#don’t side storyline it!

[girl4music]

So I’m on to Season 3 of ‘Station 19’ now. So very close to meeting the infamous Marina (Maya+Carina). I’ve been binge watching the fuck out of this show just to get to hurry up and get to them before I start work.

Once I am actually up to them, I’ll slow down a little.

Savour the moments of great WLW representation.

I’m hoping. I mean they’ve handled gay/queer representation in general very well so far so why wouldn’t it be for great WLW representation too?

There’s just been nothing significant on that so far because it all happens starting from Season 3. Don’t know what episode but got to keep some surprises.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Ok Wild Angsters, you wanted a continuation, so here you go :)

Four already knew what he would be walking into. His phone had been blowing up for hours. He’d come in to work early. Whether he was assigned to take care of Wild or not was another matter - Vaati loved to try and take all the admissions, convinced he was the best nurse on the unit. If Four could just keep Vaati out of Wild’s room, he’d consider it a success.

When the charge nurse told him he would be admitting the trauma alert, he knew who he was getting.

Pre-admission jitters always made Four anxious, but this was an entirely other level of fear. He almost wanted to request a different assignment, but it was too late now. What if he couldn’t take caer of him because he was his friend? What if that impair his decision making? What if he just wasn’t skilled enough to handle it? He knew Ezlo wouldn’t give him an assignment he couldn’t handle, wouldn’t be there to support him, but still…

Four went over the supplies in his room once more. Safety checks were fine—they had suction, they had a bag valve mask, the code card was nearby—and he had all the supplies he needed. It was just a waiting game.

Four paced the unit at least three times before he looked at the OR status board again. Wild was still in surgery. He poked in his chart, glancing at injuries, looking at vital signs and anesthesia notes. The last update he saw was that Wild had gotten another unit of blood. Estimated blood loss so far was around 2200mL.

2200mL. That… wasn’t too terrible, Four supposed. He’d… seen worse.

Please don’t get worse.

Four knew for certain that Wild had been mass transfused in the ED. Warriors, his primary nurse when he was there, had told him as much. Between that and the multiple blood products he’d gotten in surgery, as well all the crystalloids he was likely getting as well…

Four took a breath. Then another. He grabbed his phone, texting Warriors. You doing ok?

Wars didn’t reply.

Four wasn’t entirely sure where everyone was at this point. Hyrule had stayed at the hospital, lingering in the emergency department and then the operating room waiting area, but Four hadn’t seen him since he’d clocked in. Warriors and Legend should be getting off shift now, but whether they were going to stay up was another matter. Time was obviously in the OR (Wild’s wreck had been around 10pm, he’d arrived in the ED around 10:45, and he’d been stabilized for surgery and gone to the OR by around midnight - it was 7am now… he wasn’t sure how long this was going to take, but it couldn’t be much longer). Malon should be getting on shift now as well - she had come in last night when everything had gone down, alongside Twilight. Wind had been cautiously left out of the loop until Wild had gone to surgery, simply because nobody had really had much information at the time, so no one wanted to worry the kid until they could figure things out. Everyone had their hands full as it was. But by now, Four knew Wind was either in the OR waiting room, harassing every respiratory therapist he knew, or in the hospital library pacing anxiously. As for Sky, the last Four heard he was bouncing between different people, checking in on everyone.

He clicked through more anesthesia notes, looked at flow sheets for blood products. There wasn’t much to go on, as charting was sparse. What Four did know was that Wild had been obtunded, got mass transfused, had gotten a chest tube, had been intubated, blood was evident in his abdomen, and he had an open femur fracture. He’s been taken to Time’s OR for a ex-lap. Head CT had shown a bleed, and they were monitoring it. That was all the information Legend had told the group when he’d had a moment to spare.

Four’s vocera activated, telling him he had a call from the charge nurse. When he answered, he was told Malon had called and said they’d be finishing up in about thirty minutes and were likely to come up open.

