20+ | she/her | I am a complicated human being with a few typical and atypical interests. What I'm doing now is just me finding my common people and finding things that I like š anime | marvel | reader | writer | hyperfixations | procrastinator | random
Comparing and contrasting Robby's interactions with Samira vs Whitaker as he spirals further and further downward and out of control is just so much more interesting to me when you take the genders of everyone involved out of it for a second. And I'm not saying that criticisms of Robby as someone with misogynistic biases are completely unfounded or unworthy of discussion, but there is also just so much more there.
It is abundantly clear that Robby sees Samira as a younger, less broken reflection of himself, as has been discussed in great length by people who are far more articulate than I will ever be. But I also see so many people arguing that Robby sees Whitaker through the same lens, so why isn't he treated the same way? And I actually so vehemently disagree with that interpretation, at least in so far as this season goes. I don't think Robby particularly sees himself in Whitaker, I think he feels seen by Whitaker, in more ways than one, and that is the crux of where Robby's attitude towards them differs.
The more Robby's self-loathing manifests, the more critical he becomes of Samira, and seemingly the tighter he attempts to draw Whitaker into his life. Abbot compliments Al Hashimi and says they'll be fine without him, accidentally hitting on Robby's biggest insecurity, and Robby immediately goes to offer Whitaker his house. Samira has a panic attack, so identical to the one Robby still hates himself for, and Robby introduces Whitaker to his motorcycle mentor and tells him how much he trusts him. And I don't see either of these actions as really about Whitaker personally or professionally, but rather what he represents to Robby. Someone who saw him at his weakest moment, guarded his most shameful secret, and still looks up to him as a respected teacher anyway; Someone who makes Robby feel like he isn't the catastrophic failure he views himself as.
Robby is suicidal. Perhaps at the start of the shift it was a more passive ideation, but as the hours drag on he's becoming becoming firmer and firmer in his convictions. And in this, keeping Whitaker close provides him both comfort in feeling seen in his final moments and the belief that he's tying up all his loose ends, that Whitaker will remain quiet and loyal inside the box he's tightly enclosing around himself--something that is inevitably going to blow up in both of their faces.
Dennis, who has never had a friend to confide in about a crush and who also loves to annoy Trinity, starts correcting her anytime she addresses him by name or nickname. He goes, āNuh uh uh. Thatās Future Dr. Robinavitch to you.ā
He gets an eye roll from her and some type of snarky comment about his dumb crush on their boss, which he accepts with glee.
But then it backfires one day at work, when Trinity calls out, āHuckleberry!ā And he absentmindedly replies, āThatās Future Dr. Robinavitch to you!ā in front of all their coworkers - including none other than Michael Robinavitch.
Heās introduced as Future Dr. Robinavitch to patients shift after shift, and heās sure heās going to get fired with the way Robby is avoiding him.
But just when Dennis is about to tell everyone to knock it off, Robby casually slips a silicone ring on his finger and tells him he likes the new nickname and should keep it for a while.
Trinity still refuses to call him Future Dr. Robinavitch, though, even when Dennis flashes her the ring. Itās only when Robby gets him a new ID badge, that Trinity starts referring to him as āDr. Bitch.ā But Dennis still accepts it with glee.
The Pitt gets a few new medical students while Robby is gone, and Dennis takes to filling everyone in on who Dr. Robby is and what heās like.
Only, the med students misunderstand his very generous descriptions of the man and think Whitaker is suffering from a case of missing his boss/husband. Something none of them question because Whitaker gets a bit emotional whenever someone mentions the man. But theyāre very curious as to why he gets downright annoyed whenever Dr. Santos questions how heās getting on with his and Robbyās empty place.
They hope their questions will be answered when Robby returns. But when Dr. Robby eventually gets back from his sabbatical and they tell him his husband has told them a lot about him, theyāre further confused when the man asks, āMy husband?ā
One of the students is smart enough to correct, āSorry, your boyfriend.ā
But when Robby frowns at them, they all slowly turn to Dr. Whitaker and point at him.
One of them even shouts, āDr. Whitaker, your husband is back!ā
And they watch as Dr. Whitaker turns a shade of red theyāve never seen before and Dr. Santos cackles so loud that Dana has to shush her and drag her away.
