#spinal injury tw

[i-eat-worlds]

Alex & Friends Part 24-Transition

this is kinda short, sorry,

Phoenix and Aaron belong to @pigeonwhumps!

cw: medical whump, near drowning, spinal injuries,

Alex would’ve been the first to admit that she probably should’ve been paying more attention. But the pain in her chest and feeling that her throat was going to close up were much more distracting than the people swimming around her. One gripped her head while another supported her back.

She would’ve fought more, but she was too damn tired to care. Besides, Joseph seemed to trust them. In the back of her mind, she wondered where he’d gone, since she hadn’t heard him say anything in a while.

The person holding her neck said something to her, but her ears were half-underwater and she didn’t really hear him. There was another pair of hands on her, cutting off the life jacket.Several moments later, a hard piece of plastic was wrapped around her neck. A C-collar, oh joy.

Somebody else murmured something about the bleeding from her shoulder, and she giggled internally. That was nothing. She would’ve said something too, probably along the lines of “had worse, don’t worry about,” if speaking didn’t leave her gasping for air and coughing up a lung.

After the collar was secure, they wasted no time boarding her and loading her onto the boat. The air was colder than the water had been, and Alex stupidly wished that she could go back. She was covered in a shiny blanket. It didn't actually warm her that much, but it did keep the wind out, which was appreciated.

The boat started to move, the dreary sky passing over her head as they set off across the Thames.

She felt a drop of rain on her cheek, and she grumbled. Why couldn’t anything ever be easy?

***

Joseph was pleasantly surprised to find that Wolfman had called in extra medical help. On top of the standard HAL ambulance, Wolfman’s team doctor, Aaron, had also been called out to help. He’d met Aaron during his last training rotation, and he was glad that he’d work on Alex alongside somebody he knew and trusted. The healer was solid, and good at his job.

Aaron and Jess, one of the paramedics off the ambulance, had started checking Phoenix over while Joseph and the other paramedic, Cole, prepared for Alex’s arrival. It’d been ages since he’d worked on a propper ambulance, and Cole quickly oriented him to where everything was. Joseph pulled out extra blankets while Cole cranked the heating up.

He handed a blanket to Aaron, who quickly draped it around Phoenix’s shoulders. They whimpered a little, leaning into Aaron’s shoulder while he examined their mostly healed wound. His heart broke a little when he heard them quietly mumble several tearful apologies into the doctor's ear.

The rain started to come down harder, and when Joseph glanced out the window, he saw that the boat had landed. He pushed the doors open, watching as the rescue team made the short walk from the boat to the ambulance. Behind him, Aaron patted Phoenix on the shoulder and rose to standing, leaving a paramedic to take care of the hero he’d been treating.

Alex was carefully set on the stretcher, and everyone got to work.

Taglist: @pigeonwhumps @rainydaywhump

[raynavan]

Placeholder AU spoilers!

Behold! the twins in the distortion realm! for @blaiddraws Ingo is just a little eepy. im sure absolutely Nothing bad or Horrible is going to happen!

[brokenfoxproductions]

Went to the ER for an endometriosis flare up that was aggravating my back issues.

They gave me Tylenol, ordered a transvaginal ultrasound (and made fun of me for having vaginismus, which made it difficult to get the ultrasound probe in), asked me repeatedly "what's aye-lurr dan-liss (Ehlers-danlos)?", misgendered me repeatedly and responding to my correction with "change it legally and I'll care", and then discharged me whenever I was still in 8/10 pain. They told me that I couldn't wait for a ride home, I would be removed from the building if I didn't go. I explained that I don't drive, I didn't have a ride, there's no Uber in the area, and my only option was to walk 2 hours to get home. I wasn't in a place to walk at all, I was in extreme pain and hadn't eaten anything for a few days, but I had no choice, so I walked 3/4 of the way before collapsing in someone's driveway and waiting for my partner to come get me. Now my pain is closer to 10/10, but I can't do anything about it.

Thanks Wayne Memorial Hospital. Thanks for that.

[toxickeyboard]

It’s in my personal opinion that John Ward didn’t actually use that crowbar when killing those guys and used his bare hands cause I think that’s fucking cool and terrifying

Also; headcanon that he tore some guys spine out during that cause omg that’d be so fucked up.

