#i think this is my 'dr watching medical drama' moment

[master-gatherer]

I have

So many thoughts

On the Master's blood harvesting plant

#i think this is my 'dr watching medical drama' moment #that is woefully inefficient #and that is not how youd store your cattle #even accounting for the inhumanity they are packed way too close together #theyre gonna hurt themselves and then your product is all on the floor #he should have studied industrial agriculture #even the worst meat processing plant watches for injured cattle #injured cattle makes for bad meat #buffy posting #animal cruelty #i guess #this is a thought exercise for an evil blood harvesting factory dont actually do it

[george-weasleys-girl]

GWG Ramblings

The Tommy Westphall Universe

Within the Harry Potter Fandom, there is a theory that the entire series was nothing more than the escapist imaginings of a severely abused Harry locked in a cupboard under the stairs. It's a theory that Rowling, when asked about it, neither confirmed it nor denied it:

"I think that’s a fabulous point, and that speaks so perfectly to the truth to the books, because I had it suggested to me more than once that Harry actually did go mad in the cupboard, and that everything that happened subsequently was some sort of fantasy life he developed to save himself."

It's a hotly contested theory among HP fans and understandably so.

And while we could argue this theory all day, there's only person who'd really know.

Tommy Westphall.

~•~

Tommy Westphall was an autistic character in the 80s medical drama, St. Elsewhere. He was a minor character, appearing in only 15 episodes.

The show centered around St. Eligius, a teaching hospital in Boston. It was a much loved and highly lauded show, running for six seasons and winning a dozen Emmys. But none of that matters. The only thing anyone cares about anymore is the final scene of the final episode.

In the scene, the medical director, Dr. Donald Westphall and his father (another doctor from the series) enter the living room where Tommy is sitting and holding a snow globe. Donald has just arrived home from work and is wearing construction-worker gear. He and his dad watch Tommy for a few moments, then Donald turns to his father and says, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. Here's my son. I talk to him, I don't even know if he can hear me. He sits there all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. What's he thinking about?"

The camera then zooms into the snow globe, and inside, we see a tiny version of St. Eligius Hospital, implying that the entire series was a figment of Tommy's imagination.

Pretty wild, huh?

Well, it gets wilder.

A doctor from St. Elsewhere, Dr. Roxanne Turner was in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street.

Not a big deal. Crossovers happen all the time. Except...

If Dr. Turner was made up by Tommy, does that mean he dreamed up Homicide too?

Then, on top of that, Detective John Munch, one of the main characters on Homicide moved to Law and Order after Homicide ended. Detective Munch went on to appear in episodes of The X-Files, Arrested Development, and The Wire.

All of which took place in the mind of one child.

But it doesn't stop there. In one episode, the doctors of St. Elsewhere went out for drinks at a local bar in Boston. The bar in question was Cheers. The Cheers. Making Cheers also one of Tommy's daydreams.

Then Cheers spun off Fraiser, which crossed over with Caroline in the City, which crossed over with Mad About You, which crossed over with Seinfeld. Further expanding Tommy's vast imaginary universe.

Now, at this point, I'm sure you're wondering how Harry Potter fits into all this.

It all has to do with the show Supernatural.

So, remember how Detective Munch from Homicide also appeared in X-Files, thus placing the infamous sci-fi show into the Tommy Westphall's ever-expanding universe?

Well, in X-Files, there is a Lariat car rental company. Later, in Supernatural's episode, "Time is On My Side," we see Lariat Car Rentals, (which btw, is also featured in Breaking Bad and Veronica Mars).

Then, in the Supernatural episode, "Regarding Dean", Rowena MacLeod, a witch, suggests using the Obliviate spell to help Dean with his memory.

The Obliviate spell, of course, comes from Harry Potter, thus indicating that the entire HP universe is just another one of Tommy's countless daydreams.

(Btw, in addition to this connection, there are two others that I haven't yet had time to research.)

- In the show Galavant, which has been linked to Tommy's universe, one of the characters, Xanax, mentions the Petrificus Totalus spell from The Philosopher's Stone.

- Then, in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie trilogy, a montage features The New York Star, the newspaper that Carrie Bradshaw worked for in Sex and the City (also a figment of Tommy's imagination.)

But that's not all. Three other newspapers are in the same montage, The New York Chronicle, The New York Gazette, and The New York Clarion.

Each of these papers has been featured in other shows and movies linked to Tommy's universe, such as:

-The Twilight Zone

-Beverly Hills 90210

-I Love Lucy

-Citizen Kane

-Growing Pains

-The Pride of the Yankees

-Felicity

-The Untouchables

...just to name a few.

To date, 419 shows have been traced back to Tommy Westphall.

And that doesn't count movie connections, which, btw, includes the entire MC Universe and the Aliens Franchise.

Let's start with the MC Universe.

In Avengers: Infinity War, we discover that Tobias Funke is part of the Collector's collection. Tobias Funke was a character from Arrested Development, which crossed over with Homicide which crossed over with St. Elsewhere.

As far as Aliens goes, it gets a little more complicated.

In St. Elsewhere, the character Dr. Mark Craig mentions that B.J. Hunicutt from the series M.A.S.H. was a former colleague.

Then, as mentioned earlier, the doctors of St. Eligius went to Cheers. One of the characters in Cheers is Fraiser, the titular character of the show Fraiser.

During his radio show, Fraiser receives a call from John Hemingway, a character from the John Laroquette Show.

The bus stop in front of the office in the John Laroquette show was built by Yoyodyne.

Yoyodyne is a client of Wolfram and Hart, a law firm featured in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (as well as Angel, The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai, Star Trek, Firefly, Red Dwarf, Dollhouse and Bones).

Another client of Wolfram and Hart is Weyland-Yutani, which built weapons and ships in Aliens.

So, that means M.A.S.H., Aliens, Buffy and all the aforementioned shows and movies exist within the same universe. Tommy Westphall's universe.

So, yeah...

To quote one reddit user:

"Forget the Matrix. We're all living in Tommy Westphall's mind."

If you're curious, here is a masterlist of all the TV shows that have been traced back to Tommy Westphall.

@milivanili99 @fancy-pantaloons @turvi @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @georgie-weasley @kaysau2510 @hanne-montana @rhunew @greenapplegrass @loca4moony @whotfskai @sierraluvzz @lillisummers

#i don't know how to tag this #tommy westphall #tommy westphall universe #harry potter #supernatural #buffy the vampire slayer #mc universe #aliens #star trek #firefly #and damn near every tv show and movie ever

[verybadatwriting]

The Healer 3

Teen!ReaderxAvengers

Summary: Y/n helps heal the Rift caused by the Sokovia Accords.

Warnings: Injuries, medical stuff (no needles)

Notes:

Gn!reader

Word count: 726

Two weeks after you got to the Tower, after you had gotten a hold of the rhythm, you learned most people’s names, and you learned more about the Cap Vs. Tony rift. Today you were hanging out in the living room People Watching. 

It was interesting to observe how people went about their daily life. Even though you knew the Avengers probably weren’t the most normal sample, it was still fascinating. Today you fixated on one guy. He walked with leg braces and seemed bitter towards Steve’s side of the team.

He sat with his back towards you, watching the news. From here you could see the problem was in his spine. The injury glowed gold, as all do. Focusing even more you could make out exactly what the problem was. You closed your eyes and focused on this sixth ‘injury’ sense you had.

Floating in your mind’s eye, you could see the problem in detail. It seemed like some blunt-force trauma had nearly completely crushed the spine, and thus the connections to the legs. It would take about three hours for you to completely fix. For him, it would never heal.

Further investigation led to the realization that he was probably in a lot of pain. Despite still having his legs attached, he was suffering from phantom limb pain. That, along with the stress of relying on his upper body was a life of pain.

“Y/n?” A voice asked. You opened your eyes. The man was still in his chair. 

“Yeah?” You asked,

“Could you grab the remote?”

“Sure.” You hopped up and brought it to him. He switched the channel to some cop drama.

“Okay,” You said during a commercial break, “This is gonna sound a little weird, but please bear with me.”

He nodded, slightly unsure.

“So, has Stark explained my powers?” 

“Not in great detail, why do you ask?”

“Uh…” You hesitated and then quickly replied. “Because I think I can heal you. Also what’s your name?” A moment of shocked silence.

“I thought… Huh. It’s James Rhodes. Are you sure? I’ve had this since over a year ago, it’s not the type of thing that heals. Doesn’t it just transfer to you?” 

“I’ve healed way older stuff than that, it’ll be fine.” You bluffed.

“That would just shift being paralyzed to you.”

“Nope. I can fix almost anything. I once dragged a guy off of death’s doorstep.”

“When would you do it?”

“I was thinking we could head down to the Med Bay right now, unless you have other plans.” And so you two walked to the Med Bay. You wanted to be there so you could update Dr. Cho on his condition, and so that she’d be there in case you needed pain meds or something similar. Also, she’d never seen your powers in action before and was very interested.

She hooked both of you up to machines that monitored seemingly everything. Rhodes laid face down on a medical examination table, and you sat in a raised chair beside him. Slowly you set your hands on his lower back, and you both felt a warm sensation as the injury was lifted from one body and flowed into another. 

“Describe the feeling.” Dr. Cho said, watching the screens, the charts, you and Rhodes all at the same time.

“It’s warm.” Rhodes said.

“Like a glow.” You added.

“It’s like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.” 

"Keep talking." She prompted.

“I can’t feel anything waist-down.” You laughed, “This is up there for one of the weirdest sensations out there. It’s not even tingly like pins and needles. I can feel my spine already repairing itself. Only about two hours and fifty-eight minutes left!” You said cheerfully.

“It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever felt.” He paused, and clarified, “Feeling after not feeling for so long is weird.”

“Can you sit up, James?” Dr. Cho asked.

“I think so.” And sure enough, he sat up. Dr. Cho looked on in amazement.

“This is a truly wonderful gift, Y/n.” She said.

“Mhmm.” You hummed, in a considerable amount of pain.

 During hour one you regained some feeling in your legs. 

In hour two the pain faded.

Half an hour after that you could stand in place.

The third hour was devoted to re-learning how to walk.

Hour four was spent planning how to best surprise Tony.

Part 2, Part 4

#war machine #james rhodes #james rhodes x teen!reader #avengersxteen!reader #teen reader #avengers #marvel #marvel x teen!reader #avengers x y/n #marvel x reader #medicine #i like how superpowers and the medical world interact #like sometimes superheros just *survive* getting stabbed #or other times they decide to be cool and accidentally release a deadly alien disease #it's short but sweet #gn!reader

[nthngtoseehere-blog]

Dramas/movies I've finished (or 'finished')

I've watched enough east Asian dramas/movies that I've tripped my brain’s "must make a list" switch. Updated 3/28

Blue = favorites

Also:

Dramas I'm watching / want to watch

Dramas I dropped

Dramas:

2gether the Series (Thai)

I guess a lot of people hate this and don't think the leads have any chemistry at all? But I actually loved them. It's not a hot-and-heavy kind of chemistry; it's very sweet and kind of innocent, but not facile. On the other hand, they were all I liked about the drama.

Ai Long Nhai (Thai)

This is the most ridiculous drama, and it brings me so much joy. Nothing hurts, everything is beautiful. Nhai is a precious scatterbrained bean, and Ai falls in love at first sight. All of the things about Nhai that drive other people crazy just make Ai go all fond and soft. I smiled so much watching this that my face hurt.

A League of Nobleman (Chinese)

Good but definitely felt like it was missing scenes. OT3 Lan Jue/Zhang Ping/Wang Yan!

Bad Buddy (Thai)

Wow this is good! It's Romeo and Juliet with some West Side Story thrown in. The actors are fantastic, and watching how they progress from sort-of-enemies to committed boyfriends is wonderful.

Bed Friend (Thai)

OMG Uea the sharp-edged traumatized bean, and King green-flagging all over except for that one moment where he needed to have his head flushed in a toilet for reacting in the absolute worst way. I love this show A LOT. It's not a perfect rendition of a young man who has suffered a lot of abuse in his life, but it handles that element really well (therapy and medication FTW), and the romance is sweet and sexy.

Between Us (Thai)

I liked the first half a lot, but didn't like Team very much after they got together. His personality/behavior changed; he was, IDK, tougher? earlier, which I liked a lot more. However, I LOVE Win so much I can't even.

Bad Guys (Korean)

There were several moments when certain things almost made me nope out (Oh Gu Tak’s entire self; my overwhelming desire to cut Jung Moon’s hair so that his one eye wouldn’t be perpetually covered up; the detective lady whose name I never bothered to catch), but I was so glad I finished it. Park Hae Jin in eps 9 – 11 blew me away; and the ending was kinda dark but in a way that was so satisfying.

Be Loved In House: I Do (Taiwanese)

Not my favorite Taiwanese bl, but not bad.

Beyond Evil (Korean)

Wow, so much going on. The characters developed beautifully, even though Juwon went through a bit of a bratty phase. I loved the mystery.

The Blood of Youth (Chinese)

I loved this so much. THE FOUR WAY BROMANCE omg. And the way the ML slowly but surely dismantled the villains' plans! He met every set-back with a “well, that’s unfortunate, but I can fix it.” It was great, even though the romance they shoe-horned in for the ML was annoying.

Dangerous Drugs of Sex (Japanese)

I watched this because I was curious. It was... Hmm. Well, all I can say is, if you too become curious, make sure you pay attention to the reasons it's 18+, and then assume it's going to be even more f*cked up than it sounds.

Dr. Romantic 2 (Korean)

Honestly I watched this for the Seo Woo Jin whump (Ahn Hyo Seop does suffering so attractively), but since doctor shows otherwise make me nauseous I didn’t watch the last couple of episodes. But I really liked the various relationships among the different characters.

Duoluo Continent (Chinese)

Watched this for Xiao Zhan. I’ve never watched anything like this outside of having caught a glimpse of the Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh cartoons my kid watched, and it was...different. The FL was so irritating, but I wasn’t burned out on this kind of FL yet when I watched this so it was fine.

En of Love: Love Mechanics (Thai)

Too short! The fact that is was remade with most of the same cast and an expanded story makes this one feel almost like a pilot. It was definitely good enough to make me track down the longer version (which I'm currently watching). YinWar are really engaging actors.

Fish Upon the Sky (Thai)

Same actors as in Never Let Me Go, but this one is a comedy. The main character is a high maintenance nerd who goes through a glow-up that almost no one really notices (because he's STILL a high maintenance nerd) except the guy who has had a crush on him forever. Of course it's a guy he thinks is terrible. I loved it. Which is weird because I generally hate comedies.

Handsome Siblings (Chinese)

I enjoyed it mainly because it’s ridiculous.

He is Psychometric (Korean)

Super cute, comfort show. The twists and turns were great. I loved the characters. Side note: the actor who played young Kang Sung Mo did an amazing job. I actually had to stop at one point and Google the cast to make sure the show hadn’t somehow managed to make the older actor look like a teenager because the younger actor absolutely nailed the older actor’s take on the character. (Turns out the younger actor is the ML in The Uncanny Counter! In which I also love him.)

Healer (Korean)

OMG I love this show. So much. I even loved the romance. I wrote a post about it. (Did I go looking for Ji Chang Wook’s filmography after watching this? Yes, yes I did.)

HIStory 4: Trapped (Taiwanese)

Getting into bl drama is a lot like getting into bl manga/manhwa: requires accepting that dramas with action/mystery/SFF are few and far between. (I would also add "dramas with adults" but there seem to be more and more of those these days.) This was one of the first bl dramas I found that wasn't just a romance, and I was SO EXCITED. It's a little cheesy, but I loved it. The cop/mafioso romance (which is also a grumpy cat/sunshine puppy romance) between the leads is a lot of fun. And it has what might be my absolute favorite side pairing: the always-smiling assassin and his adorable tiny cop boyfriend (a sunshine velociraptor/sunshine puppy pairing, if you will).

Hotel Del Luna (Korean)

This show is amazing! Jang Man Wol stewing in rage and ennui for a thousand years only to have everything turned upside down by a stubborn, good-hearted puppy-man who she ironically stuck herself with. The slow, heartbreaking, breath-catching reveal of Man Wol’s past. The range of creepy, sad, funny, heart-warming ghost stories. The characters. The production quality! Ah, so good.

If You Wish Upon Me (Korean)

Another OMG I LOVE THIS. Ji Chang Wook is so good at “sweet, tough, vulnerable, and a good guy despite being raised by wolves” characters. I did cry semi-regularly due to the nature of the setting, but while I usually avoid things that make me cry, this was good crying. And so worth it. Also, the FL is a hoot, and a BAMF when she takes on the ML's abusive ex.

The Imperial Coroner (Chinese)

Adorable nerds falling in love over corpses in ancient China WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE.

Jade Dynasty (Chinese)

I get why people don’t like this, but I did. It was a silly, sweet, fun story and it only required a time commitment of an hour and some.

Joseon Attorney: A Morality (Korean)

I wanted to like this more than I did, because Woo Do Hwan. Loved him. Favorite part was when he was imprisoned and being tortured and someone came to visit him in his cell and he was fidgeting and fussing with the filthy straw while he talked with them. Like. Oh honey. WTF are you doing, just have a good cry and take a nap before your next torture session my babie. But I got kind of bored? As soon as we found out what happened to his sister I gave up and fast-forwarded through the rest so I could at least see what happened.

Jun & Jun (Korean)

I had to be in the right mood to watch this (open to a silly office romance with ALL the tropes), but when I did finally watch it I loved it. There is second (and third) lead syndrome, but all three of the men in love with Lee Jun are likeable, and I honestly would have been happy with Lee Jun choosing any of them. Also, Lee Jun is the most precious bean.

Lawless Lawyer (Korean)

I struggled through the middle of this. I’m not a huge fan of how in Korean shows everything always goes to absolute shit for the main character(s) mid-way through. I mean, I don’t mind that element of storytelling in general; it’s the way it’s so devastating in so many of these shows. This one hit me when I was in the wrong frame of mind, I think. But I’m glad I stuck it out because the way the villain was ultimately taken down was fantastic.

Love and Redemption (Chinese)

OMG LOVE. Serious, serious love. I wrote a post about this.

Love by Chance (Thai)

Ehhh. I ended up fast-forwarding through all of it except the Ai/Pete stuff. That is a great relationship, though. Pete has internalized politeness to an adorable degree, and is sweet despite having been badly burned; Ai went from "uninterested in dating anyone at all but assumed straight" to "oh I'm in love with this guy? I must be gay. Cool."

Love for Love’s Sake (Korean)

This was a sweet show. The concept was clever, and the way it held onto its secrets until almost the end worked really well.

Love in the Air (Thai)

I tried watching this about a year ago - first Thai drama, first bl drama - and I got through the first arc and quit, and didn't go back to bl or Thai dramas for literal months. It was mostly due to the production quality, the cheesiness, and all of the pouting Rain does. But I went back to it recently, after watching A LOT of Thai bl, and I actually love it? Still cheesy, still wishing they could have invested in a boom mic, but I can handwave that now I guess. I really, really love the second story arc, about PaiSky. Sky is a great character, and Prapai goes through character growth! Starts out a pushy, cocky playboy who thinks it's cute to stalk the guy he likes, ends up being a compassionate, responsible boyfriend.

