#🌹~ [ who would inhabit this bleak world alone ] || headcanon

[lastlycoris]

@livlaughlovio has replied to your post:

damn what'd ya do

It's a very long story and rant. This ended up being a super long post.

The tl;dr version is that father slaps his kid who got her brain tumor removed so hard it knocked her out - and I sliced the skin and subcutaneous fat of his abdomen open without actually opening his gut - and no, he was never in danger of dying.

District Attorney Dent tries to prosecute me for Attempted Murder (15-25 years) but is forced to downgrade it to 2nd degree assault (7 years). It later changed to a plea deal of 1-2 years because DA Dent was concerned the jury would exonerate me solely because the victim was a child-beating asshole regardless of what the law says - I believe this is what's called a "jury nullification". This plea deal included an evaluation at Arkham, because - I'm assuming this - the people prosecuting me all thought I was crazy.

And that plea deal got wrecked because I had a year of surgeries that now had to be rescheduled - which the other three neurosurgeons in Gotham City can't cover because my caseload is a little less than all of theirs combined. An arrangement was made for the sake of those patients seeking me specifically and the hospital, which is why I'm out on a sort of work parole.

--

The long story:

I came into the patient room with a father slapping the face of his middle-school aged daughter so hard it knocked her out. The only other person in the room was the mother, who was sporting bruises on the face herself.

In any case, his daughter's crime? Having a nasty locally-invasive medulloblastoma (type of brain cancer) and needing extensive, expensive chemoradiation prior to surgery.

Before I came in, I could hear lines like "should've let you die" and "a waste of money" kept coming out. I remember the room stinking of alcohol. And when I saw him hit her, I sliced a shallow thin cut across the abdomen with a scalpel I keep on my person - because Gotham - and he screams like I eviscerated him.

Later on, I learned he's her step-father, which makes sense. Animals are predisposed to making sure their genes survive, and killing the competition is one of those means to fulfill that. Compassion for others' young like you do is an exception rather the rule.

In any case, I called security to the room. I checked up on Wendy because I didn't take the effort of removing her brain tumor for someone else to kill her instead with a brain bleed. Her mother tried to check up on her husband - I just told her to "Just let him bleed. I didn't even touch the abdominal fascia" and that she has far more valuable things to worry about like the daughter he just struck. After security arrived and I kicked the screaming piece of garbage into the hall to let my patient convalesce in peace, I went on to my next surgery which was a subdural hematoma evacuation - essentially a slow brain bleed that is causing the brain to be squeezed to the patient's potential death.

It nearly got ruined when the police crowded the operating theatre and nearly broke the sterile field - so that's two surgeries the asshole nearly ruined. I told the police they could either arrest me and be potentially responsible for the patient dying on the operating table or they can let me do my job. They let me do my job.

The Gotham City Police Department later claimed I was holding my operating patient hostage. I told the court that the GCPD must've been projecting because I don't compromise duty for favors. That made the officers in the courtroom bristle something bad.

---

The District Attorney Dent tried to push for Attempted Murder during my preliminary hearing, but he was forced to bring the charges down to 2nd Degree Assault / Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Even back as far as residency, I was known to have a perfect tactile sense: even through the scalpel, I can feel the softness and density and depth I'm cutting with touch alone - and when asked to demonstrate, I stabbed a lemon to a depth of exactly 2.54 centimeters - exactly an inch. Had I actually been trying, I could probably get that down to the thousandths place - I do delicate vascular reconstruction work after all, dealing with vessels as small as 3 mm wide using special magnifying goggles.

If I wanted Wendy's father dead, he would've been dead; I never went through the abdomen and into his space containing his organs. I knew exactly the damage I was doing, which ended up working against me as DA Dent argued that it can't be a crime of passion when I knew exactly the damage I was doing.

He was right. I did.

Eventually, there was a plea deal because the DA was concerned that the jury might let me slide because the victim of my crime was such an asshole. Apparently cause jurors can do that.

My defense attorney convinced me to accept the deal because the strategy of "asshole victim" is unreliable. And he also made promises that regardless of what happens, I'd be out of Arkham Asylum within days at most - perhaps not completely free, but definitely out.

Speaking of Arkham, apparently my actions during the entire thing was enough for everyone to be convinced to send me to the state's insane asylum, which I never really quite got. My defense attorney claims it's the disaffected attitude I treated an "apparently dying", bleeding man by kicking him out of the hallway and simply going to work afterwards.