[ash-th3-fae]

extremely personal vent under the cut proceed with caution but icreally wanna get this out so- i’ll tag any content warnings also

Every single fucking time. Every single time things feel like they’re getting too comfy something has to happen to throw me off again.

Mum’s just told me my uncle has fractured a couple vertebrae while rallying, and has to get metal plates inserted to stabilise it. He may never be able to rally again because of it.

Not only that, but there’s a high chance he may have bone cancer, and if so, the only way to treat it is a bone marrow transplant.

I’m so fucking sick of this. I’m so sick of things getting okay again and then suddenly it all comes crashing down again like some sick and twisted fucking rollercoaster.

I just want this pain to fucking end. It’s just one thing after another these days. I’m so fucking sick of it. I wanna go back to my childhood, where everything felt fucking okay.

I’m so sick of things getting well, and then within the week i’m imagining all the ways i can fucking end my life.

I can’t take this anymore. It fucking hurts. It hurts so fucking bad. I feel physically fucking ill. It feels like everything is piling up and eventually it’s all gonna burst out and i’m gonna hurt myself or someone else. I just want to feel okay. For once. Is that so much to ask for? Is that such a crime?

God, I feel so fucking selfish.

[divineprank]

Hello everyone! ♥ 

Sorry for the lack of activity from me on this side of my blog! I just wanted to give you a small update and let you know what’s going on. Allow me to warn you that the following will contain descriptive mentions of chronic pain, advanced arthritis, skeletal injury, spinal injury, paralysis, shoulder dislocation, surgery, and shoulder replacement surgery. I am a caregiver for my physically disabled mother who normally struggles quite a bit with her usual physical limitations. Twenty years ago, she was in a horrible accident that left her partially paralyzed from an incomplete spinal cord break. She can walk and talk and feed herself, but she’s quite limited in her daily life and she is often in a lot of pain as a result. 

Unfortunately, as she’s grown older, she has developed arthritis in her left shoulder, like many of us do. Sadly, it’s progressed to a point that her arm has literally dislocated itself. You see, she has stage IV arthritis -- this is the worst “grade” your arthritis can be rated. Having stage IV arthritis means that the cartilage has completely worn down and now the bone has been grinding against bone. What this means for her is her shoulder bones have ground against each other so much that it is no longer physically possible for her arm to remain locked in her shoulder joint where it belongs naturally. Because of how bad her arthritis is, reducing the shoulder dislocation--that is, to set the arm back into place--is impossible. There is literally nothing for her skeleton to lock together, the shape of her shoulder anatomy has been permanently altered due to the progression of her arthritis. Since they can’t pop her arm back into place, she is facing a total shoulder replacement. Right now she is in an immense amount of pain and her usual limitations have been amplified ten-fold. So, I’ve been really busy with helping my already-limited mother maneuver life around basically having only one arm, as well as trying to manage her terrible pain until we can get this surgery taken care of. We’re almost there, she just needs a medical clearance from her lung doctor because she just got over COVID. 

To those of you who are waiting on the asks you sent me, and to those who are expecting some older threads I have drafted: I am still here, I am still present and I definitely want to write with you guys. Ganondorf’s muse is on fire and I want to be a pyromaniac! But things will be a bit slow from my end for a little while. I’ve just got a lot going on at home right now, haha.  Please don’t let that discourage you from reaching out, though! Even though it sounds like I’ve got a lot going on, writing is one of my favorite ways to decompress, so I’m still VERY open to receiving asks, getting tagged and talking through IMs (or Discord with mutuals!) right now! Plus, I’ll definitely still be chipping away at what I owe you guys! I’m hoping to get a bunch done by this weekend! But yeah! All this craziness aside, I am normally kind of a slow RPer, but with the situation at hand, I know I’m going to be even slower, so I’m writing this because I’m a little paranoid that I’m coming across as aloof. I want to be open and honest with you guys in case it seemed like I was procrastinating or ignoring anyone! Thanks for reading; I appreciate your understanding and I hope you all have a great night! :) 

[fremontieye]

Crunch

[ofcxnsequence]

HEADCANON; RE: DAYNA - Joust && Mechanisms of Injury

The last two competitors in the 2010 game of Panic were Luke Hall and Dayna Mason. As an annual event, Joust involved both competitors meet on a single lane back road. The road changes every year.