Mad Dog (Korean)

MORE LOVE. This was the kdrama that caused me to fall down the rabbit hole of kdramas in general. I’ve watched this three times. The found family element, the character journey that especially Kim Min Joon but also Choi Kang Woo go through – help, so good. And what a great introduction to Woo Do Hwan. I wrote a post.

Maiden Holmes (Chinese)

This is like...if your favorite, heart-warming, Jane Austen-inspired romance drama was a mystery set in ancient China and had cool fight scenes. Comfort food.

Manner of Death (Thai)

This is barely a bl (very few bl tropes); it's more of a mystery with romance between the two leads who are both guys. Very good, if a little cheesy in places. And let's not talk about Tan's marriage proposal because wtf dude.

Memorist (Korean)

I watched this early in my exploration of kdramas and didn’t like it for some reason; I fast-forwarded through a lot of it. But I think I might have just not been in the right mood before, because I tried it again and it was excellent! The twists and turns of the mystery, the way things that seemed unrelated turned out to be all connected, was awesome.

Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But To Kiss! (Japanese)

This was adorable! The main character had a lot more layers than I expected, and his love interest was so sweet.

My Beautiful Man (Japanese)

Two high school boys with problematic behavioral issues whose issues complement each other. It's unexpectedly charming and touching, and I'm really glad there's a sequel!

My Roommate is a Detective (Chinese)

If you want a bromance where you can easily ship the male leads, and has some whump, and you don’t mind cheesiness: here you go!

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnamese)

There's not a lot of Vietnamese bl out there, and I wanted to try one. This one is good; not the greatest acting, but still good. Also, the episodes are so short, so it's a quick watch.

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwanese)

One of the main characters is a dentist, hence the absurd English title. I'm not good with any dentistry situation so I admit I watched a couple of seconds here and there through my fingers, but it's really just a lovely romance. I can't remember where I read it, but this is a good description (paraphrased): the leads woo each other with plushies and naps.

Never Let Me Go (Thai)

Rich high school student's dad is murdered in front of him, and has another high school student, who has never bodyguarded before ever but his dad makes him do it because his dad is kind of a jerk, assigned as his bodyguard. Weird premise, EXCELLENT delivery. The actors who play the boys have great chemistry, and make the characters feel very real.

The Novelist (Japanese)

I don't even know what to say about this drama? It's a bit like those weird little Indie films from the 90s. Like, it's pretty good, but it's also...something.

Numbers (Korean)

I really liked this until the last episode. It fizzled out. Is there supposed to be a second season or something, maybe? IDK.

Oh No Here Comes Trouble (Taiwanese)

Oh this was GOOD. The title and ML's hair cut (yes I judge) made me think it was going to be silly, and there was silliness but there was also a lot of depth and emotion. ML's family situation is a traumatic running thread. The mysteries are clever and fun but heartfelt and sad too. It was just so good.

Old-Fashioned Cupcake (Japanese)

Oh this is so sweet! It's based on a bl manga I haven't read yet, but definitely will because this is just the sweetest, warmest story.

Our Dating Sim (Korean)

Very good, very sweet. I really felt for Gi Tae, waiting so many years, and then hiding so much anxiety.

Sell Your Haunted House (Korean)

Oh this is so good! A great supernatural show, with a great FL, and the FL and ML become besties rather than romantic yay.

Semantic Error [TV show] (Korean)

I watched this because I’d heard of the manga, though I absolutely wasn’t expecting to actually get sucked in like I did. Excellent show. Another one I wrote about.

The Sign (Thai)

I loved this so much!! Action, crime, reincarnation, mythology, romance, humor - there’s so much going on and I enjoyed all of it. The last two episodes used some hand-waving instead of explaining things, but I’m not mad. Billy and Babe had amazing chemistry, too.

Together with Me (Thai)

I couldn't get Manner of Death at the time, but everyone keeps talking about MaxTul, so I watched this. It's not bad.

The Uncanny Counter 1 (Korean)

The first kdrama I watched! The only reason it didn't cause an instant obsession with kdramas is because i started watching Love and Redemption after and that was 59 episodes of blissful hyperfixation. But I love the supernatural/superhero/semi-religious? aspect, I love the different families that the ML has/finds, I love the whump.

Under the Skin (Chinese)

So far this is the only modern Chinese drama I’ve been able to finish. The mysteries were good, the relationship growth between the two male leads was compelling! Good stuff.

Unforgotten Night (Thai)

This show is really pretty terrible. I'm incapable of not laughing when the soundtrack cuts to a track of ~Italian mafioso music every. single. time that Kamol comes on screen. But it's gone so far past terrible that it's come out the other side, and I kinda like it.

The Untamed (Chinese)

First east Asian drama for me! I watched and rewatched this show multiple times in 2021, and without it I don’t think I would have explored [read: become obsessed with] east Asian dramas. I’m still in the fandom and reading the fic and watching the FMVs and etc. I cannot quit WangXian.

Until We Meet Again (Thai)

This is an amazing drama. Romeo and Juliet, but make it a modern bl college story with reincarnation, and the reincarnated Juliet has PTSD from his past life memories. Excellent storytelling, acting, everything.

Watcher (Korean)

Ooooooh this is so good. All of the characters are so compelling, and the overall story kept me engaged. Also, Seo Kang Joon: yes.

Why R U? (Thai)

This is kind of terrible, except that ZeeSaint as Fighter/Tutor absolutely sizzle. I also loved watching Fighter figure out his sexuality via 50% dialogue and actions and 50% Zee's incredibly expressive face.

Word of Honor (Chinese)

I watched this after watching The Untamed, and was kind of meh about it. But then after I’d poked around cdramas a bit, I watched it again and loved it. IDK what happened, but now it’s a fave.

You’re All Surrounded (Korean)

Ok, the FL in this is terrible. So annoying. Despite that and some of the other things that didn’t quite click with me, I was unable to drop it because I NEEDED to find out how Eun Dae Gu’s story would end (very satisfyingly actually!).

Movies:

Long Time No See (Korean)

I love this so much! Assassins; cool fight scenes; traumatized lead; murder boyfriends! UGH it's so good.

The New Employee (Korean)

Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Pipeline (Korean)

NGL, I watched this because I wanted some Seo In Guk whump. It definitely delivered! It was a fun, fast-paced story, with very little character development and a very underused villain, and really good action. I turned my brain off and enjoyed it. The only thing I couldn't help mentally griping about was the complete lack of ear protection in most (all?) of the drilling scenes. They should have all been partially deaf, good grief.

The Yin Yang Master (Chinese)

Wacky and good!

The Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity (Chinese)

Less wacky than the other one, but also good, and the bromance!!!

#kdrama #cdrama #jdrama #thai bl #Taiwanese bl

[bengiyo]

Eternal Yesterday Ep 2 Stray Thoughts

Last time we had what felt like a short film from the last 30 years about an antisocial boy being adopted by an extrovert who looked at him and said, "Mine," only for said extrovert to die suddenly at the end to save the antisocial boy.

It was jarring, because I didn't read the description fully and just accepted that I was watching every MBS production. I'm curious to see where the supernatural goes in this show.

I tell ya, this intro did not prepare me either for one of them to become a corpse.

At least the truck driver is doing the right thing and calling for medical assistance.

Oh no I am going to become obsessed with this show, and will probably revolt if it ends unsatisfyingly. Koichi waking up, chiding Mitsuru for wasting the ambulance before standing up and crunching his bones to shove his body back into place is a level of grotesque I've not seen applied this way to BL.

Maybe it's because we have a ghost show running right now, but I'm getting extremely emotional about recontextualizing undeath as a form of devotion, and this is going to play out in the next D&D Life or Grave cleric I play.

It's Mitsuru going to Koichi's friends and enlisting them in the plan to protect Koichi from being taken from them. Does this zombie state allow Koichi to continue a goal of helping Mitsuru make more friends? Or is this a way of exploring the grief of losing the person most important to you and processing learning to let them go?

Are the teachers in their own romantic drama? Keeping an eye on Ogawa- and Tamaki-sensei.

I think I like the choice to show all of the bruises and signs of internal damage. Komiya Rio has a nice body, so we need to not just let the audience unabashedly enjoy looking at him. Again, grotesqueness is going to be an ongoing theme, I hope.

Huge fan of the choice to present Yamada to the class and build support for keeping him in the community.

There's absolutely no way Yamada Koichi survived the impact with that truck. Beyond his spine being snapped, the gash on his leg eould have led to extreme blood loss.

And now Koichi isn't hungry at all.

I wonder if we'll return to the family drama later. Mitsuru knew of his father's affair and blackmailed the mistress to get an examination. Does his mom also know?

I'm quite fascinated by the differences in how storytelling traditions choose to value the mechanics of the supernatural. I've noticed that Korean shows and movies care less about the mechanics of the supernatural beyond how they impact the emotional decisions of the characters. The Japanese stories I've encountered seem much more concerned with understanding why something is happening.

Dr. Kasumi's theory that Koichi's body is now stuck in time definitely makes me think this is going to be a story about grief. Koichi's body is stuck at the moment of death perhaps like Mitsuru's mind?

Koichi encouraging Mitsuru to become a surgeon: Does this also tie into unsticking something else in him?

Oh my goodness a camping trip? Was this the past?? Because so many gay things happen in tents. I won't link the Jonnor scene again, but for those of you who know, know that I am seeing you and kissing you on the forehead. (Gosh, now I want to make a list of movies and tv shows where gay things happen in tents.)

#eternal yesterday #japanese bl #bl series #eien no kinou #eien no kino #Ben watches

[lina-delgado]

@alexlwoo enlists Lina’s help to snoop through @kazxraval‘s grotto home to find anything that could be worth taking for themselves. Easily getting themselves caught, the pair use their endless abilities to be annoying charming to get them out without much consequence (for now).

"I'm telling you, he's not here, it's fine. Have an air-listen if you don't believe my scouting skills."

In all actuality it probably would be prudent of Lina to double-check Alex's work, so to speak, but he really was fairly confident that the resident of this out-of-the-way grotto wasn't there. As much as Alex wanted to be a burr in Kaz's side, he didn't relish actual physical confrontation. Something more sneaky-deaky was the better option. Kaz looked like one of those guys who'd be all cool in a fight, maybe get beat on for a while, and then make a dramatic comeback in the last round and stroll off like nothing had happened. JGL in 'Brick', yep, that was the vibe. Alex had no intention of finding out if his supposition was true or not.

Nope, much more fun to just break into Kaz's house and take a look around. What was the harm, right? He turned to look at Lina as they stood on the threshold of Kaz's home, one last moment where they could turn back and still be completely innocent. But what fun was that? "You ready?" Alex asked Lina. "If he catches us remember our story. Somebody told us that he had the, um, the doohickey that Dr. Nesh needs. What was the doohickey again? It's been so long since I watched a primetime medical drama. I can't remember anything except suppositories, my mind's totally blanking."

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

"I trust your scouting skills, ok? He'd probably be harder to find just by listening anyway, even with my incredible hearing." Lina knew that Kaz was air attuned as well so she knew how easy it was to stay silent if hidden. Plus it wasn't like she had any stakes in this hunt of theirs. She really appreciated Alex having her back when Jupiter came around and told him she owed him one. He seemed to have an idea for that favor very quick.

But she agreed because her encounters with Kaz were so brief, back in the world and here too so what was the harm of doing a little snooping? Clearly it was a compliment, she just wanted to get to know him!

"Let's go." She said as she took the first step across the threshold, as if she was expecting some elaborate boobytrap to go off once she did. But when nothing happened she happily skipped around the place looking around the rocks and crevices to see if anything caught her eye. "You think I know anything about doctor doohickies? The only thing I can think of is a stethoscope. So if we want to say that, otherwise you could throw any wild claim and I'll agree with you. Oh! Look at this!" She cooed excitedly, walking over to a rocky area where in the holes and gaps she started pulling out multiple pairs of sunglasses. "Holy shit, do you see how many he has? No wonder I haven't found any for myself he's hoarding them all!" She complained before putting a pair of pink heart shaped sunglasses on. "How do I look?"

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Lina's clear hesitation as she took that first step only validated Alex's own concern that the place would be rigged or trapped somehow, but it seemed that he hadn't had the time to set up a whole Holy Grail situation for them to Indiana Jones through. He followed her eagerly, looking around at the grotto with a long whistle. The sound got chewed up by the rockface, eaten instead of echoing, but that wasn't of much interest to Alex. Yet. He'd ponder the peculiarity of acoustics later. 

"I think you wanna know about doctor doohickies," Alex said teasingly. "Little birdies told me that you made passes at both the hot doctor guys. Did either of 'em bite yet? They seem like they might need some extra coaxing." But Lina had found something interesting, and as much as Alex loved gossip he loved the idea of pawing at Kaz's treasured belongings more. Kaz seemed like that kind of guy who lived a minimalist existence but had a few Pieces that had been carefully curated. 

And as Alex watched Lina excavating the sunglasses stash, he practically reeled in delight. "What a bitch!" he agreed, breathlessly, hopping over to poke through the collection and popping on a non-heart pink-framed pair to match her. "You look maaaahvelous, dahling! Not hard to do but those sunnies really bring out the--" Alex kissed his fingers, making a ping! sound, "--heart in your heart-eyes!" He idly tucked another pair (mirrored) into his pocket and kept scouting around. There wasn't much. "Either he hasn't been living here or it's routine for him to pack up and hide all his stuff," Alex said. "What a freak."

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Lina threw a glare Alex's way at his innocuous, playful remark. She was sure his little birdy was just him eavesdropping and while she respected the nosiness she wasn't in the mood to talk about her failed attempt to seduce the doctors of the island. "I don't think that's really important right now. Don't you have some junk to find?" She obviously deflected trying to shoo him off to look around the place some more. She didn't care what they were looking for or what was being found but for once she didn't want the conversation topic to be on her.

But the sunglasses were a good distraction. It felt like it would never end the amount that kept being revealed. She flashed a wide smile, placing her hand under her chin and tilting her head up to strike a little pose at the compliment. She didn't plan on taking the pair she had off but did admire a few other options while Alex continued to look around. "Honestly, like, paranoid much?" She snorted, as the person sitting in his place invading his privacy. "What exactly did he do again? Called you a hack or something? Did he use his air powers to slap you across the face? Cause I can tell you that shit hurts."

Lina didn't feel like moving from her spot but sat up again anyway with a couple sunglasses in her pocket and the heart shaped shades now resting on her head. "Tell me if you find anything good. See if he's one of those who keeps a diary or something to share all of his feelings that he doesn't tell anyone about so he can keep up the sexy, mysterious, brooding guy act."

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Ooooh, that irritation was very interesting. Alex's tally of Lina's success rate around the island was an informal one at best, whenever he happened to stumble upon some new information -- it was nowhere near as comprehensive as one might think. But clearly Lina was smarting about her failures, and clearly she thought that he knew about it and was itching to poke fun at her. Alex might have, if he thought he could get away with it. But they were already in the middle of a delicate situation, so he just shrugged and said, "Win some lose some, right? Besides, we all have an eternity of looking exactly as hot as we are right now. You'll get 'em in time."

Alex was pleased with how selfless and encouraging he was, and with the stash of sunglasses that just made it feel even better. Especially when he and Lina could bond on scoffing at the way Kaz chose to live his life. He bristled a little when Lina asked to be reminded of why Alex had beef with Kaz, and he said with only the tiniest bit of sourness, "I told him about the Netflix miniseries, how I was gonna play him in it, I was gonna be -- well, they changed his name to Kenzie Royal, I guess for legal purposes -- but yeah, I was gonna play the Kaz role. And he was such a dick about it! He said I was sure to suck and he said -- he said I wasn't hot enough to play him."

Even the memory was irksome, and Alex suddenly was smarting from it just as much as Lina was feeling slighted. He picked up the pace in hunting around, finally finding some kind of bag. It only had a few meagre items in it, but Alex brought it over for Lina to hold while he sifted the contents. Phone, iPod, boring; notepad, more interesting; zippo lighter, best of all.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Lina wasn't sure how reassured she felt by Alex's encouragement. It took a bit longer than an instant for her to start thinking to herself, yeah! We're gonna be this hot forever! This is just a bit of unfortunate luck that will pass. And even then, she was really forcing herself to believe that. "You're right, you are just so right. Can't win them all! And getting worked up about it isn't gonna do me any favors. Besides we have possibly important things to find."

At Alex's explanation of why they were doing this, Lina knew to expect something petty. That was what they were, completely underhanded for the most unnecessary reasons. But when Alex told her what Kaz said, she snorted in amusement before immediately backpedaling. "Sorry, sorry, no that's not funny! That's such a conceited asshole thing to say! You're not hot enough,  you're plenty hot. If you couldn't pull off Kenzie Royal they wouldn't have hired you! What a tool." There, bring supportive was easy. 

She held onto the bag Alex found, peeking in as he rummaged through it, pulling out a few things, tossing them back in if he wasn't interested. "Hey, hey, pass me that, I wanna see that." She told him before he put the ipod back into the bag. It wasn't like there would be anything of note on there but Lina was really hoping to find some sort of hilarious showtunes or boy bands on his playlists. But before there was any time to even turn the thing on let alone snoop through the artists, something in the air felt off. She wondered if this was the soft, nearly impossible to pick up sound of an air attuned's natural gift of stealth. "I think he's back." Lina whispered so softly it might have been barely audible to Alex.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Another sleepless night, but nothing unusual about it. Kaz waited for daylight to trek down the beach and set up fishing lines in the lazier spots of the tide. Eventually habit had Kaz checking on the surroundings and further afield with his hearing. 

He picked up on the two. Slagging him off, when they barely knew him-- but alright. Whatever. Then he realized exactly where they were sharing insults. 

Those motherfuckers. He began a quick glide back, even though Lina's air would likely sense Kaz was on his way. He slipped up the steep slope to the entrance of his hideaway and saw them. Helping themselves. Going through his shit. Like Kaz having net zero wasn't low enough for anyone, they had to root around for more. 

He leaned in the doorway and crossed his arms, attempting to keep a combustible anger from exploding. The hinge of his jaw locked tight. "Anything I can help you two find?" A pause. "Trespassing, stealing-- an interesting trajectory happening here." His attunement yanked at the dry bag to bring it to him, same with the glasses Lina wore. How deeply, inherently fucked up they were. "What the fuck are you doing?"

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Alex scoffed at Lina for a moment, clicking the zippo open and closed in rapid succession. "How could he be back? He's been off wherever it is he goes for ages. He's not even interested in being here anymore." All of this was wild speculation, considering Alex wasn't anywhere near knowing what Kaz's schedule and priorities were. And especially since Lina was air attuned and would know with far more certainty than he did -- in fact, the only reason he even knew she'd said anything was because he happened to look at her and see her lips moving.

