#references to drug use

[macgyvermedical]

Reference Guide to Writing Drug Withdrawal

So your character has a substance use disorder (or physical dependence to a substance for another reason). This post will tell you how to write a scene (or story) in which they go through withdrawal.

NOTE: THIS POST DOES NOT INTEND TO COVER ANYTHING EXCEPT WITHDRAWAL, WHICH IS A VERY SMALL PART OF SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER AND PHYSICAL DEPENDENCE.

Substance Use Disorders and Physical Dependence:

Substance use disorders are chronic illnesses in which a person continues to use a substance (commonly nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, opioids like heroin or fentanyl, benzodiazepines, etc...) even when acquiring or using the substance can be dangerous or cause significant problems in their life (such as problems with money, safety, law enforcement, job security, child services involvement, or physical problems like wounds, infections, side effects, hangovers, and withdrawal). Substance use disorders are a common cause of physical dependence.

Physical dependence is also it's own problem and can occur for other reasons too. For example, many people take prescription medications that they would go through withdrawal from if stopped abruptly (say, because the pharmacy couldn't fill it in time and they ran out). Assuming that the medication is being taken as prescribed, physical dependence in itself does not mean someone has a substance use disorder.

So what is withdrawal? Withdrawal (sometimes called "detox") is the process by which a body stops being physically dependent on a substance. Generally speaking, it is unpleasant. This is because when a body is exposed to a substance repeatedly, it changes how it functions to accommodate that substance. When the substance is removed, there is a period of time where the body has to re-adjust to not having the substance.

For example, alcohol is very similar to the neurotransmitter (brain chemical) GABA. If you drink a lot of alcohol (more than about 4 drinks per day) for longer than about a month, the body decreases the amount of GABA it makes naturally to accommodate the "fake" GABA from the alcohol. If the alcohol is suddenly removed, the body doesn't have enough GABA, and the effects of not having enough GABA result in withdrawal symptoms.

The difference being, someone taking a medication they no longer want to take can slowly reduce the dose to minimize withdrawal symptoms. Someone with a substance use disorder usually finds cutting back nearly impossible. Because of this, managing physical dependence in someone with substance use disorder generally means giving them a similar substance which they get from a pharmacy and take continuously (methadone, buprenorphine), or a similar substance they can then taper off of in a controlled way (benzodiazepines, gabapentin).

Specific Withdrawal Syndromes:

Alcohol/Benzodiazepines:

These are the only two substances that result in a potentially life-threatening withdrawal syndrome, and it's essentially the same syndrome. As stated above, when taken for either 2 weeks for benzodiazepines or 4 weeks for alcohol, the body decreases the amount of GABA it produces naturally. GABA is the "brake pedal" in the brain, slowing things down and decreasing the amount of activity. If you don't have enough GABA, you get too much activity, which can result in severe anxiety, insomnia, seizures, hallucinations, high blood pressure, temperature, and pulse rate, heart arrhythmias, and confusion.

6-12 hours after a person's last drink, they will experience insomnia, anxiety, tremors, and headache.

12-24 hours after a person's last drink, if untreated with benzodiazepines or gabapentin, they may start to experience hallucinations (they typically know they are hallucinating at this point).

24-48 hours after a person's last drink, if untreated, they may start to experience seizures.

48-72 hours after a person's last drink, if untreated, they may start to experience a severe symptom known as delerium tremens. This is a state where they are hallucinating severely and they don't know they are hallucinating anymore. This is also a state where the person has heart rhythm problems that could result in death. This is the most dangerous period during withdrawal.

If a person makes it through 72 hours, they are usually in the clear as far as life threatening symptoms go, though they may experience mild symptoms like headaches and insomnia for long periods afterwards.

Note that medication for alcohol or benzodiazepine withdrawal like other benzodiazepines, phenobarbital, and gabapentin are given only for the first 5 days of withdrawal, tapering to lower doses each day. This gets the person through the dangerous part hopefully with no life threatening symptoms. It does not mean all symptoms are controlled, but they are hopefully kept on the milder end while the brain learns to make it's own GABA again.

