Stream Hozier’s UNREAL UNEARTH or else.

dr frank langdon

since mel is your favourite character, do you have any general hc’s for her? and also hc’s of her with other ppl and how she’s viewed to others?

love your blog btw! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Awww thank you!!! And thanks for your q, any excuse to talk about Mel honestly :D

To me, Mel is a classic case of elder daughter syndrome—even if she’s twins with Becca. She’s had so much responsibility dumped on her since she was a kid. I can imagine tiny Mel in a pink tutu being told sternly after Becca wandered off that she has to look out for her sister, because no one else will. Of course, she internalized this, so when her mother passed when she was a young adult, she took it in stride. She’s the Strong One, she’s the Head of their tiny family, and she will take of Becca no matter what.

Because of that, I can totally see her being a late bloomer. Her first kiss was at twenty one, or even later. She definitely had relationships in my opinion, sexual and romantic, but she could never truly give them her full attention and so they always faded. I also think of her as lowkey a heartbreaker—I see many people having crushes on her but of course, she’s oblivious since social cues and indirect flirting are hard for her to interpret. She’s also very direct when she likes someone. She doesn’t really flirt so much as say “Hey, I like you.” That’s usually followed up with a request for distance because she doesn’t want to develop any deeper feelings since she doesn’t have time for anything serious.

Until Frank.

With Frank, she can’t lose him. He’s her friend, her coworker, and as their relationship deepens, he becomes part of her life. And she doesn’t want to risk their friendship going away forever. So she tries her best to put those feelings to the side… not so successfully.

How others perceive her? I can so see her being an incredible competent teacher to arriving med students with how she handled PittFest. New med students flock to calm, capable, and very sweet Dr. King—“call me Mel!” She doesn’t make them scrape and bow to her like some specialty rotations (*cough* surgery) do. She treats them with respect. I do think some might perceive her as a harmless little bunny or otherwise unserious because she’s “””too nice””” but those assumptions usually fade after seeing her methodically slice open an abdomen.

Once she hits PGY-3, she really hits her stride. Nurses would like her because she listens to them during differentials and doesn’t shove unnecessary work on them. A few RNs and medical assistants might think she’s self involved or rude if they don’t realize she’s neurodivergent—she struggles with remembering names and she definitely gets Walsch confused with a different surgical resident at least three times.

I see Whitaker really admiring Mel after working with her for a while. Her quiet strength and confidence, and also he’s surprised by her excellent coping skills—she shares an earbud with him after a particularly bad pediatric trauma and they just calm down together.

Mohan and Mel already have a great rapport in the show. They value each other’s professional opinions and I can see Samira growing more confident as Mel casually, thoughtlessly tells Samira that she does great work. I also see them getting tea at a cafe together and complaining about hospital admin nonsense!!