Owl's Notes

Owl_s_notes on Ao3 | she/her | not native English speaker

[owlsnotes]

Some not-so-obvious symbolism in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Martin loves hints, signs, and prophecies - and the show gives us two right away. The fortune-teller at the tournament predicts Dunk's and Egg's future, a big nod to their book fates. And Daeron has a prophetic dream about a dead dragon falling on Dunk. That's the obvious stuff. But I found something else.

• Dunk first sees Prince Daeron Targaryen and dismisses him as just some drunk nobleman. We, the audience, don't know who he is yet either. But as Daeron leaves, he tosses the innkeeper a gold dragon - a coin bearing the Targaryen sigil. Sure, any rich man could pay with one, but the fact that the royal crest appears in close-up in the same scene as a member of the royal family… that doesn't feel like an accident to me.

• Aerion watches a puppet show where a dragon - the royal sigil - is killed, and in a rage he destroys the puppeteers' tent and hurts Tanselle. This leads to a confrontation with our hero Dunk, a trial by combat, and… that very dead dragon. Trying to avenge a puppet dead dragon, the prince sets off a perfectly straight chain of cause and effect and creates a real one. Classic self-fulfilling prophecy.

• And here's my favourite. When Aerion first sees Dunk, he takes him for a stableboy and moves to hand him his horse.

Now, drumroll…

At the tournament, the winner takes the defeated man's horse.

• And some fish motifs. Lord Tully (if I remember correctly) bites the head off a fish. Aerion loved fishing - and the very first dish Egg makes after joining Dunk is fish. In the scene where Egg goes to Aerion's bed, we're shown a gutted fish. And I can't help connecting this to the broader crisis of the Targaryen dynasty. Because a fish rots from the head.

At least, that's what I think.

[owlsnotes]

The Targaryens and their Family Heaviest Stare

(this is actually stunning that Daeron looks so much like Maekar. And Aerion and Aegon look very similar here too)

[owlsnotes]

The thing about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is that it feels like it splits into two different narratives.

One is about a humble hedge knight, with echoes of Cervantes and Rabelais. It's full of light, color, and open air - everyone eats, drinks, shits, and dreams of glorious victories. This is Dunk's world.

The other is about a family curse in the truest Greek tradition - hereditary madness and pride eating away from within, dark prophecies that come true no matter what. This is the world of the Targaryens, doomed to be torn between their dragon nature and their human one. There's almost no open space here, almost no color - just grim black walls, heavy armor, and stifling black garments.

The border between these two worlds falls exactly at the midpoint of the season, between episodes 3 and 4, when Dunk finds himself at the center of a royal family conflict. And what was once a gentle story suddenly tightens its grip with double force - and doesn't let go until nearly the very end.

[owlsnotes]

The terrible horrible very bad tournament in POVs of different characters

POV you are Baelor Targarien

• You arrive to watch the tournament and to suffer in a company of your family members

• Your nephew is a crazy piece of shit

• Your other nephew is an irresponsible alcoholic

• You can't even find your youngest one

• thank you Valarr, you are the only one normal here

• you help some hedge knight cause he seems a nice guy

• fight for him to make your family look good in the folk's eyes

• die by your brother's hand 💀

POV you are Daeron Targarien

• You don't arrive at the tournament because you don't want to fight, tournaments suck

• you also have a superpower, and it sucks too

• your brother would be better if he'd think himself an apple

• you lie about your youngest brother because he run away from you

• now you have to fight 🥴

• against the same man you saw in your dream

• that dream that promises big troubles to your family

• ...

• yeah, exactly

POV you are Aerion Targarien

• you arrive at the tournament to show everyone who is the best

• folk people throw mud at you

• your uncle is disappointed and takes away your horse

• you get beaten by some hedge knight

• you just want to fight 7 vs 7

• your uncle fights against you

• the same hedge knight beats the shit out of you

• you awake, and your uncle is dead

• and your father sends you to Lys

• everyone is disappointed

• terrible, horrible, very bad tournament

• you wish you were a dragon

POV you are lady Gwin Ashford

• you are the queen of the tournament, they all fighting for you, this is your day girl

• you meet a handsome hedge knight

• now the prince wants to kill him

• the heir of the throne and the hand of the king is killed instead

• now everyone is mourning

• and it was your name day 😢

POV you are a knight of the King's Guard

• you arrive at the tournament to protect the royal family

• basically to stand proudly in your shining white armour

• now you have to fight

• your prince is fighting against you, and you can't even hit him

• but he still can hit you 💀

• and you still need to protect him

• he dies anyway. Fuck

POV you are Raymun Fossoway

• your cousin humiliates you

• you find a friend

• going to die for him

• Laughing fucking Storm himself knights you

• you fight incredibly well

• now you have a friend

• and a wife

• and a horse

• and your own brunch of the family

• a real winner of this tournament 😎

[owlsnotes]

Hi everyone! Yesterday I finished the translation of my The Pitt fic into English.

