#nic and luke and everyone else did not work this hard for you to stop watching the show altogether just because of a gender swap

[howbrightthemoon]

the comments on the bridgertonnetflix account

I--

what the fuck is going on

[the5thcellar]

I think fans are more upset than Nicola is. Plus it’s not affecting the ratings or views at all. I don’t think people want to acknowledge the fact that they both planned the PR. As soon as they got on the red carpet during the premiere on Wednesday they both started clearing things up “I touch everyone that way”, Luke stopped sitting close to nic, they only kept up the handholding for appearances, and they both knew he was going to go public with gf hence the distancing.

Antonia could have been meeting up with Luke majority of the time for all we know. Either way he made a decision and he wanted to make clear who his love is. He won’t be like Luke from the past where he posted a lot about his relationships, his page will be mostly about work, sprinkled in with some personal stuff. He may post A once just to once again and that’s he. But just know him going public and facing backlash for her already tells you what she means to him.

I do hope Nicola finds love soon.

I'm not sure how many times I need to make this clear but this isn't my stance and I didn't invite anyone to provide theirs. At no time did I say "what do you guys think? try to change my mind." 😂

I've laid out my personal views about this in the very first ask I received and in most of the other asks I've had since then.

I'm not sure what response you're seeking here. It certainly can't be validation. Hard disagree with everything you wrote just to be pedantic.

If you want to respond or argue with someone else please do so in comments of the post or find a more responsive forum.

[iwantthedean]

Out of the Blue

Summary: A series of random events turns out to be not so random.  Pairing: Dean x Nicole (Me)  Word Count: 2905 Warnings: Medical setting, gunshot wound.  Challenge: Ana’s “Shit My Patients Say” Challenge. Prompt: “Oh, that’s been there for years. Just don’t touch it and it’ll be fine.” @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms

Thanks to Andi, Angelina, and Taylor for encouraging me with this! It took a path at the end I wasn’t expecting, but if you want to see more, let me know! 

“Nic, you sure you’ve got this?” Jacey asked, shouldering her bag. “I’d stay, but if I miss another one of Luke’s basketball games …”

I smiled and assured her I would be fine closing the clinic on my own. “There’s not much stocking left to do, and then I’ll lock up and head home.”

“All right. I trust you,” she smiled. “Be safe. Text me when you’re home, if you think about it.”

I promised her that I would, then went back to stocking the few rooms in the small clinic. The hospital had opened the clinic just a few months before, for the low-income and uninsured population in town. Everyone in the ER took turns manning the clinic, and this week was my rotation. I had learned a lot in my few years working in the emergency room, and since I was getting ready to start physician assistant school, the mid-level providers who worked the clinic were pretty good about teaching me new things and letting me do more than I had been previously trained to do.

Thank God, because that night turned out to be a true test of my skills. Everything was stocked and my things were packed up. All I had to do was lock the back door, then I could leave out the front.

Except that when I opened the front door to leave, a tall man pushed his way inside. Instantly, my eyes went wide and I reached for the handgun in my purse. Thank God for a brother who had been a sniper and taught me how to shoot. The Glock 19 was probably larger than any gun I should have been carrying, but I loved the weight of it in my hand. Oh, and when it fired … Stop it, Nicole. No time for that now.

“Get out,” I ordered in a calm but stern voice.

The man held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. “Look, I’m not here to hurt you, I just – I need your help.”

He pointed to his side, and it was then that I saw the fresh bloodstain on his shirt. While I was distracted by the wound (what can I say, I get all giddy at the sight of blood and guts), he grabbed for the gun, ejected the magazine with one hand, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders with the other. I was now trapped with my back against his torso, squirming to be let go.

“Look, sweetheart, I really do need your help. I mean, this is a health clinic for shit’s sake. Was the gun really necessary?”

