#fandom reflections

[rainbowsky]

cre8hq-blog-blog asked: Hi! I’m new to all this. I‘ve enjoyed your analyses on Yizhan! I was just curious: I’m fascinated by how Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan relate to each other, and I’m trying to figure out something real quick. [redacted]

Hi cre8hq-blog-blog - thanks so much, I'm glad you're enjoying my blog. 😊

Sorry, I removed some of your ask because (perhaps without realizing it) you're essentially asking for stalker information.

This is not a fandom of proofs and certainties, it is a fandom of clowning and uncertainty. This is (believed by many to be) a real couple of high profile men under an increasingly queer-hostile government. They are not out as queer, and they are stars in an industry that trades on fantasies of romantic availability. They might never come out publicly about their relationship, and if they ever do it will not happen for a very long time.

Everyone who posts timelines, theories, etc. about GG and DD is doing so entirely speculatively based on what they've seen. No one has any 'proof' of anything. Anyone who claims to is lying, plain and simple, and should be treated with more suspicion - not less.

This is a question I've answered many, many times. Here are a few related posts/asks:

Proof they're still together?

What is the latest proof they’re together?

What is the biggest proof they’re still together?

The pursuit of proofs and candies

Protecting GGDD, and candies and material I won’t discuss on my blog

Is the CP real?

Digging into doubt

As a new turtle you might find my masterlist post helpful.

[cobaltsoulsearcher]

Finnish February (following prompts from @thepromptfoundry)

Like a lot of others, my first fandom was Harry Potter. Which really kind of sucks, to be honest. It was my consuming special interest for 6 years and gave me so much; it was my introduction to fanfiction, roleplay, and fan music, as well as fan studies in general. The marauders fandom was instrumental in defining myself as queer and podcasts like Harry Potter and the Sacred Text and Witch Please exposed me to religion and marginalized studies and overall had a huge impact on my life. After everything was revealed with JKR, I felt devastated; and then again when I found out about Ministry of Magic (the band); and then again when stuff got worse with JKR; I tried so hard to replace it, to get equally into HDM, Tolkien, Werewolves, Math, and I couldn’t force my Brian to move on. Eventually, over three years, I weaned myself off anything that gave JKR money, and then everything official, and then fanwork altogether. It was genuinely a mourning process and greatly impacted my wellbeing in terms of having a safe space and my moral OCD. Sorry that this is depressing: fandom is amazing. I just wish my first experience had reflected that, given that that is what I hope it should be like for everyone

[motleystitches]

So there's an entire fake history about Russia on Wikipedia (articles started in Chinese, translated to other languages including English)

It was uncovered by a writer who was doing some casual research on a potential novel about medieval Russia. There are maps, timeline, fake characters, fake bibilography, sockpuppets! In sum, there are about 200 articles of the most detailed world building exercise over the course of ten years because someone's lonely. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhemao_hoaxes). The problem is, of course, it was presented as real history.

Now, that's the PRE-AI world.

[chaosinthemultiuniverses]

Loki show is juat overfilled with romantic tropes, especially S2. Music, camera angles, colours, their actions, situations Loki and Mobius get together, body language, subtle signs, implications of the words they're saying to each other but unable to go more sincere because it's homophobic Disney they are on. It all hugely reminds me of Supernatural and Destiel, "they silenced him (Dean)" fan movement after 15x18 released three years ago.

Even with all those signs I kind of new it was all a bloody queerbating. Like in Supernatural, 12 years in a row. And when Castiel has finally made "a homosexual declaration of love" (as Misha Collins called it in his livestreams and on panels during conventions), he died. "Vlassic Hollywood 'kill all the gays' trope" which are another bitter words Misha used to describe that bittersweet and heartbreaking scene from that episode.

Misha had been desperately fighting for that line for all his years on Supernatural, being almost alone. In "Loki," Tom or Owen don't fight for Lokius the same way Misha did for Destiel, so realistically, rationally speaking, I always knew it won't become canon. Just because studios are still that homophobic, they put toxic, manipulative relationships with the character's other self above a healing, beautiful, soul-saving, inspiring, healthy, character-growing, fresh and the most important, sincere and based on unconditional trust, relalationship where both allow themselves to be vulnerable around each other and trust one another with that. Only because the former is a hetero, and the latter is same-sex. Smh.