It started as an idea for the conversation between Langdon and Abbot, but turned out that Jack and Samira and Mel and Frank also wanted to talk.

So... Enjoy!

And if you are more comfortable with Russian language, this is the original version of the fic

[owlsnotes]

I'm absolutely enchanted by Marius's manner of speaking and his voice. It's so clearly coming from a person with Roman oratorical school background. So vocal, so dramatic.

Amazing performance by Christopher Heyerdahl, I need more ambiguous Marius, I need more scenes of him with every other character.

[owlsnotes]

I have so many thoughts about Armand, and Assad's performance, and devil's minion in ep4 (i missed this gremlin)

Armand is more sincere when he tries to apologise to Daniel than when he talks to Lestat. He is more annoyed around Lestat, like they just can't help themselves.

And when Daniel rejects him, Armand looks like it hurts more than when Lestat does the same. Lestat does it in a more cruel way (and yeah, the scene and the concert as a parallel to the Theatre des Vampires). But it strikes harder coming from Daniel.

Daniel is clearly uncomfortable during Lestat's performance. It's a little bit funny to me, because Daniel is mad at Armand and denies his feelings, but still... feels them.

Remember how Louis in season 1 couldn't describe the vampire bond, because it doesn't have a human equivalent? So Daniel couldn't imagine it. I guess we see it now.

In the scene when Armand and Daniel are talking on the street, I feel like we have the most human version of Armand throughout these seasons. He doesn't want to put on his charming and pleasant mask (or just can't do it anymore). So he is annoyed, worried, tired, and finally looks natural.

Bonus: if we see Marius with the same patient and quiet manner as Armand, it will be insane.

[owlsnotes]

Magnus looks and acts like a demon incarnate.

Marius looks like a wise, patient angel.

But, thinking about Armand's story as well as Lestat's story... They are very likely to be two sides of the same coin. And the fact that they look so different makes this thing even more... disturbing.

That's it. That's what I wanted to say.

[owlsnotes]

In s1ep3 Whitaker struggles to resuscitate his patient, while Langdon just watches him, looking detached. Then he says, "Call me if he resurrects," and just leaves Whitaker. And goes off to chat with Perlah about his dog.

I somehow missed this moment when I watched it the first time. But I rewatched it, and this scene just hit me. It's so awful. So terribly cynical.

This is the season 1 version of Frank Langdon. How exhausted and burnt out he must be to act like this. How heavy and worn his mask of nonchalance must be.

In contrast, in season 2 Langdon is so open. He worries about Mel, and Robby, and Mohan, and Louis, and his patient with sepsis, and the kid with asthma... He talks about the things he likes. He's still sarcastic, but it's more like... a good kind of sarcasm.

And I love the work that Patrick Ball and the Pitt's crew did on this character. In season 1, Langdon is constantly tense, he moves fast, he always looks hyper-alert, and even his hair adds more sharp lines to his face. He seems like a person who never truly stops and relaxes. In season 2, he's way slower, his gaze is open and curious, he smiles more often, he doesn't look as thin as before, and his hair creates softer lines around his face.

Just look at him, season 1 version and season 2 version

[samirasystole]

i really like analysing characters based on the four core quadrants, which is something i learned in nursing school. there are is four elements: a quality, a pitfall, a challenge, and lastly an allergy. the basis of these quadrants is the quality a person has, which defines what the other three quadrants are.

let's take samire for example. a quality that samira has is her integrity; she wants to take care of everyone, she wants fair treatment of herself and others, and fights for those who don't. she spends extra time on marginalised cases, hears them out, and orders everything necessary to help them. we see this with joyce, nandi, and mr diaz.

sometimes, if a quality overshoots itself, it becomes a pitfall. because samira wants to fight for the marginalised like herself, she tends to spend more time on their cases at the occasional cost of the person she's treating and other patients. she does this to prevent additional trauma, to get to the bottom of their situation to prevent misdiagnoses. but this quality of hers turns into something that can negatively affect patients if she adds to their bill with unnecessary diagnostic tests, if she allows them to wait longer to make treatment decisions because she doesn't want to cause them trauma by rushing. this can also negatively affect other patients if she spends too long on one patient.