The med students never really figure Dr. Whitaker and Robby out, but they figure the two are okay. Especially when one of them catches the pair making out in the ambulance bay later that shift.
Dennis doesnāt trust what Trinity gets up to at work on his days off.
One time, sheād surprised him by decorating his work locker with the dirty socks heād accidentally left across the apartment. Another time, sheād organized a large shipment of avocados to be delivered to the Pitt the next time Dennis was mid shift. And no oneās forgotten about the time sheād hid fake rats around the ER for him to find.
It was all harmless stuff, really. Well, except the rat one. Dr. Robby hadnāt been too happy about finding one of them in his jacket pocket or when poor Emma had screamed when she found one in a coffee mug.
So, itās been a while since Trinity has pulled one of her pranks.
Until today.
She started their shift off with that look in her eye that screamed Iām about to get you, Huckleberry. So, Dennis had taken to looking over his shoulder, checking the contents of his locker, and double checking for something as dumb as a whoopie cushion whenever he sat down.
But as the day goes on, the mischievous glint in Trinityās eyes lessens. And Dennis wonders if heād just imagined it all. Maybe he was starting to become paranoid.
Later, when things magically start calming down in the ER, Dennis notices Trinity, Samira, and Javadi huddled together, giggling at something on Trinityās phone.
Dennis glances at the board and decides he has a minute to spare. He walks over to the girls and asks, āWhatās going on?ā
Trinity glances over her shoulder and casually says, āWeāre playing smash or pass.ā
āWhat?ā
Trinity sighs and makes room for Dennis to join the group. āSmash or pass. Itās a game where you decide if youād want to fuck the person or not.ā
The tips of Dennisā ears turn red. āI donāt think thatās-ā
āCome on, Huckleberry, itās fun. Look.ā
He glances down at the screen, noticing a picture of a man probably taken in the 90s. Heāsā¦ cute, but Dennis doesnāt know if heād want to sleep with him.
āSmash,ā Samira says.
āYoung Leonardo DiCaprio is always a smash,ā Victoria agrees.
The girls glance at Dennis who shrugs. āI-I donāt know. Iād have to talk to him first. See what heās like.ā
Trinity coos and pinches his cheek. āSuch a Huckleberry.ā
Dennis waves her off, and she continues swiping through photos with a laugh.
Every person that pops up has Dennis frowning, unsure of what to really consider a āsmashableā quality. He throws out a noncommittal, āHeās attractive, butā¦ I donāt know,ā for most answers, much to the girlsā disappointment.
Until Trinity swipes to an older photo of a clean shaven man with kind brown eyes, fluffy brown hair, and sweet smile that immediately has Dennis rather loudly declaring, āSmash!ā
Samira and Victoria turn to stare at him with their jaws dropped as Trinity bursts into a fit of laughter. Thatās when Dennis knows heās somehow been pranked again.
āWhat?ā He asks, reaching toward Trinityās phone, only for her to pull it away. āWho is that?ā
He manages to latch onto the device, and the pair get caught in a bit of a tussle, resulting in her phone being tossed across central, landing and sliding a few feet until itās stopped by Dr. Robbyās shoe.
The older man glances up at them, unimpressed. Dennis straightens up, ready to apologize when Dr. Robby bends down, groaning as he picks up the phone. He frowns down at the photo, tugging his glasses on as he approaches them. He stops in front of them and turns the screen around asking, āHowād you get this photo of me?ā
Dennis can feel himself turn a concerningly dark shade of red as Trinity explains, āI asked Dr. Abbot to show me a picture of your glory days.ā
āWhy?ā He asks, tilting his head as he hands the phone back to her.
Trinity smirks and nudges Dennis. āNo reason.ā
Dr. Robby doesnāt look convinced, especially when he sees the flush thatās threatening to consume Dennisā entire body. Robbyās hand lands on his shoulder, squeezing as he asks, āAre you alright, Dr. Whitaker?ā
Dennis doesnāt trust himself to get words out so he only nods.
Dr. Robby luckily doesnāt press him for anything more. He releases him with one last squeeze and addresses the group. āOkay, then go back to work and clear some beds. Donāt give me a reason to not pay you or approve your hours.ā
āYes, sir,ā Dennis mutters, scurrying away so he doesnāt get caught up staring into the manās eyes.
