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whumpetywhumpwhump · 3 months

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Posting one of my actual (fandom-related) full fics on here... be nice!!

This is some good ol' intubation whump because it's my favourite.

(for slight context of character, see this old post)

When the call comes in, everybody in the ER is hoping it isn't Coop. Especially Neela.

Severe asthma attack. 26 year old male.

Somehow, because it's his day off and he really ought to be relaxing, it seems almost impossible for him to find himself back in the hospital as a patient. It just… isn't fair.

That doesn't stop the wheels of the gurney from rolling through the doors, though. Doesn't change the fact that Coop is laying half-conscious on top of it, his quick, shallow breaths fogging a nebulizer mask, his skin so pale it looks ashen.

“26 year old male,” the paramedic conducting the transfer restates. “Severe asthma attack with symptoms pointing to onset of status asthmaticus. Albuterol administered, as well as 0.5mg subcutaneous epinephrine, both to minimal effect.”

Dr Lewis, the attending on the case, moves to Coop’s side, slipping the chest piece of her stethoscope underneath his t-shirt as they continue to move into one of the trauma rooms. Her expression, when she withdraws it, is severe.

“His airways are pretty much closed up. He needs more epi now.”

Abby hurries to drag a crash cart in, and Neela follows the gurney all the way until it's positioned in the trauma room, at which point she starts readying an IV kit with shaking hands.

Coop does not look good. Even when compared to the time she almost killed him with epi. At least then he'd been alert, sitting up, and his skin hadn't lost all of its colour like it has now.

Dr Lewis returns from fetching some more equipment, and as she waits for Abby to arrive with the crash cart, she strokes Coop’s hair reassuringly.

“Hang on, sweetheart, we’re going to help you feel better. Just keep breathing for me, okay?”

Through weak wheezes that emerge from blue-tinged lips, Coop nods. His eyelids are heavy with exhaustion.

Neela hasn't seen an asthma attack this severe in person before, but she knows from med school how dangerous they can be- especially when the patient is as tired as Coop is. It isn't clear how long he's been struggling this much to breathe. The colour of his skin (or lack of, for that matter) tells her it's been too long.

If they don't work quickly, his body will run out of energy. He'll stop breathing, too exhausted to even inhale anymore. He'll lose oxygen.

He'll die.

“Neela, I need an IV of 100mg hydrocortisone.”

She turns to find Dr Lewis’ keen gaze on her. There's a thinly veiled panic in the attending’s eyes that quickly disappears as she turns back to Coop, gently trying to reassure him as he fights for air.

“I’m going to page Pratt as well, alright, Coop? He can get you some more albuterol so your nebulizer doesn't dry out.”

Neela can't see whether Coop replies, but if he does, it isn't audible. All she can hear is his terrifying wheeze and the hum of the nebulizer, shortly joined by a rapid beeping as a nurse finally helps him take off his shirt and hooks him up to a monitor. She doesn't dare turn around to look at his oxygen saturation. It's likely going to keep plummeting.

Instead, she focuses on setting up the cannula in Coop’s trembling arm, her left hand holding it steady while her right slides the needle in.

“There we are, Coop.” she murmurs. “You're doing so well, sweetheart.”

The pet name feels stranger coming from her lips than Dr Lewis', but at this point her slight blush is the least of their worries. While Coop’s this sick, it doesn't matter what she calls him. He just needs to start breathing properly again.

Once the IV site has been secured with a clear sticker, Neela measures out the dose of hydrocortisone. 100mg. When they're giving it as a steroid over a longer period of time, they prescribe 20-30mg a day, in two doses. The fact that they're pumping him full of this much at once is testament to just how emergent his case is.

“100mg hydrocortisone going in.” she announces. Connects the needle to the cannula. Pushes down on the plunger of the syringe.

Despite her accumulated knowledge surrounding medication, Neela still half expects the effects to be immediate. For Coop to suddenly relax, his airway opening up again, the colour gradually suffusing his cheeks. For the wheezing to fade as he breathes in properly for the first time in hours.

It doesn't. None of this happens.

Minute by minute, Coop continues to deteriorate. Abby brings in the crash cart. Dr Lewis injects the epinephrine beneath the skin of his forearm and, unlike before, he doesn't even react to the needle. His eyes flicker like his awareness is slipping away from him.

