So, in Robby, we’ve got a character whose main plot point for two seasons now has been that he is not coping nearly as well as he wants everybody think he is. That he’s in a very dark place mentally, and desperately doesn’t want anybody to look closely enough to realise just how bad things are, who desperately wants to fix it himself so he doesn’t have to let anybody else see the damage that he is deeply ashamed of having in the first place.
In the past 6 years, he:
Has worked on the frontlines in the ED throughout the pandemic, and has had multiple PTSD flashbacks that we’ve seen from the trauma that that alone has caused him.
Had to make the call on turning off the life support of his mentor/father figure (canon btw, not conjecture)
Then had to be the one to physically turn off the machines that were keeping said mentor/father figure breathing.
Then had to watch the aforementioned mentor/father figure die in front of him as a direct result of the decision he was forced to make
Then, instead of taking time to grieve this massive personal loss, he instead had to step into the shoes of that very same mentor/father figure, in the middle of a pandemic, and take on an incredibly stressful job and huge amount of responsibility at the drop of a hat in incredibly traumatic circumstances (a position that he’s repeatedly told by the people in charge he is doing a poor job at in comparison to his predecessor, who he greatly admired, saw as a father figure, and watched die because he had to make the decision to take him off the ventilator, not because he was gone already, but because they needed the equipment).
Has, for the past 6 years, compounded this trauma by returning to the place it happened day in, day out, to carry on working an already immensely emotionally taxing job (even under the best circumstances).
Then, on the first anniversary of Adamson’s death that he’s attempted to work through, he got whacked over the head (along with everyone else) with the absolute shocker of a day that was season one, some of the highlights being:
Every single fucking patient death that happened that day, that he stored away in his little mental mausoleum along with who the hell knows how many other patient deaths he’s held on to over his career
Finding out Collins had been pregnant with his child, but the timing just wasn’t right.
His step-son being caught in the middle of a mass shooting (at an event that he had bought the tickets for and was supposed to be at with him)
His relationship with said step-son being damaged, potentially beyond repair, because he couldn’t conjure up a miracle and save Leah
Having his faith and trust in Langdon, his protege, shattered due to the drug stealing/hidden addiction (along with his faith in himself for having missed it completely).
Culminating in him stand on the edge of the roof, seriously considering stepping off of it (at his own hospital, when his own friends/team (that he clearly cares about) were working and would have had to work on him if he had. Seriously, can we just take a moment to comprehend how desperate and hopeless he must have been feeling in that moment for that to seem like the answer)
In the ensuing 10 months, he has now attempted therapy but, whether because he wasn’t ready for it yet or because they genuinely weren’t good fits (or a combination of the two), hasn’t gotten anything out of it beyond confirmation that it can’t help him.
If we’re taking Noelle’s gossip at face value, is so uncomfortable with his own thoughts and company that he has to have the TV playing in the background in order to relax enough to sleep.
Is exhibiting risk-taking behaviours and is currently, at best, passively suicidal, if not actively taking steps in preparation for an actual suicide attempt (yet to be determined).
Is being pursued by the aforementioned protege who is hoping for a reconciliation that he is not in a place to take part in right now (after he’d made plans to try to avoid said encounter, because he knew he was not in a place to be dealing with that right now), but due to circumstances, Langdon’s persistence, and the interference of outside parties, he keeps having that situation forced on him.
Not to even mention the stress of handing over the reins of the department to somebody he doesn’t know or trust yet, who is very eager to make big changes while he’s away and can’t do anything about it, so if he comes back - he doesn’t know what he’ll be coming back to; he’s potentially realising that he’s being pushed out of the job that’s killing him but is also his entire life/all he's got left, his last tie to Adamson, and something he did love once (if you subscribe to that interpretation of the admin-influence storyline); whatever the hell is going on with Duke’s appointment and why he’s not returning his calls; the incoming cyber-attack/Digital freeze; getting publicly side-lined by the CEO of the hospital; and whatever the hell else is about to go down in the, I’m sure, really rather chill next eight hours of his shift
Knowing that all of that has gone on, all of that crap is bubbling away unchecked under the surface (and that’s just the stuff we know about so far), is it any wonder at all that he’s a bit prickish, petty, fed up, defensive, burnt-the-fuck-out and lacking the emotional bandwidth to give the sort of grace someone in a better headspace might be able to? Not even all the time either! He’s still trying to be encouraging to the residents/med-students, still gets on fine with the team, still trying to do his job the best he can. But yeah, his temper is shorter, because he is at the absolute end of his rope (even then, the outbursts in question are about the level of a teacher/manager who’s having a particularly shit day and is just not putting up with anybody’s crap today).
Should he get help - hell yeah! Does it suck that others are copping it a bit because he's in such a bad place himself - yep. Would it be nice if he was a perfect victim and never lashed out, never got short with people, managed to maintain perfect patience and grace for everybody around him no matter what - your milage may vary there, but what doesn't is the fact that that wouldn't be realistic in the slightest.
Unfortunately, the maxim 'hurt people, hurt people' does ring true - and the whole reason that 'admitting that there's a problem' is such a huge step is because the denial and desperate hope that if you just ignore or refuse to put a name the problem for long enough, it'll sort itself out and won't actually be as bad as you know it actually is is so incredibly difficult to work your way through. You can't just click your fingers in the middle of all that and go 'right, time to put in the work and fix this' if you're not yet at the point to start putting in the work and fixing things.