Pursing my lips, I elbowed him in the ribs – the good side, not the bloody side. I’m not Satan. His arm dropped from my shoulders, and I wrestled the gun from his hand. We both dove for the magazine; I landed underneath him but grabbed onto the magazine and loaded the gun. He was balanced carefully on top of me, one arm on either side, and looking somewhat amused. I noted how handsomely green his eyes were, and the bruises and cuts on his face, in the same moment I pressed the barrel of the gun against his chest, a couple inches above his still-bleeding wound.

“You’re getting blood on my scrubs,” I said in the same measured tone I had used to tell him to get out. “Get off of me and get out, or you’re going to need more than one wound looked after.”

He was starting to go pale and struggling for words – yikes. This guy wasn’t clowning around. I took the risk to glance down at his side and saw that the bleeding had been exacerbated by the action of fighting me for the gun.

“What happened?” I asked, not moving the Glock from where it was pressed into his ribs.

He swallowed hard. “’S a long story. All I know is that I’ve already lost a lot of blood, and if it doesn’t stop soon, I feel like I’m going to die.”

Two breaths later, I made my decision. I ejected the magazine on the gun, set both pieces to the side, then squirmed out from under him. How I helped that man up off the floor, I’m not really sure. Maybe the adrenaline of a good ole trauma. Like I said, blood and guts makes me giddy.

Once we were into an exam room, I helped him off with his jacket, the flannel he was wearing, and finally the olive-green t-shirt he had on. Damn it. He was even more good-looking with his shirt off.

There wasn’t much time to dwell on the man’s good looks. He had a long, deep laceration over his abdomen and side, from a couple inches directly under his ribcage, around his back to what EMTs sometimes refer to as the flank area of the body.

“You definitely need stitches.”

“Might be a bullet in there, too,” he groaned.

I frowned as I donned a pair of nitrile gloves. “What the fuck were you doing tonight?”

“Like I said, long story” he groaned as I examined the wound closer.

“I can sort of see the bullet, I think. We need to get it out and stitch this up. It’s outside of my training, really … how old is that scar on your back, by the way? It looks infected.”

“Oh, that’s been there for years. Just don’t touch it and it’ll be fine.” The handsome man shook his head. “You work here, you’ve seen them do stuff, I’m sure. You can do this. You have to do this. I can’t go anywhere else.”

I thought for a moment, then nodded. Instructing my patient to stay where he was at, I ran for the supply room, collect a lac tray, the largest jug of sterile saline solution we had, a lot of gauze, and some bandaging.

“This is going to hurt like a bitch,” I told him. “I’m not cleared to get into the medication storage.”

“It’s fine,” he said, shaking his head.

I carefully arranged all of the supplies on a tray, then took a deep breath and looked at my patient. I ran back for the supply room, and came back with an IV kit and a bag of fluids.

“Tell me what happened before I start,” I demanded.

His adrenaline was wearing off, and the pain was kicking in. I could tell because he was grimacing more often and, even though gravity was doing us a favor with him lying on his back, he was going pale despite the decrease in active blood loss.

He held up a hand. “Name’s Dean. Dean Winchester. You tell anybody that, I’m screwed.”

“I’m Nicole,” I replied, taking his outstretched hand. “I don’t think most people would really care if you told them that, but if you tell anyone I’m doing this for you, I could lose my entire career – one I haven’t even started yet.”

“Don’t worry, Nic,” Dean replied, immediately adopting one of my nicknames. “I’m good at keeping secrets. Like the one about what happened tonight. About how my brother and I were chasing the bad guys, and I got shot. Then, my brother tried to get the bullet out, because that’s usually how we handle things, but – ow!”

“IV is in,” I announced, hooking up the line and setting the micro-drip. “Sorry. Never done that on my own before and I needed you to not be watching me.”

Dean’s face melted from concern to relief. “But it’s in?”

I nodded. “Yeah. So your brother tried to get the bullet out and clearly that didn’t work. How did you get shot? Shouldn’t you be talking to the police?”

