#LEXINGTON CODE

[doodleddaisies]

Why the fuck do all these east coast bitches fuck with country music?? YOU’RE FROM BOSTON

finally read through the worlds team usa updates and they did this or that with will!

[sageshouldknowbetter]

I love how much Helly’s clothes have to say not just about her outie’s identity, but the origin of her rebellion as a whole.

Like… she breaks the dress code. Constantly. We know from The Lexington Letter that Lumon only allows white, black, navy, gray, and pastels. And what does Helly wear? Bright blues, green, orange, and at one point, even a dress that is unapologetically crayon-yellow.

For most of season one, the audience thinks this symbolizes Helly’s rebellious nature. Of course her outfits break the rules and stand out like a sore thumb in the muted halls of MDR — so does she! Helly is a new wild card spicing up the lives of her coworkers and shaking up the system. She doesn’t care a whit for Lumon and their stupid regulations, and her clothing reflects that.

But remember… Helly R. doesn’t dress herself.

Helena does.

If Helly could choose to break the dress code, she would — but she has no say in what she puts on every morning. It isn’t her who’s doing this. It’s Helena Eagan who wakes up and, every time she gets ready for work, purposefully dresses herself in ways contrary to her own father’s company.

Whatever her reasons, the point is this: the only reason Helly can unashamedly break the dress code is that no one has the guts to tell the CEO’s daughter to follow the rules. That rebellion, that defiant warmth? Only there because of privilege.

And isn’t that the point? Isn’t that so much of what Helly R.’s “moxie” is? Yes, she fights against MDR’s mistreatment and galvanizes the innies to revolution! Which is awesome! But a lot of it’s because when she first woke up on that table, something inside her went, “This isn’t right.

“This isn’t how people are supposed to treat me.”

It is SO deliciously ironic that almost every sliver, every atom of resistance Helly has against Lumon is an inversion from a sense of entitlement that they gave her in the first place. Helly R. goes to work with someone else’s power over her skin. It’s both the flaming crest of her defiance and a constant, quiet reminder that it is only there because she is not like the others. That she is only rebellious because on the outside… she is used to getting her way.

[kirianthedivorce]

Right so the last episode of Severance gave a major hint to what MDR is doing. The files are linked to rooms on the testing floor where multiple severed versions of Gemma are put through suffering to test if Gemma’s “outie” can remember any of it, implying the end goal of severance is to use it to cut out all unpleasantness from life.

Which made me wonder how the Lexington Letter fit into all this, and honestly I think the Lexington letter is the last piece in understanding exactly what MDR is doing.

If you don’t know, the Lexington letter is a short story about a severed woman named Peggy/Peg (innie is Peggy, outie Peg) who worked in MDR at the Topeka lumon branch who was able to communicate with her innie through a made up, pictographical language she invented as a child which was not picked up by the code detectors. It’s short and free, so I recommend giving it a read.

The main thing though, is that Peggy sends a letter mentioning how she finished her file (named Lexington) that afternoon. She notes it was a particularly difficult file (peg also noticed the stress), and her bosses were very happy she completed it, giving her extra rewards. She also notes the time she completed it, 2:30pm.

At 2:32pm that day, a truck belonging to Lumons biggest competitor blew up in New York, resulting in six deaths, two of which burned alive in the truck, and the destruction of several prototypes belonging to the competitor. Peg strongly suspects the two are linked, and the story ends with her being killed for trying to share it with a journalist (who’s boss is named Jim Milchick, as a fun fact), which seems to confirm it.

A bomb going off in New York is not a room in the lumon basement. If what the MDR departments are doing is to do with the rooms in the testing floor AND the bomb going off, then what they’re doing can’t be making the simulations that people like Gemma are going through. But it also must have something to do with them.

They’re building the severance barriers. They are identifying the emotions and instincts that would be present in a given situation, and sorting them so that those emotions do not carry over across severance.

Allentown was done quickly because Mark knew Gemma, sure. But also because Allentown is writing a bunch of Christmas thank you notes, it’s tedium, not danger.

Lexington was not for a room on the testing floor, it was for a real life situation. And that real life situation was setting off a bomb. They had a severed employee there, and created a severed identity to do this task and die in the process. The instinct not to do that would be a difficult one to overcome, and that’s why the Lexington file was so difficult. It was also a real life situation lumon was dealing with and needed to be dealt with urgently, which is why Peggy’s bosses were so happy it was finished on time.

So what they’re doing is identifying the strong emotions a certain situation would evoke and making sure they don’t cross over between severed identities, to ensure that those severed identities do what they’re there to do, and that the original identity (if they survive) is unaffected by it.

[sapphiresaphics]

I recently made a post about Severance that speculated about what Lumon is doing, based on all the evidence we’ve been given so far. And in my theory crafting I posited that the severance procedure is being marketed to the general public as a convenient way for you to bypass unpleasant situations, but in actuality what Lumon is hoping for is to create millions of sleeper agents for their corporate interests. I mean, the OTC proves that you can wake innies up whenever and that the separation isn’t exclusive to the Lumon building. And the shit they’re doing to Gemma indicates that you can have more than one innie.