Opioids:

Opioids include a range of drugs including prescription medications like oxycodone, hydromorphone, and morphine, as well as street drugs like heroin. Today, the street drug supply in many places is heavily adulterated. Many samples of heroin (and even "pressed pills" made to look like prescription opioids) contain the much stronger opioid fentanyl (which increases risk of overdose) and the sedative xylazine (which causes wounds) in addition to the expected heroin or oxycodone.

Opioids work by pretending to be endorphins- another neurotransmitter usually used by the body to reduce pain and stress. Similarly to GABA in alcohol use, the body reacts to having sustained high amounts of fake endorphins by decreasing the amount of endorphins it makes itself. This means, when the opioids are no longer present, the body can't make itself feel good or recover from pain.

There are many parts of the body that endorphins work in, including the brain, gut, nerves, and spine. When they are removed, symptoms include:

Nausea and vomiting.

Diarrhea.

Insomnia.

Anxiety.

Increased body temperature.

Racing heart.

Muscle and bone pain.

Sweating.

Chills.

High blood pressure.

There is not really a universal timeline for these symptoms like there is with alcohol. For someone who primarily uses short-acting opioids, withdrawal begins 8-24 hours after the last use (though anxiety and cravings can start much sooner). For people who primarily use long-acting opioids, withdrawal can take up to 36 hours to begin following the last use. Generally, symptoms peak within 1-3 days after they start, and acute symptoms last 10-14 days.

Unfortunately, someone who has an opioid use disorder will frequently experience cravings for very long periods of time (potentially the rest of their life) after they stop use. For this reason, people do significantly better at reducing or stopping use over the long haul if they are taking an opioid replacement drug like methadone or buprenorphine.

Methadone and buprenorphine are prescription medications that a person goes somewhere each day to get (methadone) or picks up each day from the pharmacy (buprenorphine). The drugs essentially make it so the person won't go into withdrawal and will have significantly fewer cravings for as long as they take the drug.

The management of opioid withdrawal is usually done by switching the person from a street drug to one of these opioid replacement drugs. However, it is important to note that methadone doesn't work immediately (usually it takes about 2-5 days of titrating it up to get it to a high enough dose to work, longer if the person has a very high tolerance). Buprenorphine requires a certain amount of time in withdrawal (usually a day or two) before it can be given, or it can make withdrawal worse instead of better (something called precipitated withdrawal).

Once someone is on one of these medications, they can choose to stay on them (recommended) or taper off (nice to be off meds in theory, but high rates of return-to-use).

Cocaine/Amphetamines:

Instead of pretending to be a neurotransmitter, stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines prevent the body from re-absorbing the neurotransmitter dopamine, leading to a whole bunch of it hanging out in the brain. This increases concentration and energy and boosts mood. However, taken over long periods of time, the brain kind of burns out and fails to respond to the high levels of dopamine.

You may have heard that amphetamines and cocaine don't have withdrawal states. That would be a myth. People who use stimulants repeatedly for long periods frequently have a withdrawal that is essentially the opposite of the effects of stimulants- they feel very tired, have trouble focusing, and feel depressed because their brains can't use dopamine the same way they did before the drug use. This may last for weeks after cessation of stimulants.

Unfortunately, unlike with alcohol and opioids, there's not a ton that can be done for this withdrawal. There have been several studies, including testing medications like the antidepressant mertazapine, the migraine medicine topiramate, as well as naltrexone and buproprion (also an antidepressant).

In Conclusion:

There is so much more to drug use, substance use disorder, and physical dependence than I am covering in this post. I am just covering a small part of physical dependence, however the cause, by discussing the effects and common treatments for withdrawal.

Thank you all for reading this far! I hope you learned something and will use it in your writing!

[intothedysphoria]

Embarrassingly, the first time Steve had met Billy, he’d thought he was doing drugs.

