Jack wakes up to a loud noise followed by some cursing. He’s instantly aware that he’s not in his dorm, that he’s in the bed of the guy he slept with last night and that he’s late to his first day of his second year of med school

the man has dressing pants and an open shirt on and Jack would’ve lingered on the view if he hadn’t seen the hour on the nightstand clock that marked he had to be at school in twenty minutes

the man apologizes, says he’s late for work and that he swears he usually doesn’t throw his hook ups out like that in the morning. Jack doesn’t give a shit, he’s fighting with his jeans to get them on and to rush the fuck out to get to class on time, backpack-less and looking like he’d partied all night long but at least he’d showed up

his friends all laugh at him when they see the state he’s in and he thanks whoever is up in the sky for the fact that the teacher is even more tardy than Jack, all his classmates had been hyping up Professor Robinavitch since they’d heard so many good things about him from past students and how lucky they were the man had chosen their class so Jack definitely didn’t want to miss it or be late and give the man a bad impression the first day

the chatter quiets when the door to the classroom opens and Jack is mid sip of his friends coffee when Professor Robinavitch walks in

his throat works hard around the liquid as his eyes follow the man’s movements, who has already launched into a presentation monologue, looking impeccable and put together, like he hadn’t been running around his apartment twenty five minutes before, like he hadn’t been at a club the previous night, like he hadn’t fucked Jack stupid into the mattress a couple hours ago

Jack sinks into his chair, trying to find a way to hide but he can’t, and unless he runs out of the class he has no other option than to sit very still and pray the man doesn’t look his way

he notices the slight limp the man has and Jack thinks about the paperweight he’d dropped on top of his foot earlier, the man introduces himself as Michael and Jack tries really hard to think of the name the man had used the previous night, he’s sure it wasn’t Michael, that it was something like Rob, but he can’t really remember it

twenty or so minutes pass, Michael introduces his class, Jack doesn’t feel as on edge anymore, thinks he can make it through the hour and is already planning how he’s going to study the class by himself since he is definitely not attending Michael’s classes. That is until Michael makes a pause to search something up on the computer and as the projector turns on his eyes scan the whole class and the color basically drains from his face when they land on Jack

the man quickly looks away, clears his throat and launches back into his monologue, not looking even near the general direction Jack is sat at for the rest of the hour

The way this idea has me in a chokehold so bad 😩 I couldn't wait to go home today and continue to write for this concept.

Sonny continues to feed my Robby/Jack needs to write these old gay men -- and I am NOT complaining. I'm sat and glued to my laptop lmao

It's been stated somewhere by Patrick Ball (Frank's actor) that he hurt his back while helping his parents move out/move around boxes of stuff. He hurts his back when he picks up one of the boxes incorrectly.

In the fic I'm writing, Frank got in a car accident when he was 18-20ish and had PT to help with it. Then, at the end of his third year of residency/beginning of fourth, he hurts his back again, but the pain comes back even worse, which causes him to divert the opioids.

trans!robby who figures it out during his second year of med school but has a really hard time finding a name that suits him and doesn't want to be constantly telling classmates and professors new names.

robby who ends up crying curled up in jack's chest late one night after a draining afternoon working on a group project where everyone kept calling him by the wrong name. and he knows they don't know, and he knows it's his fault, and he knows he doesn't really have a name right now, but it's hard and it hurts and he wants it to stop.

jack whose heart breaks while he holds robby together. so he thinks and he thinks and he thinks. and he comes up with robby, because it's easy, it holds no connection to his deadname, it requires little justification and he can keep using it long after he settles on his new name.

jack who comes with him to get a new haircut the next morning.

jack who has a hand on his shoulder while he tells their friends.

jack who goes with robby to talk to all his professors and help explain.

jack who calls him robby every chance he gets and encourages everyone else to do the same.

jack who helps him try out new names and is always coming up with new ideas.

jack who starts using mike and robby interchangeably when robby finally settles on his name because robby says both are him.

Joy Sullivan, from “These Days People Are Really Selling Me On California”, Instructions for Traveling West

*mutters* something something Jack Abbott *mutters* something something Michael Robinavitch

once Robby and Abbot get married Robby gets a tattoo of a rabbit because he’s sappy like that

I suggest a sillier alternative option to this:

They're in Vegas bc they have to attend a conference there. Once they're done for the evening, they hit the casinos/bars and get blacked out drunk. They wake up in their room hung over as shit, with paper rings on their hands (Jack gets pretty crafty when drunk, he uses any paper around him to do origami), and a marriage certificate. They can't believe they got married on a random *insert day of the week*. They laugh it off, and after talking, they agree to just stay married...

Then Robby notices the tender spot just below his shoulder and finds that he has a tattoo of a simple rabbit with flowers (maybe Jack has a matching tattoo on the other shoulder). When and how they managed to get one on the same night of getting married, Robby will never know lol

what do you mean simon had to hold maddie's dying body

oh wow... i don't know why that hadn't clicked for me while watching the episode... fucking hell

i have so much respect for mr. anderson. i absolutely love his character

there’s so much focus in media on all the ways a teacher can be bad. in the reveal of an authority figure being untrustworthy. in someone taking advantage of the power dynamic between a teacher and student

and i get that it can make for a really interesting storyline- obviously because it’s worked so well with mr. martin- but mr. anderson is such a nice change

especially in season 2, he is such a great example of all the ways a teacher can be good. teachers are some of the most important people in a kid’s life. they can have some of the biggest impacts- for worse, sure, but also for better.

mr. anderson became a teacher for all the right reasons. he cares about his students. we see it in a more personal way with maddie, but it’s even evident in the way he interacts with these ghost kids he just met.

we all know mr. martin was in the wrong, that he is the bad guy in this. we know it, and the students know it. but it’s different- for the students especially- hearing someone say it? hearing an adult say it?

you can hear it in in mr. anderson’s voice- what mr. martin did, hurting his students like he did, it would never cross mr. anderson’s mind. and his first instinct is to protect the kids, to tell mr. martin just how ashamed he should be

idk it’s just so refreshing to see an authority figure who really is good. who really does care and isn’t afraid to call a bad teacher out. even when kids are in high school- they’re still kids. they still rely on adults to keep them safe

you read my mind. YES. exactly this

god, i love the contrast we got between Martin and Anderson in the show; their roles as teachers, their messy antagonistic roles throughout the seasons, and just the way Mr. Martin could've done things differently... but he did what he did and fucked up astronomically bad. Then he gets called out by someone of equal authority! Which is AMAZING.

Obviously, the ghost kids can tell him all the ways he messed up by betraying them, using them for experiments, etc. but the real dig at him can only be done by someone who's gone through rough shit like him and is still able to say that he would've never done what he did to his students. To hear his actions be said by a voice of authority and maturity.

Honestly, I would've enjoyed seeing more interactions between the two. Stick 'em in a room with comfy couches, snacks, and drinks, and let them just talk shit out (maybe definitely let Anderson rock Martin's shit). They both need someone to talk to and an ear that listens. plus, Martin could've finally interacted with someone his age rather than depend on his 15 y/o student for the last sixty years or so.

SCHOOL SPIRITS: 2 x 07