So imagine my surprise when I found out Ben Stiller published a short story that acts as a companion piece to Severance, and in this short story that theory I came up with is basically confirmed!

The short story follow a different branch of Lumon where a woman working at MDR manages to make contact with her innie through a coded language she had developed as a child and which isn’t detectable by the code detectors. By passing notes between her innie and outtie she learns that when certain MDR files are completed they often correspond to tragic events on the outside. A rival companies proprietary software mysteriously fire bombed hours after a MDR file with a similar name was completed for example. Scared about what this could mean she tries to raise awareness about it, and promptly her innie gets punished by Lumon, and then shortly afterwards the protagonist herself mysteriously dies in a car accident.

This short story heavily implies that whatever the files are that MDR are refining have real world consequences. It implies that severed people might be planted all over the world and Lumon can activate them whenever to perform a certain task (plant a bomb, smuggle information, dispose of a threat, etc) and the outtie would be none the wiser. And if they’re doing that already, imagine how much power and control they’d have if the general population were to buy in to getting the severance procedure.

The short story is called The Lexington Letter by the way, in case anyone is curious.

[enjoyerofmitski]

the “dorner truck explosion” mentioned in The Lexington Letter (a companion short story for Severance) is also mentioned in The You You Are.

in The Lexington Letter, peg kincaid details her experience as a severed employee. peg and her innie, peggy k, begin to communicate using a made up language from peg’s youth. peggy k initiates the contact explaining that the language has been in her head for weeks. since the language is made of symbols rather than letters, the code detectors are seemingly unable to detect the notes. she eventually explains her decision to leave the company after connecting the dorner therapeutics truck explosion with her innie’s completion of the lexington file.

peg explains this weird connection to her innie, and their communication goes dark for some time. peggy k ends up telling peg to leave lumon after many shifts in the break room. with this final note, peg is given a microdata refinement orientation booklet.

in The You You Are, the dorner truck explosion is mentioned again.

this has got me wondering if we will be seeing a mention of this in the show itself, or if we may see a connection between microdata refinement and some type of corporate espionage?

[aworldofpattern]

Zendaya at the Met Gala 2024, wearing custom Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano, and hat by Stephen Jones.

The fruit, flowers, insects and birds on the gown fit the dress code of the night, 'The Garden of Time', inspired by J.G. Ballard's 1962 short story (explained here by the BBC).

The gown also references John Galliano’s Spring 1999 couture collection for Dior, in particular the gown below, decorated with grapes.

Maison Margiela said:

'A sage lamé bias-cut ‘siren dress’ overlaid with iridescent electric blue organza with ‘retrograding’ in undulating bands of hand-painted metallic crin, swathed in an aluminium material and iridescent organza drape and bow, with a corsage hand-embroidered in a bacchanal of hand-painted impasto in the grammar of the electric blues and emerald greens of scarab amulets, with formations of birds, flowers, vines, grapes and nuts, worn over a boudoir-coloured duchess satin corset. A silver metal-wire ‘reverse swatching’ hat and a black hand-painted voile crafted in the memory of plume and enveloped in matching coloured stockings by Stephen Jones for Maison Margiela, and Eau de Nil velour and faux lizard Tabi interlaced ankle-strap pumps by Christian Louboutin for Maison Margiela.

Created for Zendaya by John Galliano for Maison Margiela, the haute couture silhouette was inspired by the 1930s mythological works of the photographer Madame Yevonde and imbued with the memory of the orgiastic sceneries of the bacchanals of Ancient Greece. In a dance between painterly cutting and draping techniques – unique to each layer of the construction – and the superposition of fabric textures such as tin foil with transparent iridescent organza overlay, the composition conjures the staccato brushstrokes of Giovanni Boldini. The bias-cut ‘siren dress’ is a key expression in the creative practice of John Galliano, which first appeared at Maison Margiela in the Spring-Summer 2020 Artisanal Collection. Infused with a certain ‘snobisme’, the look is given the epithet of ‘86 and Lexington’, a nod to the subway station near The Met.

The dress was crafted with ‘retrograding’, a technique through which variations of thread-work, appliqué or encrustation degrade from the bottom to the top of a garment like the linear base drawing of a painting that hasn’t yet been finished. The ‘reverse swatching’ technique employed in the hat exchanges the fabrics traditionally used for certain parts of dressmaking with materials of a contrasting value.' X

[ohwhatagloomyshow]

Ah ha! I posted about the fire exit the other day and, if the Lexington Letter & its introductory handbook are to be trusted as canon, there still are code detectors at the fire exit (until I reread s1 transcripts and find hard proof that there weren’t, lol). Why do they lock those doors! They shouldn’t have to!

