#the surgery was self administered

[onemillioneggsandcounting]

Just had my moral compass surgically removed!

[dmwrites]

2024 fic list!

It's been a quiet year on the fic front for me, but thank you to anyone who read anything of mine this year! Below is everything that I wrote this year!

Adventures To The Grave: Joe Hills set out with a shovel over his shoulder and a whistling song in his lungs. Walk with him as he meets a few friends along his journey.

Joe Hills Puppet Surgery: Joe Hills wants to be a puppet for Hermitcraft Season 10. ZombieCleo helps.

Grian the Self-Insert Fic Writer: Grian meets with the Watchers during Secret Life to pitch a few secret task ideas.

Those Sneaky Little Snails: Scar notices that something seems a little off about his friends Grian and Gem.

Rematch: xB and Etho spar on Gem's beach. It reminds them of another sparring match from back in the day.

Beetrayal: Mogswamp killed his bee Sweetpea. He feels sad.

My Precious (what happens when Ren gets head): King Ren had a really weird relationship with that decapitated Impulse head, huh?

My Friend, My Enemy, My Everything In-Between: Pearl may not have administered the final blow, but she still helped kill Gem in Secret Life. Gem, upset, talks to Cleo about it in the afterlife, as they watch the final two players fight for the Secret Life crown.

The Prophecy of xB: the Empires s1 Flower Huslands have lunch and exchange stories.

A Grave Chat: Cleo is spirling. The moon is big. Joe Hills digs a second grave.

Grumbot Saving Face: the Grumbot built on the Empires s2 server was trapped in a glass box, broken and alone. He breaks out, but there seems to be nothing left.

Clean Up: the watchers needed someone to clean up the mess that was 3rd life. Mop the sand. Reshape the landscape. Prepare for the next game.

Alliances Aren't All They're Cracked Up To Be: Impulse and Tango run into each other during Wild Life. They talk about their alliances.

Listening In: a re-imagining of Grian taking Martyn's listening power in Wild Life, and Martyn and him having a conversation only the two of them can hear in entirety.

[ruiniel]

What You Choose

Fandom: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Pairing: Rengoku Kyojuro x f!reader

Count: 2K

Rating: T (M later)

Part I

Summary: Rengoku survives the fight with Akaza, but some battles are not so straightforward.

Tags & Warnings: Rengoku lives AU, blood, injury, death, pining, angst, second person POV, demon slayer!reader, tsuguko!reader, Rengoku POV, eventual smut

Author Note: I am not OK and will never be OK about *waves hands* all that, so this is now a multichapter story.

II.

“Once again, you’re a guest in my healing ward.”

Kocho Shinobu speaks softly, as is her manner. She's seated by his bed with the afternoon sun shining gently on her features, highlighting the amethyst in her hair and eyes.

“I seem to be the only one,” Rengoku replies, looking at the empty infirmary. He’s still bedbound and can barely move his limbs. It hurts to breathe more often than not, and there’s a dull ache where his left eye used to be.

Her kind smile never falters as Kocho looks at the liquid in the syringe she’s preparing. Rengoku always admired her decision to honor her late sister this way, by holding on to that smile Kanae loved so much. After all, everyone has a keepsake of their loved ones in their heart, driving them forward. Memories, moments, words that hone one’s spirit and meld with determination, acting as a guiding light in the darkest places. He knows this all too well. 

“At least you won’t be lonely during your convalescence, those three have been coming here every day, even before you’d awoken.” She giggles, seeking a vein in his arm. 

Oh, of course… young Kamado… the boar lad, the yellow-haired boy. All of them gifted, resilient, and unwavering. He’d promised to train them, but…

That was… before. 

Another image appears before his mind’s eye, drenched in fog—you, running towards him. He, ordering you not to interfere. “Kocho. Tell me, please. How long before I can leave this bed? What is lost, what can I regain?” 

She sets the used syringe aside on a tray, then places her hands on her knees. “My, my, impatient already?” 

Rengoku tries a smile of his own, though it hurts the muscles in his face. If not for the strong sedatives and painkillers administered to him since he regained consciousness, he imagines he’d be squirming in pain. “I want to self-assess myself. Besides…I have promises to keep.” 

She understands. He knows she does. The Insect Hashira gazes out the window, and a small sigh leaves her chest. “Your fatal injuries have been healed by the peculiar blood demon art of young Kamado’s sister.”

He nods. Remarkable. He thought that would be his last battle, and he’d have passed without regret into the land of Yomi. Nevertheless, his gratitude is boundless.

“... your muscle and organ tissue has regenerated and there was no internal bleeding. However, there is still some damage to several vertebrae in your spine, severe trauma to your head I’ve not fully assessed yet, and you have eight fractured ribs.”

“Hah, I can feel them, too! I miscalculated by one, I thought there were seven.”

She looks his way, with that odd expression people sometimes have when he sounds unreasonably high-spirited. He supposes not everyone shares the same outlook, and that’s all well. But what use is there to bow down in dismay and accept the worst life throws my way? 

“Your left eye was smashed, and irrecoverable,” Kocho goes on. “We removed it with surgery and placed an implant inside to fill the empty eye socket. The recovery period in these cases is typically a year, as now you must adapt to your monocular status. But this also depends on the individual, and… this might mean alterations to your fighting style, of course.” She rises and picks up the tray. “I’m convinced that with time, you can return to a state allowing you to perform your duties. For now, please rest, that is a foremost priority.”

My friend, you know all too well that time is never on a demon slayer’s side. “Thank you, Kocho.”  She is right, though: he does feel exhausted, as though he’d climbed a mountain without rest or ever reaching the summit. Expected, though bothersome.

“We’ll do our best to help your recovery. Aoi will return later to change your bandages,” Kocho adds.

Rengoku turns his head as Kocho greets someone on her way out, and sees you, standing in the doorway. “Hello.”

“Hello.”

“You heard?”

You nod, nearing the bed. “Ms. Kocho told me of it all while you were asleep.”

“I’m sorry.”

You tilt your head in bemusement. “What ever for?”

“Because, I won’t be able to help with your training for a while.”

You’ve been at his side often. While in a coma, even if he couldn’t react, even if his body wouldn’t listen, he knew you were there. The thought is a warm one, a foreign sensation: different from the heat bursting in his body during a fight. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t look forward to your visits even now, to see how you’re faring, to hear the latest news on the Corps.

“No,” your voice brings him out of his thoughts, “but that does mean I can help you. When you’re ready, that is,” you add quickly. “With rehabilitation training.” 

“Of course!” The fatigue in his body is stubborn, clinging to him like heavy wet wool. “And… I don’t believe I’ve told you this yet: I’m happy you returned safely.”

You look away, appearing utterly miserable. It confuses him. Rengoku’s seen that shadow in his father’s eyes countless times, so often he can’t stand it: self-loathing.

“Forgive me, Master. I should have been able to do more, after all you strived to teach me. I… I could barely be of any use.”

But you were there, you helped protect all those people. You did your part. “You were unflinching, fast, and aided those who needed it precisely like I taught you. You are rank Kinoe, and what's your demon kill count?”

“Thirty-two.”