So when Kaz's actual voice spoke up from the doorway, Alex jumped, dropping the lighter. He bent to scoop it up again immediately, using that moment to gather his composure again and decide on which way to play this. "We're not trespassing," Alex said, as he straightened up again, zippo tight in his palm. "This place is abandoned! We're canvassing to see if it's suitable for somebody to live in. Since you left it. And left all your crap, too--" Alex swiveled around, gesturing at nothing. "Nobody's a mind reader, Kaz. You keep disappearing and reappearing and expecting everything to be the same? Come onnnnnn."

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Lina expected Alex to have some faith in her as she quietly alerted him of Kaz's presence. Unfortunately it was harder to pick up his movements from further away so it kind of made things pointless. She knew he was here but there was no way to make an escape. So they just had to think on their toes.

At the sound of Kaz's voice, Lina raised her eyebrows at Alex as an 'i told you so' while he bounced around at the surprise of being caught. She tried to turn around with a smile on her face, but as she did the air snatched up her sunglasses from her and she watched them get sent straight into Kaz's hands. "Yeah, we were just having a look around! Alex mentioned this cool place that could have been a step up from our current place. It's so hard to tell when things have been left behind for good or not, how are we supposed to know?"

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

These two were fucking children, and he was far from being a babysitter. Alex played it perhaps a little better than Lina. The overconfidence of an actor almost hitting their mark while ensuring their good side was towards the camera. (Tough, the guy really didn't have a good side at all).

Lina gave some bullshit excuse. "Oh? Most wouldn't consider this to be a step up from an actual building. How interesting..." He pocketed the sunglasses taken from her. And then, to answer both of them. "If all my 'crap' is still here, obviously I am too."

"But, since you two dipshits don't have a brain cell to spare between each other, I'll make this crystal clear: I. Live. Here. Easy, hm?" 

Alex had swept something off the floor as Kaz stepped through the door. Too clever in the scoop, too quick to rigidly stand back up... Kaz craned to see a tightly fisted hand at Alex's side. "The hell do you have?"

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Alex wasn't dissatisfied with his own fire attunement, not really, but -- knowing that Lina's air let her pick up on what everyone was saying even when they didn't want her to, and now seeing Kaz whisk things away from them with his air? He was feeling a considerable amount of envy. "You can't spare even one pair of your hoarded sunglasses for Lina? Not cool, man. Other people have eyes that need protection from the sun too and I bet you don't even wear half of these. It's just sheer meanness not to let her have one measly pair to stop her from having eyestrain or getting eye cancer." 

Alex sidled over to stand next to Lina, putting his hand protectively in the small of her back. Or rather: 'protectively', because he took that opportunity to slide Kaz's lighter down the back of her panties. "I don't have anything and I don't see why you're accusing me! I told you why we're here. It didn't seem like anybody lived here because you don't even HAVE much crap. So we can leave if you wanna keep squatting on this URL instead of letting other people use it."

Hopefully Lina knew how to walk with something concealed in her underwear. She seemed like that kind of girl. Alex huffed, nose in the air, and started edging towards the door. "Selfish," he chided Kaz again.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

"If you saw how tiny our place was, you'd understand." Lina replied back to Kaz's suspicion. She didn't even need to lie about that one! It wasn't that the place was bad, they definitely made it work but it could have been completely plausible that they'd take a nice wide open cavernous grotto over their little shack. Even she could admit that they gave off the vibes of a spoiled heir and heiress who needed more space for their big egos.

Crossing her arms across her chest, Lina nodded along as Alex reprimanded Kaz for his 'meanness' of not sharing even a single pair of sunglasses with her. She didn't realize that this show of support was to slip whatever Kaz saw him grab in her underwear but, okay, sure, fine, she could work with this. "Okay, look, how about a trade off? Those cute heart shaped sunglasses for your ipod that I have, and our total disappearance from here. That's like, such an easy deal for you. Getting us out of your hair and never coming back here for one pair of sunglasses? Come on."

She held out her free hand to Kaz with a smile on her face looking like she was already waiting expectantly for the swap. "Or, if you want just one of us back, I can always come back and sweeten the deal for you. Make up for the opportunity we missed at that music festival forever ago." She offered, having never been above offering up sex as a distraction and this seemed like as good a time as any if it meant they got out of here with minimal berating.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Kaz recognized inane prattling to buy time when heard it. Why, though, was the question. What the hell were they up to? It certainly wasn't measuring windows for curtains, as they claimed. 

So he wouldn't entertain too much more of the talk. "Uh, if Lina had asked for a pair like a normal fucking person, if she decided not to be a fucking thief. Then yeah, maybe I would've given her a pair. I don't have much 'crap' but you sure as hell wanted to dig through it." To Lina, he feigned seriousness. "So sorry about the potential eye cancer." 

He scoffed at Lina's 'traded off' with a slow blink. "No, I'm not interested in anyone 'trading' for my own possessions." The fucking balls on this one. Lina's allusion to sex, well. He did stop to think about it ahhh... but no, no. 

"I want you both out. With empty pockets and empty hands--" said pointedly, "Alex." For fuck's sake, it really was exasperating. Anger barely covered. "Both of you. Show me."

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Alex had to admit, it was fascinating watching the two of them exchange their distinct brands of audacity. Lina, convinced that anybody in the world would be swayed by an offer of her body to the point where she would trade Kaz his own items for his own items; Kaz countering with mights and maybes as if those should be taken as a sure thing, just because he said so. 

If he wasn't wanting to escape this unscathed, Alex might have been tempted to just sic them on each other and enjoy the show.

But no, that lighter was in Lina's underwear and he wanted to fish it out as soon as possible so Kaz couldn't catch them in an act of bizarre theft, so Alex pushed himself bodily forward to turn out the pockets of his shorts, unbutton his tropical shirt, kick off his flip-flops. "You wanna inspect closer?" he asked Kaz cheerfully, reaching up to fold his ears over and turn his head each way. "I got no secrets! You can look all you want, Kaz, though I have to say--" Alex made a sad face, puppy dog eyes. "It's sad that you suspect your fellow islanders this way. Did somebody hurt your trust when you were little? It's okay. Your feelings are valid. But it's not healthy to live like this."

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

"Well how was I supposed to ask when I didn't know you had them up until now? They were practically hidden that's not my fault!" She complained even though they all knew that it very much was. Well, it was more Alex's fault if anything since he's the one who wanted to come here but Alex wouldn't appreciate being thrown under the bus and Kaz wouldn't care whose idea it was so she kept it to herself.

As Alex put on his little show of showing off how he has absolutely nothing on him, Lina just meandered over considering she had something pressed against the small of her back, held there by the waistband of her underwear. She handed over the ipod in her hand to Kaz and then took the extra pair of sunglasses she had out of her pocket and handed that over as well before holding her hands up and walking backward as she moved away from him. "That's all I've got. Enjoy your monopoly on sunglasses, I guess." 

It didn't really matter what they said in their defense, Kaz was obviously pissed but Alex seemed to have gotten what he wanted out of this since it was hidden away on her. The plan now seemed to be just hit Kaz with whatever nonsense they could think of so that he would just shoo them out instead of searching any further. "Should we get you set up for a therapy session once you kick us out? It's nothing to be ashamed of, and I'm sure there's someone on the island that would be willing to analyze why you're so secretive and suspicious of people. I'll make sure to look into that for you, no need to thank me."

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The goal was not a strip search (unless absolutely necessary). Not interested in checking coin slots. The manner in which Alex flung off those flip flops felt particularly aggravating to Kaz. Other than a clench of a fist, he kept it to himself. 

All a big fucking act with Alex. With the both of them. He wanted them out. Without resorting to using his air-- no reason in giving these assholes more to gripe about, not if it wasn't needed. "Yeah. Trust broken, but didn't fling myself off a cliff about it." They threw plenty of jabs to get a rise out of him, so only fair Kaz do the same. Alex would probably return with how he flew like a dove or something equally dramatic. 

Lina lodged empty complaints, but did return what he thought to be the most important item, the ipod he pocketed. He popped the sunglasses on his head. "I will enjoy my monopoly, so very kind of you to say." 

His lips formed a flat line to match his expression, with all the heat at a boil in his eyes. He scanned them each over again. Lina tossed another remark out. "Mm, therapy would serve kleptos better, I think. Now fuck off." 

Kaz moved away from the door and to the contents of his bag spilled on his bedding. Scattered, disregarded, their grubby hands had been over it all. He frowned for a moment. There was something else important gone. It was possible he'd left it at his other camp. Unlikely, but possible. His mouth turned into a tight grin. "If I find anything else missing, like say... a Zippo. I'll be in touch."

END.

#[ interactions ! ] #[ alex woo ! ] #[ kaz raval ! ] #[ alex04 ] #[ kaz02 ] #thank you both maggie and nova for this ridiculous match up of people #kaz doesnt deserve this torment but this was so fun #looking forward to his revenge xD

[editoress]

Morbius: A Novelization: Part 1

I didn't watch Morbius or go out of my way to look anything up, but I'm pretty sure this is how the first 30 minutes of the movie went.

*

In the heart of one unnamed American city, there lived a man named Morbius Jones. He was a brilliant doctor made even more dedicated by his own sickliness. He was not sickly in an American way; he consulted with many other doctors, received what treatment he could, and knew what terrible disease consumed him. No, he was sickly in a British or Japanese way, sickly like a poet, like a beloved younger sibling in a drama series.

Morbius had a keen mind for putting various fluids through tubes and syringes and for reading futuristic displays on touch screens. Despite his genius, the cure for his vague illness eluded him. When despair would have overcome him, he was saved time and time again from becoming a Romantic-Gothic hero by the only two side characters allowed in his life: his wise older relative, and his friend Matt Smith, who was also sickly in a distinctly British way.

One day, while working at the hospital, Morbius entered a patient's room to find the 47th most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was symmetrical, thin, and unthreatening, and her hair was styled to allow it to fall rebelliously over her face at times without ever becoming unruly.

"Dr. Jones, right?" she prompted.

"Please," said Morbius, "call me Dr. Morbius."

"I don't think I will," she said. "Well? Have you come to tell me that my illness is too mysterious?"

He smiled faintly. "As the owner of a mysterious illness myself," he said, "no. I've looked over your notes and have incredible insight into your condition. Are you experiencing symptoms? How would you describe them?"

"Yes!" she replied, taken aback. "And I would describe them as bad."

"One might even say a unpleasant."

"That's right."

They gazed into one another's eyes in understanding.

"This might be unorthodox," Morbius continued, "but I'm going to prescribe that you be treated so that your condition improves."

The woman looked at once touched and vulnerable, a look that was like crack cocaine to people who value being helpful, people who might be action movie protagonists. "No doctor has ever done that before," she said.

"I'm just doing my job," said Morbius demurely, trying not to show that he was experiencing an emotional high.

She smiled prettily. Her makeup was neutral but pervasive. "Thank you, Dr. Jones."

"Dr. Morbius, please."

"No thanks, I try not to dwell on other people's misfortune."

It was not until afterwards that Morbius remembered that he had never asked for the patient's name. Then he remembered that he had her file in his hand. Her name was very ordinary. She could have been anybody.

After his shift at the hospital, Morbius returned to his private laboratory. As a man with very few defining traits, he had no hobbies or social life. He spent his time practicing medicine and making groundbreaking medical research, with occasional pauses to cough a bit and look sad about it. This was all to say that he practically lived in his laboratory. It had a few homey touches, and the lighting was very kind at the moment. Despite that, as a room, it was one blue-tinted fluorescent bulb away from becoming a lair.

Morbius was in the midst of an old classic, turning one color liquid a different color in a very significant-looking way, when the secure door opened and his friend Matt Smith entered. Matt Smith's floppy and expressive hair also entered, for which there was studio applause. He grinned and indicated that Morbius should continue doing science. "This one's a breakthrough, I know it," he announced.

They watched a beaker in breathless silence as Morbius added a few drops of some unlabeled substance. Colors were turned. Fancy digital displays also turned colors, most notably red, which every scientist knows is an ill omen. The two friends deflated in disappointment.

"We're so close," mourned Morbius. He had been saying that for fifteen years. He was very optimistic that way.

"We have time," Matt Smith, also optimistic, reassured him. But just then, he began to cough, violently and pitifully. There was blood on his hand when he was done. No Victorian author would have diagnosed him with more than a week to live.

Matt Smith cleaned up, and Morbius fell back on his default setting of looking waifishly sad. But Matt Smith was not to be discouraged so easily. "We will find a cure," he said, "because if one more person asks if I've tried essential oils, I'm knocking them out and using them as a lab specimen."

Morbius stared at him.

"That was a joke," Matt Smith explained very convincingly. "Anyway, instead of working here fourteen hours a day, have you considered hiring someone? We could do it with that offer for funding."

"No!" cried Morbius. "We've been over this! I'll never take money from such a corrupt corporation."

"But it's money," Matt Smith pointed out unhappily.

"Never!"

Matt Smith pretended to agree, but as he left, his eyes narrowed maliciously, and his hair swooped with evil intent.

Morbius remained at the lab, where he coughed and gazed in sorrowful contemplation at the various chemicals there. Somewhere, a cellist goaded him on. At last, he lifted a vial of obviously volatile liquid and held it so that it was illuminated in the moonlight.

"I won't experiment on anyone else," he said to nobody. "Not corporate pawns. Not even essential oil salespeople. It has to be me."

So saying, he injected the fluid into his arm. His veins turned black, which was both alarming and physically unlikely as chemical reactions go. Morbius clutched his head. Someone shook the camera quite a lot and flicked the lights on and off in order to give the audience a headache also.

There was a flash of red, which is bad, and Morbius collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

#I'm just being goofy

[idontwanttowhy]

Review: Dr. Cha (2023)

Dr. Roy Kimberly is the answer to the question of “Can a doctor also be a complete himbo?”

Synopsis

Cha Jeong Suk has been a homemaker for 20 years, raising her two children, taking care of her inconsiderate mother-in-law, and making sure her absent and perfectionistic husband gets three meals a day. When she gets a life-altering diagnosis and subsequent surgery, she becomes determined to live her life for her. This includes returning to her medical career as a first-year resident, at the very hospital where her son and husband work. Oh, and her husband’s lover, who is hell bent on breaking up their marriage. This show follows Dr. Cha as she carves out a life of her own from the life everyone wants (and needs) her to live.

MZ Overall: 6/10, the second half was better than the first???

I really needed a turn-off-your-brain-and-enjoy show, and this pretty much fit that bill. It does take a long time to really enjoy, especially if you think you are there for the romance (which I was). The pacing is very annoying if you are looking for that type of show. However, this was a nice change of pace in the sense that I became more invested in the second half. I’m not sure how I made it to that point, but I did and I’m happy for it. Usually with a rom-com type, I fall off after the main couple gets together. The chemistry between Dr. Kim and Dr. Cha was enough for me to follow through I guess!

MZ Review

I don’t have too much to offer here! I did not feel invested in this show in the usual way, but it was entertaining enough that I kept watching. The pacing and the way that some of the information is introduced is awkward, and the tone of the show will give you whiplash with how quickly it changes. I did wonder how long it would take Dr. Cha to divorce her husband though, AND I wondered if her and Dr. Kim were gonna get together??? You’ll be asking both of those questions all the way until the end, I regret to inform you. I was also hoping Seung Hee was going to resort to drastic measures at some point, since she for whatever reason seemed committed to being Dr. Seo’s wife. I don’t think this was ever done satisfactorily, though her daughter definitely made up for it.  

AC Overall: 8/10, iS dR. cHa A sCoRpIo?

MZ and I began watching this drama together, and the first few eps we watched were stupid silly in a way we both appreciated. Dr. Cha’s antics after getting the surgery and determining to reckon with everything wrong in her life was a DELIGHT....then she starts as an intern (first-year resident) and she seems to have yet another personality shift, back to the overly caring, endlessly forgiving, and purposefully ignorant Dr. Cha we were first introduced to. The show does shift a lot: first third was fun and cool, the middle was a huge reversion, but the last third became emotional, and propelled everyone forward. My investment also rollercoastered similarly, but I found that as I continued watching, it wasn’t giving me what I wanted, but what I needed. Come for the light-hearted reckonings but stay for the deeper ones (with fun moments in between--the drinking scenes were my favorites). Rather than approaching it as a typical rom-com, I’d suggest keeping an open mind and looking elsewhere if you want romance and quick resolutions. 

Also, MZ goaded me into continuing to watch (I was on the fence at one point) by saying Dr. Cha might be a scorpio (like me) and STILL HAS NOT TOLD ME WHY AND I DON’T APPRECIATE IT.

AC Review (spoilers)

I usually use my reviews to rant about things that went wrong in the kdramas I pick, but here I’ll focus on what’s right, and could be easily unappreciated if you treat it like your average kdrama. 

Elephant in the room is Dr. Cha and Dr. Kim’s relationship, which was primed to be the ultimate romance in the beginning, but ended up being lackluster. The rapport they had was more than your average doctor-patient, or even colleague-colleague relationship, but good old Dr. Cha didn’t even blink at Dr. Kim’s over-the-top attentiveness, even after her friend insisted he was romantically interested in her. But, I appreciated Dr. Cha’s graceful rejection once Dr. Kim finally confessed, emphasizing that she wanted to live enjoying the mundane. I think we’ve been primed since forever, some more than others perhaps, that romantic feelings should--and even have to be--acted upon (within reason, of course). So the rejection comes as a blow to most (especially since Dr. Kim seems like a great catch). I appreciated that she didn’t all-of-a-sudden develop feelings for him, or even entertain him for the heck of it. She was thoughtful in her consideration of what their relationship might be like, and in the end stood for what she wanted--a great departure and moment of growth for her, considering how she went along with her husband’s (and daughter’s!) foolishness for so long. And good for Dr. Kim too, because at the end of the day she also may have saved him from a life that might’ve been toooo mundane. (And we got to see him happily dating at the end too!)

Dr. Seo and Seung Hee also had a questionable arc I couldn’t have guessed but ultimately appreciated. I really did not understand Seung Hee’s character AT ALL--howwww, whyyy, .... I don’t have words to express my confusion over her motivations. And she seemed just as confused as I was, doing simultaneously the most and the least. Her “fighting” for her man was childish--all facial expressions and no actual umph-- and too reliant on her daughter’s actions. AND her giving up was equally like...what?? We didn’t actually see her grow as much as we saw her told by her DAUGHTER and her RIVAL that he’s not worth the energy and pain. Dr. Seo himself seemed to know he couldn’t show up for Seung Hee like she wanted him to, and cowardly begged for Dr. Cha’s forgiveness as a crutch. But, I was satisfied when Seung Hee ultimately “talk to the hand”-ed him and seemed to actually move on from the man tormenting her all these years. And I doubly appreciated Dr. Seo looking ridiculous in literally every single person’s eyes for last few episodes-his turmoil really carried the ending for me. 

