#i hope the wounded get the support and the treatment they need asap and the fucker is dragged to hell via court

[lupismaris]

...

[olivetreehugger]

SnK Scouts/Veterans as Health Care Workers

Note: features Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Levi, Erwin and Hange. A part two to my “SnK Warriors as HCWs” post found here. warning: mentions of blood, trauma, gore (it’s healthcare). Also, I know Hange is nb, I headcanon them as female, so I will be using she/her pronouns. 

Eren: this boy is definitely too involved in everything and has too many people depending on him at once to not be a nurse. The kid barely passed the NCLEX but that didn’t stop him from applying to every trauma center within a 25 mile radius of him. He got hired as a night shift trauma ICU nurse  and he frequently picks up shifts in the ER. He wears the cheapest scrubs he can find, often stained with ink in the pockets area. He isn’t a shitty nurse per se but there are tasks that still need to be done at the end of his shift and he gives a crappy report that’s missing too many details. Nurses hate picking up his patients, it’s always a mess. His charting is really spotty and he gets called into the manager’s office all the time to fix it. 

Still, he tries really hard to improve his time management and skills. He wants to be like his friends Mikasa and Reiner, who are the best nurses he knows. He wants to be involved in the traumatic cases and emergencies because he wants to learn as much as he possibly can. He’s really good at wound care, for some reason (hint hint). He’s kinda cocky sometimes too, which can be troublesome when Dr. Galliard is working. People know to steer clear of those two when they’re both  in the ER. Also, Eren always has a black cloud around him; whenever he works it’s gonna be a hella busy day in the hospital. Lots of emergency surgeries, intubations, codes and deaths. He’ll always jump in to help you if your patient is crashing, though, no matter how busy he is. 

Mikasa: she’s a prodigy. She was a straight ‘A’ student in nursing school, got a perfect 75 on the NCLEX and was immediately hired to the trauma ICU after doing a short internship there. She worked night shift for a year but her sleep schedule was so so fucked she started having night terrors, so she switched to day shift. Eren still calls her a traitor for it :/. She keeps trying to get him to switch over but he just hisses at her and threatens to chug a case of Monster energy drinks. She hasn’t given upon him yet, though.

This girl’s work ethic is beyond measure. She comes in exactly at 6:30 am, looks up her patients, takes report, gives a great update to the doctors when they round, and provides impeccable care to her patients. She knows exactly which treatments the doctors will order before they even speak. She’s incredible at inserting IVs--everyone in the hospital knows Mikasa Ackerman can put an 18g in a 90  yr old lady’s arm AND get blood return (just trust me, it’s flipping impossible). She has great skill when it comes to emergency situations and is a big believer in team work. If she notices your patient’s crashing and you don’t know what to do, she’ll calmly coach you and save your patient, too. All before lunch time. 

It doesn’t take Mikasa long to be promoted to charge nurse. When she’s in charge all the reports, paperwork and audits are completed before shift change. She divides the patient assignments really well and is very fair to the new grads. All around she’s an incredible nurse and leader on her unit, but don’t be fooled. If it’s been a rough day, Mikasa will get in her car and sob so loud her throat goes raw. A lot of people depend on her and working in a trauma ICU is really, really demanding. A lot of patients are demanding, rude and busy. She has a lot of trouble with stress management and is thinking of cutting her hours down so she can catch a break. Someone please hug her <3

Armin: for some reason my brain is just SCREAMING respiratory therapist. Like, I imagine this beautiful blond boy in gray scrubs (the color for RT’s in my hospital) going around helping intubate patients, giving nebulizer treatments and doing blood gases. I can just see him huffing and puffing when the attending doctor is overzealous about weaning vent support. -“Why are we changing the patient to pressure support? do you see how tachypneic he is on volume control?”

-“are you gonna put in the order? if not, your patient’s gonna be on PRVC all day, I’m not changing it without an order”

-“Doc, the patient looks like crap and their blood gas looks like death...oh, you still wanna extubate? ok, well I’m gonna leave the ventilator in here just in case. better yet, let me call a pastor in here, too.”

This kid is sassy af and he knows it. He’s smart af too, knows everything there is to know about the lungs and respiratory care. Knows every ventilator mode better than most doctors. Will certainly tell a resident off for ordering the wrong type of inhaler for a patient. He’s so damn intelligent that he even made the ice queen Annie melt like a popsicle. 

 He has no chill when it comes to his patients and even less chill (like -4078875874670) when a doctor gets in his way. For this reason, Armin has recently been toying with the idea of going to PA school so he can have a little more autonomy. He works al over the hospital, usually frequenting the trauma, CV, and medical ICU. The nurses there love him. 

Jean: Jeannie boy. Baby. Sweetie. He’s also a nurse. He is strictly dayshift and trauma. When he first started, he thought he’d do a year in the ICU and then go to CRNA school. He didn’t want to be around sickly patients with hopes and dreams and fears--it was too icky for him. But, over time, he learned that he LOVED trauma. Jean loves the controlled chaos that comes with the ugly, bloody messes that roll in through the ICU’s doors. He always gears up for trauma season (summer time) by bringing Dunkin Donuts iced coffee for everyone on the unit (day and night shift because he’s a supportive king). He gets really good at dealing with arrogant trauma residents and ortho docs who think they’re hot shit. When Jean sees a resident yelling at a nurse, he jumps in and threatens to have their license revoked. He will dig under their skin and page them incessantly throughout the day, too, just to get back at them. Jean is not a fan of lateral violence in the workplace, no sir. 

He always, always makes sure every room is stocked and new bags are hanging for the next shift. He has a thing where if things aren’t properly organized on the unit his brain just spazzes. He’s on the unit council and education committee because he also loves to teach the new grads. He also doubles as charge nurse, when management can’t be there (there can be one or more charge nurses amongst the staff, they usually work different days, though) He and Mikasa work so well together, teaming up to get tasks done, coding patients, running them down to get scanned, etc. People joke they’re the mom and dad of the unit. It makes them both blush <3 (Eren doesn’t like it, lol)

Jean loves to see patients healing from horrendous injuries, he’s constantly cracking jokes with the awake patients to try to make them feel better, and he’s really good at calming anxious family members down. Our boy just makes such good connections with people. He’s the guy you call when your confused patient is one second away from ripping his breathing tube out. He can convince the most restless, agitated patient to chill out. He’s got the voice for it. Also people love his mullet. It looks great. 

Connie: I really didn’t know at first but I feel like Connie would make a great physical therapist. He’s got great energy, he’s funny and I could see him dancing to Earth, Wind & Fire in front of his patients to hype them up for therapy. He’d be very sweet with them 

Sasha: I’m sick and tired of the food jokes, quite honestly. She’s more than that. In my mind, she’s an occupational therapist, helping disabled patients learn to feed, dress and clean themselves again. She works directly with Connie as they round on all their patients in the hospital, they make a great team!  She’s extremely patient and would make a very good nurse, but is unsure of where life is taking her. That is until she meets Niccolo the dietician in the cafeteria, and she falls hard. He encourages her to follow her heart and she does!  

Levi: Hm. This one stumped me. Levi is a bit...cold. It’s not like he has incredible social skills. He’s meticulous and focused and kinda mean? He reminds me of an anesthesiologist, tbh. Like he’ll sedate the shit outta you for surgery, makes sure you don’t die on the table, and then drops you off to the unit as fast as he can. He never takes off his mask while in the hospital and he scrubs maybe four times before surgery. He is very good at medication calculations and knows everything about nerve blocks, intubation, pain medication and sedation. He can look at a person and just KNOW what kind of sedative to give and how much. Your blood pressure will never bottom out while he’s there, he’ll warn the surgeon and immediately get that norepinephrine started.

 If Zeke is the one operating, Levi is on his ass to finish up the surgery ASAP and to not linger, because Zeke takes his time and ignores the tele monitor alarming in the background. After surgery, this 5′2 demon will scream at the 6′ resident about the importance of blood pressure management and sedation in neurosurgical patients. Levi plays no games and he also just really hates Zeke lol

He seems like a jerk but genuinely cares about getting his peeps through surgery. His favorite surgeon to work with is Hange Zoe, because she’s brilliant and fast, but also cognizant of her patient’s hemodynamics. Levi likes taking trauma cases as long as it’s with her. When he drops a patient off to the trauma ICU or goes there to intubate, he makes sure Jean or Mikasa are there because he knows everything is gonna go smoothly. He trusts them a lot. He likes Armin, too and even let him intubate a few times. On his breaks, he’s drinking tea and reading a Williams & Sonoma catalog or scrolling through cleaning Tik Tok lol.