[sourgrenadine]

thinking about like, severance and childhood

these people have no life experiences, no context for the world around them besides what theyre told by authority. before questioning everything, theyre incentivized by trinkets and rewards, and avoidance of punishment, but as they grow and learn about more abstract ideas and motivations, these no longer keep them in line.

they have experiences like children might. first kisses, diets controlled by their superiors, making "pillow" forts out of plastic sheets and office desks, field trips to the outdoors.

if youve read the lexington letter, peg even states that lumon told her that innies are child-like, and she views her innie almost like a child version of herself. she communicates via a code language that she and her sister came up with when they were children.

idk its just really interesting to me. i know the main thing of the show is corporate hell, but i cant help but compare it to like, elementary-middle-high school and the development of children as they grow more independent and gain more awareness of everything.

maybe its because ive never actually worked an office job who knows.

[riceandcurry3]

Severance spoilers

According to the Lexington letter, we see that finishing the MDR files have outside effect. Such as the car accident of Lumons rival company.

We also see cold harbour is connected to Gemma, and only mark can work on it.

What if the reason they are separating the numbers based on fear and how bad it feels is cause they are trying to clone a version of gemma

And mark is the only one that able to do it cause he was the closest to her. He can feel the good things about her and maybe the bad code they got from her dead body.

This would give Lumon incentive to keep people in, the more people they get, the more people they are connected to, the more people they can clone or affect.

[whoreiorcats]

Ok well Mark S is definitely rearranging Gemma’s brain cells or whatever, I’m not sure if that’s what every macrodat is doing?

I have a few thoughts here; first, I truly think whatever it is the macrodats do, it’s essential to the operation of Lumon. Every Severed location seems to have an MDR department, it’s not just at the Kier location. Also, Cobel and Milchick are genuinely also concerned with the performance of MDR. We can see this when it’s not clear if Helly will meet quota for the quarter. Meeting quota, files expiring, all of that is not incidental or arbitrary, there is pressure from above Cobel to get that shit done. It actively helps Lumon.

Second, they’re definitely not all doing the same thing. PLEASE read the Lexington Letter, it’s a fun read and gives really interesting insight into the world and I’m about to spoil it.

So Peg Kincaid (the narrator) is a refiner at her location who ends up being able to send coded messages to her innie and they correspond for weeks. Peggy K finishes a file at 2:30 and at 2:32 a truck belonging to a Lumon competitor explodes in New York, killing 6 people. Peg makes this connection and tells Peggy K to stop refining, in turn Peggy K is sent to the Break Room for like a week (at one point Peg comes to with wet hair! Hmmm pineapple bobbing…) and tells Peg that she’s probably right. Peg later flees her town, feeling as though she’s being constantly watched and followed. Soon thereafter she dies “due to complications after a car accident”.

So I’m gonna say that Peg Kincaid was correct that her macrodata file was tied to the explosion of the truck. I can’t see how what she was doing could have resembled what we assume Mark S is doing. It’s definitely possible that everyone at the show’s location is doing the same thing (cleaning up cadaver brains on the testing floor) but it seems unlikely that that was what was happening at Peggy K’s location.

Every location could serve a different corporate purpose, who knows. Helly, Dylan, Irving, and Mark could be doing four completely separate things (I doubt it but it seems possible atp).

UGH I don’t even have a conclusion, I just think the answer won’t be as simple as they’re rewiring people or reconstructing personalities onto chips or whatever. People have been saying that but it’s not like Ms Casey acts anything like Gemma did? (Or close enough to satisfy someone seeking to bring back a dead loved one or long dead CEO) So I don’t know if it’s all resurrecting people from the dead like I’ve seen proposed.

[fitzcrald]

starter for: staff at lexington @scrubshqstarters location: lexington university hospital break room

The shift has been quiet—eerily so. The kind of quiet that makes seasoned doctors tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Emma’s curled up in one of the break room chairs, legs tucked under her scrubs, nursing a lukewarm cup of coffee like it’s the only thing anchoring her to the earth.

When she sees one of her coworkers open their mouth, she doesn’t even let them get a word out.

“No,” she says flatly, eyes narrowing over the rim of her mug. “Don’t say it. Don’t you dare jinx us.”

She takes a long sip, then adds, deadpan, “Last time someone said the ‘q’ word, we had three codes in a row and a guy tried to remove his own appendix in the lobby. So. Try silence instead. It’s underrated.”

[theamateurreviewer]

Review: Star Trek: The Original Series Season Two

Rating: 9/10

Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! So many different Star Trek classics in this season, and it was truly the peak of the show. The cast pairings became solidified, and the synergy was at an all-time high. When I think classic Kirk-Bones-Spock moments, I think Season Two.

What follows are spoilers for a handful of great (and one or two bad) episodes of the season. Logically, I would avoid these spoilers until watching the episodes, but humans are rarely logical creatures, Captain.

Hands down, my two favorite episodes of Season Two (and even in the top 5 for the entire show) are The Doomsday Machine and The Ultimate Computer, both for similar reasons.