It fit the mental profile. Billy was short but with massive hair, massive, heavy boots and patches on his jacket. The only other person Steve had met who looked like that was Munson. Munson was a dealer.

He was later informed that Billy was just trans and “oh my god dingus in what world does injecting testosterone look like injecting heroin?”

The second time Steve met Billy, he realised Billy was absolutely magnetic.

Not in the rom com way or anything, but there was just something about him. Everyone loved Billy. He was funny, acidly sharp and had the natural good looks of the guys who were never interested in Steve on Grindr.

He was also a self professed slut. What this seemed to mean in practice was picking up half a bar whenever they went clubbing or roaring with laughter as he rejected them.

Some guys were weird about it. They had these creepy ass fetishes about trans guys but Billy would always either tell them to fuck off or knee them in the balls.

He’d visit the diner Steve worked at most days and they’d make small talk. Billy liked his pin, the one Steve had with a small dinosaur on. It was fun. A touch of individuality.

Once Billy pinched his cheek (??) and called him cute before slowly walking away. Steve then locked himself in the staff toilets and willed his boner to leave.

The google search “what do trans guys like” was either full of cis men being douchebags or just straight up porn. Neither of these were particularly helpful to Steve.

He fell asleep watching Noahfinnace YouTube videos and trying to find a way to ask Billy out that didn’t make him feel like he was being weird.

Billy apparently did not give a shit about any of Steve’s worrying because he dropped his bag on top of the counter at the end of Steve’s shift and declared

“Harrington pack up your stuff. We’re going out.”

He drove his car at the speed Steve imagined could have Back-To-The -Futured them to the 80s and made a stop outside a tiny Polish place. “You’re Polish right?” Steve’s dad was from Warsaw and his mom was from Algiers. So yeah, you could say Steve was Polish.

It was slightly squashed in but authentic. Billy was also very clearly nervous. His face was extremely flushed and he kept putting his hand out then retracting it. Like he thought Steve would reject him.

Like Steve would ever reject him. Could ever reject him.

Billy decided to drive Steve back to his house. It felt like one of those dates from the 1950s, if you disregarded Billy grumbling about “fucking itchy nipples”. He smacked a wet kiss onto Steve’s lips, scribbled his phone number onto Steve’s arm and started walking back to the car.

“Next time Harrington, I’ll bring the strap on!”

Then his voice faded into the dark.

Next time. There would be a next time.

For any trans harringrovers, I hope you enjoy it

@shieldofiron @dragonflylady77 @oopsiedaisiesbaby @thatgirlwithasquid @robthegoodfellow

[ricksanchezbignaturals]

fuck these flat chested twink bitches man (jk ily im just jealous)

stan: shouldn't you take off your titty-majig before you smoke?

rick: i d-didn't even put it on

stan: yeesh, for real? lucky bastard

[cruucigerglobus]

gibson girl

[the-bi-space-ace]

I’m gonna be honest with y’all. I try my best but I do not understand half of Star Wars. I’m Din Djarin in this fandom. I don’t understand the storyline, I have no idea what anyone is talking about, I don’t want to be in charge, I got a cool outfit and I have a car let’s ride.

[asurrogateblog]

The Syd Poll

the topic of this poll is one that is frequently avoided in the pink floyd fandom, but inevitably one we all consider – our individual views on what we think caused syd's psychological struggles (and by extension, led to his departure from the band). I think that – at least in this neighborhood of tumblr – this is a conversation we are capable of having in a way that is civil, nuanced, and at least minimally disrespectful to syd.

So, to help facilitate this, here are some ground rules:

let's all assume we have a mutual understanding of the complexities of this. syd could never actually be reduced down to a poll, and all of our viewpoints are limited in various ways

the poll options just serve as just a conversation starter, and responses are not necessarily a statement of absolute beliefs

feel free to discuss as much or as little of your own perspective as you feel comfortable sharing.

in the case that debates break out, please try to assume good intent – and also demonstrate it (unless, for instance, someone is being blatantly insulting beyond a misunderstanding that needs correcting)

please do NOT vote if you are not actually a pink floyd fan with at least basic knowledge about what we're talking about here.

