#and then i got Really Sick <3 in Most Of My Internal Organs <3 and when i got back i . didn't want to finish this

[mars-ipan]

i don't ever plan on finishing this but i really like it so..... tumblr gets it <3

(comms r still open btw ^-^)

[the-firebird69]

This jerk Trump he has cancer and Trump has stage 3 cancer and it is mysticizing and it is growing inside his body and eating his tissue and fairly soon he's going to be in a lot of pain.

His stage 3 is reaching a level at when he was at level 4 earlier today and he's going to five but it's really going to be stage 4 because he was found to have cancer in his lymph nodes that's like the last place they're very resistant to cancer it's going on now and he is going to start feeling it and his doctor is called him and said it's not good news so he said lay it on me should we think we found it in the lymph nodes and he says good God I'm falling apart and they said we think you need to come in for treatment and we can lay out a treatment plan and it's not that bad he said I don't think so I'm going to take my chances out here and he's saying something like with the women or something and people don't know what that means and he's trying to say with us and what we say is we're probably the reason why you have cancer because you kept on saying it to our son and you're trying to say it just now so he's a little bit confused. The doctor was not laughing and decided that he's mentally ill and he needs to be held and treated and there's a few reasons for it one of them is he's dying and he's ruining everything and the other is there won't be a body to go into. The doctor called it stage 4 level 2 almost 3 and that's pretty bad. It does mean it's messetized in most of the organs on the lymphatic system is right before the endocrine and before and after the endocrine system is the sympathetic system is nerves once you get past those three systems if you moving on to more of the internal organs which are sometimes hard to infect like the kidneys and even the liver it's kind of tough unless someone injects stuff and they were with our son's dad directly into his liver and they actually murdered him but and the people that did are pretty much the whole crew the person who administered it was John remillard and he is almost out. Another person who passed was her son's mom sort of she'd made sick by Tommy f and their fanatics and think they can do stuff and the clan is destroying them.

-John remillard AKA Donald Trump AKA Sam in punta Gorda Florida is going to die he has stage 4 cancer it's going to be level three in just moments because the doctor has found some in there and he's going to go for another test and exam and we think it'll be level five and then it will go to stage 5 where it's entered the bones certain bones are infected first usually larger ones no it's the extremities and he will start to feel it and it'll be horrible. They're commenting about our son's ankle area and really it's dry down there that's all it is it shouldn't be but it dries off from bicycling and motorcycles get it all the time.

-is another huge thing happening these guys seem to be a little stupid about stuff and they are a lot of people figured it out who came in and they're taking advantage of it and it's not going to be a pretty day.

-there's another issue this area is full of poisons hardly anybody is taking medicine the Sun is a lot of it he's got thinners and stuff on purpose probiotics sometimes Pepto not too much now it was not the greatest you found with sugar in it but he does do a lot of stuff salt iodine and other just to try and maintain health is difficult which brings us to today's numbers it's almost over there's going to be a few more bursts probably at 5:00 we'll get one and it's been three at about 2.0 and one of them was at 1:30 p.m. and he was inside the other side 2:30 p.m. he was inside and third one 3:30 p.m. he was outside and couldn't figure it out. They be one at 4:00 p.m. no it's 4:30 p.m. the first two he was experiencing about 1.5 rad he was in front of the fan or a little bit more and the whole time and so people can't really say anything they want him to but he's doing it on purpose. So at the end of the day he'll be exposed to all of it and he should be down from what we said was 67% from this morning to an estimated 64% and the reason why it's not that much is because it has to work its way out so he said we are always including that and it's true still working self out during the low and then it will start to build up again around 7:00 p.m. there's another wave so I guess today would probably be about 62% like we said and the interior will be at 91%, all said and done tonight it will be about 58% tomorrow and 89%. And some of it's accumulating and stays in for a few days which is not bad you can handle like a month of it and he asked he works it anyways so it just doesn't it works for the salt and iodine and his little nervous but it works after 58% it should go a little faster that would be tomorrow tonight they're working on Mexico but we don't think it's going to blow. So it's just going to go down a few points but it might go down more because the level of chemicals is lower also has to do with the size of the lipoma that are remaining they're larger and they get bombarded by the stuff your tracks 70% of it and it's getting to that point right around 52% it will start changing he'll feel better cuz all these little ones that keep bursting will be gone so it's only a couple days away if that.

So right now he is at:

++the 58% on the exterior tonight at 7:00 p.m.

++91% on the exterior tonight at 7:00 p.m.

As the night goes on it will diminish but yes the exposure will only drop to about 54% we don't feel that bja will break it he is going to be trying the next couple days but yeah I'll have to wait for that but it is a momentous occasion this is and what's happening. The cities are clearing 50% are up about on an average of all of them 15% are out and the remaining 35% are packing getting valuables setting up where they're going getting housing and the ones who are walled off or about 70% of them are doing it fast on this 30% on the outside almost all of them are going to leave in other words

--also there are a couple more items to think about around here there's too many people that are harassing everybody and they're getting beat up but really this place is a mess again and there's too many living Dead more or less but tomorrow the numbers are going to be higher last night we said to billion and it's true . But really only 700,000 in Charlotte county of the original but that's a lot he says and it really is that's a huge number and it's going on now.

--other things that are happening that are still pretty big these people are very rude and heinous they're really stupid they don't know how to study anything and they don't do anything right but it's their time to leave. Things happening here that are pretty big the trumpsters are being pulled out of their positions they lost probably 75% in the past couple months and they're going to be losing more over the next couple weeks probably all of them as far as kicking him out they did issue the warning they're going to issue another one before the deadline and give them another deadline and it's going to start hurting these morons tonight though he's slated to get killed the rest of them probably will as Lincoln at the Ford theater in New York City and her son did not go there he went to one that looks like it a little but not much it's smaller it's round not the same place. This stuff's happening now tonight also they're going to investigate the Continental caverns it's a moment in history the investigated last night and need to send more and they said they were doing it last time and they weren't they did it a little and they're very lame now they heard of their full of uranium they can't tell but if they're so deep that the uranium is hard to detect. They found a crevasse that is in the Grand canyon and they found tunnels and they partially map them and this is going to work

Thor Freya

Olympus

[mostlyvoid-partiallyturtles]

Hey hello how about 01, 12, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and 55 for the HORRIBLE ask game

Boss question - do you still like turtles

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents?

It depends, based on the mood on both sides and what we’re talking about.

03: Do you regret anything?

Yeah, a couple decisions I’ve made.

05: What is your relationship status?

Single! (<- aroace, no qpr rn)

08: Played any sports?

Soccer when I was really little, and if it counts then marching band rn

12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours?

Yeah, right before an international flight home that took 14 hours I stayed up about 24 hours prior and didn’t sleep on the plane, coupled with my being sick, I felt awful. I sleep for 16 hours straight after that

13: Do you hate anyone at the moment?

Yeah, a couple freshmen at my school that are little shits, childhood bullies, a couple politicians, etc

21: What are your plans for this weekend?

Room organization, geocaching, tbh idk really

34: Who/what was your last dream about?

It was super blurry and I don’t remember much, but the most recent dreams that come to mind are the tmnt jfk assassination and the Weird Al Yankovic and the Pitch Black Orange dreams

55: Are you mean?

Man I sure hope not

Boss question: do you still like turtles?

YES OMIGOSH YES

I just got like five holiday presents that were directly tmnt related bc me and one other person are the TMNT friends in my irl friend group lol

[thelandscapingemployeetrap]

4 Tips to a Healthier Lawn: Impress Your Landscaping Clients @Thelawncarenut

How do we DIY our way into having a healthier lawn and, at the same time, impress our landscaping clients with our A++ ways?   We all want a healthier lawn, be that for our own land or our clients’. However, more often than not, we tend to skip the basics, so we end up with burnout, either internally or within the business. But what if we tell you that even just by enjoying the “mow-ment,” you can strengthen both your lawn and yourself, thus leading both to better health?   Whether you want to do it because you want to dominate your neighbors or you want everybody to go, “Dang, this dude’s got his lawn dialed,” there’s no doubt that this episode is perfect for you!   Allyn Hane started his first lawn business in 1987 at the age of 14 with a bright orange Sears push mower. Fast forward to 1998, he started working for the world’s largest lawn service, TruGreen, where he got the knowledge that he transcribes into videos and articles, adding his own opinions and spin. He stands proud and tall on his philosophy that organic lawns look better and resist problems better for the long haul; to him, it’s just a smarter choice. Tune into this episode to discover his tips on how to impress your clients and have a healthier lawn!

    “Get out and learn your land; that’s really the most important thing. There are certain things you’ll learn over time, but it starts just by getting out and measuring your lawn. So, get out, walk that lawn, learn your land, and pay attention when you’re doing it.”

 – Allyn Hane.

    Topics Covered   01:03 – “Over the years, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of lawn professionals that are in the audience…so I appreciate you having me on. I love being in front of this audience of lawn professionals and, hopefully, bring value today.”   Keith welcomes today’s awesome guest, Allyn Hane of The Lawn Care Nut.   03:44 – “For people that do a lot of fitness, you know your body, you know how far you can push it, you know when you’re going to get an injury; you just learn your body over time. And that’s really the same with your lawn—you learn it over time—and that’s really how you can be successful.”   Tip #1: Get out and learn your land. Here, Allyn discusses the importance of knowing your land as he shares simple things you can do to improve the lawn.   06:40 – “That’s what mowing is; it’s going to really strengthen the lawn. And that’s actually true. The more you mow, the healthier your lawn is.”   Tip #2: Learn to love the mow. Enjoy the “mow-ment.” Here, Allyn talks about reframing lawn care both as a time for personal development and a workout, explaining how mowing is like cardio that can give you immediate gratification, an endorphin rush, and a healthier lawn   10:41 – “As a DIY-er, I only have my own lawn below, I’m only taking care of one property, I know it like the back of my hand, I can take care of the bug. This is the thing about being a DIY-er; this is the advantage that I see.”   Allyn highlights the advantages of being a DIY-er as he talks about lawn leveling and the importance of having patience.   14:19 – “I’m just safer by design because I put less chemicals down, and I only put it where it’s needed.”   What can you do to deal with a pest (e.g., weed) problem when you have a dog, making sure that the chemicals aren’t going to make your pet sick?   20:23 – “Fertilizer doesn’t burn the lawn unless you spill it.”   Tip #3: Don’t be afraid to throw down.

Here, Allyn enlightens you on the benefits of putting fertilizer on your lawn as he discusses the need to be licensed if you want to get into spraying -cides. He also encourages people who are just starting out to try working for TruGreen for a couple of years.   27:55 – “So many people, they want to put a miracle application on the law that’s going to take care of everything, and I get it—that’s how our world operates; we want immediate results. But lawn care is different, and this is why it’s good therapy for people.”   Tip #4: Don’t expect immediate results.

Here, Allyn shares why lawn care is a good therapy for people while also explaining why it’s a must that you learn and start with the basics.   32:01 – “Go get that real training somewhere that is doing what you want to do, whether you like the way they do it or not. If they’re the biggest, if they’re the leader, go learn from them. There’s a lot of positives there, too, that you can do while you’re learning.”   Keith and Allyn reading and answering comments.   39:25 – “The first time you see a brown spot in your lawn, the first rule of thumb is to just dig; just see what you’ll find.”   Allyn shares tales from the trenches of his TruGreen years as far as crazy customers, educating you on what to do with brown spots. Keith and Allyn continue to read comments afterward   44:08 – “If that fertilizer were to be blown off of your lawn from a thunderstorm in the summer and go down into the rivers and then out into the gulf, it could create what is called red tide.”   Allyn talks about lightning’s beneficial help to your lawn. He also talks about phosphorus runoff and algal blooms such as red tide and how it’s usually formed. (Sign up for Allyn’s email list for the best content)   47:21 – “There’s a theory that female dogs are worse because they are lower to the ground, and they actually cause more damage.”   Allyn explains how dog pee and/or poop can cause brown spots to appear on your lawn. Keith also talks about the most professional way to deny a client service due to personal capacity before proceeding to read and answer comments again.  

    Key Takeaways   “For people that do a lot of fitness, you know your body, you know how far you can push it, you know when you’re going to get an injury; you just learn your body over time. And that’s really the same with your lawn—you learn it over time—and that’s really how you can be successful.”   “Mowing is like cardio. The more cardio you do, the healthier your heart is. It just makes you have more stamina. You’re able to do things that you weren’t able to do before when you have good cardio. That’s what mowing is; it’s going to really strengthen the lawn. And that’s actually true. The more you mow, the healthier your lawn is.”   “These little things that you do are what are going to make the biggest difference.”   “We want to fertilize the lawn to make it thicker because a thicker lawn is the best defense against weeds.”   “Go get that real training somewhere that is doing what you want to do, whether you like the way they do it or not. If they’re the biggest, if they’re the leader, go learn from them. There’s a lot of positives there, too, that you can do while you’re learning.”     Connect with Allyn Hane, Lawn Care Nut   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allynhane/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thelawncarenut     Connect with Keith    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelandscapingemployeetrap Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithkalfas/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@keith-kalfas Website: https://www.keithkalfas.com/     Resources/People Mentioned:   My Website: Official Site Keith Kalfas My Podcast Page: The UNTRAPPED Podcast   Lawn Care Nut: https://thelawncarenut.com/ Yard Care Bootcamp: https://www.yardcarebootcamp.com/ TruGreen: https://www.trugreen.com/ Yard Mastery: https://yardmastery.com/   Jill’s Office: https://www.jillsoffice.com/ Jobber: https://getjobber.com/im/ambassador-referral/?gspk=a2VpdGhrYWxmYXM4NTIx&gsxid=Rs6pwtznLDcs  

Check out this episode!

[issafterglow]

mystified - 22nd of march

crazy how it was 3 days already since my first entry in this blog. tamad an tamad talaga ako sa buhay minsan XD but anyway a lot has happened since then and most of them were very unexpected. sometimes I think my whole life is a sitcom talaga EMS but to start, let me narrate what happened on the 20th of march.

So this date was kinda significant for students in my university. Kasi the school has finally permitted an event to be hosted around the main campus for the opening of face to face classes as well as 2nd semester kung saan lahat ng mga fersons mapa-freshman o senior pwede pumunta! of course you bet I was there. but not only for the fest (which I did not enjoy btw) I was also present at my uni to claim some requirements needed for my next scholarship payout (wall eh hapit sa life) so ayun an nga along the way, I met an old friend and she hugged mo which felt really really good T-T tapos I made 2 new friends !! isang classmate ko at yung isa, senior na from our city din tapos scholar !!! like??? what are the odds diba. so syempre my extrovert self was THRIVING I probably looked like shit pero at least I made connections with other people. ANYWAY ayun after naming kumuha ng mga documents sa school, hindi na namin na-enjoy yung event kasi:

mas ginusto nilang umalis

biglang nawala yung wallet nung friend ko so bumalik pa ulit kami mula sa gate papunta sa main building para sana hanapin while full on panic mode kami internally but thankfully may nakapulot kaso prof !! pinapunta pa siya sa south wing, 4th floor kasi dun daw yung office ni sir, edi kami mga nagsi sama and all

nag decide na kami umalis at wag makipag siksikan sa mga ferson sa uni YUN NGA LANG

tsaka ko lang naalala na naiwan ko yung envelope namin na naglalaman nung mga documents na inasikaso namin earlier (doon mismo sa south wing, 4th floor mismo kung san kami nag cr after kuhain yung wallet) kung kailan nasa jollibee na kami and yung food namin is pino-process na T-T so bumalik nanaman kami sa school nung isa kong kasama para hanapin THANK GOD TALAGA AT NANDOON PA SYA KUNG SAAN KO SYA INIWAN

basically hindi ko naenjoy ang pa-event ni mayor kasi bukod sa hindi organized, i spent half the day going back and forrth sa campus whiles sweating my ass of and anxiously worrying about thos stupid documents T-T not that I'm mad about it though, don't get me wrong super naenjoy ko naman kasi at least I have another story to tell LOL HAHAHAHAH at the end of the day, I made another friend tapos even had some insights about their personal lives (mostly about lovelife lang nila) and that's how my day ended during the 20th !!

THE NEXT DAY which is the 21th naman everything was pretty simple I guess? sobrang normal lang ng araw ko, I tried updating this story i was writing that morning and afternoon, then I started a new sitcom which is yung how I met your mother AND I CANT BELIEVE I LET MYSELF OVERLOOK THIS SITCOM it was so good T-T so i kept on watching it as i wait for the ayaka banner AND GUESS WHAT

i got her weapon first at idk what pity

I only had one 10 pull left and I thought I wasn't gonna get her BUT CRAZIEST SHIT HAPPENED AND THE STARS WENT GOLD tapos mika appeared... and then her T-T I SWEAR I LOVE AYAKA BRO (but I realize now that her mats are the fucking worst tangina)

my crush was online, I was clutching ayaka's mats tapos she strikes a convo with me which was new huhuhu THEN WE TOOK PICS (was her idea btw) and our characters look CUTE AS F WITH THEIR 5 STAR WEAPONS LOL im like so proud of us.

very overwhelmed ako dun all day huhu genshin's being too nice to me these days honestly. tas ayun, when night came and I got sick of farming ayaka I read a manhwa called the third ending, NEW FAVE BTW grabe I love the ANGST, THE PINING, THE GRUMPY SUNSHINE TROPE, PLUS THE GROVELING !! everything about it was just chef's kiss. i slept crying over that story.