“There… now that I think about it, even without further guidance from me or anyone else, you’ll make Hashira soon! Our numbers are dwindling while demon activity increases. You’ve seen it. This is a struggle that needs all of us.” Rengoku pauses. The word ‘need’ felt odd coming from his mouth. But the statement is true. Why does it feel incomplete when he says it to your face?

You look down at your hands. “How can you do it?”

He blinks, frowning. “Do what?”

“Be so supportive and encouraging even when you’re lying broken in an infirmary bed. Sometimes… sometimes you are so very strange, Master.”

You do say that to him often, though less so than before. A smile trembles on your lips—it took you a long time to smile again, he recalls. 

“I merely speak the truth…” He can barely stay awake. The slow drip of liquid in the IV infusion is magnified, drowning out all other sounds, and your face becomes hazy as he drifts away.

Three years prior

The path of blood leads straight into the farmhouse, looking as though someone had been dragged inside by force.

His eyes narrow, and he centers his breaths as he walks forward with his blade drawn. The silence of the glade is eerie, the reek of decay nauseating in the heat of this humid summer.

Soon, he stands on the threshold. Two, there might be two of them. Near the farmhouse is a toolshed, he’ll look there next. Rengoku covers his mouth with his sleeve, eyes closing in pain.

The bodies lie there, some with scattered limbs. This was a family, no doubt about it. The brutality of the mutilation makes his stomach turn, but Rengoku steels his resolve, extending his senses for any hint of the entity’s presence: there is none. He sheathes his katana and enters the space proper. Three hours until dawn.

He descends to one knee, finding the fireplace in the middle is out, but the ashes are still warm. The tatami mats are sticky and stained dark. This all transpired recently. He reaches out a hand, touches an inert arm: not yet cold. Too late, I am too late. But I’ll find you, wherever you are, you damn beasts. 

It’s only due to his reflexes, honed with endless hours of training, that he turns around fast enough, leaping backward before the descending attack.

At first, he thinks it’s the demon, his katana at the ready.

“Don’t you dare touch them!” 

He pauses, nearly too late in avoiding the second strike. A girl’s voice, a human’s heartbeat. His arm shoots out, catching the wooden staff in a strong grip. 

You’re panting, eyes wild and glimmering in the moonlit night. “Let—go!”

“Wait, I’m not an enemy!” he says, taking a better look at you, still holding your makeshift weapon even as you try to wrest it from his hand. 

“How do I know that! Demon!” Your voice is hoarse. Half your face is caked in drying blood, and there must be multiple injuries on your body judging by the torn clothing and the widening dark stains. 

“I’m not a demon,” he speaks calmly but urgently. “I hunt them. Please, they may still be close.”

You jerk your chin towards a corner of the room. “I had him… I don’t need you. Get out of my home!” you yell, more desperate with each word. “Get out, get out, get out!”

Another body lies there in the dark, slitted pupils dark against its milky eyes. The head had been nearly completely crushed. Rengoku freezes in disbelief. You did this? Alone? “Wait, you don’t understand, there’s another—”

A loud crash severs his words as the ceiling collapses, and he barely has time to leap forward, catch you in his arms, and throw himself outside. He rolls onto the ground, pain erupting in his left shoulder with the impact. When he opens his eyes you’re there, safely held against him, face tearstained and body rigid with shock.

But there’s no time to explain further—he feels it. The gurgle of inhuman hunger as a figure emerges from the wreckage of the farmhouse, eyes fixed on them. It does not speak, but growls in hunger; it must be of the feral kind, no reasoning left as the transformation rotted its memories. 

Rengoku rises, changing his stance. “Stand back,” he urges, looking over his shoulder at you as you struggle with your own body. He looks back ahead, grinds his teeth, his breathing attuned to his thought. 

First Form: Unknowing Fire.

It doesn’t last long. He’s been running from mission to mission, dispensing with different kinds of fiends, and this was yet another run in a long chain that will only end with his own life. 

Once the head is removed, the battle is over. Sometimes there is someone left to check on after the fact; often, there isn’t. But now, Rengoku hurries towards you, descending and slipping a hand under your back, aiding you to sit. “Where are you hurt?”

“Thank you,” you say instead, eyes glazing over. He hopes the Kakushi will get here soon. You point towards your ruined home. “Set it ablaze… please.” 

“Hey, hey, stay awake!” Rengoku urges even as your body turns heavier and your eyes roll back. 

He expected this to come. Kneeling and with his forehead pressed to the ground he sits still, prostrated before the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. 

A voice like the lull of spring reaches him, setting his worries aside. In his heart, he thinks he’s done what is right.

“Rank Kinoe Rengoku Kyojuro, you are summoned to explain why you have brought a non-combatant to headquarters, instead of having the Kakushi transport them to a civilian hospital.”

“Master, the girl shows extraordinary potential. Her family has been murdered by demons, and yet she managed to fell one before I arrived, alone, despite grievous wounds and bloodloss. Forgive me if I overstepped, but I believe…” 

“Go on.”

“I believe once her body heals and her focus returns, she will join the fight. I believe she will want to. If I'm wrong, I accept all consequences.”

“You sound fairly convinced of this, young Rengoku,” says Ubuyashiki Kagaya. “Though there is no reason to know for certain one way or the other.”

He stays quiet, his heart raging in his chest. It will all depend on you, of course. You may want to have nothing to do with this. 

“But… you’ve not failed us thus far. I will allow it.”

“Gratitude, Master.” And then, almost in the same breath, “If she chooses this, I will guide her myself.”

TBC

[howtofightwrite]

I'm trying to write a scene where someone is stitched up when there isn't a hospital around. They got a stomach cut and I'm wondering if you have to lay down for it or if you can do it sitting up?

The short answer is, having them lay down is probably for the best. When you sit up, the tissue around your abdomen tends to fold a bit, and that can make finding, and sewing up, wounds much harder.

However, having said that, gut wounds are notoriously messy, and sewing one up in a non-sterile environment is pretty risky. Granted having a gut wound in a non-sterile environment is a pretty risky situation.

Among the many things that can go wrong, perforation of the intestines can lead to septic shock, and death. Your intestines (and, really, a lot of your digestive system) are filled with symbiotic bacterial colonies. It is absolutely imperative that those bacterial colonies do not get out of your digestive system and into the rest of your body. You do, actually, need that bacteria to properly digest and process food, but, again, that bacteria getting into your stomach cavity is a very bad thing.

Similarly, a bacterial infection from the environment in that would likely prove fatal. Worth remembering that, bacterial infections can get started either from the wound itself, or the clothing pressed into the wound when it occurred, or it can occur from non-sterile dressings used to bandage the wound.

You didn't say it, but it almost sounds like this might be self administered. (This is one of the only realistic situations where you'd even try to suture the wound from a sitting position.) I'm going to phrase this carefully: That is theoretically possible. However, the amount of pain you would experience, combined with the amount of precision necessary for effective surgery, and you're talking about someone with a borderline superhuman pain threshold. I suppose it's possible if you had someone with fused nerve endings, they might be able to perform this task with minimal difficulty (not having a good angle on the wound would still be a problem), but that's a weird edge case, and I'm honestly not sure how that would shake out.

