Just here to fall into the rabbit hole of whatever my latest obsession is. Currently #kingdon; previous obsessions include but are not limited to #polin, #chenford, the Ellie & Joel bond in #thelastofus #tlou, #caryl, #braime, #bughead, #gaylor and all things Hollywood secret lives/PR machinations
honestly? you have to meet yourself where you are, instead of running ahead and calling out to yourself to catch up.
I defended my thesis last autumn and couldn't bring myself to do any of the work I'm passionate about for almost 6 months. then I gave in and focused on taking care of myself like I would take care of a child. only then my body responded and I'm back to doing science that fascinates me.
"taking care of myself like I would take care of a child."
Honestly... this is such a good technique. We often treat ourselves worse than we would our loved ones, which is a very bad thing! When you're burned out, you deserve rest, and care, and love. Yes, it's a lengthy process. We wrote about how to get started here.
i know most of kingdon fandom likes to imagine that frank fell for mel on day one, and i'm happy for y'all, y'all keep writing that.
maybe it's because i'm ace, but personally, i like the idea of frank having (or at least being aware of) pretty much zero romantic/sexual feelings for mel on that first day. somehow it means a lot more to me that he's kind/gentle/patient/teasing with her not because he's attracted to her but because he recognizes immediately that she's both the kind of person who needs that kind of treatment and the kind of person who deserves it. and he knows how hard it is to find in that environment, so even though he doesn't really understand why, his instinctive reaction is to take care of her (but not in a patronizing way). she brings out the good in him not because of any conscious decision he makes but because of her power.
i like the idea of him seeing something special in her (something that speaks to the sensitivity in himself that he's gotten very good at hiding) and him wanting to preserve that not out of any personal motives but because she's just an extraordinary person. i like the idea of him respecting and admiring her brains and her skills and her sensitivity and her passion and her earnestness. i like the idea of him just seeing her soul and seeing that it's beautiful. i like the idea of him just liking her as a person and it not being more than that.
i mean, i am not denying that they have an immediate and singular connection in season 1, but i'm not a fan of love at first sight. i like connection-from-first-meeting, but i like that connection being its own thing first, and then the falling in love building on that as two people get to know each other.
another thing i like to think about is a reading where mel isn't the kind of person that frank's spent much time with or is usually drawn to, at least not for the last decade and change. in middle school and high school, before he got hot, when he was still undeniably a nerd, he would have been friends with her, but since he went off to college and had his glow-up, he's mostly been around different kinds of people. people who are less nerdy, so he hasn't really been in touch with his own nerdy side. he's kind of stopped thinking of himself as the person he was in high school. he's a hot resident with a hot wife and a house in the suburbs and 2 kids and he runs marathons and does cold plunges and whatever.
so the fact that he connects with mel, who wears her awkwardness on her sleeve, surprises him. it's unexpected. but he's just so drawn to her, and he becomes more and more comfortable sharing things with her that he hasn't been able to share with anyone for years and years. after his fall from grace, when he nearly lost everything, he has to realize that he wasn't the hotshot he thought he was, that he isn't e.r. ken the golden boy, but someone a lot more vulnerable than that. through his connection with mel he starts to realize that that nerdy kid is still inside him. and maybe that's who he always was. maybe losing sight of that person is what led him down such a dark road. maybe that's who he can be again.
so he slowly reveals all the things about himself that he's been ashamed of or hasn't thought about in so long he almost forgot about them. and mel accepts every revelation with acceptance and even delight. each piece of himself he gives her, she treats like a gift. and so he keeps digging deeper and deeper, finding more and more things about himself that he's denied. and he can trust her with all of them.
meanwhile, mel is finding that the parts of herself that she's always shown but that people have always found off-putting are the very parts of her that frank likes most. she's been trying desperately to connect with people by offering everything she has, and everyone ignores it or walks away from it or outright rejects it. but frank accepts it all with ease or with humor that is never mocking or with fondness. she's got all this passion and care that she's been carrying around, offering it to everyone she meets, and he's the first person who actually reaches out to take it from her.
mel has been waiting her whole life for someone who will accept her as she is. it's always been out there in the open, waiting for the right person.
frank has been hiding who he is for years and years. he's been trying to be someone else. all his most authentic self was tamped down.
but mel is so authentic all the time, so honest and generous, how can he not try to give that back to her? she just makes it impossible for him to keep up the facade. there's something about her earnestness that demands that he meet her on the same level, and now that he's been humbled and learned how hard life can be, he's ready to do that.
and i know i've said it before, but i also really like the idea of only post-fall frank really being able to be a good partner to mel. that before he hit rock bottom, he wouldn't have had the emotional maturity or understanding of how hard life can be to actually be good for her.
because up until then, life had been easy for him. sure he, he was a nerd when he was a kid, but he wasn't ruthlessly bullied or anything. he's smart enough that he never really had to ry that hard in school and he's a white guy and his family was middle class and so he kind of sailed through life. he was coasting.
and that's just not a person who could fully understand the amount of pain that mel is carrying around. the immense grief of losing her parents, her glass child syndrome, how hard her neurodivergence makes it to navigate the world, her sense of responsibility, how few options she's had. how she's had to fight every step of the way.
but now? now he's been through some really rough shit and he's learned a lot and he's been to therapy and he's learned to actually WORK for something for the first time in his life. now he can actually fight alongside her.
