FanFic Writing Ideas

Trinity has introduced Dennis to energy drinks, and it’s becoming a problem. He loves them. They have so much caffeine and such intense flavors that they actually do something for him if he consumes enough. It’s exhilarating in a way. Similar to when he’s fed from intoxicated people. But this is more pure, it makes him feel a little human.

Whatever vampirism does to the normal bodily functions has long since impacted his ability to consume human food. Makes him so incredibly nauseous. Drinks are tolerable maybe because his system is set up to consume blood, so liquids are fine? He’s not entirely sure and doesn’t exactly have a vampire-doctor to consult. Wait, is he the vampire-doctor? No, nevermind.

Anyways, he’s already a couple energy drinks in this shift. His favorite are bang, any flavor honestly. He’s done his research and he’s pretty sure they have the most caffeine in a single serving without moving to powdered mixes.

He doesn’t get jittery or crash, really, much to Santos’ chagrin. There’s just this slight buzz of energy in the back of his head that makes him feel a little warm, in a cozy way. Or maybe it just feels cozy because he hasn’t produced any body heat in 170 years, give or take. He doesn’t really know how to explain it, but he’s got a minute between patients to slip into the break room to grab another.

Right as he’s hip checking the fridge closed and cracking open another drink, Dr. Robby is slipping into the room as well. The older man doesn’t even clock Whitaker as he spins around to look out the little window.

“Can I just have a day, Gloria?” He mutters to himself.

Dennis smiles and clears his throat. Robby jolts ever so slightly and turns around.

“Whitaker, what are you,” Robby starts before his eyes land on the bang energy in his MS4’s hand. “Christ, kid, what is that? Your third one of the day? We’re barely halfway through our shift.” He shakes his head, disproving.

“I can handle it.” Dennis shrugs and takes a sip, his eyes crinkling into a smile over the edge of the can.

“How much caffeine does it have anyways?” Robby crosses over with an efficiency befitting his station as a senior attending physician. Without an ounce of hesitation, he plucks the can from Dennis’s hand. “Hell, Whitaker. Just one of these puts you nearly to the recommended limit.”

It takes a beat for Dennis to put his brain back online. Robby’s hand was so warm when it brushed his. “Um, wait, hey!” He smiles despite himself and grabs his drink back. But Robby’s grip on it was a little stronger than expected and he sloshes the beverage down his arm.

“Serves you right, kid.” Robby chuckles. “This much caffeine and you should be a patient here. How are you alive anyways?”

Dennis just blinks calmly at his attending a couple times, his smile turning into a bit of a smirk despite his best efforts.

I’m not.

It’s on the tip of his tongue, and he’s grown so comfortable with Dr. Robby that he almost royally messes up and spills his secret. Although odds were it would be taken as a joke anyways.

Dennis is so hungry. Thirsty? Whatever this intense need is churning in his throat should be called. The point of no return is rapidly approaching and Whitaker needs to get it together. He has no idea why he’s let it get this far. Up until this point, a couple weeks into his first year of residency, he’d been managing a, relatively speaking, healthy vampiric lifestyle.

When he was living in the hospital, and found himself in a pinch, a nicked bag of blood would do. There were times when he probably relied on that too much, but even after more than a century of this curse, he hated feeding from live victims. Because that’s what they were, even if he left them alive, unharmed (albeit a little woozy), and made them forget. They were people who he had bitten into, attacked, and drank their blood. They were his victims.

Hookup apps had made getting a person secluded for him to feed off easier. Logistically speaking. But the whole thing made him feel hideous, atrocious. He lied to these people about his intentions, using them for his own needs, and then wiped it all away as if it didn’t matter. And he couldn’t even fool himself to enjoying the hookup aspect, because he never let that happen. Vampire feeding wasn’t sexy like in cheap romance novels. Not to Dennis at least. Let alone feeling any urge to have sex with a stranger in the first place. Not that that part really mattered when he was still hurting innocent people.