All in all, everything in the drama pretty much worked out as it should have, with: Dr. Cha and Seung Hee committing to themselves and profitably forcing Dr. Seo to make up for his bullshit with the building and the extra work, Dr. Seo’s mom finally taking care of the household herself, Dr. Kim finding romance elsewhere, the daughters focusing on themselves rather than vindication, and the son reaffirming his desire to be a surgeon-without his father’s influence. I honestly enjoyed the ending quite a bit, despite how different the show turned out from where it started.

(I will agree with MZ that it really didn’t look like Dr. Cha was actually serious about getting divorced once we were in the thick of it, and I was really questioning if maybe she also had a little brain tumor or something?? Like I kept wanting to shake her and be like, DO YOU REMEMBER ALL THE SHIT YOU REALIZED HE PUT YOU THROUGH LITERALLY TWO SECONDS AGO?! BUT nO, YOU’RE FOCUSING ON BRACELETS?!...But the lull in the middle wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.)

#dr. cha #kdrama #kdrama review #K-Drama

[asianhappinesss]

Descendants of the Sun (2016)

Summary

A love story that develops between a surgeon and a special forces officer. Kang Mo Yeon is a pretty and assertive woman who works as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Haesung Hospital. She isn't afraid to admit her mistakes and believes that capability overrides whatever connections you have. However, she is soon faced with the reality that she cannot advance with just capability. Her life is forever changed when she encounters Yoo Shi Jin, the Captain and team leader of Alpha Team who cares more about protecting anybody in need of help as well as his country, even if it goes against the order of his superiors. This drama will tell of how they both bond together in a time of war and overcome the odds against them.

Review

This review may contain spoilers

When I think of Descendants of the Sun, the first thing that comes to mind is cheese! This show is extra cheesy, and honestly I love cheese! Unfortunately, I am also kinda lactose intolerant, so after eating a certain amount of cheese I am left with regrets, and a stomach ache. That's exactly how I felt after watching the last episode. *Cue the rage of a thousand fans* I think the biggest problem I had with this show is that it tried to mix in three genres without a coherent plot to bring it all together. It's part rom-com, part military drama, and part hospital sitcom. The love story is probably what makes most people excited about the show, the military scenes are a cool action bonus, and the hospital sitcom keeps things from getting too heavy and depressing. Unfortunately, because the script is so weak, I was too disconnected to keep caring about the show, and it started to become very boring. I kept watching for one reason only Song Joong Ki. Song Joong Ki is oddly cast in a lot of ways. He has a super baby face, and boyish charm, but still managed to be a believable bad@ss soldier. I would easily rate his character/acting 10. Not only did I develop a 16 episode crush on him, but I really cared about his assignments. The show would have been a million times more enjoyable for me if they just let his story be the center, or rather, the bromance between Shi Jin, and Dae Yeong. Their relationship was my favorite part of the show. Their characters didn't have much depth individually, but their bromance was solid. There is also great chemistry between Song Joong Ki, and Song Hye Kyo, but not much to their overall story. Every moment with them is exactly the same - they flirt, they separate, she gets mad, he's extra charming, they flirt again. Early on, I really started to dislike Dr. Kang Mo Yeon, which made it hard to sympathize with her anger at him. Eventually I started to like her a little more, but no matter how cute their flirty scenes, or how strangely amusing their brink of death dating was, their story is still repetitive, which gets old quick. The 2nd leads also had a romance, that had a few more obstacles thrown their way (parents, distance, almost dying), but was just as repetitive - fight, confess, spontaneous affection, fight. It's like each story just filled in the same blanks for each episode. It was actually the older minor characters who had the most interesting love story. I thought Seo Jeong Yeon and Lee Seung Jun were really cute, and deserve an honorable mention. The supporting cast was pretty good. Some were much better than others, and some were almost completely useless (the head of the hospital... that ditzy doctor... ugh). I had to bring the acting down to an 8 because of that, but the cast is really the only good thing this show has going for it. What was the point of this drama? At first it seemed like a way to show how hard it can be to date a soldier, but because the show didn't take itself seriously, it was hard for me to take that too seriously, even with that emotionally manipulative 15th episode. The conflicts at the hospital were ridiculous, and mostly filler.

The best episodes took place when the medical staff went overseas to Urk, but once that was over, the show seemed to have no clue what to do. Did they run out of travel budget, so they decided to just wing it for the last episodes? Even in Urk, the plot was super predictable, and totally unrealistic, but it was still very entertaining (yummy Cheese!!!).

When they returned, my feelings about the show went downhill, and I was no longer excited about watching the next episode. Then suddenly things got very serious out of nowhere, only to end with the silliest (and worst) last episode I've ever seen in any drama (yes THE worst!). I wonder if episode 15 was the original ending, and then it was changed last minute to avoid a backlash. That's the only thing I can think of as an explanation for why it was so bad. The music? meh. The scenery? epic. The english spoken? decent. The shirtless men running? Daebak. Would I rewatch? Not unless someone makes an edited version of only scenes with Song Joong Ki. Overall It's like they rolled a kdrama dice and just threw stuff in at random to get people hooked, then they just focused on all the ways they can successfully incorporate product placement. Maybe that was the real point, to see how many ads they could sneak into a drama. Even though there were moments I really enjoyed, I can't recommend this drama, especially after sitting through that ending. I wish they cut it down to 10 episodes, removing all the unnecessary fluff, and sneaky ads (subway, hyundai, make up, coffee, snacks, hiking equipments, travel apps... umm... except for the self driving car, because that scene was actually cool ) then maybe it would be a drama worthy of all the hype. Or maybe you can treat my review like lactaid. Now that you know what to expect, maybe you can better digest all the cheese this show has to offer.

#kdrama

[calzona-ga]

In her unauthorized book, Lynette Rice explores the stories behind some of the ABC drama's biggest moments, including — in this exclusive excerpt — the factors that led to McDreamy's shocking death.

In How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, author Lynette Rice recounts the ABC medical drama’s eventful 16-year history, revealing new details behind some of the show’s biggest departures. Included in the unauthorized, 320-page oral history (St. Martin’s Press, Sept. 21, $29.99) is a chapter that offers new insight into leading man Patrick Dempsey’s shocking exit in season 11 of the Shonda Rhimes-created drama. In the chapter, Rice speaks with Dempsey’s co-stars and exec producers who were present during filming of his final days on Grey’s Anatomy, and reveals claims of “HR issues” that contributed to the death of his alter-ego, Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd.

“There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him,” recalls exec producer James D. Parriott, who was brought back to the series to oversee Dempsey’s exit.

In more than 80 interviews with current and former cast- and crewmembers, Rice, an editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, also explores the show’s early days, recounts the thinking behind some of its more polarizing storylines and offers exclusive details about the show’s behind-the-scenes culture.

“After 17 seasons, fans still can’t get enough of Grey’s Anatomy,” Rice tells THR. But what went down behind the scenes was just as dramatic as what viewers saw every Thursday. I’m excited for fans to read what I learned about those early days, along with what it was like to work for Shonda Rhimes, and why the drama was so freakin’ headline-prone.”

Below, The Hollywood Reporter shares an excerpt — the full eighth chapter — from How to Save a Life, and tune in Friday to TV’s Top 5 for an interview with Rice about her book and the other big reveals she uncovered in her reporting for it.

(Reps for ABC, ABC Signature, Shondaland, and Dempsey declined comment on the reveals in Rice’s book.)

“He’s Very Dreamy, but He’s Not the Sun,” Or, How Grey’s Anatomy Loved — Then Learned to Live Without — Patrick Dempsey Ellen Pompeo may have played the titular role, but for many fans over many years, Patrick Dempsey was the real draw to Grey’s Anatomy. Some of it had to do with his celebrity: Dempsey was the most famous member of the original cast at the time of the pilot and brought with him quite a cult following from his 1987 movie Can’t Buy Me Love. But a lot of it was due to the way Rhimes wrote her McDreamy and how Dempsey depicted him. James D. Parriott I would say, “The guy would never say that,” and Shonda would say, “He’s McDreamy. He’s the perfect man. He would say that.” I’d say, “Okay. It’s your show.” Eric Buchman Shonda had a very clear idea of how important it was to keep Derek as this almost idealized love interest, not just for Meredith but for the audience. Naturally, the writers—especially writers who had been working on one-hour dramas for a while—were like, “Well, maybe have McDreamy make a big mistake in surgery and kill somebody. Or he develops an addiction of some kind. What is his deep, dark secret?” Shonda was very insistent: that’s not the character we do that with. Even when you find out he’s married, that was done in a very sympathetic way that kept him being a hero. He was wronged by his spouse and in spite of it all he was still gonna give his marriage a second chance. Stacy McKee Shonda was protective of McDreamy, but it was really with an eye toward being protective of Meredith. I don’t think the two were separate from one another. I don’t think she wanted to put something out there that maybe on the surface might seem a little frivolous. At its core, there was something really substantial that she wanted to say. She wanted to be very specific about the type of relationship values that she put out there. Tony Phelan I was in editing with Shonda once, and it was the scene where Meredith and Derek had broken up. He comes over and she’s like, “I can’t remember the last time we kissed.” And he says, “I remember. You were wearing this and you smelled of this …”

Joan Rater “Your shampoo smelled like flowers, you had that sweater on …” He described their last kiss. Tony Phelan Typically in editing you start on Derek, then you cut to Meredith for a reaction, and then you’ll go back to him. I noticed that we weren’t ever cutting back to Meredith. I asked why. Shonda said, “Because the woman in Iowa who’s watching this show wants to believe that Patrick is talking to her, and if you cut back to Meredith, it pushes them out of it.” In those special moments, we would just lock into Derek and let him do his thing. Joan Rater And he was a master at it. Patrick Dempsey He’s the ideal man, and that’s what Shonda constructed. There’s a projection [of him] onto me when you come in contact with fans, certainly with the younger and older fans. There is a certain amount of expectation. There is a responsibility to it. It made me grow, too. There were good qualities [of his] that you work on to obtain. Off camera, Dempsey was equally as charismatic to his fellow actors, crew members, and anyone who would come to visit the set. Lauren Stamile I was going in to meet him, and I remember I had this little cardigan sweater on and I took it off before I got into the room. Dempsey is one of those people—it’s almost like there’s a light shining around his body, and you feel like you’re the only person in the room. I got so hot and I remember saying, “Gosh, I would take off my sweater if I had one on because I’m so hot, but I took it off.” I was just babbling. He said, “You look nice,” and I said, “You look nicer.” I felt so awkward and he was so gracious and lovely. I was having a nervous breakdown. It’s like this “it” factor. I was like, God, whatever he has, I wish I had. I think it was very obvious how nervous I was, and he went out of his way to make sure he introduced me to everybody and made sure I felt comfortable, which he certainly didn’t have to do. But he did. Joan Rater He knew I had a giant crush on him, and he loved it. And when we’d go to table reads—I was an actress at one point in my life—they would always give me Meredith if Ellen wasn’t there. And I’d be getting my chicken tenders at craft services before the table read and he’d come up behind me and say, “Are you reading Meredith?” in my ear, like, so sexy. I’d be like, Oh my God. I mean, I could barely … I could not look at him. Tina Majorino I worked with Patrick a ton. I love him so much. We had a really great time working together. I think he’s such a great actor and he really made me laugh a lot. I feel like we had a good dynamic in scenes together, and it was always fun to play opposite him. Yes, he’s that charismatic in real life. Yes, his hair is that awesome. Yes, he is dreamy up close.

Chandra Wilson Patrick Dempsey will forever be known as Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy. Derek Shepherd is a permanent part of television history.

Norman Leavitt He is a big, personable guy.

Jeannine Renshaw We all love Patrick. Patrick is a sweetheart. If I saw him on the street, I’d give him a hug. I love the guy.

Mark Wilding I’ve always had a soft spot for Patrick. He really does try to do the right thing. Brooke Smith, who played Dr. Erica Hahn, remembers how Dempsey defended her when the decision was made to fire her from the show in 2008. Brooke Smith I remember calling him and saying, “Oh my God, they said they can’t write for me anymore, so I guess I’m leaving.” And he was like, “What are you talking about? You’re the only one they’re writing for.” Which at that time, it kind of did feel that way. But I guess someone didn’t like that. They gave me a statement [to release, about her departure] and I never said it. Patrick said that he actually took it out of his jacket on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and read the statement. He won’t let me forget it. He was like, “I defended you, see?” And it was true.

By season eleven, however, fans saw a disturbing break in MerDer’s once unbreakable bond. Six episodes had gone by without a peep from Derek, who was supposedly in Washington, D.C., where he had apparently made out with a research fellow. Fans began threatening to bolt if their hero didn’t return soon to Seattle. “I have never missed one episode,” wrote a fan on Dempsey’s Facebook page. “But I swear if [Rhimes] kills you off I’m done.” But there was a critical reason for Derek’s strange absence: behind the scenes, there was talk of Dempsey’s diva-like fits and tension between him and Pompeo. To help manage the explosive situation, executive producer James D. Parriott was brought back in to serve as a veritable Dempsey whisperer.

Patrick Dempsey [That] was the first year that I haven’t been in every episode. I [was] in every episode since the pilot— close to 250 episodes. That [was a] huge run. James D. Parriott Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes. There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people. The network and studio came down and we had sessions with them. I think he was just done with the show. He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda were at each other’s throats.

Jeannine Renshaw There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much. She was very big on having things be fair. She just didn’t like that Patrick would complain that “I’m here too late” or “I’ve been here too long” when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did. When I brought it up to Patrick, I would say, “Look around you. These people have been here since six thirty a.m.” He would go, “Oh, yeah.” He would get it. It’s just that actors tend to see things from their own perspective. He’s like a kid. He’s so high energy and would go, “What’s happening next?” He literally goes out of his skin, sitting and waiting. He wants to be out driving his race car or doing something fun. He’s the kid in class who wants to go to recess.

Patrick Dempsey It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, “What are you doing on Monday?” And you go, “I don’t know,” because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for eleven years is challenging. But you have to be grateful, because you’re well compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible.

Longtime Crew Member Poor Patrick. I’m not defending his schtick. I like him, but he was the Lone Ranger. All of these actresses were getting all this power. All the rogue actresses would go running to Shonda and say, “Hey, Patrick’s doing this. Patrick’s late for work. He’s a nightmare.” He was just shut out in the cold. His behavior wasn’t the greatest, but he had nowhere to go. He was so miserable. He had no one to talk to. When Sandra left, I remember him telling me, “I should’ve left then, but I stayed on because they showed me all this money. They just were dumping money on me.”

Patrick Dempsey It [was] hard to say no to that kind of money. How do you say no to that? It’s remarkable to be a working actor, and then on top of that to be on a show that’s visible. And then on top of that to be on a phenomenal show that’s known around the world, and play a character who is beloved around the world. It’s very heady. It [was] a lot to process, and not wanting to let that go, because you never know whether you will work again and have success again.

Jeannine Renshaw A lot of the complaining … I think Shonda finally witnessed it herself, and that was the final straw. Shonda had to say to the network, “If he doesn’t go, I go.” Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show. Him and Ellen. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business.

James D. Parriott I vaguely recall something like that, but I can’t be sure. It would have happened right toward the end, because I know they were negotiating and negotiating, trying to figure out what to do. We had three different scenarios that we actually had to break because we didn’t know until I think about three days before he came back to set which one we were going to go with. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. We had a whole story line where we were going to keep him in Washington, D.C., so we could separate him from the rest of the show. He would not have to work with Ellen again. Then we had the one where he comes back, doesn’t die, and we figure out what Derek’s relationship with Meredith would be. Then there was the one we did. It was kind of crazy. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. It was ultimately decided that just bringing him back was going to be too hard on the other actors. The studio just said it was going to be more trouble than it was worth and decided to move on.

Stacy McKee I don’t think there was any way to exit him without him dying. He and Meredith were such an incredibly bonded couple at that point. It would be completely out of character if he left his kids. There was no exit that would honor that character other than if he were to die. Patrick Dempsey I don’t remember the date [I got the news]. It was not in the fall. Maybe February or March. It was just a natural progression. And the way everything was unfolding in a very organic way, it was like, “Okay! This is obviously the right time.” Things happened very quickly. We were like, “Oh, this is where it’s going to go.”

So that was that: McDreamy would die in episode twenty-one of season eleven, even though Dempsey was in year one of his recently signed two-year contract extension. Rhimes wrote a script that was befitting of her lead’s heroic persona: she began “How to Save a Life” by having Derek witness a car crash and helping the injured. Once it appeared everyone was out of harm’s way, Derek continues on his road trip but is suddenly broadsided by a truck.

Rob Hardy (Director) The paramedics leave. He’s there by himself. He’s having a moment. The nice music is playing, and all of a sudden, bang. It comes out of nowhere, which, you know, is how accidents happen. So as opposed to watching it as a viewer, we saw the accident happen through Derek’s perspective. Derek ends up at Dillard Medical Center, a hospital far from Grey Sloan and the talented doctors who work there. His eyes are open, but his brain is severely damaged. No one hears his plea for a CT scan; he can’t speak. To help keep the episode a secret, the scenes were shot in an abandoned hospital in Hawthorne, California, about twenty-two miles from the show’s home studio in Los Feliz.

Mimi Melgaard It was really hard on all of us because it was so secretive and we had so many different locations. We shot at this closed-down hospital that was absolutely creepy haunted. All the scenes there were so sad anyway, and in this yucky-feeling haunted hospital? It was really weird. His whole last episode was really tough. Patrick Dempsey It was like any other day. It was just another workday. There was still too much going on. You’re in the midst of it—you’re not really processing it. Rob Hardy Here’s a guy who’s immobile. Now you’re inside of his head. We were trying to make that feel scary from the perspective of a person who’s used to being in control, from a person who usually has the power of life and death in his own hands. But now he doesn’t have the ability to speak on his own behalf.

Samantha Sloyan When I went to audition, I didn’t recognize any of these doctors’ names. I assumed they were just dummy sides so people wouldn’t ruin the story line or anything like that. All we knew is that we were dealing with a man who’s been in a car accident. I had no idea that it was going to be Derek. I just figured I was going to be a guest doctor and that whoever this person was who was injured, was going to be just a character on the show. Once it became clear what we were working on, I was like, Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe this is the episode I’m on.

Mike McColl (Dr. Paul Castello) I signed an NDA before they would release the script to me. I was reading it in my house, and I was like, “Oh, my God.” I didn’t tell anyone, including my agents. I just said, “This is a really great booking. It’s a great role on Grey’s.” And they didn’t know anything until it aired.

Savannah Paige Rae (Winnie) The first scene I shot was actually the sentimental scene when I’m saying, “It’s a beautiful day to save lives, right?” I’m in the hospital room with Derek and talking to him. Even though I never watched the show, I recognized the value of the episode I was in and just really took it to heart. It was so special that I got to be a part of it.

Rob Hardy [Patrick] had a lot of emotions during the whole shoot, which evolved. I think when we first started, he was very calm and cool … the same Patrick that I remembered when I worked on the show a year or so before. With each passing day, he was a lot more emotional. A lot more was on his mind, and that would show itself in different ways. The finality of the episode and for his character was setting in. You’ve become a global icon on this show and then in five, four, three, two, a day … it’s over.