“I swear I’ve mentioned Alex before,” Mel murmurs, frowning down at her phone, still not clocking how she’s short-circuited Frank’s brain. It's a blue screen of death up there. Hi, you’ve reached Dr. Frank Langdon. I’m not available to talk right now, but leave a message, and I might get back to you. Beeeeeep.
The picture continues to shine cheerily up at them, silently mocking Frank. He forces himself to look away and swallows with difficulty. “I think I'd remember if you'd told me about your ‘best friend’ who you ‘used to be in love with.’”
She didn’t know when her house turned into communal property, but she didn’t have the heart to tell anybody off. After all, if there was one thing she knew how to be, it was a sister. Or, with time, Mel makes a family of her own. Turning friends into family, turning a house into a home.
a mess you wear with pride - walltree ♡ 11 chapters
The car pooling, she thought, represented this blurring of boundaries: not quite work but not quite personal life, either. If somebody asked her if she ever saw Langdon outside of the hospital, what should she say? Mel and Langdon car pool to work.
skeletons in the closet - platty_091 ♡ 1 chapter
Mel dresses up as Rapunzel per Becca's request, Frank dresses up as Flynn Rider per his daughter's request. Chaos ensues. They kiss.
the yearning concept - littlestar_03 ♡ 4 chapters
How can we go back to being friends when we just shared a bed?
starting line - lonelyinchicago ♡ 4 chapters
When Frank Langdon walks back into the Pitt on a Fourth of July weekend ten months after he left, he doesn’t tell anyone he’s gotten divorced. It doesn’t work out for him. Well, until it does.
settle down - larry_hystereks ♡ 6 chapters
frank gets out of rehab, gets divorced, and needs somewhere to live. enter mel.
the things we do are hard - billspaid ♡ 5 chapters
It starts like this: Frank gets caught. He does not voluntarily give up information about the stolen drugs – he gets caught. Big difference. Frank Langdon and the years following that one shift.
mel king and the art of touch - ironcharlie ♡ 1 chapter
Frank thinks Mel doesn’t do physical touch. Or, Mel doesn’t realize they’ve been dating for nine months.
this side of healing - melodymarsirl ♡ 14 chapters
After rehab, Dr. Frank Langdon is back in the ER, trying to rebuild his life without losing what's left of it. Dr. Melissa King—sharp, composed, and brilliantly precise; wasn’t supposed to matter more than the medicine. But as long shifts bleed into quiet moments, something tender begins to stir between them. A chaptered, slow-burn romance about second chances, soft edges, and the kind of intimacy that sneaks up on you.
I'll face down the world with you - SpiralsInTime ♡ 1 chapter
Mel is physically assaulted by a patient, sending her into a meltdown. Enter Dr. Langdon.
wouldn't mind at all - moonandsunlight ♡ 1 chapter
Frank joins a few of his coworkers at a bar, which inevitably leads to him getting flirted with. Mel gets just a little bit jealous.
golden hour - craftclass ♡ 1 chapter
“Okay, I know I’m not, like, a model.” Mel’s tone is light and self-deprecating, but there’s a current of nervousness underneath it, like she’s bracing for him to agree, as if he’s going to say, yes, that’s true, you’re not. He can imagine the way she’s probably fidgeting with one hand as she talks. “But that might be better, that I’m not super gorgeous or anything. It will show off your skill more, I think. And you can tell me how to pose, and I’ll do my best for you.” Frank takes up photography.
the sound of you - craftclass ♡ 1 chapter
Frank Langdon moves into a duplex and becomes completely enamored with the woman in the unit below.
gilded collars - craftclass ♡ 3 chapters
Mel doesn’t feel guilty about taking what she needs from her wealthy extended family, not when it’s offered freely and they barely notice that it’s gone anyway. When her cousin’s husband Frank offers to do her a favor, she starts taking what she wants, too.
honey I'm already home - youokaymel ♡ 1 chapter
Where Frank refuses to let the landlord overcharge Mel, even if he’s just worked a twenty-four-hour shift, and decides that the only thing better than fixing a U-bend is never having to say goodbye at 7:00 AM again.
