sorry hopping on the fandom reception of langdon vs robby to say that the fundamental difference between the two that irks me is how robby tries and langdon doesn't.
in the sense that, while robby lashes out, makes mistakes, hurts his subordinates, shows bias, and a plethora of issues, he's still trying to be considerate of others and trying to be better. even if those attempts fail, it's important that they're made.
when he and baran clash over the incarcerated patient, first he makes sure to ask "what am I missing?" in s1 when he and heather clashed over the abortion, he listened and took it over. when mckay schooled him about how important those girls on the list were, he conceded she was right with "this is a teaching hospital, and teachers can still learn stuff... you were right, I didn't think enough about those girls."
when baran confronts him with "what the hell was that with samira earlier?" he goes to samira and tries to apologize. does this fail? in every way possible, yeah. but the attempt was made. and then later when he scolds victoria for her tiktoks and talks over her, when mckay calls him out on it, he reevaluates and apologizes to her.
Robby is FAR from a perfect man. but he still tries.
langdon is more often than not, a self centered character. when he is called out on shit, there is very little effort, and most often a "BUT BUT BUTā" array of excuses or lashing out. when robby gets onto him for yelling at santos, he tries to cover it up, like (heavily paraphrased but the sentiment is true to what he says) "I know it sounded bad but she's been awful all day" when robby calls him out on his shit again in the ambulance bay, his response is to lash out with "I wasn't the one talking to cartoon animals in peds!"
he rarely takes responsibility. he sees rehab as a punishment instead of the consequences of his actions. he sees robby sending him to triage as "exile", even though yeah, this is his first day back as a doctor after months and months of rehab and he's LUCKY to be there at all. and in his confrontation with santos, it continues to be about him. "I almost lost my wife and kids!" which, again, he didn't even lose them, and again, it would've been the consequences of his actions, not some sort of punishment. (not to mention he doesn't ever talk about his wife in a particularly good manner.)
he treated his amends as a checklist, he cared about getting louie a proper funeral to absolve his guilt, frank langdon in many ways is just as (or moreso) biased than robby and a hell of a lot more self centered. even in robby's most self centered moments, when he's ranting about HIS department, he's still saying that because he's actually focusing on everybody else. he's in charge of all these people. it is his department.
if you're gonna hate robby, I'm sorry, it's weird to not hate langdon as well. langdon gets WAY better fandom reception than robby. I could yap and yap about this but like.. i have no problem with people liking and disliking characters, whatever. but it's hypocritical. and also, langdon stans (some of the fans are normal I'm specifying stans) have harassed both me and my mutuals and my gf over saying shit like this lol
9 times out of 10 the discourse i see is consistently "I hate robby and I love robby's victims." like. they don't see actual characters. they see robby and not-robbys. when you like and find sympathy for every character BUT robby it's weird. it's weird! he's not the only character with biases.
cassie with a bias against a fat patient, donnie and trinity exhibiting ableism towards harlow, you could make a strong case for garcia having internalized misogyny. langdon and his "namaste" comment to princess in s1, along with some extremely questionable comments and treatment of his wife. ogilvie and his bias against fat patients, drug addicts, pretty much everyone.
all of this is met with 10 times more understanding then literally anything robby does. (ogilvie was definitely getting hated on by everyone including me lmfao near the beginning, but with the whole season out, I see much more ogilvie sympathy than for robby) if I had to pick, I'd say langdon is the most similar to robby's biasesā including yelling at a woc. with the addition of langdon trying to get trinity fired, because he knew she knew the truth. + little comments langdon makes throughout the show that shows moments of his own biases.
however langdon is purified. mostly because yes, he's lumped in with baran and samira etc as "robby's victims." langdon gets received with 10 times the sympathy, fandom wide, than robby. langdon gets argued for, and even if you make a valid critique it's often shut down with "don't hate drug addicts" and everything gets excused under that umbrella. or, the classic, it's actually robby's fault.