By the time Pratt arrives to switch out Coop’s nebulizer, such a small intervention becomes pointless. Even if Coop were able to breathe properly, time has proven that albuterol, on this occasion, just isn't working. Pratt sets down the new nebulizer and instantly crosses to Coop’s bedside, brow furrowed.

“Coop, man, can I listen to your chest?”

A barely perceptible nod.

When Pratt presses the cold stethoscope against Coop’s heaving chest, it seems more of a confirmatory action than one that's actually necessary. He sighs, shaking his head. Coop, as evidenced by the blue tinge to his lips, his rolling eyes, the pallor of his skin, is officially status asthmaticus.

He's in respiratory failure.

Things suddenly grow a lot more urgent. Pratt gives Lewis a gesture that she reciprocates, and a nurse pulls the crash cart closer to the bed. Neela’s heart sinks just as Abby sinks into position right at Coop’s bedside, crouching next to him as she strokes his hair and updates him.

“Sweetheart, your breathing isn't where we need it to be, okay? You're not getting enough oxygen. We need to put you to sleep for a while… intubate you. Do you understand?”

Coop closes his eyes, humming in assent even as a frightened tear slips down his cheek.

“Ju-just… d-d-do… iiiiit.”

His voice is shot. Weak. Resigned to his fate.

It's the same phrase he used when Abby shocked his heart back into a regular rhythm a few months ago. Back then, though, it had simply been a plea to get things over with.

Now, it seems not only a desperate entreaty, but also a solemn reminder:

I’ve been here before.

Neela knows, just as the other staff do, that Coop’s been super sick a couple of times. He knows what it's like to wake up in the ICU feeling like you're breathing through a straw. He knows what it's like for weeks to pass in the span of a minute.

He knows that when he's tubed, he can breathe, and that’s all that matters.

“We’re going to look after you, sweetheart, I promise.” Abby says, her own eyes a little misty. She brushes the sweat-damp hair from his forehead and squeezes his hand. One of the other nurses adjusts the bed so it's laying flat. The tears, terrified, continue to stream silently down his cheeks.

Abby lifts his hand, pressing an almost motherly kiss to the back of it, while Pratt slots a syringe full of medication into the cannula of his other hand.

“Propofol and some muscle relaxants are going to go in now, man. Just relax and let yourself drift off- we’ve got you.”

As the syringe is pushed, Neela can see Coop’s grip on Abby’s hand loosen. The thick tears decorating his cheeks seem, in themselves, to slow down, the scared expression in his eyes melting away beneath the anaesthetic. He blinks once. Twice.

Gone.

There's something so unnerving about Coop being still. How, as Pratt brushes his index finger underneath Coop’s eyelashes, the latter doesn't stir at all to crack a smile. When Dr Lewis gets into position behind his head and adjusts her patient accordingly, he's limp and movable. Floppy.

“Pratt, can you get that nebulizer off?”

“Sure.”

There are red marks across Coop's face from where the straps of the mask dug into his skin for hours. Now, he doesn't breathe at all. He looks dead. According to the dropping numbers on the monitor, he may as well be dead.

“Laryngoscope.”

“Here. Laryngoscope.”

A nurse places the metal instrument into Dr Lewis' awaiting hand. Her other hand gently tilts Coop’s head back.

“Alright… sliding laryngoscope in… got slight cord visualisation. Tube?”

“Tube.”

Neela watches her angle the endotracheal tube in with bated breath- and for good reason.

“C’mon, Coop.” Lewis murmurs, desperately trying to gain access. “I need to help you breathe, sweetheart. Let me help you breathe.”

Pratt steps up next to her, arms crossed. “Difficult airway?”

“Nearly impossible. Haven't seen this level of inflammation in a long time. Poor guy must have been so incredibly uncomfortable.”

The monitor continues to blare. Coop’s oxygen levels continue to drop.

Abby, still positioned right next to him, stroking his hair even as he lays there unconscious, glances worriedly at the screen.

“His sats aren't looking good.”

Dr Lewis sighs. “Yeah, I know, I'm just trying to- there.”

Her relief is palpable, and Neela knows at once that she’s finally in. She watches the tube slot into place before Lewis inflates the cuff, and Pratt connects everything up to the vent.