Both Lokius and Destiel are example how true love "can pierce throughthe veil of death and save the day," it's another bravest quote from Supernatural. They were insane for putting such lines without intention to make main SPN pairing a canon, if it weren't for Misha's dedication to Destiel.

Maybe if Tom or Owen (or both of them) foufght for Lokius the same way, we would have got a chance. I'm just saying, not judging. I totally understand why they show their support to it subtly, carefully. I like it too.

In conclusion, I want to say I'm just a simple fan. I just want healthy relationships to win over toxic ones. At least in TV shows, since I don't see it in real life. And to finally see a proper representation of queer relationships that lead to character growth and a happy beautiful life of two adults being deeply in love, regardless of their sex and/or gender. I want it to be normalised.

Dear Disney,

about this:

The fit check and hair slick thing are romantic tropes in film:

See?

Now, you are film makers. I take it you have all the experience and the know-how there is when it comes to TV and film. So, when you use these tropes, I have to assume that you want to tell us one of two things: Either you want to show us that there is a romatic story to be expected between two characters or you want us to believe that there is one when in fact there isn't. In this case (this case being Loki), that could be considered queerbaiting.

[curioscurio]

I'm rewatching Steven Universe and I will never forgive Fandom for what it did to her

[emiplayzmc]

Doodles based on conversations about Twisted Glisten and Rodger with @tdlizardowo :3. Mainly with the Mini AU thing I doodled the other day where Rodger does solo runs down to the Twisted floors to meet with Glisten.

|| "Well, what do you normally do when I'm gone?"

|| "Wait for you to get back..."

Based on an idea we had that Glisten literally just. Sits outside the elevator waiting for Rodger to return whenever he leaves. Probably sits with his head turned to the side so he can listen against the wall for the elevator moving in the shaft.

|| "he's gonna come back for this isn't he

he wouldn't leave this it's his favourite briefcase he wouldn't leave it

if he comes back for this that means he comes back for me right

he's coming back right

|| please please please please please don't leave me alone again please"

We also made the headcanon that when Rodger was first going to see Glisten and trying to get his trust back with him, Glisten had such low self esteem and such high anxiety at that point that he thought literally anything was holding more importance in Rodger's eyes than himself. So Rodger would catch onto this and leave items down there with Glisten, the latter of whom would basically hold them hostage until Rodger came back (I also think sometimes Glisten would outright take to nicking stuff off him to hold hostage as well, something he felt was significant enough that Rodger would come back for it had he lost it).

Rodger would slowly get Glisten to realise that, by doing this little habit and being nonchalant about whether an item goes missing or he leaves something on accident, that he really isn't caring about whether he leaves stuff down here or not - notes, a briefcase, research, whatever - it's *him* that he's returning for, because helping Glisten and keeping him company until he can find a way to cure him or get him safely up to the lobby without other Toons being worried or scared of him is the most important thing to him. Glisten is more important to Rodger than some silly items. :)

(Also I choose to believe the briefcase has lore as being a birthday / debut anniversary gift from Toodles to Rodger that she convinced her Toon Handler to help her get for him)

Also the OG SpongeBob scene for the first image :)

[synthsays]

Chamber of Reflection - Mac DeMarco

[rainbowsky]

Someone sent me the video a couple days ago and I didn't even know what I was looking at until they told me they thought that it was DD. It wasn't DD. 🤦🏻‍♂️

And you don't even need to see the video to know that. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together should know that DD is not going to show up at Hengdian of all places (the single most heavily stalked and leaked location in all of China), to a set that has multiple leaks daily, and saunter around without a mask. Any turtle who thinks that's even remotely possible is seriously beyond help.

Not only do some fans think it was DD, but some think they see the person feed food into GG's mouth with their fingers. FFS, people are reading too much fanfiction if they think that that's even remotely ever going to happen on a set and get leaked to the public.

I swear the same kind of people who buy into this ridiculous nonsense are the same people who thought that the assistant fic was real. People who are so wrapped up in their own fanfiction fantasy about GG and DD that they've lost all sight of reality and don't even see them as human beings anymore.