"Forget this." He had told his last victim, looking them in their hazy green eyes. "We met up at the bar, I pulled you outside, and we kissed. We kissed until I pulled away and told you I didn't want more tonight. You got annoyed and went back inside for another drink."

“So, Huckleberry, how is it that you’re so poor?” Santos plops down on their couch next to him, jostling his notes from his lap.

“Wow, Trin.” He rolls his eyes.

“Okay, yeah tactless question.” She pauses and grins, rather evilly Dennis thinks. “If you were really just a kid from bumfuck nowhere Nebraska.”

Dennis sighs, knowing he’s not going back to reviewing his residency applications until she gets her answers. The papers smack against the coffee table as he sets them aside.

“I am from Nebraska, you know.” He turns to her, propping his elbow on the back of the couch to rest his head against his hand.

“Really?” Santos raises her eyebrows. “Okay, not the point. Okay, nevermind I’m curious. So you’re from Nebraska, but when?”

“You know, westward expansion, homesteading.” Dennis tries to get out of saying anything too specific, but Trinity is clearly not accepting it. “About 1860 or so. Records weren’t great then, and it’s obviously been a minute.”

Santos sorts, tipping her head back as she lets out a short laugh, “okay, old man.”

Whitaker decides not to dignify that with a response, but it doesn’t nothing to curb her amusement.

“Back to my original question. How do you not have money? Couldn’t you have invested like a dollar in stocks and have it be worth however much now?” She pokes at the arm holding his head up.

Dennis has noticed that she’s gotten comfortable enough for the occasional touch like this. When he first got here, she gave him a wide berth, seeming torn between always avoiding whatever room he was in and keeping an eye on him.

“I don’t know. I didn’t come from much, so it never really occurred to me to do it like that.” He shrugs, but Santos just eyes him. She is way too perceptive.

“You’re gonna laugh at me.” Dennis turns away to press his back into the couch again.

“Yeah probably, but don’t let that stop you.” Trinity smiles that sharp smile again.

Dennis groans and leans back as if the couch could swallow him up. Why is he even giving in to this? Why did he even accept her offer to live here? He’s a vampire for Christ’s sake. Curse this need for a sense of belonging. He could have been like every other vampire and been content to go it alone. But no, he’s sitting on a probably eighth-hand couch with holes in the upholstery and letting this woman metaphorically and literally poke at him.

“Okay,” he huffs. “I love being a doctor. I love med school and helping people. I keep doing it over and over again. Starting way back when it was just an apprenticeship. But it takes money. More and more every time. Obviously I have to take breaks from the field so I don’t get recognized, but in those breaks I save so I can pay the fees.”

Dennis refuses to make eye contact, waiting for her to start ridiculing him.

“Aw, Huck, that’s actually kinda sweet.” She delivers the almost-compliment in that special Santos brand of sarcasm mixed with sincerity. “But wait, how do they not have records of your degrees? How do they not know they’re remitting the same student that should be years older?”

He turns back to her, “I’ve gotten really good at making new identities. It’s not that hard when all you want to do is become a doctor.” He smiles a bit. “How’s that for a farm boy?”

That makes her actually laugh, “calm down there. You’re still not as cool as you think you are. Besides, why don’t you invent an identity with the best credentials so that you get scholarships or something?”

“Because I’d be taking those opportunities away from someone who actually deserves them, who needs them.” It’s obvious to him.

Some time after Whitaker overhears Robby telling Abbot he’s falling for him.

“You… you overheard that?” Dr. Robby is staring at Whitaker, horror swimming in his wide eyes. A blush blooms bright, first on his cheeks then overtaking his entire face. By god, Dennis can see it trailing down the attending’s neck too, and yep now his ears as well. There’s no exposed skin from the chest up that’s not red. Dennis remembers when he used to blush like that. He was always made fun of for it by his brothers, but it looks stunning on Robby.