But, yeah, the short version would still be, they need to lay down, if at all possible, and the surgeon needs easy effective access to the wound. After that, this is an injury that can go very wrong depending on the available tools and the skills of the surgeon. Gut surgery isn't something you want an amateur doing, even in an emergency.

-Starke

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[aristotle97]

suffering bc an oc i made inspired by a writing-prompt-s "ur power is being average at everything and never worse than average" post isn't good enough for a marvel rp server i'm in so im gonna post them here and see if anyone wants to rp with me qvq

(p.s he's named mercutio bc i'm growing into my new pref. name)

also tagging @kohyuuu / @kohyuu2 and maybe @mercutiosblog bc they might find this oc neat

_ _ -# " hAVE AT THEE, BOY! " ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ … ⠀ Mercutio⠀ 𓏴 ⠀ Master of None

info

full name . Mercutio Riccio alias(es) . Merc, Tio, etc. age . 18 date of birth . 3/16 gender . Trans Male sexuality . Pan occupation . Vigilante

mutation

(the main gripe of these people in the discord i'm in. also said his strengths/weaknesses were traits more than anything... YEAH. BECAUSE HIS POWER IS BEING AVERAGE!?!?!?)

Mutation: Jack of All Trades, Master of None - Average at everything (but extremly bad at taking care of himself), isn't neccesarily an expert at anything, but tries his hardest anyways. Physical health could be better, definitely in an average/healthy range, though. Can run average distances, eat normal amounts, etc.

Strengths:

Consistency - His physical abilites are extremly consistent thanks to his averageness. Ex. He could run a decent distance without stopping, but would be huffing and puffing like the average person afterwards.

Flexibility - Again, average at everything, he knows how to at least administer basic level first aid, he can cook some okay tasting food if asked to, and otherwise can step in as the 'doctor' or 'fighter' or 'distraction' if needed.

Stealth - Typically an unassuming/average joe in his civilian getup. If he ever needed to tail someone or blend in, he could actually very well do that due to, well, looking like an average joe!

Weaknesses:

Lack of Specialization - He can't be asked to have expert knowledge at anything. Ex. He could totally sew someone's wound shut, but he physically CANNOT give someone a lifesaving surgery

Terrible Leadership - He doesn't have a particular amount of charisma as his everyday civilian self. He doesn't know how to lead people into battle, or anything like it. He prefers an equal playing field, hence his building of a small 'commune,' as it could be called, out of the people in his apartment complex.

Very bad at self care - Can't care for himself very well, which is hilarious, considering the fact that he is average at everything else. He's tried everything, from sticker charts to self-care apps like Finch, Amaru & Voidpet garden, but nothing works. He just tries his best™️, only washing his hair when he remembers to, brushing his teeth when he reminds himself too. Cannot build good, healthy habits for himself to save his life.

appearence

height . 5'4 eye & hair color . green eyes, black hair description . black hair, green eyes, baby-ish face faceclaim . John Eyzen, performing as Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette 2001 in Paris. (faceclaim self explanatory if you looked at bro's name)

persona

likes . Crocheting, colorguard, napping, cooking dislikes . Track, long range combat, loud noises. overview . A typically closed off, standdoffish young man out of costume, and a kind, selfless, danger-defying hero in costume. He doesn't let the hard exterior fall in front of friends, and especially never in front of romantic partners; he can't have another Romeo incident.

misc

background . Ran away from home at age 16 after his childhood friend 'Romeo' (fake name), betrayed him by outing him to his family. His mutation had manifested three years before this, but Mercutio didn't realize until he was attacked by a Sentinel. Thanks to his total averageness at everything, he somehow just managed to escape it. He now resides in New York under the hero name 'Master of None' and tries to keep his peace/take care of his community.

notes

started a community garden on the roof of his apt. complex

runs a free mini library

crochets baby hats/blankets/etc. for homeless shelters in the winter.

has a habit of befriending stray animals

carries a backpack with snacks, a first aid kit, small crochet project, water bottles, and about $200 in cash with him on every patrol

[goodwhump-temp]

Johnny Gage Whump - Emergency! (1972)

======------------ 1x07 Publicity Hound - Seasick, uptight/angry 1x08 Weird Wednesday - Falls down a hill, twists his knee 1x10 Hang-Up - Exposed to radiation, kept for observation ======------------ 2x04 Virus - Exposed to virus, nausea, collapse, hanging from the side of a building, high fever, admitted to hospital 2x05 Peace Pipe - Caught on fire, shot at by sniper 2x08 Trainee - Sweating, exhausted, threatened by a dog, scratched hand (bandaged), pain from needle injection, tumbles down steep/rocky hill, angry outburst 2x09 Women (☕) - Trapped in collapsing building, beam falls on leg (injured) 2x17 Honest - Falls off stairs, smoke inhalation, weak ======------------ 3x01 Frequency - Dying friend, jittery, emotional (sad/angry), emotional bonding with Desoto 3x05 Heavyweight - Pulled deltoid muscle, sling 3x06 Snakebite - Bit by rattlesnake, self administers IV, weak, unconscious, admitted to hospital, makes everyone worry 3x07 Promotion - Ceiling collapse, injured leg, falls from ladder, admitted to hospital 3x08 Insomnia - Insomnia 3x10 Zero - anxiety/stage freight, embarrassed 3x13 Understanding - Hostage, held at gunpoint, threatened 3x20 Floor Brigade - Slips on ladder, falls/lodges himself between metal bars, hurt ribs, sore/weak, wind knocked out of him, x-rayed 3x22 Inventions - Laryngitis, trouble breathing ======------------ 4x06 Surprise - Caught in building explosion, banged around, falls down stairs, broken leg, scratched face, imply he was unconscious for a long time (he sounds like open na noor) 4x19 It's How You Play the Game - Punched 4x20 The Mouse - Intervenes in bar fight, pushed, caught in explosion, knocked unconscious, ragdoll body/carried by fellow fireman, head wound, smoke inhalation ======------------ 5x04 Equipment - Angry & Sad at loss of a patient, two friends injured, in despair 5x05 Inspection - Slices his hand, bleeding profusely, bandage 5x22 Nuisance - Hit by a car, in severe pain, weak, losing consciousness, factured tibula and fibula, ruptured spleen, intense stomach pain, body in shock, surgery & recovery, jealous ======------------ 6x05 Fair Fight - Trapped in cave collapse, panicking

^ place to watch the show

[weebsinstash]

Not me finding out the medication I specifically asked them about can literally come in pill or oral liquid form and isn't even a needle and it would also be extremely easy to administer but they turned around and had me keep coming back for more enemas and xrays like 5 different times

Not me googling that this drug literally activates upon 1 to 2 hours upon being taken and we would know very quickly if this was a correct choice of treatment

Not me sitting here thinking about how they kept telling me deobstipation was so dangerous it could literally kill him but they completely ignored a significantly safer option which I had also outright asked them about and now we may need that very dangerous and basically pointless surgery JUST to buy time for this drug to activate so he doesn't die

