#yep consider my son a casualty

[thewolfisawake]

His vision blurred and snapped into focus as his eyes slowly creaked open in confusion. Had he been asleep? But sleeping while standing on his feet, that didn’t make any sense. Heat crept across his skin even as he still tried to clear the odd haze from his eyes. It felt like waking from a daze or a long sleep, the kind he usually fell into after a particularly tough mission. 

Orange blurred in his sight and finally he could focus enough to find the source of the heat around him. But it was the sight of the world on fire that greeted him. Flames roared as far as he could see, the sound of crackling and snapping of wood nearly deafening him. Wh-where was he? What happened? Aspis stared closer, noting that there was structures that were engulfed and burning in the flames. What was chilling though was the fact that these were buildings that he recognized.

It had been years since he had seen them, but there was no way he could mistake the sight of his own house and the surrounding area of his little island. His home.

And it was burning.

He choked on ash as he made to call for help, or to call out for any survivors, but no sound or sign of life greeted him. What kind of being could have set the entirety of his island on fire? Aspis took a slow step forward then stopped as something on the ground caught his attention. He blanched at the sight of a hand strewn across the ground in front of him, and followed it down the arm to find a body with a sickeningly familiar head of red hair laying there covered in blood. Crowe lay lifeless across the path, his usual eye patch gone and eyes wide open in death staring up at him. A hand was pressed to his stomach where the blood seemed to have been pouring from, but his body was still and cold. He was long gone.

He took a jerky step back, mouth opening, either to scream or call for more help, when his eyes caught sight of another familiar body. A little ways away lay Emil, also still and bloody with his own sword driven through his heart. Blue eyes wide with what seemed like shock in their last moments stared at him as well. Near him lay Katarina, her sword as well resting in her stomach and bloody, sightless eyes staring into him. His friends all lay around him dead, brutally and horrifically killed. Did the same thing that set the island on fire kill them as well? And even if it did then why did it leave him alive and well?

Suddenly, a low laugh slithered through his mind, one that sounded like his own yet also didn’t, and a sharp wave of familiar pain ran through him. He fell to his knees, a hand landing in a pool of his friends’ blood and an agonized scream left him. His curse…! It was acting up for some reason. His head was pounding and he clutched at it as another scream left him. Then the memories came back.

For some reason he…had started acting oddly and set his own island on fire, and his friends tried to stop him. But they were fighting to subdue and reason with him. He was fighting to kill. The memories of him killing each one with his own hands came back, the confusion, surprise, and betrayal in their eyes as they bled out staring up at him haunting. And yet he only laughed and reveled in the destruction. Aspis screamed again, this time having nothing to do with the pain burning his body or the fire closing in on him, and the demonic laugh echoed again through his head.

You are sullied and too far gone.

Your curse will only bring ruin and destruction.

You are a monster.

Give in and let the last of your line die in the fiery, agony-ridden death it deserves…!

The voice echoed through his head as he could feel the flames beginning to lick his skin, the ruins of his home and friends surrounding him as it all burned to ash. And he quietly accepted death.

No sooner did his vision blacken in the dream did it return for his waking body. A cry strangled in his throat as it all replayed. A loud snap made him notice his surroundings, immediately recoiling from the fire. Unlike the one in his dreams, it was tamed by his fuel and the barrier set by its masters. Most of whom were asleep around it. 

But he could only see the inferno that engulfed his world. The heat accompanying the blood and guilt that ran down his frame. His breathing becoming obvious as he craved the air untainted by ash. Unfolding from the safety of his sleeping bag, came the chill of the night. The nipping felt better than the warmth of the fire. The one that threatened to take him again.

Aspis was so taken by the flames he didn’t notice Emil, returning from checking the perimeter. He was surprised to see anyone still up, “Aspis, round’s not for another hour.”

Emil’s voice forced him to notice the hunter. The color drained from Aspis’ face. He could see Emil coated in red. Blood still draining from his heart, its stillness watching him along with those lifeless eyes. Yet he was still moving towards him. 

Noticing the younger hunter’s eyes, Emil could tell something was off. He approached cautiously, yet with a tread that could alert the other two at the fire. For every step he took, Aspis moved further from him until his back pressed against a tree.