If you can't respect GG and DD enough to put their humanity front and center as a fan, then you've completely lost the plot.

There's a huge difference between sharing Untamed BTS and giggling about their interactions back then, and spreading around some leaked video from GG's filming set and claiming you see DD in the clip. If you can't see the difference between those two actions then there's something seriously wrong with you.

On the set of the Untamed they were working together, and both consented to being filmed for BTS clips as part of the production process. The footage is 6 years old and ancient history.

GG's current filming set is a private place of work. Sharing any leaked footage, no matter who you think appears in it, is deeply disrespectful of GG and everyone who works with him. Quite apart from any claims about who appears in the video, sharing leaks from their sets is one of the biggest no-nos as a fan.

But sharing footage that you genuinely believe shows the boys together and then giggling about it like it's some kind of candy... you have no business calling yourself a turtle. End of story.

Even rumors like this can endanger them, we should all know this by now.

And like I said before, use your head. There's no way that DD is going to show up at Hengdian and hand feed GG food. It's never going to happen except in somebody's fan fic. Give your head a shake. I would be embarrassed for people who believe this kind of thing if I wasn't too horrified by their behavior to feel anything else.

These are the most depressing and disappointing days of being a turtle. It's garbage like this that makes me seriously consider just packing up and walking away. I don't want to be a part of any group that is this deluded and credulous, and this disrespectful of GG and DD. It's the international fans behind this kind of stupidity who give turtles a bad name.

i was supposedly gonna address this by end of month and with my april candy round up but i think might as well do it now. only because it is being shared primarily on international platforms and i feel the need to put out this reminder. i wouldn’t even dream about controlling how one chooses to participate in this fandom but sometimes people need a wake up call.

so, there has been a video going around of GG filming Legend of Zanghai and there is a staff there that people are saying is WYB. it showed this person talking to GG while he is on standby and shooting etc. first of all, these two are notoriously good at hiding and being professional in their workplace. especially now. i doubt they will flaunt each other on set with one acting like a PA for the other. not only that, they both hate to cause any disturbance on set or have unnecessary eyes on them — much worse, gossip, so this is a no.

and in the very low chance that it is WYB or that whatever rumor we have of XX visiting XXX on set is true, the last person who should be outing their secret meetings shouldn’t be turtles. if there is one thing i really miss from the beginnings of this fandom is how much people protected them. even if at times we became obnoxious, you know that the reason is because we wanted to keep them safe. nowadays, i feel like more turtles don’t even care at all. they will show off anything to prove a point. but at what cost? seriously, how far would you go? how much disregard for their rights as human beings will you allow?

which leads me to the main problem here: sharing leaks. i personally sometimes can’t avoid it, especially on weibo cause it depends on who you follow, it will come up. or worse, the leaked videos/photos goes on hot search. xz has been very local against proxy shooting for this project so idk why some turtles continue to disrespect his wishes. it’s one thing to see it accidentally, but for international fans to share it and then make it out to be this “scandalous” video proof is so questionable. what makes them different from professional weibo paparazzis who out celebrity couples? who follow them in their homes and even their parents? how are they different from ss who put trackers on their cars and obsess over their personal itinerary? it’s so sus to call yourself a fan who care about them but applaud this kind of behavior. these kind of fans honestly don’t see xz and wyb as people. leave them the fuck alone. i don’t think i can stress that enough. let’s speculate all we want from the materials they willingly give us and try not to make it harder for them to live their personal lives.

i understand how material like that can make someone happy and affirmed but think about them first.

and if you are someone who needs solid video proof to support the boys and be on the bjyxszd train, then please leave this fandom now. i can tolerate alot of behaviors but never ones that endanger them like this. this need for constant validation is dangerous. it’s their relationship, not ours. they are real people and not fictional characters.

[frownyalfred]

the funny thing about tumblr is that sometimes 16 year olds will get on here and tell you with the confidence of a thousand suns that you are the worst person in the world and you should kill yourself….babe have you heard of ISIS??