Strengths:

While The Doomsday Machine (S2E6) is a fairly standard retelling of a classic story in a new and interesting setting, this one being Moby Dick, the impact of the story is not lessened by this knowledge. The story begins as the Enterprise discovers the wreck of the USS Constellation, NCC-1017, and Captain Decker as her only survivor. It was destroyed by the Planet Crusher, an enormous Bugle chip that can destroy entire planets in a single pass. Decker's crew beamed down to a planet in order to escape the crippled ship, but were instead killed by that weapon. The acting, while hammy, is never disingenuous, and the madness in Decker wanting at all costs to destroy the Planet Crusher, even at the risk of loosing the Enterprise, is palpable and downright big screen worthy. Kirk uses the barely space-worthy Constellation as a makeshift weapon, arming the impulse reactors as a makeshift nuclear weapon. The climactic destruction of the Constellation, the last second escape of Kirk, and the message that 'this was the only time when nuclear weapons have been used to save,' was nothing if not timely, given the original air date in autumn of '67.

And, of course, The Ultimate Computer (S2E24) is no different in quality. The Enterprise was selected to test the M-5 Computer as a replacement for human operators aboard a starship. Of course, Kirk and the gang, with the exception of Spock, are dubious in their belief that the M-5 can replace them. Dr. Daystrom (played by the excellent William Marshall, an African-American playing a doctor in 1967) assures them that the computer is completely safe, and will ensure future crews won't perish to the unlimited dangers of space. The computer, however, begins to take full control of the ship, not listening to override codes or commands. All of this as she is to participate in a non-lethal wargame with four other Constitution-class ships, the Lexington, Excalibur, Potemkin, and Hood. En route, the M-5 destroys an unmanned freighter, hinting at the carnage to come if they cannot disable the computer. Without being able to warn the fleet, or stop it from operating, the Enterprise opens fire with full-powered phasers, killing 53 aboard the Lexington and all aboard the Excalibur. The palpable horror, even with the original cheesy special effects, is not diminished, as we watch the Chekhov, Sulu, Uhura, and the rest of the gang as they destroy an entire vessel. Kirk flies off the handle, and, after Spock neutralizes Dr. Daystrom, he convinces the M-5 that it violated its programming, the preservation of life, and that it needed to be punished. Absolutely A+ acting.

Of course, any discussion of Season Two would be incomplete if it failed to mention either The Trouble with Tribbles or Mirror, Mirror. The first of these is perhaps the most famous of all episodes, due just to how silly but endearing it is. Truly an episode where it's not trying to make an important point or be profound, but one of the greatest episodes of the original show. Mirror, Mirror (S2E4) has been so important that it has been referenced or outright continued in nearly every subsequent production of the Star Trek universe. Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, Discovery, and Prodigy all explicitly mention or visit the Mirror universe, and the concept of our heroes acting in exactly the opposite way as they normally do, and becoming the worst version of themselves, is such an interesting and thought-provoking story. Of course, while most of our heroes are evil in the Mirror universe, nothing can stop Miles Edward O'Brien from being just the greatest man.

There are plenty of other banger episodes, like Journey to Babel (our first look at other Federation member races like the Andorians and the Tellarites), Obsession, A Piece of the Action, Immunity Syndrome, Private Little War, and Patterns of Force. Just watch it already!

Weaknesses:

Season Two has less in the way of weak episodes than Season One, that's for certain, but there is one absolute garbage episode, truly keeping Season Two from a 10/10 for me. It's The Omega Glory. The episode starts of normal and intriguing. The Enterprise discovers the Exeter in orbit of a planet, completely abandoned. Upon boarding the ship, we discover that the crew have been reduced to salt crystals for an unknown reason. Alright, we've got our hook! It's good, even. They beam to the planet to find a very 19th century humanoid culture, known as the Kohms. They have the appearance of Asians, a key part of this story. The former captain of the Exeter is here, and in control of these Kohms. According to him, they have secured the fountain of youth, and that leaving this planet will reduce the away team to the crystalline residue left aboard the Exeter.

Okay, to me we're starting to loose the plot, but I'll let it cook.

The Captain of the Exeter warns that the Kohms are under attack by a group of savage barbarians known as the Yangs. These savages are white, with blond hair. To me, this was an interesting reversal of the traditional Civilized and Savage stereotypes. Having the white men and women reduced to this stereotype usually reserved for non-whites was thought provoking. However, it soon lost any respect I had for it.

Shortly after, we learn that the Yangs were forcibly removed from their birthright lands long ago. Kirk learns that Kohms and Yangs are corruptions of Communists and Yankees (a very stupid plot point, I may add), postulating that this is Earth if it took a very different course of history. And, the cherry on the cringe cake was the Yang reverently appearing with an American flag, and bearing the Constitution. The cheesy studio orchestra rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner nearly made me click the episode off in second-hand embarrassment. Nothing, not even Spock's Brain is worse than The Omega Glory.

In summation, Season Two of TOS is perhaps the best Trek there is with the original crew, with perhaps the exception of a couple of the films. If you haven't seen it, there's so much more that I haven't spoiled that will make it worth while.