NOW FOR THE PRESENT NAMAN today was pretty but not so eventful din. 1st, I paid for conquest (secured tix !! see u tuonto) 2nd, remember those documents na we processed at uni? well I met up with my friends who are also scholars to submit those sa city hall. tapos afterwards, we went crazy and walked through the scorching heat of our city looking for a tambayan bago umuwi and it was fun I must say... then I cam home read a novel (shadow and bone) when I got tired I opened tiktok for a bit and like this is the craziest part of my day I DONT KNOW HOW I COULD BE SO DUMB.

you see, i have been wanting to have a job in a while now tapos I saw this ad about a work from home job so I tried risking it although it qualifies only 23 year olds, I was so curious kaya I was trying to really engage with the convo and the instructions of the personnel assisting the interested employees. but yknow it's all basically just like freelancing. and the job requires you to pay a sum of money an pwedeng ma-doble through the commissions of the merchants. pota diba idk if scam to sis honestly pero and tanga ko sa part na nag withdraw lang ako ng 100 instead of withdrawing the whole sum into my account huhu bosit. hindi naman ako nalugi, technically I gained a new knowledge of some industry out there pero nasasayangan ako sa pera LMAO anyway I guess since hindi sya hard earned money dasurb na din na wala akong nakuha from it other than knowledge. pasalamat nalang din ako na di ako na-scam. gonna shake these thoughts na and maybe just ask how to delete my account from the said page. whahahaha wala eh, di ko rin naman yata magagamit. also that's 2 embarrassing stories to tell in my attempts to find a job HAHAHA until next time! and hopefully may trabaho na ako sa next kwentos T-T

need ko na talaga bumawi kay mama. wish me luck!

may the stars align.

[didiwaffles]

Nephew got another last very last chance to pass his math exam and my mom finally decided to do something. To no one's surprize but hers, he's been failing because he absolutely sucks at math.

Now, for context, I love math. Due to my adhd I tend to make dumb mistakes, but even then I still love solving little silly numbers and shit (for as long as I know how to do it).

Max being unable to grasp the simpliest of the concepts left everyone frustrated, but I quickly found out that he doesn't frustrate me nearly as much as how my mom reacts to it.

These studying sessions been most unproductive I've seen in my entire life, and I've had studying sessions go like "okay okay OKAY I procrastinated long enough my exam is tomorrow I gotta do something *opens the book, gets hit with the executive disfunction* oh well I guess I'm playing overwatch and hope I can somehow absorb the divine knowledge 5 mins before the exam"

To begin with, she gives him no time to think. Heard first answer, no matter if it's right or wrong, she yells NO at him and THEN thinks what's even happening. If his first answer is wrong or he doesn't give one immediately, she dictates word for word for him to write down. Surprise, that does NOTHING to help him learn or remember something, he doesn't even understand what he's doing, no matter how many times she throws tons of useless information at him.

By today, I just started walking around her and yelling SHUT UP at her every time she opened her mouth cause holy fuck let him think for one minute jfc

So all of this led to an interesting conversation between us. For another bit of context, a little bit earlier today she complained to me about him and called him a "dumb little brat" which do we recall I told her when she shittalks him I hear her shittalk me yes? Okay great moving on. So my nephew went out to take a break and me and mom had the following conversation (that frankly got me pissed off):

Mom: Idk what to do. This is useless. Look at this. How is he messing up stuff like this. This should be second nature by now etc etc

Me: (attempting a conversation) Maybe try to consider that he is like. Not hopelessly stupid and braindead.

Mom: I know he's not! He's smart!

Me: Well then, if he's smart, how is he doing these kinda mistakes?

Mom: Idk, how?

Me: Nonono, you tell me! What's you version?

Mom: I have none! This just doesn't compute in my brain!

Me: Well, you see, there are people who are just not good at math.

Mom: Not good at math my ass! He never had those kinda problems when I was homeschooling him (for context: that was 5 years ago and his grades were the worst in his life during that period; he also was miserable, somehow hardly not more than when he lived with his alcoholic mom sleeping with every man who'd have her).

Me: Well that's just what happens when you let untreated depression and adhd progress.

Mom: Oh please stop this he's not sick! Stop indoctrinating him with this bullshit!

Me: (you can guess I'm getting real angry here because I was diagnosed with both and been getting treatment and showed visible and incredible progress but here we are again ig) So are you saying I'm also not?

Mom: Of course! You're also a very smart girl who finished 3 years of the university.

Me: No. This "smart girl" dropped out of both college and uni.

Mom: Well, your loss.

Me: (and now you can tell I'm fucking furious to hear that being said in my face again) I DIDN'T DO IT BECAUSE I WANTED TO???

Mom: (shut up attempting to derail the argument but oh no I'm not done)

Me: So ig you're the smartest person here? Nvm the doctor that diagnosed me, international classification of diseases? What's that? The world health organization who? Clearly they all are fucking dumbasses, what do they even know?

Mom: Absolutely, waste of space really (sounds like a joke, but she will not think even for a second that maybe she's wrong and maybe she's not smarter than people that literally specialize in that)

And now, tell me, how do I have any kinda conversation with this person?

Just fresh out of the argument with my mom

I think I'm fully in my right to yell and cry because she triggered my trauma

My nephew failed his math exam again, which was to be expected tbh at this point but it was about his last chance so he can get into college this year. But literally is it that big of a deal? So what if he failed again. So what if he loses another year. So what if he has to pass it again and again and again. Does it really define him as a person?

Well, my mom's answer was yes.

So then I asked her if his failure meant he's not deserving of support. If he's not worthy of love just because he keeps failing basic math over and over and over again. If me continuously failing college, university, all the other stuff means I don't deserve her support. If her feeling disappointed, her feeling shameful of our failures is more important than our own feelings about our failures.

Apparently, the answer once again was yes.

We also went into what could've been done about it and how she never tries to find a compromise and is satisfied with 'I tried and they didn't like it, that's all I can do' but at the same time rejects every other option because sees her way as the only right one, but all that is not even important. I'm just so... I just see myself in him. As he cried in my room and she kept berating him. And she thinks he deserved it. That I deserve it then too?

And she victimizes herself. It's us who treat her poorly. It's us who tell her mean things, that she's allowed us to behave this way long enough, how she doesn't like being treated like that. It's her who suffers from his failure. It's her who's disappointed, ashamed, has to face people about his failures, about my failures. It's us who need to be "stuffed full of drugs".

And it's me begging her, for once in her life try to think not about herself and how she feels. But how he feels. How I feel. How anyone feels outside of herself. To drop that damn 'I' and stop thinking about herself for damn minute.

[morganaspendragonss]

Hello 🥰 Whump fic idea :)TK lands in the hospital, again. But this time they're serious, serious injuries, he is under a respirator, he is not breathing on his own, the doctors do not give him much chance of survival, they even advise it would be the best to prepare for the worst and say goodbye, just in case. Owen calls Gwen, she's arriving the same day with Enzo and baby junior. When in the hospital they find out how it happened and that it's mostly Owen's fault (I don't know, for example, he allowed Tk to enter the unstable building to tend to the patient, or whether he made someone else angry and this person unloaded it on TK, or Owen decided to do something reckless and TK wanted to save him or it is The arson situation from 2x12 so Gwyn arrives pregnant, without a baby of course), Gwyn slaps him twice and Enzo punches him right in the nose, breaking it, for risking TK's life. Fortunately, despite the bad prognosis, TK wakes up, but after he took his sweet time being in a coma.

holly's august extravaganza day 3: the meetings for those in my wake

thanks for the prompt! i really loved writing this one though i need to confess to toning it down a little? idk but with the way it was going it didn't feel right to have enzo break owen's nose. i hope you still like it!

ao3 | 3.3k | major character injury, coma, angst with a happy ending

For years after the divorce, Gwyn came to learn that any call from Owen was almost certainly bad news.

TK got in a fight.

TK overdosed.

TK was shot, he’s in the hospital.

Over and over, until the first words out of her mouth whenever Owen’s name flashed up on her screen were, What’s wrong?

Things have been better in the three years since her time in Texas. Gwyn suspects it’s partly TK’s influence—he’s been more than enthusiastic in getting to know his baby brother, and Isaac has latched onto TK despite only seeing him in person every few months or so. But they’ve talked as well, she and Owen, and they really are doing better. They’re almost like friends now, which is why Gwyn thinks nothing of it when he calls just after she’s put Isaac to bed for the night.

“Owen, hey,” she greets. “What’s up?”

The silence she’s answered with is the first sign that something’s wrong.

The sob that follows is the second.

“Owen?” Gwyn repeats, louder this time, her heart leaping into her throat. She sits down heavily on the sofa as she waits for Owen’s response; there’s only one thing that could make him cry like that, and tears prick at Gwyn’s eyes as she imagines TK hurt again, or worse.

“Gwyn,” Owen eventually manages to gasp out, voice wrecked. “Gwyn, it’s TK. He’s… You need to get here. You need— It’s not like last time. They don’t know if he’s going to— They don’t think— It’s bad. Really bad.”

Owen breaks off, crying harder, and Gwyn claps a hand to her mouth. She remembers well how devastated he’d been when he called about the gunshot, but this a whole other level. Gwyn’s head spins with the potential implications of that and she finds her breath coming in sharp gasps, but it’s Owen’s next words that knocks it from her altogether.

“They think we should say goodbye.”

The rest of the story comes haltingly—someone got angry after his son couldn’t be saved on a call, he came to the firehouse, he attacked TK—but Gwyn barely hears it. Her boy is in the hospital again and this time…this time he might not be coming home. She can’t understand it; she spoke to him just two days ago, they made plans for he and Carlos to visit for Isaac’s birthday, and now…

“I’m so sorry, Gwyn,” Owen finishes. She feels a flash of that age-old urge to scream at him, but she fights it off, not wanting to wake Isaac.

“I’ll be on the first flight over,” she promises, then ends the call, sliding off the couch to the floor. Her phone falls from limp fingers and harsh sobs tear from her throat, muffled by the press of her fist against her mouth.

Enzo finds her there an hour later and immediately takes her in his arms, not complaining about her tears soaking his shirt. When she tells him what happened, he insists on joining her, and Gwyn allows herself to take that shred of comfort and run with it.

She thinks it’s the only comfort she’s likely to get right now.

The next flight isn’t until morning, so Gwyn spends a sleepless night packing and unpacking their suitcases and making phone calls with the firm and her clients to cancel everything for the foreseeable. She has the brief, terrible thought about whether she should pack funeral attire, which almost sends her into a panic attack as reality hits her all over again.

Enzo saves her from it, gently guiding her to bed, but not before she packs the clothes anyway.

Isaac seems to pick up on her mood when they’re hurrying out of the house, remaining mostly quiet aside from the odd question about where they’re going. He perks up considerably when he finds out they’re heading to Austin, babbling about seeing TK, and Gwyn has to blink hard to keep from crying again. Enzo reaches over to take her hand, and he barely lets go until they’re landing in Austin.

*

The entrance to the ICU looms before her, and Gwyn feels stuck. There had been a part of her, still, that had hoped to find TK miraculously awake and on the mend, like the last time she had made this trip. She doesn’t want to believe that he’s here, hurt, maybe dying.

But he is, and she’s forcefully reminded of that fact when a kind-looking nurse approaches her hesitantly.

“Ma’am? Can I help you?”

Gwyn blinks at her, her brain taking a moment to catch up. “I, um. I’m here to see my son. TK Strand.” She pauses, then shakes her head, cursing herself internally. “Tyler Kennedy Strand.”

The nurse’s entire demeanour changes, a sympathetic smile taking over her face. “This way.” She leads Gwyn through the ICU, then points at a door near the end of the corridor. “Tyler’s room is just there. I promise, we’re doing everything we can for him.”

Gwyn nods absently, her gaze stuck on the door the nurse had indicated. She walks forward slowly, the room seeming to get further and further away until, suddenly, she’s standing on the threshold, and she sees her son.

TK is barely visible, his face half-obscured by the ventilator, half by bruises, and heavy gauze covers his forehead. His arms, resting limply at his sides, are littered with scrapes, and if Gwyn squints, she can just about make out more bandages peeking out from under the hospital gown.

She’d thought that seeing him would make it all real, but she feels separate from everything somehow, only one thought going through her mind on repeat.

This is not my son.

A quiet whisper draws her attention to the figure sitting at TK’s side. Gwyn has to suppress a gasp as she takes in Carlos’s appearance; she hasn’t seen him in person since the wedding last year, and his pale face and red-rimmed eyes cut a stark contrast to that day. He hasn’t noticed her yet, wholly fixated on TK, one hand gently stroking the tufts of hair poking out above the bandage. His lips move and Gwyn knows she should walk away, but instead she finds herself leaning closer, straining to hear Carlos’s words.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he’s saying. “I know you’re fighting and I know you’re going to try as hard as you can to come back to us—believe me, Ty, I am praying every day to see those pretty green eyes of yours open again. But I—I want you to know that it’s okay if you can’t. If it gets too hard, if you need to let go, you can. I already miss you like crazy and I really, really, don’t want to live the rest of my life without you, but the thing I can’t stand more than that is the idea of you suffering.

“Come back if you can, but if someday you find you can’t, remember that I love you and we’ll be okay. I promise.”

Carlos sniffs and ducks his head to place a gentle, lingering kiss on TK’s cheekbone. It’s such a tender, intimate moment, but it quickly shatters when Carlos looks up and spots her, his eyes going wide. “Gwyn. I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were there.”

She waves him off, willing herself to finally step into the room. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have said something, but I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Carlos nods, giving her a small, sad smile, which Gwyn does her best to return. She pulls up another chair and sinks into it, reaching out to take TK’s hand. She’s startled by the coolness of his skin, and more tears burn in the back of her eyes.

“What did the doctors say?” she asks, clearing her throat and twisting her body towards Carlos, though her eyes never leave TK.

“That it was a miracle he made it through surgery,” Carlos says, sighing wearily. “Eight stab wounds, too much blood loss, damage to his organs, broken ribs—that’s all bad enough, but they’re most worried about his brain. He took at least two blows to the head, and add that to the fact he wasn’t breathing for a good few minutes… They keep saying not to speculate, but we all know the odds here.”

Carlos’s voice breaks and Gwyn reaches out to comfort him, feeling sick to her stomach at the revelation. Why anyone would do this to her boy, she can’t comprehend; she finds herself both wanting answers and feeling unable to take any more.

Owen chooses that moment to appear in the doorway, looking every bit as wrecked as he sounded on the phone. “Gwyn,” he says roughly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Carlos moves as if to give them privacy, but Gwyn shakes her head at him, cutting off his protests before he can even get them out. “You stay with him, Carlos,” she tells him. “We’ll talk in the hall.”

They head to a quiet spot not too far from TK’s room, and Gwyn turns to face Owen, holding her arms. “What the hell happened, Owen? Why is our son lying in there, not even breathing on his own?”

A flicker of a frown crosses Owen’s face. “I told you—”

“No, you didn’t.” Gwyn clenches her jaw, staring him down. “You said he’d been attacked, not that some maniac had used him as their personal punching bag.”

A few more seconds pass before Owen relents, sighing. “There was a call,” he starts, voice heavy with sorrow. “A car accident; dad and his kid were trapped inside. We got the dad out but the son was stuck pretty good. It took a long time to free him and by then it was too late—EMS did their best, but he was gone.

“The dad went ballistic, screaming at all of us, but especially at TK. We don’t really know why, but it was probably a convenience thing; TK had been the one to break the news, he was the closest person—the guy wasn’t exactly thinking clearly. He threatened him, tried to hit him—the cops had to arrest him eventually, but you know TK. He refused to press charges, said that the dad was just in shock and that he understood.”

Gwyn smiles a little at that; her son has always been too forgiving for his own good. It’s never come back to hurt him this badly before, though.

Owen pauses, throat bobbing as he seems to work up to the next part. His voice is quiet, and he seems reluctant to meet Gwyn’s eyes. “He showed up at the firehouse a week later—the dad, I mean. He said he wanted to apologise and, I swear, Gwyn, he really did seem genuine. None of us wanted to let him near TK, but ultimately it was TK’s decision. They went round the side of the house to talk; when neither of them came back after twenty minutes, we went looking.

“By that time, the guy was gone, and TK was…” He stops and shakes his head, swallowing hard. “He could barely breathe. Tommy and Nancy did what they could and they got him here quickly, but we have no idea how long he’d been like that before we found him.”

Gwyn’s head snaps up, a white-hot anger flashing through her. “I can’t believe you,” she hisses. “You left our son alone with a man who had already threatened him for twenty minutes, Owen.”

Owen frowns. “I told you, he seemed genuine. And TK—”

Gwyn can’t help it; she slaps him. “Don’t you dare,” she grounds out, crowding into Owen’s space. “Don’t you dare act like this was his fault.”

“I wasn’t—”

Her arm moves on instinct, but before she can connect again, a hand closes around her wrist. Gwyn turns to find Enzo staring at her, brow wrinkled in confusion.

“Gwyn, what’s going on?”

She shakes her head and takes a step back from Owen, freeing herself from Enzo’s grasp. “What’s going on,” she responds tightly, “is that he is part of the reason why my son is half-dead in there.”

Enzo gapes between them. “What?”

She ignores the question, needing to focus on anything else to keep her anger from overwhelming her. “What are you doing here anyway? Where’s Isaac?”

“He’s with Grace and Judd, they offered to babysit so I could come here. What—”

“Hang on,” Owen interrupts. “What is he doing here? I figured he’d stay in New York with the kid.”

“Isaac is TK’s brother, Owen,” Gwyn says, turning on him again. “And Enzo has just as much right to be here as any of us; he was more of a father to TK than you were sometimes.”

Owen’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “Him? You’re joking, right?”

Gwyn isn’t sure what happens next, who starts it, but soon they’re all yelling, insults and accusations flying around the ward. There’s a furious nurse heading their way, but before she can say anything, another voice cuts through the argument, quiet and trembling but still somehow powerful.

“Get out,” Carlos says. “All of you.”

They all turn to him, Gwyn’s lips parting in shock. Owen takes a step towards him, holding his hands out in a gesture that’s probably meant to be pacifying.

“Carlos—”

“I mean it, Owen,” he snaps, harsher than Gwyn has ever heard him before. “You all screaming at each other is the last thing any of us needs, least of all TK. The only person to blame in all this is the guy who attacked him, and he’s already in custody; he’ll get what’s coming to him. If TK—” Carlos breaks off, clenching his jaw and staring down at the floor. He closes his eyes for a moment, before breathing out shakily and looking back up at them. “If anything changes, I’ll call you, I promise. But you can’t be here right now. Go, please.”

Carlos doesn’t wait for a response before turning on his heel and going back into TK’s room, reassuming his position next to the bed. Gwyn watches him for a second, nodding when Enzo pointedly takes her elbow.

“He’s right,” she says, directed at Owen. “We should go.”

Owen glares, gearing up to argue again, but he must think better of it as he suddenly slumps, all the energy draining out of him. “Right,” he mutters. “Right.”