[salamispots]

glint

[aroaceleovaldez]

apparently pjotv twt was being weird about book!Percy's eyes being green because they don't think the ocean can be green (???) so consider this a sequel to my Grace siblings eye colors post and here is some visual references of green water for all your Percy inspo needs:

And for reference, the water around New York-ish where Percy is usually is somewhere around this color:

or some alternatives:

or here is a nice hazel green if you want his eyes more on the brown side, which is very common in freshwater ponds and streams:

or if you want him to have totally brown eyes - water rich in tannins will appear brown, greenish-brown, or very dark brown - this is sometimes called "blackwater" due to often appearing very dark or having low visibility:

[rainbowsky]

In all my years of being a GGDD fan, I don't think any year has ever been better than this last one.

In the past I have watched them struggle and face incredibly difficult situations, be forced to spend almost all of their time apart, and deal with scandals and setbacks.

2024 was a year I could never have dreamed of for both of them. Watching them both thrive so well, take charge of their careers and their lives to a degree never before seen, and to have so much time for their personal lives - it's all I've ever wanted for them.

And you can see how well they are thriving, how much happier they are, how much healthier they are, and how much of themselves is stamped on every single thing they do.

I frequently see fans spinning negative fantasies about them, and it makes me sad. As if there isn't enough pain in the world, why generate more in your own mind?

A lot of turtles tend to overly romanticize 2018 and 2019 because they were the years that The Untamed was filmed, promoted and aired, and that's where a lot of our favorite GGDD content was born. I think that's rather self-centered and shortsighted. If we take five seconds to remove our rose-colored glasses, surely we can see how difficult those years were for them.

Yes, they got to work together for a few months, they got to spend some fun time together promoting The Untamed and even got to be somewhat open about their affection for each other in front of a crowd, but outside of that summer dream, they were both in pretty precarious positions in their careers, and both of them faced a lot of really gruesome anti attacks. Neither of them had very much control over their careers or their choices, and their management situations were atrocious.

We don't even have to talk about 2020. That was an incredibly difficult year. GG was the focus of one of the worst cyberbullying and nearly career-ending scandals that's been seen in that industry. He was being threatened, the people connected to him and the brands that he dealt with were being threatened.

Any time he tried to do anything in his career, whether it was an appearance or an endorsement, antis would come out in droves and protest until it was shut down. There were active organized hate campaigns whose entire purpose was to destroy his life and his career. People were trying to infect him with COVID, and there were other threats upon his life. Multiple times online hate campaigns tried to spread the rumor that he had died.

He couldn't go anywhere without people following him and chanting hateful slogans at him and trying to infiltrate the hotels he was staying at. It was terrifying.

DD was constantly overworked, exhausted, always on the move with barely any time to come up for air.

They had to spend most of their time apart, including some of the quarantine time, when DD was isolated so that he could begin filming LOF, right when the worst of the scandal broke. GG's grandfather died, and he faced so many personal burdens.

They did get some fun times together of course, and there were some huge successes for both of them, including GG's spectacular comeback at the end of the year with his sea of red for Tencent All Star Night. Even turtles worked to help ensure he had his red sea.

And GG and DD got to clown around and be silly as well, and they made a real effort to show us that they were getting through fine, they would be okay and that they were still the same people, still able to be happy. We got so much candy that year, and so many great LRLG messages as well.

But that was just a sign of their character and strength. Make no mistake about it, that was a difficult year.

The intervening years between then and now have been a bit of a mixed bag. There were a lot of COVID frustrations (scheduling issues, Kafkaesque hoops to jump through, inability to travel outside the country, risk of ending up in a prolonged lockdown, inevitable health stress), they had to spend a lot of time apart and there were more and more crackdowns on the entertainment industry, on the queer community and on fandom culture, which made things feel positively dismal and oppressive - at times even scary.

However, it's undeniable that things have been gradually improving for them. They've both been building more and more autonomy and control in their careers, and building more respect from audiences and within the industry. They've both been prioritizing their personal lives more and more. And yes - they've BOTH been looking happier, more relaxed, more balanced.

I've talked about that a fair bit over the past couple of years. Most recently in this post.

Looking at 2024, they have had so much more free time in their lives, have been able to spend so much more time together in the same city, have spent time with each other wherever they were filming, and even got to travel and spend some fun downtime outside of China.