“Tube’s misting.” Abby says gently, as everyone begins to relax. “Looks like good placement.”

Pratt pulls his stethoscope out from around his neck.

“I’ll check.”

He moves to Coop's side and checks his breathing, first auscultating the left side of his chest, then the right. It's odd, Neela thinks, to observe how natural his breathing looks now, when only moments ago it was erratic and desperate- but of course, it isn't technically him breathing now at all. They've taken over for him.

After a few more checks with the stethoscope across Coop’s chest and neck, Pratt stands up, slinging the device back around his own neck.

“Bilateral breath sounds. You're in.”

Everyone in the room seems to relax at once, especially when the numbers on the monitor start to creep up to normal.

“Alright,” Dr Lewis breathes, turning to Abby. “Secure it, then we'll get him down to ICU. Keep him on max settings until we know it's safe to start weaning him off."

She moves back, as does Pratt, and Abby stands, giving Coop’s hair one last gentle run through with her fingers before she moves away to fetch the tube holder. Neela's eyes remain fixed on him, though. It's impossible not to when he's so completely still.

“You alright, Neela?” Abby asks gently as she returns a few moments later.

Neela nods. “Yeah, I just… it's so different when you know them. I didn't realise how sick it would make me feel.”

Abby gives her a small reassuring smile, then focuses her attention back on the packaging she's just picked up, tearing it open and pulling out the holder before she starts to peel off the tape on the pads.

“I know what you mean. It's not easy seeing somebody you care about like this, and it's somehow even harder with a person like Coop. He's always smiling, always moving, always there, and now…” She presses the first pad against his cheek gently, thumb brushing against it to secure it. “He's not. He's always there to take care of everybody else, and now…” She applies the other pad, movements just as careful and attentive. “He needs us to take care of him.”

Neela hums affirmatively, watching her secure the tube.

“There's just so much at stake. So much that could go wrong, and nearly did. Maybe it even has.”

Abby finishes, standing up fully again and adjusting things ever so slightly. Coop looks like the other patients in the ICU now, and it makes Neela’s stomach roll with anxiety.

“It isn't easy.” Abby responds. “But that's what the ER’s like, even if it happens with one of our own. It's fast-paced, it's risky, and sometimes the worst happens. Sometimes, we can't easily cure a patient, and we have to hope that they'll fight enough on their own to get through things.”

“Do you think he will? Coop?”

“There are no guarantees, but if anyone's going to, it's him.” She looks down at him with a mixture of affection and admiration. Her thumb strokes along the curve of his jaw. “He just needs to hang on long enough for the inflammation to go down. He just needs to do something which is pretty alien to him, and rest. Let us do some of the heavy lifting for a while until he's strong enough to do it on his own again.”

Neela nods. “He'll get through it.”

Abby smiles. “Exactly. He'll get through it… You’re a tough one, aren't you, sweetheart?” She brushes back some more sweat-damp and unruly hair from his forehead. “Let's get you somewhere you can rest, hm?”

Coop remains still, the only sign he's still there at all being the beeping of the monitor and the fogging of the tube. But somehow, as Neela helps Abby raise the railings of the bed ready for transport, she knows he's going to come out of this.

He always does.

#whump #sickfic whump #med whump #intubation whump #asthma whump #er 1994

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princeescaluswords · 5 months

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I like Stiles as a character, but I often get frustrated by fanon diverging from canon, and the worst of it to me is the ways that Lydia treated by Stiles - as something he deserves, most notably when she kisses Scott and he's angry, which the fandom holds against Scott because apparently Lydia making choices means Scott is a bad friend - or in the scene when Lydia is high after the werewolf attack at the movie rental place, and the only thing that keeps Stiles from doing [something] is that Lydia calls out for Jackson rather than him.

I think Stiles is kind of a jerk, and I like him because of it, but the fanon Stiles used as a weapon to bludgeon canon Scott is... the dumbest thing in the fandom

Have you ever seen the frequent criticism on this site that certain people should have paid more attention in English class? This criticism arises from posts like the one I saw today, where a person was confessing that "people think Stiles is evil because he almost made out with Lydia while she was drugged up." I don't think Stiles is evil for doing that; it sounds like you don't think Stiles is evil. I've never actually heard anyone call him evil for almost giving into temptation. (The closest I've ever come to calling Stiles's evil is his behavior in Lies of Omission (5x09) and Status Asthmaticus (5x10) and I don't even go that far). What we do recognize that what he did in Lydia's bedroom in The Tell (1x05) wasn't the right way to behave.

