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notyourordinaryrandomgirl · 3 years

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Silva's Revenant

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Chapter 1

It’s been 5 years since you saw your homeland. After years of exploring, discovering and living to other kingdoms and even beyond the 4 kingdoms, you are finally back.

You’re wearing a cloak over your head as you walk to the royal capital with your eyes hidden. The kingdom did not change, it’s prosperous and full of life. It made you relieved, since you saw what the other kingdoms and far places looked like. Clover Kingdom is still the best to be home with, the freedom is unmatchable.

“Oh, you’re back.”

You kneeled before the 28th Magic Emperor, Julius Novachrono, which by the way looked way much younger than the last time you saw him. You raised your head as you kneel with a keen look on your face, trying to figure out if he is really the Magic Emperor. Although Marx did show you the way to the Magic Emperor and he led you here.

“You must be confused, well I will be too if you suddenly looked 13!”

This Ki… This is still the Ki of what he knows as the Magic Emperor’s. The voice is his too, but how the hell this happened?

“Magic Emperor, I apologized for my rudeness. I must not doubt or question you, but what happened to you? Is this your Time Magic?” You bravely asked, the thinking is nerve wracking your brain.

He laughed, “Yes and no. Y/N, so much has happened in the Kingdom. I trust Marx will fill you in later.”

“Arigatou, Magic Emperor.” You said in gratitude, and stood up.

“How’s your exploration, Y/N? Have any new magic discoveries?” The excitement of the Magic Emperor is quite evident in his voice and eyes. You nearly grinned. This is really the Magic Emperor.

“Yes. I have already written it all in the report. I don’t trust my storytelling capabilities. I apologized. I supposed I could trust Marx to fill you in too later.”

The Magic Emperor loudly laughed, “Of course. You must be tired from your 5 year long journey, Y/N. Take a rest and I will let you decide which squad you would want to be in.”

“Squad? Why do I-“

“You’re gone for 5 years, Y/N. You were abolished from any squads during the first 3 years and we have no idea of your return.” The Magic Emperor explained seriously.

You nodded understanding the situation, but isn’t it obvious that she would want to be on her old squad?

“I’m giving you the liberty to choose, but like in the exam you’ll need to do something to make the captains want you. Though I doubt they wouldn’t want you in their squad but just for formality, okay?”

You saluted with your index, ring and thumb finger folded on your chest, “I understand, Magic Emperor.”

“Very well, in the meantime you could rest in the guestroom prepared for you. See you later, Y/N.”

Truthfully, you are escorted by one of the guards to the room. The travel finally took a toll on you with a sight of the soft mattress, you laid down to rest unbeknownst to you the commotion of the Magic Knights for your return.

Green Mantis’ Headquarters

“Captain, the Magic Emperor sent a message. A certain Y/N has returned and he is requesting the presence of the Captains later evening.” Sekke informs Jack the Ripper, Captain of the Green Mantis squad, “I don’t know who she is but she seems important, all the senior magic knights are buzzing in excitement, Ha Ha!”

The slicer grinned, “Of course, she is. I’m going to see how it will all go down.”

Azure Deer’s Headquarters

The captain of Azure Deer formerly known as Grey Deer, Rill Boismortier, has a wide genuine smile on his face upon hearing the news. The said woman is someone he became acquainted with before she left the kingdom to explore new things.

Purple Orca’s Headquarters

Kaiser Granvorka, captain of the Purple Orca, is chilling on the headquarters. Adrian is one of the members of his squad and began reading the letter the Magic Emperor has sent him. The captain plastered a small smile which is rare, and began to say his goodbyes before heading to the Magic Emperor’s headquarters.

Golden Dawn’s Headquarters

“Very well,” William Vengeance solemnly answered, “I will not miss seeing her return. I’m going to be there.”

“Who is this person exactly?” Yuno, the vice-captain of the Golden Dawn, asked. He is also curious about the identity since everyone is making a fuss about your comeback.

William smiled at him, “She is a very strong competitor on becoming the Magic Emperor. Y/N might not be a captain but she is surely on the level. Her journey went for 5 years, with no letters or assurance of her return and just vanished from the Kingdom. Now she is back, which means every Magic Knight Squad will fight to get her to theirs.”

“Well, doesn’t she have one before she left?”

“She had,” The captain grinned, “It is abolished since her return is uncertain. Now, according to the rules she needs to take the exam like you did except she will just show her magic then the captains will decide if they want her… which is obvious. Then, she will choose among who wants her.”

Yuno became determined to meet “The Revenant”, that’s what everyone calls you, just with the thought that she is a magic knight captain level and a rival on becoming the Magic Emperor. He surely wants to meet Y/N.

“I’ll take you with me and introduce you to her,” William saw his expression and he knew what he wanted, “You can take Mimosa Vermillion too. She knows her.”

Crimson Lion’s Headquarters

Fuegoleon Vermillion, captain of the Crimson Lion, is on his desk reading paperworks with his sister in front of him. Mereoleona Vermillion is the first one to look at the busted door as their youngest brother stormed inside the office.

“Leopold, that is quite rude! When will you-“ Mereoleona was interrupted when Leopold came rushing with a letter in hand. The stamp didn’t go unnoticed by the two older siblings.

“From the Magic Emperor?” Fuegoleon asked.

“You don’t need to open it because I know what the news is!” Leopold is definitely oddly happy today.

“What is it?” Mereoleona asked, eagerly.

“Y/N has returned and all the captains are being summoned!” Leopold announced happily.

First, Fuegoleon is surprised then his thoughts went to a certain person.

“How did you even know?” The oldest asked the question again.

“The news is everywhere!”

Oh damn…

Blue Rose’s Squad

“Charlotte-nii sama!” Sol jumped in delight as soon as she told their captain of the Blue Rose squad, Charlotte Roselei, the message of the Magic Emperor.

The captain smiled, “I know, Sol.”

Sol knew that Charlotte was delighted as she didn’t correct her again with what she called their captain just now.

Coral Peacock’s Headquarters

“Our supposed Vice captain is back!” A member of the Coral Peacock squad yelled in the headquarters.

Kirsch Vermillion, vice-captain, threw a glare at the shameless member but it quickly diminished, “The beautiful Y/N has returned, the only person allowed rivaling my beauty.”

On the other hand, Dorothy Unsworth opened her eyelids for the first time in a while. An evil smile began to appear as she remembers to see the look on the face of a certain person. This will be fun…

Black Bull’s Headquarters

“Ha! It seems like we can watch something exciting today!” Yami Sukehiro, captain of the Black Bull, said with a grin. A letter latched into his hand.

“Captain, what’s up?” Magna asked.

Yami laughed, “A certain revenant is back, and she is finding a squad so I am going to snatch her!”

The rest of the squad just looked amused on the excitement their captain shows, which only appears rarely than it looks like.