The options I've included below are not meant to be exhaustive, they are simply the "theories" that I have seen most commonly circulated. I have also decided not to include combinations. I'm fairly sure we'd all agree multiple factors were involved. Rather than make the poll too complicated, I ask you to instead select the one that you think is the "most" important to your viewpoint, and clarify further in your tags/comments as you wish.

so. here we go.

READ BEFORE VOTING ^^^^

(note of correction: "late-onset schizophrenia" should just be "schizophrenia". the typical timeline for onset of symptoms is late adolescence/early adulthood, so syd would've been well within that period at the time)

[codgod]

finally got around to drawing them as the mystery gang but also i didn’t even try to keep the outfits the same as the characters they’re supposed to be. pretzel has become puppy

[hey-i-am-trying]

OpperBagi

reference

[ashintheairlikesnow]

now i’m craving streetkid chris waaaaa

if you have some time and energy, could you be persuaded to perhaps write some streetkid chris with jake and the safehouse? i’ve never stopped needing comfort for him

CW: Heavily internalized ableism, referenced past dubcon and noncon, some internal dehumanization, referenced drug use

(Street kid Chris au pieces here and here)

-

He sobers up, more or less, on the bus ride out of the center of the city, his forehead resting against the cool glass window. It's all a blur that moves through and around him, steel and concrete shifting to grass and trees and little houses placed next to each other like a child's toys.

Baldur hides a smile, imagining a giant toddler hand lining the houses up one by one by one by one, picking doll families to live in the little doll houses. Giant baby god giving this family a dog and this family a goldfish and that one a pretty boy like Baldur to do everything they say-

A laugh catches in his throat, dies there with the chill of sudden grief. What is his Sir doing? Is he at home with some new pet, playing games? Was Baldur replaced that quickly?

Of course he was. He was never special, never really very good even. Pretty, until he got too old. Stupid statue-boy trying and trying to hold still and never winning any of Sir's games. Sir would've ordered someone else right away.

He's probably forgotten about Baldur by now.

His throat tightens even more, heat stinging his eyes, but Baldur fights it back. The only thing worse than his wrong words and his wrong hands is when he cries, of course. Sir always says-

But Sir doesn't want him any longer, isn't there to tell him never to cry and then play games and hurt him until he does it anyway.

"Hey." Kauri, sitting next to him, must catch something in the shift of movement in his throat when he swallows or the stare of his glassy green eyes. "What's up, buttercup? You need some water? I know coming down always makes me so thirsty I could scream."

Baldur shakes his head, curling up as best he can, pulling his knees to his chin with his heels pressed against the edge of the seat, pushing the dirty soles of his shoes against the cushioned fabric. "No thank you," He whispers. "I... I'm fine."

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard that before - or I guess I should say that I've said that before. And you know what, Chris? Never once was I actually fine. So. Here." Kauri holds a bottle of water out, shaking it a little as if trying to lure a stray cat with a can of tuna. "Come on, have a drink. It'll help hold off the headache, I swear."

Baldur's fingers are shaking when he takes the bottle, and it takes three tries to get the cap open, but the water is cool and clean on his tongue and down his throat, and before he realizes it the bottle is half empty, his chest feels cold on the inside as the water trickles through him, and he's gasping for breath.

Kauri's smile is soft, gentle, only a little sad. "There we go. Keep working on it, okay? Hydration is the best defense against hangovers, not that I ever take my own advice. But it is still excellent advice."

By the bus reaches a stop that Kauri declares is theirs, he's had all the water and it's an empty bottle he stashes in his backpack. He can refill it at the first sink he sees, have something he doesn't have to beg for or fuck for to drink later on.

Baldur steps off the bus and into a neighborhood right out of TV.