I knew it. I'm getting him whatever surgery or enema he needs and I'm not leaving without those prokinetics today and I'm going to prove I'm fucking right. I'm so tired of people talking over me and then almost every single time, I turn out to be right

Do you have any idea how much I've realized over my entire life that I literally put more thought into everything I do more than almost everyone else around me. Do you know how hard it is to constantly come up with plans and solutions to problems and be dismissed and then the second I get control, I turn out to be right. Literally since I've started working at my job, my department has become the best in like our entire region of the Midwest. My coworkers walk around, "oh I don't bother doing all that"(in regards to something I regularly do on my shift), "oh I know what I'm doing, I've been working here since 2006" and I almost always, do better than those people. It was like this when I was in school, it was like this when I was growing up at home, and it's still like this now

It's taken me forever to realize how deeply my own mother directly contributed to my self esteem issues which lead to my depression and I've gone completely no contact with her and have no intentions of speaking to her again because she's on the wrong kinds of medication and can't afford to get re-evaluated for what I am absolutely positive is ADHD which she then gave to me and my sister and my mother speaks in this very "unless you act extremely intellectually disabled, surely you have nothing wrong with you" kind of attitude despite the fact she used to work in the PCA field and would constantly break HIPAA to bitch to me as a CHILD about her clients with autism and down syndrome

I just. I'm gonna save Allister but I'm just. Angry at the world right now.

[travelerstakes]

Self administered brain surgery. You absolute nutter.

And of course Ianthe's down for it. I'm just as here for the melodrama as her.

[kangals]

Sorry about Stellinas CCL :( not sure show helpful it is for you, but I thought I’d share that my own dog ruptured both CCLs within sixth months of each other. They gave me the options of major surgery that would basically rotate the femoral head to recreate a kneecap (? If I’m remembering correctly, it’s a long stressful blur by now) or simply letting him be and going through physical therapy to create scar tissue that would stabilize his leg. As my dog is a small, 15 year old senior, I opted for physical therapy.

It felt evil at the time—like I was just keeping him hurt—but after a year, I’m really pleased with my choice. Of course, he doesn’t have the same mobility as before, but he wouldn’t have had that even with the surgery. However, he can still get about and enjoy his senior life at a slower pace. He’s limpy in the mornings and after napping, but pretty quickly warms up. My vet gave me anti-inflammatories and pain medicine to self administer if he ever has a rough day, which I’ve only had to use a few times.

Anyway, good luck with Stellina, whatever choice you settle on! I’m sure she’ll come out of it a happy, well cared for girl.

yes, i believe that's the TPLO surgery you're referring to! it's a pretty gnarly looking procedure but the success rate is great and it's good to keep it as a "maybe later" option. and yeah definitely with a small, senior dog there's a lot more nuance about what the "best" choice is. right now i'm pretty much doing the same thing with stellina, and then if at some point down the road - whether that's next week or 5 years from now - it seems like it's progressing to the point that it's painful, or it fully ruptures, we can revisit surgery. but i'm hoping with a bit of management we can strike a good balance of still letting her be a dog and do doggy activities while also keeping her comfortable.

[npdclaraoswald]

Whenever I saw gifsets or clips of Wilson looking like he was actively dying on House's couch, I assumed that he was actively dying from the cancer. Not suffering the side effects of a treatment that he administered to himself after every single doctor he saw told him not to. Truly he and Greg "self surgery in a bathtub" House are a perfect match

[wildwren]

the artful dodger meta dump

So I’ve been making a lot of Artful Dodger gifs and recommending it to people, etc, so I feel like now’s a good time to get down some thoughts about what I liked about the writing and what I wish they’d done better. I’m not intimately familiar with Oliver Twist the novel, so this won’t be an analysis of how the show succeeds as an adaptation or sequel. Rather, I’m assessing the show on its own terms and examining specific characterizations as they relate to gender and race.

warning: spoilers for the entire series

lady belle fox

The most divisive character in The Artful Dodger is without a doubt the female main character, Lady Belle Fox. Belle is a deeply intelligent and ambitious young white woman. She’s also the daughter of the colonial governor, existing in the highest strata of privilege her society can offer — excepting being a man. She’s very forward, bossy, egotistical, often self-serving and occasionally mean. She is, as the kids say, “unlikeable.”

So, is this the dreaded girlbossification in action? I don’t personally find the term “girlboss” to be a useful descriptor for analyzing female characterization, but if you find it useful, go right ahead. However, I do take issue with the accusations of “lazy girlboss writing” because I think the extremes of Belle’s characterization are pretty clearly a feature and not a bug.

The writing gives extensive in-story explanations for why Belle is Like This. She was raised by a wickedly smart mother, Lady Jane, whose marriage to Belle's fuddy-duddy father is a transparent front for her own personal ambitions. She essentially administers the colony herself while her husband works in the garden. Lady Jane recognizes these same qualities in her daughter and actively encourages them, steering Belle in the direction of similarly weak-willed young men who Belle might be able to manipulate into letting her lead the life she wants: one of medical study and practice. This is essentially how she approaches her relationship with Jack from the get-go. She sees him as a man she can manipulate and domineer for her own ends. The problem is, Jack isn’t actually a patsy. He’s a true match, and one of unfortunately unmarriageable quality.

The focus of Belle’s ambition is also not random. She’s has a chronic degenerative heart condition, one which she’s had to research and diagnose for herself, because the doctors around her have failed to give her useful information. It makes sense that her formidable intelligence would end up hyperfixating on medicine and surgery as a means of addressing her own illness.

Due to these factors — the matriarchal power structure of her family in combination with the patriarchal privilege of her culture — Belle can get away with almost anything. She throws her weight around the colony without consequence, invoking her father’s name at will without any of her father’s retribution. The writing certainly takes some liberties with anachronism, but this isn’t just a case of placing a modern woman in a period setting. They've made intentional characterization choices to back it up.

The writing is also very aware of Belle’s flaws and the tension they create with other characters. Belle’s privileged position makes it difficult for her to see the world from the same perspective as Jack. This is most notable in episode 6, when Belle tries to defend her father’s “law and order” crackdown as a necessary measure to control crime, and Jack has to explain to her the concept of structural violence. She’s also called out by Red, the outlaw who’s life Belle saves by means of an emergency surgery. Although Belle lies to protect her, Red doesn’t excuse Belle for her role in colonial project: “Your family are the biggest thieves in Port Victory.”

I was impressed with how this particular subplot was executed with regards to Belle’s arc. It doesn't feel like a “turn to the camera" teaching moment. It feels instead like the inevitable consequence of the tension that arises when people develop relationships across class and life experience. (“If you can’t see what’s happening here, Belle, then you and I have big problems. This puts a wall between us.”) It also doesn't feel like a misogynistic hit designed to take Belle down a peg. Her ego is healthy enough to get through unscathed.