“Believe me, the police don’t deal with the kind of bad guys I deal with.”

I was too concentrated on deciding just how I was going to do all of this without killing Dean to ask any more questions. After exploring the wound a little more, I had a plan of attack. I donned new gloves, pulled my hair back, and found a surgical mask and eye protection.

“What, is my blood going to be spurting everywhere or something?” Dean asked with a chuckled.

I glanced at him from the side of the bed. I was positioning the patient bed to a good level for me to be able to work at a good angle, but I couldn’t answer him. I could see the bullet and it looked like it was relatively superficial, I mean for a gunshot wound, but that didn’t mean there weren’t arteries that had been nicked and were going to bleed out the second I removed the bullet – arteries I couldn’t see. For whatever reason, my nerves were mounting the closer I got to actually digging that bullet out and stitching Dean up.

I opened the forceps, pointed the focus light at Dean’s wound, draped around the rest of it, and dimmed the rest of the lights in the room. I sat down to get to work, and finally looked at him. It was possible he was pale from blood loss and shock, but he looked just as nervous as I felt.

“You’re still sure you want me to do this?”

Dean nodded. “I know you’re nervous, but I can tell from the way you carry yourself that you’re confident enough to pull this off. Just don’t kill me, okay?”

His quiet laughter was full of nerves and a real plea not to kill him. I gave him a small smile he couldn’t see behind the mask and nodded. “I’ll do my best. Ready?”

“Ready.”

With one more deep breath, I got a good grip on the forceps and the small retractor. I glanced at Dean once, then focused on the task in front of me.

“Wait!” I said, just before the tools touched his open flesh.

“Fuck, Nicole! Really?” Dean exclaimed.

“Sorry,” I said. “But you need to know, this is really going to hurt. I mean, your brother already tried so I know you know that. But you may pass out. That doesn’t mean you’re dying. So you can’t think you’re going to die. Okay?”

Dean nodded and set his head back on the pillow. He looked up at the ceiling, swallowed hard, and then closed his eyes. I closed my eyes, said a quick, silent prayer, and set to work.

How that man got through me digging a bullet out of his body without screaming so loud someone called the cops, I’ll never know. By the time I got to it, I was getting glimpses of his intestines. I dumped as much sterile water as I could, flushed out the area, and finally felt some degree of relief when the bullet made a quiet tink on the metal tray beside me.

“Bullet’s out,” I announced. “Dean, it was in there deep. I don’t see any internal bleeding, but you really need to watch this. If you starting getting symptoms of infection or –”

I realized then that he had indeed passed out. With another silent prayer that he would wake up, I set to working stitching up the open wound. It took me almost an hour; I hated that he was exposed to the open air for that long, but Jacey always left her signature stamp in an open drawer. I could type up a prescription for pain-killers and antibiotics, put her stamp on it, and pray to God I didn’t lose my job.

Dean came to just before I finished the last couple superficial stitches. He asked how everything went, and I explained again about watching out for infection, and added things to look out for, in case he did start bleeding internally. I told him to lay there while I bandaged him up, then I set to work cleaning up the tray and getting rid of any evidence he had been there.

“Eat this, drink this,” I said, handing him a plate with graham crackers smeared with peanut butter and a cold soda. “Otherwise you’re liable to pass out on your way home.”

Dean did as he was told while I once again gathered my things. My gun had been laying on the floor in the front lobby all that time; thank God I had the sense to retrieve it before we left.

After Dean finished off the soda and graham crackers, I could tell that his color was returning. I checked his vital signs, just for good measure, and breathed my millionth sigh of relief that night when they were all within normal limits.

“Can I ask you a question?” I said as the two of us walked out to my car. I had no idea where Dean had parked.

He nodded. “Pretty sure answering a question is the least I can do after you basically saved my life.”

With a smile, I continued. “Why did you come to me?”