Why was he coming up with his abdomen open? When had they gone from exploratory laparotomy to a full on open abdomen?

Ten minutes later, Malon called back to give report. When Four answered, the first thing he asked was, “How’s he doing? Is he okay? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Malon said, even though she sounded exhausted. “And he’s… hanging in there. I’ve seen worse, I’ll say that. I’ll give you the full rundown, okay?”

Four listened as Malon gave report, feeling his heart settled into his stomach, which was tying itself in knots. Multiple spots of bleeding, possible compartment syndrome in his abdomen, a likely kidney injury due to compression from the bleeding on some major vessels, a small hematoma in his brain… they’d had to call neurosurgery to do an emergency craniotomy out of overt concern of swelling, given that Wild had apparently had previous head trauma, based on what they saw in the OR.

Open abdomen, craniotomy, ICP monitoring, bleeding, one chest tube… this was a disaster. Four swallowed as he wrote, feeling his hand shake a little as his heart raced. He was not qualified enough to be admitting this. He was not.

But the turnaround on his unit was pretty insane, and he was the most experienced nurse on the unit today. At least Ezlo was charge; he knew he’d be well supported.

This was a nightmare. But Four had dealt with nightmares, and he would deal with this. He wasn’t going to screw up taking care of any patient, but especially his friend.

Sighing, he hung up the phone after thanking Malon, pushing worries for her and Time aside, trying to focus on what he would need, who he should grab to help him, and how he should prep his room.

It was time to get to work.

When everyone arrived from the OR, Four made brief eye contact with Time. He couldn’t read much from the man, who was stone faced, aside from the exhaustion evident in the dark circles under his eyes. Four got to work quickly, assessing Wild from head to toe as he looked to see what IV medications he was on. A coworker wrote the note while Ezlo helped detangle his lines (the OR always brought up a mess, after all). Time gave an overview of the surgery, and Four listened along as he checked pupils, as he zeroed the arterial line and the ICP monitor, as he listened to lung and heart sounds, as he checked the chest tube and stripped it with his fingers to ensure patency, as he checked peripheral pulses, as he looked at the abdominal dressing to get a baseline in case there was swelling from bleeding later. One of the techs connected the chest tube to wall suction, and Four looked over his drips. Only having levophed at 2 wasn’t terrible, and he was getting a unit of red blood cells, which was in a transfusion set that was y’d to some lactated ringers fluid. He was on propofol for sedation. Another nurse grabbed a blood gas from his arterial line and sent off labs. His foley he had was temp sensing, and Four quickly ascertained that Wild was cold, so he set up the blanket warmer and covered his friend up.

His friend. His friend.

Four shook his head. He had to focus.

As Time left the room, he put a hand on Four’s shoulder, making him freeze. The surgeon didn’t speak, just locking eyes with him. Four wasn’t entirely sure if it was for his own benefit or not. But he had no more time to let his emotions make any decisions for him. He nodded to the doctor, who nodded in return, and then the two went their separate ways.

This was going to be a long day.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Throughout the Trainee, I’ve been waiting for the shoe to drop—for some big reveal about an ultimate problem at the company or for someone to be fired who had gone too far—but the show is too mature, it has to much compassion towards all of its characters (and towards people’s humanity in general) to do that.

I saw so many instances of mistakes happening, some more obvious, some subtle, some key to the plot, some seemingly background fodder, some addressed by the characters explicitly, and some that the characters or the show just seemed to observe without commenting on. Some of these mistakes didn’t amount to anything, like the broken hard drive, and some of them caused real physical harm to people in the show, like the cosmetic mix-up during testing. I presumed there was a kind of accumulation happening. I thought that the mistakes were adding up to something, a bigger conclusion about this work environment, or a commentary on work environments and society at large. The Trainee, however, refuses to construct a larger theory about work and life’s problems. It refuses to condemn anyone or any one thing to that extent. Each mistake is its own problem. And each person is capable of contributing to it and finding a way to move past it.