[2hcnds]

🔬    ‧₊˚    ⋆   ــــــــــﮩ٨ـ   did   you   page   𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗵   “𝗻𝗶𝗮”   𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻 from   neuro   surgery ?   they’re   the   twenty   nine  resident   at   𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣   𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮   𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡,   they’ve   been   working   here   for   4  years.   you’ve   probably   seen   them   if   you   catched   a delicate   gold   necklace   that   catches   the   hospital’s   fluorescent   light,   wide   eyes   showing   her   curiosity   that   are   framed   by   wavy   hair   often   pulled   into   a   ponytail,   color   coded   sticky   notes   shoved   into   the   pocket;   filled   with   medical   notes   she   scribbled   throughout   her   day   every   time   she   learned   something   new   and   a   warm   smile   that   makes   you   feel   like   you   just   had   a   delightful   cup   of   tea   and   the   entire   world   of   surgical   steel   is   disappearing,   the   patients   that   do   like   them   would   tell   you   they   are   astute   and   heartening,   but   some   of   them   think   they’re   diffidient   and   avoidant.   time   is   rushing,   just   go   and   find   them. 

       001.                   𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿.

full   name:   niamh   poppy   easton       nicknames:   nia,   smushie   (   don’t   mention   it,   don’t   ask.   don’t   try   to   find   out.   don’t   even   call   her   that   if   you’re   not   a   person   who   participated   in   any   way   to   her   existence   on   this   earth.   )     age:    twenty   nine.    birth   date: march   fifth.    zodiac:   pisces.    gender:   cis   female.    pronouns:   she/her     orientation:   short   bisexual     relationship   status:   very……..   painfully……..   single…….   with   no   rizz     height:   5’0     hair   color: blonde,   usually   curled   and   put   in   a   ponytail,   her   curtain   bangs   are   her   signature     tattoos   and   piercings:    pierced   ears,   a   handful   of   small   tattoos.     distinct   features:    sharp   canines     employment:   resident   @   lexington   university   hospital     education:    k-12,   graduated   medical   school   @   harvard   university.     specialty:   neurology     family: clara   and   diana   easton   (   mothers   ),   nathaniel   whitmore   (   father   )

      002.                   𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏.

despite   having   three   (   yes,   three   !   don’t   ask   )   loving,   present   in   her   life   parents   ⸺   two   moms,   one   dad   who   lived   next   door   majority   of   his   life;   like   i   said,   don’t   ask   ⸺   she   showed   an   extreme   interest   in   books.   once   she   read   every   book   age   appropriate   for   her   different   life   stages,   then   it   was   art.   once   she   proved   she   could   sing,   dance,   paint   and   even   sculpt,   it   was   time   for   high   school   and   she   was   brilliant   at   maths,   literature   and   possibly   every   other   subject   you   could   ever   think   of.   if   there   was   one   thing   that   her   parents   could   be   sure   of,   it   was   that   she   would   never   fail   because   failure   was   just   not   an   option.   normally,   people   would   start   assuming   that   her   parents   must   be   so   tough   on   her,   that   they   push   her   so   hard   and   expect   her   to   be   perfect.   she   has   three   loving   parents.   three   loving   parents   who   would   walk   through   fire   for   her.   three   loving   parents   who   would   never   let   a   hair   fall   off   her   head.   three   loving   parents   who   are   highly   renowned   surgeons   and   on   top   of   that,   a   dad   who   was   a   respected   chief   of   surgery.   very   briefly,   resigned   after   barely   a   year   as   soon   as   he   noticed   the   work   was   taking   his   time   away   from   the   family.   nia   could   have   everything   she   want.   which   is   why   she   convinced   herself   she   has   to   work   harder;   to   prove   that   she   can   do   it,   to   prove   that   she   doesn’t   get   things   handed   easily   and   instead,   she   works   for   them. 

she   was   smart,   extremely   smart.   studying   came   easily,   the   photographic   helped   and   she   always   knew   she   wants   to   be   like   her   parents;   save   lives.   she   spent   her   childhood   surrounded   with   doctors   and   nurses,   as   a   toddler   often   spending   her   day   in   a   kingsley   hospital’s   playrooms   as   her   parents   were   performing   surgeries.   she   was   well   known   and   on   top   of   that,   extremely   loved   by   everyone.   she   knew   the   staff   by   their   names,   she   knew   their   favourite   fruits   so   she   always   made   sure   to   bring   them   one   whenever   she   knew   she’d   see   them   and   she’d   update   everyone   on   how   her   day   in   the   school   went.   nia   would   talk   and   joke   around   and   she   could   cheer   up   the   entire   trauma   department   so   at   some   point,   everyone   would   just   look   forward   til   she   visits   after   school   and   everyone   looked   forward   to   see   nia   walking   around   the   hallways,   wearing   kingsley’s   scrubs   so   imagine   the   disappointment   when   she   announced   starting   an   internship   at   the   rivalry   hospital,   lexington. 