no one is treated as a grown, autonomous adult within the fandom except for robby. characters like baran and samira are 10 times more interesting when you accept that not every one of their problems is caused by robby. but it's constantly painted that way. "what a shift with the devil himself will do to you." (yes, an actual quote I've seen more than once, and wow, the antisemitism is insane.)
like it's fucking tiring but it's also BORING. no, samira's isolation and burnout is not 100% robby's fault. yes, he's a bad mentor to her, and he's contributed to itā mainly her burnout. but samira is fundamentally not a sociable character. baran's disability and her struggles with it are not robby's fault. yes, his response to it was awful. but this is something that has shaped her way before they knew each other. etc etc...
pls don't bean soup me on this if this post doesn't apply to you than it doesn't apply to you
note: what i put here doesn't necessarily apply to everyone from nebraska this is just my experience and my family's experience. also this isn't me saying you need to use this information i just thought it could help if people wanted to go for realism.
Livestock:
beef cattle: the region of where broken bow is is one of the largest beef cow producing places in the US, if the whitakers were to be raising any form of livestock it most likely would be beef cattle. this means the cattle is being raised for slaughter (great angst opportunity if you think about it) another little thing about this is the SMELL this type of livestock STINKS and especially in seasons when the humidity picks up the smell lingers and travels far my dad always would say when we could smell it that āit smells like moneyāĀ
sheep: while definitely not as common sheep are also definitely raised in the area mostly for meat and woolĀ
chickens: while the whitakers probably didnāt make money off of their chickens they most likely had a few for their own benefits of the eggs
Crops:
corn: this is by far the most likely for the crop that the whitakers grew. it also is likely they grew this along with having cattle as it is popular to have diversified farms. corn is usually planted late april to may and harvests in october and november. often if a farm has both cattle and corn they use some of the corn as feed for the cattle and also sometimes allow the cattle to graze on the harvested areas after they have harvested the corn.
soybeans: the 2nd most popular crop in nebraska, shares many similarities to corn in terms of growth schedule and usage.
wheat: not as popular as soybeans and corn but still grown often and can also be used in feed for cattle and livestock unlike soybeans and corn wheat is planted in the fall and harvested in the summer (an opposite to the others)Ā
Religion:
broken bow is very christian and has quiet a few churches in town:
roman catholic: this would be one of the major denominations of the area and has a major church in town (st josephās catholic church)
mainline protestant: this includes methodists and presbyterians. also very popular and has a few churches in the townĀ
evangelical protestant: now if you really want to get into a very strict religion for the whitakers this would be it, this religion is very present in the town and has a few churches in town such as Broken Bow Berean church, evangelical free church, and seventh-day adventist church.
mormons: there is a church of latter day saints in broken bow though they are not that strong of a presence
Detassiling:
ok this is more niche. detasseling is often most nebraskan kidsā first jobs (it pays well and youāll see why) basically detasseling is where people remove the tassels from the female corn plants so that they do not pollinate themselves and instead have to receive pollen from the male crops this helps make a larger and more uniform yield for farmers. now this can be done by machine but it is very common to be done by hand and often people higher young teens to do so. it happens in the peak of summer july/august where very early in the morning they load kids onto busses and take them to fields where they go row by row hand removing the tassels. itās incredibly hot, humid, and exhausting and it would be very likely that the the whitaker boys did this growing up and then were expecting to return home and help with their own farm.
Food:
Runza: āRunzaāis a fast food chain found only in nebraska it serves your standard burgers and fries and chicken tenders and stuff but they also sell their namesake runzas. runza itself is kinda mediocre but we still all love it and crave it and only we are allowed to make fun of it kinda like in and out for californians ig
runzas: an actual runza stems from the german-russian food of a bierock (a majority of nebraska settlers are german/russian/czech/norwegian) its a dough pocket filled with ground beef, cabbage, and onions. itās delicious, the ones served at runza are ok but my mom makes the best runzas ever and i love them to deathĀ
reuben: another nebraska staple, these were founded in nebraska and are very popular here. itās a hot sandwich with corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and either russian or thousand island dressing.