“Captain Yami, the exam is not up this week!” Asta corrected.

Yami ignored him and shifted his eyes to Noelle Silva, who looked flabbergasted when her captain looked at her with amusement.

“Noelle, you’ll go with me. You need to see everything unfolds.” Yami laughed yet again on his antics.

“I’ll go too, Captain Yami!” Asta volunteered, making Noelle blushed.

“Yes, you come too! Finral, transport us immediately.” Yami said with a smile.

Silver Eagle’s Headquarters

“Nozel-nii-sama…”

A knock on Nozel Silva’s office made him stop with his paperworks. It’s his sister, Nebra Silva, coming in with an envelope with it seems from the Magic Emperor.

“Leave the letter there, Nebra.” Nozel Silva, captain of the Silver Eagle, told her.

Nozel could’ve brushed her off and ignored her until she left but the look on her face made him curioused.

“I think I have an idea what the letter is about.” Nebra starts.

Nozel’s eyebrow raised, “You do?”

“There are a lot of words going around the Royal Capital. The Magic Knights are also talking about it.”

“Say your point, I am busy.” Nozel’s patience is running thin with how slow his sister is going at it.

“Y/N apparently has returned. She was spotted going to the Magic Emperor this afternoon, and words are captains have been summoned to partake in getting her into a squad.”

The first sentence is all it takes for him to be clouded in his own thoughts; Nebra’s next words didn’t register to him. Just the information that you came back is enough to let his mind wander. The last time he saw you was 5 years ago, you left with him watching your back exit the Royal Capital.

“Nozzle-nii-sama.” Nebra called to get Nozel’s attention.

Nozel was pulled back to reality, “I understand. You can go, Nebra.”

Nebra’s lips turn grime. Normally, you couldn’t see the effect of her news on Nozel Silva but Nebra knew her brother so well. The change in his grimed lips to gloomy, his eyebrows knitting, the tension on his shoulders and the melancholy gaze in his eyes. She could see it all unfolds before her.

“W-Will you come?” She asked, nervously.

“I should. I am a captain of the Magic Emperor’s magic knight squad, his words are mine to follow.” Nozel answered, coldly.

I should… It’s not even his will, but it is a must to him. Even though he doesn’t want to go.

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#nozel silva #nozel x reader #nozel silva fanfic #nozel silva fanfiction #nozel fanfic #nozel fanfiction #silva's revenant #black clover fanfic #black clover fanfiction #black clover

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shihalyfie · 3 years

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Daisuke’s characterization in V-Tamer is actually out of character

This is a post rather different from the usual content I do for this blog, and to be honest, I’m a bit hesitant about it, since it’s hard not to make it sound like some kind of scathingly critical negativity about the relevant chapter. It’s not intended that way -- V-Tamer’s crossover chapter with 02 lies firmly in “Bandai-commissioned spinoff” territory with what was most likely very little input from the anime staff, and with these kinds of things, right hand very rarely talks to left hand, and you see it in things like Tag Tamers having major contradictions with the anime despite how ostensibly important it is to 02′s story. Izawa and Yabuno were busy with V-Tamer production, and it’s very likely Toei and Bandai only provided them with very scant details of 02′s base premise (especially since the chapter itself doesn’t refer to any major 02 plot details besides XV-mon’s and Magnamon’s existence). I really do not blame them for not necessarily having thorough awareness of Daisuke and his character arc (especially since he himself is a rather deceptive character), and having to make a lot of assumptions while writing.

In the end, I decided to write this due to personal request from an acquaintance, who pointed out that there are a lot of people out there who like to claim things like "Daisuke got more character development in this single chapter than he did in 02 itself” (which is another manifestation of the constantly repeated fanbase mantra that Daisuke was lacking in that department when he really wasn’t). The thing is, this chapter’s interpretation of Daisuke is so far removed from the character he was even at the start of 02 that this “development” only works by artificially engineering a conflict that shouldn’t have even happened with Daisuke in the first place.

Again: This is not something meant to criticize this chapter as something bad (personally, I do think it’s rather entertaining in its own way) as much as, simply, out of character is still out of character, and I'm mainly just writing this in the hopes of making a case that this version of Daisuke should not be reflected back on the original series.

(Screenshots below are from the DH translation of V-Tamer, and PositronCannon’s 02 subs.)

The issue here is that the whole plot of the chapter itself is based on the idea that Daisuke is the kind of person who likes fighting for the sake of fighting, and has an impulsive urge to charge in aggressively to the point of even looking down on his friends for denying him. Certainly, on the surface, it does seem to match up with Daisuke still having difficulties adjusting to these new kids being his friends at the beginning of the series, and generally having an abrasive, rough-around-the-edges personality, but...

Ah.

The above screenshots are from 02 episode 7, which is a very early episode -- one that clearly takes place before Magnamon’s appearances in Hurricane Touchdown and 02 episode 20-21, and XV-mon’s appearance in 02 episode 22 -- and one that’s still part of Daisuke’s early bout of “shallow” episodes, in which he’s still instinctively lashing out at Takeru due to his perception of having something going on with Hikari. And while he does initially lash out at them for wanting to turn back, the moment everyone else makes a good case for them turning back (especially when their own Digimon run out of energy), he -- rather easily -- grits his teeth and actually calls the retreat himself.

On top of the fact that Daisuke is very capable of pulling back when he practically understands it’s necessary (even if he hates it), some important points need to be made about his behavior here: Daisuke does not push forward on fighting because he likes fighting and attacking things, but because he practically wants to see the Dark Tower destroyed (and the Dark Tower is causing problems for everyone everywhere right now). He hates the Kaiser, and wants to fight everyone under him, because he’s hurting others. Only one episode later, Daisuke vocalizes that he’s even okay with losing a soccer game as long as he gets to play someone who’s inspired kids all over the country and enjoy the match.

The other problem is that it actually implies that Daisuke would be able to do anything without his friends’ approval. Despite Daisuke’s ostensibly rough surface demeanor, he gets strung along easily. It is absurdly easy to shut him down or override his opinions just by being assertive enough. There’s a very good reason why he’s been described as “prevented from doing much in the first half”. Daisuke spends the first half of the series largely unable to make his own decisions because his friends keep making them for him, and part of his character development involves him becoming able to actually put his foot down and do what he wants when it’s something he cares about, which is something that very much does not set in until the second half.

In addition, the implication that Daisuke would be actively belligerent to the point of having the priority of “destroying enemies” instead of “helping others” is very contrary to the whole point of his character arc:

In 02 episode 20, the first time Daisuke does truly put his foot down against the wishes of the others in the group, it’s because seeing Chimeramon destroy so many things hurt him that badly that he hates sitting around and doing nothing. Again: Daisuke is a person who does things because he cares about and wants to protect others, not because he necessarily likes fighting. It’s also important that he makes this statement that he’ll go in “even alone” -- he does not look down on the others or show distaste for them for choosing to recuse, because they’re understandably exhausted, but simply says that he’s frustrated at the idea of giving up this one chance, and doesn’t want to squander it. (It’s also consistent with the way he treats the mortified Ken in 02 episode 48 -- he reminds him that Jogress won’t work if Ken’s not feeling up to it, and says that he’ll do it alone if he has to because something has to be done.)