a challenge for her, is balance within her integrity. so that the people who need extra time, tests and a calm doctor with them, get that. but that the people who do not need this, get treated quickly and efficiently. because of her own experiences with her father, this is extra difficult for her. she has a harder time with professional distance and dividing her time with her other patients if she has a case that she feels passionate about or emotionally connected to. this is not a personal flaw, as it is a very expecter result based on her life. but it is a professional flaw, as it can negatively affect outcomes, bills, and other patients.

because of her integrity and her care for the marginalised, she has a very big allergy for people who don't do this. people who overlook marginalised patients, who don't go the extra mile, who don't try to prevent things like racial neglect or trauma, or try to make sure marginalised patients get the right treatment. she had a hard time with robby. even though he was right about the speed she needed to work joyce's case, she recognised that he doesn't understand or see why she's spending extra time on the case. he thinks nandi is a psych case, he doesn't have the same empathy for mr diaz and his fate. their ways to show integrity are vastly different, and so are their flaws.

the four quadrants are really interesting to me, because they all influence each other. a quality affects the challenge. the integrity she has makes it harder to stay balanced in the way she needs to be in the ED. qualities affect allergies: a quality makes it difficult to deal with people who don't have that. robby doesn't have the same patience to get to the bottom of cases and doesn't have the same focus on marginalised patients as she does.

a pitfall directly shapes the challenge someone has. the parts of her integrity that can have negative consequences directly make it so that her challange is balance. but also: a challenge turns into an allergy. if she has a hard time with this balancing it all, it makes it even harder to deal with people who don't have that challenge, or people who don't understand why it's such a challenge for her.

and that is just one way to analyse a quality she has and the flaws that come with it. samira's integrity often does more good than it harms people, but like we see in season one there are times where she struggles a lot! even in times where she's right. i also find it interesting to see that she grew a lot since last season when it comes to ordering unecessary tests. we see this a lot in mr diaz's care, where she's a lot more careful about what he needs and how to manage the insurance issues he has. i genuinely really liked seeing that!

samira is just one character, and because she's my favourite i decided to use her as an example to show how this real method that is used in today's nursing education can be applied. incorporating my own education into character analyses is a something that i really like doing. it's something that can be used for every character, and can also be used when writing characters or when figuring out your own qualities and motivations! anyway, hope this made sense!

[samirasystole]

i’ve been thinking a lot about whitaker’s presence this season. and the more i do, the more it feels like a very weird choice to make whitaker an outlier when it comes to the responsibility he has, how little he messes up and how little he struggles. and how that makes zero sense in a character viewpoint but also in a residency and realism sense.

besides louie’s death, there are two main things he is shown to struggle with this season. creating boundaries with amy and wanting to help everyone, and confidence issues like with langdon and sometimes with santos. none of those are patient care related; when in season one, all of his insecurities and struggles were related to patients and the work he does. and that means that somehow, in the 10 months that he has been doing rotations elsewhere and has been busy graduating, including the mere four days he’s been an intern, that this aspect of him has completely changed.

because whitaker is not at all portrayed like an intern this season, especially not an intern who started less than a week ago. he helps louie almost all by himself, he takes the med students with him, leads a speech when a patient dies, comforts santos, catches a posterior stemi, gives ogilvie and javadi career advice, and doesn’t really ever fuck up majorly besides the impending death of louie, which was not caused by a clear mistake he made. and compared to santos last season, and even nazely this season, i’m asking myself why there is such a big gap between them and him when it comes to the knowledge that we see on screen, and what the show wants us to know about how an intern functions.

he’s written like a resident much further along in his education. at least, he is given the responsibility, teaching skill, and independence of one. and even then, he doesn’t mess up nearly as much as anyone else. santos is struggling a lot more than him, so is samira. why is he not having any issue with starting residency, when residents above him struggle more? most of the things he’s doing when it comes to patient care and the sudden maturity he has gained, are not compatible with the fact that he’s just begun his residency, and with the way he was portrayed last season.

why does he save the day with an incredibly easy solution when nazely can’t figure out a case? why is he this wise man all of the sudden? if they were trying to make him a product of robby’s favouritism, they surely didn’t paint that as a bad thing. whitaker doesn’t crumble under robby’s pressure, or has a fall from grace. a lot of people were expecting that based on the crazy amount of trust, independence and teaching abilities he is given and allowed. but the realism regarding residency is bent around whitaker to get him to thrive, while realism is bent the other way around to have people like samira suffer. it doesn’t make sense. he barely messes up as an intern and is confident in teaching others, but the senior resident misses something big?

