?

and fiona says days later that mckay loves and relates to santos

‘whitaker is arguing with langdon as a way to vent his true feelings towards santos’

and gerran comes out confirming that he’s solidly on her side and that’s why he distrusts/dislikes langdon

‘santos is so judgemental and mean towards mel and hates her and they’d never be friends’

and we find out that santos is 1 hour away from inviting her for a night out

let’s consider it from this analytical viewpoint instead: santos doesn’t have an issue with langdon because he’s an addict, her issue with him is, in fact, almost entirely personal. and i don’t mean personal in the same way that her haters call her vindictive or spiteful. i mean it from a subconscious, reactive, ptsd standpoint. the same way that cptsd shapes a person’s worldview, choices, and mindset, every character choice made for santos is built around her being a csa survivor and being incredibly triggered by what happens in the ER, no matter how much she tries to suppress it. this is showed through her self harming through the time jump.

her ptsd is leaking through by having her see her abuser in langdon. obviously, nothing he did to her is half as bad as what abuse she presumably experienced. but still, let’s break this down into a sequence of events and see how much, at least in trinity’s mind, this probably parallels her abuse experience.

he’s a man with seniority over her. he belittled her and humiliated her, and most interestingly, the peak of this was when she was trying to cover for and protect someone else. she was reluctant to come forward for fear of the consequences. he tried to discredit her so she wouldn’t be believed. she tried to only confide in someone she felt she could trust first (garcia). she was told by garcia that she’s clearly wrong because she doesn’t know langdon well enough, and that she’s trouble. once robby found out, only after he had to pry the info out of her, langdon got let off with a slap on the wrist (comparatively to what could’ve happened to him had the hospital board found out). he came back to work like nothing had happened, and no one knew the truth. she’s holding this secret close to her chest. he even leveraged almost losing his wife and kids against her to show how hard this had been on him.

logic will never even matter here, not to trinity, how is she not meant to see a pattern like her abuse happening all over again? how is her traumatised nervous system meant to distinguish between the two situations?

it’s because of this that i’ll never believe what people are pushing about santos being bigoted against addicts and wanting some kind of petty revenge on him. it’s confirmed that she’s been self harming over the time jump; what’s happening to her is a fear response because the traumatised little girl in her is triggered by langdon, and he’ll never even know or understand the extent of that, so he is unwittingly triggering her worse. watching her across the ER, ‘teaching’ her in the same way he’d teach student doctors, bringing up his wife and kids.

i was thinking about if virals magically had an on screen tv adaptation and i magically had creative control, what decisions/changes i would make from the source material and i've decided to make a list.

firstly, the seasons would have to be at least 12 eps each. the books all have like a million chapters and so much content to cover

i would age up tory by a year, so she can still be in hi's & shelton's grade, but just not be soooo young. she's just too young in the books. on screen i wouldn't want there to be such a noticeable age difference between her and ben, or her and jason

ben would not be racially ambiguous, he'd be played by a native actor of as close as possible accurate heritage. this would lend more of a direct acknowledgement of the overlap of racism with the classism and general discrimination he faces in school, from the media, from officials they meet, etc

shelton would speak japanese at home, and ben's & hi's cultures and backgrounds would generally be more heavily featured

i would canonise some lgbt headcanons, but there doesn't have to be a storyline about them. my fav hcs are hi being trans and shelton being gay, so these could be confirmed via casting or casually in the script

i wouldn't want any of the virals personalities to change, but they do need a little more depth. for example, tory's childhood and loss of her mom shaped her mindset towards literally everything. ben's mistreatment (think about the year he spent at bolton entirely alone before hi & shelton) would've changed how he presents himself. hi & shelton can have a little more depth to their childhoods and home lives while still being the lighter hearted friends

chance would not be forgivable, and their alliance in terminal would be more of a reluctant deal rather than tory pushing the 'he's one of us now!' thing. this actually raises tensions way more and makes a better story. she could still have her awkward moments of flirtation and confusion with him, but he wouldn't be seen as a real romantic option compared to ben