You are sullied and too far gone.

“I didn’t–” he started as he felt the bark scratch his back, “I didn’t ask for this…”

His vision flickered between the concern reflected in Emil’s eyes to the ones that reflected his sin. It felt like he was underwater, words like washes of water. Using the tree as a brace, he started to rise to his feet. He couldn’t hear him instead hearing that voice much like his own, Liar, you wanted this.

“I didn’t want this. Is it wrong to want to live? I–” tears welled in his eyes as his breathing became shallow.  Laughter met his thought, Nothing wrong with that. Live but tell me what’s your price to be alive?

Slowly he could see Crowe and Katarina waking up. The blood pouring as the covers removed from them. It staining their hands and clothes. Their eyes on him. Those…those hollow eyes that showed all his crimes. The ones he had. The ones he had yet to commit. 

Your curse will only bring ruin and destruction. You are a monster.

He ducked around the tree and ran. For the first time seeing reality and able to hear for a moment before he’d sprinted from their range. He didn’t know where he was going nor paid attention as branches swiped at him or the roots that stubbed his toes. His voice called, Hey, you didn’t answer what’s your price to be alive? Wasn’t it the blood of the island? 

It wasn’t my fault.

Mom and dad? 

It wasn’t–

Keahi? C’mon throw me a bone

H-Help…

Lolo? 

Help me…

Wasn’t that what got you here in the first place? Being weak to beg like this?

He couldn’t even answer as his foot hit air. Falling, he could see the moon peer through the clouds. Much like that night. When that voice slithered into his head. As he thought his life was going end to monsters that found him.

Give in and let the last of your line die in the fiery, agony-ridden death it deserves…!

The first branch that he hit, took his breath. The second blurred his sight. He quickly lost count after that. He wasn’t sure went he hit the ground. He didn’t care. Even as red seeped out of him, it running all over his body.

By the time his friends managed to catch up, he was a bloody heap on the ground. Trembling with sobs and incoherent with a language none of them were familiar with. They reached to take him to be treated, to safety…concern painting their faces.

But to him he could only see those face contorted with yearning. Asking for reason behind his guilt. To make him as dead as they were. He had no strength to fight them.

“…just let me die…I’m sorry……please let me go back…let me die…”

[eldeninger]

Quarantine - Carnivals of Aces

Not quite the end of March, Dawn of quarantine.

I was lucky, and I knew it. Working from home with my full salary. I feel like the jokes: “day 28 of self isolation, today I found out that other peoples must also self isolate.” Except for the commute to the job, and the small talk there, my days looked similar to before.

The weirdest feeling was the idea that I had to call people. Something I rarely do in normal time. The once per month family gathering is enough, right?

I’ve started listening to lullabies (specifically Rockabye Baby!) as I go to sleep.

End of March to end of April

Unlike the rest of the school year, I had my sons at home during some weeks. Every errands was torture to me. It felt unsafe to bring them, it felt unsafe to let them home alone. Not because I didn’t trust them at home, the oldest is old enough to consider babysitting. No, because the new “rule” is don’t go near people but if something bad happen seek help... I still feel the anxiety of this contradiction.

The not obligatory, but highly recommended, home school stuff “suggested” by the minister was the biggest casualty of that time. I didn’t have the time nor the energy to do more than show them to my sons without losing my mind. They didn’t do any.

Musical interlude

Fight the Virus / Sound of Silence

Coronavirus Rhapsody / Bohemian Rhapsody

Beginning of May

The news was horrible: my boys would return to school next week. And my anxiety skyrocketed. In addition to the familiar feeling of sadness due to having to reorganize my life around the void left by their absence, there were fear. Fear that reopening school would be a shit show. Because I’ve read that the virus hit hard in places already falling and our school system with his cut every five years... Like how the numbers of allowed students didn’t align with the reality; how students will be picked to go in another class if/when they would be too much for the theoretical/practical maximum. Because when the prime minister announced the news and a journalist asked: “What would happen if a student catch the virus and infect his parent (a minister)?” and you can hear a “oh, I didn’t think of that!” from the prime minister. Because, I feared how my oldest son would react to a return to a less desirable reality that was school...

