#langdonposting.

[2econdlead]

cooking hcs for my pitt muses …

- samira does know how to cook. but, she doesn’t get to often. i don’t think she particularly likes to unless she’s doing it with someone else. much of her experience cooking was as a kid alongside her aunties and cousins. sometimes with her mom and dad. however, when she entered college / med school until now in her residency, she doesn’t really get a lot of time to.

- frank doesn’t really have a passion for cooking. he’s super into one pot meals or ten minute meals. something fast. he likes baking because abby and him do it with the kids. on his own, he probably wouldn’t. but, he enjoys it with the kids. it gets seriously messy really fast.

- john is also not Passionate, but he does like to cook. he likes experimenting, throwing random ingredients together and see what sticks. he finds cooking shows, both competitive and not, to be entertaining. he follows the great british baking show.

[2econdlead]

i don’t see frank and mel’s relationship as romantic from frank’s perspective, and i also don’t believe they’re romance-compatible. i need to flesh out that thought more, but i think their initial relationship is him being met with the same excitement and drive to be there, and it’s this instant spark of mutual passion for the job. and i do believe it extends beyond that in that, he has genuine admiration for her and how she conducts herself.

i have somewhat of a theory (and i don’t want to boil their friendship down to this sole reasoning because like w any dynamic and this one specifically, there’s nuance, and also mel deserves so much better than that)— but i believe frank thrives off the attention he receives and loves being liked. so, while not malicious or manipulative in intent, it’s another reason he latches onto her. she’s awed by him, praises him, is excited to work with him. and it makes him feel good and seen and superior.

again, that’s not the only basis for their friendship. but, i do think that is another reason why he latches onto her so quickly initially. but, i do see their friendship being genuine outside of that as well because there is still that mutual passion that exists and i think it’s also a thing of. we vibe and we like each other.

[2econdlead]

frank loves being a father. he loves coming home at the end of the day and being with his kids, being amidst the chaos of home with young children. they bring him joy and comfort especially when work is heavy.

i also think he tells himself that his pain med dependency enabled him to be a present father when work was especially tiring. his back was in pain which after a long day of being on your feet and shifting patients from gurney to bed, etc etc-- that pain would make him irritable, more tired, and to him, unable to carry out what he felt was his role.

that's not to say that what he was doing was good or giving him an out. but, i can see him trying to justify it in that way. of course, the path he was heading down could turn ugly real fast. because more than pain, withdrawal and the effects of addiction would leave him unsuitable to be a father.