Trinity follows after him, smugly grinning.
āShut up.ā
She raises her hands in surrender. āI didnāt say anything.ā
Dennis only glares at her. But a few moments later, he whispers, āCan you send me that photo?ā
Trinity laughs, but she sends it his way.
Itās not even two hours later that Dr. Robby catches Dennis staring at his photo, thumb caressing the screen.
āThat had to have been taken over two decades ago,ā Robby says, suddenly appearing over Dennisā shoulder.
Dennis jumps and drops his phone on the counter in front of him, that same blush rising to his face. āIā¦ā he starts but doesnāt know what to say. āSorry,ā he settles on, turning back to the board. Heās so getting written up.
āItās alright. Iād be shocked too if I knew then what Iād look like now,ā Robby comments, self deprecatingly.
Dennis frowns at him, grabbing his phone and holding up the photo beside Robby, comparing the two. He isnāt sure how he didnāt recognize the man when he first saw the photo. Or maybe he subconsciously did and thatās why he responded so quickly. āYou donāt look that much different.ā
Robbyās hand pats his back. āSure, kid.ā
āIām serious,ā Dennis insists, turning the screen his way. āYouāre just older and have more facial hair.ā He turns the photo back to himself, staring at it. āIf anything, Iād say you aged like fine wine,ā he comments without meaning to.
His eyes dart to his boss and he finds that theyāre sharing a similar blush on their cheeks. āSorry, that was-ā
āI have more photos like than in an old photo album at my house. Youāre more than welcome to take a look at it.ā Robby glances at the board causally, scratching his beard. āIām free after our shift.ā
Dennisā smile widens, stretching across his face until his cheeks hurt. āY-yeah. Thatād be amazing. Thank you.ā
Robby gives him a small smile and pushes away from the central hub. āItās a date,ā he comments, walking away.
Itās a miracle Dennis doesnāt faint on the spot.
Robby doubles back and adds on, āOne question though, why did you want to smash Trinityās phone when you saw my photo?ā
Trinity cackles loudly, making her presence known at the monitor near them. āSorry,ā she chokes out through fits of laughter.
āUh, no reason,ā Dennis comments and looks up at the board. āLook at that. Patient with lower back pain and nausea. Great case.ā He turns on his heels and nearly sprints away.
At the end of their shift, Trinity informs him that this has got to be her best prank to date, and Dennis reluctantly agrees although thereās still that look in her eyes. He doesnāt have to wait long to find out what thatās about, because, as she walks away, she calls out, āBy the way, I filled in Dr. Robby on what āsmash or passā is, so have fun on your date.ā
Dennis never quite lives that down, but he doesnāt entirely care. After all, itās what scores him Dr. Robby.
Dennis accidentally develops a knack for getting men to buy him drinks. Trinity blames it on his whole "lost farm boy" aura and tells him to use it to his advantage.
He eventually gets a few tricks up his sleeve that only Trinity is aware of. Until he and the girls go out, and Trinity tells him to show off his secret trick.
He manages to get a drink rather quickly, and when he gets back to the table, Mel, Samira, and Victoria cheer him on. But when Samira downplays his talents, Trinity bets her $50 that she could choose any man in the bar, and Dennis could get a drink from them.
Samira takes Trinity up on the offer, and, much to Dennis' horror, finds and chooses Dr. Robby as Dennis' target.
He can't easily say no to Trinity, so he saunters his way over to his boss, wondering how to get out of it, only to confess the entire situation to Robby.
Robby simply says, "I'll buy you a drink, but you're going to have to earn it."
Dennis nearly faints at the words, but he eventually finds himself up for the challenge of finding out what tactic will work best on his boss. It's a catastrophically horrible idea on both their parts, but it's just a drink. Right?
Robby jokes, āTheyāre deactivating my email during my sabbatical.ā In response to Gloria pestering him about keeping up to date on PTMC news while heās gone. But Dennis overhears and doesnāt catch that heās joking.