Two weeks later, school seems like it’s doing okay-ish, okay enough...

May 13th, for the “Journée de la Visibilité Asexuelle”, I’ve changed my work chat avatar to Ace from the video game 20XX.

Musical interlude, again...

My Quarantine / Amaranthine

Corona / Rollin

End of May, or “Everything that happens now is happening now“

The last few days had been rough for me. I’m touch starved... I miss hugs (from friends and family, my sons aren’t tall enough *half smile* for them to count). Some restrictions were lift; not enough to cure my starvation. I’m not sure if I would prefer to continue to meet by video instead of in person...

Yep, I used musical interlude to self-care

Star Wars Coronavirus PSA

Now, continued

If there is school, then there is summer camp... Same fears as school, but now with the added stress of having to found one. The usual one is already full...

And the last few days... It was a hot outside, way too hot, as in heat wave too hot. At least, I’m in a basement, so it wasn’t too hot inside my apartment. But I had to keep the windows and the curtains closed. I’ve ritualized the opening of the curtains to “separate” my “workplace” from my home. I wasn’t productive. And to add to the hotness, I add to boil my water, just in case, because of a broken pipe...

Still in quarantine

My eventual aftermath: not much... I didn’t have more free time, because the time I “gain” by not commuting was more than lost in self-care like playing a video game (20XX). I didn’t do more cleanup than usual, I didn’t cook more, I even return to sandwiches like my usual at work to keep some sanity. I didn’t learn a new hobby. I didn’t even finished a new video game (the many completed runs of 20XX don’t count).

[oodanijadeoo]

Nature’s Balance (Ardyn x OC) Final Fantasy XV Chapter 1

Two millennia ago, lived two brothers. Two brothers that would shape the clay of Eos in their volatile hands.

The sons of Caelum, Ardyn, the eldest, and Somnus, the youngest, though bound together by their noble bloodline lived two very separate lives. In a world slowly being consumed by the Starscourge where demons run rampant, Ardyn chose to live as a humble healer, traveling the countryside and curing victims of the Starscourge. Somnus, however, lead armies against the daemons and showed no mercy against those ailed by the infection.

As each son was favored by the Crystal and soul of Eos, only one could rule its people. Oracle and middle-man to the gods, Aera Fleuret faithfully loved and followed her fiancee and rightful heir to the throne. However, her betrothed had no interest in the throne, unless ruling was required for him to better serve his people. 

Alas, the youngest son was also a jealous one. 

Being preferred by both the people and the Crystal, Somnus knew he stood no chance against his brother in holding the right to the throne. 

That was something he had to change.

As the purest of men grew tainted by the Starscourge, the Crystal was shifting its favoritism. Somnus concocted a plot of fratricide and when acted upon, Ardyn was rejected by the Crystal. 

In the final battle between brothers, the Oracle was murdered and Ardyn was left incapacitated to be hidden away for many years to come. 

Somnus was crowned king. 

Although the Crystal rejected the peoples’ true king, it still felt the imbalance, for there cannot be one oracle to be shared among two kings. 

Thus the Astaroth line was created.

“Drix! I have a new assignment for you.” Cor caught her on her way from the training hall. Vedrixia wasn’t surprised, being a Kingsglaive meant spending very little time in one place, always being dispersed across Lucis. 

“Where to this time, sir?” She asked, wiping the bead of sweat from her brow that threatened to fall directly in her eye.

“This one isn’t a stagnant location like your other assignments, it’s more of an… escort mission.” Cor’s brows were furrowed and Vedrixia knew there was a rather large catch that Cor was withholding. Turning her back to Cor, she began to remove her personal belongings from the gym locker, not fully wanting to face the questionable news Cor was about to unleash.

“And? Who am I escorting?”

Cor sighed, “Prince Noctis.” Vedrixia ceased all movement. “You are to escort him to his wedding to Lady Lunafreya Fleuret in Altissia.”