However, there are some aspects of Belle’s specific brand of white feminism that aren’t as well executed. Most notable is her relationship with Hetty. Hetty is a hard-working nurse and Catholic woman of color who works in the hospital. She is increasingly sidelined both in her professional role and her role in Jack’s life by Belle’s self-empowering self-insertion into the surgical room. There’s clear tension between them, and understandable disapproval from Hetty towards Belle and Jack’s indulgence of Belle’s ego. However, this tension is never fully explored. By the end of the series, Hetty and Belle appear to be friends, or at least allies, with no discernible explanation. Is Hetty just that much bigger of a person? Does she think a rising tide will lift all ships? We don’t know, because her motivations are never examined. The closest we get is an introspective moment that implies Hetty’s unrequited feelings for Jack, which does little to explain her acceptance of Belle’s role in the hospital. It’s end up being unsatisfying, a disservice to Hetty’s quite interesting potential as a character.

jack’s gang

However, I think where the writing suffers most is in its failure to examine Jack’s whiteness and privilege. Jack identifies strongly as a have-not, despite having gained some power and privilege as a doctor, and over the course of the story, he ends up surrounded by a crew of other have-nots, most of whom are men of color. His closest friend before Fagin returns is an aboriginal man named Tim, an engineer (and partner to the outlaw Red) who makes prosthetic arms and legs for amputees. There’s potential here, but this relationship is never really examined. We don’t learn how they met or what drew them together, besides apparently working in the same building.

The only tension between them comes when Jack tries to guilt Tim into doing him a favor based on Jack’s previous generosity, and Tim hits back from an equal position: “Pricey, isn’t it? Your loyalty?” But just as with Hetty, this tension is dropped, and Tim’s and Jack’s goals are essentially aligned for the rest of the story. The other members of Jack and Fagin’s gang get even less exploration. On the one hand, it’s a gang of thieves getting up to silly hijinks — they’re not each going to have a fleshed out character arc. On the other hand, the characterization choices uphold some harmful colonial optics, where a diverse crew of characters answer to two white men as the explicit brains of the operation.

red

The best treatment for a character of color is almost certainly Frances ‘Red’ Scrubbs, a sharp-shooting aboriginal woman and a crafty outlaw (partner to Tim). This is definitely because Miranda Tapsell, the actress who portrays Red, was tapped as a consulting writer. (!!!!!). Red’s not a member of Fagin’s gang but a leader of her own crew, and she serves as a sort of playful nemesis to Fagin for the first few episodes, often outfoxing him or beating him to a steal. She also gets a subplot arc of her own, and is the source of the show’s most effective anti-colonial messaging. She embodies an ethos of unapologetic indigenous resistance. Her occasional solidarity with Fagin and Jack is always conditional on her own right to survive and thrive. Her distrust of the colonial medical system she must rely on to escape the noose is the closest the show gets to exploring medical trauma as structural violence (it’s still a very light dive.) The story ends with her taking revenge on the hateful lawman who targeted her and returning to the bush to live with her daughter.

If anything, the show could have benefited from more Red, a deeper exploration of her world and her gang outside of her interactions with Fagin and Jack. But one can understand how that might have been outside the scope of the showrunners' intentions.

At the end of the day, The Artful Dodger is a white-centric narrative. The focus of the story is the relationship between Jack and Fagin and the relationship between Jack and Belle, and both of these dynamics are excellently written. If it’s renewed for a Season Two, I hope they can extend the scope to give space for more complex narratives like Red's.

[gloamvonhrym]

oh I never posted all my silly phoenicis worldbuilding (birdbuilding) that I did while in fanfic writing hell

here’s a huge mostly-boring set of notes expanding and/or playing havoc with canon. I’m putting it here for future reference. maybe to link to it for funsies if I ever post this hell fic

phoenicis is a small insular nation with little social hierarchy, living on inhospitable mountains inaccessible to anyone except other birds. phoenicis has therefore evolved on a somewhat separate cultural track from everybody else in tellius. in this essay I will

economy/practical shit

implicitly in canon hawks are intensely community-oriented. again, they’re a small nation without much hierarchy, and with some preference for chaos. they all “just do what needs to be done”, paraphrasing ulki. they’re not the Strong Guys for the heck of it: they work together to protect & care for their own, and harbor a strong sense of collective duty and trust.

so they’re commies

with serenes out of the picture they’re the biggest commies in tellius

they don’t have currency, that’s some human shit. to each according to their need etc

(exactly how small and close-knit is. phoenicis? small enough that kilvas, a similarly small nation with even fewer resources, could kill everyone on the home front in basically a day when it was left undefended. so. take that for what it is)

infrastructure

minor architecture tangent: we don’t see much of phoenicis & kilvas except for the exteriors of their respective castles, which is kinda boring. obviously not everyone lives in the castles. but phoenicis DOES have some other visible infrastructure, namely the funky detail of these open doorways built into both the castle itself and the surrounding cliffs:

(I don’t know if there’s any kind of proper name for these, because obviously irl we don’t need them and they’re not a thing. I’ve been calling them sky doors, and I might have nabbed that from rebecca roanhorse’s “between earth and sky”, although idk if she in turn nabbed it from anyone else)

anyway there appears to be no actual barrier on these, at least not externally. what did I say. commies. who’s gonna rob and kill you in your own home, in your little nation-commune, where nobody except other birds can get to you, and everyone trusts everyone else to do their duty and provide for each other. (the answer is that other birds will betray you, eventually. sad!)

anyway it’s boring to stick around the castle 100% of the time. I imagine that this architectural idea continues down into the valleys, where maybe artisans can make stuff and services can be provided and bargain economy shit can happen

hawks have seemingly only been pirates for the last 20 years or so, and they do piracy for the sake of vengeance rather than need, and they can’t do that much of it because there aren’t a ton of them; and unlike kilvas, they abstain from trade with the whole rest of the continent, and are isolationist by choice. so they must be self-sufficient in basically every way. someone’s got to be making fabric, making clothes, making shoes, forging metals, creating pottery, creating music and art, administering medicine, providing education, etc, somewhere.

healthcare

tangent about medicine: phoenicis is probably the only nation in the continent that has historically had no contact with healing magic at all. the herons had innate healing magic, and everyone else either has human mages or contact with human mages. but phoenicis is on its own. their medical science is therefore more advanced by irl standards, because it has to be. they know more shit about practical mundane antitoxins, antibiotics, wound dressing, surgeries, anesthetics, and complications. it’s less pleasant than magical means, but it works.