They are in such powerful positions compared to even a couple years ago. They have made great connections and worked on some amazing projects.

GG has been working with some of the top directors on some of the most anticipated projects in C-ent. He recorded an entire solo album and several music videos, and did all of that on his own time and on his own dime, and released it to critical acclaim and massive success with audiences.

He has been the talk of the globe in fashion circles and entertainment circles, and has been the global face behind some of the most successful and exciting campaigns for some of the most prestigious brands in the world.

He got to travel a lot outside of China, and build on some of the great connections he's made over the years. He got to spend time with his parents traveling Europe!

He's given us so much incredible content with his vlogs and photo sets. It's just mind-boggling how much he's given us over the past couple of years.

DD took initiative to propose and participate in a documentary series where he got to explore interesting locations and engage in some of the most extreme outdoor activities. What could possibly be more exciting for someone like him?

He got to work with a team of conservationists who are fighting to save pangolins, and filmed a documentary there as well. Knowing him, that has to be one of the most rewarding things he's ever done in his life.

Both documentaries were highly acclaimed and award-winning.

Speaking of awards, he debuted as a film star and has been nominated for all of the top awards in China both for his film work and his drama work!

He has signed a new contract with his management company that will certainly have put him in a very powerful position in the company as their top breadwinner. He has been exceptionally successful with endorsements, holding more endorsements than anyone else in C-ent.

He got to play tennis on the top of The Great Wall with one of the top players in the world (regardless of how much I despise Djokovic).

He got to be an Olympic torch bearer! He is the ambassador for multiple high profile organizations and projects.

He earned his auto racing license, joined a racing team and finished in first place in his first ever auto race!

Make no mistake about it, they are both now solidly calling the shots in their own lives and careers, they are living their best lives, and they are both happier than I have ever seen them in all of these years.

And much more healthy! Just take one look at them and you can see how much healthier they both are. They've been playing a lot of sports and doing a lot of active outdoor activities together, and it shows in how much happier and healthier they are.

Frankly anyone who can't see that has their head stuffed firmly in a moist dark place.

I urge everyone to center GG and DD in all of our fandom explorations, theories and interpretations. The reality is that the more that they get to focus on their own lives and careers and personal freedoms, the less candy and CPN we're likely to see. We should be happy for them rather than try to spin sad tales about it.

[viinchester]

Haunted Reflections

Warnings: References to Violence and Murder, mentions of Stalking, Trauma (related to losing a limb & violent incidents), Obsessive Thoughts, Unhealthy Behavior, graphic descriptions in thoughts of Gore (Violence, Bloodshed, a bit of Body Mutilation), Moral Ambiguity (we're talking about Brian Moser here, hello?), Insults (like a single word lol), mentions of Drugs (two sentences, nothing about taking them), mentions of Death

Fandom: Dexter (TV Show/Series)

Pairing: Brian Moser/Rudy Cooper x F!Reader

Request by: @ireallydontknowohcrabs

Summary: You head to your routine appointment for a readjustment of your prosthetic leg at the Miami prosthetics clinic. This time, however, you are met with Rudy Cooper instead of your usual doctor. Unbeknownst to you, his dark secrets lie hidden beneath the surface, and you’ve unwittingly captured his undivided attention and care.

Word Count: 2.321

My Masterlist

A/N: Initially wasn't sure about which direction to go with this request, but I decided on one eventually.😅 It was fun to write, so I hope you guys will it!💞 Reposts/Comments with feedback are, as always, very much appreciated!!🙏🏼 And just as a reminder: My requests are currently open.🥰💙

You expected this visit to be the same as any other to the prosthetics clinic usually was.

You were going to meet Dr. Gardner, the prosthetist who had been with you since you’d first been fitted for your prosthetic leg, and he'd make a slight adjustment to it, and then you'd leave again.

But instead of that being the case, when you walked into the clinic today, you were greeted by someone else. A man, much younger than Dr. Gardner, with a tall frame and dark curly hair stood by the window and was currently slipping on his gloves. The doctor, obvious by the signature-white lab coat he was wearing, calmly turned to you with a professional and slightly reassuring smile.