And speaking of Ken, this trait of Daisuke’s is why that whole character arc of him reaching out to Ken works in the first place! Because, again, Daisuke hated the Kaiser because he was doing horrible things. The moment the Kaiser stopped doing horrible things, Daisuke didn’t feel up to kicking him while he was down, actually urged him to do the first thing he could do to make amends -- “go home” -- and ultimately chose to reach out to him because he thinks in terms of moving on and creating positive things, not for destruction for the sake of destruction. Because Ken seemed to not be hurting anyone anymore, and he’s actually doing something to help, so why not believe in him and let him help?

Again: with the exception of episode 48 (which is just reinforcing something from before), all of these episodes are before XV-mon’s first appearance in 02 episode 22. Daisuke had always been this kind of positive and supportive person from day one; those traits had just not been very easily visible because he was still trying to deal with his initial awkwardness and being rather rough around the edges, but they’re still traits he’d always fundamentally had.

The chapter continues with Daisuke actually looking down on his other friends and protesting angrily against them trying to pull him back. Beyond the fact that (as stated above) the anime’s portrayal of Daisuke would make him very unwilling to fight back against opposition at this point of the series, the idea he’d actually be condescending about his friends is a little...hmm. Because, again, in 02 episode 7:

Daisuke does momentarily lash out at Iori and Takeru in a moment of emotional compromise when he’s stressed over Hikari getting trapped in the Digital World, but he actually takes it back. Incredibly quickly. He apologizes to Iori, and decides to not let Takeru put the blame on himself, even though his emotionally-compromised moment had initially gotten him to instinctively try to pin it on him. (Which is important because, yes, even when Daisuke’s inclined to lash out at Takeru for his perceived existing relationship with Hikari and be jealous of him, he still cares about Takeru himself to the point he doesn’t want him to load himself with the guilt.)

Daisuke’s brashness is portrayed during this early part of 02 as him very, very badly needing validation. This means that going out of his way to push aside the people he calls friends would be the last thing he wants to do, because he actually wants their approval, and for them to like him, and therefore he’s willing to apologize quickly and try to make amends because he plays badly with actual confrontation.

While this line isn’t quite off, it does rather clash with the way Daisuke actually portrays himself, which is that he doesn’t really have this much of an ego. The literal translation of this line is that he calls himself “your cute little junior”, but even the more liberal translation used here doesn’t quite work with Daisuke’s character, since it’s not implied at any point that Daisuke thinks Taichi actually cares about him back the way he adores Taichi.

Again, Daisuke is an extremely deferential person who craves validation, and this is especially in the case of Taichi, who arguably is the one who creates the easiest mood shift in Daisuke for the early parts of the series. Whenever Taichi is nearby, Daisuke immediately becomes deferential and respects literally everything he does.

Observe Daisuke’s very resigned and very deferential facial expressions and attitude in 02 episodes 8 and 10, whenever it comes to Taichi (and note that the third screenshot here also comes from a situation where Daisuke wanted to advocate for pushing forward instead of retreating; it was that easy for Taichi to shut him down). For all it’s worth, Daisuke’s never really shown to have a lot of pride in himself (beyond the occasional joke), and it’s heavily implied that he sees Taichi as so amazing that he’s not even remotely in his league. That’s why it’s such a big deal that Daisuke puts his foot down and protests against what Taichi wants them to do in 02 episode 39, and it’s not even rudely or aggressively (he still uses polite Japanese!) as much as just firmly “I have a friend and I need to help him, I’m sorry.”

During the chapter, Daisuke claims that he doesn’t want to go back and meet his friends, because he doesn’t think they care about him, but, well, again: Daisuke is someone who craves approval. It’s somewhat understandable that he’d maybe have some degree of insecurity that they don’t like him as much as he wants them to, but the series by this point (remember, we’re talking episode 22, given XV-mon’s appearance) makes it very clear that Daisuke is well aware that his friends like him this much, and he has no real grudges against them.

This is one of the reasons it’s so important that 02 had so many scenes of the kids just...bantering in the computer room, or having tons of “free time off hours” that had nothing to do with Digimon fights, because although Daisuke is brash and rough around the edges, otherwise, the group of friends here get along perfectly fine. Once the stress of fighting is removed, these kids are part of each others’ social circle and love hanging out for the sake of hanging out, and even someone as dense as Daisuke should know very well that they do at least like him this much.

And, more importantly, whatever Daisuke might think about what his friends think of him, he himself likes them a lot. He cares about them a lot. Even all the way back in 02 episode 10 and 11, with Miyako and Takeru (whom he ostensibly banters and gets touchy with a lot), he still makes it clear he likes what Miyako’s doing and wants to check on her (without prompting), and later, when he gets in a fight with Takeru, he blames himself for not understanding Takeru’s feelings instead of feeling inclined to blame it on him. (In fact, this so-called hostility with Takeru is really overblown here, because there’s no reason Daisuke should think everyone takes Takeru’s side; when they did get in a fight in 02 episode 11, everyone was more concerned about getting them to calm down than they were about taking sides, because both of them did have a very reasonable position.)

And while Daisuke getting set off by the Takeru and Hikari issue might have been in-character at one point, it’s not for him at this point in the series, because 02 episode 22, the very episode that introduces XV-mon, has him take a completely different view of the situation:

Daisuke had already gotten over a lot of it by this point. The last time he shows any indication of Takeru and Hikari having ~something going on~ to the point he suspects Takeru of being an obstacle is all the way back in episode 17, which oh-so-coincidentally happens to be the same episode where he later learns about the truth of his seniors’ great adventure in 1999, and therefore receives the full context of why Takeru and Hikari knew each other beforehand (which they had been absolutely terrible at elucidating for 17 episodes). By the time we get to this epsode, Daisuke does not hold anything against Takeru himself, and he doesn’t even accuse them of having a thing, just moping that they “get along so well”. He’s not angry about it, he’s sad about it, and it’s heavily implied that he’s really just sad about being third-wheeled more than anything.

It’s also important to realize that this is long past the point where Daisuke would have shown any outright hostility towards Takeru at all. At worst, he maybe scoffs “do whatever you want!”, or ends up a little sad that they’re leaving him out, but he ends up putting this on himself more than he ever lashes out at others about it anymore. The grudge against Takeru had already gone long under the bridge, by this point Takeru is just a friend that he likes reasonably well and is sad to be third wheeled by, and it’s only 13 more episodes before he’ll stop bringing his crush on Hikari into the issue for the rest of the series.