(canonically, healing magic works on wounds and not so much things like regular illnesses, so everyone’s still got some mundane medical care; but when that’s ALL you’ve got, I think it follows that you necessarily come to understand the pure mundane science better than most other people. I bet phoenicis has bred its share of real scientists. if anyone in tellius is going to invent electricity,) (also: they might value physical strength very much, but because they’re commies, I figure they take care of their sick/disabled/injured pretty well, and most of them are at terms with the fact that not everyone can be the Strongest Guys. reyson’s complex about being too weak to live is likely more due to survivor’s guilt, helplessness to protect others/wreak revenge personally, and a post-traumatic focus on violence as a primary determinant of outcomes, rather than any actual pervasive cultural messaging that he’s useless.)

age

hawks live to some, what, 300+ years? janaff says a 24 year old should barely be speaking, but I feel like his ass was just being dramatic, similar to the way we needle real-life 18 year old adult humans about being tiny babies. there’s no reason why any creature should take 20+ years to be at least functional, that would be a huge evolutionary disadvantage. I posit that hawk adolescence is considered to last roughly age 20 to 70 (with heron adolescence lasting somewhat longer, given their longer lifespan; maybe to 80-85, such that reyson has somewhat recently hit true adulthood by the time PoR rolls around).

teenagers are stupid. hawk teenagers are REALLY stupid. chaos predilection + hormones. many of them will gleefully pick a fight over any dumb thing and be horny about it. strong with the vigor of youth, but exceptionally poor sense of their own limitations

by age 100+, their temperament evens out; but any contender for the king’s power is probably going to come from the young crowd at any given time. speaking of which,

government

there isn’t much of one. phoenicis is not big. everyone knows everyone and they’re very efficient commies so everything gets done that needs to get done. tibarn has 2 dumbass advisors. who needs a secretary of state.

the title of king goes to “the strongest” (I assume the intent is that this is determined by combat, against self-selected challengers who get to take over if they win, wakanda style). although canonically, his power is that he gets to call some shots but doesn’t really get any special privileges or reverence beyond that, which is nice because it means that if the king became super unpopular, the rest of phoenicis could probably depose him without much trouble if they wanted to. no divine rights here.

(worth noting: I think tibarn’s characterization is super different between fe9 and fe10, with RD tibarn being a lot sassier and more informal. FEH skewed towards the RD vibe, and I think they were right for that. given the hawks’ uniquely relaxed philosophy towards royalty, their insular culture, and the likelihood that they all knew tibarn by name before he ever had a title, it wouldn’t make sense for them to do a lot of formalized bowing and scraping. RD tibarn would never have unironically addressed caineghis as “o majestic king of lions” or whatever he said)

(by contrast, apparently, in japanese, reyson consistently addresses tibarn formally (and also naesala, up until naesala betrays him). I don’t speak japanese and can’t really count this as an aspect of my experience of these characters, but I wonder if the other birds also address each other in this way, or if it’s a trait peculiar to reyson.)

family

families are not nuclear. hawks raise their kids pretty communally, foremost in unstructured “flocks” (households or clusters of households). actual bio parents may or may not be closely involved

parenting is kind of hands-off overall. the concept of adult supervision falls away pretty fast. “let your kid do the stupid dangerous thing so that he learns what’s stupid and dangerous” ass culture; learning by experience is optimal, and if you’re not adequately responsible then others are less likely to be sympathetic and/or have your back in turn. hawk kids tend to gain squads quickly, and they often hang together for life ride or die

if a young hawk is neglected or entirely rejected by their home flocks - rare, but not impossible - likely someone else will pick up the slack, if not adults then some loyal friends

relevant headcanons: tibarn, ulki, and janaff have been sticking together since an early age. ulki in particular had some problems - his original family did not appreciate that he kept overhearing things he shouldn’t, and he was way too autistic to know what was meant to not be repeated, so after not too long he became a bit of a lone wolf. tibarn and janaff already knew each other - janaff’s exceptional sight didn’t cause him any similar problems; and were initially concerned with ulki’s misfit status, but his ability was a valuable bonus. they all adopted each other.

food

the main thing hawks don’t do is cook. because they mostly eat raw meat, fish, and bugs, which is very sexy of them. I imagine every household has certain members designated to hunt regularly on its behalf. add that one to the chore chart

(maybe someone starts experimenting more with cooking when herons are there, and further when phoenicis is open to international relations. for fun and community!)

gender

ok the shit I made up, let’s go off the rails

hawks are queer-normative. in that they don’t give a shit about the anatomy or superficial presentation of who sleeps with whom. most of them are equal-opportunity in that regard

they are, however, by human standards, masc-centric to a sort of absurd degree. they’re not dumb senseless brutes (see again, commies, intense intra-community trust); they’re also probably not the most emotionally available fellas

(“but wouldn’t this level of intra-community trust result in greater emotional availability, not less?” look I’m not saying they’re scared of it. but why would you cry out your feelings with some other guy when you could be killing animals or committing piracy about it.)

gender presentation: I said equal-opportunity in terms of sexuality. might be because it’s a little difficult to tell. the games appear to have no female hawk characters but in MY headcanons their presentation is just masc-centric across the board, and maybe they skew a little less sexually dimorphic in general, so you wouldn’t know anyway

most hawks are he/hims. that’s just a quirk. like discworld dwarves but with less to say about it. just a nation of butches, for fun

bad gender parity in the tellius games? how do you know janaff isn’t a he/him lesbian

hawk dress is largely unisex, earth-toned, and utilitarian. not necessarily fully unadorned - tibarn has an earring & a few other things, including a necklace (feathers; battle trophies?) - but he’s still pretty rugged. nobody is flashy.

nothing AGAINST conventionally feminine presentation per se. hawks would chafe against overly rigid norms. but the way medieval-fantasy femininity looks, they’d probably think it’s a little odd in a practical sense. but who knows. maybe leanne starts something with those she/her pronouns and flowy dresses yk.

(tangent on clothing: phoenicis isn’t really friendly for something like cotton crops, but they can have wool, because goats & sheep can live on mountains. I’m also happy to make up that there’s some kind of hardy tellius breed of mulberry-adjacent tree, which can grow at least somewhere in phoenicis, resulting in the availability of silk and maybe barkcloth. or something. idk I’m not that kind of historian.)

sexuality

hawks primarily value strength, physical + emotional. we knew this. again, doesn’t make for the greatest emotional intelligence. overt softness is not the thing. tibarn kind of sucks at the direct empathy that reyson claims all living beings share, for instance. 2 hawks in a fight would rather tussle it out than waste time talking.

this carries over. in a partner, again, attraction tends to disregard sexed anatomy, but the most valuable thing is being well-matched physically. being creatures of chaos, they trust their impulses, they like a challenge, they don’t mind a fight, and they probably don’t super want to be with someone they have to worry about hurting

(hence that kind of hot chemistry between tibarn & nailah. also janaff hits on lucia at first glance bc she’s a knight obviously she’s got some beef babeyy)

pursuant: by and large, hawks really don’t find herons very attractive. that delicate graceful peaceful affect is kind of a mystifying ideal to them. it’s like art - nice to look at, ig, but what would you actually do with it. people significantly weaker than you are for you to protect, not sleep with. tibarn is a notable exception because he is down bad for reyson

and reyson is like an alien, and tibarn is maybe a bit of a freak for being into someone so fragile. you are the very strongest guy, tf you want with a boy who breaks if you look at him wrong. what do you get out of that sir. he has complexes about this :) but I’m not going to elaborate on that because that’s what hell fic is for

“herons in phoenicis: conceptualizing the vulnerable body in hawk-normative society”, the title of my tellius gender studies thesis at the university of crimea or whatever

speaking of reyson. what does this mean for him. I need to talk about it because I’m obsessed with him. the commie stuff isn’t that much of a culture shock at least

but have some added fuckery: sole survivor, adapting to another culture, learning another language; lone chaos-sensitive empath in a sea of macho chaos-oriented dudes who aren’t very attuned to that kind of thing; also extremely physically distinctive in a way that is kind of weird at best

how do you even maintain a sense of personal identity when the baseline relevant factor is “you’re incomprehensibly different from everyone around you in every way possible”? I think reyson experiences some Gender about this. the most masculine heron is still a lily reed compared to even a fairly femme hawk

reyson’s gender, per the rest of the continent: male. reyson’s gender among hawks: heron

