought over so many times by the segments, all wanting your attention. Zandik gets so so smug though and just goes "Well I am the original of all of you so I overrule." while already forcing you to follow him off to somewhere.