James D. Parriott Patrick was very cooperative and good.

Mike McColl When I met Patrick, he’s lying on a stretcher and we’re rushing him into the ER. I just introduced myself, shook his hand, and was like, “Man, I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be the guy to take you down.” He loved it. He could not have been nicer to me and was funny through the whole shoot. He was on the table in front of me there when I cut his chest open and all that stuff. He gave me a hug at the end. It was a real privilege to be a part of TV history in that way.

Samantha Sloyan I remember him being incredibly kind. They had his neck in a brace, and he’s strapped down to the board, so there wasn’t a ton of chatting. I remember him being really kind, but it was clearly intense for him.

Stacy McKee It was such a beautiful piece of storytelling. I knew this event was going to be a really sad, horrible event for Meredith, but I also knew it was going to be the beginning of such an incredible chapter for Meredith.

Dempsey completed his final hours of shooting on a rainy night. There was no goodbye party, no goodbye cake. Maybe that’s because some cast members were left out of the loop. James Pickens, Jr., told ABC News that the cast “didn’t know a whole lot. It was kind of on the fly. So whatever information we got, we pretty much got it kind of right before it happened.”

Caterina Scorsone (Dr. Amelia Shepherd) I didn’t get to say goodbye to Patrick when he left. I do think that helped, because I’ve been using the character of Derek in my internal landscape since Private Practice. Derek was the stability in Amelia’s life. He became a father figure after they watched robbers shoot their father. When he was suddenly gone from the show, we didn’t have that closure, so I got to play it out. She’s about to use drugs again before Owen confronts her in a way that she finally talks about her feelings about losing Derek. She doesn’t end up using.

James D. Parriott The day he left, that was my last day. There was a certain sadness to it, but I think he was relieved. I mean, I think it took a toll on him, too.

Rob Hardy I didn’t see other actors showing up and saying, “Hey, it’s the last day! Wanted to come and wish you well.” I didn’t get that. It was more the Patrick show. We were in the Patrick world, and then Ellen came, and there was definitely a lot of emotion that both of them had individually … not necessarily together. It was more so her being there on the day that he died. He had his own way of being with that, and the same thing with her. It was like two people who grew up together and … here we are. They had their own way of reflecting.

Patrick Dempsey I very quietly left. It was beautiful. It was raining, which was really touching. I got in my Panamera, got in rush-hour traffic, and two hours later I was home. Big news like this doesn’t stay quiet for long. Both Michael Ausiello—who left EW in 2010 to launch the news site TVLine—and Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter learned two weeks prior to Dempsey’s final episode that he would be leaving the show. No reporter worth their salt wants to sit on a scoop—least of all one as huge as this—but Ausiello and Goldberg didn’t want to spoil the outcome for fans, so they agreed to hold the story until after the episode aired. I eventually found out, too, but in the nuttiest way imaginable: I was standing on the set of CSI: Cyber, watching Patricia Arquette talk about some droll techno-criminal. Unfortunately, the publicist also cc’d Dempsey’s manager and ABC publicist while trying to give me a major story, so I couldn’t immediately report the scoop. But I did use the information to successfully negotiate the one and only exit interview with Dempsey. Two weeks before his final episode, I met him and his publicist at Feed Body & Soul in Venice, California, for a story that would hit newsstands on April 24. He seemed a little shell-shocked and at one point choked up, but at the time he said nothing about how his on-set behavior may have contributed to his ouster. My editor, Henry Goldblatt, wanted to put him on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, but he couldn’t guarantee to ABC that no one would see it before the episode aired. Good thing we didn’t: some subscribers got the issue on the morning of Dempsey’s final episode— and one actually tweeted the story. Our PR department tried to get the tweets removed, but the cat was out of the bag: some fans found out early that McDreamy was about to be McHistory. Outlets like Variety reported how the story got out early, while our PR department released this statement: “We are surprised that an EW subscriber may have received their issue a day earlier than planned. We always try our best to bring readers exclusive news first. We would like to apologize to fans of the show that learned the news ahead of time.” Dempsey’s final episode was watched by 8.83 million viewers—the show’s largest audience since the premiere that season. Variety even pontificated whether the ratings boost was due to my exclusive with Dempsey.

Lesley Goldberg (The Hollywood Reporter) I’m used to working with networks to hold news as part of their efforts to guard against plot spoilers. But the way Patrick Dempsey’s exit was handled involved a layer of paranoia and secrecy that has been unlike anything I’ve seen in my reporting career. News that he was leaving, and his character being killed off, would have been a major story considering how big the show is domestically and internationally. However, it also would have meant spoiling the episode and, more important, damaging key relationships I’ve worked hard to build. At some point, publishing the news of Dempsey’s exit before the episode aired became an ethical question of what was more important—a big story and its subsequent traffic, which would have come no matter what, or the relationships and trust that it took years to craft. Ultimately, I still published early because EW subscribers received the issue with Lynette’s Dempsey interview before the episode aired.

Mike McColl The morning after Derek’s last episode aired, my daughter sent me a link that was on YouTube or Facebook or something. I actually pulled it up to look at it, and it was a Grey’s Anatomy showbiz cheat sheet. It asked the question “Who is the attending doctor who killed Derek ‘McDreamy’ Shepherd?” It included a photo that I posted from the set. I had on a bloody rubber glove and was in my scrubs and mask. I never obviously would have posted this before it aired. I posted it well after the episode aired, and I [captioned it] “McDeadly.” This writer said something like, “Kill McDeadly.” Maybe that’s why the producer didn’t choose a big-name actor to be the one who killed our beloved McDreamy! I want to be ultrasensitive to these hard-core fans because it means so much to them, and I certainly didn’t mean in that case to make light of it. It’s just, I’m an actor, and I recognize it for what it is. Is everybody clear on the fact that this is just pretend and Patrick knew he was going to be leaving the show? It was just like, “God. He’s okay. He really is okay.”

Peter Horton Derek was going to be there forever with Meredith because you went through a whole journey with them. That was incredibly fulfilling. So even if he’s not there, he’s there. I don’t think any of us really worried about that going away because by then you were so invested in it. The show can last as it has for years.

Patrick Dempsey Lots of people [miss him]. “It’s good to see you alive” is the comment I get. I’m like, “Yes, I’m very much alive in reruns.” People were really invested in that relationship. I knew it would be heavy. Very happy to have moved on with a different chapter in my life.

Samantha Sloyan The montage just killed me, when Meredith says, “It’s okay, you can go.” God, I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. The chemistry they have as a pair and the way they were able to build that and sustain it! So many of these relationships are, like, “Will they, won’t they,” and then it wears thin. They sustained it for the duration of their relationship on the show, and it’s just, I think, a testament to what those two created. It was just unbelievable.

Pompeo addressed Dempsey’s departure with a tweet that focused solely on his character, not on how she spent eleven years working side by side with him: “There are so many people out there who have suffered tremendous loss and tragedy. Husbands and wives of soldiers, victims of senseless violence, and parents who have lost children. People who get up every day and do what feels like is the impossible. So it is for these people and in the spirit of resilance [sic] I am honored and excited to tell the story of how Meredith goes on in the face of what feels like the impossible.” Meanwhile, fans futilely created a Change.org petition to reinstate McDempsey, while other, more desperate ones simply tweeted “We Hate You” to Rhimes.

Shonda Rhimes Derek Shepherd is and will always be an incredibly important character—for Meredith, for me, and for the fans. I absolutely never imagined saying goodbye to our McDreamy. Patrick Dempsey’s performance shaped Derek in a way that I know we both hope became a meaningful example— happy, sad, romantic, painful, and always true—of what young women should demand from modern love. His loss will be felt by all.

Talk about the mother (father?) of all postscripts: In November of 2020 Dempsey reprised his role as McDreamy in the season opener—but only in Meredith’s dreams. Stricken with COVID-19, an unconscious Meredith “imagined” reuniting with her husband on the beach. After talking exclusively to Deadline and saying how it was “really a very healing process, and really rewarding,” Dempsey would return for more beach-based episodes that would ultimately stand out as the best moments of season seventeen. “It was a second chance thing,” one ABC executive told me at the time. “Shonda likes a comeback. Also, they wanted him in their last season.”

#grey's anatomy #derek shepherd #thr #Patrick Dempsey #shonda rhimes #Ellen Pompeo #chandra wilson #caterina scorsone #Stacy McKee #Peter Horton #Mike McColl #Lesley Goldberg #Rob Hardy #James D. Parriott #Samantha Sloyan #Savannah Paige Rae #Mimi Melgaard #Jeannine Renshaw #Brooke Smith #Mark Wilding #Norman Leavitt #Tina Majorino #joan rater #Lauren Stamile #Tony Phelan #Eric Buchman

[cathrrrine]

RUN | Pietro x Reader

Originally from my Wattpad

CHAPTER 15 - GHOST

----

[2009.]

Cold, unforgiving metal met the tender skin of my arm as I blocked his punch. That's going to leave a bruise. His blows were getting stronger, faster. He was testing my skills, they wanted to see how far I could be pushed. Although I wasn't far from the edge, I wasn't going to let myself fail today either.

"Focus!" He yelled.

I grimaced, ducking under his arm and landing a punch to his gut. Rookie move, but it was all I had at that moment. He grabbed my arm, quick as lightning, and dragged me by the chin so he could look me in the eye. My fists were still clenched but the exhaustion was starting to take a toll on me. I panted heavily as I tried to mask how drained I was.

With my arm still in his grasp, he said, "Who are you fighting for?"

It was almost a mantra that I was forced to reiterate every single time I fucked up. "Hydra."

He said it again, louder this time, his grip on my hand growing tighter. He could break my wrist if I didn't deliver. Hell, he could break every single limb I had. I couldn't fail.

"Hydra!" I scoffed. I belonged to them. I had to die for them. Hydra ran through my blood, and if it was ever spilled one day, it would be justified in their name.

That's what they told me.

Who was I to question them? I was nothing but a vessel, a weapon for these people. If I failed to deliver what was asked of me, I'd be killed. How ironic was that? To kill or be killed.

I hated it.

As soon as he let my arm go, I thrusted the top of my head into his face. I heard what sounded like his nose breaking and true enough, as I regained my balance and faced him, I found him wiping blood from his nose with the heel of his hand. It was satisfying, to say the least, to see that I finally made a dent.

"Perfect." He nodded.

God, it wasn't over yet.

He pulled his knives out of the holsters he wore, spinning them in the air and catching them both flawlessly. It was his signature trick. Honestly, I thought it was a bit too dramatic. But what can I say? Hydra loves their drama.

"Pay attention." He pointed the tip of the knife towards me. "Or you'll bleed."

He pounced, spinning his knives like they were toys and not murder weapons. He thrusted his right knife in the vague direction of my shoulder, I took a half-step back and circled around so I was behind him. It only took a second for him to whip around again, but I expected that move. So, I threw my leg up as soon as he did and I kicked the weapon out of his grip.

The knife spun around threateningly in the air before falling onto the concrete across the room with a thump. He didn't seem to pay any mind to his fallen weapon. That's when I remembered he had another. He twirled it around his fingers before gripping the handle and thrusting his right arm with full force, the gears of his metal arm whirring as he did so.

I thought I had it. I jumped back so he wouldn't catch my rib, but he was quick to calculate my movements. I should have known.

The pain was searing.

Blood oozed out of the newly-made wound on my calf, the knife buried to the hilt. I screamed uncontrollably as the pain of it kicked in, my body going limp immediately.

"That's enough, soldat."

Tears were falling down my face against my will. You know how sometimes your body does things you don't want it to do? I know, logically, tears were just how your body reacted to certain things. For example, being stabbed in the goddamn calf. But I knew, despite literal fucking science, the people around me took it as a sign of weakness. That's how messed up in the head they are.

But I wasn't weak. I just got through 2 hours of intensive training with the Winter Soldier while they just watched.

I'd like to see the lot of you fight him and manage to not get killed.

One of the medics went over to my side and helped me up. The Winter Soldier stepped aside and watched me with disdainful eyes. I knew I disappointed him. That alone could have fucked up my assessment. How did I not see it coming? How did I miscalculate that movement?

The Commander leaned in to talk to him as he watched me limp away. I made eye contact with both of them. The Commander's lips were moving but I couldn't make out a word of what he was saying.

Through pain-ridden eyes and a half-delirious mind, I could almost make sense of what the conversation was about.

Girl...Mission...Out...Threat.

Next thing I know, I was being treated by Dr. Nolan in the Medical Room. I don't think I processed anything yet. My brain felt numb. My eyes were glued to the knife — now on a metal tray — that I failed to dodge.

My mind flickered through all the different scenarios that I could have went with. I was beyond frustrated with myself and with my complete and utter failure. What were they going to do with me now? They couldn't really kill me...could they?

My mind reeled back to the conversation I saw that the Soldier and the Commander had earlier. What were they talking about? Did they finally decide what to do with me? The defective agent?

I wasn't perfect. I tried to be, but I wasn't. Somehow I always found myself disagreeing with their rules and their missions, even if I carried them out anyway. Although, sometimes I couldn't help but protest. I had to. Even if the consequences would hurt me. If they knew that I'd gone against more than just a few of their regulations, there's no doubt I'd be dead within the minute.

Footsteps came through the corridor, yet I didn't even think to look up.

"Your mission." The familiar faded black of a case file was thrown into my lap carelessly, the papers crinkling in protest as it landed. I looked up to see an annoyed expression that was attached to the face of one of the high-ranking agents.

"Mission? I thought I failed the assessment." My thumbs flicked through the papers almost automatically, scanning through the details quickly. I didn't miss the red stamp on the front. This wasn't just any mission.

He–David, I think–shrugged, "The Commander asked me to hand this to you. You're leaving in an hour."

"What?"

I was...thrilled and appalled at the same time. The whole point of the assessment was for them to see that I was worthy enough to be placed on important missions like these. If they trusted me with it, that means I succeeded.

"In an hour?" Dr. Nolan chipped in. "She hasn't fully recovered from her stab wound yet. You need at least two to three weeks of rest."

The red star-shaped stamp looked even more brighter in that moment, even if the room was poorly lit. "I've had worse. I can survive a limp."

"You won't even be able to walk." He raised an eyebrow at me in disagreement. Somewhere deep down, I knew I should listen to him. I wasn't in the best shape for a fight, let alone a mission like this one.

David huffed, "Orders are orders."

Then my brain clicked back into place. David was right. I nodded once. "I'll be at the hangar in 30 minutes."

"You better gear up by then. They wont wait up for you."

Dr. Nolan sighed and shook his head before wrapping my leg up with bandage. "Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you."

———

Snow was blowing in my face. The cold seeped through my coat, prickling my skin like tiny little needles made of ice.

"Any minute now." He spoke through the earpiece.

We were supposed to ambush a S.H.I.E.L.D operation that was a threat to Hydra. I wasn't entirely sure why I was sent along with the Winter Soldier, but I wasn't in the place to argue. Not when I just barely survived the assessment.

"Get in position." I crouched down, trying to smother a whimper that threatened to escape my throat. My calf was burning, but that wasn't a priority right now. Everything was always burning somehow, and I learned to ignore it overtime. I scanned the area through the scope of my sniper rifle. As soon as a car came into view, I steadied my hand on the trigger.

"Now."

Four continuous shots for each tire. Every single one blew out and the car spun out of control, spinning from left to right. It was a narrow road, the plan was bound to work to our liking. After a few nasty turns, the car swerved off the cliff, leaving nothing but dust and debris in it's place.

"They're not dead yet. Keep an eye out."

It was quicker than I expected, but I spotted two figures climbing out of the wreck after a while. Their movements were slow and staggered, but alive nonetheless.

"Target acquired."

I watched through the scope as he stepped out of his position in the shadows. One of the figures moved in front of the other, shielding them with their own body. I knew it was useless. He'd kill them both anyway.

A single shot rang out. I could picture the bullet going through one body to the other. They both dropped to the ground, dead.

"Target eliminated."

"Roger."

He didn't say a word. I didn't hear the usual rustle of his movements through the earpiece. Silence engulfed me. Usually, I wouldn't be so unnerved. He was always silent. But this time it felt...strange. I stayed where I was, unmoving. Something in my head told me I shouldn't move, shouldn't speak.

It seemed too easy.

I don't know what it was, but I didn't take my eyes off him. Something about this whole thing seemed...off. He could have completed this mission alone.

Why did they ask me to go with him?

He turned away from the bodies and faced me. I gulped, hands trembling as I held my rifle reluctantly. What was he doing?

"Sir?" I managed to say. Everything was telling me to RUN. NOW.

Slowly, he raised his gun and pointed it towards me.

Girl...Mission...Out...Threat.

My whole body trembled at the sight before me.

"Take the girl on your next mission. I need you to take her out. She's a threat to us, soldier. She's defective. Eliminate her. "

I was right.

Bang! The sound of a gunshot snapped me back to reality. It was real. They wanted to kill me. The Winter Soldier was standing ten feet away from me with a gun in his hand, ready to kill. To eliminate the threat.

Out of reflex, I pulled the trigger of my rifle that was pointed to his head, only to find it empty.

Four bullets. They only gave me four bullets and nothing more.

Without thinking, I ran. I dropped the rifle and ran as fast as my legs could take me. I heard another gunshot, closer this time. That's when I started to feel a strange sort of stinging at the back of my leg. The pressure felt strenuous as I continued to sprint in the snow.

Oh, God...Dr. Nolan was right.

I could feel the pain taking over once more as my stitches started to pop. Warm, thick liquid ran down my leg and seeped through the pants of my uniform as the wound on my calf bled out. Between the stinging cold and the stinging pain, I was starting to feel hopeless. I couldn't possibly go against him.

Bang!

Closer this time. I was running blindly into a vast, wide-open landscape of infinite snow. Not only that, but I was also leaving behind a trail of blood behind me. Deep scarlet upon stark white. What a contrast. Was this Hansel and Gretel or some shit?

"You cannot run forever." His voice was crisp, threatening. I couldn't take the fear that ran cold through me. If I stopped running now, I wouldn't ever get up again. He was the embodiment of fear, and he was chasing me.

I tore off my earpiece and threw it behind me. How could I have been so foolish today? Of course they sent him out here to kill me.

All along I thought I was playing the part perfectly. But, maybe I didn't hide my doubts of Hydra as well as I thought I had. Did they find out about everything I've failed to do?

How could I have killed those innocent children? How could I have murdered that innocent family? Or that innocent man who just so happened to stumble across a Hydra operation?

I was fine with the blood and the gore. I was used to that. The only thing that never sat right with me was when the innocent had to be slaughtered. The first time I went through with it, they haunted my dreams. Their animalistic cries for mercy, their howls of pain...I couldn't live with myself.

They were right. I was defective. I didn't have the makings of a Hydra agent. I wasn't as ruthless as I should be.