Stiles's desire for Lydia is real and natural; it was his inability to recognize and respect proper boundaries that almost created a very bad situation. He did pull away when Lydia said Jackson's name; the realization that she was confused about who he was and not secretly attracted to him reminded him that his behavior wouldn't be the fulfillment of his desire but him taking advantage of her. It's a good scene that tells us about Stiles's weaknesses but also about his strengths: beyond the insecurity that leads him to fixate on the most unattainable girl in school and his constant disregard for proper boundaries, Stiles is a fundamentally decent human being.

So why do I, personally, bring up this scene when talking about Teen Wolf a lot? Stiles-stans (who are not really fans of Stiles but fans of Fanon Stiles or, more accurately, Self-Insert with a Stiles Name Tag) like to go on and on about how deficient a person Scott McCall, the lead protagonist, is because he was "obsessed" with Allison and lacrosse. They argue this to say why they 'dislike' him, but what they actually mean is that he shouldn't be the lead protagonist. But they never seem to remember Stiles's behavior when it comes to Lydia (or Derek's behavior when it comes to Paige or Liam's behavior when it comes to Hayden for that matter).

My position -- and I think the production shared this position -- is that Scott's desire to have a girlfriend and make first line on the lacrosse team is real and natural. However, his attempts to avoid recognizing and coping with the consequences of Peter's vicious assault could lead to very bad situations unless he took responsibility. Scott had to learn how to anchor himself -- which he did! He had to make sure he put what was truly important ahead of his relationship with Allison -- which he did!

I have always maintained that Teen Wolf is a bildungsroman, which is a story about children becoming adults. Throughout the series, Scott's growth is primary; he evolves from an asthmatic loser who feels like he sits on the sidelines of life into a True Alpha werewolf leading a war against those who would murder supernatural creatures out of self-interest. But he's not the only one to grow. Allison had her own story; Lydia had her own story; Derek had his own story (one of the best redemption arcs ever); and Stiles had his version of that story!

The problem is that there are a lot of people who didn't watch Teen Wolf as a story, but rather as raw material. They swooped in and picked up the parts that they wanted, like vultures devouring a carcass. They wanted Stiles and <insert white male love interest here> to be the focus of the show, as they were the focus of their interests, but they could do without the part where Stiles struggles to grow up. In response, they selected only the parts that fit their agenda. Thus, Scott becomes dull, obsessive, stupid, with a foolish no-kill rule, and an unearned hostility toward the Hale Family whom he shamelessly usurps, even though none of that description is remotely true. On the other hand, Stiles becomes the should-be valedictorian of his class, a master archmage, and a ruthless anti-hero ready to kill anyone to protect which ever white male character he loves this week, even though none of that description is remotely true.

Fandom, in the name of their own enjoyment, has boiled their understanding of the story down to "I don't like Scott" and "Stiles is not evil!" Nuanced takes like "Stiles had the courage to cross boundaries to protect others but that tendency also led him into some problematic actions" and "Scott didn't start out a heroic protagonist; he only embraced the mantle when he realized that the threats he had to face didn't care that he and his friends were teenagers." become difficult for them to understand and unpleasant for them to process, because they only really want Power Fantasy Stiles and Bad Friend Scott. Those bits and pieces fit into the pre-existing tropes that bring them pleasure. It's the limitations that frustrate them, not Teen Wolf's.