“Unfortunately Dr. Gardner’s out sick at the moment,” he immediately explained, his voice smooth and composed. “I'm filling in for him, so I’ll be the one handling your adjustment today. My name's Dr. Rudy Cooper, it's nice to meet you.” He shook your hand gently before gesturing to the chair in the middle of the room. “Please, have a seat.”

You nodded, sitting down and rolling the cuff of your pant-leg up, glancing at him curiously. “Well then let’s see if you’re as good as Dr. Gardner at putting me back together.”

Brian gave a small smile as he seated himself across from you, gently lifting your leg to begin his examination on your prosthetic. “I’ll try my best. Dr. Gardner’s very good at it, from what I hear.” His voice was light, but he was already scanning you, taking in the way you moved, the way you spoke.

When his eyes reached your hands, he had to do a double take, his world stopping. Your nails, painted in the exact same way his mother used to paint hers. The hues were extremely similar, and the order of the colors was identical.

It came out of nowhere and hit him like a physical blow. For just a second his breath hitched and his usually steady hands trembled at the sight.

No. It couldn’t be. But it was.

His mother’s nails, now on your hands, like some ghostly echo of the past.

The carefully constructed facade of calm professionalism flickered for a moment as a flood of memories surged through him.

His mother’s laughter, the smell of her perfume, the soft touch of her hand as she ruffled his hair. And then… the blood. Her blood, mixing with the colors of those very same nails.

How could this be happening? He hadn’t thought about his mother in this way for so long, hadn’t let himself remember.

Blinking a few times, he quickly put your leg down and reached for your file instead, fighting to regain control over his composure.

He couldn’t lose it here. Not now. It was just a coincidence anyway. Just some random woman with the same taste in nail polish.

Still, deep down the shock lingered, sending tremors through the carefully walled-off parts of his mind.

He flipped through your file as casually as possible, clearing his throat once to keep his tone friendly, but professional. “Just going over some notes here. It says the injury happened... a few years ago? Could you remind me of what happened, just to make sure everything lines up?”

Forcing a polite smile, the mask of Rudy Cooper slipped into place, though it felt more strained than usual. His eyes couldn’t help but glance back to your nails every time you so much as shifted, the image of his mother — and her terrified eyes, her pleading hands, those painted nails — almost overlapping with you. He could barely hear your voice over the roaring in his head.

Not noticing anything off, you nodded, hesitating for a second. You hesitated, not because the incident was difficult to talk about anymore, but because it had become such a strange story to tell. You’d almost made peace with it, enough to laugh about it sometimes.

“Yeah, it was... a pretty bad day. Tried to steal some drugs. Not for me, though.” You smiled shyly, a hint of awkwardness in your tone. “My idiot ex, thought I could help him out of a mess he got himself into. But then I got cornered by three guys with a chainsaw. Like something out of a horror movie, right?” You laughed a little, but it didn’t quite reach your eyes.

Brian’s hands paused again, but he kept his face neutral, even with the chaos inside him growing. Drugs? That was already close enough to the horrors of his past. But then you mentioned three guys with a chainsaw, and the floor seemed to fall away beneath him. Though his expression didn’t change and he resumed his adjustment on your prosthetic, the memory inside his mind hit him like a sledgehammer, and in vivid detail as well. His mother, the men, the chainsaw whirring. He was too young to stop it, too small to save her, but the memory had never left him. The blood, the screams, the way her nails had clutched at him in desperation before the world went red.

And now here you were, sitting in front of him, your soft voice recounting a version of his nightmare.

Brian exhaled slowly, maintaining a steady voice. “That’s... an intense way to lose a leg. It must have been terrifying.” His words sounded professional, if empathetic, but internally he struggled to comprehend how this was possible. How could you have survived something so reminiscent of what happened to her?

His disbelief mixed with something darker, something predatory. He had been powerless as a child, but not now. Not anymore.

The thought of you cornered by men with a chainsaw, just like his mother, made something in him snap into place. His shock was replaced by cold determination.

It was as if the universe had handed him a second chance, a way to rewrite the past. This time was different. This time, he wouldn’t be helpless. This time, he would stop the violence, before it consumed you, too.

