fandomeic

[fandomeic]

Mohantos Thoughts

It's been a super hot minute since I've been interested in a new show to the point that I jumped into its fandom, or for a particular ship. To be perfectly honest, the show churn from Netflix had me perfectly content to just quietly carry on shipping for years after something was over and explore AU's for pairings and characters. I'm a nerd like that. Warrior Nun was pretty much the last show I had been invested in and I was fine in keeping it that way until this damned show came along.

But the Pitt is just genuinely that good and the cast so stellar that it felt fine to be a "filthy casual" in the fandom. Until the stupid pairing bug bit me in the ass again.

Because now I cannot unsee certain parallels between Avatrice and Mohantas, and it's driving me up the wall. (Warning: The rest of this unnecessary rant uses character tropes for shorthand.)

Sister Beatrice and Samira Mohan are two of the most Dutiful Princesses to ever Dutifully Princess. And somehow, I think Samira managed to beat out Beatrice, which is saying something.

They've both absolutely chained themselves to what they think their duty is, to their own detriment. They've both let their personhood be subsumed by their duty (whether that's being a nun-soldier fighting demons or fighting for duty of care against an all-consuming capitalist hellscape determined to treat people as numbers instead of as human beings). And they've both had their ideas of "right" rocked by an outsider.

Ava Silva and Trinity Santos both share some Glorious Dumbass traits, they've both had some extreme childhood trauma, and they both came out the other side with a sarcasm shield and can come across as very off-putting to those who don't really know them.

But they care. A lot. A whole, whole lot when it costs them dearly. And even when they're surrounded by people who want them to fail or when it would be in their best interests to walk the f_ck away, they keep showing up.

Sister Beatrice had her entire foundation crumbled by Ava coming into her life. Her sense of self, her relationship with the church, everything. Ava was possibly the first person to ever tell Beatrice that she was beautiful, just for being who and what she was. Who had faith in her as a person, not just as a skilled sister warrior sworn to die for a cause that was built on false foundations. Who was willing to die for her, just so Beatrice could live a life free of everything that had held her down before.

Beatrice was the first person to actually invest in Ava as more than a nuisance or a burden. Who guided her and tried to give her as much of the world as she hadn't been able to experience before as possible. Who was willing to tank the entire mission to stop Adriel and save the world just to keep Ava safe, even if it meant without her.

And yes, this is on a much grander scale than the Pitt and we've had much more time with these two idiots than we've had with Mohan and Santos, but I can, quote, "see the vision".

There are differences, to be sure. I think even Beatrice would acknowledge that she'd found a family in the OCS of sorts, while Samira Mohan freely admits in a spectacular self-own that she has no friends, no partner, and is a workaholic to an unhealthy degree.

Beatrice tries to suppress what she considers her flaws by endlessly beating herself into a mold that she thinks the Church and others will find acceptable. Samira blasts her trauma every day by trying to keep what happened to her father from happening to anyone else, in a seemingly endless loop of "if I can save them, I could've saved my dad," except the tragedy is that nothing can save him. Nothing can bring him back, and she's not in a place to be able to own and accept that pain. She's still pushing that boulder up the hill endlessly.

Where Ava is more "golden retriever with a bite", Trinity can come across as far more guarded. Unlike Ava, she knows exactly what's out in the world and wears a level of spiky cynicism as armor instead of running out to experience everything. (But you still see how much she cares, desperately, if quietly, so.)

Trinity is more like a feral raccoon trying to guard its trashcan home, but whoever and whatever is collected in said trashcan, she seems willing to absolutely throw down for. Trinity is not necessarily nice, but she is KIND.

But the bigger moments I can still see. Samira's entire speech about not bringing your baggage to work is more of a defense mechanism than a working principle for her. We see her lose it with the father seeking opioids. We see her shut Trinity down (though she was probably correct at that moment in that Trinity's approach was not having its intended effect on the patient), and tell her she's aggressive.