I’m just so tired 😅 Empathy is not a finite resource. You can 100% feel for, or at least understand, multiple characters at the same time. You don’t need to tear other characters down and make them cartoon villains so you feel all the more justified in backing your fave (or to make your fave more sympathetic - they already are! Every character in this show is flawed, but every single one of them are still fundamentally good people who are trying their absolute best to do good in the world).
Coming out with stuff like:
Everyone in the Pitt should get a pass to punch Robby in the face tbh 😋
‘Manifesting Robby getting run over by a semi’
Do a flip!!
It’s actually really awful. We have such empathetic people in this fandom, it’s been so incredibly disheartening to see that get tossed out the window these past few months (I hope by a loud few, but it’s honestly hard to tell at times).
so as per various DC social media concepts Clark has a Superman twitter where he posts left-leaning but fairly safe & tame stuff e.g. happy pride from Superman. Clark Kent also has his own twitter account where he posts his actual opinion.
what happens if uh. what happens if he forgets which account he's logged into.
scenario 1: what's clearly an official Superman post pops up on some rando journalist's twitter and is noticed before he can delete it. leads to controversy when people conclude that Superman has hired this Clark Kent person to do his social media. Clark now has to deal w the fact that everyone thinks he's Superman's social media manager. employers at the Daily Planet very confused as to why he didn't tell them about his side gig
scenario 2: world wakes up to Superman tweeting about how he hates the police
Scenario 2: “world wakes up to Superman tweeting about how he hates the police” and then the Shazam twitter account starts agreeing with him and that’s how the world finds out that two of the most powerful heros both hate the police
Someone tweets if Bruce Wayne pays taxes, and Bruce accidentally replies with his Batman account with a simple "Yes", so people start to think that besides beating up villains, Batman also spends his time staring menacingly at billionaires while they fill their taxes to make sure there's no creative accounting going on
robby has been quietly spiraling for weeks because jack’s birthday is coming up and jack is one of those infuriatingly sincere “you don’t have to get me anything” people.
which is lovely in theory and completely useless in practice.
robby wants to get him something meaningful. something that says i know you. something that isn’t just beers and takeout on one of their couches (which, to be fair, jack would also love). but every idea feels either too much or not enough.
so he goes to dana.
he doesn’t even try to be subtle about it. he's just like: “please tell me you have an idea.”
and dana, after thinking for a second, says, “actually… i might.”
turns out a friend of hers bought two premium tickets to a live show (music + dance situation) and can’t go anymore. they were literally going to waste.
and she’s like, “jack loves live music, right? i bet he'd like this show”
it’s the best idea he’s had since the crisis began. he takes them.
on the night of the show, robby takes jack out to dinner first. an actual restaurant. with reservations, real plates, cloth napkins. and jack is a bit suspicious because this is very “friend date but elevated.”
meanwhile robby is trying to act normal and not like a man who panic-bought mystery tickets.
they get to the venue.
and immediately notice that they are surrounded almost entirely by women. they are there mostly in groups and they spot at least two bridal parties.
robby and jack exchange a confused glance, but the women next to them in line are friendly and chatty, so they shrug and go along with it.
they get seated and they have premium seats, literally the best view in the house.
the lights dim.
music starts.
an announcer’s voice booms:
“WELCOME TO THE MAGIC MIKE SHOW.”
robby.exe stops working.
cue shirtless men, sensual choreography, and screaming women.
robby is watching most of it through the gaps between his fingers like he accidentally walked into the wrong room at the ED.
jack, meanwhile, goes from stunned to delighted in under thirty seconds. he is INVESTED. he’s nudging robby like “oh my god look at that lift—” and robby is just experiencing seventeen simultaneous identity crises.
fast forward to the end of the show.
as they file out with the crowd, jack turns to robby and says, completely sincere, “you really outdid yourself. this might be the best birthday gift i’ve ever gotten.”
robby, still slightly dazed, is mostly just relieved that jack had fun.
and then jack adds, softer, “i’m really glad you felt comfortable bringing me here. i’m assuming you’re coming out as bi? that’s huge. thank you for trusting me.”
robby stops walking.
because that… was not the plan.
he tries to explain that the tickets were from dana, that it was meant to be a surprise, he didn’t realise what the show was, but jack cuts in, smiling in a way that’s suddenly a little nervous.
“honestly? i can’t believe all this time you’ve been into men and i was too afraid to make a move.”
robby blinks. “say that again?”
so jack does.
and something shifts.
because whatever label robby may or may not claim, one thing becomes very clear in that moment: he’s definitely into jack.
the rest of the night does not involve cake. the baked kind at least.
it does, however, secure itself comfortably in the top three birthdays of jack’s life, and in robby’s personal history as the day he accidentally staged the most chaotic, effective confession imaginable.
Dude I know Victoria writes a MEAN medically accurate AU on ao3 to the point all her comments are like “??? OP are you good???” And she’s 100k words deep in an enemies to lovers med school AU. LIKE I KNOW SHE WOULD BE EDUCATING THE MASSES LOLLLLLL
Also her ao3 notes would legit be like “omg sorry I haven’t posted in a while 😭😭 my rotations are BEATING my ass you guys like omg I can’t with the amount of charting I have to do. I HAVE A REAL JOB TO DO (ao3 yuri writing)”
tangentwithtanner
theartofmadeline
dailybridgerton
andulkaphoto
germansingergirl
dededos
snowghoul