“Didn’t want to go to an actual hospital, since they have to report. The guy at the gas station where I’m parked pointed me over here, so I took a chance. It was one worth taking.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t kill you,” I laughed. “On that note, sorry about the gun thing. And elbowing you in the ribs. I get sassy in my scrubs.”

“I can tell,” Dean laughed. “Thank you, Nicole. For everything.”

“You’re welcome.” Suddenly, I wasn’t ready for him to leave yet. “Do you need a ride back to your car? Or maybe a place to crash tonight?”

“Are you trying to seduce me?” Dean teased, raising a brow.

I rolled my eyes. “In your dreams, Winchester. Just making sure my patient is taking care of.”

He licked his lips. “Well, if you’re offering, I might take you up on it. And not because of the seduction. Lawrence is good drive from here.”

“Lawrence,” I repeated. “How’d you make it down here? Kansas City is way closer.”

“On a hunch,” Dean shrugged.

I clicked the unlock button on my key fob. “Get in. And don’t bleed on my car.”

Dean laughed and got in the passenger seat. We stopped for fast food on the way back to my small house, and I gave him a quick tour before he sat at the table to eat. I changed my clothes and washed my face, then joined him at the table.

“I’m glad you have an appetite,” I commented.

“Me too,” Dean said. “But when are you going to talk to me about something other than medical talk?”

I shrugged. “It’s kind of my life. I mean, if you’re not going to tell me anything more about what happened to you tonight …”

“You’re smart, Nicole. I’m sure you can figure there’s a good reason why I haven’t told you any of it.”

Dean’s comment definitely wasn’t threatening, but I noticed a note of sadness. I was tempted to push the issue, to encourage him to talk to me, but I hardly knew the man. Hell, a few hours ago, I’d held him at gunpoint in an attempt to defend myself. I couldn’t ask him to indulge me any more information than I was willing to give myself. He held eye contact with me; it felt like his eyes were pleading with me for something I couldn’t name.

“It’s late,” I said, crumpling up my burger wrapper, “and I’ll probably have a lot to answer for in the morning at work. I’ll show you the guest room.”

“Nicole.”

My name on his lips stopped me in my tracks, but I couldn’t turn around. Whatever had been there in his eyes sparked something in my soul, it felt like, and that wasn’t something I was prepared to respond to. I felt his arms wrap around me from behind. My body leaned against his, almost as an involuntary response to having Dean so near to me.

“I don’t know why I felt like I had to come here instead of Kansas City, or why I chose your clinic, but I think it was for a reason.”

Dean’s voice in my ear, his breath on my cheek, and his strong arms still holding onto me made me weak in the knees. Not that long ago, I’d held his life in my hands, but now – I couldn’t explain it any more than to say that it felt like he was holding my life in his hands.

“I don’t know you,” I said, turning in his arms and stepping away. “I don’t know why I did for you what I did, but now you’re here and I don’t want you to leave. What the hell is that?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I know I don’t want to leave.” Stepping forward again, Dean placed a hand on either side of my face. His lips lightly brushed mine, and even that millisecond of contact made it feel as though the entire universe shifted. “What do you say? Should we figure out what this is?”

You could lose everything. I’m not sure where that thought came from, but I knew it wasn’t my own brain. I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, tried to maintain my breathing, and let my eyes wander over the apartment. The choice was mine, when at the same time, it felt as if I only had one choice.

“Yes,” I finally said. “Let’s figure it out.”

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1299

Monday, February 3, 2020

 I had a busy Sunday yesterday with hauling boxes of comic books back and forth from the Walkley Arena where Jee-Riz Comics & Appraisals had another successful day selling old comics. I want to thank my partner Penny for all her help and my other partner Chris for all his hard work organising everything and making my job of manual labourer and security so much easier. Then it was home to rest before a yummy chicken dinner with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts while watching the Super Bowl. I stayed up way past my bedtime to see if the Kansas City Chiefs would win (SPOILER ALERT) and they did. I was happy for them as it had been 50 years since they had been to the big game.