Both contestants have to meet at the center of the road to establish to rules of the final challenge, make sure no one wants to forfeit, and the cover story is established in case of an accident to protect Panic and all of those involved.

Dayna drove a 1998 Toyota Camry and Luke drove a 1987 Chevy S10. Neither forfeited and neither swerved. The cars hit each other head on with Luke's truck sliding up and over Dayna's car, wedging them together.

Dayna's injuries included a dashboard fracture ( pelvic and bilateral knee fracture from impacting the dashboard) fractures in the bilateral radius and ulnas at varying points from trying to protect her face upon crashing. A C6 complete spinal cord injury as well as several fractured ribs and vertebrae from being slid down as Luke's truck went over her car. She had a concussion and several facial contusions as well as skin sheering from her seat belt and air bag.

She almost died and was in a coma for a good long while.

Dayna's current level of function after her recovery includes:

Dayna does not have any lower extremity function. She is able to grasp items with her hands by flexing her wrists so her hands will grasp items. She has control her shoulders and arms but fatigues quickly when sitting unsupported due to poor trunk control. She can roll over when in a laying position and can utilize a sliding board to self transfer, though she does need help transferring from softer surfaces such as her bed. its a lot easier on her for Dodge to simply lift her.

She cannot control any of her body below the upper-middle portion of her chest. that means that Dayna has trouble with:

breathing - this level of injury effects and paralyses the the intercostal muscles between the ribs, which are essential for expanding and shrinking the chest cavity as you breathe.

bowel & bladder function - Suprasacral bladder dysfunction occurs after cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spinal cord injuries. This means that  the bladder reflex is essentially ‘over-active’ and the bladder may involuntarily contract without warning. This can cause urge incontinence, where individuals are not able to control their bladder functions. Dayna utilizes a catheter because of this. She can manage it herself. Dayna's level of injury resulted in reflexive bowels. This type of neurogenic bowel dysfunction describes when the anal sphincter remains involuntarily contracted. Because individuals with reflexive bowels experience difficulties relaxing the anal sphincter, they generally experience constipation and waste retention. Dayna has opted for a colotomy and can manage most of that care. There are still elements that she can't manage herself.

Dayna's mobility && adaptive equipment

Wheelchair- Dayna's main form of transportation. She has break extenders on her chair so she can park by herself and foam covered hand rims on her wheels. Insurance covers one pieces of adaptive equipment every five years so this was the only piece of equipment that was covered. Dayna can take her arm rests off with a little bit of a struggle to self transfer with her sliding board, but only really does this in her home setting.

sliding board- a wooden plank that Dayna can place underneath her butt to connect herself to another surface and scooch from point A to point B. She relies mostly on her arms and does need a spot for inclined or soft surfaces because of her poor trunk control.

Built up adaptive items- foam tubes that are inserted over her silverware or other hand held items that she has difficulty managing due to her lack of fine motor skills ( she can't pinch or use most of her finger functions). She can use these things ( tooth brush, pens/pencils, silverware) without them being built up, but she's more likely to drop or mishandle these items because of her lack of proper hand control. She also has adaptive equipment for her needlecrafts or has just had to figure out new and creative ways to keep doing the crafts and hobbies she enjoyed before the accident.

Leg lifter- a black solid strap that Dayna uses to hook her feet to assist her in and out of bed.

Reacher- a hand held device that enables dayna to pick up items off the floor.

TBU as needed

[miragemage]

okay i'm gonna talk about weight stuff so if you don't want to see this kind of thing please keep scrolling it's not worth reading this post if it's gonna be upsetting i'm so serious.

so may 11th 2021 i weighed 244.6lbs. today i weighed myself and i'm at 176.2. i started this month at 185.3, so i've lost nearly 10 pounds already. my goal for this month was 170, but honestly I'll take 176. goal for september is 160, and I'll just keep at it this way until I'm at my target weight of 140 and then work on building up muscle and doing more resistance training. I want to be able to do pull ups properly. I'm proud of myself tbh.

i've been using a little handmade calendar i taped to my mirror in my bedroom to help me keep track of my weight. green for days i exercised and for how long, blue for rest days, and yellow for days i didn't exercise but was still active during (like when i was installing the living room floor with my father in law. not "exercise" but still a lot of movement all day for three days straight.) and Red for days where I literally can't remember that day at all, which happens to me sometimes. Being able to look and see how many days are green is so helpful, Im really glad I tried it. I've learned that it isn't really about how much time you spend exercising, it's more about being consistent.