They file slowly out of the ICU, closely watched by the hard eyes of the nurse from before. Gwyn spares one last look before forcing herself forwards; if getting here was hard, walking away is a thousand times worse.

*

Three weeks pass with no change and, crucially, no improvement. Gwyn spends more time with Carlos than she ever has before, and she hates that it’s her son being comatose that has brought the two of them closer. A tentative peace exists between her and Owen and she knows—truly, she knows—that the attack wasn’t his fault, that there was nothing that could have stopped it.

But she can’t help but be angry that, once again, her son was seriously hurt and she wasn’t around.

She takes Isaac to see TK once, when the worst of the bruises have faded a little. She worries that he’ll be scared, and he does seem to hesitate when they reach the room; in truth, Gwyn hadn’t wanted to bring him at all, but he’d kept asking about TK and she’d found herself helpless to do anything but acquiesce.

They still haven’t told him what’s going on. No-one knows how to. All Isaac knows is that TK is a little hurt and he needs rest, and even that knowledge seems to upset him.

Once he gets used to the sight, Isaac stretches his hands out to the bed. “TK,” he says simply, looking pleadingly up at Gwyn.

She hugs him close, trying to smile for him. “TK’s asleep, sweetie,” she explains. “He needs rest.”

“When wake up?”

“I don’t know, baby. I don’t know.”

*

Three weeks pass, and the doctors start talking about options and next steps. It’s obvious what that’s code for—they want to pull the plug. They’re told to take all the time they need to discuss it but, ultimately, the decision will be Carlos’s, as TK’s husband and next of kin.

Gwyn knows what choice he’s going to make; it’s the same one she, or anyone else in his position, would make.

That doesn’t make it any easier to bear, for any of them.

Gwyn finds him in the hallway, bent over with his head in his hands. She goes over and quietly sits in the chair next to him, placing a comforting hand on his back.

There’s a long silence before Carlos sniffs and turns to her, his face the picture of devastation. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this, Gwyn,” he whispers, voice cracking. “How am I supposed to just give up on him like that?”

She shakes her head. “You’re not giving up on him, Carlos. You’re letting him go.”

“I don’t know how to do that either.”

“None of us do.”

Silence again, but this time, it’s Gwyn that breaks it first. “Listen, Carlos, I know this is hard. God knows I wish none of us were even here. But we are, and we have to do what’s best for everyone, including TK.”

“I know that,” Carlos admits. “I just don’t want to lose him.” He closes his eyes and leans into Gwyn, allowing her to wrap him in a hug. “I wish we had more time.”

Gwyn’s heart breaks all over again, and she squeezes his shaking shoulders. “We’ve got time,” she says, though she knows that’s not what he meant. “As much as you need.”

The sob she’s answered with tells her there’s not enough time in the world for Carlos to say goodbye to TK.

*

The call comes in the middle of the night. Dread pools in Gwyn’s gut as she accepts it and lifts the phone to her ear, her hands trembling.

“Owen?”

“Gwyn. TK, he—he woke up. It was only for a few seconds, but he woke up, Gwyn. The doctors said it was a miracle; they think he might actually recover.”

Gwyn gasps, a sob crawling up her throat as the news sinks in. It’s everything she’s been praying for ever since that first call, and all she can think about now is getting to TK.

“I’ll be at the hospital in fifteen,” she says. She ends the calls and raises her hands to her face, wiping away the tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

Maybe this nightmare is finally coming to an end.

*

TK is off getting tests when Gwyn arrives, but she’s finally allowed back in the room an hour later, Carlos and Owen on her heels. The ventilator has been removed, replaced by a nasal cannula, and his eyes are open—barely to slits, but Gwyn doesn’t care. TK is awake and alive, and that’s all that matters.

As soon as she’s in the chair by the bed, she reaches out for him, her touch feather-light as she strokes his cheek. “My brave boy,” she whispers wetly. “My brave, brave boy.”

TK’s head rolls on the pillow so he’s facing her and he mumbles something that’s probably meant to be a greeting, but the words jumble together and come out as gibberish.

Gwyn thinks it’s the most beautiful sound she’s ever heard.

They’ve all been briefed about the risks of brain damage and all the potential lasting consequences which could impact the rest of TK’s life. But right now, as she holds TK’s hand with Carlos on his other side and Owen at her back, Gwyn chooses to take solace in the constant rise and fall of TK’s chest and the heart monitor beeping out a steady rhythm.

There’ll be enough time for worry later; for now, her son is alive, and Gwyn can’t think of anything else that's more important.

[omegasmileyface]

Not in the Job Description

heres a silly lil Danny Phantom concept based entirely off a half-awake sleep-vision that made me laugh :) my subconscious brain is a genius at coming up with things that make just enough sense to be worth writing

summary: Danny's job at a local restaurant is surprisingly fulfilling, even after being crowned Ghost King. Speaking of that job, however, there are some intricacies to it that are hard to keep in mind during everyday life.

warnings: descriptions of nausea and mild sickness

words: 2180

AO3 link

===

Honestly, life was going pretty well at the moment for Danny Fenton. He wasn't even worried that it was a false security or a calm before a storm, because this kind of semi-serenity had been going on for more than a year. It was a long-term stability brought about by adaptation and putting in effort to get help and accommodation. Jazz would be proud!

Sometime at the beginning of Junior year, the Observants had chased him down and crowned him High Ghost King (much to the chagrin of both involved parties). It certainly added responsibility to Danny's plate, along with some new sensations and a series of crises (what didn't these days?), but a little political discussion with some of the more powerful ghosts ended with Danny deciding that, at least at the moment, the position didn't require him to do much more than he normally did. More ghosts would seek him out for help and he would do his best, and some "paperwork" (though there was very little paper involved and it was a lot of talking and oaths and rituals and such) happened about monthly. Otherwise, though, the Zone didn't need much more help than that, having survived off an absent King for centuries. Well, and the ambient purpose of the King as a sort of core for the Zone, but Danny didn't have to put in time or conscious effort for that.

Eventually that settled into normalcy, and Danny was back to worrying about the balance of schoolwork, self-care, and fighting. He still hadn't given up on the prospect of someday becoming an astronaut, and he was determined to have the grades for it. Don't get him wrong, he'd gotten way better about that! He'd formed a practiced, if not entirely stable, system that kept his grades at a solid B- / C+, while getting a solid 5-ish hours of sleep most nights and not bottling things up too much. It was about halfway through Junior year that he realized, with some help from his friends, that his ghosts fights were honestly pretty civil, at least against the regulars. Civil enough that he knew they had some respect for him, and was willing to risk asking for help. So a few weeks and awkward but not bad conversations later, and he had agreements with almost all his regular "foes" not to cause trouble within Amity from 11pm to 7am, 3pm on weekdays. It was more than half the day off-limits on school days, and plenty of ghosts made up for it to a degree by making themselves more common during the "permitted" hours, but it greatly increased Danny's well-being and school performance anyway. "Rivals" like Skulker and Technus had enough respect for Danny and his Lair to abide, and plenty even cared that he was taking care of himself, even between frequent sparring. Maybe a few were really just in fear of his new crown, but he chose to cautiously pretend that wasn't a possibility.

After graduation — he made Senior year with all As and Bs! — Danny's parents had encouraged him to get a part-time job over the summer. He had been interning at FentonWorks (paid! His parents might not be the most attentive but they certainly weren't unfair) since he had accidentally revealed himself a few years back, and they had been thrilled to hear that he still intended to go into NASA if possible, and had done whatever they could to help. They recommended the job because, as good as a paid scientific internship was on a resume, it would help to have a variety of activity and the opportunity to get recommendations from employers who weren't liable to nepotism. After searching local businesses, Danny found a small sandwich shop founded by a middle-aged couple who had moved in and set up shop just before the ghost attacks began. Being close to the school but not far from the commercial sector and offering small portable food (no one wants to sit down for a meal when a spirit could come crashing through the window at any moment), the place got good enough business to pay the employees a proper living wage. Better yet, they were allowed to take home unsold food! Not to mention the owners were both very kind women who held smiling conversation with employees and customers alike. Danny was more than lucky to land such a nice job, even if it meant he had to get up at 7 five days a week.

All this is to say that it wasn't as surprising as it could have been that he was having a slow and pleasant day at work.

Both the owners were out for the day on some sort of vacation, so today it was just Danny and a short teenager named Casey manning the place. Most of their orders recently had been online due to an explosion causing road work near the restaurant and it was mid-morning, leaving work slow enough that they could afford to just have the two until lunch shift started. Danny was on cashier duty today, but unless the door bell sounded, he was helping Casey in the kitchen.

"Aw, man, we're almost out of tomatoes."

"Really?" Casey looked up to the shelf Danny was inspecting and indeed saw only 3 tomatoes. "Huh, guess they didn't restock yesterday. Well, we probably shouldn't risk needing more before the day's out, do you want me to go get more?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah, I can go. I think I could use the fresh air." He said that a lot, especially as an excuse when his ghost sense went off, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. He never had liked being confined.

Casey checked the monitor to see if they'd gotten any new online orders. Since there was a grocery store just a block away, any time someone needed a quick restock they tended to just walk.

They looked up to see Danny already had his jacket on and was looking them in the eye. "Would you take over my position until I come back?"

"Of course. Ten minutes?"

With a nod and a smile, Danny was out the back door.

===

After a moment of habitually wiping down the counters, Casey went up to the register in case a customer appeared.

It was even quieter than before for a few minutes, so they busied themself with mini restocks and organization. They were in the middle of stacking some paper coffee cups when they started to feel dizzy. There had been this subtle pressure on their chest since Danny left, which they figured was anxiety for working the restaurant alone for the first time, and now it had solidified into a warm nausea that flared whenever they exhaled.

With the disinterested panic that came from having strange things happen for years, they wondered if they had missed their medication this morning. A quick glance at their phone, however, showed the notification for it checked off.

Putting the phone back away, Casey noticed the tips of their fingers were somewhat translucent. Alright then, it was definitely something to do with ghosts. Great! Just excellent. The panic was less disinterested this time.

They weren't familiar with any sort of ghost illness that made humans translucent, so they definitely needed to call someone to make sure nothing bad happened. It would be best to call the Fentons' public number so they could go over and get looked over by then. In the meantime, they should call Danny and ask him to hurry back. He shouldn't be much longer anyway.

Casey didn't even get the chance to act on their plan, however, before a short humanoid ghost appeared in the dining area. They didn't look to be up to anything, but Casey reached for the emergency ectoblaster beneath the register anyway. The nausea was getting worse, along with a new chill, and they couldn't be sure this new ghost wasn't somehow causing whatever they were going through.

The ghost looked at them with an expression that was almost desperate. "Ah! Kind human, thank you for your time." The ghost... bowed? "I am Eurusid, from the Spoken Channels. There has been a dispute which damaged public meeting grounds in the center of the Channels, and both groups refuse to allow the damage to be repaired except by the other group."

Casey's eyes narrowed. It was becoming difficult to stand with the dizziness, and if not the ghost himself, then whatever he was saying was probably a hallucination. They didn't even think about responding beyond a detached "what".

It was then that Danny re-entered the back door with the new tomatoes. Good thing, too. At least with another person there, Casey could confirm whether they were hallucinating.

===

Placing down the grocery bag and shrugging off his jacket in one motion, a skill only gained by years of laziness efficiency, Danny called toward the register. "Back!"

Once he caught sight of the teen, however, all casualness shed itself from his body and he rushed over to hold them. "Man, Casey, you feeling alright? You look really pale." The realization that their form was slightly translucent, despite the firm human heartbeat beneath, was drowned out by him finally noticing the ghost standing a few feet away. The reaction of his ghost sense had been so minor that he had ignored it.

He was surprised to see that he recognized the specter's face, marred as it may have been from worry and confusion aimed directly at Casey. "Eurusid? What's going on?"

As the ghost, still confused but unwilling to act impolitely, gathered his bearings and began to bow toward him, Danny's coworker shuddered under his hands, regaining his full attention. He thought back through the day's events for hints as to the situation, before swearing, cutting off whatever Eurusid was about to say.

Danny backed up and said, voice as clear as he could, "I recall my position."

Casey's reaction was immediate, a gasp of air like they had been kept from breathing and a return of their skin's human opacity. Danny rushed back over and put his hand on their back to steady them as their eyes narrowed and went slightly unfocused.

Figures, doesn't it? One of the many intricacies that had come up at his coronation Junior year that just hadn't come up enough to keep at the front of his mind. One of the defenses of the High Ghost Crown was the ability of the King to temporarily give their duty to someone else. As long as that person accepts, during a specified time they substitute for the King in dealing with political matters, as well as taking over as much as their ability allowed of the King's function to process the energy of the Realms.

Danny had no idea that this ability could be activated with words as vague as "take over my position", let alone that it could be used with a human. That potential had never come up during the ceremony, so for all he knew, a full ghost in his position couldn't substitute with a human. A human certainly shouldn't be able to take over any part of the energy processing, though maybe in Amity Park the average person processed enough environmental ectoplasmic energy to make it possible. Regardless of residence, though, it could not be good for Casey's body, which had no Core to properly process energy and had no human equivalent except perhaps a small emotional center in the brain, to even attempt to filter and manage some of the inherent energy of a dimension.

Their skin was still clammy and their coordination was shot. Ancients, if this is what an accidental substitution did to a human, Danny would have to word things very carefully when asking for help in the future.

"King Phantom?" Danny looked up to see that Eurusid was still floating there awkwardly. Right. He had two people here to help.

"Sorry, Eurusid. One moment, I'll be right with you." He turned back to his coworker, who looked confused and less lucid than ideal, but probably still lucid enough to realize this ghost had just called him "King Phantom". Well, he'd deal with that once it came to it. "Here, Casey, let's get you some water." He helped them walk back into the kitchen and sat them down on a bench by the back door. There was a chair in the register area, but they probably didn't want to feel exposed to the dining area like that, even with nobody but the ghost there.

Once handed the water, Casey sighed and eagerly drank from it, eyes closed. Danny rubbed his hand on their back a bit and promised to be back shortly before walking back out to meet Eurusid. Whatever he was here about was probably worth immediate attention but Danny was sure there'd be at least a solid minute of apologies on both sides before the matter was addressed. Hopefully both the Spoken Channels and Casey would be alright before the next shift came in.

[dnf-fic-recs]

hi! you got any george pov fics? (i love ur blog btw, u guys are so kind! <3)

these are all from a third person George POV! if you meant first or second person... i'm a coward and do not read them.

sfw & nsfw recommendations!

Lay All Your Love On Me

George manages to win a contest for cruise tickets! He tells Dream and the two make plans to go... only to find out when they get there that it's a cruise meant for couples. And George learns a thing or two about his feelings towards Dream while there.

play the field by cardans

“You’ve lost, like, a third of your games so far.” “You follow our sport?” Dream asks, pulling his shirt over his head. That obnoxious smile has returned to his face, but it looks more flattered now – genuine and only a little bit sleazy. George wants it gone. George shifts his weight. “I follow every sport.” “I’m touched, Georgie.”

after a season of conflicting games and locker room arguments, it's safe to say that the captains of manberg university's soccer and football teams hate each other.

Setter, Hitter by starziee

Their coach brightens at that, giving Dream a firm shoulder grasp. George narrows his umber eyes. Usually, signs of affection from their coach are reserved for when the team makes exceptional plays. For when George makes exceptional plays. He feels something spark in him, putrid green coiling in his abdomen. The new player smiles, waving enthusiastically to his teammates. Sapnap has left George’s side to congratulate him on the recruitment.

Dream might become a problem.

---

Or, George is the star-player on a top volleyball team who has big plans to win Nationals and take home a trophy in his last year of college. But when a transfer player joins the team, those plans might be in jeopardy.

Walls by 24notfound - Mature

He had the awkward tenderness of someone who has never been loved and is forced to improvise.

When George is finally able to visit Dream in Florida, they start to face a lot more complications than they'd anticipated.

lovesick (the beat inside my head) by meridies

After moving to Florida, George relies on his online best friend, Dream, to help him adjust to his new school. But only a few weeks in, George falls head over heels for one of the most popular boys in school, Clay. With the help of his new wingman, Sapnap, and his best friend Dream, George tries to win Clay over. Surely nothing about this will go wrong.

Protected series by Aenqa

“I don’t care about anything like I care about you. Not even this kingdom. My place is with you.” -- Dream is the Crown Prince and the future king. His sworn duty is to protect his kingdom from outside threats, especially from the scourge of magic.

George is his best friend and, technically, his servant. And he has a secret.

guy.exe by towerofthegods

“Whatever,” Dream says, swiping away the browser in front of him. Internally, George cheers. “That’s it. I’m leaving. I’m sick of you.” Huffing indignantly, he flutters to the ground and storms towards the door, hoodie billowing dramatically with unseen wind.

Inches from the frame, his figure dissolves, reappearing on the far side of the room. “Oh, come on.”

“You’re boxed,” George notes blankly, struggling to smother a smile as Dream glares flatly back in response.

or; Dream is in an accident, George builds a hologram, and they struggle to bridge the gap between artificial and organic.

and then some nsfw ones...

lightning in a bottle by GenofEve - Explicit

George likes Dream’s hands. So what?

Reminds Me of My Deepest Fantasies by venus43 - Explicit

It’s obvious really, one glance at his search history would give away all of his dirty secrets; tabs of small brunet boys being fucked face down by their taller counterpart, who’ll lean over them and press them down by their neck, sticking two fingers into their mouth to make sure they’re completely pliant and willing to take whatever they’re given.

or, george likes how big his roommate is

Obsessive by genovashroom - Explicit

George wears panties.

It's not a big deal.

Until suddenly he's moving across the ocean, living with Dream, and is trying to act as normal as possible.

[jamespotterthefirst]

Ethan x MC Masterlist

All my Ethan x MC works organized by year 

Open Heart: Year One Pictagram Series: The events of year one retold through social media posts and messages

All Posts in the series

Prelude (Three moments leading up to their fateful meeting.)