Houses line the street on either side, and Baldur stares at old trees that rise over his head, dappling the ground with shade that blocks some of the heat of the sun. The air smells like grass, and there's a drone from somewhere nearby that he realizes must be a lawn mower, a sound he's only heard from Sir's windows while watching the landscapers work far, far below.

There's a fence around the yard next to them - a white fence, even, with chips of peeling paint. Baldur moves to it, reaching out and letting his fingertips brush the rough wood, one nail scratching at a bit of paint coming free. He doesn't hear himself humming, low and tuneless, repeating over and over, until Kauri pops back into view in the corner of his eye.

"You never seen a fence before?" Kauri teases, but then Baldur flinches back and away and watches Kauri's smile falter, briefly, before it determinedly returns. "Sorry. I scared you, huh?"

"I'm fine," Baldur says too fast, realizing too late that he isn't answering the question Kauri asked - either of them. The blush heats his cheeks and he turns away, jamming his hands in his pockets as hard as he can, hunching his shoulders. "Fine. I'm... I'm fine."

The word sounds good in his mouth. Soothes his mind. He opens his mouth to say it again, fine fine fine - but Baldur catches himself this time. He can't repeat words he hears, that's wrong. Can't stammer, that's wrong. Can't move, or sway, or use his hands - wrong.

All wrong.

"Right. Well, come on. The house is this way." Kauri walks a little ways away, then looks back over his shoulder. Baldur hurries to catch up, keeping himself hunched. The weight of his backpack is familiar and comforting, all his things in there. The usual headache when the pills wear off teases around the edge of his mind, but it doesn't take hold. Maybe Kauri was right about the water.

Kauri talks, chatting brightly. His hands move constantly, in gestures and emphasis, and Baldur keeps staring at it. Sir would have slapped his hands if he moved them so much, but Kauri doesn't even notice he does it.

The house has people there like them, Kauri explains, although not like them like them, just - other pets. Domestics, mostly. The woman who runs the house, like the shelters Baldur has stayed at but they won't make him pray.

"Trust me," Kauri reassures, "I wouldn't stay there if they did. I've traded a bed and some food for having to go to their church and let them tell me what a bad boy I am enough for one lifetime, thank you. Sinners have more fun, anyway." He winks, and Baldur blinks back at him. "The last time I stayed at one, the pastor hit on me. The very, very married pastor. Which goes to show you - when you are as good in bed as I am, even God doesn't measure up."

Baldur swallows. He should say something - something witty. Kauri seems to have things to say about everything, all of the time, but Baldur's mind is still slow from the pills, even though he's sobering up. He can't think of anything except to say, "Really?"

"Really." Kauri's smile is bright, flash of sun off the hood of a car blinding but with something about it that seems cracked, too. "Once we get there, I'll make introductions. But I promise, everybody is nice."

"... Nice," Baldur murmurs. Nobody is, not really, in his experience. Everybody takes something in return for every bit of nice they offer. Everybody sees his barcode and knows they can do whatever they want to him, and then they do. And if he's lucky it's only to make him eat food that makes him feel sick, or talk to him about how he's walking a dark path, as if there has ever been a lighter one. Or sometimes they tell him to go lay down on the bed-

"We're here!" Kauri's voice cuts into Baldur's thoughts, and he looks up.

In front of him there's a two-story house with white siding, flat-faced with windows that look down on him like eyes. There's a porch with chairs on it, and sitting in one of them is a tall, thin man with a mess of dark hair and sharp, dark almost-feline eyes. He's fiddling with something in his hands, but when he sees them he shoves whatever it was into his pocket and quickly stands.

Baldur hesitates - but Kauri moves right up the overgrown path, flat stones half-covered by grass and weeds. "Hey, Ant! I brought someone."

"I see this," The man says, in a smooth, accented voice. He sounds like velvet. Baldur looks at him, trying to think. Just a blowjob, probably. Easy. Baldur has traded those for lots of things. He barely has to do anything, once they grab his head. "Kauri-"

"Oh, wipe that worry off your face, Antoni, he's one of us." Kauri waves a hand back at Baldur, then grabs at his arm to pull him forward. "I brought him to meet Nat and Jake. Chris, this is Antoni. Antoni, this is Chris."