But we also see Samira acknowledge that Trinity was right later on with their shared Pittfest patient. And we see them both standing up for each other in very parallel ways involving the men in the department. Samira, who we have inferred is constantly being told by Robby that she's not fast enough and questions if she should even be there, has the whole department calling her Slo-Mo (even when she has the highest patient satisfaction scores of anyone there), is about to be reamed by Langdon for a delay in care that IS her fault because she was being overly cautious.

Only Trinity steps in and takes the blame, and receives a truly uncalled-for response from Langdon. The only other person we saw defend Samira that day was Dr. Collins. And that was after she seemingly apologized for participating in the Slo-Mo criticism before. Trinity doesn't know "Slo-Mo"; she just decides to step in because she doesn't want Samira to be yelled at. No strings attached, nothing expected in return.

It could've ended there, but it doesn't, because Samira presses the issue. And she gives Trinity the validation she hasn't received all day. That she does deserve to be there, in the department, and that she IS a good doctor. Trinity's point was made, Samira quietly acknowledged and received it, and then turned around and helped build Trinity back up after Langdon screamed at her in front of everyone.

All the potential is there for these two to become friends (and more) and help build each other up in ways they truly need. Trinity as the direct push to help Samira confront things she'd rather not, and Samira as someone to really see Trinity for who she is and what she can be, not what she projects to the world. (Not in the sibling way Whitaker and Javadi interact with Trinity either.) And they're both willing and able to defend each other.

Just, you know, in an emergency room. Not fighting demons. (Though I wouldn't complain...)

[fandomeic]

One of these days someone is going to fully develop a headcanon of an AU where Samira Mohan is secretly the Flash

And I will sit back with my popcorn bucket while the full weight of how tragic that would be for her as a person with all her history and current job hits everyone.

Because you know she would've created her own Flashpoint trying to go back and save her dad. And then she would've had to let him go all over again, but would constantly be faced with potential Flashpoints with every patient she realizes with her super brain that she COULD potentially save, but for the timeline's sake, can't. Samira knowing from the Speed Force that the Pittfest is about to happen, but also knowing that she absolutely cannot interfere without setting off a Flashpoint, and having to bear the guilt of it. Samira constantly arguing with Death about who she can save and what she can go out into the world and intervene in. Samira Mohan, aka "Slo-Mo" is isolated and alone, largely out of necessity at this point, being crushed by the mounting guilt every day of knowing she has to let people die and still trying to be that "unstoppable force" that tries to find just one more person to save.

[fandomeic]

attention pitt girlies!! start kissing your friends!!

[fandomeic]

Very short Mohantos drabble

And not great, but I also haven't written a fanfic since 2014, so good job, Pitt. Look what you made me fuckin' do.

Dennis Whitaker, by nature of his very much empty bank account, is not one to take a bet. Usually. Normally. Ninety-eight times out of one hundred. 

Except his roommate and Samira Mohan have handed him an easy layup on a silver platter, and really, a man wants to be able to buy his own groceries, dammit. And if he so happens to have a home field advantage by way of those two idiots carrying on right in front of his dinner salad, so be it.

He loves Trinity, he does. Truly. She’s a sarcastic, acerbic, slightly older sister who was afraid to show her soft underbelly to the world. He’d start swinging for her in a fight every single time, and he knows for certain she’d have his back as well.

But Trinity Santos is also what the good Lord had in mind when he created failwhales, bless her prickly heart.

Trinity fully believes she is the smoothest operator alive when trying to flirt. Never mind the fact that Garcia, Walsh, and one of Princess’s nieces can all attest that she comes across more like a twitchy gremlin, lays it on a little too thick, and overthinks her way into accidentally causing some type of offense.

“She’s cute and she’s feisty, but she’s a fucking idiot.”

(Whitaker was a good midwestern man; he would never hit a woman, ever. But he did want Garcia’s foot to maybe be run over by a passing gurney for that comment.)