As Long as You Love Me So ( She needs a fake Christmas date. Urgently. )

Auld Lang Syne (More fake dating. Part 2 of As Long as You Love Me So)

For You (Ethan confronts Landry for his betrayal)

Most Beautiful (the morning after their first night together)

Diamond scenes written from Ethan’s POV

Don’t Let Me Down (1.1)

Drinks For Two (1.2)

Little Miracle (1.4)

Enchant Me (1.6)

The Art of Observation (1.7)

Along the Seashore (1.10)

Winner Takes it All (1.10)

In the Afterglow (1.10)

Lovely Series: (Continues to “Beyond”) Adding her on social media was a dangerous mistake. Particularly when she posts a picture looking like that.  

Lovely

Ocean Eyes

Everything I Wanted

Fake Husband Series:  (Continues to “Beyond”) When they run into her ex, Ethan pretends to be married to her to spite him

Fake Husband

Fake Husband II

Fake Wife/ Fake Husband III

Unsaid (The last time they see each other before he leaves for Brazil)

Knowing Me, Knowing You (AU: She is dating someone else when he returns from the Amazon)

All I Ask (A jealous Ethan confronts her about Bryce)

Irreplaceable (Prompt: “Just- uh ��� try not to die. I’m really not bothered to replace you”)

Valentine ( A jealous Ethan watches her flirt with someone else on his most hated holiday. Set during book 2)

Adore You (Ethan realizes how utter powerless he is before her.)

Beautiful Thing (A training session with Ethan turns romantic)

Macarons (Prompt: “I got these because I know they’re your favourite” )

Birthday (On her birthday, Ethan shows up at her door with a gift)

Lunch Date ( It is time to finally talk about the next steps after their kiss outside his apartment. Set after 2.8)

Adrenaline Rush (Another stolen kiss after breaking into Mass Kenmore)

Hands (Prompt:  “I really like your hands.”)

Most Ardently (Days after her recovery, he tells her of the Pride and Prejudice vibe they apparently give off. Set after 2.11.)

Without Words ( Desperate and afraid of losing her, Ethan turns to his mentor. Set during the events of 2.11.)

All-Nighter (He’d do anything for her, even fly across the country on moment’s notice. Set in the Vegas chapter, book 2)

At Last (It’s the day after gala and they’re not hiding anymore.)

Hit the Town ( After enjoying drinks with their friends, they escape to a quick dinner date)

Home (Their last words before Edenbrook shuts down)

NSFW: Warnings: Strong Language, Smut, NSFW content. Please use discretion and caution when viewing this work.By viewing of these works, you consent that you are 18+

Rivulets [NSFW]

Satin Sheets [NSFW]

Wish and Command [NSFW]  

For Lost Time [NSFW]

Late Night (Harper Emery is eager to share a new prospect with her old colleague, Ethan. But when she visits his apartment late at night to discuss, she is stunned by what-- or rather who-- she finds there.)

His Own Medicine (When Bryce Lahela brings her a coffee, Ethan Ramsey gets a taste of his own medicine.)

A Dance With the Devil (What will Ethan Ramsey do when he watches her dance with Tobias Carrick?)

Mariposa (Ethan should have known better than to take dancing lessons with his vivacious girlfriend)

Whispers (The dress she ordered online was not what she expected. Set in Book 3.)

Mirrors (They have always found comfort in one another.)

Sunrise (Suddenly, marriage doesn’t seem like a pointless endeavor for Ethan. Set in 3.10)

Cariño ( After their confessing their feelings to one another, everyone can see something has changed. Set in 3.11)

For A Long Time Now (He can finally tell her the three words he meant to say for a long time.)

Open Heart Third Year: A new year, a new relationship, and a new Edenbrook. Will everything go as smoothly as they had planned? (IN PROGRESS: ON HIATUS)

Prologue: His Beloved

Chapter 1: Promises

NSFW: Warnings: Strong Language, Smut, NSFW content. Please use discretion and caution when viewing this work.By viewing of these works, you consent that you are 18+

Burgundy [NSFW]

Private Lessons [NSFW]

Stress Relief [NSFW]

Beautiful Thing Together Pictagram Series

Other Pictagram posts

Speechless (Prompt: ““You’ve finally rendered me speechless”)

Homesick (Prompt:  “You’re the only reason I’m coming back”)

Blinding Lights (Dr. Ethan Ramsey would do anything for his patients and for his girlfriend)

Four Hearts (Who was texting Dr. Ramsey during his Hope Springs interview and why was he smiling so much?)

You Outshine the Morning Sun (She finds out she is pregnant. How will he react?)

Where We Belong ( Waking up to her boyfriend making breakfast for her? What did she do to deserve him?)

Corazon (When Ethan meets her mother and sister for the first time, they accidentally embarrass her by remembering the crush she used to have on him.)

October 31st (Ethan Ramsey doesn’t do costumes… except maybe for her.)

Five Birthdays ( Ethan’s birthdays with her in the next five years.)

Christmas Music ( What is Ethan’s favorite Christmas song?)

Gingerbread (The competition is on when they each help their patients make a gingerbread house.)

Bouquet (A Mother’s Day Surprise)

Espresso (She confesses years later that she didn’t like the Espresso Romano)

Observation Deck (Ethan knows it was her with Bryce on the observation deck during her intern year)

The Hunt (Easter egg hunt with the Ramsey children)

Babysitter (Ethan babysits five children who demand pancakes.)

Autograph (A young intern flirts with Ethan in front of his wife.)

Attending (Those poor, wide-eyed interns have crushes on the new attending at Edenbrook. How will her husband react when one decides to make a move?)

Apologize (Years later, a guilt-ridden Ethan apologizes for making her cry on her first day as an intern.)

That Morning (They enjoy a crossword puzzle before the chaos begins)

Are You In Love? (Ethan takes a Cosmo quiz)

Brave at Heart (What Hogwarts House are they in?)

Flirt (Ethan takes flirting advice from Bryce)

Mi Viejito ( Father’s Day more than twenty years later.)

Sick Day (Prompt:  “You won’t take care of yourself so I will”)

Alternate Universe

1800s AU: At a ball, Doctor Ethan Ramsey is entranced by her beauty, not knowing there is so much more to her than meets the eye.

She Walks In Beauty

A Red, Red Rose  

How Do I Love Thee

The Viper (AU: Detective Ramsey is a step closer to capturing a notorious criminal. If only Miss Allende, a key witness, would cooperate)

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 12

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 2,815ish

Summary: You are still trying to cope with the fact that Steve’s married. (Read note at the end of the chapter.)

I do not own Grey’s Anatomy or Marvel.

You and Natasha eventually found your way back to your house and into your bedroom’s adjoining bathroom. Natasha was in the bathtub as you laid on the floor.

“It's not us. It's them,” you said. “Them and their stupid boy penises. They didn't tell me they had a wife. They gave absolutely no warning that they were going to break up with you.”

“It's not that Banner broke up with me,” Natasha began. “It's how he broke up with me. Like it was business. Like it was a business transition like he's the boss of me!”

“He is the boss of you.”

“And what's worse is that I care.”

"I'm gonna throw up again.” You moved so that you were leaned over the toilet bowl. "No. Wait. False alarm.”

“Look, the problem is estrogen.”

“No, the problem is tequila.”

“I used to be all business, and then he goes and gets me pregnant.”

“With the stupid boy penis.”

“Now, I'm having hormone surges. He ruined me. I'm ruined. He turned me into this fat, stupid, pregnant girl. Who cares! Estrogen!”

Having heard the commotion from your bathroom, Val, Scott, and Clint found themselves standing in the doorway.

“Penises,” you stated. “Penises Val.”

“Estrogen, Scott. Estrogen,” Nat added.

“Okay…” Scott said, looking around. “What did I miss?”

“I came home to full on vomit drama,” Val explained. “Apparently she dumped Derek and her—“ Val pointed Nat’s way. “She’s been sleeping with Banner!”

“What?”

“So you really broke up with Rogers?” Clint asked.

“I feel empty,” you responded.

“Two hours of vomiting will do that to you,” Val said with a shrug.

“You’re lucky,” Nat added. “I feel pissed off.”

~~~

Arriving in the parking garage, you could clearly see Steve waiting for you. Getting out of your car, you slammed the door as he came closer.

“Stop,” you growled at him.

“What?” Steve questioned, pretending to be all innocent.

“You're stalking me. Stop it.” You continued into the building with Steve following you.

“Did we not communicate last night?”

“Yes.”

“Did you hear what I was saying?”

“Your wife screwed your best friend.”

“And then from that point on she no longer existed to me anymore.”

“You had marital amnesia?”

“No.” Steve reached out and grabbed your arm, successfully stopping you. “Come on I bared my soul to you last night.”

“It's not enough.”

“How can that be not enough?”

“When you waited 2 months to tell me and I had to find out by her showing up, all leggy and fabulous and telling me herself, you pulled the plug. I'm a sink with an open drain. Anything that you say runs right out. There is no enough.” You pulled away hurrying inside with your friends after you.

“She probably could've picked a better metaphor,” Clint commented.

“Give her a break,” Scott said. “She’s got a hangover.”

With a huff, Steve followed. Tony, who was also coming in, quickly caught up to him.

“Dr. Rogers!” He called.

“Dr. Stark,” Steve replied.

“We have an organ donor coming in this afternoon. We're doing a harvest.”

“Commendable, but—“

“In OR one at four.”

“I’m in OR one at four.”

“Your surgery is non-critical.”

“You can’t bump me!”

“As Chief, I can. You’ll be first up tomorrow.”

“Interim Chief. Bump somebody else!”

“You’re in the OR we need.”

“Why can’t the harvest be done somewhere else?”

“Cause the donor’s coming in from a small facility. We have the location, the airport nearby and the staff. Your surgery is rescheduled.” Then Tony turned, heading away.

“I’m not done talking about this, Stark!”

“Well, I am! See ya around Rogers!”

~~~

Rounds weren’t too bad, especially because you successfully ignored both Peggy and Steve. It even became slightly better when Gamora called you in for a bowel obstruction. Except the guy wouldn’t tell you what he ingested.

“You know, Mr. Sanders, it would be easier if you just told us what you ingested,” you pried, taking him to radiology. “We’ll know anyone, once we see the films.”

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” Mr. Sanders responded.

“Mr. Sanders, whatever you’ve ingested could kill you. Are you sure you don’t just want to tell me?”

“It might offend you.”

“It might? Is it drugs?”

“No.”

“Mr. Sanders.”

“It’s not drugs, I promise.”

“Well, good, I’m glad.”

“I… Nope, not going to tell you.”

“Fine by me. We just reached radiology, so I’m going to find out anyway.”

It wasn’t long before Mr. Sanders was back in his room and the radiologist had found you with the scans.

“It’s drugs,” the radiologist stated handing the scans over to you. “Looks like at least 13 small balloons in the bowel. My guess, cocaine.”

“Hmm,” you hummed, holding up the scans up to the light. 

They didn’t totally look like balloons, so you weren’t completely convinced. Before you made any judgement calls, you found Gamora.

“It’s drugs,” you told her, handing her the scans. 

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she muttered, placing the scans onto a screen. “One burst and he’s dead in minutes. Okay, what do we do?”

“Run his bowel.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Running the bowel entails removing all 36 feet of the intestine from the body cavity, hand searching for the balloons and then cutting them out.”

“Good. Book an OR and get two other interns on board, need all the hands we can get.”

“Dr. Gamora,” Y/N called as Gamora tired to leave. 

“Yes?”

“Are you sure they’re balloons?”

“You have reason to believe they’re not?”

“Well, the more I look the more I realize that this one,” you pointed to the scans, “has a face.” Gamora looked closer. “And this one… they all do.”

“I’ll be damned. They’re Barbies. He swallowed 13 Barbie doll heads.”

~~~

“Barbie heads?” Scott repeated after you told him, Natasha, and Peter what happened.

“Yeah,” you responded. “And Gamora wants two of you to join us in surgery.”

“I’m already booked.”

“I can do it,” Natasha said.

“Me too,” Peter said.

“My foster mothers used to buy me Barbie dolls. All sorts of them.”

“I also wanted one,” you added. “My parents never let me.”

“I dissected them. Cut off their arms, shaved their heads.”

“You’re a little scary,” Scott stated. “You know that?”

“I try.”

“Sounds like there’s a sick and twisted story behind this,” Peter said.

“No, they’re sexist, distorted devil toys that create unrealistic expectations carrying to the porn driven minds of men,” Natasha expressed.

“You swallow a bitter pill this morning, Romanoff?” Gamora questioned, coming up to you interns. “They’re just dolls. Quill, call for a psych consult. Then see if he has family.”

“Should I still book the OR?” You wondered.

“Blocked bowels become necrotic bowels. Check with Dr. Stark, see if we can bump someone. Those Barbies gotta come out today.”

~~~

Gamora had given Clint the impossible assignment to revive a patient. And, unfortunately for him, he was stuck with Laura.

“Any family members waiting?” He asked as he stapled up the man’s chest.

“Still trying to reach them,” Laura responded.

“Good. Well, I mean, not good that we haven’t reached anyone. Good that I don’t have to, uh…”

“It’s always hard.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry about Peter.”

“It’s fine. It’s good. No need to talk about it.”

“You do understand that I had sex with him before you, not during, right? Because when you and I were together—“

“I understand.”

“I just wanted to clear the air.”

“Oh, it’s clear. Perfectly clear… okay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“And about the syphilis—“

“We really on’t have to talk about it.”

“Which is, I mean, I didn’t know I had it. I definitely should have, I’m a nurse. Like, there was a sore and I was all itchy.”

“Okay!” He backed away almost knocked the tray beside him over. “You know I, uh, got it. You know things happen.” He moved to the door, away from Laura.

“They really do. Things you wish you could change.”

Clint’s pager rang and he looked down. “It’s the Chief, I gotta take this.”

“Sure… Clint.”

“Yes?”

“You have to call it.”

“Call it?”

“Him.”

“Oh, yeah.” He looked at his watch. “Time of death 1:37.” He turned to leave again.

“And, Clint,” he paused, not turning around this time, “if we could, I wouldn’t mind trying again.”

“Maybe… some day…”

~~~

Tony was walking down the hall with Maria, going over the donor surgery.

“When is the donor getting here?” He asked.

“Should be here at 3. Harvest team’s not heir way in.”

“I also need to touch base with the transplant center about a patient here getting his son’s liver.”

You walked up. “Dr. Stark,” you called. “Dr. Gamora needs an OR and they’re all booked.”

“For?”

“An emergent bowel obstruction.” She handed him the scans.

“Drugs?”

“Barbie heads. 13 of them.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Maria looked at the films. “I can see their little faces,” she commented. “That patient must have serious issues.”

“Hill, can your hernia in 1 be bumped?” Tony asked.

“Most likely.”

“Do it.”

“On it.” Maria left.

“Thank you, Dr. Stark,” you said, moving to go.

Tony grabbed your wrist and stopped you. “Y/N, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I’m not. I’m really fine.” And you pulled away.

~~~

You, Gamora, and a doctor from psych were currently discussing the psych evaluation on Mr. Sanders.

“He’s not talking. It could be pica,” the psych doctor stated. “Doubtful for a man his age. Maybe an oedipal complex or an idolization of the doll as his partners. Or it could be that he simply enjoys it.”

“Now I've seen a lot of strange things in strange places but how does he enjoy this?” Gamora questioned.

“He’d enjoy it when they came out.”

“I didn’t need to hear that.”

“Dr. L/N,” Peggy called as she walked back. “May I speak with you for a moment?” You looked at Gamora for help.

“Don’t look at me. I’m not gonna help you.”

With a sigh, you went to Peggy and the two of you began walking away.

“I assume he told you why he left me,” she said.

Annoyed, you stopped in front of her. “Look, Dr. Rogers, will all do respect, this has nothing to do with me,” you said.

“Really? So you didn’t take him back. Good girl.”

“And int he future, I’d appreciate it if we could keep our relationship strictly professional.” You walked away.

“Y/N!” You stopped and turned back slightly to give Peggy your attention. “Sometimes people do desperate things to get someone’s attention.” You shook your head and started walking again. “There are two sides to every story!”

~~~

You, Peter, and Scott arrived at lunch first. The three of you picked a large table farthest away from the others.

“Look what I went out and got,” Peter said, putting a grocery bag on the table.  Opening the bag, he revealed 13 headless Barbie dolls.

“Really, Quill?” You wondered.

“That’s gross,” Scott cringed.

“I think it’s funny,” Peter said, smiling, as he laid them out on the table.

“Of course you do,” you muttered.

“Oh! That is sick!” Clint commented as him, Natasha, and Val walked up.

“Who would do that?” Val asked. They looked to see Peter smiling.

“Oh, look!” Natasha said, picking up a doll. “See Barbie fly.” She throw it at Peter, who ducked.

“Hey, Clint,” Laura greeted, walking by.

“Hey,” he replied, sitting down at not looking at you. The interns all gave him a look. “What?”

“She was trying to make up with you, Clint,” you told him. “You should go eat with her.”

“No, I shouldn’t…. No.”

“She’s cute and she likes you,” Scott said.

“You shouldn’t let a little syph get in the way of that,” Val added.

“It’s not the syph,” Clint insisted.

“It’s so the syph,” Natasha said.

“It’s not the syph!”

“Then what is it?” Val asked. Clint didn’t answer, looking down. “Oh.”

“What?” You wondered. Clint simply shrugged. “What is it?”

“There’s this other girl,” Val responded.

“Val!” Clint exclaimed.

“Other girl?” Natasha questioned. “You have another girl?!”

“He hasn’t told her that he likes her yet,” Val said.

“Val!” Clint exclaimed again. “This isn’t high school.”

“Clint has a little crush.”

“I do not… It’s a thing, a very personal thing. One day I would like to build on this thing with this other girl—woman. She’s all woman.”

“What are you doing, Clint?” You asked, slightly harsh.

“I-I don’t—“

“With Laura. What are you doing with her?”

“Oh. Nothing.”

“You’re letting her think you’re emotionally available. You’re letting her think she has a chance. And there is nothing worse in the world than think you have a chance when you really don’t!”

“Y/N is right,” Natasha said. “Tell her that there’s someone else. And tell her why, Clint. I mean— I mean at least give her the chance to have some feelings about it!”

“Why are you both yelling at me?” Clint asked.

“Because of the estrogen Clint! Because of all the estrogen!”