And, remember, Daisuke has always been someone who does things “because other people are being hurt”. He’s not actually that selfish! Whenever people are really in trouble, he goes in to help them -- remember, back in 02 episode 8, he was crushed because Ken turned out to be the Kaiser, and someone indirectly trampling on the dreams of all the soccer-playing kids in the country. Had this been Daisuke from the anime, he probably would have immediately wanted to go back the moment he realized there are people in need and hurt left behind, regardless of his own feelings on his relationship with his friends.

The rest of the chapter is fairly on-the-nose, with Daisuke managing to create a “miracle” through the power of his feelings by remembering what it meant for Taichi to give him his goggles, and for managing to connect to his friends despite them being trapped, with Daisuke and Taichi eventually parting on good terms and Daisuke even getting the honor of doing the victory dance with him. This is why I want to emphasize (I’ll say this in bold) that I do not think this is a “bad” chapter just because it’s not compliant with Daisuke’s anime characterization. Given what the chapter sets out to accomplish, setting up a story of someone who feels neglected by his friends and eventually decides to reach out to them with his own feelings, it’s thematically solid and well-plotted out as a story, and the crossover and thought experiment of how Daisuke would react to an alternate version of Taichi is very entertaining. Plus, Izawa’s writing and Yabuno’s art is charming, and it’s lovely to see the 02 kids in this style.

It’s just, well, the entire premise of this chapter relies on a conflict generated by Daisuke being a character he is very much not. And, again, it’s not something that I can really criticize Izawa and Yabuno for; Daisuke’s quite the deceptive character, and it really doesn’t seem like Toei and Bandai gave them a lot to work with, especially since this chapter only works within a very narrow range of 02′s timeline, between 02 episodes 22 and 25, when V-mon can evolve to Adult but Ken hasn’t formally joined the team yet. (And in fact, I’d generally apply this sort of caveat to things relevant to Daisuke that come from the Bandai side instead of Toei side; too many things out there seem to only really be working with the base details of “Taichi’s junior who has a crush on Hikari” with no regard to the actual nuances of his character.) Personally, it seems that Izawa and Yabuno did their best with what they had to work with, and they even made it a fun chapter while they were at it! -- so I would simply say that it’s probably best to enjoy this chapter without thinking about the lack of canon compliance too hard, but also not to judge the actual anime version of Daisuke too much by this portrayal.

#digimon #digimon adventure v tamer 01 #digimon adventure 02 #motomiya daisuke #daisuke motomiya #shihameta

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higuchimon · 6 years

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[fanfic] Rebirth of Kaiser: chapter 21

Yuusuke settled down at the table the dark general provided and unpacked his tools. Scrying wasn’t one of his greatest strengths by any means, but right now, he was willing to try anything in order to find Ryou.

Juudai says darkness is everywhere. So let’s find out.

He knew that on some level, the statement remained absolutely true. Darkness was everywhere. Now he had to use it.

A black bowl that he’d carved himself – it wasn’t necessary in these days for a magician’s tools to be all self-made, but Yuusuke liked doing it himself. He wanted to be certain that it was done correctly.

He filled it with clear water before taking a small foldable lantern out of his bag and lighting it. He didn’t really need it to see: he needed the flickering shadows it would cast.

One last item: Ryou’s bag. Yuusuke’s fingers trembled at the feel of it. It wasn’t one he was used to seeing, but this was his key towards finding Ryou in the first place. He breathed in and out, bringing himself to absolute calm, before he focused his attention on the shadows stretching out over the water.

Ryou. Where are you?

This wouldn’t be even close to the easiest thing he’d ever done. The spell itself wasn’t hard at all. But finding Ryou, that was going to be a little more difficult.

He needed to focus on Ryou as he was now. Not Ryou the adult who’d slipped away or Ryou the teenager that he’d gone to school with.

But Ryou, the duel spirit of unknown name, of very limited known effects, of great strength.

He gazed at the shadows and water, putting his mind at ease, or doing his best to do so. It wasn’t that easy to be at ease when tiny thoughts flickered back into his awareness at a moment’s notice.

Can I do this? I’ve never tried to find a Duel Spirit before.

Is he all right? What if something happened to him?

Why did Cyber Harpie take him in the first place?

He strained to get his thoughts calm over and over, breathing a little harder each time, staring into the water as the light and shadows danced together. Images flickered across it, nothing very clear, but the shapes of people moving around. Not just people, either. He couldn’t be sure of what those were, but they existed in the water and shadows all the same.

The more he tried the harder it was to focus. He settled himself down yet again and breathed, trying not to ripple the water. That might not break the spell, but Yuusuke didn’t want to take the chance.

He wasn’t at all sure of how much time this took. Under normal circumstances, scrying could take hours. It might already have. He wasn’t going to stare at a clock, not now.

So he stared. So he searched. So he looked for anything that would link him to Ryou.

Fujiwara-kun?

Yuusuke blinked at the soft voice echoing through his mind. With how deep he’d been in the search for Ryou, it took a few moments for him to recognize it.

Juudai-kun?

I heard you in the shadows. What’s wrong?

Yuusuke breathed for a few seconds, trying to wrap his head around this. He knew Juudai could sense when he used his shadow magic, but he’d never spoken to him like this before.

Ryou’s gone. Missing. He let the images flicker through his mind, the way that Cyber Harpie dropped down from above, the sleeping spell, and what little he’d learned after that.

Still haven’t found him? Juudai could frown with his words. Yuusuke tilted his head a bit; he’d been so focused on finding Ryou that he’d forgotten what the Dark General told him, about the message via Hane Kuriboh and that Juudai intended to be there in a few days.

No. I’ve just started looking, really. Yuusuke tried to turn his attention back to the search but it wasn’t going as well as he would have wanted.

Huh. I didn’t think it would be this difficult. Yuusuke could feel Juudai thinking. He wasn’t sure of what Juudai thought about, but the awareness of his thinking pervaded the shadows.

Then there was another presence right behind Juudai’s awareness. Yuusuke couldn’t tell what it was, only that it was there and that Juudai’s attention turned toward it for a few seconds.

Juudai-kun?

Hold on. This won’t take long.

Yuusuke tried to focus on the scrying, trusting to Juudai to know what he was doing. It seemed to him that there were faint images of Ryou, but nowhere nearly clear enough for him to pin down where he was.

It was almost as if Ryou wasn’t quite who he thought he was anymore. As if he didn’t know who he was looking for.

Then a hand touched on the back of his and he looked to find himself staring into a pair of glimmering golden eyes.

“Let’s do this together,” the Herald of the Gentle Darkness said. Any words Yuusuke might’ve had choked in his throat and he nodded quickly.

Together they stared at the shimmering light on the water, shadows dancing this way and that. Since he was fifteen and first started learning what he could about the magic of darkness and shadows, Yuusuke found himself linked to the shadows at all times. But now the shadows were so much more, wrapped around him, holding him close and warm.