Later on, he asks Robby about it, casually saying, āSo, I heard youāre going to be unreachable via email during your trip.ā
And Robby chuckles and replies, āYes, if I get anything, it will go straight to the trash.ā
Dennis takes that as confirmation that he wonāt receive any emails sent during his sabbatical and proceeds to email him over the course of three months. It varies with a mix of trivial things about his day, funny patients Robby wouldāve liked, cases that made it harder for Dennis to find balance, and heartfelt confessions about how much Dennis misses him.
Little does Dennis know that Robby receives every single email from him and starts looking forward to them. Time and time again, Dennis unknowingly talks him off the ledge and convinces Robby to come back.
Eventually, Robby returns, and other than the hug Robby gives him, Dennis is none the wiser that his emails were fully sent and received.
Until a few shifts later, when Robby is walking them through a procedure, he offhandedly mentions that he learned more about the operation from a case study that Dr. Abbot emailed him about during his sabbatical.
Dennis wouldāve reasoned that Abbot used Dr. Robbyās personal email, but Robbyās wide eyes guiltily snap to him, giving away his secret.
He manages to corner Robby about it and ask if he received every email. When itās confirmed that he did, Dennis turns bright red, remembering the drunken one he sent talking through some very explicit ideas he had involving his boss.
But instead of firing him like Dennis expects, Robby lays a hand on his shoulder and asks, āDid you mean any of it?ā
And Dennis throws caution to the wind and answers, āEvery word.ā
Robby smiles to himself, nodding while scratching the back of his neck. Eventually he works up the courage to say, āWell, I liked the idea you had in one email about us getting dinner together to get to know each other better. Would you still like to do that?ā
Dennis immediately answers yes, and they schedule a date for immediately after their shift.
During their date, Robby shows him all his unsent drafts in response to each and every one of his emails. And Dennis makes him promise that anytime he sends an email in the future, heāll send a response.
Robby agrees as long as Dennis promises to continue emailing him. Which he does.
Eventually, when Robby retires, they do officially deactivate his email account. But theyāve long since stopped using their work emails. Instead, they use their new Mr and Mister Robinavitch personal emails
And while Robby still hates emails from literally anyone else, he will always answers Dennisā emails no matter what.
Post public relationship someone asks Shane and Ilya who made the first move and, without thinking, they both go "I did" which leads to them being outraged at the other one and any witnesses finding out way more than they ever wanted to know about how they got together.
Shane's like, "I was the one who introduced myself to you!" With Ilya replying "yes, but I made it romantic!" And normally Shane would never admit this under penalty of death but Ilya just engaged his competitiveness over who's responsible for their relationship so he immediately throws back, "romantic? Oh, please, you jerked off in front of me and you only did that because I was already hard." Ilya then, of course, comes back with, "you wouldn't have even been in that shower if I hadn't booked you for that commercial! And you were ready to pretend to forget it until I came to your room and kissed you."
And everyone else is just sat there thinking... I'm sorry, what happened??
"comparing apples and oranges" has always been funny to me as an expression because people's go to exampe of two things so radically different that they defy any useful comparison are apples. and oranges. like you would struggle to find a more comparable pair of objects than that. theyre literally sold right next to each other in most stores.
wikipedia has a whole ass section dedicated to international variants of the idiom so let me quickly run through them
see this is even worse than oranges. pears and apples are like the most comparable things ever. france takes another L
ok so this is what i mean. these are measures of temperature and texture and are in fact not very comparable. Š¼Š¾Š»Š¾Š“ŃŃ ŃŠµŠ±ŃŃŠ° ŠæŃŠ¾Š“Š¾Š»Š¶Š°ŠµŠ¼ Š² ŃŠ¾Š¼ Š¶Šµ Š“ŃŃ Šµ.
colombia wins most vivid image invoked hands down. would not want that to happen to me.
and i think we can all agree romania wins this hands down. everyone give a big round of applause to romania
thank you ao3 for being an archive and not an algorithm. thank you for letting me like things without consequences, thank you for being free with no ads, thank you for having lawyers to defend our freedom of speech. thank you tag wranglers. thank you to all authors and thank you ao3
Iām kind of disappointed that so much Firelord!Zuko content seems to be about how heās on the verge of falling apart, and how the nation doesnāt respect him and his ministers wonāt cooperate with him, and heās separated from the gaang
And thatās not untrue. Zuko has to run a government that was, a few months ago, ready and willing to burn the rest of the world to ash, and thatās a serious burden to bear, but itās not hopeless. This is a new time of peace. A new dawn. Where are all my pieces that focus on peace and growth? About Zuko fostering friendly alliances? About Zuko leading by example?