Antoni looks at him, then turns and silently heads back into the house.

Baldur swallows, shifting to half-hide himself behind Kauri. "... he doesn't... like me."

"Nah, Antoni's just kind of a mood killer professionally. He's a softie once you get to know him, I promise." Kauri half-drags him up the steps and through the front door, into an entryway that has a pile of coats abandoned on a coat rack, shoes on a mat. The house smells like something cooking, and Baldur's mouth waters, his stomach twisting as it remembers how to feel hungry and not just emptied-out and light. "Jake! Hey, Jake!"

"Jake's out," A woman's voice says. Baldur stares as an older woman pops her head in. She has brown hair with bits of gray in it in a braid that lays over one shoulder, a flannel shirt over a t-shirt and ancient jeans, and a soft smile ringed in laugh lines that crinkles at the corners and near her eyes.

She's beautiful.

"Who's this?" The woman looks from him to Kauri, with curiosity - not trepidation, not worry, and not anger. "You brought someone by?"

"Yeah. This is, uh, this is Chris. He's one of us. Chris, this is Nat. She feeds me sometimes."

"Love that description." Nat's voice is wry with good humor, and she steps forward, holding out her hand. "I have hobbies, too, you know. Hello, Chris. I'm Nat, and this is my house. I help runaways from WRU start over."

He stares at her outstretched hand, then back at her, before hesitantly shaking. His grip is limp compared to hers, but she doesn't say anything about it. "I-... I thought... you were... a man."

"No, that's Jake," Kauri corrects him. "He insists on having a life outside of waiting for my beautiful ass to show back up, so we'll see him later."

"... Okay." Baldur studies the woman - Nat - thoughtfully. Then he offers, "I can... do women, too."

Nat's expression changes - so subtly he can't tell what the change is. But he sees it. Baldur knows how to tell when the mood of a room goes sour, to try to protect himself. "Romantic," She murmurs. "I see. Kauri-"

"Don't say he can't come here," Kauri interrupts, bristling, and Baldur stares at him in open terror as his heart drops to his knees. He's angry at one of them. Baldur didn't know you could do that. "He's got as much a right as anybody else does, and you let me come here, and he could use the help, Nat, so don't you dare-"

"Kauri. Hey." Nat puts her hands up, as if surrendering in a fight. "That's not what I was gonna say. I was going to say, Kauri, how about you set him a place at the table for dinner. Okay?"

Kauri's jaw is set, and it takes him a moment to stop looking ready to keep up the argument that isn't even happening. "I-... yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'll do that. Just-... Nat, you know that a lot of places won't-"

"I know. It's okay, honey. It really is okay. Just go get him set up. And you." Nat smiles at Baldur, and he tries to see the mean she's hiding, but it isn't there. Too buried underneath a kind face, maybe. Baldur can't imagine there just isn't any cruelty there at all. "We take all kinds here, and you're welcome. No one touches you here, and I'd prefer if you kept your hands to yourself at first."

Those words don't mean anything. The shelters say that a lot, too, but Baldur still wakes up to a hand over his mouth and a voice whispering to him to be quiet sometimes when he sleeps in one. He'll find out the real cost of staying here at some point.

But he'll find out with food in his stomach, and that's worth something.

"Yes, ma'am," He murmurs, looking up and around at the high ceiling in the entryway, carpet-covered stairs that curve up and disappear around an angle. Bookshelves, and off to one side the corner of a living room with a TV playing.

"Just Nat is fine. Kauri?"

"Got it." Kauri gives a mocking, if still friendly, salute. It makes Baldur smile - but he hides it behind his serious face when he sees Nat look at him. "I'll get him settled in. Maybe we'll stay over tonight? If that seems like a good idea, if not-"

"It sounds great."