2:00 AM - orphan_account ♡ 1 chapter
“I don’t understand why you’re letting that asshole crash at your place,” Santos says, flopping back on the couch in the break room. “Seriously, Mel. There's a reason his wife kicked him out.”
pinky promises kisses - daryldixonaf ♡ 1 chapter
missing scenes of Mel and Frank's relationship as it shifts from platonic to something more
So that is why at 8 am on a random Thursday morning Mel posted a photo of her hair freshly braided to her Instagram story.
the line across the room - Rons_diary ♡ 13 chapters
Her mind traced back to him as she cut the line from the second suture. He hovered right behind her, observing her work; if she paused for moment and listened close, she could nearly hear the drum of his heart; the slow settling pace of his steady breathing. Her own heart seemed to try and claw its way out of her chest. She suddenly had to focus just to be able to breathe. And then a little prick — right through her blue, latex glove. Shit. There, a droplet of blood welled. “Langdon,” was all that she said, and he was in action. She had all too clearly noticed the tremble in her own voice; the way in the flash of any moment of panic, his name rolled off of her tongue with ease.
laidover - avocadomoon ♡ 1 chapter
"You want me to be the bad guy, fine," he said.
kiss me and tell me I'm yours - lizzehboo ♡ 1 chapter
Frank gets a call in the middle of the night.
a fool's way into jealousy - reason2believe ♡ 1 chapter
Santos lets it slip at girls’ night that Mel used to have a crush on Frank. The revelation coincides with Liam, the liquor store perp, coming back around and asking Mel for a second chance.
you can feel it on the way home - pansiesandposies ♡ 1 chapter
“Dr. Langdon?” She taps the toe of her shoe against his ankle and smiles when he lazily opens his eyes to look up at her. “Hey. Not to sound ungrateful, but how did you get into my building?” Or, When Abby kicks Frank out, he asks to stay with Mel. She’d be totally fine with it if she wasn’t in love with him.
dancing on my own - lilylobotomy ♡ 2 chapters
Post s2ep14 but prior to the season finale. I had to fulfill all of the fan theories that Dr. Langdon isn't telling anyone about some other big changes in his life (aka divorce)
happy thing - NutureNature ♡ 20 chapters
Mel King is falling head over heels for Frank Langdon. He's falling right with her - even while he's trying to fix his marriage. The news that Abby is pregnant leaves Mel broken, and her ensuing transfer from the Pitt shakes Frank to his core. When they meet again nearly two years later, Frank determines to win her back, but Mel will have to decide if it's worth trying again.
trauma two - drfranknfurters ♡ 1 chapter
What happens in an ER when one of their own is injured in an environment they were supposed to be safe in?
Melly, honey, baby, sweetheart, love - eviella ♡ 1 chapter
They were friends. And yeah, maybe the ring on his finger sort of burned when he looked at her sometimes, even though it was just for show, now. It was just easier to let her keep thinking he was still married to Abby. Safer. It raised less eyebrows about the nature of their friendship when the ring stayed on while he was at work, the weight on his finger reminding him not to say or do anything stupid. It also made it a little less creepy when the pet names started slipping out.
"By about 5pm he came to the conclusion that he was completely fucking in love with his best friend. And tonight that friend was getting set up with someone who is not him."
head over feet - ifinnabeinthepitt ♡ 3 chapters
Frank Langdon absolutely crashes out when Trinity Santos starts hanging out with Mel King
denial is a river - parisinjune ♡ 1 chapter
Five times Frank tells someone Mel is like his sister and one time he tells Mel she is not like his sister at all.
breaking the surface - lonelyinchicago ♡ 4 chapters
there's a car accident on mel's day off. she ends up at the pitt anyways.
you've got a nine to five (so I'll take the night shift) - Cemeterycigs ♡ 25/26 chapters
Langdon comes back after his ten month hiatus and immediately gets put on night shift with Mel because of a shortage AND Mel gets boba.
me: no. like cursed object passed between hands for centuries, they are cosmically linked, probably bonded by blood ritual, I think they’ve fought in a war together in at least three lifetimes, and their souls make direct eye contact every time they breathe in the same room
In S4E1, we meet Mel sitting in her car in the parking lot, two offer letters in front of her, one for an attending track position at the PTMC and one from a hospital across the city. She's pep-talking herself under her breath, waiting for something, glancing between the letters and the parking lot until Frank (divorced, glowing, happy to see her even though they saw each other last night after work) pulls in.
She quickly hides the letters in her glove compartment and when he waves at her, she goes to join him.
Today is the day, she's making her move, if he likes her back, she's staying, if he doesn't she has a lifeline out of here that doesn't completely uproot her life.
The whole S4 day is her trying to work up the nerve to say something, but being interrupted.
izzy806
snowghoul
2087
dededos
annaxmalina
discoholicmusic
tangentwithtanner
prguitarman