kolache: these are another thing that comes from immigrants. kolaches are a czech pastry. itās made with a sweet dough and the center is filled with a fruit, poopy seed, or cheese filling. very common in farmers markets and people love to make them at home, at least my mom did
rhubarb and strawberry pie: a common dessert found in nebraska itās just a pie with a strawberry and rhubarb filling
cinnamon rolls and chili: this sounds bizarre but itās not, and itās amazing. itās a very common fall and winter meal because itās incredibly filling and warm. itās just a bowl of standard chili and on the side a cinnamon roll (not the ones with loads of frosting on them, the ones that have more of a glaze) you can eat them separately or you can dip the cinnamon roll in the chili
casseroles: a standard meal in the midwest because of how easy they are to make and to make in bulk. popular casseroles consist of tater tot casserole, chicken and rice, green bean casserole, and scalloped corn.
Kool-aid: another thing invented in nebraska (hastings) and trust me hastings goes all out to celebrate kool aidĀ
ranch: yes ranch is popular everywhere but not like in the midwest, people here put ranch ON EVERYTHING
Dorothy Lynch Dressing: this is a salad dressing also native to nebraska, itās both sweet and a little tangy/spicy idk, most older gen nebraskans love this stuff
midwestern salads: listens yes most of these are gross but some are really good so donāt knock it till you try it, some good ones are snickers salad, waldorf salad, macaroni salad, pink fluff (cherry fluff), and potato salad
Slang:
ope: this is the major one and we see dennis use it in the show. ope is basically used as a filler, kinda like oops, ālike ope like me squeeze past youā or in shock āope! (as you dodge or drop something)ā
yāall/you guys: yāall is exclusive to the more rural parts of nebraska and isnāt used as much as in the south, but you guys is more common for the rest of the state
Huskers/GBR(go big red): this refers to the UNL sports teams including but not limited to football, basketball, and womenās volleyball. everyone native to nebraska supports the huskers whether they care about sports or not, whether they went to UNL or not, they care about them. college sports are HUGE in nebraska and dennis def roots for them during the game season, trinity probably was confused cause he doesnāt seem like he cares about sports and he doesnāt but he does when itās the huskers
pop: most nebraskans call soda pop
āthe interstateā: it means I-80 and you donāt need to clarify
āoh yeah, no yeahā: this means yes in a longer more complicated way
āno yeah noā: this means no in a longer more complicated way
āsee yaāroundā: pretty self explanatoryĀ
Weather:
weather is a little crazy out in nebraska and it can change very quicklyĀ
summer: summers can get up to past 100 degrees fahrenheit and about as low as 60. we also having something called ācorn sweatā which is where the humidity (which is already bad) is amplified by the moisture coming off of the corn. we get massive thunderstorms that can take down trees and cause lots of flooding and damage (itās cute when dennis is afraid of them in fics in my opinion) we also get tornados due to being in tornado alley especially in may and june
spring: similar to summer just not as hot, but it is still prime for massive storms and tornados, we tend to get āwet springsāĀ
fall: early fall is still pretty warm coming off summer, but can drop drastically as we get closer to winter. highs tend to start in the low 70s in september and by november the highs drop to low 40s and the nights get below freezing. november is also where we tend to get our first flurries
winter: our winters are consistently below freezing throughout and can at the peak of winter rest below 0 and in the negatives especially in the mornings and at night. we can get massive snow storms some years and others barely get anything. our wind tends to pick up and can be very brutal
Universities:
this is what applies if you choose in your fics or head-canons to have dennis do his undergrad/premed in nebraskaĀ
Creighton: a great option if you make him catholic. creighton is a jesuit university in omaha, while it is more expensive they do offer a theology degree and have a great premed courses
UNL/UNO: university of nebraska lincoln/omaha the two biggest public universities in nebraska. pretty standard for a large majority of nebraskans to go to these two schools for college. UNL has a really strong agricultural program, however they do not offer a theology degree , same with UNO
Concordia: a lutheran private university in seward, similar things to creighton just cheaper
York: another christian university in york, same thing as concordiaĀ
Working a Farm:
now iām not as familiar with this since i didnāt personally grow up on a farm but i had friends who did and my grandparents did as well so im taking a lot of it from that
the most common thing would be waking up extremely early to do morning chores before going to school and having to come back from a full day of school to do more chores. my grandpa used to talk about how he and his siblings had work jeans that would get all muddy and wet jn the morning for the dew and watering systems that when they came back after school and put them back on they were either still damp or rock solid from the mud dryingĀ