I imagine leanne is somewhat shielded from this once she comes round - she’s able to lean on reyson and naesala, and I figure she does, pretty heavily, considering she picks up maybe a few words of the modern tongue over the course of 3 years. she’s deliberately feminine, and also has already chosen her own terrible boyfriend [affectionate]. she’s not without her own traumas, but she’s more supported, and maybe is even in a place to kind of enjoy the confusion & attention she garners from being the sole girly-girl. I feel like she would.

and her terrible boyfriend [affectionate] is a raven, not a hawk. and by contrast, ravens are VERY attracted to herons. because herons are pretty. and ravens like shiny pretty things.

misc

I’m not quite committed enough to make constructed-culture art, but in my mind hawk visual & aural culture resembles late antique/early modern celtic styles in a few ways. insular culture yk. some book of kells bullshit.

(kinda weird, upon reflection, that phoenicis isn’t full of ancient tongue speakers, considering serenes was allegedly one of the few nations they were ever friendly with. and yet even tibarn understands very little ancient. at the very least, being the most isolated nation, it would make sense for the hawks to have their own modern dialect. but they don’t, that would have been hard for an FE game to pull off, and I’m not enough of a linguist to try. so it is what it is! maybe, even though they don’t fraternize with other nations, they’ve always kept pretty close tabs on them just in case, the necessity of spying facilitated the shift to modern. whereas serenes never did that. anyway sometimes the hawks sound a little irish in my head.)

they are also superstitious. all those lonely windswept coastal peaks, there’s a lot of howling winds, spooky nooks, weird environmental physics interacting with weather phenomena. you end up with stories about folk monsters. hawks know shit about ghosts, fairies, sirens, and banshees, and how to placate them if you piss them off. also the herons sometimes scare people to death because they wear nothing but white and drift around like specters.

I also have a lot of headcanons about herons. but they’re more feelingsy. so I’ll leave that go. I might add to this as I remember more stuff

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

All-Star Green Lantern:

Runaway Jesa Cruz finds a glowing lantern and an unconscious person with pointed ears and red-pink skin on an active train track. Attempting to get the alien to safety, Jesa is too late as the locomotive barrels towards them…and is completely wrecked against a wall of solid green light. Growing up fascinated by stories of space--especially the lost crew of the USS Sentinel (Jordan, Stewart, Gardner, Ferris, and Rayner)--Jesa had always looked to the stars...they just never expected the stars to find them first.

Thaal is a Korugaran stranded on Earth after the death of his partner Abin, he befriends Jessica Cruz only to discover she’s runaway with a dark secret of her own. He gives Abin's ring to Jesa to protect herself. The Lantern used to power their rings is an incubator for an infant Oan, Aya.

Pursuing Jesa is the Cult of Blood, led by the charismatic sociopath Sebastian Sanger. He and his followers worship Atros, the Spirit of the Blood Lantern. While the Lantern has transformed others with its power--Bernie the Animal Boy, Johnny Rankorr, and The Great Red Beast Sorov--others await its blessing, Sebastian among them, and believe Jesa's sacrifice will curry its favor.

In Sebastian's employ are the Manhunters, a group of assassins hired to track Jesa. The team sent after Jesa includes The Tattooed Man, Sonar, Deathstroke The Ravager, though their mother organization is a much larger league of mercenaries and assassins.

Finally, there's Prof. Jack Crane: an former academic who inserted a “Fear-Entity” into his body via self-administered surgery. Moving independent of Sanger and the Manhunters to capture Jesa and Thaal, Crane may prove to be the most dangerous of all...

[seam-queen]

Medical Record [Lore]

Filed away into one of Seams' hard drives and stolen away from the Gotham General Hospital was a Jane Doe medical record.

(( While not public record, I thought it'd be fun to write. ))

ADMISSION: [12/25/2023]

NAME: Jane "Noel" Doe

BIRTHDATE: [UNKNOWN] HEIGHT: 5'3 WEIGHT: 73lbs RACE/ETHNICITY: Caucasian EYE COLOR: Amber HAIR COLOR: Blonde SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English NEXT OF KIN: [UNKNOWN]

MEDICAL HISTORY

Scarring: Extensive scarring of varying origins and ages across the body, including burns and lacerations. Notable recent injuries:

Two gashes on the face creating a frown-like appearance.

Deep gash on left cheek, recent.

Cut through right eyebrow.

Various raised or recessed scars leading to mild texture sensitivity.

Amputation: Above-the-knee amputation of the left leg.

Memory Loss: Significant retrograde amnesia following an unknown incident. No recollection of life prior to hospitalization.

Malnutrition History: Prior undernourishment is evident in diminished body mass and fragility.

Sensory & Motor Skills: Retained fine motor skills despite memory gaps.

HOSPITALIZATION & INCIDENT REPORT

Initial Admission: Found unconscious and severely injured, with no identification or known relatives.

Treatment Administered:

Emergency surgery for left leg amputation.

Wound management and infection control.

Cognitive assessments for amnesia and psychological evaluation.

Recovery Notes: Patient exhibited restlessness and frustration over prolonged hospitalization. Displays strong instincts for self-reliance and adaptability.

PSYCHOLOGICAL & BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS

General Disposition: Quiet, observant, and highly analytical. Maintains emotional detachment, will speak only when spoken to.

Coping Mechanisms: None to note. Patient does not exhibit any care for previous trauma.

Flashbacks & Triggers: Unidentified sensory triggers cause momentary, fragmented recollections.

Risk Assessment: Considered independent but at risk due to memory loss, unresolved trauma, and history of malnutrition. Exhibits a strong survival instinct.

CURRENT STATUS & CONTINUED TREATMENT

Nutritional Support: Continued effort needed to maintain healthy weight and muscle tone.

Neurological Follow-Up: Recommended periodic evaluation for memory function and cognitive health.

Psychological Support: Therapy suggested for trauma processing, though patient is resistant.

Inpatient Care: Will continue until patient has fully recovered.

Physician's Notes: Patient presents as highly adaptive despite severe past trauma. Displays strong willpower and independence but will benefit from continued structured medical and psychological support.

Status: Escaped during shift change AMA. Whereabouts unknown.