I ran and ran, hoping that he was far behind me. The snow was getting thicker by the minute, it was getting harder for me to see and to navigate.

I ran until my aching feet hit the pavement of a road that led to a small village. It looked homely, with houses and shops lined up along the road. Lanterns hung from roof to roof, providing light in the heavy snowfall. If I didn't know any better, I'd try to hide there. But I knew he would only tear it apart and kill everyone on sight just to eliminate me.

Then I sensed footsteps behind me. There was no time to think. It was my only option.

I sneaked through the worn paths of the area, trying my best to lay low. It didn't help that I was sporting a mean limp and bleeding all over the place. People saw me and they avoided me. I started to wonder why I thought heading here would help me. I scanned the area for anything, anything that would help. A weapon, a car, a spot that I could take shelter in...

Then, out of nowhere, I bumped into a woman.

"Oh!"

I held onto her arms as I tried to keep us both from falling. The woman was wearing a niqab. Her piercing green eyes looked right at me, distracting me from my original plan for a moment.

"Are you alright?" She asked, gently.

I must have looked horrible. Sweaty and bloody with panicked eyes. I didn't notice that her arms were still locked on mine, keeping me upright.

That's when I felt it, the surge of energy suddenly coursing through me. It was a peculiar sensation, but I welcomed it. Her green eyes widened. I knew she felt it too.

"You're-" she gasped, trying to pull away from me. I held onto her tighter, not wanting to let go just yet.

"Please." I begged. "It won't hurt."

I had to go before he came.

I heard gunshots behind me. I couldn't let him get to me, not when I just found the key to my escape.

"Who are you?" The woman whispered, struggling against me.

"Someone you’ll help escape death." I looked into her eyes, trying to let her see how desperate I was. I didn't want to take anything else from her but this.

Her eyes jumped from mine to behind me, before flickering back to look at me again. "You're like me, aren't you?"

"You don't need to do anything." I assured her. "I just need to leave."

It took a second of hesitation for her, but slowly, she nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, but I never heard what it was. Because that's when the screaming erupted.

I closed my eyes and teleported myself the fuck out of there.

#run pietro x reader #enemies to lovers #pietro maximoff #pietro maximoff x reader #avengers reader insert #marvel reader insert #mcu #mcu x reader #pietro x y/n #the winter soldier #bucky x female reader #bucky barnes #james barnes #hydra mcu #winter soldier x reader

[ninjago-text-adventures]

Awww, Kai—

It’s okay. The nurse is here to help. And if they say one mean word, I can count at least 9 people + us that will immediately throw hands

DAY | HELLO NURSE

Content warning for: Injection mention

Nurse Arrow: Dr. Savme?

Dr. Savme: Ah, Nurse Arrow, come in.

The nurse pulled in the monitor, which Kai stared at with a curious horror.

He was still getting used to the modern age, the jump from the humble monastery to the jumbling, messy busyness of a hospital- in a city no less made Kai uneasy. That and the overabundance of-

Technology~⭐

Dr. Savme: Kai, this is my assistant and he will be giving you your prep shots.

Well, this was a twist. A male nurse. Kai's previous perception of nurses has been those scantily dressed pretty ladies with short dress uniforms. Guess those stupid dramas Jay and Nya watched were full of bull.

But then again, Arrow was pretty handsome-

Nurse Arrow: Hello, Kai. I want to ask, have you gotten shots before?

S1 Kai: Uh- I think maybe as a kid?

Nurse Arrow: Do you think you may have any fear of needles?

Why.

S1 Kai: Why?

Nurse Arrow: You might have a fight or flight reaction, and for that, we usually take a moment to have the patient adjust before we go forward with injections.

S1 Kai: Huh-

This really isn't a medical drama.

Nurse Arrow picked up a needle. Not motioning it to Kai, seeing the boy freeze up-

Dr. Savme: Let's give him a minute.

S1 Kai: ... How deep is that going to go?

Nurse Arrow: Not too deep, you'll feel a tight pinch and you'll be good to go.

#ninjago #ninjago text adventures #kai smith #dr. savme #nurse arrow #time travel event #part three: the point of no return #day

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 18X03

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I liked this episode overall, but I didn’t love it. The writing this season is slowly improving after a complete disaster of a Premiere so that’s good, but I still feel like the episodes this season lack punch. They lack suspense and drama and action. The pacing is just really slow and it’s getting on my nerves. I enjoyed Addison’s return, but I wish they’d done more with it. I loved seeing Addison back and Kate Walsh did an amazing job, but I felt like they could have gone further with her scenes and made them a bit deeper. I felt like they skimmed the surface of what they had to work with and that they could have gone a lot farther with it. 

My favourite Addison scenes of the episode were when her and Meredith were on the elevator and the scene at the end with Zola, Bailey, and Amelia. I thought Kate Walsh and Ellen Pompeo gave a great performance in the elevator scene. It felt genuine and real to me. That being said, the scene didn't have the emotional impact for me that I hoped it would. I felt emotional, but it didn't hit me in the gut as I was expecting it to. I think part of that was the music choice, how short the scene was, and the lack of build-up beforehand. I also loved the scene with Meredith and Derek's kids at the end of the episode. I thought that was really lovely. Especially when she told them that Derek called her Addie. I also really enjoyed the OR scenes with Meredith and Addison and watching them teach Levi. 

Speaking of Levi, while I liked his scenes and moments in this episode, the other residents, minus Jo, just got on my nerves. Their comments were so cringeworthy and disrespectful. Levi was literally the only person to tell them to shut up and show some respect to their attendings. Their speculation about Addison and Meredith was so childish and gossipy I just can't take any of them seriously as future doctors. It was awful. I liked that we got more medical cases this episode, but I can’t say any of them really grabbed me. It felt like this script needed another draft before it went to air. 

If I had to pick, I'd say that Rashida's case was my favourite. I don't feel that we got to know Addison's clinical trial patient well enough for there to be an emotional impact for me. I did like that Winston continued to advocate for Rashida and got her the kidney she needed. I loved seeing Ben back in action and the surgery truck scene between Ben, Owen, and Winston. While I thought Owen went overboard going to Noah’s house, I am excited for Owen to have a non-romantic storyline. Kevin McKidd is a great actor and deserves plotlines outside of his messy love life. 

The storyline with Teddy and Link trying to fix the broken HVAC Unit was just stupid and I still don’t get why Link is so suddenly dead set on marriage that he’s willing to throw away an otherwise healthy relationship with Amelia and put Scout in a split custody situation especially since that's what he had growing up and he tells Teddy that is exactly what he didn't want for Scout. Why is being married so important to him? And why doesn't Amelia seem to care about Link or Scout anymore? Is her tumour back? I know some people out there are rooting for Amelia and Dr. Bartley and I do feel like Amelia and Bartley could have good chemistry if it wasn't for the fact that Amelia has a whole ass family in Seattle that no one wants to see her leave which put her scenes with Bartley in a weird position. 

The HVAC plot was absurd. HVAC systems have been computerized for at least the past five years now if not longer. The ignorance on Teddy and Link's part was ridiculous. To me, storylines like that really devalue the important work that tradespeople do and since I come from a family of tradespeople it really bothers me. It’s just so ignorant and upsetting. You can be funny without spreading ignorant stereotypes about hard working people who basically have had to retrain as both maintenance and IT which is very impressive. 

That being said, I did enjoy Teddy’s turn as Ambassador of Fun! It was silly and hilarious and I loved it! I especially enjoyed the hats! The sequined biker hat Teddy put on Owen? LOL! My favourite scene of the episode was the one between Meredith and Hayes when he brings her coffee and they talk about her new project in Minnesota, the weather in Ireland, and how Austin is doing. I just love their chemistry together and I love seeing Hayes talk about Ireland. I also love that Meredith is confiding in Hayes about Minnesota and her plans to give up the Residency Program to Richard, but I’m confused as to why she hasn’t told him about Nick yet or why she would bother going out with him when she has Hayes back in Seattle whose clearly still interested in her. 

He literally tells her he’s unhappy about adjusting to the idea of her being gone part of each week and the only reason they aren’t together is because Austin is having a hard time right now so why is Nick even on this show? It doesn't make any sense. I feel like they are wasting Richard Flood's talent so far this season. He's a great actor, he brings so much depth to Hayes, and they are so underutilizing him it's maddening. Get rid of Nick and focus on the characters you have people! It’s not hard. Oh, and also pick up the pace while you’re at it. We’re only three episodes in and this season is already dragging. While I enjoyed this episode and I feel like the writing is slowly improving I'm really not digging this season. 

They had such a great set up coming off of the last two seasons and I thought with jumping ahead to a post-COVID world we would finally see the culmination of so many storylines that we've all been waiting for. But apart from Teddy and Owen's wedding we literally haven't gotten anything fans have been waiting for based on what they set up previously. So far, I'm super disappointed. Making Meredith Chief of the Residency Program at the end of last season just to have her give the program back to Richard so quickly is a super bizarre move. As I’ve pointed out in the past it’s also really weird that they've spent so much time talking about Jo switching to OB but so little time actually showing it. The promo for next week shows more Addison and her talking to Amelia so hopefully that’s good. 

Until next time!

#grey's anatomy #meredith grey #18X03 #hotter than hell #addison montgomery #cormac hayes #MerHayes #richard webber #richard flood #kate walsh #ellen pompeo #teddy altman #owen hunt #tradespeople #HVAC #ben warren #winston ndugu #amelia shepherd #derek shepherd #zola grey shepherd #bailey shepherd #derek bailey shepherd #levi schmitt #review #critique #Thoughts

[elizabeethan]

Spaces Between Us Chapter 11: Strong

The hardships of real life separated them six years ago, and Emma has been struggling to put that fact behind her ever since. But then, only after she’s convinced herself that she’s moved on and that her new life is enough, Killian Jones comes back.

A Captain Swan Modern AU

A/N: Oh no my hand slipped and I posted early again

This chapter was hard to write, and it might be hard to read. Some heavy stuff happens so please take care of yourself and read the warnings! As always, if you need more information, please please message me. 

***This chapter includes a scene containing descriptions of domestic violence. Please message me for more details if you need to***

Thank you, as usual, to my beta and friend @the-darkdragonfly, and to @donteattheappleshook and @xhookswenchx for listening to my ramblings and helping me figure out the plot to this <3

Read the Rest

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Read my Other Stuff

~~~~

If there’s one thing Killian was not expecting when he woke up this morning, it was this. In fact, this has been the furthest thought from his mind for months. When Emma assured him that Henry is not his son, he believed her and forced himself to drop it. 

 He would gladly raise her child as his own, if she would allow him to do so. He would help them to escape her abusive husband, getting them out of the state entirely if he could, and he would act as a father figure to her boy. 

 But when she walks towards him in the hospital that afternoon, her eyes bloodshot and her face red and swollen as she cries some more, he hears the last thing he’d ever expected to hear. 

 “They want to do DNA testing,” she tells him softly, her voice croaking and rough in the aftermath of her violent sobs. “A… a paternity test.” 

 “Emma…” he tries, but nothing else will come out. 

 “I’m sorry. The pulmonologist says there's no way this is from him being premature. It’s really bad, and he says it’s got to be genetic.”

“I know, love, but… I just thought…” 

 She's silent for a moment, and it’s as if she doesn’t even want to try and speak. Finally, she inhales deeply and forces out her explanation. 

“The weeks before you left, we were fighting all the time. And then we would have sex to numb how much it hurt, and the whole time, I mean… I was bad about taking my pill. And once you left I was still bad about it, but… if I got the date of conception wrong…” 

 He nods, though he’s having trouble understanding her as the world feels blurry still. Despite his confusion, though, he runs his hands up and down along the length of her arms. “He’s still so small, though.” 

 “He was five pounds, eight ounces when he was born. Which is tiny, but Dr. Whale said that a stressful pregnancy can impact birthweight. And… I mean, I spent my pregnancy with Walsh. I lost you.”

 Taking her hands in his, he squeezes and begs her to look into his eyes before he pulls her bottom lip from between her teeth and wipes away the tiny trace of blood left behind. “Love, are you sure about this?” 

 He watches as she begins to break again, the tears immediate and her breathing quickening until he pulls her in for a tight hug. “If this is true-- if you’re his dad-- that means I put him through this for no reason. What kind of a mother does that make me?”  

 Although he’s overcome with confusion and a difficulty accepting what seems more and more likely to be the truth, he’s also overcome with the need to comfort her. So he shushes her gently, kissing her head, and whispers, “you're the best mother in the world to him, my love. You did everything you could to protect him. If this is true, we can leave, and I'll be the best father I can to him. Together, we’ll make up for what he’s been through, I promise.” 

 “I don't want to do this to you,” she cries, and although she grips him tightly, he can feel her pulling away. “I don’t want to put you through this.” 

 “There’s nothing I want more than to be a family with you and Henry. Even if he isn’t my son, I'm going to get you out of Storybrooke and I'm going to treat him like he is.”

 She holds onto him for a while, letting her breathing even out and probably deciding whether he’s telling the truth, and he considers the weight of their situation. He never thought he would be a father. Once things ended with Emma, he thought it was over for him and that he would never move on and be happy enough to start a family with anyone else. Then, when he found her again and with a child of her own, he thought he would at least be happy enough raising someone else’s son if it meant being with her. When she so firmly and believably insisted that he did not father her son, he believed her and tried his best to move on. 

 Now that the possibility is dangled in front of him once more, he isn't sure he can survive the heartbreak of being proven wrong once again. 

 But when he thinks about the lad who has Killian’s mother’s eyes and Emma’s round cheeks and an attitude that couldn’t possibly be inherited from such a horrible man, his heart clenches in his chest and he can’t bear to not know. He can’t go through life without knowing whether this child is his. He wants him to be his so very badly. And even if he isn’t… he may as well be.

 “What do we need to do, love?” he finally asks, giving her assurance that he’s in this with her no matter what they find out. 

 She sniffles, looking up at him with glassy red eyes and asks, “are you sure?” and he nods with firm resolve and a soft smile. She returns it and explains, “they can do a paternity test right now. I can pay for rapid results and find out in a few hours.” 

 Brushing the hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear, he nods again and leans down to kiss her despite the fact that they're in public. They're hidden in a quiet hallway, but the possibility that anyone can walk in on them in each other’s arms is real. “I’ll pay.” 

 “Killian, no--”

 He cuts her off with another kiss, this one more heated, and then says, “I’ll pay. However the results come back, I want to be here for the lad. I’ve missed five years already, let me start making that up now.” 

 She sighs and kisses him now, holding him as close to her as she can as she cradles the back of his head in her hands. “Should we talk about what this means?” she asks softly, voice barely above a whisper in the quiet hall. 

 “All it means is that a part of me may have been with you all along. I can take comfort in that. It means I have a reason for being so fond of your son, other than him being your son. It means there’s hardly any reason for us to be apart ever again.” 

 “Aside from my potential murder,” she jests, although it feels heavier than any joke should. 

 “Hush,” he quiets. “I told you I'm not letting anything happen to you and I meant it. We’re going to get this sorted out now, alright?” She nods, her nose running along his cheek. “Now, are they going to stab me with a needle, or can they simply swab my cheek?” 

 With a snort, she asks, “what, you can handle a bunch of tattoos, but a bit of blood work is too much for you?”

 “Oy,” he argues, tickling her playfully until she giggles and buries her face in his neck. “I’ll do anything for that lad, I swear. Just… a cheek swab is a bit less uncomfortable.” 

 “I’m sure a cheek swab would’ve been less uncomfortable than 39 hours of labor, too.” 

 “Alright,” he concedes. “Come, now. Let’s find out the level of torture I’m about to endure.” 

 ~~~~

 It’s hours of sitting behind the desk, torturously staring at the clock and willing it to turn to 8 pm so she can leave. Tink doesn’t deserve this shift; it’s a complete waste of a day, and hardly anything exciting has happened. One would think that the emergency department at a hospital would be more busy, but Storybrooke is a small and sleepy town. The only thing that’s happened today is a little boy getting checked in for his asthma, and if nothing transpires with what was discovered after he was admitted, it’ll feel like a wasted shift. 

 As if his ears were burning, the elevator opens to reveal something very exciting indeed: the mayor. He hurries towards her, leaning over the desk with a sense of urgency that Tink suspects is purely for attention and votes. “I’m looking for Henry Oswald,” he insists. 

 She blinks at him and cocks her head, turning to her computer for show, although she already knows what’s about to happen. “Do you have ID?” she asks when she sees the kid’s chart, concealing her smirk. 

 The mayor grumbles something about her not knowing who he is and the slightly sadistic side of her cackles. The cackling gets louder when she takes his ID and shakes her head, giving him a falsely apologetic look. “I’m sorry, sir, I can only allow family into his room.” 

 His face is nearly unreadable, but she sees the way his eyes widen threateningly when he asks, “excuse me?” in a deceptively calm tone. 

 Not falling for his playacting, she repeats, “only family is allowed in the room at this time.” 

 “I’m his father,” he insists. 

 Tink shakes her head. “Not according to his chart, sir. The name on your ID does not match the name listed here.” 

 “Let me see that.” 

 “I can’t, sir, it’s a confidential medical record. Only his parents are allowed to see his information.” 

 He slams his hands against the desk and shouts, “I’m his father! What the hell is wrong with you?!” 

 Honestly, Tink should work on her tendencies to rile people up. But when she heard about the drama with the mayor’s son not actually being the mayor’s son, she was sort of hoping this would happen. She didn’t vote for him, anyway. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to lower your voice and take a step back.” 

 “I’m not lowering anything until you let me see the kid!” 

 “Sir, I’ll have to have you escorted out by security,” she insists, pressing the button under her desk discretely and watching the security guards rush into the waiting area. 