EVERYONE WORKED ON THE FARM even in conservative traditional families every did their part on the farm even the women and younger kids while women and smaller children did more inside they still were expected to do manual labor, everyone chipped in
Personalities:
we are polite: itās in our nature. we love small talk, even if you donāt like it, you will participate in it. at the cashier, small talk. at a restaurant with a waiter, small talk. random strangers you meet, small talk. we also love to wave to each other and smile even if you donāt know them. we say please and thank you after everything, we hold doors open, we offer food, we help neighbors. especially in the more rural parts of nebraska your neighbors, despite having miles between each house, are a community. during harvest season people love to come together and help.Ā
midwest goodbye: now this is huge. a midwest goodbye is about the opposite of an irish exit. a midwest goodbye can range from 30 mins to over an hour. it basically starts where everyone is sitting around and one person slaps their knees and stands up and says āwell we oughta hit the road (or smth like that)ā they will then stand there talking for a while before saying āoh we really should be goingā and make their way towards the door while still talking for a while and inevitably someone forgot something like a purse or leftovers and they will all head back into the main parts of the house and repeat the last step. at the door they then give hugs and open the door before standing in the entry talking some more for awhile before finally leaving. this is a constant on basically every household
Misc.
politics: nebraska is a fairly red state (minus omaha and lincoln) most rural towns are pretty republican and a lot are MAGA but there are a few families in each that are more liberal but itās rarer
henry doorly zoo: ok so this like disney world but for the midwest. itās a MASSIVE zoo located in omaha, it features a full size aquarium a full size desert dome, a full size safari and jungle, little everything. itās so large there is a like one of those aerial trams to take you from one side to the other. this zoo is a dream come true visit (itās also one of the best zoos in the world i like to flex that knowledge)
hating iowa: listen i donāt mean to offend anyone but most nebraskans have beef with iowa. this comes from a couple things, one we are college sports rivals, two the proximity of us being neighbors and so similar, third the debate of who has the better corn and beef (itās nebraska donāt lie) and so anyway we hate eachother i donāt make the rules
the smell: listen i know i already mentioned the smell earlier but it needs to be repeated. there are many times when nebraska does not smell great and most nebraskans are immune to the smells. when it rains or is humid the smells travel and you can step outside and be like yeah thatās cow shit alright. also when it comes to crop burning, the smoke smell also travels far and is very identifiableĀ
gossip: so i know i said we are polite, and we are, but smaller towns where everyone knows everyone or are just like one person removed someone love to gossip and will be beating the dead horse
Ėāā® so thatās the end of my really long thread. feel free to ask any questions and iāll try and answer, i honestly had a lot of fun making this
werewolf rabbot who never expected to come across a vampire, let alone in their ER. and they especially werenāt expecting it to be in the form of the new mouse eyed medical student
dennis whitaker never seemed to fit in. even in his small town all his peers seemed to flock away from him, like they could sense something was āwrongā with him, like they knew long before him that he wasnāt interested in kissing girls. even at home his brothers teased him, and how he never brought a girl home to meet their parents, how he never joined the high-school sports teams like they all did, how he never snuck out of the house like they did, he was just different, and an easy target.
when he decided to move to pittsburgh he finally thought that he would find his people, but that never seemed to come. between being busy with school and trying to find a safe place to sleep at night he never could catch up with all the references people were making. he didnāt understand the places they referenced, or the vacations they talked about going on when they were growing up. he couldnāt pick up on their weird vocabulary and slang and they couldnāt really pick up on his.
even in this new large city he still seemed to float between people, desperate for someone to get him. and then he met trinity santos, who yes teased him relentlessly, and pushed him around a little bit, but she also understood how he felt excluded. how he felt to not feel welcomed, she found his weird midwestern slang endearing and enjoyed adding some of it to her own vocabulary (only when itās just the two of them) for once dennis whitaker felt like he belonged. he belonged with his sister trinity.