#stiles stilinski #scott mccall #scott mccall defense squad #teen wolf fandom problems #fandom racism

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tracystewart · 2 years

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Mason watching Scott die ↳ Teen Wolf: 5x10 “Status Asthmaticus” ↳ Teen Wolf: The Movie

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capricornsicle · 2 years

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"I'm going to tell you a story. Maybe it will sound familiar." Visionary x Insatiable x Status Asthmaticus x The Wolves of War

#this is really a show about coming of age in a vicious and unfamiliar world more than a show about werewolves #think about it. scott is sixteen and to him losing his first love is as incomprehensible and unfathomable as the supernatural.#and we're constantly reminded of how being sixteen and in love goes -- 'you're not in love you're sixteen and a child' etc.#these three characters make for such a good parallel to one another in how they werewolf + seeking guidance #especially + sudden change of worldview/stakes when confronted with sudden and unexpected loss and grieving #of course derek loses paige and becomes cold and jaded (see: literally becomes cold w/ blue eyes)#scott loses allison and commits harder to saving all of his friends even though one of them (or someone possessing him) killed her #liam is stopped from killing because of hayden's death #here are three werewolves who were sixteen and held their first love's dead body in their arms #and each of them took a different path. do you close yourself off? refuse to? do you change completely because of it?#and ofc it's teen wolf so everything always comes in threes #I have a lot of issues with the writing but the use of death (barring 6b) is not one of them. they really went hard on meaningful death.#also consider: lori holding brett's hand so he doesn't die alone and theo responding to tracy kissing him by killing her as she does #teen wolf writers went is anyone going to bastardize the original narrative to ponder new ideas about it and didn't wait for an answer #also women's deaths are always about love/for a man (thanks hollywood) but goddamn if they don't kill their women wisely #and the thing is they are all running. they're running from death and what does it get them? it gets them here.#derek wants to turn paige so she'll live forever. scott wants allison to live happily even with someone else. liam wants to save hayden.#none of them consider that cheating death will catch up to them until they run right into its arms #and all three die because of getting involved with the supernatural. all of them would presumably not have died otherwise.#coming of age into a world that takes and hurts and destroys and where you are now old enough for people around you to die.#this is not a show about werewolves.#teen wolf #twedit #teenwolfedit #my edit #derek hale #paige krasikeva #scott mccall #allison argent #liam dunbar

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cruxcantare · 10 months

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So I'm pretending I'm part of the everyone @jemgirl86 tagged

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

So mine are all... lmao. Anyway, a lot of these are unwatered for long periods of time, so I wouldn't get my hopes up about any of them if you DO ask about these. But I'm down to air out my dead.

Father of the Bride

Ventriloquy 205

Baroque Works AU

Butterflies

Status Asthmaticus

Stepmom AU

Baker AU

S Equals S

Bad ML AU

UES Brooklyn Swap AU

3+1 Soulmate Marks

Ship in a Bottle

Beacon Hills Swap AU

Yale AU

Sun/Dark

Lost Boys

Crown Prince

Not Brothers AU

TriAU

Tagging anyone who wants to join too!

#WIP Game #MCU #teen wolf #x-men #One Piece Live Action #OPLA #Gossip Girl #Game of Thrones #Batman #dc titans

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shkspr · 1 year

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teen wolf, “status asthmaticus” / the magnus archives, “the last”

#magpod #web weaving #teen wolf #ok to rb #yes i made this post three years ago but i used shitty screenshots and i cant edit the og post on mobile so im just remaking it #i was gonna just rb it from myself but it was so ugly i deleted it in favor of this shiny new post

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redmoonfever · 2 years

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Forever mad Scott was left half dead and unprotected after Status Asthmaticus. I understand the pack all had stuff going on but I mean, their friend of years, someone who had guided them through horrible things had just died and they all ignored it. Not to mention Melissa who knew he hadn’t healed calling him and telling him essentially to get back to it.

#scott mccall #theo raeken #melissa mccall #status asthmatius #Scott mccalls death #season 5 #teen wolf

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r-ene · 2 years

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09.24 to 09.30.22

day 33 to 39

...wasn't able to update on these days buttt exams are done !! passed everything but i wasn't satisfied much with pdm so i might start doing some advance reading on the topics for this midterms especially since all 11 classes would be giving an exam this time and face to face.

this week I didn't sleep past 2am, didn't study past 1am but i was able to cover everything i need to study - some rushed like with pdm because i frustratingly spent 2x more time studying pneumonia bc i thought the pathological causes would be included, but not, so left me a little time to review on status asthmaticus and copd.

exams just ended but its only 2 weeks until the next one, gotta keep continuing grinding but I'll be spending my weekend catching up on some laundry, cleaning and i finished b99 as well sshsg someone rubbed chili on my eyes, haha