Vedrixia released the breath she had been holding and slowly turned to face Cor, a whirlwind of questions in her head. “But isn’t his Crownsguard crew supposed to be his escort? Why would they need a Glaive on top of those three?” Everyone was quite familiar with the Shield, the Strategist, and the Guns (trigger-happy with both a camera and a weapon) and knew they could certainly handle themselves and were more than enough to protect the king-to-be on a simple drive to Altissia. The request for more protection was more than enough to spark suspicion and concern in Drix.

“Listen,” Cor huffed. “All I know is the King is thorough and just wanted some extra hands on deck.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, furrowing his brows in barely contained frustration, “I don’t need one of your interrogations today.”

Vedrixia sighed.

Cor Leonis was lying.

Badly.

In joining the Kingsglaive during her teens as a naive attempt to avenge the death of her parents (a casualty of the war with Niflheim), Vedrixia found a father figure in The Immortal as he had taken her under his wing. Always bristling with questions from an insatiable hunger for knowledge, Cor was often the receiver of her many questions or “interrogations” as he would put it. In those years of questioning everything she encountered, Vedrixia also encountered many liars. And with liars, come tells. 

Vedrixia had discovered and memorized each of Cor’s tells by the age of seventeen.

However, simply catching Cor in a lie rarely made him very forthcoming with information. With this knowledge, Drix accepted her fate of ignorance. 

“Alright,” she sighed. “When do I take my leave?”

Cor’s gaze met hers and a sense of finality thickened the air.