Erwin: This man. This beautiful and hunky beefcake. Omg. I HC him as someone who went to nursing school, became a charge nurse on the trauma unit back in the early 2000′s and fell in love with it. Erwin would eventually fall in love with leadership and educating, too. He went back to school and earned his Doctorate of Nursing Practice (a practice doctorate). He managed the trauma unit for ten years before his brilliant leadership skills and wicked smart brain got him elected as the Director of Trauma Surgery recently. He is the first person with a nursing degree and DNP to ever accomplish this, so it’s very controversial. A lot of toxic doctors threaten to leave the hospital for this (because they’re assholes), but Erwin threatens to fire them in response and it usually shuts them up. 

He often holds lectures in the hospital auditorium. With a mind and voice like his, people are so drawn in by him. He advocates for nursing staff, for reimbursement when continuing their education, better staffing, parking, etc. He makes nice with doctors and gets them to sign petitions for the nurses to get these things. He’s a bit manipulative He’s also a fantastic manager and director, he’s really good at negotiating things. The nurses and residents all love him because he rounds on every ICU frequently, brings food, and asks them how he can help. He can be a bit daunting because of his height and deep voice but once he starts talking to you, you just get sucked in. All around an absolute king. 

Hange: This character reminds me of a trauma surgeon and intensivist (ICU doctor) we have, Dr. Omi. A great surgeon, really really smart, but takes absolutely NO bullshit. She will yell at you if you freeze during intubating. She wants you to recite every step before you take it, otherwise she’ll take the tube from you and do it herself. In surgery, she’s the same way. She wants you to learn, but by her standards. If she asks a question, you better know the answer or fess up right away, she doesn’t like the “uhms” of uncertainty as you try to search for a shitty response. Either you know it or you don’t. And if you don’t, she’ll teach you. Yeah she can be rough around the edges, but she’s got a big heart. She loves her trauma team. She buys them breakfast and gives them funny personalized gifts. One time, she bought an apply tree for Mikasa and brought it to her car at the end of a shift. Mikasa forgot to plant it and it died in her backseat. Hange will sometimes ask, “Mikasa, how’s your apple tree growing?” and Mikasa will lie through her teeth. “It’s growing!” Fess up, Mikasa. Those google search apple trees are starting to look familiar.

All around Hange loves to work and teach. She is a wonderful trauma surgeon and has saved tons of lives.  

[graceful-storyteller]

BABY BLUES - VIRUS

Being in the middle of a pandemic I, naturally, was inspired to write a sick!fic. Warnings for sparklings being unwell and anxious parent Starscream. Unlike in the real world EVERYONE gets better.

The worst part, for Windblade, was that she missed it.

In her defence, she'd had other things on her processor at the time. The final vote on her tax reform bill, a meeting with the Mistress of Flame, a damning media piece on fuel poverty she was still trying to get properly fact-checked. When you ran a planet things like making sure the sparklings were ready for the Education Centre on time were rarely at the top of her priority tree. That was Starscream's job as primary caregiver; a phrase which still caused minor processor errors to those outside their inner circle. For all his selfishness and ruthlessness Starscream was...an adequate caregiver. There were still times when Windblade caught him being highly inappropriate around the little ones, but he'd never put them in real danger. As much as he (loudly and regularly) complained about the sparklings most of it was for show. He cared about their little ones just as much, if not more, than she did.

Which was why Starscream was the first one to realise something was wrong. As Windblade was rushing around their apartment gathering her things and downing her morning fuel, Starscream was stood staring critically at Turbulence. She wasn't refuelling, she wasn't talking, she was just sitting quietly and staring at her untouched energon. Something was definitely not right.

“Goodbye everyone,” Windblade said as she pressed a kiss to the sparklings' helms and one to Starscream's faceplate. “I hope you all have a good day.”

He turned to watch her head to the balcony. He waited until she'd transformed and flown out of sight before moving to loom over Turbulence. She looked up at him with sad, unusually dim optics.

“Are you malfunctioning?” he asked tersely.

At half her normal volume she murmured, “My tank feels funny.”

“Is that because you've been eating rust sticks when you're supposed to be recharging?”

She shook her helm.

Starscream released a frustrated ex-vent. “We're going to take Moonshot to the Education Centre and then we're going to see a medic. If this is a ploy to avoid a test I will not be pleased. I have better things to do than waste my time going to see Flatline.”

She nodded, still looking sad and tired.

The walk to the Education Centre, painfully slow for someone who could fly there in a fifth of the time, was even slower than usual until Starscream lost patience and decided to carry Turbulence. She clung tightly to him and he tried not to notice how unusually warm her frame was.  

“Is she broken?” Moonshot asked, half concerned and half curious.

“No,” Starscream replied. “She probably just has a virus. We're going to see a medic after; he'll make her all better.”

“Good,” Moonshot said. “It's weird being able to tell a story without being interrupted.”

Starscream couldn't help but smile at that. His smile died when he arrived at the Education Centre and the instructors were not as sympathetic towards Turbulence's plight.

“She's probably faking,” the obnoxious little kettle decided. “Give her here, I'll set her straight.”

Starscream glared and resisted the urge to kick him. “Are you a medic?”

“No, but I know Turbulence, and she-”

“Is a melodramatic little diva when she scuffs her paint or is in any other way injured. The fact that she is quiet should be a glaring red flag to anyone with a processor. I'm taking her to a medic. If you have a problem with that you can raise it with Windblade.”

He'd stormed off without waiting for a reply. Turbulence had remained worryingly silent.

Starscream had double-timed it to the med-centre and forced his way through reception to find Flatline in the treatment rooms. The former Decepticon had grumbled and griped about Starscream jumping the line, but he'd dealt with enough overly-anxious (and overly-armed in some cases) creators in the last few years that he knew better than to try sending him away. He'd ordered Starscream to put Turbulence down on the berth and begun his examination. It didn't take long for the grumbling to be stopped dead in its tracks.

“Nurse! I need a space clearing in Intensive Care ASAP!”

That was when the panicking started.

“What?! What's wrong with her?! Hey, I'm talking-”

“Starscream,” Flatline said as slowly and calmly as he could, “you did the right thing bringing her here when you did. It looks like Turbulence has a virus, but she doesn't have the right software to counteract it. It's standard software for you and me – but the sparklings weren't created in the same way. I'm putting her in Intensive Care to be safe and to isolate her from anyone else who might not have the right software.” His optics brightened as a thought occurred to him. “Wait, you have two sparklings right?”

Starscream grabbed his arm. “Moonshot.”

“Bring him here, just in case. With any luck we can download the software before he starts exhibiting any symptoms – if he has the virus at all.”

Starscream didn't need to be told twice. He flew as fast as he could to the Education Centre, barely slowing as he raced through the halls to Moonshot's classroom.

The doors opened. The class turned to look at him. Moonshot wasn't among them.  

“He's down the hall,” said the instructor. “He started crying uncontrollably a few minutes ago. I sent-”

Starscream didn't wait for him to finish. He kept running until his audials captured the faint sound of his sparkling in distress. He kicked the door open, startling the room's occupants.

“What in the blazing inferno do you think you're-”

“Star!” Moonshot cried, reaching for him imploringly. “I don't feel good!”

Starscream pushed the instructor still attempting to berate him out of his way, picked up his sparkling, and rushed out of the Education Centre without a word. It wasn't until he handed his still sobbing sparkling to  a medic and was ordered to wait outside until the assessment was complete that he noticed Windblade was trying to contact him.

He answered the comm with a wry, “Do you want the bad news or the worse news?”

.

After finding enough people to delegate the co-ordination of a response to a public health crisis to, Windblade allowed herself the luxury of collapsing in a chair beside her sparkling's berth. It was lucky, the medics said, that they'd been alerted to the virus when they had or the whole Education Centre might have risked overheating and spark failure. As it was all the sparklings were currently receiving an update to their software centre to prevent further transfer of the virus. Turbulence and Moonshot's classes had been admitted overnight as they had all been infected, although many had not yet started to show symptoms. The two sparklings were in a private room, recharging, watched over by their creators. Flatline had given them the necessary antivirals and was hopeful they could be discharged after a further day's rest and observation.

Even though her sparklings were no longer in danger Windblade had no intention of leaving their side anytime soon. She stroked Turbulence's helm with the hand not held in the sparkling's tight grip. Beside her Starscream was running a soothing palm over Moonshot's wing, his own occasionally twitching and making contact with Windblade's. It was more reassuring than irritating.

“Stop fretting,” Starscream groused without looking at her. “You heard Flatline; they're going to fine.”