Some days i was working out for 45+ minutes, other days I could only do 20 minutes before I felt exhausted. which is fine! it's great even. just 20 minutes is better than none at all, but even on rest days I didn't beat myself to death about not doing it because tomorrow I might have more energy. anyway sorry for the long post. i've been at an uncomfortable weight for a long time, but I'm feeling better now.

[nymfaia]

ARENVALD’S INJURIES POST 5.5.

     Prior to Endwalker’s release and the expanded role quests involving Arenvald and Fordola, he is seen in a wheelchair with a cast or bandage around one of his lower legs. While this bandage is removed prior to the role quests, the extent of his injury is never expanded upon past him stating he “may never walk again”.

     With that in mind, I proposed that Arenvald suffered massive trauma to his leg. Combined with the concepts surrounding Garleans being unable to be healed by magic and the knowledge that, throughout most of history, limb trauma was often treated by the offending limb simply being removed, I arrived at the conclusion that at the end of 5.5, Arenvald simply had a below-the-knee amputation.

     In Endwalker, he is seen in the same wheelchair as he had been previously, but the bandages were removed and his model returned to it’s default state. Moving around his model still had him shift to turn at the waist, and it wasn’t until that point that I realized I might have overthought his wounds and he may have simply had a spinal injury.

     However, with all the time I had already spent researching, I have still decided to stick to my guns. For my personal portrayal of Arenvald post-shb, he is still an amputee. The burns sustained to the leg that Lunar Ifrit pinned were too deep for the tissue to heal naturally - as he is half-garlean, he is unable to be healed by magic, and the best course of action was to remove the dead and mangled tissue. 

     While he is not trying to keep his wound a secret, he still will wear sabatons or tall, close-toed boots. He has taken pains to retain some sense of normality. Maybe if he pretends he is still whole, others won’t view him differently, either.

      Arenvald is wheelchair bound for longer excursions or ones on uneven terrain, like the trips throughout Ala Mhigo for Endwalker. However, if left to his own devices, he most often be seen with under-the-arm crutches or forearm crutches. He isn’t a big fan of having others push his wheelchair, and the best way to nip that in the bud - and to avoid feeling as if he’s being pitied - is to simply avoid using it. 

[oddlittlestories]

So my dog has. A spinal injury. She doesn’t walk *great*. But it’s below the waist so it’s just her back legs

I just watched her drag away a bite of dinner and somehow twist her front leg so bad she, BAM, falls on her chin. Immediately stands back up and pretends nothing happened

[sunset-peril]

Special Project Cykes - Athena Cykes/Venus Gyax Lore Sheet

Athena Cykes

Legal Name: Dr. Venus Gyax, Ph.D, Attorney-At-Law

~~~~

~ You treat me like an outcast

All you see are the years gone by that were unkind ~

The Child Inside, TryHardNinja

~~~~

- Basic Data -

Ethnicity: Undetermined

Age: 18

Hometown: Paris, France

Education: Frankfort University (Ph.D), University of Valencia (Master's and Bar Exam)

Known Aliases: Athena Cykes, Venus Gyax, Venus Blackquill

Nationality: French

Former Occupations: Dogfighter/"Pit Bull", Therapist, Death Row Convict

Current Occupation: Defense Attorney

Affiliations: European Union Asylum System (EUAS), European Union Dogfighting Pits (EUDPs), Wright Anything Agency (WAA), Hope Sanctuary for Abused & Exploited Children (Hope Sanctuary), Mercy Wolf Foundation/Advocates for the Children of the EUAS (MWF), Interpol's List of Exploited and Missing Children (Presumed Deceased Section)

- Inner Soul Information -

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Ribbon Coverage: Extensive

Color of Ribbons: Teal + Purple (Childhood Sexual Assault/Abuse), Black + Red (Loved ones lost to Murder), Black/Red/Bejeweled (Loved one lost to a murder/act of violence that the wearer survived), Light Blue (Human Trafficking), Dark Blue (Child Abuse), Yellow (Child Abduction/Missing Child), Light/Lime Green (Permanent Spinal Injury), White (Child Porn), Black + Blue (Loss of a son/Mourning a son), Pink + Blue (Loss of an infant)

Ribbons Crowning Head and Neck (aka "Crowning Traumas"): Four Black/Red/Bejeweled, One scarf-like Teal + Purple, One Light Blue intertwined with one White

Other notable ribbon locations: One thick pink + blue on right wrist, one thick black + blue on left wright. They look tight and heavy.