“I did.” Whitaker says evenly, schooling his expression. He wants to laugh. It’s nearly bursting from his chest, and it pulls at the corner of his lips so he bits down on the bottom one for just a moment. He doesn’t miss the way Robby’s eyes briefly flick down at the movement.

“But it’s okay, Dr. Robby.” Dennis adds hastily. “Besides I-” He’s on the cusp of telling Robby that his feelings aren’t unrequited.

But it’s probably for the best that Robby cuts him off to press on, “No, it’s not okay, Whitaker. Dammit, I’m your boss. It’s so far beyond not okay. I’m so sorry.”

Yeah, no, that’s good. This is good. Dennis is an immortal being, and he’d have to leave within a decade anyways. And there’s no world in which that is fair to Robby, who’s always left behind, by his own design or by shitty chance. Even if Dennis did stay, he’d still be stuck like this while Robby aged and eventually passed. And Dennis has put himself through that heartbreak enough times to know how stupid of an idea it is to do it on purpose, again.

“Dr. Robby, it’s okay.” Whitaker finds himself saying again. Also a stupid idea.

“No. It’s not.” Robby’s flush has faded, his expression now a little stormy. “I’m in a position of power of you, and probably twice your age.”

Actually, Robby, I’m more than 100 years your senior. But alright. Dennis thinks snidely.

“I’m… I’m getting over myself. It’s just misplaced emotions. Letting this place get the best of me. It’s not about you. Not on you. And if you want to meet with HR you can, I won’t ask you not to do that.” Robby crosses his arms.

Dennis takes a deep breath, letting the antiseptic smell that clings to everything in the Pitt infiltrate his lungs. He can feel Robby closing down, pushing him away.

This is complicated. The right response isn’t coming to him; he doesn’t know what to say. As he tries to find the words, the longer the silence stretches on, those storm clouds in Robby’s eyes gather into anger and annoyance. Dennis thinks it might be directed inwards, but it hurts anyways.

“I’m not uncomfortable,” Dennis starts. “We don’t need to talk to HR. Let’s just… keep moving forward.”

Robby nods, resolute, and starts to take a step to the side, to walk past Whitaker and on to the next demand on the ED. When the attending’s arms uncross, Dennis still half expects the usual pat or grasp of the shoulder he always gets. But it never comes and Robby just walks by without giving him a second glance. He knows he’s always cold, but for once he feels it too.

It’s for the best. It’s for the best.

After nearly two months Dennis finds he loves living with Trinity, and he thinks she likes having him there in some way. Not that she’d ever admit it.

It’s been a long time since he’s lived with anyone, let alone someone who knew what he was. Vampires are relatively solitary creatures, sometimes pairing up and the very rare coven. But for Dennis, most days he felt like the human part of him that yearned for connection. He knew he didn't have a soul anymore, not since he was turned, but some part of his humanity still felt present sometimes. Maybe it was wishful thinking, braided into the lies he told himself about having made peace with what he was. And maybe living with Trinity made those lies feel more like the truth, like he did belong somewhere.

The notion felt a little silly. It was hard to get attached and hard to be optimistic about the future when he knew he would have to keep going when everyone he knew wouldn't. But his rotation at PTMC had sparked something in him, that he hadn't felt in a long time. Even counting his last few bouts of Med School over the last century.

His rotation was over, but Santos kept him updated on the ED and he stopped by every now and then when his new rotation and residency applications weren't threatening to take over his schedule. The Pitt was his top choice and he longed to go back. To banter with Santos while charting. To talk about the latest research they were learning in med school with Javadi. To get more gentle guidance from McKay. To hear Dana's witty insults wrapped in affection. To work with everyone again. Especially Robby.

Robby was a fantastic mentor. Whitaker knew he would be a great doctor after listening to his conference presentation when Robby was fresh out of his residency. So he's not surprised to see how brilliant he is in action. And Dennis soaks up all the knowledge and experience Robby shares with him. Sure, he feigns his innocence and inexperience a little some times, but the medical field has been changing so fast that some aspects really do feel like starting from scratch.