“This time,” Windblade muttered.

Starscream twisted in his seat, a frown marring his features. “What are you talking about?”

Windblade sat back in her seat. “I didn't notice. I couldn't tell that Turbulence was ill. Her change in behaviour didn't even register. What if next time I don't notice something until it's too late to get her treatment? What if she gets permanently hurt because I'm not paying attention? What if-”

“It really galls you that I'm the better caretaker,” Starscream said with a wide smirk.

“Excuse me?!”

“Look at you – all wound up because I was the one who realised our sparkling was ill. You were ready to chew me out because I was rude to the instructors but I was actually doing the right thing. You're mad that you were wrong.”

“That is – no! I am not-”

“Windblade, Windblade, Windblade,” Starscream cooed condescendingly. “It's alright. I promise that when you admit I'm superior you'll feel much better.”  

“When Turbulence lets go of my hand I'm going to slap you,” she threatened.

“If you think that will make you feel better you can try,” Starscream said pityingly. “Deep down, though, you know it won't. You won't feel better until you acknowledge you are limited. Limited by your inability to rule a planet and micromanage your family. Limited by your need to take responsibility for everything and everyone. Limited by your belief you can have your rust cake and eat it. You can't bring about a new Golden Age of Cybertron and be creator of the year. Something has to give. Better it's this than allowing some warmongering psychopath to steal your crown.”

For a long moment Windblade was silent as she digested Starscream's words.

“You know, even when you're trying to be supportive you're an aft.”

Starscream continued to smirk as he returned his attention to Moonshot. Windblade rolled her optics and turned back to Turbulence.

After a moment of silence Starscream extended his leg, nudging her ankle-strut. With a smile she nudged him back. They remained linked by that small contact until the position became too uncomfortable. As they shifted their wings connected and remained together, causing Windblade to smile.  

“Thank you Starscream. You are a good caretaker,” Windblade muttered.

His wings twitched in acknowledgement, but for once Starscream was blissfully silent.  

[shadowluverworks]

Remissionem - Chapter 3

If you’ve been keeping up with the show, (SPOILERS HERE) Della has returned to Earth. In this story however, Della is still gone, and her whereabouts are unknown, she is presumed dead. (END SPOILERS) This story has some gore in it, considering it’s about a family overcoming an accident and fighting mortality. Reader discretion advised as I work at a veterinary clinic, so wounds and the treatment of them may be described rather realistically. If you have a squeamish stomach, I suggest not reading these sections. For those of my readers who like this sort of stuff, I hope you are satisfied you creepy little nerds! Thanks for reading guys! 

 Chapter 3: But the Broken Bone

A soft hum helps the time pass as Launchpad tinkers around on the Sunchaser. He has to make sure it’ll still fly of course, but waiting for Mr. McDuck and his family to come back from their adventuring is the perfect time to add some upgrades, and fix anything from the most recent crash this morning. He can check supplies and make sure everything is in tip top order with his plane now that he doesn’t have to actually pilot it. Normally he’s occupied being the rich duck’s chauffeur, so he takes advantage of these opportunities. They’ve been gone for a few hours now, but he doesn’t expect them back for at least a couple more. If he runs out of things to do, he can always nap in the meantime.

His daydreaming is cut short as he hears his name being called. Turning to see who it is, three ducklings come out of the thicket and run to his side. He recognizes his best pal Dewey at the lead, Webby close behind, and Louie just a few seconds later, “Guys! Back already? I wasn’t expecting you for a while yet! Was the temple super small or-“

Dewey cuts him off, “Cut the chatter, Launchpad; we need to get home asap!”

The pilot blinks at the young one’s urgency, “Home? Well, home’s quite a few hours away. You know we’re all the way in Central America, right?”

Webby speaks next, “This is an emergency; how fast can we get there?!”

A hand goes to a large beak, “Hmm. If we don’t hit any strong jet streams on the way, I’d say we could be there in just under six hours.” Apparently, that isn’t the right answer.

The youngest triplet puts his hands to the side of his head, “Six hours?!”

The girl looks down, equally as distressed, “But that could be too late!”

Launchpad finally gets a good look at the children. They aren’t the same happy and put together kids that had left just a few hours earlier. Webby’s normally well-kept hair is a bit unruly, her eyes are wide and worried. She holds a black top hat and a pair of spectacles close to her person.

Louie is sweaty, that’s not far from normal in climates like this, but he’s breathing a bit heavier than usual. His eyes are red and swollen like he’d been crying, and he carries a black cane that his hands keep fiddling nervously with.

The adult is confused, “...why do you have Mr. McDee’s things?”

Dewey is probably the most concerning. His typical cool-guy attitude is completely gone and replaced by someone much more anxious and urgent. His hair is also a bit ruffled, but the thing that sticks out the most to the pilot, are the red smears on his shirt and sleeves.

Now that he looks closer, Webby also bears several marks on her hands and clothes. Even Louie’s green hoodie, and nervous hands that fidget with the walking stick, are stained a dark red. That can’t be what he thinks it is...right?

His brows knit together in concern, “...Is that-“

Again, he’s cut off, only this time by himself. Behind the ducklings in front of him, he sees more figures emerging from the tree line. His eyes widen in disbelief. There’s Huey, also showing some dark red staining on his already red clothes and bare arms. He carries two straight branches in one hand. He’s walking just beside Donald, who’s sleeves are missing. He’s by far the most covered in the ruby substance. His arms, hands, body, even his face and hat have scarlet staining. The sight that makes Launchpad start running though, is the crumpled, unmoving body on Donald’s back.

Leaving the children behind him, he runs to the figures only a short distance away. When he finally reaches them, the horror of his boss’s injuries can be seen. His normally well-kept white feathers now anything but. Several bruises have set in, and countless small red rivers flow off his body and onto the one that carries him. The old duck’s eyes are closed, and the pilot fears it’s already too late.

“Mr. McDee! Wh-what happened?!”

To his relief, the dark turquoise eyes open just slightly to acknowledge him, but the eldest duck is too busy with his labored breathing to reply.

Donald never stops his beeline for the plane, “It’s a long story. He’s hurt...bad. We need to get in the air.”

He has high suspicions that his uncle had passed out a few times on the way back. There were moments when the breathing in his ear would become hushed, and he would pick up his pace. Within a few minutes, there would be a slight movement and the heavy breaths would return, signaling to him that old codger was awake, most likely reluctantly, and back in his painful body again.

At last registering what the other had said, Launchpad leaves them in favor of running back to the Sunchaser. He quickly opens the door and begins preparations for takeoff. As much as he wants to help assist in taking care of his employer, no, his family, the best thing he can do is get them all back home as fast and as safely as possible. Scrooge would surely refuse spending any money on a foreign hospital, let alone any hospital.

The group promptly loads up as soon as the door opens, the children each storing their held items in the lockers that line the plane’s side before finding somewhere to stay for the ride. Spare blankets and pillows are kept in the aircraft for use during long travel, but no beds or soft chairs to set their injured companion on. A padded area on the floor would be the best place for now.

Huey and Webby pick a spot on the bottom level of the plane along the wall. There’s no way Scrooge will be able to climb up the ladder to the top level where the chairs are, where they normally sit. The two lay some of the comfier blankets down along with a few pillows to keep the wounded somewhat comfortable.

Donald’s back is aching at this point, his legs trembling with every step, but he refuses to make his uncle stand or even walk to the padded area. Once he’s satisfied with the spot Huey and Webby put together, he moves to the edge and kneels. Scrooge is coherent enough to lift himself off of his nephew, putting his weight on his good leg, and with the help of his great nephews and niece, he eases down and backwards onto the blankets.

The sailor straightens once again, stretching his back with a wince. That journey seemed to take forever, and the old man was heavier than he looked. He looks back at his uncle, now settled on the floor.

The rich duck gives a tired sigh in relief, followed by a light cough. This position is a bit less painful than the previous where he put most of his own weight on his injured ribs. His good arm cradles his left side underneath the sling, providing some support. An exhausted smile reaches his beak, “...thank ye, nephew. Ye held out longer than ah thought ye would.”

His nephew’s concerned face brightens sympathetically for a just a moment, before focusing once again. Donald leaves his uncle to find the plane operator, “Launchpad, is the plane ready?”

The pilot is already up in the cockpit finishing the preparations, “Everything is set! I’m closing the hatch door now!” After flipping a switch, the plane closes them off to the outside world with a metallic thud. Launchpad starts the engines, and the comforting roar of the Sunchaser brings hope the worried family. The air starts to move inside, bringing air conditioning to the overheated ducks, and Louie is already sighing in relief.