Inner Soul Behaviors: Hostile to Adult Males, Bleeding Heart to Children, Awkward around Adult Females

- Affiliate Information -

Personal Affiliates: Apollo Justice (Lover, Power of Attorney/Guardian), Simon Blackquill (Presumed Relative), Aura Blackquill (Presumed Relative, Disowned), Metis Cykes (Presumed Mother, Deceased), Daniel Boulet (Unspecified), Lazar Andrić (Son, Deceased)

Business Affiliates: Phoenix Wright (Employer), Trucy Wright (Employer's Daughter), Miles Edgeworth (Linked with her arrival from Europe), Kay Faraday-Edgeworth (Undetermined), Sebastian Debeste-Edgeworth (Undetermined), Klavier Gavin (Undisclosed), "Miss Mary" (Undisclosed)

(Ribbon colors snatched from here)

(The Bejeweled design is a mix of my own ideas and design and the red + black ribbon in the aforementioned link)

[brokenfoxproductions]

I haven't drawn in awhile and my pencil kept breaking but I made a drawing about what I'm feeling.

It's supposed to depict a person hooked up to an IV who is wearing a mask and a hospital gown trying to reach out or crawl despite their body from the middle of the abdomen and back down being destroyed, with the spine and pelvis exposed and organs, bones, and general gore trailing behind them. There's also text of the title, "Sorry, it's chronic. We can't help you."

I hurt and I'm depressed. I kinda want to redo this as a painting eventually.

[sroseh]

Second spinal injection was done today. More painful than the last. Got home after eating in n out and then passed tf out in bed. Gonna go back to sleep. Let’s hope this injection works. If not, time for spinal fusion.

The cute smiley face drawn by the doctor can stay for as long as it likes :)

[transperceneige]

It was announced today that British eventer Caroline March has died at the age of 31 in 'assisted suicide', two years after suffering a career-ending spinal cord injury.

The farewell letter she wrote was shared on her Facebook page - moving, thought-provoking, and insightful words. It's been on my mind all day, and I think it's definitely worth a read to understand her choice from her perspective.

[divineprank]

In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend. A legend held dearly by the Royal Family that tells of a boy...

I was five years and almost six months old when Majora's Mask came out here in the US. I was also five years and almost six months old when my mother nearly lost her life in a terrible accident. You see, she came from THAT generation. You know the one I'm talking about, she was one of the "it's 10pm... do you know where your children are?"-type kids. She lived in a poor neighborhood and as a result, she was a scrapper, one of the kids that had no problem defending herself in fights against the older kids on the block. Even to the point that well into her adulthood, she was recognized by one of her old childhood opponents. Word had reached him that she was at the same party he was at, he loudly exclaimed his surprise, and actually pushed past people and ran out the door... My dad had bore witness to this.

One time when I was very young, my older sister pointed Impa out to me during a playthrough of Ocarina of Time and compared my mom to her. The biceps, the square shoulders, the toned legs. Even at that age, I saw it. She had Impa's body because she used to work on a ranch; she was a gymnast for a large portion of her young life, and her passion was dancing. She lived a very active, physical life. I mean, if there was a gnarly-looking tree and she had an excuse to climb it? She was going to, no matter fucking what.

So let's fast-forward to October 7th, 2000.

I was five years and almost six months old, I was attending my cousin's wedding with my older sister. My dad was working and my mom had claimed to not be feeling well, so she skipped it. This is because she's quite estranged from this family member and probably didn't want to be around her. My aunt--my mom's sister--had picked us up and we spent the day with them. I have very little memory of that day. I remember being bored as hell looking out upon the golf course resort and wanting to leave, and I remember bullying the hell out of my uncle (who HAD to be 100 years old) for taking too long to take a picture of me with a few family members. It wasn't until we were on our way home, after 10PM, travelling up my street that the warm purple glow of the red-and-blue EMS lights lit up our field of vision. We saw the emergency responders before we even got home.