and it just tells me that the writers are using the realism line as their way to bend the story the way they wish, without having to acknowledge the biases present. yeah, it is realistic for medicine to be racist and misogynistic, and it is realistic for white men to have an easier time compared to women of colour. but this is not a thing the show makes into a point. not like they have shown to be able to do with other forms of discrimination and marginalisation. they don’t make him being confident into a thing of privilege, or samira’s struggles as a product of her marginalisation. so it is very clear that this is not on purpose. if they had to acknowledge things like privilege in medical education, they’d have to acknowledge robby’s part in it. which the showrunners have let us know isn’t happening due to willful ignorance.

all of this to say that it doesn’t make sense for whitaker to be portrayed like this. it’s contrary to his character last season. on top of it being unrealistic based on the fact that he hasn’t spent more than three months at the pitt in total(because med school rotations are only 4-12 weeks), and that he’s only been back for four days. he should not and doesn’t get to have this responsibility, and the fact that he does have it with no narrative issue or struggle is indicative of this not being written for a specific reason. well, besides him being a fan favourite and being shipped with the mc of course(sigh).

if we compare his minimal hardships and newfound confidence to the amount of struggle other characters(mainly woc) have; it’s clear that the writing bends its realism to benefit people like whitaker and langdon, but disadvantages people like samira, santos and javadi. and so their scenes get cut while he gets more of them.

[owlsnotes]

Guys, does anybody ship Crus Henderson and Emma Nolan? I mean, why not the most charming resident and nurse in the ER? And I think they would look amazing together

And I easily can imagine Dana and Abbot exchanging knowing looks every time they see them chatting together, because they ship them too

And Langdon staring like wow omg what's going on

[owlsnotes]

Thoughts on rewatching the Pitt s1ep2

Already two cases in which people need to accept someone's death — Mr. Spencer and Nick. Just the second hour of the shift, and it's already so hard for Robby.

Robby misdirects his emotions at Samira. She already knows him so well that she points out he usually does this during the late hours. It feels like a relationship with some abusive relative. (I was pretty okay with Dr. Mohan leaving, but now I badly need her back; there are so many things left unsaid).

Whitaker apologizes to Samira for his phone ringing, and she reassures him. Perfect duo. Later she scolds him, protecting her approach to emotional care, but to me, it sounds like she’s defending herself because everyone keeps calling her Slow-Mo.

Collins at the same time teases Whitaker for the same ringing phone. I think we underestimate how Collins can be not so nice to some people (including Samira previously). And she is still a good person. Not only Santos and Langdon are complicated here.

Very interesting scene with Mel doing a crike. Garcia flirts with Santos, Santos smiles back, Langdon notices. And Mel is nervous not only because of Langdon and Garcia fighting. It was a hard case of broken facial bones, and Mel is highly empathetic. She's never done the procedure before. Garcia is skeptical about her abilities and speaks with sarcasm. All the triggering points.

Then the mother of the sleeping kid is afraid that he might get autism, like it's some kind of disease. Mel denies it, and Langdon is looking at her at that moment.

A patient "tests positive for rats", and Whitaker is the only one who isn't scared; he's just surprised, 'cause he's a farm boy.

Robby asks Whitaker to present the case to him and not to Collins. Okay, Robby.

Javadi giggles at Mateo's joke. I completely forgot she liked him so early in the show.

Mohan is so commanding while speaking with the EMT treating the patient with anemia. And yet she immediately switches to a soft, comforting voice when she addresses the patient. Brilliant moment; I wish we could see more of Samira like this.

Robby repeatedly checks on Santos while they are waiting for the helicopter.

Imho the two funniest dialogues in the show are in ep2: Robby talking to Gloria about rats, and Captain Scurvy.

Langdon checks on Mel for the second time in the show — after she explained in ep1 that she can get emotional. I officially announce that Langdon started learning how to better talk to Mel since the second hour of their shift.

Mel gives a high five to Jesse, and he looks surprised but pretty much into it. It's interesting because the nurses are probably usually underestimated by the doctors, but Mel sees Jesse as part of the team.

Collins is ready to support Robby during his most emotionally severe cases, but Robby runs away from her compassion. He will do the same thing in season 2, just in a more noticeable way.

Robby lets Whitaker continue doing CPR because he needs time to process the death. It's the same thing that Robby does with Nick's parents. "Hope is hope".