“Of course you feel it. Because of me.” The Herald chuckled at that. This didn’t quite feel like Juudai, Yuusuke realized, but he didn’t need Juudai. He needed darkness incarnate. “Come on. We’re looking for Ryou, remember.”

Yuusuke focused back, recalling that thought he’d had before. “Is it possible that he’s changed somehow? Or that he’s still asleep? Would that interfere?”

“Sleeping, probably not. The spell looks for what someone is, not what they’re doing.” The Herald considered, eyes glimmering in the darkness. “But changed, that’s not impossible. It would help if your image of who he is and his image of who he is are the same thing.”

That got a stirring of something. Yuusuke wasn’t sure of what it was, but the words tugged at him, leading down a path of thought that he slowly tried to speak.

“He’s a spirit. We don’t know his name or most of his effects. But if whoever has him figured it out and told him… would that change him enough so that I can’t find him?”

The Herald said nothing, but his gaze shifted over to one side. Yuusuke glanced in that direction and wasn’t surprised to see Yubel standing there. Their head tilted to one side in thought for a few moments before nodding slowly.

“Knowing one’s true name and abilities is very central to a spirit’s existence. It could take time to accept them but once they’re known they become a part of us.”

The Herald tapped a finger in thought. “So what we need to do is find him and we can’t do that because he’s somehow figured out his new real name and his effects, or at least enough of them so he’s changed enough so the spell as we can do it won’t affect him.”

Yuusuke’s fingers tightened into fists. “Then what do we do?” He wasn’t going to just sit around and do nothing while Ryou was off somewhere. He’d come here to find his friend again and under no circumstances would he change that.

“We find him so we can find him.” The Herald grinned in a way so very similar to Juudai before turning toward Yubel. “Since we brought him back as a spirit, isn’t there a connection of same kind?”

“Yes. It’s very slender, much like a thread, and I would not try to track it – under normal circumstances. It could affect him.” Yubel’s eyes warmed a touch, one hand resting on the Herald’s shoulder.

“It’s happened before,” he murmured, raising his hand to brush against Yubel’s.

Yuusuke wasn’t at all certain of what they meant, but now wasn’t the time to ask, either. They could work this out later.

“It won’t be enough to find where he is. But I think we can at least find out his name and possibly his effects.” Yubel added. Yuusuke nodded before he turned more towards them, shoulders high and tight with tension.

“Whatever you’re doing, then if at all possible, I want to help. Ryou’s my friend.” And he’d hoped once they could have been more than friends, but that hadn’t panned out.

Dying did tend to affect one’s romantic prospects, after all.

The Herald and Yubel exchanged the quickest of glances; so quick that Yuusuke might not have even seen it if he hadn’t been looking. Then they both nodded and held their hands out toward him. He took them, one hand with faint dragon scales and the other hardened from a life of wandering. He tightened his grip just as the darkness engulfed all three of them.

The moment that it did, Yuusuke couldn’t feel their hands. He knew they were there; he hadn’t moved and they hadn’t moved, and the awareness of their presence remained the whole time. So did the darkness, thick and enfolding and comforting, a presence as alive as could be. Warm and supporting, it sank into every bit of him.

I think we should tell you. Doing this could affect you. And your magic.

It will? Yuusuke didn’t think that he spoke. The Herald’s words whispered into his mind, as close as his breath.

Don’t know for sure. We’ve never done this before. But it could happen. You’ll have to see once we’re done.

Yuusuke wondered what the effect would be, if one occurred at all. Now wasn’t the time to discuss so much. Now was the time to find Ryou.

Right. Find yourself, first of all. Know who you are and what you are, and what you could be.

Yuusuke wasn’t certain of what was meant by that, but he tried anyway. He was Fujiwara Yuusuke, formerly of Obelisk Blue. He was Honest’s partner – Honest who stood outside the door and waited for him so patiently. He’d once been the pawn of Darkness, but now he stood by the side of the Herald of Darkness, striving to redress all the wrongs he’d done once upon a time.

He worked for Industrial Illusions. His task was to create cards for those spirits who didn’t have them and who wanted them: like Ryou. Ryou, who’d been his friend for years, who wanted his memories back and the truth of who he’d been and who he was and who he might be.

And who might he be? He hadn’t missed what the Herald insinuated: the change could make him other than human. He could become a spirit as well. And if he were, what kind? A spellcaster? A demon? An angel?

Too many options for him to guess, but he knew the answer at the bottom regardless. It was the same for Ryou: that underneath it all, he was and would always be himself.

Ryou would forever be Hell Kaiser, a duelist of raw power and strength, who respected those who earned his respect, and who had learned the hard way that he should never underestimate anyone, regardless of events. No matter his name or what he could do, that was what Ryou was, and anything else would be little more than window dressing.

The window dressing is important, though. It’s what sets one window apart from another. So what does he look like now?

The image rose in his mind without a bit of effort. Tall, with blue hair and tinged skin, pointed ears, wrapped in black leather from head to foot. Ryou’s essence all but shimmered in Yuusuke’s mind. Wrapped around him in that image there glowed a thread, slender and dark, that emerged from his heart.

That’s it. That’s the bond that was created when he became a spirit. Follow it.

Yuusuke didn’t know how he moved but he did regardless. Ryou was out there somewhere, and he wasn’t going to give up finding him.

To Be Continued

Notes: Time to lead to the first story’s wrap-up!

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo gx #marufuji ryou #fujiwara yuusuke #chapters: rebirth of kaiser

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journeysintowebcomics · 7 years

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Worm Liveblog #22

UPDATE 22: Oni Lee is So Strong

Last time everyone was about to perform an attack on the ABB. Teams were formed, Taylor and Rachel were assigned to the same team. It could be a chance for them to work together, see how that goes, but I’m not holding any high hopes for any breakthroughs in their strained relationship. So let’s continue.

What, you mean spraying everyone with dog blood didn’t help to calm everyone down? Say it ain’t so! Not that Heckpuppy cares, does she? Besides there are more important things to worry about right now beyond that unsanitary action. Skitter wants to smooth over what happened, so she’s willing to give it a try, asking the people from the Travelers for things like their codenames. Be casual, in other words.

Sundancer. Nice! Sundancer seems friendly enough, just a bit curt. She has her enough problems; she doesn’t need all these guys to add to them. How’s life with the Travelers? “Intense. Violent. Lonely.” ...huh. Violent and intense are no surprise, but I didn’t think life with a team would be lonely. I suppose it depends on how much they spend traveling, it’s not like they can be surrounded by people all the time. The same handful of people all the time...I guess I can see how it can get lonely. Not that there’ll be an explanation, Sundancer doesn’t want to explain. I wasn’t too wrong, it really has to do with them moving so often.