The last memory of that night I have is my sister asking, "whose ass did mom kick now?"

The house that we were living in at the time, we had very recently moved into. Neither parent came from money and after purchasing your family's first house, you'll soon find out that it costs you quite a lot of it... Especially when you move in and your first night is met with your basement flooding with sewage water and your two young children having to go back to sharing a room on the top floor until the place can be dried out and fixed... Weeks later. That's about the same time our next-door neighbor came into the picture. Almost immediately after moving in, this old, Wicked Witch of the West-lookin' ass started rapping at our door and demanding we deal with the tree in our backyard. One of our town's oldest trees--something she has clearly had a personal vendetta against for quite a while. This is the type of old lady I'm talking about, the ones that devote themselves to one obnoxious cause because they don't have much else waiting for them in their own lives. She had been complaining that the dead limbs from a tree in our backyard had been falling into her yard, creating a mess, and on one occasion, she complained that our dead limbs had broken a window. This is laughable, you see, because if that were true, she would have been banging on the door demanding financial compensation. The cops showed up many times following our first encounter with "Sea Hag", a nickname my dad was very happy to give her after encountering it in our thesaurus. However, because our problem was a civil matter, the cops couldn't do anything about our tree causing our neighbor problems, but more than once we were begged to find a solution, because she had been clogging up their phones, officers, and resources for weeks.

So, comes the night of October 7th, 2000. My mom teaches me how to "play chicken" on my bike despite her concerns for my dress in the driveway. My aunt pulls in and I kiss the person who resembles my mother on the lips for the last time. You have to understand, at that age, I have memories of this person, but... I don't know her. I was too young: I don't remember my mom to be Impa. Not really.

Eventually we get home, and end up meeting the emergency medical services in our driveway as they're taking my mom away. Turns out, she fell out of that very old tree. By their estimate, they think that she had climbed up to about thirty-five feet before falling and landing on her head. She was raced to our nearby local hospital before they refused her and demanded that she be rushed the medical university in our state's capital if they wanted her to have a chance. Despite her grievous injuries in having crushed her neck, partially severing her spine, suffering a brain bleed, and breaking her ribs, AND despite how long she had been in the yard before she was found, the university hospital attempted something radical. They attached a titanium pulley system in her neck and fused her spine, effectively altering, but saving her life.

When she had come to after a small coma and memory loss, she explained that she had taken the down-time she had to climb that very tree and use our rake to knock some of the dead limbs out of the tree in order to appease "Sea Hag", because, well, what else were we supposed to do? It's not like our neighbor was going to stop complaining. She explained that finally, the rake got stuck, she pulled and the rake couldn't get loose. So she yanked back harder, and that's when she lost her grip and accidentally fell backwards, effectively landing on her head. The estimation of her climb came from where the rake was still stuck in our tree.

It's my understanding that what had been done to repair my mom's neck has never been done before. I have been told that what happened has been placed in the "medical history books"--whatever that means. Thing is, living in the United States means, if you have a historic uh-oh, your insurance company will want to charge you out the ass. By the time we went bankrupt, my dad expressed that my mother's medical bills, charges wherein she learned to talk, walk, feed herself, dress herself, battle paralysis, and become a mother to her children again, were reaching damn near close to one million dollars.

There was no way that we could spare sixty bucks for Majora's Mask which was set to release very soon. It was a game we had been looking forward to for months. I even remember discussing it with my mom and sister before her accident. You see, my mom used to love to watch and participate with us we tried to get through Ocarina of Time. Being inside one of the houses, my sister tried to roll into one of the many wooden crates, and the 64 being the Nintendo 64, if you came at something at a weird angle in the game, the collision would not always be reliable. (Epona jumping fences and trying to climb vines are perfect examples of this... I'm certain you know what I'm talking about, if you've played the games.) I remember being young and dumb enough to think that both my sister's player error and the N64's gitchiness came from Majora itself. It's supposed to be an evil demon, that makes people's lives hell, right?