A voice announces overhead, “We’re ready for takeoff! Everybody hang on!”

Donald returns to his patient’s right side, making everyone take a seat until the plane had steadied in the air. The children sit around them, each holding on a part of the aircraft or something heavy enough to keep them from sliding to the back. Normally the sailor would make them sit in a chair with a seatbelt for takeoff. Though the ducklings were used to simply grabbing onto something steady for takeoff and landing as Scrooge allowed them to on a regular basis as of late. They of course haven’t, and won’t, tell Donald about that though. He’s allowing them a chance to prove themselves.

The entrepreneur leans on a pillow against the left wall of the plane’s belly, and the sailor sits closely next to him while grabbing ahold of any sturdy piece he can reach with his left hand above his uncle’s head. His right arm wraps around Scrooge’s chest to keep them both in one spot while the aircraft begins to move.

The metal bird taxis along the rough terrain while turning around in preparation for takeoff. The ride so far is less than smooth, and each bump makes the old duck grit his teeth tighter, grunting on particularly irregular ones. The jostling only sends more pain up his side and through his battered body.

Finally, the Sunchaser picks up speed, and the children instinctively hold on tighter. Loose items scattered around inside are bouncing with the movements as they reach top speed. The familiar pressure settles in their heads as their world is slanted while the wheels lose contact with the ground.

The normally tolerable feeling is torture in Scrooge’s pounding head. He grimaces as his body moves backwards with gravity, and limply presses into Donald’s chest as his nephew hangs on to his hold to keep them both from flying to the back of the plane and risk damaging the old man more.

Within seconds, the trees are already small dots underneath them, not that they can see for there are no windows in the plane’s belly. But already they can tell how far up they must be by the gradual straightening of the metal bird around them. Launchpad turns them to the direction of home, and they slowly climb in elevation.

The pilot turns his head to his family, “Alright, we’re gonna go up a bit higher yet, but it should be smooth from here on out.”

The ducks have already relaxed their postures, the pressure starting to lift, and the children are moving back to the uncles to see how they can help. Donald addresses them each in turn, “Huey, get the first aid kit and all the medical supplies you can find. Louie, you climb up there and keep Launchpad focused on flying. Tell him to keep the plane as steady as possible. Webby, you get some fresh water and ice if it hasn’t already melted. Dewey, you stay with me.”

Huey takes off in one direction while Webby runs in the other.

Louie remains where he is with a scowl on his face, “Aw, why do I have to babysit Launchpad? Dewey is his best friend, make him go!”

Donald doesn’t even blink, “We need to dress Scrooge’s wounds, and he’ll probably need stitches. Dewey is here to help me get him undressed and hold him down...but if you want to switch...?”

A quick glance over of his great uncle’s body makes the green nephew turn green with a dry heave. He’s purposely been trying to avoid looking directly at the deep cuts that litter the elderly body and trying to forget that sickening pop the dislocated shoulder had made.

His mind is quickly made up, “You know what? I think I’m gonna go and make sure Launchpad’s attention is on getting us home as quick as possible.” Hands in his shirt pocket, the boy walks towards the ladder in the corner.

His uncle nods with a knowing smile, “Good idea.”

Donald turns back to his patient, who seems to be a bit more alert at the moment, though he’s been quiet. The lack of backtalk worries the duck though, usually Scrooge would have been grumbling about something by now. His eyes droop, probably exhausted, but he’s actively watching what happens around him, that’s a good sign at least.

The eldest nephew puts a hand on Scrooge’s padded shoulder, giving the robe a tug, “We should take this off first so we can see that.” He nods towards the Celtic duck’s hand still tightly cradling his side.

His uncle frowns, “...ye want me tae strip? In front a these wee ones?!” His voice is hoarse, and a well-trained ear can hear the pain in it.

But it does little to sway the sailor, “Please. Now is not the time for modesty. Besides, you don’t wear pants!”

There really is no shame in not wearing any clothes for the ducks, everything is covered by feathers. Clothing is not needed for most in their society, but it’s seen as a proper trend to take part in.

A glare meets Donald’s, but nothing more on the matter is said. The eldest nephew unfastens the buckle around his uncle’s middle first, loosening the belt, before unbuttoning what was left of the tattered coat. Once the buttons are released, Scrooge removes his supporting hand from his side for Donald to pull the sleeve off. The fabric sticks to partly dried blood on the deep laceration along his upper arm, making him hiss at his kin when it’s tugged, pulling some of his feathers along with it. Donald offers a slightly apologetic look but continues anyway.

With one arm free, the sailor 0n Scrooge’s right and Dewey on his left ease him forward, with a groan on his part, just enough to pass the coat behind him. The blue duckling takes hold of the robe before they let the old man lean against the pillow once again. The avian releases the breath he held at feeling his bones grind together in the short moment.

In the brief glance at Scrooge’s bare back, a deep bruise had already formed along his spine, along with more smaller bruising and superficial cuts scattered along the length of it. But nothing seems to be bleeding terribly there at least. His free hand returns to his side underneath his coat. The reinforcement helps the pain and keeps everything held in one spot, the way it should be.

The two continue undressing their injured uncle as Webby returns with several bottles of water, some towels, and ice in a small bucket. She sits next to Dewey, wrapping some of the ice in a smaller towel. She sits and waits for the two to finish, trying not to appear like she was staring.

It really isn’t an issue; the majority of male ducks she knows don’t wear pants, and of course their swimwear usually consists of shorts and no shirts, so there is truly nothing to hide. Modesty should be one of the lowest on the priority list in this situation anyway. Besides, Webby really isn’t staring at the lack of clothing, she’s mentally taking in the various injuries scattered along her hero’s body.

Donald removes the makeshift sling from around the old duck’s neck as Dewey supports the injured arm. They toss the fabric aside and Donald takes the lead holding onto the arm as Dewey peels off the robe. They carefully lead the injured wing out of it, at last freeing the senior from the tattered coat. The middle child then takes a long sheet they’d found earlier with the spare blankets, and with it forms a new sling that provides much more support than the strips of clothing had.

With the coat gone, the true extent of the rick duck’s injuries is revealed. Black and blue patches can be seen, even through the white feathers. The deep cut on his good arm drains freely down his elbow and onto the blankets below him. A rather large bruise centers over his left hip, most likely one of the many locations the large stone had made contact. His knees are skinned and bloodied, and a darkening bruise lay just below his right one. Webbed, still spat-clad, feet are scuffed and abused, but mostly fine.

Hands, mainly the right, have small bloody scratches and cuts. If he was at all still conscious during his fall, they might be from attempts to catch himself. The bad arm and shoulder are a bit discolored, most likely the initial hit had dislocated it, and it then flopped around uselessly getting more damaged as his body rolled. The darkest bruise sits on his ribcage, currently being hidden by his good hand. Traces of a cut can be seen starting above and stretching below it, and blood flows like a tiny stream down his side.

The once noble face is also cut and beaten, expression looking between a mix of agitated and defeated. A large cut over his left eye bleeds down the side of his face. A welt can be seen in the same location, most likely from the original hit again. The back of his head leaves blood smears on the pillow, but they must be multiple tiny cuts from the rough landing, as no large ones can be seen.

Despite his many injuries, there’s no sign of internal bleeding, at least that can be seen from the outside, though the most probable place, if there is any, would be on the ribcage. If broken, ribs have been known to puncture through lungs and other tissues. For now, they would just have to watch that particular wound closely.

As much as he tries to hide his pain, his family can see through his facade. The biggest sign being his unusually quiet demeanor. If he felt anything like his normal self, he’d be barking orders to the lot of them, and telling them to quit their worrying. Instead, he sits quietly, merely accepting whatever his kin decide to do next. The family can only hope they can provide some sort of relief to his situation.

Dewey steps aside for the time being, his job finished. Webby moves into his spot with her homemade icepack and holds it up to the large knot on Scrooge’s forehead. The rich duck winces at the sudden contact, not expecting it, but soon appreciates the cool sensation, leaning into it slightly. The blood from the cut in the same location had long since dripped past his eye and was running down his beak. The girl frowns, grabbing at a different towel to gently wipe it away, cleaning him up. She earns a tired but appreciative smile back.

Huey has returned with his medical supplies, having to make two trips to bring everything back, including the two branches he’d found in their trek home, “I found one bottle of hydrogen peroxide.”

Donald nods, “We’ll use that to clean the supplies and our hands then, and we’ll just use water to rinse out the sores.”