I cut him because he assaulted my patient. I then kicked him out the door because he was being loud and disruptive with his screaming, which harms my patient's healing. And I went back to work because I was the only neurosurgeon on call, and brain bleeds don't typically cure themselves. It's a very clean and logical order of events because I won't compromise duty. Supposedly, it made people concerned there was a screw loose in my head.

In any case, my defense attorney was right. It didn't take more than a couple days before there was a bit of an uproar at Gotham Memorial Hospital - when people realized they'd have to cancel every single one of my surgeries this year.

There are only four neurosurgeons in Gotham City because no one wants to earn lots of money and then get shot before being able to spend it. On top of that, my caseload is almost equal to the three of there's combined. Even outside the city, there are very few neurosurgeons that can perform the cases I do because I can push the limits of what can be done through the surgery in speed, accuracy, and precision. That is what having a perfect tactile sense means.

My parole ended up being a quiet affair. It helped that the asshole victim was being incarcerated on child abuse / endangerment charges (25 years) with and had no means to publicize his version of "injustice." The mother who was in the room at the time also portrayed my actions as heroic. It didn't quite excuse the use of the scalpel, which was why I was being charged in the first place, but I think the DA office was a lot more lenient on me than it would typically be for other criminals.

[lastlycoris]

🍷: Would they manipulate someone to get what they want?

((

Euridice can and will. She won't screw over others to get ahead, but if all people involved win, she finds that manipulation isn't so bad. It's not like people weren't already manipulating each other in the first place: wearing different faces for different people, speaking one way and acting another, etc.

People often forget that Euridice's family is composed of actors and actresses. Learning how to read others and what to do to get the reaction you wanted are things she's learned through living in such an environment.

Life is a play, and everyone is an actor on its stage.

The whole "leave the fake pregnancy test in the staff bathroom" is not an isolated incident. She doesn't like drama if it's too close to her, and bad workplace gossip counted as that with people she likes being involved - so Euridice felt that the most logical thing to do was to give everyone else something to talk about. Everyone wins: improved work environment for all, and she even gets something to entertain her during the boring hours at work.

))

[lastlycoris]

((13. What is the most useful thing?))

The most useful thing... Hmm. It's hard to explain.

During the Willow Trial, I had to avoid getting stabbed by sharp vines? shrapnel? objects? I didn't do very well. Even if I had passed the trial, I would've died from the injuries I sustained anyway. I guess the point is moot though, because I got blown apart by the lightning tribulation right after.

After a certain point - after being stabbed lethally through the abdomen, I realized that I was going to die no matter what. And it was like having icy water poured on me.

I'm not sure how to explain it afterwards. But after that, I stopped getting stabbed even as I ran towards the goal, even as the distance between me and the source of the sharp objects grew smaller and smaller.

It didn't really feel like my reactions were faster. It didn't quite feel completely like I was predicting the shots either.

It's more like I was a small raft in water. And someone drove their large boat at me, but I didn't get hit because the waves it made pushed me aside. It sorta felt like that.

Of course, the Willow retaliated by stabbing me right through the dead center of my chest right afterwards, which seemed to bypass that weird feeling entirely.

But I guess since it did save my life up to that point, it's probably the most useful thing I have, even if I can't really trigger it on my own.

[lastlycoris]

Do you use your abilities on a daily basis?

I try not to for the more relevant one - Perceiving people's heartbeats appears to be something I can't turn off completely, only dampen. It's something that I acquired after the incident.

When I worked in the Intensive Care Unit, it made me sick. I could feel these weak thready heartbeats and then suddenly one would wink out without warning, and the pulse alarm would go up seconds later. It's a constant unending reminder of how sick some of these people are, and I'd feel this conflicting sense of guilt and relief whenever I had the chance to leave the hospital.

I don't feel it makes me a better doctor having this. It just causes me an immense amount of stress, especially when a good percent of the people have what they call PVCs - premature ventricular contractions - I can't tell it with sense alone from its more dangerous cousin - ventricular tachycardia which may then lead to v-fib and that's when their heart stops.

I can sorta narrow the sense down to a roughly two room's radii, but it still means I am perceiving dozens of heartbeats when I'm in a crowded area.

[lastlycoris]

42. Does affection come easily to you? 43. How do you express affection? How do you like to receive affection?

Affection, not really. I'm not the hugging or sweet nothings type. Also not he type you come for comfort either. A bit too socially inept at that, which people find odd given my profession.