Doctor Strange #2 - Mark Waid (writer) Kev Walker (art) Java Tartaglia (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Wrecker was introduced last issue and he's joined by his partner in crime Thunderball to battle Doctor Strange. This time Stephen has a surprise up his sleeve to help him defeat the bad guys. It seems that someone is giving super villains magical weapons and Doc is going to find out who. I like this new more assertive Sorcerer Supreme.

 Something is Killing the Children #5 - James Tynion IV (writer) Werther Dell'Edera (art) Miquel Muerto (colours) AndWorld Design (letters). I thought that this was the climax where Erica dispatches the beast. She triumphs but then it's uh-oh. The hunt continues. This new twist will keep me reading.

 Action Comics #1019 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Klaus Janson (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Lex Luthor and Leviathan (if you haven't been reading all the Event Leviathan books his secret identity is revealed here) team up to kill Superman. Their weapon of Superman destruction is none other than the Red Cloud. The art is really bothering me now. When I can't make out Lex Luthor in some pages that's just bad. John Romita Jr. should not be drawing costumed super hero comic books anymore.

 The Immortal Hulk #30 - Al Ewing (writer) Joe Bennett (pencils) Ruy Jose, Belardino Brabo & Cam Smith (inks) Paul Mounts (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Simple Hulk escapes from the belly of the beast just in time to see Xemnu coming to save the day. Roxxon is framing the Hulk for all the death and destruction so what happens next should be good.

 Jessica Jones: Blind Spot #2 - Kelly Thompson (writer) Mattia De Iulis (art) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Now I'm really hooked. There's a mystery within a mystery what with Jess waking up from a bullet to the head. Add Misty Knight and Elsa Bloodstone into the mix and this story is one I'd pay money to read.

 Avengers #30 - Jason Aaron (writer) Ed McGuinness & Francesco Manna (pencils) Mark Morales & Francesco Manna (inks) Jason Keith (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Yes, the Starbrand is reborn. The big fight is between the Avengers and everyone else that wants the Starbrand to be destroyed. It's a power equal to the Phoenix Force and must not be wielded. But nope, this baby is being delivered no matter what. I rolled my eyes when the three heralds gave gifts to the baby. Way to rip off the Bible Jason. I wonder who's going to raise this kid?

 Fallen Angels #6 - Bryan Hill (writer) Szymon Kudranski (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Psylocke soars for the win. Apoth never had a chance no matter how much the villain gloated. X-23 gets handed the leadership of the team so if they go on another mission I'll be there.

 X-Force #6 - Benjamin Percy (writer) Stephen Segovia (art) Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). New plant based super villains are introduced this issue so you won't want to miss this exciting development. There will be no more stars and garters as Beast gets super serious. Could be a prelude of Hank becoming a bad guy.

 Amazing Spider-Man: Daily Bugle #1 - Mat Johnson (writer) Mack Chater, Francesco Mobili & Scott Hanna (art) Dono Sanchez-Almara & Protobunker (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). If you're curious about how the good old Daily Bugle is doing this 5-issue mini is for you. Editor-in-Chief Robbie Robertson makes some changes and they include Peter Parker. There are three weird elements in this first issue that intrigued me enough to want to read the second issue. One involves Koi Boy, a friend of Squirrel Girl's. I've never heard of him before. I want to see what other weirdness shows up.

 Ravencroft #1 - Frank Tieri (writer) Angel Unzueta (art) Rachelle Rosenberg & Dono Sanchez-Almara (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). The one-shots leading up to this 5-issue mini were good enough for me to want to read this first issue to find out where they were going with this Institute for the Criminally Insane. The good guys are Mercedes "Misty" Knight and John "Man Wolf" Jameson. The bad guys, well judge for yourself. Would you consider Grizzly to be insane? One of Misty's colleagues is a certifiable homicidal maniac. His alter ego wears green and throws pumpkin bombs. Even his presence didn't turn me off. It wasn't until Mayor Wilson Fisk introduces the rest of the staff that I decided to shut this thing down. Not even the mysterious dweller in the dark is going to get me to read the rest of this.