more bluenan in earlier seasons shown through direction, symbolism and cinematography. tory, of course, can remain oblivious or deep in denial, but the audience would be able to pick up on cues as early as the first season

the story would be as charleston centric as the books, down to shooting on location. which, realistically, would be really tricky to achieve but in an ideal world i'd love it

i would leave the 'when is this set' kind of up to interpretation. i feel like it would be hard as of 2026 to solidly ground a series in 2010 because culturally and socially things have shifted a lot since then. but maybe via the technology they use and the general feel of things, it could still be in the 2010s, just later on

directional choices would also be used to imply that tory has a crush on ella and just hasn't quite realised it

shock flashbacks would occur throughout the first season

i think there should be some kind of arrangement in place for kit and tory. like a social worker they see or family therapy, something to build on their relationship further so that it evolves well over time

how genuinely insane is it that chance got away with everything he did??? essentially grooming tory in book 1, shooting at the virals, covering up a murder, threatening to kill them, onto STALKING an underaged girl almost 4 years younger than him, creating a mutant supervirus on purpose, and endangering a bunch of kids’ lives time and time again.

unofficial group leaders/parents, their primary purpose is uplifting everyone and keeping morale up, they always break their own rules to save each other.

i was bored on my lunch break today and immediately had to answer this question

here is a list from memory of crime scenes the virals have thrown up at:

katherine heaton’s grave (hi)

jonathan brincefield’s resting place (hi)

where they trespassed onto bull island (tory)

the anne bonny treasure site (shelton)

the gamemaster’s final trap (tory)

where ella disappeared (ben)

where tory disappeared (shelton)

the bolton gym showdown (tory)

I hope you're doing well. Today, I’m reaching out with a heartfelt request. My family is going through an incredibly difficult time, and I need your help to make our story heard.

🔄 A simple reblog of my pinned post can spread awareness.

💖 A small $5 donation could bring hope where it’s desperately needed.

@nasr-daher

Even the smallest act of kindness can create ripples of change. Your support means the world—thank you for standing with us! 🙏✨

I’m reaching out with a quiet hope in my heart. These days are heavy, and my family is living through a reality filled with uncertainty—but I’m still here, doing my best to hold on and keep going.

If you have a moment, please check out my pinned post.

A simple share could help it reach someone who might be able to make a difference.

If you’re able to give, even the smallest kindness can bring light into the darkest places.

Your time, your voice, your compassion — it all matters more than you know.

With deep gratitude,

@nadinfamily

I know you probably see a lot online, but if you could take just a moment… I’d be so grateful.

💫 A reblog of my pinned post could help our story reach someone who cares.

🌿 And if you’re in a place to give, even a small donation could bring comfort to my daughter and help us feel safe again.

@sajagz, thank you for listening.

Even gentle support creates strength.

From one heart to another — thank you 🤍

they’ve kept each other at arm’s length all season but tai has still stuck her neck out to defend shauna at times when it seems even out of place, even when she doesn’t agree with what shauna’s doing.

and we know shauna loathes anyone who won’t bow to her and has an ounce of willpower in the face of her tyranny; see mari and nat. they all know tai would be the last person to ever lay down and take someone’s bullshit, yet she is still the only person there who shauna doesn’t either hate, take advantage of, or feel completely indifferent towards.

the things that they were able to provide as leaders differs vastly from girl to girl and was based on what the team needed each time

1. at home, they needed jackie’s influence, her people skills, and her uplifting qualities. she was picked out for this role.

2. in the first few months after crashing, they needed tai’s natural leadership, maturity and drive. she filled this role very naturally, without even being asked to.

3. after the failed expedition and laura lee’s death, they needed the faith and hope only lottie provided. this was pure accident, like lottie said, she never wanted to be a leader.

4. after doing the awful thing they did to javi, they needed someone with nat’s lasting goodness/humanity. she was also picked out, chosen and then accepted by (most of) the girls.

5. as things just get harder and more brutal, it was only natural for someone with shauna’s wrath and ruthlessness to dethrone natalie. this was a forced change (even if lottie picked her).