~~~

“Was it an act of desperation?” You asked Mr. Sanders as you headed into his surgery.

“Not at all,” he replied.

“Something to attract attention?”

“No.”

“I’m just trying to understand here. Why 13 doll heads?”

“Well because 14 would’ve been too much.”

You cringed and helped the nurses get Mr. Sanders on the operating table before going to scrub. It was Gamora, you, Peter, Val, and Natasha in the surgery.

“I think it has something to do with his mother,” Val suggested. “Maybe she always wanted a girl and gave him Barbie dolls because of it.”

“Ah, ah, I’ve got another one,” Peter said, showing the head in the intestine.

“Uh!” You groaned.

“Doyen clamps to Romanoff,” Gamora ordered. “L/N, push the head up to the incision.” You began to squeeze the doll head up through the intestine.

“Maybe his mother looked like a Barbie doll and he’s into voodoo,” Peter suggested. “Instead of sticking pins in… well…”

Dr. Stark entered the OR. “You good here?” He asked Gamora, observing you though.

“Couple more heads to go,” Gamora responded.

“Then L/N stay here. All you other interns I need you on other cases.”

You met Tony’s eyes before he walked out of the OR.

~~~

Clint was put on a case with Steve. They were about to go separate ways so that Clint could run labs, when Steve stopped. He looked back at Clint.

“Is she okay?” Steve asked.

“Who?” Clint questioned. He looked up at Steve and knew. “Y/N? She’s… hanging in there.”

“Look out for her.”

“I will.”

Then Steve walked away. Before Clint could get really far, Laura found him.

“The family of the guy we worked on this morning is here,” she told him.

“Thanks for letting me know,” Clint responded.

“Clint, I just want an answers, so that I can get on with my life if I need to.”

“Look, maybe I’m not over the Peter thing yet or the syph thing… And I really want to be, but there’s also another girl. And, to me, it doesn’t matter there’s this other guy and frankly I wouldn’t care if she gave me the Ebola virus… I like you, Laura, I really do. Just… I—“

“You’re going to need some time.”

“Yeah.” He kissed her forehead. “Thank you for understanding.”

~~~

Steve was standing alone in the elevator when Peggy walked in, both dressed to leave.

“Just when the day was improving,” he murmured.

“You told Y/N what happened?” Peggy asked.

“I did. Why? What did you tell her?”

“That sometimes people do desperate things to attract attention.”

“What? Wow. That's your side of this? That I didn't pay you enough attention. Is that you were thinking when you got naked with my best friend?”

Peggy reached over and stopped the elevator. "No, by that point I wasn't thinking at all Steve. By that point I was just scratching an itch. We got successful you and me. We got busy and we got lazy. We didn't even bother to fight any more Steve. And Bucky was there and I missed you. And now I'm sorry.” Steve restarted the elevator. “I’m more sorry than you can possibly imagine. But at least I'm talking to you about it.” The doors opened and Steve walked out. “Steve.”