Eyes widen slightly next to him, and he’s a bit amused to see his uncle suddenly fearing his own kinfolk at the mention of their plans. Sweat forms on the old duck’s brow, but whether it was from anxiety at the inbound escalating of his already tormenting pain or from the fever developing, one can’t be sure.

The sailor looks back to the oldest triplet, “You and Dewey take care of his leg, Webby and I will start cleaning the cuts.”

A tiny hand grabs hold of one finger on the hand that holds tightly to crushed ribs and is led away. “Starting with this,” the female duckling gently lowers the bloodied hand, removing the ice from the other’s head for the time being. This is going to be a tad difficult with the wounded wing hanging right about where the injury was.

Scrooge’s good hand fiddles uneasily on his lap, wanting to cover the wound again as his eyes glance in the opposite direction. The slightest breeze from the air conditioning can be felt in the throbbing injury.

Donald senses Webby’s hesitation and stands on his knees over the entrepreneur to move the bad arm gently up and out of the way without causing injury. A grunt signifies the sensitivity at simply stretching the skin over the laceration, his body turning to the right and away, but the two continue on.

Now being able to see the gash clearly, Webby’s concern grows, and the oldest nephew can see it in her face. The bruise is quite large, and almost completely black. A long and deep cut runs vertically down the length of it, completely soaking the feathers around it in its deep crimson color. If she looks close enough, she can see the laceration is completely down to the bone, separating pieces of muscle and exposing several ribs to the outside world.

Webby cautiously takes a hand and lightly presses along the bruise and isn’t surprised when he flinches away and barks out another string of curses in his native tongue. The bones had moved and crunched together under her light touch, making even her strong stomach turn over, “Sorry, Mr. McDuck.”

There’s that name again! He hates it when she called him by that, it’s as if she’s one of his employees. He mentally takes a note for a later time, though he is unable to physically say anything logical at the moment as he grimaces and trembles, trying to recover from the painful assault. He’s now laying more so on his right side in a feeble attempt to get away.

Even though Donald can’t see the full injury itself at his position, from Webby and Scrooge’s reaction, he knows it’s severe. Though he risks the question anyway, “How bad is it?”

The duckling’s face remains apprehensive as her solemn, almost purple, eyes flick to him, “I-It’s...bad...”

How such an injury even occurred she’s not completely sure. The broken and damaged ribs could be from the force of the swinging boulder. The laceration perhaps from the sharp surface, or it’s possible the duck had landed on a particularly sharp stone during his decent. However it happened, it was going to definitely need some medical attention, “It looks down to bone, and there’s definitely some broken ribs in there. That’s probably what’s causing the cough.”

The sailor’s face turns grim at her statement with a worried hum, “Do you know how to sew up wounds?”

The girl nods her head, “Granny made sure I at least had a general idea of it in my survival classes. It might not be pretty, but I can do it.” As much as she hated being the object of Scrooge’s pain, she wanted to help as much as she could.

Donald had brief training in the navy as well. He was no doctor, but he wanted to know how to sew up a laceration to stabilize the injured until professional medical help was accessible. It had proven useful on multiple occasions since then. He had used his abilities on adventures with his family. Della and Scrooge would get the occasional cut here and there that needed stitches; such hazards come with the territory. Plus raising three boys was not always without incident either. Though this would be the most he’s ever done in one sitting. He’s grateful to be able to split up the work with the young duckling and trusts in her abilities despite her modesty.

He dips his head in return, “Good. You and I can each sew up the worst cuts. Normally, I’d offer to switch with you for this particular one, but I have a feeling we’re gonna have a resistant patient on our hands, and someone is going to have to keep him still.”

A snort makes him glance at the source of their attention, who’s looking off to his right with an annoyed expression. The girl stifles a smile and nods in agreement. As the two start their preparations of sewing up the large gash, they let the old duck move back to his original position to rest for the time being.

Meanwhile, Huey and Dewey have been conversing on how to stabilize Scrooge’s possibly broken leg. The eldest triplet had found two fairly straight branches on the way back and had brought them along with the thought of this in mind, “Alright, the idea is this: we use these two branches to keep any potential bones that might be broken or fractured in the right positions. It’ll also help keep the leg stable and prevent any further injury.”

The middle triplet nods, “Seems simple enough. Tell me what I need to do.”

The two work together to tear a pillowcase into small strips of fabric a few inches wide and the same length as the original casing. When they have a total of seven made, they slide each strip underneath the injured leg, trying to move the limb itself as little as possible. Once placed, Huey lines a stick on either side of the appendage the long way. The sticks begin just at knee level, and end just above the ankle, “I’ll keep the branches in place, you tie everything together. Remember, it has to be tight to be stable.”

Dewey recognizes his brother is giving him a warning. Tying the makeshift splint together could be painful, and he’s currently sitting next to the uninjured leg. If Scrooge lashes out, Dewey will be caught in the crossfire.

The boy takes in his positioning, looking to his right at his great uncle. Webby and Donald are setting out the supplies. They’re rinsing the blood off their dirtied hands with bottled water and afterwards use the hydrogen peroxide to try and clean up as best as possible. They wouldn’t be sterile, but at least they wouldn’t be as soiled while trying to stitch up the lacerations. Though with all this happening around him, Scrooge’s eyes are on the blue lad at his feet. Whether he had heard what the two were talking about over the chatter of his niece and nephew can’t be known. Maybe he’s not even aware of what’s happening, or that he’s looking directly at Dewey, but he says nothing.

The blue garbed boy looks back to his task at hand. If he gets kicked, so be it. He has a job to do, and he’s going to do his best at it. He takes both ends of the first strip of fabric that sits around the ankle and starts to tie. He pulls tightly at the ends, making the sticks press snugly against the limb.

Huey watches the old miser out of his peripheral vision, just in case the other decides to even change position. But he doesn’t move a muscle, so Dewey continues to the next tie. The second and third each go without incident. At the tightening of the fourth tie, the oldest triplet can see the rich duck’s eyes widen suddenly. The branches are now starting to put straightening pressure on the bones inside. But still, he remains silent, though he is hyper focused on what the middle triplet is doing now.

Huey turns his head ever so slightly in their patient’s direction, not to look at him, but to give Dewey a warning that he has started to react. The blue nephew catches his movements and ties the next strip cautiously as it’s now directly over the bruised area. He reminds himself that the ties must be fitted snugly to provide stability and pulls the ends, drawing the branches even closer around the leg.

At the sensation, Scrooge barely manages to stifle the end of a shout, resolving to growl instead at his great nephews, eyes still boring holes into them. His good hand having shot out to grab at Donald’s arm just above the wrist, who squawks in surprise and pain; he needs to squeeze something, to distract himself from wanting to shove the tiny duckling away. Scrooge’s left leg bends up in reaction, but he restrains it from moving any farther, gritting his teeth. Only two more. Only two.

The middle triplet flinched away at his uncle’s outburst, afraid of an incoming kick in the ribs, but when it never came, he saw it as his opportunity to continue. He moves back to his previous position, Huey following him. He too had moved briefly at the movement.

They move to the sixth tie, Dewey once again reminding himself to be tight with a deep breath. He crosses the two over, one under, and pulls with all his might. Scrooge’s flinch moves him slightly, and the strained cry reaches his ears, as well as his uncle’s whose arm is being tightly squished. Dewey may have to make another splint after all this.

At the sounds of distress, Louie peeks over the edge of the balcony. His great uncle is now completely stripped of clothing, how and why that happened, he doesn’t want to know. But there’s a new sling around the other’s neck, and it seems much better than the previous.

Huey and Dewey are carefully poised at Scrooge’s right leg, his left having now drawn up, leaving his foot pressed tightly against his rump. Webby sits on his left, needles and bandages are laid out next to her; Louie definitely doesn’t want to see what she’s going to do with those. Donald sits on the other side, one arm in Scrooge’s clutches as he beats the ground with his other fist, holding back his pained cries.

“Everything ok down there?” The youngest triplet is almost afraid to ask.

The female duckling yells up at him, “Everything’s fine! Just putting a splint on Mr. McDuck’s leg!”

The pilot winces in sympathy behind him, “Sounds like it hurts! Poor Mr. McDee.”

Louie looks back at Launchpad, “...H-he’ll be fine...how long has it been?” He’s eager to change the subject, not wanting to think of the alternative.

The pilot looks back at him for a brief moment, “It hasn’t even been half an hour! Still got a ways to go...unfortunately.”

The nephew flinches at another pained shout, moving back to his previous seat next to the pilot. He leans his head on a hand with a loud groan, “Ugh, this is gonna take forever.”