The one exception to that consensus was Dr. Samira Mohan. 

At first, he’d thought Dr. Jack Abbot was making a move on her, before he’d heard from Perlah that Abbot and Mohan were the longest running bet in the department on will they, won’t they odds.

And then he spent most of his ED rotation working under her, what with Langdon on leave, and had a chance to get to know her. She was very kind, frighteningly intelligent, the best doctor anyone alive could want to have advocating for them.

She was also absolutely fucking oblivious. And a hermit. And her apartment, the two times he’d stopped by to drop something off, was more like a solitary confinement cell than a home. Samira was feral in the way one of those gifted kids who got shoved into university at the age of five or something and had their whole entire social growth stunted was. (Which, really, went a long way to show how awesome Victoria’s social skills were, all things considered.)

The dynamic of (wo)man. Patient’s best friend, fantastic teacher, couldn’t navigate a social setting outside of work parameters to save her life.

Whitaker took the odds against Abbot. Samira was never going to “pick up what he was putting down,” so to speak, unless that old man came right out about it, and Abbot was too stubborn to do it.

His dipshit sister (again, he says this with love), however, never met a challenge she didn’t like and absolutely decided to go for it.

Only, it turned out, every part of Trinity that eventually turned off the other women she’d pursued only seemed to amuse, if not outright delight, Samira. 

Samira found her charming (weird), attentive (worrisome), and enjoyed her “gentlemanly protective streak” (fucking horrifying, if you asked him). What turned into a couple of “friendly” outings to test the waters turned into Trinity practically uhauling Samira into their apartment. 

(Not that he blamed her, Samira’s place was where all hope went to die.)

Trinity and Samira reaffirmed his faith in God, because God surely showed his works in making someone who seemed tailor-made to accept every weird ass quirk about his sister.

The only problem? 

Trinity is down bad. Like, really bad. And doesn’t seem to get that Samira is absolutely matching that spiraling anxiety about what they are in their relationship. 

He won a little money on that first bet. He’s going to win a whole lot of money tomorrow, because he waited and placed a bet on a day nobody else had, and spent the week plotting his speech to both of them, to knock some sense into his sister and Samira and get them settled.

Because, really, a man wants to eat his fucking salad in peace, alright?

(PS, the $800 he won was grocery money for weeks, thank you very much.)

[fandomeic]

mohan and santos for me and 2 other ppl

[fandomeic]

NGL, I'm going feral over this particular pairing, and I am very sad more people do not see the vision. Samira kept getting blasted by Robbie all day, then when she was about to blasted by Langdon Trinity steps in and just takes the verbal blow? Yes. Samira, afterward, recalibrating her assessment of Trinity and telling her she deserves to be there and giving her the validation she's needed all day? YES. Their rough edges are a perfect jagged match for each other.

im a mohantos truther i believe in the inherent homoeroticism of the hard working straight-a student being paired with the "i didn't study but ill be fine" effortless smart clown

[fandomeic]

Agreed with everything above, but to add some additional context: Whomever she would interact with, show up to, take a photograph with, etc. would also be harassed offline and/or doxxed by the unhinged portion of her husband's fanbase. At this point, even if she wanted to attend every single smaller con event, doing so would potentially be a safety risk to everyone else. So it's also "punishing" the character for something completely out of the actor's control.

The warrior nun fandom writing Ava out of her own story because KTY does cons and Alba doesn’t (yes I’ve seen this as an excuse) pisses me off. I don’t mind her not going to any cos it means she gets attacked by her husbands insane fandom less for what she says/looks/wears 😑.

Also just watching any interview she’s done you can see that she’s not the most comfortable person in the world and comes across as very shy at times.

The fact that the fandom has regressed again by excluding her and making every fic about Beatrice and her struggle with Ava just being used as a prop upsets me a lot as she’s my favourite character.