Surprisingly, as the story of my sister and I moving between family members' houses while my dad would spend every night with my mom in intensive care reached the ears of the community, my dad's co-worker provided my older sister and I with a special card. Inside of it, was a kind note talking about how he and his wife had heard the story about my mom, and how they understand what kind of tragedy our family has faced. Sadly, I can't remember anything beyond the fact that some guy he knew and his wife gave us a free gift certificate to Toys-R-Us. That meant that indeed, our desires could come true, and come Thursday, October 26th, we would get our hands on the golden, holographic cartridge that became almost synonymous with the Majora's Mask game itself. Funnily enough, I remember freezing my ass off outside while we waited in line for Toys-R-Us to open. I remember taking turns waiting in the warm car as we waited... Tragically, I don't have much memory of slamming the game down into the 64 and playing it for the first time. But I do know that it's something that impacted me deeply as a child because I have drawings depicting the game and I remember even dreaming about it in my sleep.

Of course, I couldn't possibly make this connection in the year of, or even the years after, the accident. But as I grow older, I can't help but find myself grow much more attached to this game. It's not a game I pass off, don't get me wrong there. It's still up there with Ocarina of Time as my favorite game--I just always considered, you know, as the drawing above states: sabea 2. Zelda 2, the sequel to Ocarina of Time. It's just a continuation of the best game ever made, so I'll just cheat and mash those two into one solid number 1 choice. Which, fair.

...But it seems very dismissive. Not only of the game, but also of my own experiences. I mean, let's think about what I've talked about so far.

In the world of Termina, we are quickly faced with its imminent destruction, but it's a story of isolated danger. We're quick to surmise that this isn't quite Hyrule, but... somewhere else entirely. A place where, if complete and total destruction does strike, the only people who would give a shit are the people who went through it--the rest of the universe as we knew it would continue on as business as usual. This was a quiet, isolated place, a spec that nobody noticed.

I relate a lot to that.

My family was facing a severe and personal tragedy. Our whole world had come crashing down in the most violent and sudden manner. My mom had died twice in that ambulance ride to the capital, and if things had continued to go poorly, I can only see one alternative, and that is our moon having finally engulfed our world in flames while the rest of the world carries on without ever noticing. Nothing would be different for anyone else, but our entire life would be scarred and burned forever, maybe in a way i wouldn't be able to walk out of. I'm forever thankful that's not how things have turned out, even if things aren't the same as they used to be.

I think that's why I relate to Anju, the keeper of the Stock Pot Inn.

She tries her best to carry on and push herself despite the forces in her life bringing to terrible depression that stems from her lost husband-to-be. She is nervous, but she does her best to keep her composure despite what she faces... But she also isn't scarred over. She crumbles under the weight of her solitary hurt, and she absolutely will if you know when and where to look.

As a big girl, I find myself relating to Gorman, too. He's an uptight businessman whose immediately faced with the worst luck that someone in his position could see in a time like this: the troupe he manages has been cancelled at the most important time of his life. This is something he's bet his entire life on, something that has to pay off! And when it finally doesn't, what does he do but crumble under his own singular weight after having left his family to pursue his dreams, drowning himself in strange, alcoholic milk.

The Deku Butler's son, Darmani's quiet attempt to save his people, MIkau's solo challenge of the Gerudo Pirates.

This game is so lonely, so isolated, except... When you begin to portion it. The Deku Butler's son had his father who cared deeply for him. Darmani had the Village Elder and his son, and their people. Mikau had Japas, Toto and Evan, and Lulu and her babies. Anju, Mikau; Cremia, Romani... The Skull Kid after having been abandoned by the Four Giants, he still has Tatl and Tael.

All of this is going on without any of the other citizens noticing. The only thing that connects each of these individual people suffering their own unique pain is Link. And as silly as it is, I think I'd like to add myself and my family's names into that little hat. Yeah, he didn't come out of the screen and make my problem go away, and, sure, the memory of my suffering wasn't fed into the spirit of Fierce Deity...

But we were there along the way. I met Link again after our first encounter. He made me smile, he made some of the pain I had faced go away... Even if I hadn't realized it at the time.

There's a reason Majora's Mask is literally hung up so that it's the first thing you see once you walk into my room. It's why I have more merchandise than I do some of my other favorite Zelda games. It's why I just can't bare say Majora's Mask is my second favorite Zelda game.

It's because I can't thank Link enough for saving Termina.