it   wasn’t   because   she   thought   they’re   better   —   it   was   because   she   didn’t   want   it   easy;   if   there   is   one   thing   about   nia,   it’s   that   she   will   always   work   for   her   success.   and   despite   the   first   look   of   disappointment   she   experienced,   despite   hours   and   hours   of   explaining   to   the   entire   hospital   that   at   some   point   became   a   home   to   her   that   this   is   not   the   way   they   think   it   is,   she   did   it.   she   proved   herself.   it   wasn’t   easy,   it   wasn’t   quick   and   it   definitely   wasn’t   ideal,   especially   not   when   she’d   close   herself   in   the   bathroom   so   she   could   calm   herself   down   before   bursting   in   tears.   her   intern   year   at   lexington   was   way   harder   than   everyone   else’s;   the   chief   knew   who   she   is,   the   residents   knew   who   she   is   and   the   surgeons   knew   who   she   is.   everyone   pushed   her   extremely   hard,   she   had   no   room   for   mistakes.   she   had   to   be   perfect.   she   was   perfect.   she   was   perfect   but   she   also   stayed   true   to   herself   —   genuine,   warm,   vulnerable,   loving,   comforting,   radiating,   talkative. 

she’s   now   at   her   third   year   of   residency,   scrubbing   in   to   more   surgeries   with   head   of   the   neuro   department   than   anyone   else   ever   had   on   their   third   year   and   the   interns   she   teaches   come   out   richer   in   experience,   knowledge   and   empathy. 

      003.           𝙃𝙀𝘼𝘿𝘾𝘼𝙉𝙊𝙉𝙎.

her   parents   lore   is   fairly   simple   …   and   also   odd:   diana   and   nate   were   life   long   best   friends   —   they   started   their   internship   together,   went   through   residency   together   and   always   supported   each   other   in   their   love   lifes.   there   were   never   any   romantic   feelings   between   them   but   there   was   sexual   tension   which   they   didn’t   mind,   at   least   until   diana   met   clara.   diana   only   found   out   she’s   bisexual   when   she   met   clara   while   clara   was   always   comfortable   in   her   sexuality.   they   started   dating   but   every   young   love   has   its   ups   and   downs   and   there   happened   one   of   the   downs   —   diana   wanted   to   start   a   family,   clara   didn’t.   they   broke   up,   clara   left   the   country   and   diana   and   nate   were   back   to   their   old   ways   but   this   time   it   led   to   an   unplanned   pregnancy,   at   least   diana   didn’t   plan   it   with   nate   and   neither   nate   planned   a   family   that   he   also   always   wanted   with   diana.   it   took   a   lot   of   adjustments,   a   lot   of   arguments   and   a   lot   of   understanding   but   somehow   they   made   it   work   with   nate   living   next   door   to   the   happily   married   couple,   which   helped   him   always   be   present   in   nia’s   life

she   has   a   photographic   memory   which   often   made   her   more   brilliant   than   people   in   her   age   but   as   she   started   internship   @   lexington,   she   learned   to   often   take   a   step   back   with   her   knowledge,   aware   of   the   privileged   looks   and   opinion   she   already   had

she   feels   everything   very,   very   deeply

patients   trust   her   easily   because   doesn’t   hide   her   emotions   at   the   work   place   but   instead   of   letting   them   take   over   her,   she   channels   them   into   empathy   and   listening

she   forms   a   very   !!!!   very   deep   bond   with   nurses,   techs,   janitors,   security   or   whoever   could   be   considered   “background   staff”   and   she   always   !!!!!   remembers   her   favourite   snack   or   their   birthday   so   she   can   get   them   a   little   gift

brings   homemade   snacks   for   night   shifts   which   are   not   only   yummy   but   also   v   healthy   !!!!!!   u   will   eat   those   muffins   bc   they   are   full   of   protein   and   potassium   !!! 

has   big   trust   issues   for   some   reason   ???   probably   because   she   quickly   learned   that   @   lexington   it’s   either   you   swim   with   sharks   or   get   eaten   by   them

cat   mom   !!!!!!!!!

there’s   no   such   a   thing   as   “inoperable”   in   her   books   n   she   will   always   find   a   way   so   if   its   ur   week   to   have   her   on   ur   shift   as   an   attending   …….   oh   boy   good   luck

don’t   b   surprised   if   she   randomly   pops   up   at   ur   door   w   two   concert   tickets

[nationsandcannons]

In honor of the 250th anniversary of Lexington & Concord, the shots that started it all, our sale is live now through April 26. Use code AMERICA250, at checkout, for 10% off all items. Time to gear up for revolution.

[jcs-study]

I speak to you this evening, JCS fans, on behalf of the Manhattan-based Utopia Opera, Ltd. I call 'em "the little light opera company that could."

Well, they're taking their first bite at a big-boy rock opera, and they chose my favorite. More than that, they engaged me as a creative consultant to help massage the production to its fullest potential. (I also wound up doing program design and layout to go for that classic Brown Album look, go me!)

To quote Stefon from Saturday Night Live, "This... has... everything!"

Prominent female(-presenting) performers as male leads! Jesus, Judas (two of them, one for a night the other has off), Caiaphas and Annas (at least one night each), Pilate (two of them, one for each weekend), two miscellaneous priests... the fun never stops!