And he knows Robby's not perfect. The night of the PittFest shooting, Robby had fallen beneath the tumultuous waves of everything he carried. But Dennis knew what that was like and knew that Robby could get through it. He meant what he said when he told him they needed him out there.

The rest of his rotation had been nothing compared to dealing with an MCI, but Dennis still saw that shadow in Robby occasionally. He wasn't naive enough or inhuman enough to think that Robby's only cross to bear was losing patients or seeing patients on some of their worst days. There was a loneliness that Robby carried, and sometimes a purposefully wielded shield of isolation. Like if no one saw his hurt that it wouldn't be real. If no one was close enough to offer their help and support he wouldn't need it.

Dennis felt that etched in his bones, in what remained of him, even it was just his corporeal self with a consciousness still attached through the curse of vampirism. He felt for Robby, and wanted to see all the lightness from 30 years ago return. It was still there; Whitaker knew it. He saw it in the twinkle of his eye when his students and residents picked up his teachings, in the soft smile that appeared when patients and families thanked him, and even sometimes when his gaze would find Dennis's across the ED floor.

Dennis is… not sure what to expect being led back to Santos apartment for the first time. She doesn’t really look pleased to be in this situation, and made sure he knew she knew what he was and how to “dispose of” him. Honestly her descriptive threats were pretty creative on their way over, and nonetheless here they were standing in front of her door. A few charms hung from the frame, with some herbs pinned above. None of them affected vampires, which made him a little confused.

This whole thing was confusing. She shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on him in the first place. But admittedly he’d been a little distracted coming down from the adrenaline of the PittFest MCI. He likes to think after about a century and a half, he has total control over his thirst for blood. Not to mention how many times he’s worked in the medical field. There had just been so much blood, and the effort to keep completely focused had given him a headache. Imagine that. Undead, supernatural predator and he had gotten a dumb headache.

He popped his earbuds in as soon as he hit the stairwell, so comfortable with the nook he’d carved out for himself on the 8th floor of PTMC that’d he’d stopped being so careful. Obviously. Stupid wireless headphones. Stupid 21st century technology. And stupid 20th century funk music! But Santos had found him and for some reason invited him to live with her. She seemed just as mystified with her offer as he was.

Living at PTMC had been a choice born out of convenience. It wasn’t great for him to room with other students, or really any human that would be around the apartment too much. Because they could catch on to his weird habits and start to question it. Yeah, he could do some compelling to get them off his back, but he didn’t like to do that. He’d long gotten past his angst over what he was. Mostly. But the desire to do what was morally right never left him. So when he started rotations at PTMC and he found the 8th floor it just worked. Made it easier to steal blood bags too. It’s not like he needed much of anything, other than the blood, being undead and all. Plus med school was getting more expensive every time he did it and all his money was going there. He never managed to amass much, and maybe his humble beginnings as a homesteader never motivated him to try harder to do so.

Santos gives him one more side eye before crossing the threshold into her apartment, motioning for Dennis to follow.

“Come on, Huckleberry.” She sighs.

He readjusts his backpack and, with her permission, steps into her home.

Suddenly everything is burning and he cries out in pain. His veins feel like they’re on fire and it only stops when he stumbles back out into the hall. “Santos, what the hell was that?” He gasps out between breaths.

She’s already turned to face him, his pained shout no doubt having spun her back around. Her eyes are wide as she takes him in, before they flick to the right, eyeing something on the wall next to the inside of the door frame. The expression she wears turns a little uncharacteristically sheepish.

“Sorry, Huckleberry. I forgot about…” She reaches out and pulls a wooden charm off the wall.

Ah. There’s the vampire protection.