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seemebaremyteethforyou · 2 years

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The Doppelgänger : to kill and replace

05x10 Status Asthmaticus // 05x06 Required Reading //

Happy Sceo Weekend everyone!! I hope you enjoy all the amazing things that my fellow creators have prepared, stay tuned for content at @sceosource

This was a two-person job, cheers to my sibling @jennnifersbody 🤝 who always helps me come up with new ideas

#sceoweekend2022 #sceo weekend #theo raeken #scott mccall #05x06 required regarding #05x10 status asthmaticus #05x06 #05x10 #teen wolf #season 5 #tw edit #teen wolf edit #scott x theo #sceo #luxedit #ch: a chimera isn't just a monster with different parts. it can also mean something impossible to achieve. an unrealializable dream #ch: everybody knows that lone wolves they don't make it on their own #ch: true alpha

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a-lil-bi-furious · 2 years

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Tagged by @momentofmemory @scintalla and @slice-of-magenta so I’ll play by popular demand 😂 Thank you all 🥰

Rules: Recommend 3 of YOUR fics. 1 that is “most popular” and 2 that are “hidden gems” then tag some folks

It’s a lil tricky because I have only 3 complete works published, but here we go:

Most Popular

These Old Wounds, They Still Speak: In which Scott is shot with fast-acting wolfsbane and Theo has no choice but to get the bullets out. I will admit, it is a Concept™️. The disorientation and trauma and parallels and trust all came together nicely for a tasty angsty treat.

“Hidden Gems”

A Hollow Darkness in Disguise: Look I know it probably does not meet criteria for “hidden” but I do think it’s a gem. It explores Scott’s mental state throughout “Status Asthmaticus” and draws parallels with “Motel California”. This is my favorite fic I’ve written so far, perhaps with some bias because it was my first finished work, but mostly because the idea felt so big and revelatory for me, even if I know now plenty have drawn the same parallels before. It also was my Moment™️ getting into Scott analysis as I really sat with all of his compounded traumas.

I Had A Dream I Got Everything I Wanted: the first part of a Sceo 3+1 that has been in progress for over a year now (sorry spike 😔🙏). It’s bb!theo and bb!scott, need I say more?

I’ve no clue who has already done this, so apologies if you have. Tagging: @rhyslahey @spikeface @capricornsicle @salvatorestjohn @bericas with no pressure to play ofc!

#my fic #tag games #teen wolf #scott mccall #sceo #theo raeken

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metagalacticx · 2 years

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Scott home 🥺

this is something i was working on for sceo weekend but i started hating it and so never finished in time 🥺

it’s a canon-divergent fic set during status asthmaticus where theo went back into the library before melissa arrived

#asks #wip game

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princeescaluswords · 1 year

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Something that really gets me is the "stupid Scott" mentality many of the anties have. Especially considered in on several occasions throughout almost all seasons we see some semblance of Scott who really trying to put his foot down to get better grades\ maintain his grades. There's even a few scenes of him studying and even promising his mom that he will be better. Season 3 saw Derek actually looking back at Scott questioning what he was doing there when he should be at school. It gets implied heavily that it's his involvement in the supernatural world that gets in the way of his studies. Something we physically see. Yet the anti Scotts love this rhetoric that he's an idiot or an imbecile. Yet he's able to maintain well enough grades to stay on the lacrosse team and get into AP classes.

Side bar: those last two points make me question if Scott's grades or really as bad as he thinks they are or if they're just not where he wants him to be. Which would actually explain Kira and Lydia's reaction because he's always saying they (his grades) suck and yet he's in class with them.

Your question actually made me take a moment to re-evaluate the scene you mentioned in Parasomnia (5x02). Don't get me wrong, I still hate the whole bit because the heart of the scene is cruelty presented as humor. Other than the fact that the joke's not funny, the set-up also relies on a dynamic between Scott and Lydia that we haven't seen since Season 1 and a dynamic between Scott and Kira that we haven't seen since Season 3B. Even though I feel the scene is demeaning and regressive to all three characters involved, I have to admit that it serves multiple narrative purposes.

