This was supposed to be a combination picspam/ship manifesto, but I overdid it with the quotes, and some things are impossible to talk about without involving Owen, which means I have to review some episodes. So...ship manifesto, coming eventually! Because doing this just made myself fangirl it harder.

“I miss Burke. I miss him all day. It’s not the relationship or the sex that I miss…every day that he was here, I held hearts. And I got picked not because of some favoritism, but because it was right. And I learned. I learned. And I felt seen.”

“He took something from me. He took little pieces of me. Little pieces over time, so small I didn’t notice, you know. He wanted me to be something I wasn’t, and I made myself into what he wanted...I lost myself for a long time.”

“Teddy Altman…I haven’t heard of you.”
“Cristina Yang, I never heard of you, so I guess that makes us even.”

“Cristina Yang may be the best resident I’ve ever seen.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, I do. I don’t think she likes me, but yeah.”

“I need someone who can take me to the next level, and he brings me this Desert Storm Barbie who hasn’t seen the inside of an O.R. for like ten years. If this is what he thinks about my talent, then I’m going to have to break up with him.”

“Book an O.R.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
“But he has asthma.”
“Cardiac asthma, Dr. Yang.”
“And you know that, because…?”
“Because that seizure thing he had? It wasn’t from a fever, he had a heart attack then, and he’s having one now. So you’re gonna book an O.R., because I’m your attending, and when I tell you to book an O.R., book an O.R.!”

“Maybe we’ll both learn something today...Are you with me?”
“Yes.”

“Oh, it’s Teddy! I love it when it’s Teddy.”

“You’re his bitch.”
“In that case, Cristina is Teddy’s bitch.”

“So I can try out the croanular stitches?”
“I didn’t teach it to you so you could crochet.”

“I am a living, breathing cardiothoracic surgeon as of right now.”

“I was fine, I was on fire, I was learning, I felt alive for the first time in I don’t know how long. Owen, it was like I had this air in my lungs—”
“She’s leaving.”

“No one has ever believed in me like this. You believe in me more than I do! And I need that. I’m gonna die here without that.”
“Cristina—”
“You know, it’s okay, just, fine, tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen—”
“I want Owen!”
“Fine, take him!”

“Cristina, let’s just forget about it.”

“I spend my days making myself smaller, more acceptable. And that’s okay, because at night, when I go on stage, I get to experience the world the way I feel it...If I can’t do that, if all I have is a life of making myself smaller, then I don’t want to live.”

“So you get it. You didn’t have to do that, what you did. You get it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I choose surgery over a guy. I’m not going to apologize for it. Especially to you...I choose my gift. I want to be great, and I want to learn from you. I choose my gift.”

“I mean, I get it: she is beautiful, and talented, and kind of amazing, but she’s right, I get her, I get her. But she was willing to trade you. For me.”

“When I page you, I expect an answer!”

“When you asked me to ignore Teddy’s page, you took a piece of me. And I let you. And that will never happen again.”

“Cristina said that you were amazing.”
“No, Cristina was amazing…you tell her I said that, and you’re dead.”

“You know, I’m in love with Teddy. I love her.”
“You’re like Lexie, with the inappropriate feelings for inappropriate people.”
“What can I say? My heart lives in my scalpel.”

“…thank you.”
“No problem.”

“I thought Teddy was the love of your life.”
“Oh, she is, she is…but Evans: brilliant. I mean, so’s she…I love them both! I’m a cardiothoracic whore.”

“I’m the new girl nobody knows, and even Yang is in love with Evans…”

“Hey, did you see me in the OR?”
“You’re an idiot.”
“…what?”
“You really think Evans is going to take you under his award-winning wing? He won’t. He doesn’t need you. He doesn’t care about students, he’s a rock star, not a teacher.”

“He’s here for my job, Cristina, do you really not get that? If Evans is in, then I’m out, so good luck with your new attending.”