 The mayor shouts in anger as he’s hauled away, threatening to sue the hospital and insisting that Tink is infringing on his rights as a father. She smiles softly at the image she saw earlier, of a small boy sleeping away in his big bed and his father diligently guarding him from his firm, uncomfortable chair. 

 ~~~~

 Killian wanted to go for her after finding out the truth about Henry-- the fact that Walsh isn’t his father and Killian is-- but she was terrified of leaving him alone for even a second without the protection of the sheriff, so she insisted on going. He didn’t take that lying down and made her promise to stay in the hospital where it’s safe, so when he fell asleep in the hard folding chair, she kissed his forehead and snuck out of the room and down to his car. 

 It’s strange how easily she’s been able to accept the events of the day. It started with her having a mental breakdown over her husband’s maltreatment of both herself and her son, and has evolved into her feeling a sense of completion. Things are starting to feel right. Her life is falling into place. 

 Killian is Henry’s father. 

 She can continue to stress over the fact that she was too consumed by the pain of losing him to even consider the possibility later, but for now, she focuses on getting as many of Henry’s things as she can and stashing them in Killian’s squad car before she goes back to the hospital to be with her son. Killian can bring all of his stuff to his apartment later, so that she doesn’t waste any more time being away from him or being in this damn house. 

 She smiles as she grabs his favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Quackie, and pushes it into his small backpack before reaching for his nebulizer and placing that inside as well. She grabs Goodnight Moon and his favorite copy of Henry and Mudge, and just as she’s reaching for the rest of his clothes that she has laid out on his bed, she hears the front door slam. 

 In a panic, she shoves his clothes into the duffle bag as quickly as she can and zips it up, but she isn’t sure how she’ll be able to leave the house without him knowing. The squad car is parked outside, and while she was initially worried about taking it for fear of Killian getting into trouble, she’s glad she has it now. Maybe if he thinks the Sheriff is here, he won’t do anything. Maybe she can climb out the window without being seen, sneaking back in the front to grab the keys from the kitchen and making a break for it. She doesn’t need any of her own things, just the contents of the small backpack slung over her shoulder. 

 Just as she makes the rash decision to head out the window, hoping that the roof below the second story will be enough to ease her to the ground, she feels a hand on her shoulder yanking her back inside until she’s on her back and looking up. She’s never seen him look so angry-- she’s never seen anyone look so angry. He glares down at her through fury and rage and she fears what’s to come. 

 “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asks simply, seething through his teeth as she gulps and attempts to stand. He stops her by pressing the toe of his boot, still wet from the snow outside, to her forehead. “I said what the fuck is wrong with you?”

 “Um--” 

 “I just left the hospital. The school called, and when I got there, they said only Henry’s family can go into his room.” 

 She tries not to dwell on the fact that the school called him because she knows that they were required to do so. She also tries to ignore the fact that he waited almost eight hours before going to the hospital to look for Henry, able to put the thoughts of anger out of her mind and replace them with relief at him not being the father of her child. All she can do now is gulp and stare up at him in anticipation for what he might do to her. 

 He removes his boot and lets her stand, and just when he steps to the side and she’s tricked into thinking that he may let her leave, he throws her onto the small bed and screams, “his family?! How convenient is it that the hospital thinks someone else is Henry’s father?”

 “Walsh,” she tries, but he’s on her before she can go on, pressing his forearm to her throat to silence her with just enough force for it to hurt. 

 “And now you're here, in the sheriff’s car,” he hisses, spit spewing across her face as he berates her. “If you tell me he isn’t mine-- if you stuck me with this life for six miserable years for absolutely no reason-- I will fucking kill you right here.” 

 She lets out a sound that should indicate the damage he’s doing as he increases the pressure of his hold, and he lets go only long enough to replace his arm with two hands. He squeezes hard until she starts to see stars, clinging her hands to his wrists in an attempt to claw him away from her and open up her airways again. Instead of letting go, he lifts her by the neck and throws her back down against the bed with more force than she knew was possible. He screams some more, but her world is going dark and she can’t make out a word he says to her. 

 Her lips start to feel numb at the pressure he applies. Her eyes feel like they’re going to pop out of her skull. Her desperate movements at his hands weaken, and she truly believes that he means to kill her. He means to end her life as punishment for falsely saddling him with fatherhood. She has the realization that she’s about to pass out and probably die, and then sees her son’s face flashing before her eyes and is reminded of why she’s here. Not just why she’s in his room gathering his things, but why she’s here on this earth. What purpose she serves as a person. 

 She’s a mother. 

 No one can take that from her. 

 No one. 

 She lifts her hands from his, finding one last grain of strength, just enough to plunge her pointer fingers into his eyes and make him scream in painful anguish as he finally releases his hold on her. She takes the deepest breath she ever has and ever will again, and feels more sympathy for Henry than she ever has before because nothing has ever been scarier than wanting to inhale and being incapable of doing so. 

 Walsh cries out, swearing at her and calling her names before he throws her onto the floor, causing her to lose the wind in her lungs once more. But she’s committed to fighting back now, and she won’t let him win, so she kicks him hard between his legs so that he falls beside her and then moves to stand herself. 

 Grabbing the small backpack, the one that at least has his nebulizer in it, she feels Walsh's hands grabbing for her ankles as she starts to run. She makes it down the stairs and grabs the keys off of the counter, wishing she had just kept them with her, when he cuts her off. He raises the stakes, too, because he’s standing three feet from her with a gun she had no idea he owned and a wild, murderous glint in his eyes. 

 “Are you gonna shoot me?” she asks, her throat and neck burning as she speaks. 

 “I really, really want to.” 

 “What about your reelection?” she taunts.

 “Fuck you.” 

 She glances around the room as she stares down the barrel of his gun, and realizes she isn’t scared. It’s the icing on the cake, the fact that he’s had a gun in the house that her five-year-old lives in the entire time and never bothered to tell her. She’s furious. 

 So she picks up the crystal vase on the counter and he laughs, asking what she’s going to do with it when he’s standing there with a gun to her head, and she tosses it at him. It’s his grandmother’s, and he wouldn’t dare let a family heirloom shatter, so he drops the gun and catches the vase. She grabs his golf club as she runs by the bag he’d left by the entrance of the kitchen, holding it like a bat as he turns to face her again. 

 “You’re not his dad,” she confirms finally, her strength giving way to the cocky attitude that she’s been wanting to give him for months. Years. “The sheriff is. And I’ve been fucking him for months.”

 He growls in the back of his throat, grumbling something about her being a bitch, and rushes her foolishly. She swings the golf club with all of the force that she possesses and knocks him and the crystal vase to the ground, taking a deep grounding breath when he remains still, and then hurrying towards the door. 

 ~~~~

 She parks outside of the sheriff’s station, unsure of what to do next. She knows he can’t do anything to her here, and she doesn’t want to go to the hospital where Henry could see her. She also doesn’t want to let Killian see her like this, because he was right all along. 

 She always thought that a part of Walsh must've loved her, just a bit. She thought that he would never hurt her, because she’s his wife, and that’s just not how things are done. Killian was right, and she should have known better. 

 She remembers hearing a statistic in college, back when she wanted to be a social worker, about how battered women are in the most danger when they try to leave their abuser. She never for a second saw herself becoming a statistic. 

 ~~~~

 The sheriff’s car had been parked outside for twenty minutes before Deputy Ruby Lucas decided to take a peek and investigate why he wasn’t coming inside. When she finally does look, she sees something she would never have expected. 

 Of course, she figured out they were having an affair pretty easily. It’s not like they were being discreet about it, after all. But Ruby never suspected that the sheriff would lend his town-appointed vehicle to his mistress. 

 She likes the mayor’s wife well enough, even more so upon finding out how little she regards her husband. The man’s an absolute terror and she’s never liked him, and always struggled with how someone could possibly have found enough good in that man to marry him. Of course, finding out that Emma doesn’t actually like her husband very much was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

 She taps on the window on the drivers side and the woman inside jumps, staring up at Ruby with wide eyes filled with terror. “Are you alright?” Ruby asks her through the glass, and she watches as Emma grimaces as she turns her head to face forward again. Suddenly and with great clarity, Ruby’s astute deputy skills kick into gear as she notices a deeper-than-normal shadow on the woman’s neck and realizes what’s happening. “Where’s the sheriff?” she asks. 

 Emma says, “the hospital,” although her voice is rough and sounds strained. 

 Ruby wants to turn on her flashlight and take a better look at the woman before her, but thinks better of it so as to not spook her. She leans down so that she’s more on her level and says, “can you come inside with me? We can call him.” 

 She watches as the frightened woman reaches her hand up to her neck and cringes away from her own touch before undoing her seatbelt and exiting the car, her eyes wide and fearful as she looks around the empty parking lot. 

 Ruby has never seen someone look so terrified in all her years as deputy. 