You gave a small shrug and kept talking, oblivious to the storm brewing inside of him. “Yeah, it was... I honestly didn't believe I’d make it out alive. But it’s been a few years now and here I am, still standing. Just… in a slightly different way.” You offered a small, self-deprecating smile. “Guess I’ve learned to adapt. Well, kind of. I’m still getting used to the leg in a way, but hey, I haven’t fallen flat on my face in a while, so I guess that’s progress.” You smiled again, this time more genuine though, trying to lighten the mood. “And at least my ex didn’t get the drugs. Silver linings, right?”

Brian’s gaze darkened slightly at that, though he kept his tone light. “I see. That’s very impressive and brave of you, as I can only imagine how tough all that must have been. I’m hoping your ex is not someone you still have to deal with on top of that?”

You hesitated, biting your lip and avoiding his eyes, a little uneasy at the topic of your ex boyfriend. “Well, actually… he’s, uh, kind of been stalking me, on and off. Nothing too serious, but... it’s still annoying, you know?”

Brian's fingers flexed around your prosthetic, the material fitting securely into place. His eyes, though still composed on the surface, deepened in intensity and became more focused. Your ex was stalking you. Lurking, like a predator. His jaw clenched, and his disbelief at the situation melted away, replaced by a new resolve.

I couldn’t save her. But I can save you.

The idea of this man, your ex, still in your life filled him with an odd sense of purpose. He didn’t care about people, not really, but this was different. You had painted nails. You had suffered violence. You reminded him of her.

He would make sure nobody hurt you ever again. Starting with that ex-boyfriend of yours. Yes, he would definitely be dealt with. Permanently.

And going further, from now on, you would become his patient. Dr. Gardner had served his purpose, but Brian knew, with a chilling certainty, that you wouldn’t be seeing him again. Not if he could help it.

He forced a sympathetic chuckle, masking his true emotions as he continued to work on your prosthetic with his usual precision. “That sounds... frustrating. You’d think he’d get the hint by now.”

“Right?” You rolled your eyes playfully, trying to dispel the tension that came with the subject of your ex. “But I’m fine, really. It’s just one of those things I have to deal with.”

Brian simply nodded, his hands moving delicately, ensuring the fit was perfect, but his thoughts were miles away, plotting, considering what exactly he needed to do next to make sure you'd no longer have to do deal with it.

He was nothing if not methodical, his mind working like a finely-tuned machine, always planning, always calculating. When it came to taking care of your ex-boyfriend and Dr. Gardner, he would need to use two different approaches, that much was obvious.

Your ex-boyfriend would be the one to pay in blood. The man had been the catalyst for your suffering, the reason you had been put in a situation that mirrored Brian's own mother's gruesome death.

So your ex wasn't going to just disappear, that would be too easy, too nice. Instead, the bastard was going to feel every ounce of pain, every bit of terror that Brian imagined his mother and you had felt. He’d stalk him for days and learn his habits, figure out where he was most vulnerable. And when he’d finally make his move, it would be somewhere isolated, somewhere he could really take his time.

The act itself would neither be quick nor clean. Instead, Brian would make it messy, and visceral. He'd use tools that mimicked the chainsaw that had haunted both him and you. While he wouldn’t use an actual chainsaw, far too noisy and difficult to control, he would choose something just as violent, perhaps a hacksaw or an axe. He would let your ex feel the terror, hear the whir of a blade, and realize that his time was up.

In his twisted mind, Brian believed that you deserved closure. You needed to know that your ex-boyfriend was truly dead. Maybe you wouldn’t know it had been Brian, but you’d know your ex had been taken care of — brutally, and publicly even. The police would find the body, bloodied, hacked apart, left in some abandoned place where no one could escape the horror of the scene. It wouldn’t be a neat kill; it would be a spectacle. The kind that left a permanent mark in the mind of anyone who saw it.

It would be justice for you, and revenge for his mother.

It would be perfect.

You were going to feel safe, knowing that the danger had been wiped out, grateful that the threat was gone.

Dr. Gardner, on the other hand, required a different touch. Brian held no ill feelings toward him, the man simply needed to die out of necessity. But the doctor was a respected figure in your life, and if he simply vanished or died a violent death, you might grieve too hard, or worse, become suspicious. So Dr. Gardner's exit had to be quiet, peaceful, and leave no room for doubt. Brian could easily make it look natural, the man was already old enough that it wouldn’t raise too many questions if he were to die in his sleep anyway.