“Tomorrow.”

~~~

The Citadel had never been so tense as on the day of the Prince’s departure. 

The farewells of Father and Son looked regal as ever and awkward as ever.

Vedrixia stood to the side, separate but still with the Crownsguard trio as the King expressed his wishes to his son.

“The hour has come,” King Regis began in all his formality. “Set forth with my blessing, Prince Noctis.”

Noctis bowed stiffly to his father, “Thank you, your majesty.”

It seemed as though today, the lines of age and stress were more prominent in the King’s weary face than ever before. “Take your leave and go in the grace of the gods.”

“Right,” Noctis rose to his full height and swiftly departed. 

Vedrixia could not contain her shocked expression toward the young prince’s lack of decorum, suspecting he would be receiving a lesson in propriety from his astounded advisor.

The trio began descending the steps, each muttering their own discontent about the proceedings as Vedrixia still kept a slight distance.

“Well, princes will be princes.”

“So much for royal protocol.”

“Not like you had to deliver a formal address…”

“Wait!” The Kingsglaive Captain shouted from the King's side, effectively catching everyone's attention.

“What now?” Noctis whined.

Vedrixia watched in pity as the crippled King began to make his way down the steps after his son. Years of keeping the Wall stable had certainly taken its toll on the King of Lucis.

“I fear I have left too much unsaid,” the King began. “You place a great burden on those who would bear it with you.”

The young prince scoffed, “You’re one to talk.”

King Regis slowly looked to the royal retinue, “I ask not that you guide my wayward son, merely that you remain at his side.”

Vedrixia continued to grow suspicious with the urgency and seriousness emanating from the King.

“Indeed, your Grace,” Ignis Scientia uttered with a bow.

“We’ll see the prince to Altissia if it’s the last thing we do.”

“Yeah, that!” said Prompto.

Vedrixia dropped to her knee, bowing her head, “Harm must bring us each to our knees before he lays a hand on the Prince, Your Majesty.”

The four protectors left the father and son to a final goodbye and convened at the Regalia. 

“Ms. Astaroth,” Ignis began. “We were informed this morning that you would be joining us, although I’m sorry to say it may be a bit of a tight fit in the Regalia.”

“Yep, you don’t get to keep your 4-foot wide personal bubble anymore, Glaive,” Gladio chimed in. 

“I assure you that’s quite alright, Mr. Scientia. I was given a bit of short notice as well, however it should be fine considering it will be a fairly short trip. And my distance, Mr. Amicitia was to ensure I did not brashly invade your own ranks,” Vedrixia stated as professionally as she could muster.

With an indignant huff, Gladio turned away. Ignis began making his way to the driver’s seat and Prompto was taking pictures of the Prince’s farewell. 

The King was the last to be heard before their departure, stating:

“Walk tall, my son.”

[raisedbyfandomwolves]

TtQ. Yep, definitely, esp. considering the ones it "hurts" are usually not even involved in the real reasons😔(Haha, true😅 It's cute how much he worries tho, so relatable too!😂) I know, I know, that's why I didn't even bother asking🤣 Ahhh, okay, and yes, Very understandable they'd worry for their son🙈 (Yeah, monday's suck...😅 And well, you have to work cause sadly we live in a money-based world so to survive you have to either work and gain money or somehow end up rich😅😅🙈) (4 messages)

TtQ. Yeah... as the quote goes (may be paraphrasing a little), "The first casualty of war is innocence." (I don't think "cute" is the word Mon-El would use to describe it... XD)

LOL, I guess you guessed right? XD

Yep, it's not exactly a low-risk cushy job like one would think at first glance... and considering how things turned out in the end...

(Wish I could convert my Genshin money into real currency on a one-to-one Mora-to-dollar ratio... Then I wouldn't have to have a job and take on extra work on the side too... T_T)

[remotecontrolchuck]

Toonami Night Review: So Long GUNDAM IBO, Stay Gold.

Well last week was the finale of Gundam IBO, and man did it end in true Gundam fashion. Since having seen the first season back in 2016, we we’re introduced to new protagonists and characters that we grew to love and admire. Watch them endure hardships, conquer great obstacles, and come out on top in the end. And in this second season we got to see them do it again, except after going through it all, a lot of them didn’t make it out alive. And such is the lesson from most Gundam shows. There is no glory in war, only hell.

Now like every show that finishes its first run on the block, I like to send them off with a nice overall review of how they did, and this show is no exception. And while this might be a bit lengthy, especially considering this is Gundam we’re talking about, I’ll try to summarize this the best I can.

Right off from the bat, we begin with Tekkadan riding on high after having made a name for themselves after their epic battle against Gjallarhorn at Edmonton. Since then they’ve expanded, gaining new recruits, and defeating rival mercenary forces. But with their success, they also gained consequences. Keeping to their end of the bargain, Orga and Tekkadan aid McGillis in his plans to takeover Gjallarhorn, and with it comes new enemies. 

The new main antagonist being the head of Gjallarhorn’s Arianrhod Fleet and McGillis’s main rival, the pragmatic Rustal Elion, and under him his three subordinates. The ever loyal and determined Julietta Juris, the foolish and yet somehow charismatic among the troops (they must’ve been really stupid) Iok Kujan, and last but not least the mysterious masked ace in the hole Vidar (later revealed to be a still alive Gaelio who gets his revenge on McGillis). 