“I’m a sink with an open drain, honey.”

~~~

“Did you get them all?” Mr. Sanders asked. You were checking on him, post-surgery.

“Yes,” you replied. “It wasn’t easy or very pleasant. How do you feel?”

“Empty… I feel empty now.”

“Yeah. I've been feeling a little bit of that myself lately.”

“I can tell.”

“Mr. Sanders, why does eating doll heads fill you up? What’s the satisfaction?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Would it be too much information?”

“Might.”

“Maybe I’m better left in the dark.”

next chapter >

I leave for Disney World in a week. It is the last big family vacation that I will be on for a while. Because of that, I will not be on tumblr March 19th through March 24th. I will actually be deleting the app so that it’s not a distraction.

Most likely, nothing will be posted during that time. If something is, it will have been queued up. Things that are posted while I’m out of town will not have tag lists attached. I will put this note in all the fic posts until then.

So do not come at me for spending time with my family instead of including the tag list. (I say that knowing that people won’t care and still come at me.... be respectful and get over yourself.)

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[ninjago-happens-here]

'Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.'

@ninjago-angst-week am I late or what? Sorry but I think spewing out 21k words over teh course of 3 days killed my motivation. It took 3 days just to write 6.1k words.

Summary:

P.I.X.A.L. notices that the store of bandages is running low. She thinks about all the times she had to use them on one of her teammates, and its purposes.

“Hey Pix! We’re running low on bandages. Can you help us order some before we go to Shintaro?” Nya’s voice came from the medical bay of the Destiny’s Bounty. The Ninja and Master Wu were going on a trip to Shintaro. Unfortunately, Pixal never got an invite, but she has long been used to being left behind. It’s not that it was a bad thing, per se. Pixal knew the importance of having a backup, and having someone watch over Ninjago whilst the Ninja were gone. Still, to distract herself after placing a digital order, she thought about anything that could distract her. That thing just happened to be about bandages.

Bandages. Neat, white little things that wrap around any land or sky creature. According to Wikipedia, a bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly to a wound, and a bandage is used to hold the dressing in place. Other bandages are used without dressings, such as elastic bandages that are used to reduce swelling or provide support to a sprained ankle. Tight bandages can be used to slow blood flow to an extremity, such as when a leg or arm is bleeding heavily.

At first, that was all P.I.X.A.L. knew about bandages. Given that she was built with the main purpose of being Cyrus Borg’s assistant, her primary knowledge consisted mostly of the ins and outs of Borg Tower, emergency protocols, customer service skills, and basic first aid, given that her maker was frailer than your average Ninjago citizen.

Of course, the longer she worked under Cyrus Borg, the more she learnt about the medical field. Curious about Mr Borg’s special circumstances, she was permitted to look through the internet for more information. In no time at all, she learnt about surgery, prosthetics, all different kinds of medication, and how to diagnose illnesses. In her given free time, she studied all the information available on the internet about the medical field. Even though the information was useless to her, an android who had no physical weaknesses like the humans do, her system determined that whilst the knowledge was a bit excessive, it only helps to prepare her to care for Mr Borg.

She never really needed to apply all that knowledge about serious and fatal cuts, but when Borg gets even the slightest injury, P.I.X.A.L. was there to offer her assistance.

A year after she had been created, Cyrus Borg had offered her to take a test of the field in medicine. P.I.X.A.L. had immediately felt lighter and better somehow. When asking Borg why she was feeling this way and if robots could get sick, Borg had laughed in surprise and shock.

“That feeling is happiness, P.I.X.A.L.! It’s an emotion that all living creatures feel, you included.”

“But I am not living-“ Mr Borg cut her off.

“Technically, you are right, P.I.X.A.L., but you are intelligence, and intelligence is what defines life. You can adapt, change, and overcome as all living beings do. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! Because that would be an insult to my intelligence!” Cyrus Borg said encouragingly. “And robots can technically get sick, from a digital virus. But I created you to be strong, stronger than I ever will be. You should not have to worry about them.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded her head to show her understanding. “Then I will go to the exam.”

P.I.X.A.L. didn’t pass on her first try, but Mr Borg told her that it was alright, given that she still did very well considering that she only had the free internet to look for answers to a test she was unprepared for. It was human for her to have failed.

“So why did you send me there with no preparation?” P.I.X.A.L. asked with a shaking voice.

“To prepare you for failure, my dear!” Cyrus Borg said patronisingly. “Since I’ve built you, you’ve been perfect in many, many ways. And that isn’t a bad thing! But life isn’t that simple. You may fail in one way or another in the future because like humans, the circumstances may not be what you desired and plans can fall apart due to errors. What I want you to know is how failure feels like, and I will help you recover from it.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded. It won’t be long before she faced her first, real big failure.

- Lloyd - The first time she had to really apply those skills that she learnt was when the team had seen Lloyd in the village. After he was pulled out of the ocean because he had to escape from an exploding plane that the Digilord had trapped him on. The locals had wanted to help, but Lloyd wasn’t feeling like having strangers cut him up, so they offered him some basic and outdated medical supplies.

P.I.X.A.L. could see him trying to treat himself and to stay awake, and she could see him hiss as the alcohol drizzled on his wounds.

“LLOYD!” Kai shouted in a tone that conveyed panic. This made the young ultimate spinjitzu master look up from his handiwork and immediately break into a smile. As the team had rushed forward to greet him, P.I.X.A.L. could see that his shoulders were sagging, probably from relief.

“I’m so sorry that I got caught guys,” Lloyd wheezed with an apologetic smile before keeling over, to which Cole caught him with shaking hands.

“Oh god, Zane, quick, do your thing!” Kai panicked even harder, hands jittery as if he was in an internal debate about whether he should do something or not.  “I’m trying Kai! I just- my hands keep shaking for some reason!” Zane gritted his teeth in frustration. “I’m gonna run some diagnostics on him” “Okay, Cole, lie him on a flat surface- medic! Medic!” Nya screamed out.

It was at this moment that P.I.X.A.L. knew that was her chance. To repay Zane for his heart. To prove to the team that she was useful. To finally implement her knowledge. Sometimes, she wonders if she’ll ever have what Zane has with the other humans, but for now, she is glad that she can separate her emotions from her work.

“Let me handle it,” P.I.X.A.L. said authoritatively. Running a scan with her own diagnostics, P.I.X.A.L. isolated the most dangerous injuries before telling the group out loud, staring at her apprehensively.

“Master Lloyd has suffered a concussion, lung damage due to smoke inhalation, and fractured bones in his tibia. He also has a sprained ankle and several bones on his upper chest area have several bruises. Luckily, there is no internal bleeding. He also has some first and second-degree burns, but those look like they have been treated by the ocean water. However, he is at risk of hypothermia should he not change out of those clothes. Other cuts and bruises should not be life-threatening as long as we keep the infection away, and-“

“WE GET IT! Can you just PLEASE start treating Lloyd NOW?” Jay shrieked in frustration. P.I.X.A.L. blinked. Oh right, the ninjas are still panicking.

“Apologies, can I have a look at the medical supplies?” Taking a scalpel out of the medical box, P.I.X.A.L. removed Lloyd Garmadon’s shirt and so multiple bruises as well as the look of someone who’s emancipated. It didn’t really make any sense to her, but she supposed that being drained of his elemental powers must have caused some damage.

“To treat his concussion, he needs peace and to rest. I would like if all of you can speak in whispers from now on,” P.I.X.A.L. began. The soup suddenly looked ashamed and guilty, with Jay whispering a soft ‘sorry’.

“To treat his hypothermia, we would need blankets-“

“Why can’t I just warm him up with fire?” Kai cut across. “Well, the extreme heat can damage the skin or, even worse, cause irregular heartbeats so severe that they can cause the heart to stop. However, starting a campfire some meters away could help a little. using this fire, we can make some warm beverages and some food.”

“Just say what we gotta do doc, we’ll listen!” Nya begged swiftly. P.I.X.A.L. thought for a moment, before choosing to sort people out based on their perceived abilities.

“Kai, Jay, Cole, Sensei Wu, and Sensei Garmadon- please look for blankets in the village and start a campfire over there,” Pointing at a spot a satisfactory distance from Lloyd, P.I.X.A.L. continued with giving instructions. “Start making some sort of soup- not too heavy. Zane, Nya- you’re with me.”

Garmadon, who was silent all this time, started to protest. “I cannot leave my son, Pixal.”

“Fine, you may stay and just keep tending to the campfire,” P.I.X.A.L. conceded, not wanting to waste time arguing. There was the matter of fact that the smoke inhaled by Lloyd Garmadon could be fatal, but there was not much that she could do in his location. All she could hope to do was to treat his minor injuries before ensuring that Lloyd is stable enough to go to a hospital in Ninjago. Which would have been impossible, given that the Digilord had control of the city already. What could she do? Maybe there’s an elemental master of the air who could treat Lloyd?

“Pix, do you not have any ideas on how to treat the smoke inhalation?” Zane looked at her with kind and understanding eyes. Pixal nodded, defeated, before preparing a cast. “We need concentrated oxygen and a nose tube or a tube down his throat. Unfortunately, there is nowhere in Ninjago where we can get to such technology.”

Hearing this, Nya immediately perked up. “But we can make them. Zane, do you have any wires that you can spare for a bit?”

“Redirecting power from the right hand,” Zane replied as he opened up his arm to take out a tube. He’s so self-sacrificing. For some strange reason, P.I.X.A.L. felt her heart beating faster. Maybe Zane was nervous? “Nya, if you could please clean this?”

“Of course. HEY KAI!”  “Yeah, sis?”  Nya was looking at P.I.X.A.L. expectantly. Oh yes. she was supposed to know this, wasn’t she? “Can you get us 10 cups of potable water and 1 cup of vinegar? Also, get some detergent or soap.”  “Okay Pix, not gonna question this at all!”

Meanwhile, Nya was using pure H2O to just start blasting the tubing As much as they wanted Lloyd to not die from smoke inhalation, they also didn’t want him to be infected. Speaking of infections…

“Ow!” Lloyd woke up sleepily as Zane used one hand to dab his cuts. Looking sheepish, Zane immediately offered an apology before Nya cuts in and admitting her mistake.

“Go back to Lloyd,” Nya said, petting his hair. Once Kai had returned with the necessary materials, Nya sanitised her hands before delicately cleaning the tube with 10 parts water and 1 part vinegar.

Tightening the wrappings around Lloyd’s ankle, Pixal studied her handiwork. The splint was holding up nicely against Lloyd’s leg, and all the infections on Lloyd’s legs were taken care of. Seeing as Zane is treating Lloyd well enough, P.I.X.A.L. immediately began to start diagnosing Lloyd’s burns before seeing blood flow from Lloyd’s back.

“Oh, dear.” In her hast, P.I.X.A.L. had forgotten to check Lloyd for injuries from behind. Maybe she wasn’t as professional as she thought. There was no other choice. Looking at Zane firmly, they pushed Lloyd onto his side as he gave a pained groan.

P.I.X.A.L.’s mechanical heart sank. Lloyd had a reason for sitting up without any support. There were several pieces of debris stuck to his back, and they were all pushed in due to them lying Lloyd on the desk. Nya looked up from her task in horror.

“I’m so sorry Lloyd, I didn’t know-“ “Nya, please focus on your task,” P.I.X.A.L. cut her off before she could begin crying. She felt bad, but what’s done was done. Blocking Lloyd from’s Nya’s view, P.I.X.A.L. picked up a pair of tweezers before picking up the small pieces. But the large piece of metal stuck in his shoulder blades- Pixal had to cut Lloyd’s skin to get that out. Eyes narrowing, hardening her resolve- P.I.X.A.L. lightly cut Lloyd’s skin using the scalpel before pulling up a long shard of bloodied glass. Picking up some of the unused water, P.I.X.A.L. quickly cleared Lloyd and the flat-surfaced of their blood. Applying pressure to those wounds would be hard from this angle, so after disinfecting the openings, P.I.X.A.L. took several rolls of bandages before tying them around Lloyd’s chest. Not too tightly, that would further bruise his ribs- but tight enough to ensure a sense of security and staunch the oozing bleeding.

“Zane, do you have an oxygen filter?” Nya asked, having been satisfied by the cleanliness of the tubing. Sanitising her metallic hands, P.I.X.AL. heard Zane sigh before declining.

“I do. Mr Borg wanted us to be at least a little environmentally friendly, given that the Nindroids would be using large amounts of energy every day. So I can filter out excess greenhouse gases in the air and store them in their solid form before giving the raw materials back to Borg Industries,” P.I.X.A.L. offered.

“You’re a lifesaver Pix,” Nya said in relief, handing P.I.X.A.L. the tubing. P.I.X.A.L. smiled. She supposed that she actually was. Opening Lloyd Garmadon’s mouth, P.I.X.A.L. inserted the tubing down his throat with NIndroid precision. Connecting the end to her oxygen filter, P.I.X.A.L. adjusted the settings so that she was inputting air composing of at least 60% oxygen into young Garmadon’s lungs.

As Zane finished applying some frost to Lloyd’s burns, the 3 of them stood there and watched as Lloyd breathed in and out.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’ll go find what the guys have been doing,” Nya informed their group. “I too will go into the village, but to ensure that we have permission to stay here for the night,” Zane stated, giving a nod to P.I.X.A.L., before walking away into the dusk, right hand locked and useless.

P.I.X.A.L., knowing that she can’t really move, sat next to Lloyd Garmadon as she watched the campfire grow as shrieks from the ninja team rose. At the end of today, all P.I.X.A.L. wanted to do was to just shut down and recharge. She knows she doesn’t need to know that she had half of Zane’s heart (which just skipped another beat for some unknown reason), but all she wants was a break.

Too bad that being a ninja means that you don’t really get to choose when to stop. P.I.X.A.L. thought to herself.

But at least today, I’ve proved my usefulness. I can repay Zane for his heart.

- Kai - Having been stuck alone, disassembled and scrapped, P.I.X.A.L. found that she really, really missed the Ninja team. She also missed Zane, though he was in a cell next to hers. He’s been offline for such a long time, P.I.X.A.L. had fears that he would never wake up.

But he did. And the ninja had rescued them from Chen. But along the way, they had lost Sensei Garmadon, and the year apart had caused some major issues.

Kai doesn’t know that they’re here. But he shouldn’t be here either after Zane had ordered that everyone go to rest after this long day. Still, the glint of red from his eyes even scared P.I.X.A.L., but she would never tell anyone that. She watched as Kai shredded the bandages he wrapped around his hands by destroying a metal training dummy, before turning around to wrap some more.

“Why is he doing that?” P.I.X.A.L. wondered from inside Zane’s head. Zane started whispering, “He… has some anger issues.”

“I get that Zane, I mean why’s he wrapping his hands in bandages?” P.I.X.A.L. corrected herself. Zane quirked an eyebrow but continued with answering P.I.X.A.L.’s questions. “Well, martial artists wear hand wraps and bandages because they can prevent injuries and improve the power of their punches. Wraps and bandages also protect the martial artist’s skin and soften the impact on hard surfaces.”

“I see,” P.I.X.A.L. stated whilst both of them cringed, as Kai delivered a particularly hard blow to the metallic dummy that Zane was supposed to fight with.

“KAI, PLEASE SHUT UP!” came Jay’s voice from down the corridor, moving closer towards them. Zane and P.I.X.A.L. watched in apprehension as Kai breathed heavily, staring down the metallic dummy before all the tension from his shoulders sagged.

The Nindroids watched as Kai cleaned up the training room and head out to use the bathroom to wash up.

“He’s being too hard on himself for the death of Lloyd’s father,” P.I.X.AL. commented blandly. Zane shifted from his position. “I’m afraid that that’s not the only reason. Do you remember Jay telling us that Kai had almost killed both Lloyd and Skylor using Chen’s staff?” P.I.X.A.L. stayed silent.

Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.

- Jay - It was only a few days after Master Wu had been lost in time. Whilst the Ninja team were recuperating and in shock, Pixal has been remotely using Samurai X to patrol the cities whilst maintaining in the current Ninja’s headquarters- the electronic system of Yang’s temple. P.I.X.AL. had really wanted to go full into Samurai X, but she knew that she could not just desert her teammates at this moment. But there wasn’t much she could do, other than counting reps for Lloyd. (You skipped a number, I know what you’re doing Pix, and I ain’t gonna stop training-) helping Jay prepare breakfast (Jay! The pancakes are burning!) or accompanying Zane as he retrieved bits and pieces from all the fighting. (Someone has to clean up Ninjago city, and I guess that that would be me and Samurai X.)

P.I.X.A.L. knew that she shouldn’t be keeping Samurai X a secret, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt a strange sense of duty, and the ability to finally be on the front lines, fighting the same enemies as Zane. And she wanted some secrets to herself.

Still, it surprised her when Jay had demanded her full attention during one of her free times.

“Hey, umm… Pix? Do you- do you think you could maybe check out my left eye?” Jay stammered whilst twiddling his fingers. Pixal was curious, but she’s already moved to Jay’s laptop. “Why do you ask so? Did your eye get hit sometime recently?”

Jay had flinched at the word ‘hit’, but shook his head at the word ‘recently’. Huh. Maybe it was phantom pains? Still, Pixal had run a diagnostic on it.

“I can’t seem to find any physical abnormalities, but if this is a case of phantom pain, over the counter pain relievers should work.”

Jay nodded whilst his eyes were blank seemingly off to another world or lost in his memories.

“Jay? Jay, can you hear me?” Pixal once again ran a diagnostic scan. It seems that Jay was slipping into dissociation. Dimming the lights in his room as well as all the screens the blue ninja had put into his room. Pixal started playing a calm Ninjago lofi mix from the speaker she was in. She gently called Jay’s name and he slipped back into reality.

“Jay, just take 2 doses of ibuprofen. They’re at the lowest shelf at the kitchen counter. If it hurts again, tell me and we’ll bring you to a professional.”

Jay who was nodding at the instructions froze at the thought of being taken to the hospital. Still, he slid off his bed and made his way downstairs. Pixal filtered through the electronic system of the temple, landing new the smart fridge and watched as Jay swallowed 2 pills dry.

It seemed to create some results because Jay stopped shivering and shaking. Pixal wondered if that was just a placebo or an actual effect. Still, watching Jay’s face relax in bliss, free from whatever pain that was bothering him, Pixal knew that she made the right call.

- Nya - S9, fight with SOG

It had been brutal. Pixal was just treating the training injuries Lloyd had when Skylor came into the noodle house, helping Nya to walk as her left arm dangled without any purpose. Immediately, Pixal stood up and took quick strides, scanning Nya for all her injuries.

“We were getting supplies when a bunch of Harumi’s goons jumped on us, we had to be quick so that none of them could call up for back up, when-“  “When- fuck, when this dude pulled out a fucking gun,” Nya said, pained and heaving as Skylor slowly helped her to sit on the training mat.

“So you were shot?” Lloyd’s voice came from behind Pixal as he took the medkit to the mat. Nya eyes looked everywhere but at him. Gesturing to her limp and bleeding arm, she gave up all her dignity. “Yeah, right here.”

“Okay, Nya, here, take these.” Lloyd handed her 2 tablets of ibuprofen and a cup of water. “W-what? No, I can’t take these!” Nya hissed in pain.

“Yes, you can!”  “What if we need them later? What if one of us loses an arm or something happens where we have a worse injury?” “That does not matter, Nya. Look, I’ve been shot in Ninjago city before, I know how it feels.”

Pixal immediately flashes back to the nights where she had to help Lloyd through a computer screen, and her metallic fingers curled up. It was horrible, watching him choking down painkillers before trying to pull the bullet out himself. Never again.

“Nya, it would be alright, just take these- we can always go out to get more,” Pixal tried coaxing Nya to just swallow the pills.

“Take them or I’ll force you to take them, Water Ninja.” Skylor admonished. With the combined strength of their motley crew of 3, Nya hesitantly reached for the medicine, almost choking as she had swallowed too much water at one go.

“Okay, good, now we just need to pull the bullet out,” Lloyd reached into the medkit, pulling out a pair of tweezers. Pixal watched as his hands, fatigued from all the trains, couldn’t stop shaking.

“Wait, Lloyd, let me see if the bullet should be removed at all.” Pixal interrupted, taking a more in-depth scan at Nya’s shoulder. In the meantime, Lloyd started to check through Skylor, who said that he was all clear except for a few knuckle bruises. Of course, Pixal would check on her later, but now she had to make sure that Nya would be alright.

“The bullet has missed your major arteries and it actually isn’t in too deep, possibly because of the protection offered by your suit-“ “Just tell me when you’re gonna remove it!” Nya snapped as her brow furrowed in anticipation.  “Well, let’s see… first, we need to remove the clothing around the area of the wound, which-“

“AHH!” Nya shrieked as Pixal twisted and pulled out the bullet without any warning. “Sorry Nya, sometimes fear of a thing could be greater than the actual danger that it poses,” Pixal explained as Nya stared at her with a look that could only scream betrayal.

Dropping the bullet to the ground, Pixal took up some disinfectant and sanitised the area around the entry wound. Nya hissed as Pixal gently presses a cotton gauze to stop the bleeding before finally applying some sort of disinfectant cream. She finished off the wound with a bandage around Nya’s arm, with extra padding using gauze at the point where the wound is at.

“Alright, so now you should not move this arm too much for the next few days, and in the next few weeks, you would not be able to raise it over your shoulder. But in a few months, you can use it again and in a year it would be pretty much healed up so that you may do your weight lifting sessions with- with Cole again…” Pixal said, starting brightly but dropping to a small whisper.

The mood suddenly went from cheery to depressive. “Remember to take lots of rest,” Pixal finished lamely. As Lloyd escorted Nya to the sleeping bags they had gathered, Skylor picked up the bullet Pixal had removed.

“Girl, you were quite mean back there,” Skylor began. “And I think that you’re cool. One problem- the pharmacies have not been able to continue business as normal. All the drugs have to be given to the Sons of Garmadon. In the meantime, all supply chains are disrupted. Over the counter medicine won’t be so easy to find. “

Pixal kept quiet. “Well, I’ll have to keep this bullet as a souvenir for Nya. FSM knows that she deserves this.”

Of course, the bullet would be lost later as they were hunted down throughout the city. But every time Nya changed into her swimsuit, Pixal could see the bullet wound. The scarring left wasn’t pretty, but Pixal thought that the courage Nya showed made her the most beautiful woman she’ll ever have the chance to meet.

- Cole-  Cole was alive. Cole was alive!

Pixal watched as the Ninja went into a momentary stop before cheering and becoming more alive. She saw Nya pass the Scythe of Earth to Cole, who promptly swung it into the oncoming Oni. Pixal was trying her best to fend off the Oni herself, but her mind, or rather, motherboard, was spinning really, really fast. How did Cole survive? It should have been impossible!

Pixal heard that Cole justify his survival, stating that the Oni clouds must have broken his fall. He didn’t know how he wasn’t attacked at first, but many tendrils then came to attack him.

Still, this was impossible for Pixal to figure out. Was it because Cole had been a ghost? Maybe it was his elemental power protecting him? Or perhaps it was divine intervention? Either way, Pixal was going o scan him later if there was even a later.