Incredibly talented singers with impressive ranges!

A full complement of musicians! Indeed, possibly the biggest orchestra to take this on in the Big Apple since the show debuted at the Mark Hellinger over 50 years ago.

Accessibility! Every performance will be equipped with projected English surtitles!

Cheap admission! The tickets are the tightest in town, especially for New York New York, and if that's not enough...

A queer-friendly discount! March 15 is "Queer Community Night," meaning at the link above, enter the code QUEERJESUS to get discounted tickets that almost literally cut the price in half for that evening's performance.

And now for the details:

Where?

Ida K. Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College, south side of East 69th Street between Park and Lexington, New York City.

When?

The weekends of March 14-16 and March 21-23, exact times at the BrownPaperTickets link above. (If you might just buy in person, instructions are in the event description at the link as well.)

What if I can't go?

Well, you can still reward their pluck! If you can't make it physically, there's also an option at the ticket link to donate to support this fine crew in all their endeavors.

Don't let me down, people -- check it out!

[melmac78]

OK… read this prompt by @call-me-casual and decided to give John a break for a bit before the USS Lexington story continued.

Hope you enjoy.

••••••••

Scott groaned as he came to his senses.

He wasn't sure where he was or what was going on...

"Wasn't I on a mission?" he thought groggily.

As he became more conscious, he realized that it wasn't the sound of birds and gentle ocean waves at home.

It was the roar of Thunderbird One.

That woke him up... but at the same time... he felt like he couldn't move.

There was a bitter licorice aftertaste to his mouth, his head felt like cotton.

It was only the faint memory of this occurring before in Thunderbird Four that he realized what happened.

He had been drugged... by the ship using its Omicron protocol.

Scott opened his eyes, head still bowed though.

A light was flashing on the console… in Morse code his still fuzzy mind recognized.

"TB1 - taken - over - by - AI - STOP - Put - on - helmet - STOP - Will - explain - in - helmet."

Well, if that wasn't an alert, Scott mused.

He then heard a voice, not unlike John's permeate his ears.

"Alert - enemy is conscious. Omicron protocol activated."

That wasn’t calm assurance, and something said “do it this time.”

Scott didn't hesitate at that internal order - especially as a hiss shortly followed.

He held his breath and grabbed the emergency air mask underneath his seat.

Putting it on, he quickly unbuckled and went for his helmet.

Thunderbird One didn't like that, and tried to shake him.

Scott crashed into multiple walls, including the one with an intake that looked like a lemon squeezer. "Definitely a squeeze," he mused internally as he picked up his helmet.

Putting it on, he turned on the radio to a frequency even EOS didn't know how to reach - herself at least. "Thunderbird One to anyone." He said in a not quite calm tone as he worked to get back to his chair.

Sitting in it, and buckling tight, he looked at the controls. "That can't be right," he said looking at the coordinates.

He last remembered being in Crook County, Wyoming finishing up aiding a trapped hiker rescue at the top of a fiery Devil's Tower.

Readouts said he was flying over Almaty, Kazakhstan.

A tenor voice pestered his voice. "Scott... Scott do you read?" said John.

The eldest narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're John?" he said.

There was a sigh - probably with rolled eyes, as the middle brother spoke. "Tuesday Alan and Gordon decided to send me up a burger that was nothing but pickles in my from home gift... along with two dozen of Grandma's Sweet Onion cookies - that I said were good because she managed to keep them soft," he said.

Scott paused, then nodded. "You're ... you,” he said relieved, “A moment ago you tried to render me unconscious.”

A uncommonly heard cat like growl from John filtered his ears. "I didn't - it was One," he said and continued after Scott's puzzled grunt. "You were on your way home from the rescue when EOS reported you lost consciousness. I did a scan and found Omicron had been administered."

"Wouldn't that mean she goes back to GDF or home?" he said, remembering the protocol. "I just passed Almaty."

"For the fourth time,”John said and heard Scott's grunt of confusion. “You were unconscious for about an hour.”

“An hour?”

“The AI kept using the protocol if you started coming around. It just didn’t catch it now - thankfully.”

Scott groaned, knowing he’d have a headache eventually. “WHY is it doing that though?”

The space brother then coughed, which Scott knew he'd not like hearing this. "The AI Brains created for One thinks you are the hiker who kicked her... snuck aboard TB1, and sedated - maybe harmed or worse - ‘Scott’ after a fight.”

"That explains Omicron," said Scott, who did a double take. "Wait... it was the reverse - I sedated him after he tried punching me. He went with the authorities…”

“… I know. The facial ID glitched and - as the hiker has a similar look to you, it got confused.”

There was a shudder by One as two thumps sounded from the front. "What was that Five?”

John didn’t miss the - fair enough - panic in the tone, "Thunderbirds Three and Two just lassoed One. We're trying to get her to slow down before she runs out of fuel,” he said.

"Right..." Scott tried to play it cool. but was indeed panicked.