Of course Tekkadan’s adversaries weren’t just Gjallarhorn, but those working for them, such as the bearded mercenary working for Rustal, Galan Mossa, and the informant and rival to Naze, Jasley Donomikols. And on one occasion, another enemy arose that was to both Tekkadan and Gjallarhorn, the ancient mobile armor (and totally not Metal Gear Ray) Hashmal. And with these new foes, came epic battles and fights. And over time, each battle became more brutal and intense. 

In the beginning Tekkadan won some of them and came out on top, but they nonetheless took casualties and some losses. And as they began to lose the coming battles, their losses increased, and their bright future becoming bleaker. In the end Tekkadan would meet a bittersweet end, with many of its members managing to fake their deaths and keep on surviving. And while Orga, Mikazuki, Akihiro, and many of the protagonists and character didn’t make it out in the end, their sacrifices were not in vain and died fighting to the end. 

But funny enough, despite Tekkadan being brought down by Rustal and his forces, they were the victors in the end. Yep, despite how Orga and the rest of Tekkadan never became Kings of Mars, their conflict with Gjallarhorn caused the organization to reform completely. With many of the Ruling Families lost, as well a lot of troops and mobile suits, as well as the scandal involving Gjallarhorn becoming public, Rustal was forced to change the organization into a more democratic one in order for it to remain in power. 

That, and Gjallarhorn was forced to greatly downsize their Mars branch, leading to Martian Independence becoming reality, and the creation of the Martian Union. And in good faith, and probably to prevent another Tekkadan in the future, Rustal signs a pact with Kudelia, now Chairwoman of the Martian Union, to abolish the Human Debris system that created a lot of child soldiers. 

So yeah. In the end it sucks that Orga, Mika, and many of the protagonists died during this season, but even so they were nonetheless the victors in the end. They never realized their goal, but they certainly made Gjallarhorn pay dearly before going down, and created a better future in the process. Many of the surviving members of Tekkadan are now living happier lives (well except a now older Ride who’s on a revenge spree), and Kudelia and Atra are now a couple raising Mikazuki’s young son, Akatsuki.

Now that I could go on further about the plot in detail, but I don’t this review to be so incredibly lengthy, so I save it when I do a more in depth review in the future. Moving onto the other parts of Gundam IBO, as expected the animation was fantastic, and the music was very well done. But most of all, we had some pretty kick ass Gundams and Mobile Suits, as well as even more kick ass battles in both space and on the ground. 

Overall I recommend Gundam IBO to anyone interested in a good Gundam anime, as well one to those that are new to the franchise that will want a first hand experience of what to expect from a show like it. I give a 10/10, and I look forward to seeing another good Gundam show like it. And since there will be a new one that takes place shortly after Gundam Unicorn, I wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up on Toonami’s lineup in the future. But for now, I wish Gundam IBO a fond farewell, and to forever Stay Gold.

Whew. Okay, now that’s out of the way, onto how last week’s run went! And man oh man, did we have another night of feels and WTF moments! And since I don’t have a lot of time before tonight’s run of Toonami begins, this will also serves as the recap of last week’s shows. Alright, let’s begin! As always we started the night with a power hour of Dragon Ball, with Goku Black/Zamasu and other Zamasu becoming a problem for Goku and the others in DB Super, and Vegeta tagging in and getting his ass kicked by Buu while Goku charges up his final attack in DBZ Kai. We then had a blast as always with FLCL, Noata deals with suddenly having cat ears, as well as being forced into a leading role in a school play with the class president Ninamori, who has a crush on him. Oh, and as usual monsters, mayhem, and hilarity ensues. 

Moving on, we then enter Stardust Crusaders, as JoJo and the others encounter D’Arby, who knows the location of DIO’s lair. The only problem is that they have to beat him in a bet, and unfortunately the crafty gambler has outwitted both Polnareff and Old Man Joseph, winning the bets with elaborate cheating and turning the loser’s soul into a poker chip with his stand. Now it’s up to JoJo to beat him and save his friends, but beating D’Arby at his favorite game, Poker! After an intense session of gambling, we head into the finale of Gundam IBO, as we watch Tekkadan’s final battle, giving our final salutes to those that died valiantly and those that survived and got a happy ending.

After that feels fest, we went into Black Clover, and watched Asta defend Noelle and his friends from a bunch of magic knights that are a bunch of royal snooty assholes. We then moved onto Hunter x Hunter, where we watched Gon go an a date with Palm, which was awkward and nice, but mostly awkward for good reasons. But enough of that. We then head right on into a Five Kage Summit in Naruto Shippuden, before continuing on to more feels in Space Dandy. QT falls in love with a coffee maker, but becomes heartbroken in the end for the sake of love. And while sad, we did get a nice romantic montage with Daft Punk kind of music, as well as an awesome giant robot fight.

After all that, the feels train ends, and we finishes up the night with some monkey business with the Bebop Crew in Cowboy Bebop, and tensions and intrigue escalating in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG.