--

I guess my affection is mostly expressed by my willingness to spend time with others. I'm not one to express affection physically or verbally, and it's not the way I particularly like to recieve it, I think, family excepted.

I guess being in the same space and doing things together might be how I like to both send and recieve affection.

[lastlycoris]

What’s something you regret buying, but you just can’t get rid of it?

...A navy blue two-piece bikini. It has stars and shells on it. I thought it looked cute at the time.

But after I bought it, I realized I didn't have the confidence to wear it. And by the time I realized I could return it, it was already past the return date.

So now it just sits in the bottom of my drawer, and I'm reminded of my bad purchase every time I run out of clothes to wear.

[lastlycoris]

the sun: do you believe in magic?

I'm aware that magic exists, but very little of it has to do with me nowadays. I'm also not magical myself or actually delved deeply into the other side. It's probably for the best.

The only magical thing I own is the small willow tree I'm growing in my apartment. I suspect it's the reason why I can access Tumblr and consequently the other side - otherwise, it's just plain old Tunglr.

Hmm. Maybe the correct way to put it is the reverse.

It's Tunglr until it becomes Tumblr.

[lastlycoris]

death?

death: what are three things you want to do before you die?

Things I want to do before I die.

I've pondered this a while back.

First thing is that I would like to become a fully licensed doctor. I've walked this path for almost my entire life - more than a decade and a half - that it's hard to imagine doing something different.

The second would be travelling around the world. Not to say I haven't done my own share of globe-trotting as my family loves to travel, but they're always very insistent on seeing the sights or visiting the tourist attractions in a short amount of time; it's always very hectic as a result.

What's wrong with just sticking to one place for several days and taking in the local snack culture there. And then I'd go back to the hotel, so I can go relax - maybe catch up on a webnovel.

The third is that I'd like to replant the willow tree I have in my apartment back to where my family home used to be. It seems fitting.

[lastlycoris]

What was your pet peeve when you had a substitute teacher in school?

The situation overall.

Primary and secondary school was rather regimented, which is how I liked it. There's always a sense of comforting order as to how the curriculum is presented and how the teachers would come and go from the classroom at precise times. Like clockwork.

The substitute teacher was a cog out of place. Didn't teach in the manner one would expect nor did they have that comforting familiarity. Most of my class treated the substitute as an excuse to take it easy. I personally thought it was a lost day.

[lastlycoris]

This... doesn't seem like me. And the answers I picked don't seem to lead to this.

[lastlycoris]

the devil: do you enjoy thunderstorms?

No.

I don't.

[lastlycoris]

main timeline: (roughly chronological, main pieces are in bold)

Opening Act :: The Willow Trial

A Disastrous First Day (medical drama)

Triage 1 2 (medical drama, tw; gore, tw; death)

Heavenly Tribulation

Tribulation Aftermath 1 2 3 4

3 Month Calamity - rp with 90smagicalboy

Dream Encounter

This Life is Mine

Flower within a Cave - pt 1

Prelude to Calamity

Trial and Tribulation (end opening act, tw; gore)

Intermezzo::

Flower within a Cave - pt 2

Convalescence (tw; gore)

The Return

-----------------

Supplemental Pieces:

Opening Act ::

On the Job (selfie)

Horrible Lies

You’re Responsible for Your Own Happiness

A Sister’s Worry (Athena)  1  2

Origin of the Willow Tree

Eventful Sunday (medical drama)

Bad Pun - tiny thing with Luna

Love of Family aka Stop Hitting on the Nurses

Anthropology, not Anthology

Dad Jokes

Lyco Pls (texts to family) 1 2

Last Text (saved reply from 90smagicalboy)

Intermezzo

The Lost Texts of a Broken Phone

Another Lycoris (alt):

???Another Lycoris :: Dreams of Cerulean - this is not associated with the current DoC storyline.

Another Lycoris :: Fateful Resonance - Don’t Chase the Rabbit

[lastlycoris]

On a less pessimistic note: 

[chatlog]

lastlycoris: Your username. 

hifineimdad: Yes? 

lastlycoris: I’m facepalming.

hifineimdad: Hi. I’m facepalming. I’m Dad. =D

lastlycoris: ...I really should’ve expected that. 

hifineimdad: no one expects the spanish inquisition!