He'd slip a small dose of potassium chloride into Dr. Gardner’s food or drink, undetectable and mimicking the signs of a natural heart attack. The man would feel a sudden, overwhelming pressure in his chest, his heart seizing painfully — but he wouldn’t be able to cry for help. And in mere minutes, it would be over, and the man would be found peacefully in his bed or his office chair, just another old guy who’d met his end from "natural causes". No one would question it, and you might feel sad for a little while, but definitely not suspicious.

And Brian knew grief over a natural death tended to fade more quickly.

Then you’d return to the clinic in need of further adjustments to your prosthetic in the future, and who would be there for you? Him. The friendly, capable replacement who’d been there all along.

As Brian thought about it all, his hands checked the fit of your prosthetic, his fingers running along the edges.

“Now, hopefully this adjustment will work perfectly for you,” he then said, his voice calm as ever. “If you need anything else, any follow-up, you can come back to me and I’ll take care of it.”

You nodded — still oblivious to anything going on underneath his professional exterior — as you softly smiled up at him and stood up, testing your leg and finding it already fitting better. “Thanks, Dr. Cooper, it’s great, and that’s really nice of you. I’ll be sure to come back if I need any more work done.”

Brian smiled back, but it was colder this time, more possessive. “Rudy, please. And I’ll be here, whenever you need me.”

As you left the clinic, you felt relieved, glad that everything had gone well despite the fact that Dr. Gardner wasn't the one doing your adjustment. Dr. Cooper, or Rudy, had been kind, careful, and understanding. He was a really nice man. Hopefully you'd have him as your prosthetist again if Dr. Gardner ever fell sick another time.

Watching you walk away, Brian was certain of your return. He intended to mold your future so that you would always come back to him.

You may not know it yet, but he was going to ensure you’d never need anyone else, ever again.

[communistkenobi]

like god you guys need to get like a government stipend for explaining racism and colonialism to fandom bloggers or at the very least a big red button to press that kills them immediately bc like I remember last summer trying to talk about colonialism in star trek (a very basic observation) and that was some of the most intensely negative reactions I’ve gotten from people on here about fandom in years lol. truly don’t know how you do it on a daily basis. I can imagine the constant sense of alienation whenever interacting with people who are basically just telling you to leave their digital whites-only neighbourhood

[jaguarys]

I think it is SOOOO FASCINATING that Hisoka and Illumi are the first villains that you see because they're such good representations of the pitfalls of Hunter society. On the one hand you get Hisoka, who represents this overindulgence. Where you get to a point where you're powerful enough you lose the perspective of people on the ground. Where you start to believe no one matters unless they can match you. Where you no longer have to follow rules, where you can do whatever you want whenever you want because who's going to stop you? And then on the other Illumi is this hyperawareness and paranoia of knowing, no matter how far you get, no matter how powerful you become, that there will always be people stronger than you. And you might as well just roll over and take it and never try to be anything more than that because there will always be people greater than you. Both of them have failed, and they don't even realize it

[sukibenders]

Hear me out: you can ship JayVik without falling into or using rhetoric that fits the disposable black girlfriend trope. You can ship JayVik without using Mel as some conceived ploy or antagonistic plot device that makes her out of character. You can ship JayVik without falling into misogynistic rhetoric (eg. viewing female characters as disposable or stepping tools, amongst other things). You can ship JayVik without erasing the impact Mel has had on Jayce and their relationship because, whether you shipped it or not or even gave it the time of day, Mel and Jayce did care for each other, and to deny that or say Viktor held more importance/impact than her in Jayce's life to where she's viewed as "unnecessary" just to further your ship is so wrong and, whether you intended for it or not, does carry undertones where black characters, especially black female characters, emotional impact on others is ignored or downplayed even though there's context to support just how important it is/they are. Lastly, you can ship JayVik without using anti-black and misogynoir type rhetoric because the amount that has flooded this fandom, but especially from some fans of this ship, is atrocious. Ship what you like, but be respectful and careful with certain things you say, is all I'm saying.