“Watch out!” Pixal saw a blast of green hit the Oni in front of her. I can’t afford to get lost in thought now! Come on Samurai X, focus! She chided to herself.

Yet, as the battle once again turned tides, and the elemental masters got together to do the Tornado of Creation, Pixal watched from her position behind the holding doors to see Lloyd Garmadon get thrown out of the tornado, hitting his head with an earth-shattering crack as he collapsed against the walls of the monastery before debris-covered him.

Frantically approaching him, Pixal saw out of the corner of her eye that the rest of the ninja were left dizzy, exhausted, and possibly some having passed out. That was alright. It was time for her to do her duty anyways.

However, whilst lifting slabs of concrete, Pixal felt her heart drop. The calculated survival rate of the impact sent shivers down Pixal’s circuits as the percentage just kept. Dropping. Lower.

Heaving the last piece of concrete off the young bearer of green power, Pixal heard her teammates rushing into the scene. She could have warned them, said something, said anything. But her joints were frozen in place with something much colder than what her sensors had detected when she went into the Oni cloud.

The motley crew, now only 5, took the last piece of debris off from their teammate.

“Lloyd. Buddy, wake up,” Kai pleaded, desperate.  “He-He's not moving!” Nya exclaimed, voice shaking as tears start to form. She looked at Pixal, asking for anything, anything at all.  “Someone find Wu. Where’s Wu?” Cole ordered.

In no time, Master Wu arrived and lifted Lloyd’s arm, checking his pulse. He would find nothing there.

“You can do something, right? Right?!” Jay panicked.  With a defeated look that Pixal knows is mirrored in her eyes, Wu shook his head and said, “There’s nothing to be done.”  Nya finally cries out, sobbing. “Oh, Lloyd!”

PIxal wanted to cry as well, but she never could. When rebuilding her body, she had used the same blueprints that Cyrus Borg had with some upgrades. One thing she didn’t consider adding was the ability to cry because there wasn’t any time. She had to save Lloyd from the vermillion. But what she can’t save Lloyd from, was from an early- early- d… fate.

There’s nothing Pixal could do. And she felt hopeless.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Garmadon backed away from their small group, and in a flash, she felt her wires burning. She couldn’t just let him leave. Not after what he’s done.

Yet, just as she was about to boost straight towards the Oni and tackle him off the mountain, Lloyd started to cough. Lloyd. Started to cough.

Whipping around to see a golden petal float away, she watched the team cheer as Lloyd started to breathe. How- this was impossible!  Pixal almost short-circuited from shock. There had been no way! No way! She didn’t even go through all 5 stages of grief yet.

And not too soon, Lloyd woke up from a sleep that she was sure that he never would.

Catching him mumbling something about the First Spinjitzu Master, Pixal smiled. Divine intervention had definitely happened at least once today. The first time being….

“Cole, please come with me to the med bay,” Pixal requested with a smile. Divine intervention or not, five-sixths of the Ninja team knows how to hide a serious injury, and she had to be certain. Cole, who looked shopped, resigned himself and walked with Pixal o the medical centre. For now, she trusted that Zane was doing all the scans that he could to make sure that Lloyd was right in the head, and sought out to take care of her own, albeit selfish, worries.

Scanning Cole on both sides, Pixal noticed a particular bad bruise on Cole’s spine. Yet falling from that height and the fact that Cole isn’t paralysed due to spinal injury made Pixal reaffirm her theories that the First Spinjitsu Master was alive, just in another realm.

“You know, Lloyd might have actually seen the First Spinjitsu Master,” Pixal began, which led Cole to choke on the water he was ordered to drink. “No way, he must have just hit his head hard…”

“I’m sorry Cole, but the injuries you have is comparable to sleeping on a rock hard bed for one night, not falling from a height of 500m, even if your fall was broken by the Oni cloud, you should still have been paralysed,” Pixal explained.

“So God is real and Lloyd’s sharing a fourth of his blood? Neat! Next time tell him to not scare us with a fake-out,” Cole brushed it off.

At this time Pixal was about the shutdown and delve deep into theorising. Lloyd technically had a fourth of his grandfather’s blood and possessed the same power, could he possible have powers that control life and death-

Yet, she watched as a steady stream of Ninja enter the medbay, and resolved her thoughts to her inner GPU. She can think later. For now, she had to make sure that everyone is okay, and everyone will be okay. Even if she threatens Loyd to shave his head so she can get a better look at his skull, to which a chase around the monastery ensued. Her family was alright for now, and the concerning mortality of humans was left deep in the recesses of her mind.

- Zane - Too soon, Pixal had to face her own mortality. Being a Nindroid, her lifespan would naturally be much longer than a Ninja’s. But she still could be erased, dismantled, destroyed, sent to another realm-

The days waiting for the group of 6, not 5, to come back were some of the hardest. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to shut down, lie on her bed and stare into the picture they had taken on their first date, Pixal knew that the team was entrusting her to keep Ninjago safe. Even if it means recapturing escaped convicts. Even if it means fighting the… undead-dead Preeminent (Pixal still hasn’t figured out how she worked). And they had to find ways to reach the Never Realm, by going through different infusions of travellers tea.

Yet, all the waiting and longing was worth it. Pixal prefers a Zane stuck in another realm for 40 years as to no Zane. There was no other choice. Yet, as she sees her loved ones trudging out of the frosty realm, some of them had worst frost bites than others. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to smother Zane in a hug, she can see the edges of Lloyd’s skin turning a deep, dark black. From the corner of her eyes, she can see Nya taking care of Cole whilst Jay and Kai attempt to remove the ice from everyone else, including lubricating Zane’s frosted joins. She had not a single moment to lose. This kind of frostbite was not exactly lethal immediately, but losing limbs could mean the end of Lloyd’s ninja career. So calling everyone to attention, she went all in to salvaging Lloyd’s limbs, doing everything she could.

Later that night, Pixal spotted Zane wandering around the outskirts of the monastery whilst the Ninja finish up dinner. She watched as Zane’s hands gripped the staff so tight that the wood would be snapping in 3…2…1.

A harsh crack and splinters flying out later, Pixal could see the shaking in Zane’s hands as he cursed, something that the Zane she knew never would.

For her, it had been a hellish week. But for Zane? It must have been a hellish 40 years.

“…Zane?” Pixal called out from the monastery doors. Zane immediately whipped around before pointing the tip of the staff towards her, to which Pixal reflectively grabbed. Zane, eyes widening in shock and horror, immediately released his grip on the now shorter staff, before turning around, trying to run away. Pixal won’t let that happen.

“Zane,” Pixal said once again, hand now gripping onto the collar of Zane’s Gi. “Please don’t run away from me.”

Zane, froze, hands twitching before dropping them to his side. Pixal released her grip before tapping Zane on the shoulder, asking him to turn around.

“Pixal, I’m- I’m sorry…I just can’t- I can’t trust myself right now,” Zane vented out hands fidgeting with each other. Pixal smiled sadly. She knew that not everything could go back to normal so fast, but still, she had hoped that it would have been easier than this. “If you don’t trust yourself right now, why not spend some time with me?”

“Pixal- I…I could hurt you-“  “Yes you can, but don’t think that I can’t protect myself,” Pixal snapped back whilst carefully reaching to hold Zane’s hands. Once she made contact, Zane flinched back, before slowly reciprocating the action. “C’mon Zane, let’s go back into the monastery-“

“No!” Zane protested, wrenching Pixal back. Pixal clasped her other hand on top of Zane’s. “Not to the dining room. I’m thinking med bay.”

Pixal could see Zane’s processing unit cycle through his thoughts, noticing that it had considerable frost damage. Before long, Zane nodded his head, allowing Pixal to pull him into the light.

Opening the cupboards, Pixal took out a few rolls of bandages before carefully wrapping them around Zane’s hands. The ice ninja watched with curiosity as Pixal carefully finished tying and tightening the strips of cloth.

“Why are you doing this? You and I both know that Nindroids don’t need bandages,” Zane asked. Pixal smiled, looking at Zane’s now steadier hands. “Maybe bandages can’t fix our metal skin, but it still makes us feel better.”

Zane paused, looking down at his hands. “I don’t know how you’re right PIx, but they do make me feel more sure that my powers won’t hurt anyone accidentally. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now let’s get back to dinner, we have some desserts to bring out.”

Bandages. As much as PIxal uses them and finds them efficient, she can’t help but hope that team doesn’t need to use as many. But this time, t’s just a trip to a legendary city full of peace and prosperity. Maybe this time, Pixal doesn’t need to bandage their wounds away.

[callixton]

Josh and Toby for the HC ask post 🥺

thank you!! toby answered here and you’ve probably heard most if not all of these before but that’s okay bc i’m gonna pretend u haven’t

toby got a little gender and sexuality section so josh can too. in my heart josh is gay <3 he struggled a Lot with coming to terms with this (i think started to figure it out in college and then repressed the hell out of a lot of those experiences), in no small part bc he’s the only surviving child in his family and he didn’t want to be Different in that way, he wanted to make things easy on his mom and not give her another reason to worry (coming out to her is one of the hardest but most gratifying things he does). lotta internalized homophobia on this man for a While too. as he grows more comfortable with himself and starts to come out to the people around him, he really comes into his own though. other thoughts: gnc josh my beloved <3 he Will get a swishy skirt if it kills me and his friends are extremely supportive of this, ftm trans josh and amab enby josh (he/they rights for both)

josh has adhd! most of the characters in west wing are nd in some way In My Head but his adhd really feels borderline textual. uhh severe rsd, his organization methods, his need to talk things out out loud, impulsivity, to some extent his difficulty in relationships. not as canon, but i also think he gets bad executive dysfunction, has sensory issues, and has had hyperfixations on space, theoretical physics, and the american revolution (part of what sparked an early interest in politics)

josh Struggled in school. essentially extrapolating from Everything he does in 20 hours but he didn’t have any coping mechanisms and couldn’t learn the ‘right’ way with his adhd (also v fond of ur dyslexia hc and i think those are co-compatible). he always got good grades, but that’s bc he worked really hard for them. and socially, he’s never known how to shut up when he’s right, and this was only worse when he was still in high school (cue smartest kid in the class speech). kids around him clocked him as gay before he knew himself, and he tried to mask a lot of the things he didn’t like abt himself to the point where they stood out again. he had a few close friends in high school, but no one he ever felt like he could really open up to, and he lost touch with all of them when he went to college. college was also rough academically, bc again i do not think learning has Ever come easy to him, but socially and mentally he was in such a healthier place that he could better deal with it.

generally i think that josh Also has chronic pain from rosslyn, but specifically here i’m gonna talk abt his asthma -- the bullet collapsed his lung, i have a very hard time believing that wouldn’t have some sort of long term effect on his lung capacity. the first time he has an asthma attack he’s convinced it’s a panic attack, which means he doesn’t get help for a Lot longer than he should. before he learns his limits and triggers, he does end up in the hospital for it once or twice, which he hates. oh also think that josh is used to pushing through sickness and still being able to do his job, but after rosslyn that becomes a lot more difficult and it frustrates him.

i go back and forth on whether he can cook but i do have to acknowledge the state of his fridge. anyway i DO think he can bake, he just doesn’t often have time. he Will however stress bake at 1 am, eat 70% of it in the same night, and bring the rest into work the next day. he’s also a Mess when baking like flour everywhere, cocoa powder all over his shirt. he didn’t use to wear aprons until cj gifted him a few with stupid sayings on them and now he wears them as a point of pride. also with the adhd/sensory stuff i’m convinced baked goods tend to be safe foods for him

[allbrainrot]

Aaaa could you do ❤️ for pre and post time skip Dimitri? 👉🏻🥺👈🏻 ty!! I love your writing style and I’m so excited to see what else you come up with!!

YES I LOVE DIMI SO MUCH!! I’m so glad that people like my prompts and writing 😭🖤 Thank you anon for allowing me to write about post timeskip Dimi’s massive cape that shit is the best lmao ✨

Pre Timeskip:

- Pre timeskip Dimitri is very special at displays of affection..*cough* dagger *cough*..so he’d be so easily flustered, but he’d appreciate any form of love you’re willing to give him nonetheless.

- For this particular instance, I’m thinking reader is a Golden Deer, so they have to be separated during each classes’ missions a lot. As a traumatized individual with few loved ones left, I can imagine that Dimitri would become somewhat clingy with anxiety once you grow close to him. As his partner, you’re very used to always being beside him to comfort and reassure him, so it’d be a pretty drastic and..dull.. change when the Blue Lions are out on the month’s mission.

- You’re probably also close to several Blue Lions if you’re dating Dimitri, which makes it seem even more lonely. Of course, you have friends in Golden Deer that you hang out with, but it always feels like a part of you is missing when you don’t have a yearning little Dimitri following you like a lost puppy.

- If you’ve made this much progress in getting Dimitri to open up, he trusts you more than anyone in the world alongside Dedue. So, you’re always welcome to spend time in his room and you often find yourself doing so when the days wind down and you miss him the most. You probably absentmindedly sharpen any weapons he hasn’t taken with him or organize all his schoolwork for him so he isn’t stressed when he returns.

- Even though he insists that you drop any formality whatsoever, Dimitri is still a prince, so he probably has a pretty full closet...full of capes for you to steal!! >:3

- Around the last night before he gets back to the monastery, longing really hits you when you think about how long it’s been without your cuddly boyfriend around. So when curfew comes around that night and you have to leave the comfort of his room, you say ‘ah screw it’ and just snatch one of his pretty blue capes before heading off to your bed.

- Even at 17-18, Dimitri is still tall as hell. Idk how tall reader is, but I’m a whopping 5’2 so I’m gonna say that his cape would be pretty big on you 😭 You wrap yourself in that thing like a burrito, period. I can imagine it’s made from very nice material, so it’s probably silky and soft. Then, you conk tf out!

- The next day is a Sunday, so you’re half awake snuggling into this boy’s cape later in the morning when his class gets back. The first thing Dimitri does after reporting everything to Rhea and Seteth with the professor is bolt up to your dorm room. He’s that overjoyed kinda shaky like little kids heading to open up their presents on their birthday. He might even forget to knock, honestly. He’s got chivalry built into him as a prince but right now his head is whirring too much to think about anything else.

- Sunlight pouring into your room makes you bunch up the fabric close to your face and you let out a very sedated, groggy greeting in your sleepy state.

- Dimitri.exe has stopped working. HOLY SHIT IS THAT HIS CAPE??? His face is every shade of red imaginable. Probably lets out incoherent stutters for a couple minutes until you’re fully awake and call him over happily. Dimitri’s a big boy and he finally says a sentence, albeit a very squeaky one! ‘Is-is that my cape, beloved..??’ You’re 100x more composed and just laugh and hand it back to him before explaining you missed him and kissing him on the cheek. Dimitri machine broke. You’re wearing his cape like a blanket! And you said it’s because you missed him! You really love him and you’re adorable! Yeah, it’s just gonna be hugs for a bit, it’s gonna take a minute to reboot your Dimitri.

Post Timeskip:

- Shortly after pre timeskip scenario, Dimi convinced you to transfer to his house. I’m gonna say this is Dimi after he gets his shit together a little bit because acquiring clothing from a feral Dimitri would be like a militaristic game of capture the flag. He’s still an awkward goof but you’re gonna need to get him to allow himself to show emotion again before he eventually breaks and confides in you.

- I can imagine that some nights, camping out at the monastery or various locations of battles could get pretty damn cold when the temperature drops at night and you don’t have any heating system. So, strategy or information update meetings called at night are probably going to be one of your least favorite times, after actual fighting of course.

- Your former classmates from Faerghus thrive in the cold, and this was nothing compared to winters where they’re from. (You might be well adjusted to cold too but I’m from god damn Texas so I’m saying reader lived in a much warmer climate, closer to Claude’s lmao🖤) You, on the other hand, are FREEZING and your friends think it’s quite amusing.

- So here you are, sitting between your boyfriend and Sylvain while Byleth makes a report and you’re freezing your ass off!! Like how is no one else cold you are covered in goosebumps and you’re pretty sure you just started shaking a little bit. Everyone has noticed and is trying to pay attention to Byleth but Sylvain is the first to give in and antagonize you. In the most condescending fake surprised tone possible ‘Oh man, are you getting cold? I was actually just thinking it’s such nice weather that I don’t even need a jacket!’

- Dimitri is straight wheezing into his hand he is trying so hard not to laugh but it’s too funny he can’t help it man 😭 Initiating ball mode you are holding your knees tucked into your chest for warmth and pouting because you’re salty. Plan backfired your boyfriend is full on snickering at you now because you’re adorable.

- Just when you’ve reached the maximum level of pouting possible something very soft and warm is draped over you and encompasses you in all your balled up glory. Although it’s a little heavier now, and you can feel the fluff of fur around your shoulders, you still recognize the luxurious fabric from Dimitri’s old cape 5 years ago.

- Too stubborn to say thank you right now so you just lean into Dimi lmao. His gauntlets are always freezing but you’re in a cozy burrito right now so he’ll wrap an arm around you. Sylvain is currently celebrating his status as the greatest wingman of all time.

- Bonus points if you put your cheek up to his chest he lives for being as close to you as physically possible. Will pet your hair if you don’t mind the armor.

- Felix is having an internal hissy fit and glaring daggers at Dimitri because BOAR HAS FEELINGS? EWWWWWWW. If Dimitri gives you a kiss he absolutely yells at you both to get a room you cannot convince me otherwise. Byleth is so sick of everyone’s shit.

Thank you for enabling my Dimitri lovemail anon, I hope you like it :3 Hope you don’t mind post timeskip being a lil changed from original prompt I just thought it was a nice progression 🥺🍄

[queerticulate]

oh thank god, I'm sick of having American news, please tell me about your country, I'm legit asking them all because anyway if try to choose I will end up choosing half the ask game, you don't have to answer them all, but feel free to do so :D

Oh my god... so apparently Tumblr's notification system for asks isn't great and I didn't find out about this until now. It seems to relate back to this post: https://queerticulate.tumblr.com/post/634805289897639936/hi-im-not-from-the-us-ask-set I'm doing a random number generator to pick some questions from the list to talk about.

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language? For me that is "kut" - which translates to "cunt" but is used in a very different way. The English version seems to be used to devalue a particular woman. In Dutch it's more used in the way "that sucks" or "oh shit" are used. A fun fact related to this topic is that my country stands out for being big on swearing with diseases. Pretty acceptable are "tyfus" (typhoid) and "k'lere" (cholera). In recent years however "kanker" (cancer) because most popular, while also being widely disputed as many people have seen a lost one suffer/die from that disease and thus find it hurtful.

24. what other nation is joked about most often in your country? When I was a kid it was Belgium - for the general 'our neighbors are dumb' stuff. Both then and now a popular choice has also been Germany. Some of the jokes are relatively harmless, commenting on actual cultural differences. Some of them seem to (unknowingly) refer back to Nazi Germany however (the joke about how all of their language is headless shouting for example) and those bother me. Our countries are besties now (we even fucked our daylight hours bc we wanted to share a timezone with them), but there is a complicated history there. The Netherlands wanted to stay neutral throughout WWII (as they did during WWI), but got quickly invaded and taken over by Nazi Germany. During most of the war our country was simply occupied. There were factions which were all too glad to join the Nazi ideology (hence why there is almost no Jewish community in our country :'() and another faction constantly organized a secret resistance. When the war was over not only were Nazis punished, but also everyone who was deemed to have been too friendly with Germans (women who were thought to have been involved with a German were dragged into the street and publicly humiliated). In recent years - I would say around the time Trump got elected - America also became a popular target for jokes, mostly expressing the disbelief about how much of a dumpster fire it seems to be over there. 3. does your country have access to sea? Yes! The entire Western and Northern borders are made up by the sea. On the Western end this is the North Sea, and on the Northern end there is a special patch of sea between the Nothern most part of the main land and the islands. It's called the Wadden Sea. It's included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. What makes it so special is that during low tide large parts of it dry up, making it technically possible to walk from the main land to the islands. Another interesting fact is that large parts of our country - certainly the parts where most important commerce take place - are situated below sea level. Our ancestors must have been stubborn people, as they learned to protect the land from being taken by the sea. My country has become really good at that and now has an international reputation of being the guys to hire if you want to fight off the sea. We've become so good at it in fact, that we turned a third piece of sea we had access to into a lake, and then raised an entire province there. Yep, between the 1940s and 1960s it was just decided it would be nice to have some more land, so it was just goddamn made? It's the largest manmade island in the world now.

[corona-extra-newsletter]

3/15/20 corona extra: cracking open cold covid facts

Announcements & Thank Yous

“About This Newsletter” has been moved to the bottom so it’s easier to skip if you’ve seen the other ones.

Some institutions do not update on Sundays. I have included the date of everything that is in question. That is also why this update is early :)

Thank you to @hysterical-random-things for letting me know about the first death in NYC and where to find that news, to @nanook2000 for information and links about KY’s response, and to @akashicsage for all of the good deets on San Diego county. If you have reliable information from a good source that I don’t seem to have, please shoot me a message/ask/pigeon!

Places now included in the newsletter are: Utah, Oregon, Washington, the Netherlands, Minnesota, Kentucky, Georgia, Nebraska, the UK, and possibly some others I missed here but included in the newsletter. Please send an ask or a message if you would like a place included!

A word on mortality rates: they look very high in some places in the US right now because testing is limited to the sickest patients. People who have mild illness and are well enough to go or stay home may not have been tested until very recently when several states started mass testing/drive through testing. Testing is still limited in a lot of states, so this will be a rolling increase situation, I anticipate.

A word on case numbers: due to the aforementioned expansion of testing capacity in the US (thank fuck), case numbers are gonna grow in a really, really scary-looking way this week. This is not actually as scary as it seems, because it means we are catching more of the cases that would have gone unnoticed and have better information to help more people.