Based on fuel load, One could circle the globe 6 times, so they had two rotations to stop her before...

Then a baritone voice, similar to Virgil's dwarfed the conversation in the helmet.

“Please do not be alarmed. You have 30 minutes of air left in Scott's air tank before you will crash and die," it said. "It would be easier on you if you were unconscious for it. A mercy given you hurt Scott.”

The real Virgil's voice however filtered in Scott's helmet. "Hey, I'd *never* tell someone to deal with that skunky stuff," he said, much to Scott's mild amusement.

The engineering brother continued. "John and EOS are trying to get the AI to listen to us, and Brains is working on a failsafe code to fix the face scanner,” he said. “Alan and I have securely lassoed One just in case she tries to crash herself."

"As if I didn't need anything else," muttered Scott, facepalming over the mask. "What can I do?"

"Sit as calm as you can - I know... I know ... too difficult, but try," said Virgil. "If you can, talk to it. It seems to like to be our voices."

"FAB," said Scott and leaned back. "So... why are you doing this?"

"I must protect Scott," “Virgil” said.

"By rendering Scott unconscious?" said the pilot. When it chirped in confusion, he continued. "Check my face again - I'm Scott."

"No. You are the hiker who harmed him," the voice, now sounding like Alan said.

"No - again I’m Scott..." he said, deciding the next thing he did would be worth the ironic lecture from John.

“I'm going to take off my helmet and hold my breath... Please use the scanner again - twice if necessary - to see that it's me,” he said, ignoring the others’ protests.

The man took a deep breath and pulled his helmet off. The AI scanned him, and based on how much his lungs were begging him to take a breath of anesthetic gas and oxygen, twice.

Fortunately, the AI recognized it was Scott.

"You're Scott," it said in Virgil's voice as Scott quickly put the helmet back on, gasping for air. “Where is the person who sedated you?"

"The hiker who kicked you in spite is with the authorities - not here," said Scott said, trying to placate the AI.

"But it still tried to kill you and me... it hit sensitive components," "John" responded. "It's since escaped and had two ships try to bind me. I will destroy them if they do not let go."

Scott winced as the AI spun One, which would affect Two more than Three.

When it stopped, Scott contacted the other two 'Birds. Alan said he was all right as his cockpit was designed to take spins, while Virgil admitted he was a little dizzy but he and TB2 were unharmed.

Scott then looked around his ship, hoping it wasn't going to be a tomb. "Listen, they’re not with the creep. These two are trying to bind you because they want to protect me too," he said.

"Protect you?" said AI, now choosing to be in Gordon's voice. "I protect you."

"Yes, like you do... and I do you every rescue," he said, then took a deep breath. "But those two ships? They're Thunderbirds Two and Three. They're trying to slow us down because you're doing loops around earth. If you keep doing it, you'll run out of fuel and crash."

The AI hummed a bit in John's vocals and commented. "But - won't people such as the hiker go and hurt you again?" it said.

Scott pursed his lips, thinking how to respond. He didn't want to give the honest answer, as he was afraid she'd just crash One into a city, causing countless deaths in injuries.

But he couldn't lie either.

So he chose the straightforward route. "One - I can't say they will or won't. You know we're in a rescue business. There's always the chance there will be a distraught person or criminal who will attack me for many reasons," he said.

“And me?”

“Yes, you too because you’re a very special ship,” he said, then sighed. "The point is - I know that when I go on rescues, when my brothers go on rescues, you - Two, Three, Four and Five - do your absolute best to protect us."

He just read the coordinates for Almaty again... he hoped this last part would hit home.

"Just - please - Brains is working on a way to help you better discern an annoyed rescuee versus someone who really wants to harm or kill us, such as the Hood," he said, and heard Gordon's ironic grumble in response as it pondered.

Scott continued pleading. "Just please protect me, Alan, Virgil and countless others by slowing down before we all get hurt?"

There was a pause - making Scott feel as though he was probably going to have to decide if he just accepted being drugged again so he felt nothing - including guilt - when One elected to crash.

Instead... he felt the ship slow down, and a chirp from the AI.

"Understood. I am letting Two and Three assist me back to the Island," said "John's" voice as the real John and other brothers cheered in relief in Scott's helmet. "Omicron protocol disengaged."

Scott however smiled as he felt the craft turn around. "Thank you One. Can you tell me when the gas will disperse," he said.

"In about 20 minutes, but you will be home before then," said "John." "Recommend you wear the helmet until you arrive, and any family who may come near the ship to wear gas masks.

Scott nodded and leaned back, knowing that his brothers would safely fly his 'Bird - and him - home safely.

Besides - he needed a bit of a snooze.

Then the AI chirped. "Um... Scott, one question."

"Name it."

"Can I change my voice to something other than your brothers?" it said. "I do not like any of them."

The pilot chuckled. "You can try any voice you want - for as long as you want," he said, yawning slightly from the last vestiges of the gas. "As long as you remember my voice and double check to make sure I'm all right first before enacting protocols again."

"FAB - rest easy - my colleagues and I will get you home safely - as always."