You see, what Jane says here is the core theme of the show:

(GIF by @ryansjane )

Don’t assume; ask questions; talk it out with the recognition that everyone is coming to the table with different backgrounds, skills, areas of knowledge, flaws, fears, and hopes. They will not be perfect, and neither do you have to be. The Trainee wants its characters and its audience to find the courage, like Ryan and Jane, Ba Mhee and Tae, or the lovely moments between Pah and all his coworkers this week, to speak up with curiosity and openness.

Then, the next step it shows so wonderfully is how you can appreciate what complexities you contributed to the situation. You can acknowledge and apologize for your role once you understand it—not because you are wrong or right, but because acknowledgement and sorries are ways to show other people that you didn’t find a way to help avoid the problem either that time. It’s important to note, as I see some discourse rising up about who apologizes in the conversations during the show, that Thai and Broader Asian cultures in general have a VERY different culture around apologies, humility, and shame so that those feelings and their related gestures are used to build connection and positive feelings, compared to negative shame in Western culture; book rec if your interested in that topic and more—Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions.

The show doesn’t have some moral argument to say about a systemic HR issue at this office. It also doesn’t depict its office as devoid of deeply troubling systemic issues like sexual harassment. Its recommendation to address the issues, though, is not through stricter enforcement of rules or the perfecting of one’s behavior. It’s to communicate when the time is right on with self-respect and compassion.

There is just so much love and care in every element of the Trainee, and I already know it’s gonna be a comfort show to return to again and again in the future because it’s intricately produced tone and its story just release the tangled knots of perfectionism in me without discouraging me from my desire to grow and improve. You can just tell it’s done by people who love their jobs and their work environment. How rare to see a workplace in media be simultaneously so realistic in its depiction and still so positive about the overall experience 🌻

[starlightandsunshine]

Lynchworthy Star Wars take no 2 of the day:

I don’t like the sequel trilogy personally but you know what? Kylo Ren’s storyline in tlj was good actually. Trying to use it to build a redemption arc cheapened both it and the characters involved

Like this guy is trying to be a bad guy right? He’s actively making all the wrong choices and deliberately plummeting down to make it worse for himself. And along comes this person who hates doesn’t like him. And they’re psychically connected by the make up of the universe

And at the start it’s really annoying that she’s connected to him. but then she tries to reach out a hand to him. She tries to help him climb up. And while she’s reaching down to pull him out he’s reaching up to try and pull her down. She’s trying so hard to help him get better and he decides that he wants power over love, greed over compassion.

He, like his grandfather before him, wants to try to have everything. And well that never works out, this is Star Wars. but he’s in the story so he doesn’t know that.

And the thing is this girl thinks it’s working, and like her teacher before her she ignores the advice of her mentor bc she thinks she knows better. And she’s wrong.

She gets there and he kills his master for power and asks her to join him. And she can’t. This isn’t what she wanted, she wanted to help him.

Where his grandfather chose power for love and let it corrupt him beyond recognition bc he wanted to have it all and then turned on his wife when she tried to stop him, Kylo Ren chooses power over love over and over and over again. He gets chance after chance and he always, deliberately, willingly chooses wrong.

And this makes Rey as a character stronger in turn. This teaches her that everyone makes a choice whether for good or for ill and that you cannot save someone who doesn’t want to be saved and wants to bring you down to them instead. but you might still die trying. Kylo Ren isn’t like Finn, he isn’t someone stuck in a bad situation with no choices that wants to do good. He wants power and he’ll do whatever he thinks he has to to get it. And now he wants her to be a part of that too.

And he fails at it. The more power he grabs for the more darkness he grasps, the more things slip through his fingers and leave him trembling in the dust of all that he’s wrought. He’s not sympathetic, he’s greedy and he’s trying to trick Rey into thinking his story is a tragedy of misunderstandings when it’s actually a wilful tragedy of choice. And that makes him a good character. Not a moral one. Not even necessarily a likeable one (ymmv). But an interesting one that has a lot to contribute to the story and the themes within.