[transcriptroopers]

Hi! Thank you for your amazing blog! I was wondering do you know what happens to wounded persons who are deployed? Like if the soldier is injured so badly that he/she needs surgery, for example in Afganistan, what would happen to them? Would they be moved back to States and then had surgery there or would they be operated in Afganistan or in Europe or how does it work?

Thank you! I hope you don’t mind me just going into some detail slightly less related to your specific question.Soldiers who are injured that badly probably wouldn’t survive a flight home tbqh, and I seriously doubt the army can organize a flight home for a random joe in a short enough turnaround time that it’ll actually matter. If we’re going to fly someone, they need to be stable enough for the flight to not die, which probably means their most crucial injuries have at least been addressed.

Minor or major, our people will have first crack at the soldiers, (provided they weren’t captured) so if it’s something that obviously needs surgery like a severed arm or a temporary treatment we performed like applying a tourniquet, we annotate that on their casualty card/during the 9-line MEDEVAC and what equipment they’ll need. That way incoming medical personnel know what to expect going in and they can start getting ready to retrieve and receive all the casualties efficiently, including whether that means bringing in an ambulance or a helicopter. They also should know ahead how the injury happened because then they may be able to infer additional details. If a soldier is incoming with major second and third degree burns, that seems bad enough, but when you learn it was from an IED,  now you know there’s probably a concussive injury and shrapnel too. Stuff like that.When the casualties are moved, the priority cases, i.e. those that may result in death or serious injury, are taken care of first. So someone who does need major surgery might actually be put on the back burner until someone’s gushing artery is under control, for example. Medics can’t possibly analyze every single injury every single soldier has in seconds, so they have to address the immediate concerns asap.

As long as the surgery isn’t overwhelmingly complicated, we have people who do stuff like that. The army has surgeons and anesthesiologists and whatever and whoever else on call 24/7. I think most injuries, especially common battlefield injuries, can be taken care of in house. Even if it required movement of a soldier from one place to another, e.g. flying over a surgeon from Iraq. It’s sometimes easier to move the doctor to the sick than the sick to the doctor.

If the surgery requires special equipment or a particularly trained individual that we just don’t have, then we’d stabilize them the best we can and try to get them seen locally. There are hospitals even in war zones, and despite overcrowding, underfunding, inordinate bombings, and "accidental” airstrikes, there is medical care to be found, and we have been known to utilize local hospitals on deployment.

If the soldier can at least be stabilized enough to take a flight home, even if they need additional medical care once there, then we can send them home.This is all my understanding. As always I'd love to hear @ginger-wuv​‘s personal input, provided she’s not too busy!

-Kingsley

If you felt engaged or enlightened by the above post, would you please consider checking out my Patreon? Your small contribution can make a huge difference for me. Thank you for your support!

[lilydodge]

This is my favorite photo from the photo shoot I did with the incredibly talented Clare Bayley but you’ll probably be seeing a bunch of different ones because I just want to share them everywhere! The typographic art is by corgi enthusiast and brilliant artist Chris Pryor. 

I want to update folks on exactly how this process has been the past few months, because I have left out some details in my posts until things resolved. I am not saying this to complain or criticize - just to give everyone a sense of how things have been behind the scenes, and how this sausage has been made, if you will.

In May, I had an appointment with my agency liaison to come down to her office. I’d been doing that a bunch - to check in about paperwork, mostly. It felt like having a personal assistant: someone to go down a long and complex list of things I needed to do, identify which ones had been done, which ones were next up, and what my exact next steps would be to get them done. I wish I had an agency liaison for everything in my life!

When I got there that day, though, she had more to chat about than my expanding binder of forms. She said there was a child who seemed like a perfect fit for me! I was totally thrilled - a placement on the horizon, already, in May!? She told me about this young woman and I got more and more excited. Then she said “the treatment team wants to meet you” and I started to get out my calendar to see when would work - but no, she meant now. The team was there now!

So we sat down together and chatted and I was already falling in love. This child and I had a ton in common, and her treatment goals sounded like the things I was most “excited” about working with. To be clear - I’m not ever going “yay, a traumatized child, how fun!” But in the trainings, they went over different scenarios, and I personally felt more drawn to work with, say, an older teen girl with abandonment and self esteem issues than a middle school boy with anger and aggression. And this young woman sounded like her needs would be well met by the skills most firmly situated in my wheelhouse.

I only knew her first name, her age, a bit of her background, and some of her interests. But I was falling in love. I thought about her all the time. The agency was very clear with me that this was all provisional - placements fall through all the time, and I wasn’t even licensed yet! But since they wanted to place this child asap, they were “fast-tracking” me. I worked so hard to stay in that paradoxical spot between open acceptance, que sera sera, and letting myself fall deeper in love with this kiddo.

At one point I saw some stuff on sale at Target that fit exactly with one of her specific interests. I told myself “don’t you dare buy that; nothing is guaranteed, and you will only be devastated if you buy it and don’t end up getting to give it to her. Don’t make this too real - don’t start physically preparing the room - relax and be patient.” Next thing I knew, I was in the checkout line purchasing them. I can only be so Zen. I ended up bringing her one of the items when I met her - on a Wednesday evening, during her treatment team meeting. I was so nervous! But after meeting her, I was even more in love, so beyond excited.

I kept this information pretty close to my chest, which was excruciating  - I’m not at all a private person (with my own business; I can keep other people’s secrets like a vault). But I told myself “do not share this information with anyone you wouldn’t want to process the loss with.” I told my support caregivers and some other people I trust with my whole heart, and that’s about it. Some people got brief brushstrokes - “there’s a potential kid and they are trying to fast-track me!” During this time, the agency was really good about managing expectations and helping me stay clear-eyed during a very tough time, having to throw myself 100% into preparing for a child while recognizing that it is not at all guaranteed. 

Then, I was going to spend an afternoon with her, to get to know her, show her my house, start building that relationship. I was getting a bit nervous because I’m a planner and preparer, but the evening before, I still hadn’t gotten the full details on where and when to pick her up. Then I got a call from my agency liaison. She let me know that this young woman had decided not to go through with the placement for a variety of reasons, all of which were totally understandable.

But it also felt like a great loss. I went into my room and cried pretty hard. I didn’t feel robbed - nothing had been ‘taken’ from me that I had any claim to - and I was so glad that this kid had choice and agency in such a tough situation. But it was a tough blow. I felt very sad. Chas was there when I got the call and he sat with me and held me for a little bit. I told myself that if I couldn’t handle this, then I should quit the program now. Big feelings, painful loss, frustration, changes, dashed expectations - that’s what I signed up for. 

I felt pretty awful for a day or so, but then those things I knew intellectually started to take root emotionally, and by the end of the week, I felt better. I was glad that she as finding something that worked for her, and I was grateful that I’d been fast-tracked for a while anyway, and I knew there was another kid in my future who I would love with my whole heart. The rest of the stuff I’d bought for her made its way to her through my agency liaison, and I heard that she loved it. (I was worried about the appropriateness of sending gifts - I did not want her to feel like I was pressuring her, or wanting to make her feel bad or guilty about not “choosing” me - so I told the agency liaison that she could have the items be from her, but she decided to say that they were from me, and apparently kiddo was glad to hear that I was still thinking of and rooting for her.)

All this happened in June. I had been preparing to have a placement by July - I talked to my manager about taking a week off, since school would be out at the time and I wanted time to bond, figure out summer plans, etc. I talked to my support caregivers and boss at church about what to do if I was placed with a kid before going on the week long service trip. I deliberately made zero plans for the month of July and beyond, aside from the service trip. And here I was, staring down the second half of the summer, having geared my entire life up to start parenting asap, and now back to waiting it out. 

I was also off the “fast track,” so my licensing hadn’t been completed, which was weighing on me. I did a fun photo shoot with Clare, but couldn’t post or share the photos until the last t was crossed and the last i dotted! July and August were pretty long months in this regard, though I did my best to take advantage of the continued freedom and had plenty of fun with my friends.

Skip ahead to the end of September. I got another call from my liaison about another potential placement - this one a much different situation - and I scheduled a time to meet with the kiddo, along with his caseworker and another agency liaison. We met on Monday at a pizza place. We ate pizza and talked about school. His favorite subject is Language Arts, which I used to teach! I knew he was checking out another potential placement on Wednesday so I figured I’d hear back after that.

My agency liaison also scheduled my final home walkthrough for that Thursday. This was the last step in the licensing process (but I wasn’t totally clear on that at this point). So on Monday I met kiddo. Tuesday and Wednesday went by like normal. On Thursday I met with the agency liaison at my house and she completed my home walkthrough paperwork. Then I got a phone call from the other agency liaison on Thursday afternoon saying that the other placement is far less ideal than mine, and caseworker wants to move forward with my placement. Did Friday work for move-in day?