The old confused man, Beto, cleaning the floor. After the second season, it looks like a disturbing metaphor for the med workers who can't leave their job even after they retire. Later Langdon will even make a joke about it. At the very end of the episode, he walks by Whitaker, who is trying to resuscitate the patient. The retired worker and the new doctor-to-be.

[owlsnotes]

My thought/headcanon about Kingdon and Mohabbot that I am finally able to verbalise. Mel and Samira are probably drawn to Langdon and Abbot after Pittfest on some subconscious, almost instinctual level.

Mel is a very empathetic person; she's sensitive to noise and uncomfortable being with many people around. Pittfest is pure hell for everyone, and for her especially. And in the middle of all this, Langdon reappears as some sort of a guardian angel (when Mel already thought he had gone home). He comes to her when she feels insecure. He catches her gaze every time from the other side of the room. He praises her and Whitaker — "good catch, you two!" (basically positive reinforcement amidst the chaos). And it's just better that he is there, because the more experienced doctors are working, the more hope they have to manage it.

And now Samira. Imagine her feelings: she was repeatedly told that she was too slow for the ER, and now she is thrown into the Red zone, which demands the exact opposite qualities to what she thinks she has (I mean, Samira is very capable, but Robby always pointed out just one side of her — that she is slow). And the only instruction Robby gives her is basically "listen to Dr. Abbot and do what he says". And Abbot turns out to be the most experienced person in the room. He's confident to the point of being chill (I might be wrong, but it could be a sign of PTSD, when a person feels "normal" and "alive" in a situation full of adrenaline). He finds a moment to teach, praise and even flirt. To Samira, it must be like going back to almost-normal — like a normal procedure when she works and learns.

These men just save Mel and Samira from a more intense, more painful trauma. Abbot to Mohan and Langdon to Mel could feel like an anchor. Like a point of safety and stability in the middle of the terror. And this subconscious feeling — it stays.

[owlsnotes]

it’s not javadi’s third shift, it’s her third clinical rotation, those usually last between 4-8 weeks depending on the school but given it’s september it’s most likely they’re 4 weeks long, so this is technically her 9th week (most likely) of clinicals she would’ve done 4 weeks of OB, 4 weeks of peds since starting her MS3 in july/august

Oh thanks for the correction! I don't know anything about this system, it's interesting ☀️

[owlsnotes]

I rewatched s1ep1, and here is what I noticed:

It's really informative. Robby and Abbot are friends, Javadi is Shamsy's daughter, Whitaker is a farm boy, Collins is pregnant, McKay is 42, Princess speaks 6 languages, Santos gives the Pittlings their nicknames, Robby has his COVID flashback (really bad way to start a shift)... All just in one episode.

A lot of Chekhov's guns that will go off way later. Abbot tells Robby about the veteran and the pregnant girl. Kraken is mentioned. Doug Driscoll is already here and furious. The teen David with the girls list appears.

Abbot says that he doesn't want to be one of Robby's patients. Robby replies that it's mutual. I don't like where this is going; hope it won't happen in future seasons. (By the way, what do you think, for how long has Abbot been Robby's emergency contact?)

Langdon introduces Louis.

The first scene we see Mohan: she's talking with an old lady.

Mohan: "I'm going as fast as I can!" She's already defensive with Robby, it's just gonna get worse after 10 months.

Mohan performs a tricky intubation. That's a glimpse of what Abbot will see in her.

Collins doesn't want to tell Robby about her pregnancy. We'll know later why.

It's the third shift for Javadi. She's about to go through Pittfest on her third medical shift, it's so crazy. (I've been told that rotation doesn't equal to shift, so it's not actually correct; but her situation is still crazy, like, she's 20)

Langdon talks to Robby about dogs. He's so desperate to be Robby's friend.

Langdon helps Mel with the sleeping kid. This show really likes to give Langdon cases with kids and teens, it works so well with the character's fatherly side.

Langdon also immediately separates the kid's parents; he's clearly able to act quickly in a crisis situation.

Santos helps Whitaker with his finger injury; this is her gentle side in this episode.

The contrast between s1 and s2 is so noticeable. Robby is calm and confident, Dana is charming and smiling, Mohan is more relaxed, Whitaker is clumsy and uncertain, Javadi is just cute, Santos is curious and chill, Mel is excited but seems uncomfortable with her colleagues around. And Langdon is so agitated, almost every line of his is a sarcastic remark. Oh, we should've noticed it, if only we knew where to look...

And Abbot is already in an existential crisis, but looks normal to everyone except Robby.

[owlsnotes]

I've been chasing you for three days to tell you how indifferent I am to you!

Evgeny Shvarts, "An Ordinary Miracle"