A servant accidentally drops a serving platter of roast duck during a ball. The juice splatters a noble womanās gown. She backhands the servant across the face and her husband is calling for punishment and people are watching as though itās some kind of show, because this is the way it is in the palace. Until, that is, the Firelord steps forward and helps the servant to his feet. Zuko asks the shaking man if he is alright. He calls for another servant to help clean up the mess. He tells the noblewoman in a tight voice that she, nor anyone else in these walls, will not raise a violent hand to anyone under his care
Zuko is walking through a city courtyard as he speaks with the Mayor when a young child waddles up and tugs at Zukoās golden-hemmed robes, curious at the way they catch the light. The guards rush forward and the boyās parents fall over themselves to offer apologies and beg for forgiveness, and Zuko bends down and picks the child up under the arms, and settles him on his hip. The child reaches for his gold crown settled in his topknot and Zuko laughs and gently pushes his hands away. He gives the boy back to his parents, and says, āThereās no need to apologise. Curiosity is a valuable trait in a young boy. You should encourage his curiosity for life.ā And then he sweeps away with the Mayor in tow, as though nothing is amiss, as though his gentle smile and understanding words didnāt rattle these two townspeople more than a reprimand every would
Zuko shifting the nationās priority away from militarisation, while trying to create new jobs for displaced people, jobs that will help his nation recover. Zuko implementing a new curriculum in schools. Zuko consulting with all kinds of people, like Iroh and Aang, yes, but also other nobles, and common people, and foreign dignitaries, and historical and cultural experts. Zuko bringing culture back to the Fire Nation.
Zuko struggling with his famous temper, but working every single day to be the kind of leader his people can put their trust in. A Firelord that doesnāt strike fear into his people, the people heās dedicated to protecting. A Firelord thatās very different to his forefathers, who decimated entire cultures, who burned the faces of their sons and cast them out for speaking out of turn.
Zuko being kind and patient. Zuko working hard but slowly, over time, earning the trust and love of his people.
everyone was joking about trump dying today and I think that's really horrible and cruel. PLEASE do not joke about trump dying unless it's true and confirmed!!! I got really excited and then when I found out he was still alive i was really disappointed!! like that's so mean to do to people
like, okay, consent does literally just mean agree. which is what enables this little rhetorical trick. because there's all this cultural emphasis on sexual consent, which is just expressed as consent, a lot of phrases whose intended meanings are "rape is bad" can be taken literally to mean "i should get to agree to everything that happens in my vicinity."
for an example, "i didn't agree to seeing you wear that shirt" is straightforwardly a fucking insane thing for someone to say, but people regularly make use of this trick to make the (functionally identical) statement "i didn't consent to seeing that"
Strongly recommend that people familiarize themselves with the white supremacist concept of "right to comfort" because of how scarily that concept aligns with this behavior
THIS is where the logic comes from that drives misogynistic control of what women wear, how fat people exist in public, how disabled people exist in public, miscontrues kink-related fashion as the same as sex itself, and prevents people breastfeeding their children in clean environments.
Its interesting what demographics are effected most negatively by this huh
There was a recent article by the BBC where someone said she didn't consent to playing in a match against a team which had a trans woman in it and it's like you can drop out of a match at any time. No-one is forcing you to run, it's not a wwii death match, if you are uncomfortable during a match then you can stop. Like it sounds like they beat her team and then she was mad and blamed it on one team member (it's the whole squad which matters not one player).
Like but saying she never consented is fully trying to imply it's rape-like to play football with someone she's bigoted against.
Season 2 Eddie time travels to season 8a and when he finds out Buck has a boyfriend he's like "oh shit its me isnt it".
Then when he discovers it isn't in fact him, he's like extremely disappointed.
Except hold on Eddie isn't gay, he's still married for gods sake, to a woman. Why should he care if Buck is dating some other guy, its definitely not consuming his every waking thought and keeping him up at night, no ma'am.