I said wait - by Friday, do you mean tomorrow? He said yes, that would be tomorrow. I said yes, absolutely (while making a mental list of all the weekend plans I’d need to cancel). Then I told him that I was not technically licensed yet, is that an issue? He told me that I was licensed - the home walkthrough clinched it - and just because my licensed hadn’t been issued to me as a piece of paper, I was licensed. Of course the next thing I did was call some close loved ones to tell them in person, then post my announcement photos to Facebook.

At this point, it was 3:00 on Thursday. Agency liaison told me that the caseworker was still at court working things out - he called me as the process wound its way through - and that there was a “95% chance” that the placement would work out and kiddo would be at my house the next evening. He said he would call me back as soon as court was over within the hour. I got a call back at 6:30 saying that he hadn’t heard from the caseworker, but was still working on the 95% chance, and that I should be ready for kiddo to move in the next afternoon. He told me he’d text me first thing in the morning to confirm.

As I write this, it is now Friday at noon, and I’m still working with “95% certainty” that tonight I will be welcoming and settling in my new child. (Should that 5% fall-through happen, I will be sad, have a lot of weekend plans to un-cancel, and go back to waiting.) No one is in control of how chaotic the system is, how long court takes, and how tough it can be to get true certainty about anything. I can’t even imagine how it would feel as a child to be moved so abruptly and have so much of my life constantly up in the air. All I can do is hope and pray that I can start providing love, care, and stability immediately and make an impossibly painful situation as gentle as possible.

P.S. People keep asking me how they can help, and I am so grateful for that. In these first few days and weeks, the #1 thing I need is flexibility. Everyone has been so good about me abruptly canceling all my plans this weekend, but I’ll slowly start adding socializing back into my life once I get a sense for kiddo’s personality and how best to serve him with that kind of thing. Check out this document I made about how to behaviorally and emotionally support us. And keep an eye out for an updated Amazon list once I know what kiddo likes and needs!

[imafantasticbaby]

2ne-sone for this Reply

girl you write novels just like me, I respect that. now, I just wanted to say that I do NOT believe he doesn't deserve to be blamed on things that have happened within his company. I will agree he needs to fix things when it comes to better management, better PR and honestly I think he needs to kick his brother out of the CEO chair and take back the title cause his brother is another reason for things being shitty at times. 

i want to address his comments he makes sometimes. The man is brutally honest and I agree he needs GD or CL to take their perfectly manicured and moisturized hands and get a good ole slap. he needs to think before he speaks and I think a major issue for this is that he doesn't go on the media enough to learn how to control his words. Yes he does Kpop Star and survival shows but those are shows where he is use dto saying such bold and harsh criticism. if he actually put himself on other shows like JYP does then maybe he will get the practice. but still he can also learn to fucking choose his words in a way he gets his message across but also doesnt set fire to a wound. hes an idiot for this i agree.

When it comes to Park Bom I am 100% in agreement girl, I am. she deserved better treatment and this long ass “self reflection” needs to stop. It shouldnt have started to begin with and I do hold a lot of blame on YHS for that. He should have made sure things went more smoothly and the recovery was handled better. However, I cant sit here and call him a horrible person because of it because We do not know the full story as too what happened behind YG doors other than what we see in the media speculations-- the media that started the whole damn thing. there could be things we are not aware of so I cant just assume when there are blank spaces. you know? Park Bom has come out herself with a Diray entry and twitter replies saying he is a good guy and takes care of her. So, what else can we do but believe her when she says it? i dont know but I do agree he should have handled it better.

With Minzy I have mixed feelings about her that are my OWN opinions. I respect everyone else opinions too. I just believe that if she stayed then YGE would have been able to continue with a 2NE1 comeback instead of getting discouraged and just giving up on them. They deserved better then that. 

When I mean individual dreams I mean, that Minzy wanted a solo debut, YG wasnt focused on that request at the time so she left. Her Dream for a solo to happen ASAP was not in sight for her at YGE at the moment. I do agree that this should have been delt with better and management should have planned better and worked things out to fulfill this dream because she deserved it. However, It was her choice to go and thats something we have to respect and YG did so by letting her make that choice. I do think they should have rearranged priorities better and started working on giving her the solo she clearly deserved but it didnt happen. and thats a all in all Company’s  fault not one man’s.

Now when it comes to CL and her American Solo activities-- you need to separate YG from it a bit because its not YGE that is handling it on the majority. CL has signed with School Boy Records which is an American record label established in 2007 by Scooter Braun through his School Boy Entertainment company that is also in parent with Universal Music Group. They have signed artists such as PSY, for his american promotions, Justin Beiber, the black eyed peas, and more. They are handling her American promotions and her Solo career there. YG is just getting benefits and also paying them to do so. So because of that, you cant just blame YG for her solo delay. You just cant. if there was anything you could blame YGE for in regardless to this is maybe they need to kick Scooter’s  ass and tell him to hurry up.

Also, yes I am aware that Yang Hyun Suk is the biggest share holder of YG, i mean he is the creator and owner after all. but besides him Naver has majority as well. and has a lot of power and influence in the company. You gotta make your investors happy you know? or they can pull their findings. YHS does have power, I agree, he does have  influence, but he still has to take ideas and orders from his investors and all. and if it comes down to it that they want this thing or they walk then YG has to fold unless he wants to lose billions of dollars in funds.

Yes he is a higher up as well, but hes ONE person and just because hes the founder and owner doesn't mean hes the controller on every detail. there is a Board of directors whether people want to believe it or not and there are votes being held. its how a company runs.

Now I am not appreciating how you think im supporting hate on Park Bom and that I would just go to her and say  “Shit happened, its life.” you take a phrase I used in my post and just create a while thing around it because you are upset with my feelings on the matter. I wouldn’t NEVER do such a thing to her when I agree she CLEARLY deserved better treatment.

Also, im just gonna add that most statement links that get thrown at me are a PR team responding on queue. and then you have the link where YG gives his own thoughts. did you even READ the words? you completely missed his meaning. just like you are completely missing mine because you are a dedicated blackjack ( just like I am. I mean I worship them and support them like crazy and cried for weeks after they disbanded-- but anyway-- ) who is quickly upset when you see a sentence or phrase that sounds horrible against them.

Yes he said  “ What led to the decision to disband the group was the state of Park Bom’s mental health, After ‘the incident the criticisms we received were endless. But in addition to the stress and guilt from that, I’m sure Park Bom would have felt a strong determination to continue 2NE1. I told her, ‘2NE1 is important, but I wish for you to be healthy, both mentally and physically.” 

Now if you actually READ that and understand that he is saying that after the scandal broke out they were SWARMED with ENDLESS hate and most of it was Thrown at Bom. Depression hit for her and she needed a break-- a break that is going too long I agree-- and he reassured her that 2NE1 is important but he wants her to not push herself and do some self care. She was probably constantly crying because of all the hate she was getting and wasnt stable enough to work in the studio. I mean dont you feel like its impossible to do anything after an anxiety attack or something? He was concerned for her and im glad he gave her rest. BUT NOW ITS TIME FOR HER NOT TO HAVE IT. ant to be honest. I believe he had started to end her break. MAMA 2016 happened, the return of Park Bom for a short while. I believe that Performance was a statement to show that she is here and she is ready to PLAY......but then shit hit the fan with Minzy leaving, CL’s american promotions, BP;s Debut and other things and in the end a unanimous decision was made.

But it's not necessarily completely over: “You never know what can happen," he added. "It’s possible they’ll get back together like S.E.S. It may not be as long of a break [as S.E.S], but I’m thinking there’ll be a day when the reunion happens.”

This quote gives me hope that YGE will look to them once again once the time is right and if you cant believe that then thats fine. its your choice, but I will continue to have hope.  

Most of your points where not even ANYTHING I was talking about in my post and you assumed things that you thought I was meaning when I was NOT. 

“You’re assuming that the issues within the company and regarding it’s artists are not all YHS’s fault. In contrast, I’m assuming that a large percentage of the issues are his fault, considering the amount of clout he has within his own company. But here’s the kicker: we will never know if either of us are right because YHS can never give a straight answer.”

One, I agree that YG holds blame on things. I NEVER said he things are not all his fault. I was just expressing that a LOT of hate he gets on the majority is uncalled for. but YES there are a lot he is called for. 