LAST UPDATE: [03/27/2024]

[bihexxxual]

someone in my afk life has been throwing me under the bus pretty hardcore lately....

we're not that close, something like more than acquaintances but not really friends. they've been to my place for movie nights and some dinners, but they never ever reciprocate, just talk and talk about how they're going to. but never actually do. I've made peace with that but it does make for an awkward, coworker-esque dynamic that they refuse to bridge the gap on.

this is perfectly fine when it's civil, but lately has been... not so civil.

like, this person has a big, invasive surgery coming up that I think they're lashing out about b/c fear. which I get. I do. but suddenly lots of random stuff is my fault for no reason..... I say I'll help them out with X on Day, they agree, Day comes around and they've "already handled X because they couldn't wait around any longer 🙄." ("any longer" being. the agreed upon date and time.) with absolutely no communication that there was an issue.

they like to visit my cat when they see him, which is fine, but my cat is a very unpredictable, very, very strong tiny predator who struggles to communicate his boundaries. I would not trust him around new people unsupervised, for safety reasons. This person always wants to "read what he's telling them" (which they are rarely correct about. they will keep petting him when he hisses and has huge black eyes, and completely ignore him when he's open and friendly) and simply WILL NOT listen to me or respect when I translate his communications, to the point that I now always put the cat in the other room if this person is coming over.

or their dog will come sit with me instead of them at movie night (I have a very comfy/squishy blanket doggo likes to sit on and doggo is old and ready for bed. nothing personal) and once doggo gets up their person will very loudly comment "oh am I WORTHY now???" (idk if me or doggo was more uncomfy!! wtf are we supposed to do with that!!)

and they want me to babysit their dog during their surgery, and handle doggo's meds while being babysat. ok! no problem! but we HAVE to go over the procedures to give doggo meds RIGHT NOW (surgery + potential babysitting is WEEKS away and would only be for 1 night anyway). and even though I have years of experience in administering meds like doggo's, there's a very heavy implication that I don't know what I'm doing and definitely can't be trusted with doggo or doggo's meds. (??? why ask me if you feel that way??)

I've stated multiple times that I'm fine with dog sitting, but would prefer to go over meds way closer to the actual date and that is? Unacceptable?? Apparently??

Verbatim, "I can cancel the surgery if that's too hard"

Like??? I've never said a damn thing about it being too difficult, but now it's hanging out there that if they cancel their surgery it'll be because *I* wasn't able to take care of their dog because it was *simply too difficult*. which is such a crock of bs!! (the meds in question are oral syringe btw. with a very tiny dog who's very cooperative with me. literally nothing difficult about the job - just doggo's human)

like. I'm keeping details simple here but lots of this is PARAGRAPHS of unrelenting texts assuring me that I'm sooooo helpful and trustworthy while simultaneously undermining and openly second guessing every. single. thing. that I have to say. right down to attacking my sleep schedule because 'they wouldn't want to bother me' (I am not bothered and have communicated this openly). Idk how to deal with this anymore tbh.

I can't really avoid this person as I will absolutely cross pass with them in daily life, but I also cannot have a conversation with them about how shitty they're being. we simply Do Not have that kind of relationship.

I know they're diagnosed with BPD, and I suspect they're probably using me to try and self-sabotoge out of their surgery (if I'm soooo unreliable to take care of doggo for a night, then they simply *must* cancel the surgery to take care of doggo themselves!) and like. I'm trying real hard to be empathetic about it. I've known them for years now and usually I just roll with things, but it's getting to SUCH an unhealthy and nasty place lately........

[expertacademicassignmenthelp]

Breast Cancer

Introduction

Breast cancer, a multifaceted and prevalent disease, poses a significant health challenge globally, transcending gender lines with its potential impact. Characterized by the abnormal proliferation of cells within breast tissue, breast cancer’s complex etiology remains an area of intense study and concern. Despite notable advancements in medical science and increased awareness, it continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This comprehensive discussion aims to delve into the intricacies of breast cancer, encompassing its causes, risk factors, prevention strategies, diagnostic modalities, treatment options, and the evolving landscape of supportive care.

Causes and Risk Factors

Understanding the underlying causes and risk factors associated with breast cancer is paramount in developing effective prevention and management strategies. While the precise etiology of breast cancer remains elusive, various genetic, hormonal, environmental, and lifestyle factors contribute to its onset and progression. Genetic predispositions, such as mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, significantly elevate the risk of developing breast cancer. Additionally, hormonal influences, including early onset of menstruation, late menopause, and hormone replacement therapy, play a crucial role in disease pathogenesis. Lifestyle factors such as excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, lack of physical activity, and exposure to environmental carcinogens further augment the risk profile.

Preventive Measures

Empowering individuals with knowledge about preventive measures is essential in mitigating the burden of breast cancer. Promoting regular breast self-examinations, clinical breast examinations, and mammographic screenings facilitates early detection and intervention. Emphasizing lifestyle modifications, including maintaining a healthy weight, adopting a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, limiting alcohol intake, and engaging in regular physical activity, can reduce the risk of breast cancer. For individuals with a heightened risk due to genetic predispositions or familial history, prophylactic surgeries, such as mastectomy or oophorectomy, and chemo preventive agents offer viable preventive options.

Diagnostic Modalities

Advances in diagnostic modalities have revolutionized the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer, enabling prompt initiation of treatment and improved clinical outcomes. Mammography remains the cornerstone of breast cancer screening, capable of detecting abnormalities such as microcalcifications, masses, or architectural distortions. Complementary imaging techniques, including ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and molecular breast imaging (MBI), enhance diagnostic accuracy, particularly in women with dense breast tissue or high-risk profiles. Biopsy procedures, such as core needle biopsy or surgical excision, facilitate histopathological examination, enabling precise diagnosis and classification of breast lesions.

Treatment Options

Tailoring treatment strategies to individual patient characteristics and disease parameters is essential in optimizing therapeutic outcomes in breast cancer. The treatment landscape encompasses a multidisciplinary approach, integrating surgical, medical, and radiation oncology interventions. Surgical options range from breast-conserving surgeries, such as lumpectomy or segmental mastectomy, to radical procedures like total mastectomy or modified radical mastectomy, depending on tumor size, location, and extent of spread. Adjuvant therapies, including chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, aim to eradicate residual disease, prevent recurrence, and improve overall survival. Radiation therapy, administered either postoperatively or as a primary modality in selected cases, targets residual tumor cells, minimizing locoregional recurrence rates.

Supportive Care and Survivorship

Recognizing the holistic needs of breast cancer patients and survivors is integral in promoting comprehensive care and ensuring optimal quality of life. Supportive care interventions, including symptom management, psychosocial support, nutritional counseling, and rehabilitation services, address the multifaceted challenges associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment. Survivorship programs, focusing on survivorship care planning, surveillance for recurrence, long-term monitoring of treatment-related complications, and health promotion initiatives, facilitate the transition from active treatment to survivorship. Engaging patients and caregivers in survivorship care planning fosters empowerment, resilience, and a sense of agency in navigating the post-treatment phase.

Conclusion

In conclusion, breast cancer represents a formidable health challenge with profound implications for affected individuals, families, and communities worldwide. While significant strides have been made in understanding its pathophysiology, enhancing diagnostic capabilities, and expanding treatment options, concerted efforts are warranted to address existing gaps in prevention, early detection, and access to care. By fostering collaborative partnerships among stakeholders, advocating for evidence-based interventions, and promoting health equity, we can strive towards a future where breast cancer incidence and mortality rates are substantially reduced. Through continued innovation, education, and advocacy, we can transform the landscape of breast cancer care, offering hope, support, and healing to those impacted by this pervasive disease.

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