~~~~

~~~~

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[brownandblackpearls]

📜 🖋 𝒞ourting with 𝒟r. 𝒟evorak (Julian x BlackReader) Pt.2

PART 2 SUMMARY:

You are a reputable, young beauty of means in Vesuvia, enjoying the winter courting season. An odd letter from an odd doctor finds its way to your door. You are on the first segment of your first date, attending a medical convention in Vesuvia.

─── Julian x black female reader

─── imagery + fiction

─── explicit smut

─── regency/historical/fantasy, courtship rituals, wealthy! MC, love letters, drama, handsome redheads

☾ previous. ☾ next

.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:・゜゜・．✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: *

.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:・゜゜・．✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: *

Sitting across from Julian in this grand carriage is a fascinating journey all on its own.

The doctor is an eccentric one, telling you tales of wild cases, interesting cure possibilities, and lesser known homeopathic solutions to common Vesuvian ailments.

His sheer passion is more than enough to hold your interest, and hearing his innermost thoughts on his work is enough to spread the contagion of enthusiasm for this medical convention you were arriving upon. You were admittedly squeamish when it came to gore, but you did find an interest in the workings of the body, and more than that, you found an interest in him.

Unfortunately...you weren’t the biggest fan of leeches. When you let him know honestly, he couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“I apologize,” Julian says to you honestly, looking sheepish. “I should’ve realized.”

You shake your head, smiling.

“It’s quite alright. Your line of work is very different from what I know. I simply manage my estate and related businesses, but you...? You help the people of this city. If you say leeches are a helpful medicine for people in need, then I’ll believe you and do my best to rid my trepidation. At least, for this evening.”

Julian stares at you for a long moment before suddenly reaching across the space between you for your delicately-gloved hand and kissing it soundly, intimately. His eyes focus on you through dark lashes before he lowers his gaze as well as your hand.

He clears his throat, sitting back stiffly.

“I…that was forward of me. I must beg your forgiveness.”

“Yes,” you agree in jest. You found nothing wrong with the act, regarding it as more endearing than anything. Clearly, the doctor liked the fact that you were happy to try and see the value in the world he clearly loved so much. “You’re forgiven.”

Julian seems to deflate at your words instead of soothe, wrangling his fingers together anxiously. He forces a laugh and nods, looking out the window. Had he missed your humorous tone...?

You don’t like him looking dissatisfied. You like him looking away from you with that wary expression even less.

With a slow, confident reach across the space, you use your own hands to gently cup his anxious one. Raising it between you both, you pinch the fingertip of his thick, leather glove before slowly lifting it off to unveil his hand of its leather casing. It is easy to pull his large hand towards you and observe the white, open palm.

His hand is large, long, and elegant for a doctor’s, yet clearly worn in certain places from fervent use. He must help so many, with these hands. Your mind drifts to other possibilities that those long fingers may be capable of, but you settle yourself quickly.

No need to rush. Not in courtship.

Instead, you use the subtle imaginings to move your lips, pouting and pressing them long and gentle against the palm of his hand. You linger there, flicking your gaze up and watching him freeze through the gaps of his fingers, before pulling away with a sweet release. Your eyes flick down to the lipstick-stained kiss mark left on his hand.

Your mark. 

Smiling with satisfaction, you gently tug his glove back on and pat his hand before releasing him.

“That was also forward of me,” you say casually enough. “Am I forgiven…?”

Julian fumbles, a hot blush crawling up his cheeks. 

“Y-yes,” he barely breathes, leaning towards the window once more. You settle with the thought that it is for some air, likely...instead of apprehension.

You feel your own face heat from the thrill of the forbidden, enjoying the slight cover that your dark, warm skin gives you. It would take more exertion than thrill or embarrassment to reveal you. The act of kissing his hand had been deviant, but delicious, and you thoroughly enjoyed teasing the doctor. He probably had expected no mischief from a respectable, established woman such as yourself. He may have even thought he had to hold himself in a certain manner to gain your favor.

Little did he know, he already had it. You wanted him, and you wanted him to understand you better, as well as lower his guard around you. You were certainly high in the Vesuvian aristocracy circles, but you were human just as anyone else, and you could make the same mistakes...the same missteps...as anyone else.

Your idea seemed to work well enough. Mr. Devorak no longer seemed to be upset, or appeared as if he felt alone in his forwardness.

Now, he seemed bewildered, if not highly intrigued.

You were pleased to think that later on, when you were no longer together, that Dr. Devorak would still have your mark on him after the day was done. A pretty reminder.

But no more of that. The day was just beginning.

“Ah, there it is!” He exclaimed, beckoning you to the window. “That’s the hall the gala will be held in!”

.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:・゜゜・．✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: *

Though you were never one to feel overdressed at any occasion, you could certainly feel the eyes draw onto you as Dr. Devorak escorted you towards the large building.

Leaving the warm space of the carriage allowed you a reason to stay close with him in the crowds. His offered arm is strong and warm, but you keep your admiration to yourself for the moment. You take it as if its second nature, letting him lead you both towards the great hall in an easy step.

Your eyes span the people crowding near the entrance way, and you realize there are several other young beauties here with courting partners as well. Perhaps this event was more popular for Vesuvians than you once believed? You were curious to find out about the draws of this event that you had been unaware of prior.

The doctor flags down one of the door staff, smiling. The doorman spots him and grins back, calling out his name.

“Dr. Devorak! Welcome, welcome. You’re on the list of course, so you can come right in. Here’s your pin.”

Your date smiles, allowing the man to pin a medical emblem on his lapel. You realize it is likely a determiner for others in the event to understand who he is, and know that he is also a medical professional participating, not just a socialite.

“My lady,” the doorman greets, bowing to you kindly before stepping back. You don’t miss the sly wink he shoots to the doctor, who funnily pretends as if he did.

You greet the man back pleasantly before allowing Julian to lead you both into the event, past the crowds.

“Oh!” You gasp aloud, seeing the dioramas inside.

There were huge displays of freeze-dried human musculature, stuck in stasis while posing as if they were alive. Some were running, others jumping, and some standing. You mistakenly thought before that such sights might be grotesque, but the preparers did such a good job in making all the displays neat, clean, and scentless, you couldn’t help but feel only fascination.

Other tables were covered in medical tools, some from ancient Vesuvian history, and others from the current times. You could spy syringes, hacksaws, casts, all kinds of tools and oddities. Another table held medicines, their respective bottled forms, only for the bottles and pills to be under-laid by the real ingredients that went in them. One bowl of tablets showed huge ferns beneath them, and you wondered to yourself how pharmacists and herbalists could ever mash up such large plants to fit into such tiny capsules.

You didn’t realize you’d forgotten to interact with your date since entering the hall until Dr. Devorak pulled up beside you, smiling as you gawked at everything.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?”

You startle a little, turning to him with wide eyes. A smile comes to your face.

“Yes! Very!”

You point out the bottles to him, revealing the question that had run through your mind.

The doctor seemed highly pleased to hear of your interest, and even moreso to engage in it.

“Well, you see,” he began, “though some professionals settle for the old mortar and pestle, there are new devices made just in the last year to assist with the refining process! In my offices, we’ve also experimented with rollers, stones, pressers, as well as the normal affects.”

“Like what?” You wonder, leaning in.

“Oh…” He pauses, unsure of himself now. “I, erh...I wouldn’t want to bore you. Are you in need of refreshments? I can—“

“You’re very kind,” you insist, trying to redirect back to your question. He’s gotten you interested and now you want to know! “What affects did you mean? From before?”

He pauses, analyzing you for a moment before breaking into a somewhat fond grin.

“Well...things like heat or chill can help separate what we need from the ingredients used. Though I had to study all arenas of medicine and practice in my youth, I focus more on diagnosis, prescription, and research these days. I used to do surgery and medicinal preparations but with the recent expanding we’ve undergone, I’ve been sidetracked with indulging in more hypotheticals and innovation than tried-and-true practice. So, I’m very excited to see what my colleagues have come up with!”

You smile, watching him speak and taking in his words. He seems so bright, so glad and inspired.

“I am happy to hear your expansions allow you the pursuits you desire. It must have been difficult.”

The doctor laughs then, and it is a warm, rich thing.

“I am only lucky. I’ve come a long way, from dingy old ships to grand palaces. Compared to all that, starting my practice and training younger medical professionals was easy.”

You could’ve kept walking beside him, conversing easily...but suddenly, a group of older doctors crowd you both, eyeballing your date.

“Devorak!” One crows. “We’ve been looking for you! Grimmes delivered the best speech on those new splints you both collaborated on, I wanted to congratulate you.”

“Why, thank you!” Julian says happily, shaking hands. “Grimmes did more of the work, she’s a natural.”

He seems to be in his element, amongst all the chatting doctors. Another one steps forward, completely bypassing you and fixated on Julian. You felt like a fly on the wall, drinking up all the curious interactions. This conversation was a world away from politics, estate dealings, and nobility gossip.

“Did you see Asif’s chiropractor module? It was quite horrific.”

“Really...?” Julian wonders. “I thought he sorted out the vertebrae counts for the model?”

“So did we! However the model looked rather poor. Shoulders up to here!” The doctor explains, displaying what he saw by shifting his shoulders as far up as his body could manage. 

“Goodness…” Julian worried. “Was his gait irregular?”

“Irregular? Why, it looked like he’d been hung up on a coat rack Devorak, starched to high hell, and left to waddle out the practitioner’s office. There’ll be hell to pay, that one.”

Julian shakes his head, sighing. 

“I can refer the poor man to the southern branch if I see him. The one on Marigold? God knows the trainees could use the practice. Perhaps we can fix it.”

The doctors nodded their assent and boasted of Julian’s generosity, before finally glancing at you. They all seemed somewhat shocked out of their reverie, glancing between the two of you with increasing disbelief.

“Hello,” you greet, ringing off your name politely. 

The doctors bow politely, before looking to Julian. An older one shoots him a wide grin.

“Don’t you worry about any referencing, Devorak. We’ll let him know, ourselves. You just focus on your engagement with the lovely young woman you’ve caught here.”

“Right,” another one agrees quickly. “Been holding out on us, haven’t you? Who are we to interrupt a courting? Enjoy! Ladies, gentlemen, to the tinctures tables!”

The others agree, bumbling off in their crowd to find more of the convention to see. 

You watch them go before turning to Julian.

“How many practices do you possess?” You inquire. You are genuinely curious, but there is an underlying meaning to your question.

As much as you adore the doctor, these courting dates are very necessary to glean information from potential partners. Julian clearly held standing amongst the other doctors, and was regarded with much respect. You didn’t doubt his ambition or success. But...since he held no large property or titles, so you needed to see how he could help benefit your estate and those that lived and worked in your home. You also needed to ensure that he held few vices or flaws that would conflict with your own…it was a superficial process that could not be completed in one engagement, and you didn’t particularly enjoy seizing people up like items on displays, but…it was better to do it now while you could rather than risk hearts, coin purses, and marriages down the line.

Besides, you expected the same from Julian, to interrogate you on your end in his own way. You weren’t the only one with assets to think of, and liabilities to consider! And only a fool would assume a wealthy beauty is all they needed in a match.

You felt Devorak could be silly in his own odd little way...but he didn’t strike you as a fool.

‘Hmm. Marriage.’

You watch the doctor, your heart thrumming a little faster at the thought.

‘One thing at a time,’ you remind yourself. ‘I don’t know if I’m even ready for the convention with anyone, him included. Slow and steady wins the race.’

Dr. Devorak stands a little taller, pushing his shoulders back and preparing a bolder facade than you believed he actually felt. He seemed to understand what time this was, what the question really meant, and was eager to please with honesty and transparency.

He wanted to prove himself to you, you realize.

“I am but a humble man,” he begins. “I own one practice, with several branches throughout Vesuvia. It has grown to the point where I now simply stop by each one weekly, and oversee the operations. I have three locations in the city’s center, and five in the outer regions. Those locations range from general practices to apothecaries.”

You nod, highly impressed.

“Eight branches is hardly humble, Julian. It sounds very admirable.”

The doctor blushes, pulling at his collar and pretending nonchalance.

“Eh…well...”

“You must be quite good at what you do.”

“Well...It was not without considerable help, I cannot lie. In the beginning, I had a generous investor that believed in my vision and potential. That investor was the central Countess, and without her I doubt I could’ve gathered together the startup costs. But...I take pride in taking the best care of Vesuvians that I can. And so word spread, and now they come to us for all sorts of ailments and needs. We’ve fairly profitable year after year since. I..I could make more, raise prices, yes, but...I always wanted affordability to be important. Everyone in Vesuvia deserves access to quality healthcare.”

“That’s amazing,” you say. “Not many businessmen in Vesuvia are transparent about their journeys, and not many can honestly say they value ethics.”

You briefly review his words to yourself.

He was hinting near the end that though he had his personal reasons for not breaking his profits ceiling in a way that would truly impress a run-of-the-mill blue-blood, that neither he nor his businesses would be a liability to your estate.

There was another implication in his words that you couldn’t help but notice.

“You know Nadia…?” You ask suddenly.

“Yes! Do you…?” He inquires back, curious.

“Ah...yes,” you respond kindly, tightening your lips on why. You didn’t want to appear rude mentioning your other current courting potentials. Ritually, that was only to be used in situations of dire need for leverage. It was one thing to review each others ways of living and financials, whereas it was quite another to throw into the face of hopefuls…all the other hopefuls…unless asked, of course.

Julian seemed to catch on. He did not seem upset, though.

“Hm,” he wonders quietly. “...I am not surprised that you are getting house calls from all walks of Vesuvia.”

You pause, unsure of what to say. Had you offended him?

“I…”

The doctor is kind, and fills in the empty silence with warmth.

“I am just glad that you answered my letter, that I get to have you for myself today. I am happy that you like the gala and…I only anticipate enjoying the rest of our time together.”

You beam at him, tugging his arm closer to your body.

“I feel the same, Julian.”

He pulls you tighter as well, circling you both around the event to watch more displays and pass by speakers who were taking charge in different corners of the venue. You overhear some very interesting ideas and concepts, and Julian leans over every so now and then to comment on them in your ear.

Soon enough, Julian offers to take you for a break near the venue’s indoor patisserie. You agree joyfully, all too eager to spy the cute little confectionery cakes and pastries as the both of you walk up near the outdoor seating.

Julian hunts down a seat for you both amidst all the other couples, some wedded, some courting, and some just having a casual meetup.

He pulls out your seat gingerly for you, and you sit graciously. He takes his own seat as a waiter arrives, bringing you both a drink and dessert menu. Together, you and Julian order coffees and a cake to share before sitting back, watching one another.

‘Wait,” you think.

You realize very suddenly that the doctor is being too gracious in not asking on your situation in return, and so you decide to open the floor up to him so there is no risk of offending. Perhaps he is nervous because of your status...? Perhaps those things matter so little to him, that he is willing to break courtship convention to avoid asking after them...? Perhaps he is simply forgetful...?

“Is there anything you’d like to know about my estate or my courting season, Julian?”

He pauses, thinking to himself for a stretch.

“Well…I must admit, I know little about you besides what I saw from the theater and what I’ve heard from the grapevine. I’m not fond of gossip and would rather hear it from you, but...I knew so few in your circle...I know nothing, really. Besides your distaste for leeches of course, and your penchant for…” he coughs, adjusting, “….for...adventure.”

You giggle, covering your mouth before leaning in.

“You find me adventurous? Some would say I am just an aristocrat, perfectly happy to hole up in my estate with no influence on the outside world. Not like you. You do so much good.”

He shakes his head, frowning.

“Don’t discount yourself for me. I…I do know of your philanthropy around Vesuvia. Generous donations for the citizens, for the disenfranchised. That is good in its own way. And class is no barrier to who possesses the heart of an adventurer and who doesn’t. You proved it today.”

“How?”

Julian laughs.

“Like you know few honest businessmen, I know few women of your stature who would eagerly come here for a first engagement. Especially after my confidant revealed that I had sent an inquiry letter in a poor manner, to a poorly-picked event. You came—and even better—you enjoyed yourself.”

You gift him a wink.

“I think I may enjoy myself wherever I go, with you at my side, Doctor.”

There goes his flush again, as clear as a bounty of roses! You love the way it matches his hair. He hides his face behind a gloved hand, sinking into his seat as you laugh generously.

“You’ll be the death of me,” he insists, “with your teasing.”

You fake a pout, looking at him innocently.

“I am no tease, sir.”

“Right,” he says simply, smiling. “And I am no doctor.”

You laugh once again, batting at him lightly with a gloved hand before sitting straighter.

“Enough about that,” you say, “I should inform you of my situation, just as you informed me of yours. I would be very rude not to.”

Julian stiffens, sitting straighter as well.

“You don’t have to—“

“Oh but I do,” you insist. “You are too kind and too subtle to ask on such things as blatantly as my aristocrat self can, but the courting traditions demand it. You shall peruse my purse and pursuants as I have yours. There will be no barriers here.”

You clear your throat, and Julian waits patiently.

“I possess the estate of ———, as you already know. I am —— years old, with a long lineage. Most of my family has moved away outside of Vesuvia to our ancestral nation of origins, but I am a Vesuvian-born and Vesuvian at heart, so I chose to stay and take over the household. Like any baron or baroness, I oversee properties, farms, accounts, and merchandise. My estate largely relies on profits from renters on our land, but I began a perfumery and garden a few years ago. Using the florals from the garden, the business has become a success and sells in local tailor shops. So we bring profit in on that end as well, my endeavor alone, since the family that left have their own means in the ancestral country.”

Julian nods, interested.

“A perfumery...?”

“Yes,” you answer, happy. “I really enjoy it. With scents, I can create candles as well. I would love to show you sometime, if you’d like.”

Julian perks up more from the sound of that, than your financials.

“There will be a next time…?” He wonders aloud.

“If you will have me.”

Julian beams then, wider than you’ve seen all day. He nods and sips at his coffee happily, taking the olive branch and leaving so much unsaid. There was no need to.

You both seemed to be on the same page.

“Scents are interesting,” he says suddenly. “It is considered flimsy medicine, but I’ve often thought of aromatherapy. I wonder if it could help patients with mood difficulties…?”

Your eyes widen at the thought. 

“It’s certainly worth a try. I can spare some scents for your practice when you visit me.”

Julian seems awed, amazed at the opportunity and you giving it.

“Are you real...?” He asks suddenly. “Am I dreaming?”

“No,” you laugh. “I am quite real. Do you need a pinch to prove it?”

Julian makes a very odd face at that, straightening up and moving swiftly past the question, diving into how delicious the cake is.

You watch, noticing. You could only wonder what it was that set him off.

“I will not pinch you…” You explain, hoping to ease him.

“Ah!” He shakes his head, trying to wave off your worry. “It’s not that. You’re fine. You can, uh…I want it- wait, no, that’s…never mind! You’re real, that much is certain.”

You watch him flail before shrugging internally and refocusing on the cake. You mentally file the ‘pinching’ reaction away for later thought.

“Is it good?” You ask.

Julian nods eagerly, forking off a piece and raising it to you. You see he is angling the fork for you to grasp yourself, but you decide to forego that idea.

What’s life without a little pleasure?

Sure that no one is watching either of you, you lean forward and eat the cake off of his offered fork, skillfully sucking the remnants off entirely. You look demurely away from him, but you know you’ve hit your mark when you hear him squawk. You chew, assessing, before glancing over to him feeling pleased.

“This is very, very good,” you agree. 

Julian looks a little pained, watching you with wanton desire and intrigue.

You gently take the fork from his fingers and cut him a piece, offering it up to him kindly.

“Say ‘ah‘, for me,” you request pleasantly enough, yet you know that your gaze you’re pinning him with is a little less collected than your tone.

Slowly understanding, the doctor leans forward and takes the offering with his own mouth, too flushed to look at you directly. You’re thrilled to see him clear the fork in the same manner before he pulls back, focusing less on the cake he just ate and more on how you’re making him feel.

“Does it taste better, now?” You wonder aloud.

“Yes,” he nearly whispers. “Much better.”

You smile demurely, supporting your face on a relaxed hand.

“That, dear doctor,” you say, “is a tease.”

“I…I’ll remember that,” he says quietly, shifting under your gaze.

You’re sure that he will.

“You don’t have to,” you insist. “I can always help you, if you forget.” The promise sounds very sweet from your lips.

“Uh…Ah!” Julian pretends suddenly, checking his watch with faux vigor. “Wouldyoulookatthat, the theater! We’d best be on our way, we have box seats, you know.”

You giggle and he mirrors your humored grin, laughing himself.

“Of course, Julian.”

He assists you up before grabbing his cane and coat. Together with your funny doctor date, you are led out of the venue and into the afternoon of the day.

.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:・゜゜・．✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: *

AN: Do not copy, repost, translate, or edit any of my work. If you see someone do so, please let me know.

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[angryschnauzer]

Superior Specimen - Chapter 4

Summary: One night when you are following the Archaeology tag on instagram you stumbled across a fun looking dig… and an even more interesting Paleontologist who soon follows you back. Over the following weeks you start chatting and a friendship soon grows.

Relationship: AU Henry Cavill x Female Reader (No race or body shape mentioned)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Warnings: Slow Burn, NSFW, 18+, Mutual Masturbation, Phone Sex, Drunken Piggy Back Rides, Oral Sex (Female Recieving), Drama, Theft, Amateur Heroics, Hospital Visit, 

I do not operate a tag list, but please follow @angryschnauzerwrites​ and put that blog onto notifications, as you will then be notified whenever i post something new.

I don’t have a masterlist, but all my works are on AO3, link here. Usually i post oneshots to Tumblr and AO3, and multichapters exclusively to AO3, but as this is my first henry story and its going to be a short series, i’ll post to both places.

Chapter 4

 The following few days were busy; it was the weekend and you were on duty both days, plus the following Monday and Tuesday. As it was the height of summer the museum was at its busiest, tourists, locals, and school groups all filling the halls of the old building, plus with a research team now on site the underground laboratories where people could get hands on with less valuable specimens were hugely popular. 

 During one of your breaks you decided to grab a frozen treat from the gift shop, making your way down to the viewing laboratories to see what the teams were up to. Sucking on the fruity ice you peered through the window, your eyes going wide when you saw Henry at the front of the classroom, thirty school children avidly listening to his every word. He glanced up and saw you looking through the window, a sly wink in your direction and his attention was back on the class who were all enraptured by what he was saying. You finished your snack and slipped quietly into the room, standing at the back where few paid little attention to you. Henry called out to the class;

 “So, I hope you have enjoyed the presentation, are there any questions?”

 Several small hands shot up, and you estimated the kids must have been around 9 or 10 years old;

 “Do you ever dig pyramids up?”

 Henry chuckled;

 “No, that’s Archaeology. I am a Palaeontologist. Archaeology is the study of humans; Palaeontology is the study of fossils… they do sometimes overlap where settlements will have been made in the ice age though”

 “Have you ever found a T-rex?”

 “Yes, I was part of a dig in America when we found an excellent complete specimen a few years back”

 “Do you have a girlfriend?”

 Your ears pricked up at the question, and you watched as a slight blush covered Henry’s cheeks and his ears went a cute shade of crimson. He let out a low chuckle;

 “Yes, yes I do”

 “Does she like bones too?” came an innocent voice and you could have sworn most of the teachers on the trip had to stifle their laughter. Henry cleared his throat;

 “Well, you can ask her yourself, she’s joined us and is standing at the back of the room”

 At that moment thirty heads snapped around, eyes going wide when they saw you and recognised you from giving them their visitors lanyards upon arrival. Henry cleared his throat;

 “Well darling, do you like bones?” he cocked an eyebrow and you could see a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. You cleared your throat;

 “Yes, I studied Palaeontology at university and look forward to further studies on bones under Dr Cavill’s instruction”

 The kids seemed satisfied with that answer, and as you looked at the teachers you could see some of them had tears rolling down their cheeks from where they were trying so hard not to laugh.

 The class soon ended, the kids packing up their bags and visitors’ packs, everyone thanking Henry for the informative lesson, and when the door finally closed it was just the two of you in the large white room. Standing next to him you smiled;

 “So… bones huh?”

 He snorted out a laugh as he gathered up the samples into a box, nodding to a miniature model of a Diplodocus;

 “Just grab that would you, need to get everything packed away”

 Following him into the storage room you slid the model onto a shelf before suddenly a strong pair of arms was wrapped around you from behind, soft lips pressing kisses to your neck and you were practically melting into Henry’s arms;

 “Fuck… your mouth is so good…”

 He spun you around and his lips met yours, his tongue eagerly pushing into your mouth and you felt yourself  submitting completely to the skilled muscle as he kissed you deeply, his hands gripping your hips as he pulled you flush with the hard plains and curves of his body. When you finally broke apart you were both breathless;

 “So Princess, what do you really think of my bone?”

 “Well, I haven’t actually had any experience of your bone yet”

 “Dinner, Friday night?”

 A huge smile spread over your face;

 “That would be wonderful… just let me know where and when”

 “I’ll pick you up at 7”

 “Where are we going?”

 He grinned;

 “I’ll pull in a favour, but it’ll be high end… black tie, etcetera”

 -

 You’d returned on a high back to your desk, already thinking about what you would wear on your date. You worked hard, the steady flow of visitors wanting help was continual, and you were tested to the limits of your knowledge of languages with so many international visitors needing assistance.

 However at the back of your mind a synapse was firing, and your attention was drawn to a group of older teenagers, in fact they were probably in their early 20’s. They didn’t seem to be with any of the school groups and didn’t look in the vaguest bit interested in the exhibits. They were however hovering around one of the large donation stations; the large Perspex fish tanks with a slot in the top for visitors to drop coins and notes into. In recent days visitors had been very generous, and there was a large number of notes sitting on top of the heavier coins. Once you had served the visitor who needed help finding the Butterflies exhibit you grabbed the security radio, paging the security guards and calling out a code 10 - suspicious activity/suspected theft. Two of the guards near the door looked at you and you nodded to the group and the guards started to slowly move towards them. 

 As you slotted the radio back into the cradle something else caught your eye, a young man intently looking at the backpack hanging on the back of a wheelchair as its user and carer were reading one of the large displays. 

 Suddenly he snatched the backpack and was running for the door, you called out to security, but the noise of the room was too much to be heard, but you could see the person in the wheelchair look in horror;

 “My medication!” you could read their lips as they shouted and without thinking you were pushing out of the desk and yelling back to your colleague;

 “Get security, the group was a distraction!”

 Thankful you’d worn flat shoes; you were running after the thief who was struggling to get through the crowds. He was out the front doors and down the steps way ahead of you, but the curved driveway was packed with visitors which was slowing him down giving you chance to gain on him. 

 Your legs were powerful beneath you, racing through the now parted crowds and as he took a sharp left to run down the ramp to the lawns you were gaining on him. It was painfully obvious what was going on, the man was carrying a bright flowery bag under his arm, and was being chased by a member of museum staff in uniform, so when two policemen that had been patrolling the area saw you in the distance, they started running towards you. The thief spotted them, slowing his run as he attempted to figure a way out, except the lawns only had two exits; the one the two of you had entered by, and the one the two policemen were now running down. His moment of indecision cost him his lead, and as you caught up you didn’t wait to talk, you ran fully into him, knocking him to the ground and the pair of you into the shrubs that surrounded the lawns. 

 The next thing you knew the two policemen were pulling the thief to his feet and arresting him, security having caught up with the pair of you. A passer-by offered you a hand, helping you up but you felt wobbly on your feet. Someone helped you to the grass to sit in the shade, and you winced as a tissue was pressed to your head;

 “You’re bleeding”

 -

 As you sat in a treatment area of the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital’s casualty department, the lovely policeman that had driven you there quietly took your statement between visits from the nursing staff. There had been a bad accident in Covent Garden, so all the paramedic and ambulance crews had been called to that, and with a head wound you needed to be treated. As you had been helped into the squad car you’d overheard that the thief had also been armed with a knife, and it shook you, to where as soon as you were able to you’d been sat down with a cup of strong sweet tea as the Officer had gotten you to hospital.

 One of the nurses fussed around you, checking on the stitches for the thankfully small wound that was mostly in your hairline;

 “It’ll sting like a bastard - excuse the language - for a few days, but you’ll be fine with over the counter painkillers. If you show any signs of concussion make sure to call 999… do you know what the signs are?”

 You nodded and explained you’d covered it on your first aid course you’d taken for work as she went on;

 “I’ll see if we can get a doctor to discharge you soon. It would also be advisable if you could ensure you don’t spend the night alone… it was quite a solid bump you had”

 “Ok sure” you nodded as you watched her walk away, the Officer turning to you;

 “Is there someone I can call to come pick you up? A boyfriend or girlfriend?”

 “Umm… boyfriend…” using the word gave your mind a happy tingle at the thought of calling Henry your boyfriend; “But I don’t have his number memorised… and I left my phone at the museum… you could message him on Instagram I suppose?”

 He pulled his personal phone out of his pocket;

 “Sure thing… what’s his username?”

 You told him and watched as his eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead;

 “This him?” he turned his phone and you nodded when you saw Henry’s page, sitting quietly as the officer quickly tapped out a message, his phone beeping almost instantly to which he smiled; “he said he’s on his way”

 -

 Fifteen minutes later you were being discharged by the doctor when you heard Henry’s voice, the Officer with you peering out of the curtained area before ducking back in;

 “Ok he’s here…”

 Moments later Henry appeared at the curtain, rushing in and pulling you into a giant bear hug. With you still crushed to his chest by one arm he extended a hand to the officer, thanking him for helping you. 

 Soon he was walking you to his car, parked on double yellow lines outside the hospital and with a parking ticket flapping on the windscreen, he helped you into the car before grabbing the ticket and climbing in beside you. Instead of starting the car he reached over and gently cupped your cheek;

 “How are you doing Princess?”

 You went to speak but all that came out of your mouth was a squeak, the tears starting to flow as the shock and stress of the afternoon came flowing out. He leant across the car and wrapped his massive arms around you, letting you sob into his shoulder as he gently held you. When you finally stopped sobbing, he pulled away and looked into your eyes, he steel blue gaze full of concern;

 “How about we get you home?”

 “Please...” you said with a sigh; “but my bag is still at the museum…”

 “Check the glovebox” he nodded, and you pulled the handle and your bag was there; “I got your supervisor to get it for you as soon as I got the message from the police officer… and I guess our relationship just became public too with the staff…”

 “I don’t care” you said with a smile as he started to drive.

Chapter 5 >>>

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