Bam, suddenly Skitter is slammed to a side. Newter didn’t turn against her all of a sudden, it’s that there’s danger outside. A patrol. They already got to the ABB’s building, and there are two minutes to plan what each person’s going to do.

Kaiser and his Valkyries aren’t team players, hah. They just go all ‘We’ll circle around, you all from another direction” and refuse to talk any longer. There’s no time for arguing, so the rest start the strategic meeting. “Skitter, Bitch, you two have the most experience dealing with these guys, so start us off.” More like this relies on Skitter. There are all types of bombs Bakuda could use, I remember several possibilities. It’s hard to know which ones could be set around here. Maybe paying attention to the routes and paths the ABB take around here is a good idea, a way to know where it’s unlikely there are bombs. Bakuda’s not someone who cares about the lives of the gang, but it’d be inconvenient if gang members die.

“I can get the lay of the land, and the bugs will also confuse and distract anyone inside, which should make things easier on you guys.” The good thing about the fact Skitter controls bugs is that it’s unlikely someone will know she’s spying through them. If they got paranoid over every single bug in the vicinity they’d be stressed all the time. If only Skitter could listen through them, like it happened with the moth a few chapters ago...

Newter is the defacto leader right now since Kaiser decided to take a stroll, and he does know what he’s doing! Directing everyone around with no problem. Coil’s soldiers will provide cover from a distance, Sundancer and Labyrinth are going to be backup because their powers are a bit troublesome...this is a good team! I don’t see any big problems. This should go well until the end of the chapter or so.

The swarm is already sweeping through, investigating. There’s a lot of half-naked people inside – therefore they’re defenseless. Better be careful not to harm them. Other than that, some parts of the walls have suspicious spots.

I took a page out of Grue’s playbook and gathered a group of bugs together into a densely packed, vaguely humanoid shape. I moved that collection of bugs through the doors and to the place where the little domes sat. The explosion blew a fair sized chunk out of the exterior wall of the building closest to us. The people inside, already nervous at the influx of bugs, started scattering, screaming, running for the exits.

Okay, everyone knows someone’s here. No way everybody won’t get their guard up now. Skitter doesn’t waste time, she finds other traps and sets them off, allowing Heckpuppy and Newter to enter. Newter is knocking out everyone without harming them, so I guess they’ll be okay.

What I did know was that his bodily fluids were potent hallucinogens. Even the sweat that accumulated on his skin was apparently enough to send someone off to la-la land, taking only a few seconds for it to be absorbed through the skin.

Well that’s gross. Like a tree frog from the jungle, no wonder his colors were so bright. While Skitter stops anyone who might shoot him – through the true and tried method of shoving bugs everywhere on their faces, that still gives me goosebumps – he keeps going. Kaiser and the Valkyries are attacking from the opposite side and blocking paths with blades, it’s inconvenient for Heckpuppy. That meant Kaiser would be the one who had blocked her. Was it intentional, or had he been cutting off the ABB’s escape routes? It definitely was intentional. I think Kaiser had both of those things in mind when he placed that blade blockage.

Newter keeps knocking out people left and right until he faces someone the last person around. Suddenly, a second person appears behind Newter, and Newter falls. Oh well. Things were nice while they lasted. Better warn Heckpuppy about the recent developments. “Bitch! Second floor, Newter’s wounded, Oni Lee is in the building.” There was a long pause before she replied, “Lung’s here too.” Hohoh, they totally did. Of all places, both Lung and his lieutenant had to be here. Well, of course they’d be here, this is where Skitter is, and where the protagonist is at, the action will be at. Basic fiction rule, it never fails.

As expected things got tough right at the end of the chapter. No way I’m stopping here right now. It was a rather short chapter, though, I expected something longer. Next chapter, immediately.

Lung’s fighting Kaiser. Going straight for the big guy, eh, Kaiser? It’s fitting, he wants to get rid of the ABB, of course he’d go for the leader. Skitter couldn’t care less about Lung right now, Newter is injured and Oni Lee is there. After sending Heckpuppy to that place, Skitter draws out her baton and knife, and decides to enter. It doesn’t take long for them all to surround Oni Lee, but there’s no way that’ll be enough to trap him. Teleportation and duplication is an useful combination.

I followed his line of sight, and saw he had already appeared just behind Bitch, half-crouching on Brutus’ back, one hand on a hook of bone to help him balance. There was a flash of steel in his other hand as he reached around her throat with a blade.

See? Extremely dangerous, that’s no up to debate. Thankfully for me as a reader, I’m pleased that an interesting character such as Heckpuppy didn’t get killed five arcs into the serial story, Coil’s soldiers are giving good back-up, they’re snipers. Oni Lee is teleporting all over the place, looking for spots to attack, leaving copies there...I’m pretty sure there’s now an Oni Lee copy going towards those soldiers right now. Oh well, they’ll be fine. Coil wouldn’t employ them if they didn’t have a good enough hand-to-hand combat skill, I bet. Where the sniper team had been, there were four figures now. I saw the rifle fall from the edge of the roof as the two soldiers struggled with a pair of Oni Lees. Two copies? Wow, I should have guessed. Two snipers, two copies, of course.

While Skitter watches around, another copy manages to harm one of Heckpuppy’s dogs. Hah, now she’s going to be pissed. Good thing once the power boost she gives them is gone, injuries and the such are gone too...I think. I hope. Another two attack Skitter, holding her and ready to shiv her. As an attempt to have early alert of where Oni Lee’s going to appear, Skitter spreads bugs around, just in time to be alerted of one appearing not too far from here. He whipped his arm in my direction, and I didn’t have any time to do much more than turn in his direction before something collided with my head. I stumbled and fell over backwards. Welp. You tried, Skitter, you tried. As I lay there, trying to parse what had just happened, I realized that a small knife was embedded in the armored section of my mask, cracking the lens. A throwing knife? I’m so glad Skitter took her time with her costume, making sure it wouldn’t be some flimsy amateur thing.

Heckpuppy is injured, a stab in the arm. Not too much of a problem, I’d say, it could be much worse. Everyone else is having a lot more trouble. One of Coil’s men was tackled off the roof, Sundancer is crumpled over – really. I’m not impressed – and as said before, Newter’s injured and most likely knocked out. That leaves Skitter and Heckpuppy against him, since maybe Labyrinth is going to make sure Sundancer will be okay, and the other sniper guy can’t do a thing from the distance without his rifle.

The bug alert system is finally working, Oni Lee is being stung and bitten, and...huh, okay! Look at this: Then I noticed something weird. More bugs popped into existence in the midst of the cloud, near Sundancer and Labyrinth. I felt the original bugs perish as they exploded into ash. Fantastic, she’s going to be able to follow Oni Lee no matter what! And what’s more, that’s the real, original Oni Lee, that has to be advantageous too. This could be the chance to turn this all around! Heckpuppy is recalled, and the two of them decide to return where Sundancer and Labyrinth were waiting. Bitch offered me a hand. I gratefully took it, letting her help me up onto Brutus’ back. And the ice is breaking here, all in all, everything’s starting to look up.