Just The Numbers

Case numbers

Total cases: 153,517 (10,982 new)

Total deaths: 5,735 (343 new)

China: 81,048 cases (27 new!!), 3204 deaths (10 new)

This gives us a mortality rate of ~3.95%

Excluding China: 72,469 cases (10,955 new), 2531 deaths (333 new)

143 countries/territories reporting cases, 9 are new today including:

Kazakhstan: 6 cases

Curacao: 2 cases

Namibia: 2 cases

Central African Republic: 1 case

Congo: 1 case

Equatorial Guinea: 1 case

Eswatini: 1 case

Mauritania: 1 case

Mayotte: 1 case

Italy is reporting over 20,000 cases with over 1400 deaths

Iran is reporting over 10,000 cases with over 700 deaths

South Korea, Spain, and Germany are reporting over 5,000 cases

SK reports 75 deaths

Spain reports 289 deaths

Germany reports 11 deaths

International/General News

Many places experiencing a worsening epidemic are following the lead of countries including South Korea and instituting drive-through testing and high-throughput testing. Some tests (like the ones being used in Vietnam) can have a result in as soon as an hour, enabling people to be quickly cleared or quarantined. (This is super cool science! Yay, science!)

Johns Hopkins University is putting on a webinar on Tuesday, 3/17. If you are interested, you can sign up/check it out here: https://www.jhsph.edu/events/2020/covid-19/

South Korea’s epidemic is currently being driven by a fringe religious group, which represents approximately 60% of all cases.

Italy’s health system is overwhelmed, which is likely why their case-fatality rate is so high. Doctors, nurses, respiratory techs, first responders, lab personnel, and everyone else involved in hospitals/health care are working their butts off and doing some frankly heroic shit to help people.

Singapore has instituted strict travel restrictions on visitors/transiting people from European countries, including Italy, France, Spain, and Germany; this is in addition to restrictions on visitors from Iran, China, and South Korea.

Some doctors from Washington state, USA (the ones seeing the most cases) are noticing that myocarditis (viral infection & inflammation of the heart) seems to be what kills patients, not the ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) that requires ventilation. This is obviously in early stages and more research is ongoing.

The World Health Organization is setting up three hospitals with advanced respiratory care capabilities in Erbil, Baghdad, and Basra, Iraq.

Virology Corner

Today’s topic: where did SARS-CoV-2 come from?

SARS-CoV-2 is what’s known as a zoonotic virus. This means that it spread from animals to humans, and then gained the ability (through mutations) to pass from human to human.

We think that SARS-CoV-2 came from bats (Rhinopholus) or pangolins- which doesn’t mean we need to blame bats or pangolins for this, they’re innocent bystanders in the game of cat-and-mouse viruses and animals are constantly playing over evolutionary timescales. Also they’re pretty ding dang cute.

(Not to get much more depressing, but here goes, as humans encroach on more and more land and as climate change progresses, more zoonoses will affect humans. Sorry to be a mega-bummer.)

Question Tuesday

Today’s question comes from @adventurecalls! They ask (paraphrased because the ask got eaten): “If I do get sick, how do I know when it’s ok to go back to doing stuff?”

This is a really good question, and one that’s rapidly being worked out by public health people as we speak (whoa)!

In general, the thought is that once you’re totally recovered you’re not able to spread the virus, but there’s not concrete data on this. The best we have is this recent study in the Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30566-3/fulltext) which indicates that people who recover shed virus for 20 days from symptom onset, whereas those who die shed virus continuously until their death, a maximum course of 37 days.

I obviously can’t give individual medical advice, which this is not, but the guidance from the WHO is excellent in general, and I will keep readers posted when there’s more information.

If you have questions, ask them and they’ll appear here in the next issue of corona extra!

Regional News (if you want somewhere added just let me know. Don’t be shy!! I highly recommend you just skip to your area if you don’t wanna be overwhelmed.)

Canada: last updated 9:00 AM EST 3/15/20

Total cases: 249 confirmed (+5), 4 presumed (-1), 1 death (3/9/20, no change)

All current cases had symptoms starting between 1/17/20 and 3/9/20

One of these cases is the PM’s wife (mild case); the couple are in quarantine for 14 days now. This is not expected to affect Canada’s management, but is definitely a reminder that being a political leader does not grant one immunity to COVID-19.

12% of cases have required hospitalization

79% of cases are in travellers, and a further 8% in their close contacts

Affected provinces include (both confirmed and presumptive cases): BC (73, +0), Alberta (39, -2), Saskatchewan (2, +0), Manitoba (4, +0), Ontario (103, +2), Quebec (24, +3), Newfoundland and Labrador (1) New Brunswick (2, +0), and PEI (1).

Newly affected provinces include: Newfoundland and Labrador

4 cases in repatriated travellers

The Netherlands

I do not speak Dutch so please correct me if I’ve fucked something up royally

1135 confirmed cases, 20 deaths

176 new cases, 8 new deaths

Provinces (?) affected include: Drenthe (15), Flevoland (19), Friesland (10), Gelderland (100), Groningen (9), Limburg (129), North Brabant (446), North Holland (90), Overijssel (28), Utrecht (109), South Holland (110), and Zeeland (12).

I think this is all of them based on a quick Wikipedia investigation?

Interestingly they tested a bunch of people who work in a hospital and found a pretty high (4%) rate of asymptomatic infection. This seems like bad news (are these people spreading, etc) but it’s actually pretty good news because it means the mortality rate is lower than we think. I’ll update here as I find out more, which is hampered by my inability to speak Dutch.

New Zealand

8 confirmed cases, 2 probable cases

2 new cases, one of which was diagnosed in Australia

Both patients were on international flights and there is extensive contact tracing underway

2 patients have required hospitalization but both have been discharged

6700 people have completed self-isolation, 3015 people continue to be isolated

These people all deserve a medal, thank you for protecting your communities!

Golden Princess cruise berthed in Akaroa has one confirmed and two potential cases. The ship is quarantined now.

Norway 

1077 cases, 166 of which are new

I still don’t speak Norwegian so if I screwed up lemme know

Only 1 confirmed death, possibly one more to be confirmed 3/16 but only official numbers go here

Also possible that it’s been confirmed and I don’t know because I don’t speak Norwegian

287 cases are due to community transmission, 710 acquired outside of Norway, the rest are undetermined

Locations where people became infected include Austria (491), Italy (144), Switzerland (14), UK (12), Spain (9), France (8), USA (7), Iran (5), China (1), Hong Kong (1), other countries with more than 3 cases (80), and other countries with less than 3 cases (20).

Breakdown of cases by area: Agder (55, +3), Innlandet (72, +16), Møre og Romsdal (20, +4), Nordland (8, +0), Oslo (281, +59), Rogaland (127, +9), Troms og Finnmark (20, +4), Trøndelag (50, +4), Vestfold og Telemark (48, +9), Vestland (118, +9), and Viken (278, +47)

Good job Nordland! No new cases today! :D

United Kingdom in general: this is pretty rough because apparently the public health strategy coming from Boris is “herd immunity” aka let everyone get sick and then they’ll all be immune, since the only other way to get herd immunity is a vaccine that…..we don’t have yet. Boris does not understand how to medicine. 

Fuck you, Boris.

1372 total cases (+20%), 232 are new today

35 total deaths, 14 new today

England

1099 total cases

Affected NHS regions are as follows: London (407), South East (175), Midlands (94), North East and Yorkshire (91), North West (76), East of England (71), and South West (61).

Deaths are not being reported by the PHS but I will do my best to split these out in the next few editions using news reports etc

Scotland

153 cases total and 1 death

Affected health boards are as follows: Ayrshire and Arran (6), Borders (7), Fife (7), Forth Valley (10), Grampian (12), Greater Glasgow and Clyde (39), Highland (2), Lanarkshire (16), Lothian (28), Shetland (11), and Tayside (15).

I don’t know if this is all of the health  boards in Scotland but it sure is the ones that have confirmed covid19.

Wales

94 cases, 34 new

Welsh authorities are now recommending that anyone who develops a persistent cough and/or fever self-isolate, and only call 111 if they are unable to cope with their symptoms at home

Affected areas include: Blaenau Gwent County (3, +2), Bridgend County (1, +0), Caerphilly County (11, +4), Carmarthenshire County (7, +3), City & County of Swansea (18, +4), City of Cardiff (8, +3), Conwy County (1, +0), Flintshire County (1, +0), Isle of Anglesey (1, +0), Monmouthshire County (5, +1), Neath Port Talbot (11, +0), Newport City (5, +3), Pembrokeshire (2, +0), Powys County (5, +0), and Wrexham County (1, +0).

Newly affected areas include: Ceredigion County (1), Rhondda Cynon Taf County (2), Torfaen County (2), and Vale of Glamorgan (1).

Northern Ireland

45 cases, 11 new

This is all the data I have, sorry

This may actually be a thing that makes northern/southern Ireland cooperate, which is a small spark of hope in the raging dumpster fire that is this pandemic (I hyperbolize, but only slightly)

US in general: All this info is from the state & county health departments unless I say otherwise. The national response is a trash fire (but maybe hopefully improving this week??) CDC information is updated weekdays; total US cases are from 3/13 at 4 PM

1629 total cases, 41 deaths (2.5% mortality rate), with 46 states and DC reporting cases.

CDC is now recommending all in person gatherings with more than 50 people be canceled for the next 8 weeks. This sucks for me personally and probably a lot of you all too. Hang in there.

California: updated around 10 AM PST, 3/15/20

The state dept of health is not providing a ton of info right now, so all of this is coming from county health departments, which are doing really excellent work btw. Love local public health departments <3

My official take is that the higher level government orgs in the US are muzzled from above and therefore totally shitting the bed and the county-level public health officials are really stepping up to the plate

Total cases not including the ones at Miramar (discussed below): 363, with 4 total deaths

Affected counties include: Alameda (7), Calaveras (2), Contra Costa (29), Fresno (2), Humboldt (1 - recovered), Imperial (2), Los Angeles (53, +11), Madera (1), Marin (5), Orange (14), Placer (8), Riverside (10), Sacramento (29) San Benito (3 - 2 recovered), San Diego (8), San Francisco (28), San Joaquin (8), San Luis Obispo (1), San Mateo (32), Santa Clara (91), Santa Cruz (7), Shasta (1), Solano (6), Sonoma (4), Stanislaus (2), Tulare (2), Ventura (5), Yolo (2)

San Diego: My numbers are not gonna include the federal quarantine situations at Miramar (for repatriated people and the Diamond Princess passengers) because that’s what makes sense right now regarding community transmission. If this changes I will say so.

Unaffected counties include: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yuba

Counties with confirmed community transmission include: Los Angeles, Marin, Orange, Riverside, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Sonoma

Newly affected counties include San Luis Obispo (3/14)

Colorado - last updated 3/14 at 3 PM

Colorado Springs Bridge Center is under an advisory for possible exposure

Drive-up testing is available now, in Denver and Lowry and possibly other places

1 death, 3/13/20, in El Paso County, a female in her 80s

Community spread has been confirmed

101 confirmed cases, 1 death

Affected counties include: Adams (6), Arapahoe (10), Denver (20), Douglas (4), Eagle (18), El Paso (3), Gunnison (6), Jefferson (9), Larimer (1), Mesa (1), Pitkin (2), Pueblo (1), Summit (2), Weld (3)

Out of state visitors who have tested positive are tallied separately. They are located in the following counties: Pitkin (9), Eagle (2), Routt (1), Denver (1), unknown (2 - wtf??)

Florida - last updated 145 AM EST 3/15/20

115 (+45) cases and 4 deaths (+0)

Florida has not yet confirmed community transmission but it’s almost certainly happening. I’m no longer separating counties with and without confirmed community transmission because of that.

Also, the numbers by county do not add up to the same total because locations are updated less frequently by FLDPH than the total number of cases.

Affected counties  include: Alachua (1, +0), Broward (36, +16), Charlotte (1, +0), Clay (3, +2), Collier (5, +2), Duval (4, +3), Hillsborough (4, +2), Lee (5, +1), Manatee (4, +0), Miami-Dade (13, +5), Nassau (1, +0) Okaloosa (1, +0), Orange (2, +1), Osceola (1), Palm Beach (5, +0), Pasco (2, +1) Pinellas (2, +0), Santa Rosa (1, +0), Sarasota (1, +0) Seminole (1, +0), Volusia (5, +1)

Newly affected counties include: Citrus (1), St. John’s (1)

Port Everglades is under an advisory due to several cases connected to a cruise company based there.

Georgia: last updated 3/15 at 11:43 AM

Y’ALL THEY MADE A HASHTAG. I am NOT making this up. It’s #covid19ga if you want to use that, I guess???

99 cases, 1 death

Affected counties include: Bartow (9), Charlton (1), Cherokee (6), Clayton (2), Clarke (2), Cobb (19), Coweta (2), Dekalb (10), Dougherty (6), Fayette (5), Floyd (4), Fulton (20), Gordon (2), Gwinnett (4), Henry (1), Lowndes (2), Lee (2), Newton (1), and Polk (1).

Illinois: last updated 3/14/20

64 confirmed cases, 16 new, with confirmed community spread

New cases: Chicago (7), Cook not Chicago (4), Kane (1), Lake (1)

195 pending persons under investigation

Affected counties include Cook, Kane, McHenry

Newly affected counties include: Woodford (1), Cumberland (1), St. Clair (2), DuPage (1, first long-term care facility case)

Iowa: last updated 3/14/20

Total cases: 18, 1 new 3/14

Affected counties include: Carroll (1), Dallas (1), Harrison (1), Johnson (14), and Pottawattamie (1)

Community spread confirmed on 3/14/2020

Kansas: last updated 3/14/20

8 confirmed cases

Affected counties include: Johnson (5), Wyandotte (1), Butler (1), Franklin (1)

Kentucky: last updated 3/14 at 6 pm local time

18 confirmed cases

2 new cases, both in Fayette County

One patient in Nelson County tested positive but left the hospital and refused to quarantine himself. Don’t be like this guy. Please. I’m expecting a lot more cases to pop up in Nelson county over the next couple weeks all connected to this one patient.

Apparently there’s now a bunch of cops sitting outside his house to make sure he stays there. Ffs.

Affected counties include: Harrison (6), Fayette (7), Jefferson (3 or 4, possible repeat test), Bourbon (1), Nelson (1), and Montgomery (1)

Governor is recommending hospitals stop elective procedures and childcare centers plan for closure by 3/17/20. Also put in place a bunch of important protections for people who don’t have insurance and stuff. Good job, KY!

First patient has fully recovered! Yay!

Louisiana: last updated 9:30 am 3/15/20

91 cases reported, 14 new

2 deaths, 1 new

Parishes affected:  Jefferson (12, +1), Lafourche (1, +0), Orleans (65, +12), St. Charles (2, +0), St. John the Baptist (1, +0), St. Tammany (4, +2), and Terrebonne (2, +1)

New parishes affected: Bossier (1), Caddo (1), St. Bernard (1)

Massachusetts: last updated 4 pm 3/14/20

138 cases (19 lab confirmed, 119 presumptive positives)

1 new lab confirmed case, 14 new presumptive positives

1083 people in quarantine

Affected counties include: Berkshire (9, 0% change), Essex (5, +150%), Middlesex (65, +8%), Norfolk (28, +16%), Suffolk (27, +3%), and Worcester (2, 0% change)

Newly affected counties include: Barnstable (1) and Bristol (1)

5 cases travel related, 104 (+10%) in one community transmission cluster, others unknown

11 hospitalized, 105 not hospitalized, the rest pending (22)

1 new hospitalization

Michigan: last updated 3/14/20 in the evening

33 cases, 8 new, 0 deaths

Affected counties include: Bay (1), Charlevoix (1), Ingham (1), Kent (3), Macomb (2), Monroe (1), Montcalm (1), Oakland (9), St. Clair (1), Wayne (8), and Washtenaw (4)

Likely community transmission

Minnesota: last updated 3/15

35 cases, community transmission confirmed

Affected counties include: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmstead, Ramsey, Renville, Stearns, Waseca, Washington, and Wright

County numbers are not currently being provided by MN dept of health, just ranges. Hennepin and Ramsey counties have 6-20 cases each.

Hopefully they’ll pull an Ohio and help a girl out soon

Drive through testing available in Olivia

Nebraska: last updated 3/15

Community transmission confirmed: many locations in Douglas County are potential places where transmission has occurred; if you live or have traveled to Douglas County (Omaha), please check the Douglas County COVID-19 monitoring site.

There were also two exposures in Knox County on March 5, at basketball games at Lincoln Southwest HS and North Star HS.

17 cases, no deaths

Affected counties include: Cass (1), Douglas (15) and Knox (1)

New Jersey : last updated 3/14 at 2 pm

69 cases (+38%), 1 death (none new)

Affected counties include: Bergen (25, +47%), Burlington (3, no change), Camden (2, +1), Essex (7, +1), Hudson (5, +2), Middlesex (10, +6), Monmouth (8, +1), Morris (3, no change), Ocean (1, no change), Passaic (2, -1 apparently?), Somerset (1, no change), and Union (1, no change)

Newly affected counties include: Mercer (1)

I dread updating NJ just because the website sucks so bad

Thank you to the commenter who noted that the help line apparently rules and they’ve been advertising it heavily, that’s awesome public health work by NJ!

So that’s a bright spot, eh?

New York: last updated 3/14 at 8 PM

613 cases, 192 new, 1 new death

Affected counties include: Westchester (178, +12%), Nassau (79, +54%), Suffolk (41, +13), Rockland (12, +3), Ulster (5, +0), Dutchess (4, +1), Orange (6, +3), Saratoga (3), Albany (5, +3), Broom (1, +0), Delaware (1, +0), Herkimer (1, +0), Monroe (2, +1), and Schenectady (1, +0).

NYC has 269 cases (+75%) as of 3/15 at noon

Newly affected counties include: Erie (3), Tioga (1), and Tompkins (1)

Drive through testing in New Rochelle and Long Island

All public places are closed in New Rochelle through March 25.

Ohio: last updated 3/15 at 2 pm

36 confirmed cases, 10 new

350 people under investigation

Affected counties include: Belmont (2), Butler (6), Cuyahoga (14), Franklin (3), Lorain (2), Lucas (1), Medina (1), Stark (2), Summit (2), Trumbull (2), Tuscarawas (1)

THEY STARTED GIVING COUNTY BY COUNTY INFO, PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Oregon: last updated 3/14 at 11:00 AM

36 cases, 13 hospitalized at time of positive test, 1 death (3/14)

The following counties are affected: Clackamas (1), Deschutes (3), Douglas (1), Jackson (2), Klamath (1), Linn (9), Marion (2), Multnomah (1), Polk (1), Umatilla (2), and Washington (13).

Pennsylvania: last updated 3/15 at noon

Gritty is now loose and is singlehandedly responsible for all cases in Philadelphia, if you see the orange monster, RUN

63 total cases, 16 new today

No deaths, Gritty is thankfully failing in his mission to murder

Counties affected include: Allegheny (3, +1) Bucks (4, +1), Chester (2, +0), Cumberland (5, +2), Delaware (7, +1), Monroe (6, +3), Montgomery (24, +4), Northampton (1, +0), Philadelphia (6, +2), Pike (1, +0), Washington (1, +0), Wayne (1, +0)

Newly affected counties include: Lehigh (1) and Luzerne (1)

446 people under investigation pending test results

Rhode Island: last updated 3/13/20

~500 people in quarantine for close contact situations

57 pending people under investigation

20 confirmed cases, no deaths

Next expected update 3/16 in the AM

South Dakota: last updated 3/15

9 confirmed cases, no new cases since 3/14

6 pending cases under investigation

Affected counties include: Beadle (1), Bon Homme (1), Charles Mix (1), Davison (1), McCook (1), Minnehaha (3), and Pennington (1)

No community transmission

Texas: last updated 3/15

56 total cases, 5 new.

Highly likely that there has been community transmission, unconfirmed currently

Affected counties include: Bell (1, +0), Bexar (3, +2), Brazoria (2, +0), Collin (6, +1), Dallas (8, +0), El Paso (1, +0), Fort Bend (9, +0), Galveston (1, +0), Gregg (1, +0), Harris (10, +0), Hays (1, +0), Lavaca (1, +0), Montgomery (3, +0), Smith (4, +1), Tarrant (3, +0), and Travis (1, +0)

Newly affected counties include: Matagorda (1)

The Texas DPH has corrected a tabulation error that affected Gregg and Travis counties.

Utah: last updated 3/15

21 total cases, 14 cases in Utah residents

Affected health districts include: Davis County (3), Salt Lake county (14), Southwest Utah (1), Summit County (2), and Weber-Morgan (1)

The Utah Jazz managed to get more testing than the rest of the country for awhile there, so that’s great for them

Whoever does your graphic design, *greatjob* (the little virus instead of the UDPH logo is CHOICE)

Also, the website is super useful and readable, 10/10 good job Utah

First case of community spread identified on 3/14/20, in Summit County

Schools and universities are closed starting 3/16/20, Mormonism is closed until further notice, and skiing is canceled in Park City and Cottonwood Canyon for a minimum of a week. If you are interested in skiing in Utah, check Ski Utah for a list of closures.

Virginia: last updated 3/15

45 cases total, 4 new

Affected counties/cities include: Arlington (8, +1), Chesterfield (1, +0), Fairfax (10, +0) James City (8, +1), Loudoun (5, +0), Virginia Beach City (4, +1), Prince William (3, +1), Spotsylvania (1, +0), Prince Edward (1, +0), Hanover (1, +0), Harrisonburg City (1, +0), and Alexandria City (1, +0)

No newly affected areas today.

Washington: last updated 3/14 at 2:45 PM

Godspeed, y’all are having a real rough time right now. Yipes. Washington is really hard hit right now, especially King County. Look to Washington State and how they’re coping for a preview of how things are gonna go as the cases develop elsewhere.

642 total cases, 40 deaths (6.2% mortality)

Affected counties include: Clark (3), Columbia (1), Grant (2), Grays Harbor (1), Island (6), Jefferson (1), King (387), Kitsap (3), Kittitas (3), Pierce (26), Skagit (4), Snohomish (154), Spokane (3), Thurston (3), Whatcom (2), and Yakima (4).

39 cases are currently unassigned to a county. These are expected to resolve in the coming days, hopefully.

Deaths have occurred in the following counties: Grant (1), King (35), Snohomish (4),

Wisconsin: last updated 3/15 at 2 PM

33 total cases (6 new), 1 recovered, 0 deaths

Affected counties include: Dane (6, +0), Fond du Lac (11, +5), Milwaukee (7, +1), Pierce (1, +0), Racine (1, +0), Sheboygan (3, +0), Waukesha (3, +0), and Winnebago (1, +0)

Today’s Hot Tips

Make sure you have ibuprofen and tylenol/acetaminophen/APAP/paracetamol at home before you get sick. This isn’t just covid advice, this is life advice in general. (Obvs, ask your doctor about what’s safe to take if you have chronic health conditions etc but this is a general recommendation, not medical advice. As I said, life advice.)

As far as I know, ibuprofen and tylenol are ok, but research may change this. Current research indicates that steroids, which are used in other severe respiratory conditions, may make COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) worse. More on this later.

It still can’t hurt to have some tylenol around, though, ya know?

Hand Washing Song of the Day

If you hate singing happy birthday while you wash your hands, I certainly do, try Good as Hell by Lizzo instead!

Sing from “I do my hair toss” to “If he don’t love you anymore” at minimum (if you’re like me and can’t leave a lyric unfinished, go ahead and dry your hands while making your brain happy.) to follow CDC handwashing guidelines! Use soap and water for maximum virus-murdering.

Chill Cat  Otter Corner

https://gfycat.com/pastjovialalligatorgar-otter

Please watch these otters sproing and chase!

About this newsletter

I’m Emily, I’m a 4th year med student w/ a degree in molecular biology. I wrote this because I’m an infectious disease and epidemiology nerd and also all my friends have questions & anxiety. Hi internet!

All this info is sourced from regional & national public health organizations, plus the WHO. It’s as up to date as humanly possible. I’ve been beaming information about this outbreak directly into my brain 24/7 but I still miss stuff. Please let me know if I miss something!

Most public health departments stop updating their information around 4-5 PM local time on weekdays. That means that the earliest this will come out is around 6 PM Pacific time on weekdays going forward. On weekends things update more sporadically and earlier, so who knows what I’ll do then, but I’ll do my best.

Thank you to @marywhal for the excellent title!

For More Information

JHU COVID-19 data center: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

List of peer-reviewed publications: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/publications.html

WHO daily sitrep: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200315-sitrep-55-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=33daa5cb_6

WHO FAQ: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

CDC cases in the US (take w/ a grain of salt due to Political Garbage, as detailed above): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html, this also has links to each state’s health dept which may or may not be more up to date than the CDC