And that’s about it for last week’s run of Toonami, and with time to spare before Toonami starts. Tonight, My Hero Academia will be making its debut on the block after a very long time, and a lot of watchers like myself can’t wait to see it. So until then, see ya later and Stay Gold!

[siddhaantgandhi-blog]

One-man army: My experiences with national service

THIS IS A WORK UNDER PROGRESS. I KNOW YOU LOVE JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS, BUT I’M GETTING THERE SO RELAK.

Prologue(i guess) I assume that by now my friends are in the know about national service in singapore. For those that aren’t, national service(NS) is a mandatory 24 month conscription period whereby all singaporean sons must serve in the armed forces. It could be in the army, navy, airforce, or civil defence. And even though there are generations of men that have been through this experience, and generations will, each experience is unique to its own. This is mine. I was drafted into the SAF in november 2016. On being drafted into the army, every man must go through a basic training phase where he’s trained in basic soldiering skills. It’s called the basic military training(BMT) phase. I’m not going to go into the details of it, but the jist of it is - your entire time in basic training, you’re a maggot. You’re the lowest lifeform on planet earth, treated lower than bacteria. Or algae. Atleast people are scared of bacteria. As a recruit in bmt, even bacteria will laugh at you. This makes no sense to a civilian with a privileged lifestyle with all his rights, but from the army perspective - they’re breaking you, inorder to make you again. In order to become a soldier, you need to get the sissy civilian out of you so you can be reformed. Now, to other armies of the world, this would make total sense. They all signed up for it voluntareely, knowing the shitstorm they will go through. In SAF? Nooo sirriee. Majority of these kids are the ones who just finished highschool and probably have no idea about the shit sandwich they’re about to be served. They’re forced into it, being given doses of ‘have you ever wondered, why must you serve?’ all along. (That is actually an army song sung when troops march) Anyway, that’s the case with the majority of the whole lot. Then there come people like me, the international singapore PRs. (Permanent residents, one step away from citizenship basically) In my case, i got no reason to complain man. I could’ve very well continued out on my life of vices on my beautiful student visa and gotten the hell out of here as soon as i could. But due to advice from the close ones and generally having the feeling of getting my act together, supported by the fact that a vast majority of my friends have done it and excelled as well, with the notion that there’s a life offered in here, i took up the challenge, thinking long-term. After graduating from basic training, i got posted as a combat medic trainee to undergo my medic training at the home of the medical corps, the SMTI. Yep, outta nowhere, vocations are shoved down your throat and you gotta deal with it. There’s lot of 'training’ factors which are considered, but i personally deem them bullshit coz my company best in basic got posted as a freakin’ security trooper. NOONE cares about your training phase. Except maybe your parents and your snapchat/insta peeps, when you brag about them army pics, feeling all alpha. Besides that, the ultimate deciding factor is the manpower requirement in respective departments. It’s like a lottery. So anyway, i won the lottery. After my basic, i’d started understanding myself more as a soldier, and figured out a couple of things about myself. First, in all honesty, i wasn’t a teamplayer. Couple of sparks every now and then, but atleast in this particular army, i wasn’t. I 100% el certainto only gave a shit about myself in the end. That’s kind of a large nono when you’re being trained to fight for fellow comrades/people risking your own life. Second, i’d lost the motivation to conquer physical/mental pain and become a leader courtesy of reason number 1, coz if you can’t feel for your men and their cause, you simply cannot lead. I didn’t. So yeap there you have it, my vocation largely involved none of that, so i was happy. Then I heard it’s a fucking relax training phase like a military university, so i got happier. Medic training is all lectures, drills, practicals, and not using your fucking phone during training. Plus a whole new level of freedom to eating. Which is largely the reason most medics around get fat easily. I did too yeap. Yadda yadda yadda, 11 weeks of training which im not going into the details of coz you can look it up and this is purely my experiences, another graduation. Another proud fucking moment. I get posted out again. And this time, i hit the mother of all lotteries - the big prize, the medical centre at the officer cadet’s school. Allow me to explain. As a medic in a medical centre, it’s a stay-out job. Which means, goodbye 5-day in camp weeks and hello 8-5 regime. Come to work, do yer thang, and get the fuck out. Which is what the majority of civilian population on earth does, so yeap, i was ecstatic. But yeah, every job comes with perks and extra responsibilites, this was no exception. A subset of a medical centre medic is going on 'covers’. Covers involve providing medical support to troops when they’re out training. Could be anything from incamp activities to overseas jungle exercises. Now, safety is the backbone of the SAF and a protocol even jesus couldn’t fuck with. Which means, things are a-okay most of the time but there the occasional minor incidents which is what we’re there for. Covers are done occasionally all depending on manpower and schedules. Besides that, we’re also assigned as 'duty medics’ which is basically staying in the centre after working hours and ensuring functionality for any after-hours casualties. I’m on duty right now, lol.