They don’t even get too close to Sundancer and Labyrinth when things start looking like McEscher decided to join the fight. It’s you, Labyrinth, isn’t it? Space and buildings are being warped, this is a pretty cool power, I like it. Disruptive, that’s for sure, no wonder Labyrinth stayed back.

As soon as she can, Labyrinth touches Skitter and Heckpuppy, making them be able to see everything as normal. This isn’t the time for an interview about the details of her power, Skitter, forget about that for now. What’s for sure is that there’s some sort of tangible anomaly going on here, even if it’s possible for Labyrinth and others to not see it. It’s delaying Oni Lee, so it’s all working. Can’t complain.

Skitter’s indications are enough for Coil’s sniper to aim and actually hit him, injuring the real one. Nice! And that’s something that doesn’t go away through teleportation, no matter what he does, he’s still injured. Skitter even manages to indicate where he’s appearing, the sniper hitting him a few more times before Oni Lee calls quits and goes away. Wow, this went well enough! Sure, some people got injured, but nobody’s gravely injured, not even the guy who fell from the roof. They’re not doing too badly! “Labyrinth, watch him. Make sure he keeps breathing and that his buddy knows where he is,” I said, “Sundancer, Bitch, we’ve gotta go help Newter.” Right, Newter hasn’t phased out of existence or something. I had forgotten about him for a moment, but he’s still inside, isn’t he? Presumably unconscious. Better check on him, see if he needs help. How’s Kaiser doing with Lung? Is he okay?

That’s for next chapter. I’m going to check, because this is too good to stop right now.

Oh, surprise, Heckpuppy doesn’t want to go help Newter because it’s his fault he got hurt. Okay, no, that’s no surprise. Heckpuppy isn’t the most empathic person on the face of Earth. Skitter’s having none of that, though. “We let him die, you think Faultline’s going to let it slide? She might hurt or kill Tattletale or Regent in retaliation.” Skitter has a point there, I doubt Faultline would take that well. Thankfully that’s enough to convince Heckpuppy to help Newter, because despite everything, she’d fond of being part of the Undersiders...and dare I add, of the Undersiders themselves. I’m sure she likes them, at the very least.

Turns out the ABB is also into the drug business, and that’s what most of the civilians here were doing, making drugs. Fairly ironic that this is the place where the guy whose main skill is having hallucinogenic fluids got injured here. While I ponder if I used the word ‘ironic’ correctly, Skitter assesses the situation, deciding that touching Newter was too risky. There had to be gloves or tools somewhere that could be used to move him.

Sundancer will stay with Newter and pretty much make sure he’ll be okay while Skitter searches around for stuff to use on him. Turns out drugs is something Skitter is very wary off, based on an experience when she was young – seeing a methhead doing a ruckus in a bus. I must say, she’s taking everything quite well despite the fear she has! She’s being cautious and doesn’t let her, hm...let’s say ‘distaste’ – even if it’s a major understatement – overcome her. Maybe this same distaste is what leads Skitter to start rounding up the money that’s surely profits from selling drugs. Hah! I don’t think you’re going to have time to take the money with you once this is done, Skitter. It’d be nice, but I think you won’t have the time for that.

They do actually manage to find gloves and a way to maybe carry Newter, nice. It’s good when everyone’s cooperative – even if Heckpuppy is being very reluctant about it. The process of covering Newter’s wounds is not easy, mostly because there are no bandages so they instead have to use sanitary pads. Creative! And if his teammates give him a hard time, I think he’d be pissed at you for sticking sanitary pads on him, not at them, hah. I doubt he’d let something as minor and petty as this get to him, though.

Getting him on the dog was barely done when there’s a crash nearby. Oh dear, the respite was nice while it lasted. A gauntleted hand as wide across as my armspan had crashed through the wall. Hah! For a moment I thought it was a gauntleted hand as if someone ripped the hand off the arm and threw it through the wall. I bet a cape somewhere in the world can detach their body parts like that. Heckpuppy is sent away and instructed to seek help, so that means Skitter and Sundancer are left here, aren’t they? And Sundancer is injured, not too badly, but she’s injured nonetheless.

Six ABB members retreated through the hole, taking cover from...the giantesses. Hm. Unless I missed something big, I suppose those are Kaiser’s valkyries, aren’t they? Because I don’t think anyone else would have this power, everybody else is well-accounted in terms of powers – unless Coil’s men had a spontaneous sex change and didn’t reveal they could turn so big.

The big man is here! Hello, Lung, what’s up? He’s not looking very good; his powers have given him so many transformations he’s almost unidentifiable. Kaiser is also here and he’s not worried at all, just waltzing in and attempting to impale Lung. I guess he has been having an okay time so far, no injuries. Fenja and Menja are seemingly uninjured too. All in all, Lung is against them, Skitter, and two of Heckpuppy’s dogs, now that she left. Not too bad of a team to fight Lung, although as demonstrated before...Kaiser’s not a team player. At most he’ll cooperate with his own E88 members, but with Skitter? I don’t think so. Oh, true, there’s also six ABB members here, but compared to Lung and Kaiser and the rest, they’re small fries, I’d say.

Lung turned to survey the room. His men were arranged in a loose circle around him, facing us. His eyes settled on me. “Ooo,” he rumbled, his words were distorted by the shape of his altered mouth, but it was easy enough to guess what he’d just said. You.

And this time I don’t think biting and stinging Lung will be of any use. This is a good time to test how creative she is with them, now that she can’t use the same actions than last time – not that it’d have been a good decision, anyways.

Although I want to continue, I’ll have to stop for now. But man this is a fun arc, things are heated up! Mr. Wildbow is pretty good with action scenes, I like it.

Next update: in two updates

#worm #worm liveblog #story liveblog #book liveblog #liveblog

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years

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Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care

The patient described it as the worst headache of her life. She didn’t go to the hospital, though. Instead, the Washington state resident waited almost a week.

When Dr. Abhineet Chowdhary finally saw her, he discovered she had a brain bleed that had gone untreated.

The neurosurgeon did his best, but it was too late.

“As a result, she had multiple other strokes and ended up passing away,” said Chowdhary, director of the Overlake Neuroscience Institute in Bellevue, Washington. “This is something that most of the time we’re able to prevent.”

Chowdhary said the patient, a stroke survivor in her mid-50s, had told him she was frightened of the hospital.

She was afraid of the coronavirus.

The fallout from such fear has concerned U.S. doctors for weeks while they have tracked a worrying trend: As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the number of patients showing up at hospitals with serious cardiovascular emergencies such as strokes and heart attacks shrank dramatically.