Star Wars is about choices. Bad choices are choices too.

[chaoticbibuck]

just in case anyone was wondering what my thoughts on taking racist misogynist gerard and turning him into the “woe is me nobody likes me cause i’m mean” comedy relief

[marmotish]

Could you tell me more about your OC?

Freyja Young (artist’s rendition, 1989)

Born 18/11/1973 Glasgow, Scotland

Family

mother - Lidia Young née Rivera (d.1973) (half-blood)

father - Daniel Young (muggleborn)

older brother - Jacob Young

grandmother - Maria Soledad “Marisol” Rivera Santos

Pre-Hogwarts

first display of magic was at age 3 - levitation spell with bath toys. very nearly drowned/choked to death by her aunt for that.

quiet but restless child - prone to wandering

initially struggled academically at school

liked watching Paddington on TV. One of the only shows she could sit still long enough for.

was given a kitten for her 6th birthday. She called it Knickerbocker - “Knick” for short.

Hogwarts Years

started first year at age 10, making her the youngest in her year level.

sorted into Ravenclaw - was actually the last student to be sorted

Chaser for Ravenclaw Quidditch team

Fav subject - Ancient Runes

Least Fav Subject - Potions

Post Hogwarts

disappeared in the summer of 1991

had no wand for 3 years. forced her to become more proficient at wandless magic.

returned in summer of 1994 to a shattered home

went “into hiding/on the run” until 1997 - the start of the Second Wizarding War

fostered muggle child Francis after the end of the War - eventually adopted.

[putterphubase]

im rly enjoying the rebound a lot more than i ever imagined but i find it an interesting choice that in the beginning of the show after the new basketball team was formed i was thinking i was looking forward to get to know the team supporting characters more but unfortunately the more that they show the team the less i like them

[starrrbakerrr]

i love when a rina moment randomly pops in my head because i just feel so at peace, happy and content. we really won that against every off. and against the fans of two more popular ships that constantly invalidated rina and us. all we had was s2 delusions and tim’s vague words. trusting a showrunner is terrifying because 90% of the time they managed to mess up something and i can say rina is the first tv ship that didn’t disappoint me at all.

[mazojo]

Anthony having to witness the two people he loved the most (almost) die in his arms is actually so sick

[ask-nico-and-the-sides]

Ooooh boy. This is going to be intense

[sapphicgaygremlin]

i know darcy’s gender exploration wasn’t the main plot but even these small glimpses (cutting their hair, tara using they/them to refer to them when in the car with nick) mean so much god heartstopper is a gift for queers everywhere

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

i hate kevin ball. i’m disinterested in veronica fisher. they fucked up svetlana’s whole character by creating the throuple. the end.

[mikrrokosmos]

firstly, ummmmmmmmm YOUR HEADER MISS MA'AM???????????? HOBI ONE CHANCE PLEASE SIR JUST ONE CHANCE LIKE I PROMISE I WON'T EPICALLY FUMBLE, JUST A SINGULAR CHANCE LIKE—

now that i have sufficiently recovered ♡ i have some questions for you ♡ all based on my own degenerate taste ofc ofc

yun or come back to me? lonely or domodachi? tokyo or uhgood? what if... or arson? hangsang or more? blue side or on the street? d-day or what do you think? the last or amygdala? snooze or people pt. 2? who or like crazy? set me free pt. 2 or smeraldo garden marching band? slow dancing or fri(end)s? love me again or rainy days? too sad to dance or shot glass of tears? yes or no or please don't change? moon or abyss? the astronaut or i'll be there?

the ptd in la concert really was a date for the Looks, huh? and hobi in that picture in particular is just *chefs kiss*

yun or come back to me? lonely or domadochi? tokyo or uhgood? what if… or arson? hangsang or more? blue side or on the street? d-day or what to you think? the last or amygdala? snooze or people pt 2? who or like crazy? set me free pt 2 or smeraldo garden marching band? slow dancing or fri(end)s? love me again or rainy days? too sad to dance or shot glass of tears? yes or no or please don’t change? moon or abyss? the astronaut or i’ll be there?