CW: suicide (only mentioned, not discussed in detail)

Why is she more attuned to the supernatural? I’m considering making her a witch, but I’d want to ground it in the realism part of magical realism. I’ll already be doing a lot of world building for how I want vampires to work and the late 1800s (when Dennis was human), so I don’t want to get too ahead of myself.

Whitaker attended one of Robby’s first conference presentations in the 90s. He even asked a question during the Q&A section at the end. He can still recall how impressed he was with young Robby’s dedication and excitement for the field. The first time Dennis sees him during his rotation at The Pitt, when he redoes Med school in the present day, he recognizes Robby and is heartbroken to see how much the field he loves weighs on him now.

-

After Whitaker does his MS4 rotation at the Pitt, Robby starts having dreams about that same conference. They’re weird dreams, and while they are recurring, they not that often and fade after Whitaker finishes his rotation. It’s not until Dennis starts his residency that the dreams return but they’re happening almost every night. It’s driving Robby crazy and he starts to make the connection to Dennis. He just doesn’t know what the connection could possibly be. In the middle of the night, after waking from a dream yet again, he tears apart his home office, looking for the notes he kept on his presentation. He reviews them, but it still feels like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Sleep overtakes him, and he when he wakes, there’s papers stuck to his face as he jolts upright in his office chair. He peels them off and finally, something about the notes on this page has it all come crashing down. Dennis was there! He asked him a question. Robby doesn’t remember exactly what it was, just that it was really profound. Robby appreciated the details this random stranger in the crowd had locked in on. But it couldn’t have been Dennis Whitaker. 27 year old, Robby’s new first year resident, Dennis Whitaker. Maybe just… maybe he had a family member that he took after. His family, of which he was the first to go to college, that were all back in Nebraska… It couldn’t possibly be Dennis, could it?

-

History of Nebraska

Louisiana Purchase- 1803. The US buys the land where Nebraska is today.

Missouri Compromise- 1820. Prohibited slavery within the unsettled lands of the Louisiana Purchase.

Compromise of 1850. Compromises are made over territory gained in the Mexican-American War, etc.

Kansas Nebraska Act- 1854. Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska (not yet states). Effectively repeals the Missouri Compromise. But slavery or prohibition of slavery will be determined by popular sovereignty.

Land changes take place- 1861. Colorado and Dakota territories take chunks out of the Nebraska Territory. (To be researched more)

Civil War- 1861-1865. Nebraska as a territory raises troops for the Union Army. (To be researched more)

Nebraska joins the union- 1867. Congress voted to admit NE as a state, provided suffrage is not denied to non-white voters. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill and Congress overrides the veto with a supermajority (the only state to ever join the union via congressional override).

Broken Bow platted- 1882. Submitted by Wilson Hewitt.

Railroad system expands to Broken Bow- 1884.

Broken Bow incorporated as a village then second class city- 1884, 1888.

Other items to note: Homestead Acts, Oregon Trail, Homesteaders in Nebraska, gold found in Wyoming.

History of Medicine in the US

To be researched further. Want to have just enough info to see what Whitaker would have originally been exposed to when he was human as well as the biggest changes from then to the present.

Homophobia and Religion in 19th Century US

Also to be researched further to again see what Dennis’s human life was like and how he might have ended up in a vulnerable enough position to be turned into a vampire.

Vampires

I have a few overarching ideas for vampires in my world.

They will have fangs (canines), and must consume human blood. Animal blood cannot sustain them and makes them ill. Although many freshly turned vamps attempt drinking animal blood, if they have qualms against drinking from humans. Dennis will have tried animal blood just to find it doesn’t work.

Typical heightened senses, strength, speed, fast healing, etc.

Do not need to sleep.

Sunlight is uncomfortable but not deadly.

Hair and nails can grow, in the same way their bodies can heal after sustaining wounds. This halted though if they are not properly fed.

Bagged blood or stagnant blood can sustain them as long as it’s human.

They are mainly solitary creatures, but some small groups do exist.