Across the U.S., doctors call the drop-off staggering, unlike anything they’ve seen. And they worry a new wave of patients is headed their way — people who have delayed care and will be sicker and whose injuries will be exacerbated by the time they finally arrive in emergency rooms.

It has alarmed certain medical groups, such as the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. The latter is running ads to urge people to call 911 when they’re having symptoms of a heart attack or stroke.

‘Where Are All These Patients?’

Across the country, ER volumes are down about 40% to 50%, said Dr. William Jaquis, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

“I haven’t seen anything like it, ever,” he said. “We anticipated, actually, higher volumes.”

But doctors say once-busy emergency rooms have slowed to an eerie calm.

“It was very scary because it was so quiet,” Dr. David Tashman, medical director of the ER at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, California, said about the early days of the outbreak.

“We normally see 100 patients a day, and then, you know, overnight, we were down to 30 or 40.”

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Some of that decrease in normal patient volume was deliberate.

As hospitals prepared for a surge of COVID patients, officials advised people to avoid emergency rooms if at all possible. Tashman said he wasn’t surprised to see fewer trauma patients, because the roads were emptier. But soon he and other ER physicians noticed that even truly urgent cases were not coming in.

“We know the number of heart attacks isn’t going to go down in a pandemic. It really shouldn’t,” Tashman said.

Dr. Larry Stock, an ER doctor at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California, thought the same thing.

“I mean, we’ve all been scratching our heads — where are all these patients?” Stock said. “They’re at home, and we’re starting to get … the tip of the iceberg of this phenomenon.”

One study collected data from nine hospitals across the country, focusing on a crucial procedure used to reopen a blocked cardiac artery after a heart attack. The hospitals performed 38% fewer of those procedures in March than in previous months.

At Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Dr. Malveeka Sharma has tracked a 60% decline in stroke admissions in the first half of April compared with the previous year.

Nationally, 911 call volumes for strokes and heart attacks declined in March through early April, according to data collected by ESO, a software company used by emergency medical service agencies.

In Connecticut, Dr. Kevin Sheth noticed a similar trend at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Sheth started calling other stroke doctors, trying to understand what was happening.

“The numbers had dramatically plummeted almost everywhere,” said Sheth, chief of the division of neurocritical care and emergency neurology at Yale School of Medicine. “This is a big deal from a public health perspective.”

Sheth said clinical stroke centers have seen an “unprecedented” drop in stroke patients being treated, with decreases from 50% to 70%.

In April, the American Heart and American Stroke associations put out emergency guidance to ensure health care providers keep stroke teams active and ready to treat patients during the pandemic.

Sheth said he worries it could be challenging to care for all the patients who eventually show up at hospitals in even worse shape after delaying care.

“When those stroke numbers come back, we could have serious capacity issues,” he said. “We were already bursting at the seams.”

“People are in this fear mode,” said Dr. John Harold, a cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and board president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Heart Association.

Harold said the full public health consequences of people avoiding the hospital aren’t yet clear.

“The big question is, are these people dying at home?” he asked.

Patients Fear The Hospital

Patients who are already at higher risk of experiencing medical emergencies describe a mix of fear and confusion about how to get safe and adequate care.

In March, Dustin Domzalski ran out of his epilepsy medication.

The 35-year-old from Bellingham, Washington, had trouble reaching his doctor, whom he would normally see in person, to get a refill.

Within a few days of not taking the medication, he had a major seizure while in the shower. His caregiver called an ambulance, which took him to the ER.

“I woke up and asked where I was and what happened,” Domzalski said. “The guy in the next room to me was coughing and doing all kinds of stuff.”

The experience was so unnerving that Domzalski now plans to avoid the hospital if at all possible.

“I am not going to the hospital unless I have a seizure and injure myself,” he said. “I’d rather stay here than potentially have problems from the virus.”

Miami resident Stayc Simpson recalled a frightening ordeal when she went to the ER in mid-March.

Simpson, a cancer survivor with heart failure, woke up with a pounding heart rate that she worried could signal a heart attack.

At the hospital, she was screened for COVID-19 and was soon moved to a unit for suspected cases because she had a cough, even though that is also a symptom of heart failure.

“When the reality hit that I was in the COVID unit, I thought, ‘If I didn’t have it before, then I probably will now,'” Simpson said.

She spent a day there, wracked with anxiety. Six days later, back at home, she learned she had tested negative for the virus.

Simpson knows the hospitals have made many changes since the early days of the pandemic, but the thought of calling 911 still scares her.

“I have seen news reports that tell me it’s safer now. … I don’t know if I have full confidence in that right now,” she said. “The risk of COVID is terrifying.”

Dangerous Risks Of Postponing Care

Some physicians are already glimpsing the consequences of patients putting off care.

“I’ve never seen the number of delays that I have in the last month or so,” said Dr. Andrea Austin, an ER physician in downtown Los Angeles.

She’s treating more serious cases because patients are waiting. “That’s really one of the tragedies of COVID-19,” Austin said. “They’re staying at home and trying to diagnose themselves or really playing down their symptoms.”

Chowdhary, the neurosurgeon from Bellevue, Washington, said some of his stroke patients have already seen life-altering consequences.

One older man noticed weakness on the left side of his body but avoided the hospital for four days.

“Now, at that point, we couldn’t do anything to reverse the stroke,” Chowdhary said. “That weakness is permanent.”

Because of the stroke damage, the patient could no longer take care of his wife, who has cognitive issues. Eventually, the couple had to leave their home and move into a nursing home.

Jennifer Kurtz, stroke program coordinator at Overlake in Bellevue, said some patients who delayed care are now grappling with the physical and emotional toll.

“They feel so much guilt and regret that they didn’t come to the hospital earlier,” she said.

A caregiver confessed to Kurtz that she didn’t bring her husband to the hospital when she first noticed symptoms of a stroke.

“She can’t even tell her daughter [that] … because she is so ashamed,” Kurtz said.

Doctors Plead: ‘Don’t Delay’

Patients must navigate the sometimes conflicting messages from public officials as well as disruptions to their routine medical care.

The surge of COVID-19 patients in hot spots such as New York City and New Orleans led to “the sense of an overstretched health care system without capacity,” said Dr. Biykem Bozkurt, president of the Heart Failure Society of America and a cardiologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

“This may have created a false sentiment that routine care is to be deferred or that there is no capacity for non-COVID patients — this is not the case,” Bozkurt said. “We would like our patients to seek care, not wait.”

Hospitals are also trying to reassure patients they are taking precautions to keep them safe. Many have set up protocols for admitting suspected COVID-19 patients, such as separate screening areas inside the ER and dedicated areas of the hospital for coronavirus inpatients.

Tashman, the emergency physician at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, is pleading with patients to come in for help immediately for heart attack and stroke symptoms: “Don’t delay. You’re not bothering us. You’re not imposing on us.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes KPCC, NPR and Kaiser Health News.

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stephenmccull · 4 years