Baldur watches her go, heading up the stairs - that creak as she walks, giving away the house's age. Wondering what she'll want him to do later on, to pay for the food, to earn the bed he'll sleep in.

He has more pills in his pocket. He can take some, and drift through whatever staying here costs, let his body and training do all the work. He's done it before, over and over again.

He'll always have to do it again, sooner or later.

When Kauri takes his hand again, he lets himself be led.

He doesn't notice the dark-haired man, Antoni, watching him from a doorway as Baldur digs out two small pills and swallows them dry while following Kauri into the kitchen.

[memelovescaps]

Elementary again pulling me in, because that's what it does best.

Where We Belong.

Sherlock & Joan, or Sherlock/Joan, whatever you want to read it. Rated: M. Words: 2 904. Hurt/Comfort. Discussion of cancer. Discussion of drugs. Guilt. Lies. POV Sherlock Holmes. Protective Sherlock Holmes. Hurt Joan Watson.

Set in the last episode S07E13 “Their Last Bow”. Missing scene after Sherlock decides to stay with Watson, and the time-jump of one year later. The reality of Watson's illness suffocates them, Sherlock's guilt eats at him for having been away when he should've been with her. Emotions run high, and Sherlock wants nothing more than to comfort and reassure Watson.

Her skin was cool from the shower, but his touch was warm and steady. She looked away, her gaze darting around the room. His thumb stroked the back of her hand, slowly, gently, the rhythm matching the slow, deep breaths he forced himself to take to keep his voice steady. His eyes sought hers, but she wouldn’t meet them. Not yet.

“It’s alright, Watson. Arthur is safe with Rose, and I won’t leave come morning. Tonight, we can take it slow. Agreed?” he said, his voice low. There was a softness to his tone that surprised even him, a warmth that felt foreign and yet… right. Like an old habit finally remembered.

Watson nodded, her lower lip quivering. He could feel the tremor in her hand now, the faintest shake as the weight of her emotions began to surface. He saw the tears well in her eyes and stepped forward.

His arms easily found their place around her, holding her close, as though they belonged there. He pulled her in, gentle but secure, grounding her as she trembled in his embrace. 

The scent of her washed hair—a hint of something floral—filled his senses, stirring a deep, familiar ache in his heart.

He was home.

A home he had missed without realising just how much.

For three long years, he had delved into work, needing an outlet to forget the fact that he missed her. It had been hard to accept that, regardless of trying to focus on his health and sobriety, without Watson it felt like he’d forgotten how to breathe.

He threw himself into work, closing case after case. Trying to avoid thinking about her and spiralling out of control.

All the while, he hadn’t been there when she needed him. When she faced life without news from him, not knowing if he was dead or alive. When Arthur came into her world and he welcomed him. Or when her diagnosis came.

He’d fought his own battles, forcing her to face hers alone. Without him.

And he had failed her when it mattered most.

Read on Fanfiction and Wattpad too.

[macgyvermedical]

Drug Onset/Duration Times for Writers

Someone recently asked if I could do an onset times list and while I feel like I've done this before I couldn't find it, so here you go!

Onset time is the amount of time after administration that a drug begins to work. Onset times frequently have more to do with the route the drug is given than the particular drug. Generally an oral medication will start working in 30-60 minutes, a medication injected into the muscle (IM) will start working in 15-30 minutes, and a medication injected into a vein (IV) will start working in 1-5 minutes.

Duration times are how long a medication works once it starts working. Unlike onset times, these vary considerably depending on the medication itself and the route used to administer it.