Can do some light compulsion/memory erasing or augmentation that helps them lure in prey. Or, for the vampires that don’t like to kill, to erase/alter memories after feeding from a human.

Do have some sort of ethereal beauty to them that, again, helps them lure in prey.

Dennis Backstory

Family would have been homesteaders and farmers.

Youngest child in his family with three older brothers. He did have other siblings that did not survive infancy; this was hard on his mother even if it wasn’t unusual for the times.

His family was part of the original founding of Broken Bow, and the railroad started bringing in a larger variety of people/travelers. Enter the vampire that turns Dennis.

Dennis is not treated well by his family, but he doesn’t have the means to leave even as an adult. He works on his family farm and remains a bachelor, despite many attempts by his family and neighboring families with daughters they want to marry off.

He learned some early medicine from the town physician. He loved the field of medicine, but his original motivations were to learn about it to try and help prove himself useful to his family.

As the loner/black sheep, Whitaker does not have much of a community or support system. The vampire that turns him takes advantage of this. (I haven’t yet decided the motivations of the vampire- is he turning Dennis to have a companion? Is it a feeding gone wrong? Is the vampire just a chaos gremlin who decides to turn Dennis? Does the vampire think he’s helping Dennis by turning him and giving him the opportunity to get out of Broken Bow?)

Whitaker being that old means he was around for Nebraska earning its statehood and joining the union, and the founding of Broken Bow. And possibly the Kansas Nebraska Act that made NE part of a U.S. territory, depending on exactly how old I make him.

I’ve learned that Andrew Johnson tried to veto NE becoming a state but that congress overrode it. Nebraska is the only state to have joined the union in this manner.

Vampire AU

Whitaker is starting his residency at The Pitt, coming in a little earlier because he’s excited to be back. Robby is already there too, and Dennis can see him and Abbot across the ED, tucked into a relatively quiet corner. At first, Whitaker thinks they’re just talking through cases to prep for shift change.

Dana gives Whitaker a warm welcome and tells him to go check in with the attendings, that they’re both happy for him to be back as an intern/R1. But as Dennis approaches, accidentally coming in from the side to avoid an oncoming gurney, he overhears Robby’s dismayed voice.

“Jack I can’t be falling for him… I’m basically twice his age, probably as old as his father. And not to mention the complete ethical debacle it is to feel like this about your student. I have too much power over him, his career. It’s not right.”

“Resident now, brother.” Abbot smirks.

“Not helping, jackass.” Robby scoffs.

Whitaker, not yet in their direct line of sight, decides to circle back around. Not really because the news has rocked him, but because he’s about to burst out in highly inappropriate laughter. Little does the senior attending know, that the resident he’s crushing on, worried about being more than 20 years older than… Is actually nearly 120 years older than he is.

Dennis loves the medical field, always has, and circles back to it in a new city every couple or few decades. Hell, Whitaker was just another face in the crowd at one of Robby’s first conference presentations in the 90s. Took him a while to place Robby’s face after his first day in The Pitt. It happens every now and then actually, but people see what they want to see, guided by facts of nature they believe are true. No one’s ever clocked him before, especially with the guard rails of avoiding people he with worked closely.

Haven’t decided if I want Soap to just pop back into existence, maybe he wakes up in his grave and has to dig himself out (Ghoap mutual trauma anyone?). Nor have I figured out if there is a greater plot- dealing with Makarov, how magic brought Soap back, etc.

Shepherd as Frollo. Ghost as Quasimodo. Soap as Esmeralda. (We’re ignoring Phoebus’ existence lol)

Shepherd keeping Ghost locked away in a safe house after Roba, sending him out only for high risk, near-suicide missions because Ghost always gets the job done despite the odds. But the solitude has made any chance of recovery from what the cartel did to him basically impossible. He feels like a shadow of a person, just a weapon and seeing the scars in his reflection only makes it all worse