 Detective Comics Annual #3 - This $4.99 US issue is dedicated to the dearly departed Alfred Pennyworth.

The first story by Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Sumit Kumar (art) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) & Tom Napolitano (letters) has an old MI-6 agent who worked with Alfred asking Bruce for help to bring in a traitor to the British Empire. It must be the week where we find out the real names of beloved characters. I didn't know that Misty Knight's real name was Mercedes and here we find out that it's Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth.

The second story by Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Eduardo Risso (art & colours) & Tom Napolitano (letters) tells the origin story of Batman's costume.

I am really disappointed that there hasn't been a proper funeral issue for Alfred in either Batman or Detective. I think the character deserved to be honoured more.

 Avengers of the Wastelands #1 - Ed Brisson (writer) Jonas Scharf (art) Neeraj Menon (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This story takes place in the world where Old Man Logan came from. Don't get too excited, he's dead. I'm not familiar with these characters but you don't have to be to understand that they band together to fight Doctor Doom who is running rampant across the land with his army killing anyone who won't submit to his rule. A guy named Dwight has the Ant Man costume. Dani Cage, daughter of Jessica and Luke, has Thor's hammer and there's the son of Bruce Banner who is a Hulk. These Avengers will defy Doctor Doom. I liked the surprise appearance of another hero at the end so I'm going to keep reading this 5-issue mini.

 Deadpool: The End #1 - Joe Kelly (writer) Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Victor Olazaba (inks) Ruth Redmond (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). I read this because Joe Kelly wrote it. I like how he writes Deadpool. This one-shot has many endings and Deadpool doesn't die. I didn't know that Wade has a daughter named Ellie.

 Suicide Squad #2 - Tom Taylor (writer) Bruno Redondo (art) Adriano Lucas (colours) Wes Abbott (letters). This book is about trust. Trust between team members, all of whom are super villains. Some of them hate each other. Trust that the Squad does what their overseers want them to do. All that trust leaves plenty of room for plot twists and I love that. The team goes on a mission to free a politician and one team member is left out of the loop. This issue was a lot of fun.

 Hawkeye: Freefall #2 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Otto Schmidt (art) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). There's a Spider-Man cameo here that makes me think Matthew Rosenberg would be a good fit for Amazing. He does snappy banter well. The shocking twist at the end means I have to keep reading this series. I would anyways because I'm having fun too.

 Thor #2 - Donny Cates (writer) Nic Klein (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). In order to save the universe, Thor must be Galactus's herald and guide him to worlds that he can feed on. Donny Cates proves he's a worthy writer this issue as Thor and Galactus fight over an inhabited planet before Galactus can eat. The planet eater must have five meals before he's strong enough to stop the coming universal catastrophe. Thor just wants to save any sentient beings before Galactus chows down. The surprise appearance of a friend to Thor and a foe to Galactus has me anticipating the next issue with relish and hot sauce.

 X-Men #5 - Jonathan Hickman (writer) R.B. Silva (art) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Cyclops sends three mutants on a mission into enemy territory and one of them is X-23. I know it's futile but I really hope they change her and Logan's costumes. I hate the pointy flaps on their head gear. The spies are going into The Vault which seems to have appeared out of the blue. I don't remember any reference to this place before. There's a big twist in The Vault as time moves differently there. By the end of this issue X-23, Darwin and Synch have been inside for three months and five days or five hundred and thirty-seven years Vault Time. I don't think they're coming out alive.

 Conan the Barbarian #12 - Jason Aaron (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). The Life and Death of Conan concludes. Does the King of Aquilonia die? Does the evil god Razazel walk the earth again? Read this to find out. I was happy with how this story ended.