I love Rabbot so much not only because I love when older men get to have a really deep bond with each other, but my heart yearns for elder gay love and domesticity that can be projected 100% on these two
The Pitt characters as the twelve hunger games districts
a post i put too much effort into if im being completely honest
district one luxury: dr. al-hashimi
while the most wealthy of the districts and a favorite of the capital, district one is still under control of the capital. they often present as put together and āprettyā when underneath it all they are still falling apart under the pressure
district two weaponry/masonry: dr. langdon
a career district known for its violence and its āfavoritismā from the capital. the district pumps out victors constantly causing people to sometimes forget that they are also still just tools to the capital who can be very loyal
district three electronics: victoria javadi
this district is full of smart individuals who are able to invent the necessary technology to keep the hunger games running. they are also often underestimated and overlooked when it comes to their individual skills
district four fishing: dr. santos
the final career district, despite this they are known for being one of the more rebellious districts. they use what they know to survive even if it seems unconventional and out of line to others. they are strong willed and fight for love
district five electricity: dr. mel
this district is the main power point for all of panem and is responsible for powering all of the districts. they are often overlooked despite their necessity but are still always ready to support the people they love and believe in
district six transportation: dr. mckay
while not always favorable in the games district six is still strong. they are known for being rebellious towards the capital and fighting for what they believe in, and are always there to be an ally to others even if they seem quiet
district seven lumber: dr. robby
this district is known for their hardworking and labor intensive citizens. they were one of the first districts to stand with the rebellion and were willing to fight brutally for what they believed in even if they came off harsh and violent
district eight textiles: nurse dana evans
also overlooked due to their poorer performance in the games, district 8 is recognized as being close knit and radical. they are often overworked and seen as vulnerable but still can hold their own when it comes to protecting each other
district nine grain: dr. whitaker
due to the physical labor the citizens are seen as strong and resilient as well as incredibly hardworking. however due to heavy surveillance they have become rather submissive which has only made them more resourceful and protective of their own
district ten livestock: nurse emma nolan
often underestimated due to their more quiet demeanor this district is incredibly hardworking and resilient. they are also incredibly humble and often kind and corporative but still willing to fight
district eleven agricultural: dr. mohan
this district produces some of the kindest of tributes, known for their sacrifices and care. they are also incredibly hardworking and quiet and are also some of the first to fight for the rebellion and have a strong sense of community
district twelve coal mining: dr. abbot
due to being the poorest of the districts they are known for their resilience and loyalty to their friends and family. they are often quiet in their rebellious acts and can often be described as stoic and arenāt afraid to bend the rules
dennis and trinity get one of those friendship bracelet making kits and trinity's like 'dude i made one for you, here you go' and hands dennis one that says cocksucker in sparkly letters with heart beads around it just for him to be like 'omg no way i just made you one' and it says lebsian (misspelled) with no other beads on it
seeing all of this like awfulness surrounding dennis and amyās relationship and im like you guys just donāt understand it or arenāt willing to.
first of all even if it was romantic (which gerran has said dennis doesnāt think it is) that can still make dennis queer, people arenāt just gay or straight itās a spectrum.
also midwest hospitality and just support in rural areas is fucking huge, especially when it comes to agriculture families. the fact that dennis and amy clicked so quick because of their shared upbringing with farming is incredibly accurate actually. people raised in farming communities are taught to support each other especially in the midwest. chances are dennis practically had it ingrained in him to help neighbors, especially on their farms.
so anyway i just think people should give their friendship a chance, i mean i donāt even ship them and am not particularly keen at the idea of there being a romance between them just due to the logistics of patient doctor, but i think their friendship can be/could be really cool if people gave it a chance
Robby: I worry that Al-Hashimi might have a condition that will impair her ability to run the emergency department
Robby: I am afraid that Langdon might relapse
Robby: I also worry a lot about Whitaker potentially overwatering my non-existing houseplants