Pain:

Aspirin (pain, fever)

Oral: Onset 30 minutes, duration 4-6 hours for pain (7-10 days for anticoagulation)

Acetaminophen (pain, fever)

Oral: onset 60 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

IV: onset 5-10 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

Ibuprofen (pain, fever)

Oral: onset 30 minutes, duration 6-8 hours

IV: onset 30 minutes, duration 6-8 hours

Ketorolac (pain)

Oral: onset 30 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

IV: onset 30 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

Morphine (pain)

Oral: onset 30 minutes, duration 3-5 hours

IM: onset 10-30 minutes, duration 4-5 hours

IV: onset 5-10 minutes, duration 4-5 hours

Fentanyl (pain)

IM: onset 7-8 minutes, duration 1-2 hours

IV: onset almost immediate, duration 30-60 minutes

Hydromorphone (pain)

Oral: onset 15-30 minutes, duration 3-4 hours

IV: onset 5 minutes, duration unknown

Sedation:

Lorazepam (agitation, anxiety)

Oral: onset 20-30 minutes, duration 6-8 hours

IV: onset 1-3 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

IM: onset

Diazepam (anti-seizure, anxiety)

Oral: onset 15-60 minutes, duration 12+ hours

IV: onset 1-5 minutes, duration 12+ hours

IM: onset

Rectal: onset 5 minutes, duration 12+ hours

Haloperidol

Oral: onset 30-60 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

IV: onset within seconds, duration 4-6 hours

IM: onset 5-15 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

Diphenhydramine (usually used together with lorazepam and haloperidol for emergency sedation for psych reasons)

Oral: onset 15-30 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

IV: onset 5-10 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

IM: onset 30-60 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

Anti-Nausea:

Ondansetron

Oral: onset 15-30 minutes, duration 6-8 hours

IV: onset rapid, duration 4-8 hours

Promethazine

Oral: onset 20 minutes, duration 4-12 hours

IV: onset 5 minutes, duration 12+ hours

IM: onset 20 minutes, duration 12+ hours

Stimulants:

Methylphenidate:

Oral: onset 20-60 minutes, duration 3-4 hours

Amphetamine/Dexamphetamine:

Oral: onset 20-60 minutes, duration 4-6 hours

Recreational:

Marijuana

Smoked: onset 30 seconds to 10 minutes, duration 3-6 hours

Oral: onset 30-90 minutes, duration 4-12 hours

Ketamine

IV: onset 30 seconds, duration 5-10 minutes

Snorted: onset 10 minutes, duration 60 minutes

Alcohol

Oral: onset 10 minutes, duration about 1 hour per standard drink consumed

(at this point I tried to google others but it started giving me crisis hotlines so I stopped)

[mr-bagel-dude-that-draws]

Puppette learns what edibles are!

Just a fun lil animatic with my TADC OC Puppette, featuring Gangle!

youtube link

[katiekatdragon27]

This is not my first Viva Pinata oc nor will it be my last. But she does compete for one of my favorites.

So basically, Szoot is a shebat who was born a resident, but got entangled with Pester and injected with his weird green sour serum he gave Sherley in that one episode. Since it was injected and not drunken, it never wore off, and it let to a ton of psychological damage that gave her incredibly high anxiety. And when she's super stressed, she turns sour.

To compensate for that, she began doing, uhhhh, unethical medical treatments to herself. She learned that chewing nightberries (but not swallowing them), gives a euphoric feeling of bliss. So she does that super frequently to help with her anxiety.

Is it super unhealthy? Yeah. Does she care? She's too high to think that complexly lol.

Progress doodles below the cut:

There will be more that I will share cuz I love her, but that'll be a later post. Have a good day everyone :))

[rararazaquato]

digital art-ifying my traditional works from this week + "orel's fursona", a 2-parter that takes place ambiguously after honor.

don't look at stephanie's lack of hairline in the last image ok

[notreyev]

peter nureyev loves self-sabotaging by following a plan that has no guarantee of success because he “has to” or “owes it.” you didn’t have to do all that, ever

[nana2009]

why does Dave drug karkat? Is he like…flighty or something??

buoy is he.

karkat is not the most compliant captive, see.... especially since dave doesn't seem to want to actively harm him and acts so passive most of the time, so even with the possibility of things going sour that does not stop him from trying!! unfortunately, dave knows much too well how to handle these situations :/

but since karkat is so persistent and loud, sometimes a buoy has no options u kno? ;T