YES I agree. we will never know  the full truth because YGE does not give detailed straight answers, and that might be a reason for it that could be completely understanding, whether its that they just dont want to let the issues carry on or that they are trying to deal with it peacefully without the media knetz gluing themselves to the front door..

but because of this fact we shouldn't be QUICK TO JUDGE and get upset. we are only seeing glimpse of things and we are getting frustrated. we need to breathe, step back and try to understand instead of immediately attacking cause we assume or feel some type of way. 

I was angry when I heard the news of 2ne1, but I didnt start attacking. I did research and I listened to all opinions and monitored Bom and Dara and CL just like all other Black Jacks did. and this is how I got to my conclusion.

whether you agree with me or not, thats okay. you have your feelings, I have mine.

[recentanimenews]

AnimEVO: The Fascinating Fan-Run Side of the World's Biggest Fighting Game Event

  EVO is a massive event, filled with thousands of players from across the globe coming to compete in nine carefully selected official tournament games. But with hundreds of fighting games out there, it’s easy for someone’s favorite to be left off of the official roster. So what’s a fan of lesser-loved fighting games to do? You play in a side tournament at the event for your games of choice. And if there isn’t a side tournament? Well, then you roll up your sleeves and set one up yourself!

But being a tournament operator, or “TO,” isn’t easy. I should know, because my boyfriend Matt “LordBBH” Hall and I ran our own side tournament for the very first time this year! You not only have to deal with a lot of running around at the event itself, but you also have other logistics to worry about: getting space, keeping track of entry fees and payouts, handling registration, and getting your tournament publicity. Thankfully for us, there’s AnimEVO, a collective of EVO side tournaments that works to help both TOs and competitors participate in the games they love.

AnimEVO began back at Evolution 2014. As Capcom games like Super Street Fighter IV and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 dominated the official EVO lineup, many so-called “anime” games, called such for their anime-derived aesthetic (and that they were typically more popular in Japan), were often left off the roster. The first AnimEVO featured games like Aquapazza, Melty Blood, Arcana Heart 3 Love Max, and even Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle.

AnimEVO’s current co-director, Hagure, first joined the event for its 2016 incarnation. “I initially came to the team to create the AnimEVO website. I didn't plan on doing much else besides that at first,” Hagure admits. But as the event implemented online registration and required increased organization, he found himself becoming more and more involved. “Last year was probably the first I was really the one directing stuff.”

And AnimEVO certainly needed someone to wrangle everything. As EVO has grown, so has AnimEVO alongside it, allowing more and more games to join its collective of side tournaments. The amount of players entering every year has increased, too. “Removing a lot of the redundancies shared between TOs and streamers gives them more time to focus on promoting, organizing & running tournaments & streams, leading to more interest & a better event overall,” says Hagure. “Also, online pre-reg & having all the info in one place has helped attract more players. Getting cross-entries from players between games they wouldn't normally enter on-site is something we've seen a lot of. Finally, people, especially veteran [community members], are starting to see that we're here for them year after year, and know that we're dependable. Some folks are now anticipating our lineup more than EVO's [main games]!”

So what kind of games will you see at AnimEVO? Well, you have obvious anime-inspired games like Melty Blood, Vampire Savior, older versions of Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and Persona 4 Arena. You’ll find games that have a direct anime connection, like Sailor Moon S for the Super Famicom, the Fist of the North Star fighter, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax. You’ll also find older games like Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters, and Fighter’s History Dynamite—the tournament Matt and I ran. Even competitive games not considered “fighting games” have been welcomed into the AnimEVO roster, like Gundam Versus, Windjammers, Catherine, and Puyo Puyo. One year there was even a Granblue Fantasy tournament. No, not Granblue Fantasy Versus, the mobile game!

“Obviously, we lean towards fighting-genre videogames, especially those that don't get the usual main-stage treatment. But pretty much as long as it is some kind of competitive game, that has the necessary TOs dedicated to run it, we'll allow it,” says Hagure.

Mark of the Wolves Tournament photo by @NocturnalSRK

This year, AnimEVO’s roster boasted a whopping thirty-one games for players to consider entering. While some players may stick to only one or two games, others may enter multiple titles—and place very well in many of them. Some players even come to EVO primarily for AnimEVO games—this year, a group of Korean players made a splash when they came out to EVO for the express purpose of playing in the tournament for Capcom’s fan favorite Dreamcast fighter Project Justice. 

  The Project Justice side tournament was dope as hell. @bananashot3 and the Korean team came all the way to Evo only to support PJ. Some old FGC heads showed up as well. @NeoRussell is the community MVP for running this. Great times were had ???? pic.twitter.com/ozpd8HrGDa

— Jotamide (@jotamide) August 4, 2019

  Sponsors have stepped up interest in AnimEVO as well, with companies like Sega, Atlus, and Arc System Works promoting AnimEVO’s side tournaments and even contributing things like setups, streaming space, prizes, and winners’ pot bonuses. This year, Arc System Works helped out to run the first-ever tournament for the recently released KILL la KILL: IF, and Square-Enix stepped in to promote free entry and a major pot boost to Million Arthur Arcana Blood. “31 games was a pretty big jump for us, [and] with the ArcSys World Tour, KILL la KILL and Million Arthur Arcana Blood sponsor relations, we did grow a significant deal organizationally over previous years,” Hagure notes. Even the strange, obscure games can get some surprise support: the one-man crew behind the bizarre and beautiful freeware fighter Ultra Fight da Kyanta 2 was watching all the streams and giving out thanks to the players and organizers. 

Of course, not every game in AnimEVO has a corporate sponsor behind it: many are run by and for longtime fans of these games simply to give other folks who love these titles a rare chance to play them competitively. That’s what motivated Matt and I to set up a side event for Fighter’s History Dynamite, a Neo-Geo fighter by Data East that is largely unknown to the mainstream, but beloved by fans of older fighting games. It had never been in an EVO before in any form, and we’d struggled to get casual play set up at previous EVOs, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.

Making the leap from playing to TOing is quite a jump, however. At a major event like EVO, there are many players across many games, all of whom have different schedules and potential conflicts. Chasing down people to play often proved challenging, especially since FHD’s playerbase of Neo-Geo fans overlapped a lot with players being called to play in their pools for the new Samurai Shodown at the same time. Brackets were tough to update online, necessitating a shift to tracking everything on good ol’ pen-and-paper. Japanese players with unusual control setups needed help configuring their sticks and buttons and conveying information to their opponents, which required me to step in as an interpreter. We had hoped to have the tournament done in two hours, but it wound up being more like three-and-a-half due to needing to chase people down to play, make calls on no-show disqualifications, and deal with other odd issues that cropped up. Even with two people, it was hard work!

In the end, however, people really enjoyed our tournament, and several players went home with custom-made trophies featuring original art by Anthony Vaccarelli. It was tough, and mistakes were made, but in the end most everyone had a great time.

  Animevoのファイターズヒストリーダイナマイト優勝しました！ やったぜEVO覇者だ！世界一だ！#EVO#FHD pic.twitter.com/W8RvcVVDHI

— ケンちゃん様さん@8.24白猫ファンミ (@ilpkenchan) August 3, 2019

So, what should you do if you want to run a tournament for your favorite neglected fighting game at EVO? Well, for starters, you must realize that you are going to be committing a huge chunk of your time at the event (and before it) to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. You’ll also have to make tough decisions—if that one guy hasn’t shown up to check in for the past hour, should you disqualify him because he’s holding up tournament progression, even though he’s been doing well? Sometimes you just have to act in the best interests of all the other participants.

Hagure has his own advice for would-be AnimEVO TOs. “First, make sure you're committed to going to EVO and running a side tournament during the largest FGC event. Dedication is the most important thing we ask for. Once you're absolutely committed, we always send out a call for volunteers and create an application form shortly after EVO does their initial lineup announcement. Filling this out & returning it ASAP is the best way to make sure we can work with [people interested in helping with AnimEVO].”

  “When it comes to qualifications: We highly suggest having had TOing experience, especially at a major or regional sized event. Running side events (especially the game they've submitted) is a huge plus. For less experienced folks, we ask them to find someone with more experience to help them run their game. Outside of that: Stay informed and have passion for your game! Love for our games is really what motivates us all in the end.”

What competitive game would you like to see at EVO as a main game or a side tournament? Would you be willing to run it yourself if needed? Talk amongst yourselves in the comments!

    ------

Heidi Kemps writes about games, otaku culture, and other odd topics of interest across many different publications. The amount of doujinshi and figures in her living space is either astonishingly awesome or somewhat terrifying, depending on your point of view. She runs the website gaming.moe and can be found on Twitter @zerochan. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com