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Endless Sea Between Us

sapphic fantasy romance between a witch who lives in a sea cave after her family died and was cast out from her village, and an banished mermaid who’s curious about humanity

they create a magical rune to swap species, both desiring the freedom each other’s homes promise

but when they start to grow closer the mer-turned-human is kidnapped by a witch-hunting prince and taken to his castle, and the witch must chase them down to save her

f/f, demi MC

[rainwingmarvel7]

AU 2 please

Omg thanks for the ask! I’m so glad you picked this one it’s been on my mind more than any of them recently ngl (it’s definitely my favorite one so far)

2: A Crown of Feathers and Gold

The basic premise of this AU is that Nadya is the one to marry Tommen, not Margaery. In the original fic (both the Collab and ATRF actually) Nadya is married to Jaime, but in this AU, Tywin decides it’s more advantageous for Tommen to marry the Queen Dowager of the North (Nadya) before he even has the chance to consider her marrying Jaime instead.

Nadya is not happy about it, but she knows that she doesn’t have a choice, and much like Margaery, she sees an opportunity to influence the future king to get what she wants (but in a different way than her cousin, I’ll get to that in a second).

After Joffrey dies in the Purple Wedding (Bc Olenna still goes through with it since she’s still getting one of her descendants on the throne and nobody likes Joffrey anyway), Nadya becomes the Queen Consort, and she is a lot more proactive than Margaery. She wants Tommen to be a good king, and she does whatever it takes to ensure that he is.

She convinces Tyrion not to kill Tywin (yet) bc she knows he’s a good Hand, as much as she hates him. She also refuses to allow Cersei to influence Tommen too much, and she immediately puts a stop to the High Sparrow and his shenanigans bc she knows that’s bad news.

She actually persuades Tommen to take the Lannister army North to retake Winterfell from the Boltons. My favorite moment I’ve come up with for the AU is actually from this plot point. After Nadya and Tommen reclaim Winterfell, they plan to execute Ramsay. Initially, Tommen is going to have one of his men do it, but Nadya convinces him to do it himself, telling him that “the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword”.

I think my favorite part of the AU though is the relationships. Nadya’s relationship with Tommen is incredibly interesting, as he is initially far more infatuated with her than she is with him (much like he and Margaery in the show), but he recognizes that she does not love him in the way that he loves her, at least not at first.

Of the few scenes that I have planned, there is one where Tommen asks Nadya if she loves him, and she replies that she does because he is her husband, but she is not in love with him. Tommen then asks her if she will ever love him the way that she loved Robb Stark, her first husband, and she responds that she does not know. I just think it’s a very emotionally aware moment for both of them that I love.

Another is for the end of the fic/show, during the Battle of King’s Landing (which is a bit different bc Tommen is still alive). When Daenerys enters the throne room of the Red Keep to dispose of Tommen and take her throne, Nadya puts herself between the Dragon Queen and her husband to protect him. She saves his life, and not for the first time.

Ultimately, things end well for everyone, and Nadya and Tommen continue to rule the Seven Kingdoms and eventually have a family and there are just generally good vibes all around.

(Also, there’s a bit of Alicole vibes between Nadya and Jaime, bc I love some good romantic tension between a queen and her knight and also Nadya x Jaime is my guilty pleasure ship for her)

[elequinoa-world]

I expected nothing watching queen charlotte but goddamnit here I am crying my heart out it was SO beautiful and well done well executed and god I hope they put the same care into the next seasons of the actual bridgerton show cause that was fucking perfect