Yeah, but no one's tried to kill us in six months either. Other than Belasko's surprise attack at the Senior Scribe, the characters have been at peace. Their decisions are no longer matters of life or death, so they've been able to relax. We get a little Season 1 Lydia, the Queen Bee of the school. We get a little of Season 1 Scott, though instead of focusing on making first line, he is focusing on becoming a veterinarian. We get a little of Season 3B Kira, who wants to fit in and be friends and is thus a little susceptible to peer pressure. The scene tells us that they got to be kids for awhile.

Why wouldn't you tell me? Were you worried what I would think? The scene helps set up the crises of the season. Scott doesn't think he's smart enough, and that insecurity, coupled with the doubts that Stiles, Malia, and Liam exhibit, leads him to doubt his own decision-making. As a result, he doesn't take action until it becomes problematic, such as with Kira's fox spirit or violating Corey. Kira's timidity exacerbates the danger of her fox caused by the Doctors.

You'll get them back; you have to. As much as I also dislike the scene in Status Asthmaticus (5x10), it underlines the importance of the pack. These kids like each other and they need each other. As cruel as Lydia's behavior is, she's not doing it because she despises Scott. She is genuinely wondering if he's in the right class. As weak as Kira's capitulation is, it comes from a desire to be friends with both Lydia and Scott. And Scott needs to grapple with failure and a lack of faith. They are a pack; they reinforce each other.

So, the scene does serve a good purpose; I just didn't find it aesthetically pleasing. That's okay. It's not the only scene I have with this problem. But they hang together as a cohesive whole.

But fandom? Fandom's a different story. Parts of the fandom have this habit of taking scenes out of context in order to make their point, and their point is always that Scott shouldn't be the lead protagonist. In this specific case, he's stupid and thus shouldn't be entrusted with the story. For example, they take Stiles's barbs such as "I don't know how you would survive without me" and "Still want him in your pack?" as proof positive that Scott is unworthy and that Stiles doesn't really like him (yet when he says nasty things to Derek or Peter, it's banter) and then ignore scenes like Scott outwitting Peter in Season 1 in terms of the mall scene and Peter's date with Melissa. Scott outwits and out-thinks the villains -- Peter, Derek, Gerard, Deucalion, Theo, Gerard again, and the Anuk-Ite. When push comes to shove, Scott's smart enough for the responsibilities he takes upon himself, even if he confuses bestiary with bestiality.

I mean the scenes where Scott defeats the villains by perceiving their actions and coming up with strategies that defeat them happens every season and they're never blink-and-you-miss-it events. Then why do parts of the fandom keep up the illusion of Stupid Scott? As it always is, it's the racism. They cash in on the Lazy Uneducated Mexican trope in order to delegitimize Scott in favor of some other white boy.

Take Season 2. I've actually read Sterek stans blame the destruction of Derek's pack on Scott's plan to stop Gerard. How that works, I don't know. It's not like Derek ever expressed any single strategic thought aside from "kill them before they kill me." And it wasn't working, because Derek was playing right into Gerard's hands; that old hunter knew a werewolf's nature was an instinct toward violence. It's Scott whom Gerard underestimated as a guileless simpleton, and he spent 18 months spewing black goo because of it. But who cares? To parts of the fandom, Derek should have won due to him being a hot white man with a sad backstory. The color of his skin is the only thing that really matters.

Take Season 5. Stiles stans will go on and on and on about how Scott should have listened to Stiles, but that's where they stop. They have to stop there, because Stiles didn't have a plan. He couldn't prove to anyone his gut instinct about Theo -- not to Scott, but also not to Malia, Liam, Lydia or Sheriff "Tender Hug" Stilinski. The show didn't blame Stiles for not being able to defeat Theo and the Doctors on his own, but parts of the fandom can't tolerate that, so they blame Scott for Stiles not being able to defeat Theo and the Doctors. Because it can't be Stiles's lack of honesty and incredible self-loathing that's the problem.

In the end, that scene in Parasomnia can't be taken by itself. There's another scene in Mrs. Finch's class, where Scott gets the first quiz back and he scored an 86. It's not a 100% but it's not a Fail either. And that's the nuance their racism doesn't allow them to see.

#scott mccall #parasomnia #fandom racism #teen wolf fandom problems #scott mccall defense squad

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