#dropout: gc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dragonsockz · 1 year

Text

I Wanna Get Better

Hiccstrid songfic drabble inspired by the song "I Wanna Get Better" by Bleachers.

I could see this being an Addict!Astrid x Paramedic!Hiccup, or Addict!Astrid x Alcoholic!Hiccup. I'm probably going to do a small drabble for both, just because they were both floating around in my brain.

Either way, Astrid is a young adult plagued by a crippling opioid addiction. She’s college age, maybe 21 or 22. She’s been out on the streets since she was a late teenager, maybe 18, because her parents kicked her out due her budding addiction. Astrid comes from a very rocky home life. Domestic abuse, divorced parents who still have to live together, under the poverty line, etc. She lives currently with Ruff and Tuff, who are her friends, but also her suppliers. They dabble in elicit substances, but they’re not as hooked at Astrid. They enable her.

Paramedic!Hiccup x Addict!Astrid

It starts with Astrid's first overdose.

Hiccup (Henry Haddock, 24, EMT-P), and his partner Justin Ingermann (23, FF/EMT-B), are dispatched priority 1 as Berk County Fire Rescue ALS unit 3 to a public address for a young female, suspected OD, agonal breathing, decreased responsiveness. They arrive on scene to find Astrid, 22-year-old college dropout-turned-junkie, overdosing after shooting up in the restroom of a local bar/club. Both first responders get to work.

The scene takes place mainly from Astrid’s point of view, consciousness slipping in and out, and snippets of what’s happening. She sees blurry images of Hiccup and Fishlegs treating her. She wills herself to respond but can’t manage anything other than groaning and gurgling. They wind up Narc-ing her twice. She hears Hiccup say, “…two, two, one…ratory arrest…intubate…” and then all goes black. She regains consciousness in the back of the ambulance, the sound of sirens pummeling her head, and the dome lights above her spearing her eyes. She absentmindedly thinks, 'That's not how you drive,' as she looks out the back doors of the box, seeing the road behind her. Her gaze shifts, and she sees Hiccup lean over her from the bench seat.

She can see him a bit more clearly this time. He’s stern as he mutters, “You’re lucky to be alive right now.” Her head lolls slightly to the side and catches on the edge of a C-collar. She blinks twice, then she’s out again.

After Astrid’s first overdose, nothing much changes. She gets discharged from the hospital back home to Ruff and Tuff with a hefty medical bill. She continues to work dead-end jobs and shoot up under the influence of Ruff and Tuff, who enable her by supplying. She gets nightmares about the night of her OD, and the words of that paramedic haunt her. It's the only thing she can remember clearly.

He’s right. She was lucky to be alive. Sometimes she wishes she was less lucky.

The next time she sees Hiccup, it just so happens to be in the supermarket. He’s not in uniform, but he’s still the same lanky, gangly dude. They’re standing near each other looking at opposite sides of an isle when Astrid glances at him in passing. She double takes. She stares at him. She knows him. She knows she knows him, but from where?

xXx

The words tumble from her before she could stop them, “How do I know you?” She’s inquisitive, not scrutinizing.

Hiccup stiffens, nearly dropping the bottle of ketchup he’s holding, and whips around to follow the voice. He’s just about to clarify, ‘Me?’ when his eyes drag up from to ground to meet the same face he was bent over two weeks ago in a shitty club restroom. He recognizes her instantly.

Priority 1, adult female, unknown age, suspected overdose, agonal respirations, decreased responsiveness. His eyes dart across her face. He traces her with his gaze: her eyes, the same ones that were sluggish with pin-point pupils. Her nose, the same one he shoved a Narcan atomizer into. Twice. Her mouth, the same one he intubated. Her, fall from standing height, AOx0, GCS 5, cold and diaphoretic, satting 87 on 15 liters, impending respiratory arrest.

She did arrest. He had to bag her with Fishlegs going 65 in a 45.

He can’t help the way his mouth gapes slightly. The woman he sees now is completely different, yet so scarily similar, to the girl he saw that night. Thick golden waves spill across her shoulders and whispy bangs frame her round face. She’s small—skinny—but most addicts are. A button nose sits smack in the middle of her young face, and nestled right above it are the most piercing, icy blue eyes Hiccup’s ever seen. She’s got this inquisitive, fake-pleasantry plastered across her face. Hiccup absentmindedly thinks he’d like to see her actual smile and not her public image smile. It's hard to believe she was on the cusp of death 13 days ago. He counted.

Astrid Hofferson. He remembers the name from her driver’s license. 22-year-old female. Birthdate 2000-04-18. She’s a lot prettier now that he’s not hunched around her, glazed over with the thick film of on-scene adrenaline and professionalism. She’s definitely a lot prettier now that she’s not actively dying. He feels heat rush to his cheeks, and he forces his eyes to stray away from her face. They land on her arms, as if to subconsciously check for tracks. She’s wearing a sweatshirt. He sees her shift uncomfortably under his gaze.

“You’re lucky to be alive right now.” He mumbles it before he can stop himself, words mostly inaudible, eyes careening back towards her face.

“What was that?” Astrid responds, pleasantry still dripping from her voice. A tight-lipped smile cuts her face. Her arms come to cradle themselves across her stomach, seemingly self-conscious under his scrutinization.

Hiccup’s mind snaps back to reality. He shakes his head slightly and darts his gaze bashfully between the beautiful woman—his patient—and the floor.

“Ah—“ His vocal cords run dry. He clears his throat, a fist over his mouth. “I—uh, said I don’t think so.” He nearly cringes at the words. Astrid tilts her head minutely, confusion washing over her.

“Huh—“

“That you know me.” He cuts her off, amending. “Sorry. I don’t think that you know me.” He hopes that she was unresponsive enough that night not to place him. That hope vanquishes the moment he sees realization flood her features. Her eyes widen and her jaw drops slightly. Fuck.

xXx

I have a whole lot more of this swimming in my brain, I just haven't gotten it on paper yet. I'll add more parts, eventually.

If y'all have any interest in some of the technical language Hiccup was using in this drabble, read below.

----

Priority 1: Lights and sirens.

AOx__ : Alert and Oriented score. Scale of 0-4 used to determine a PT's level of mental status. Who are you? Where are you? What's the date? Do you remember what happened to you? The number of questions answered correctly reflects as a number score. Anything less than 4 is considered AMS (altered mental status). The lower the number the more severe the AMS.

GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale): Scale of 0-15 used to determine a PT's level of consciousness/severity of AMS. GCS describes how badly the PT's consciousness is impaired based on 3 categories--verbal response, motor response, and eye involvement. The lower the score, the more severe the PT's condition. GCS is also used widely to determine transport priority from scene, and any interventions needing to be performed (Hiccup intubated Astrid, who had a GCS of 5). If you want to better understand/read up on GCS, a link is provided.

Narcan atomizer: Narcan, or Naloxone, is a rapid opioid reversal drug. Naloxone can be administered by IV, or subcutaneously, but is often administered intranasally through an atomizer.

Diaphoretic: Clammy/sweaty. Used as a term during initial assessment when describing skin signs.

'Satting at': Refers to Oxygen saturation in the blood. Astrid had a blood-oxygen saturation of 87% on 15 liters of oxygen per minute. Any blood-oxygen saturation less than 90% on high flow oxygen is cause to transport priority 1.

#httyd #httyd drabble #hiccstrid #how to train your dragon #httyd fandom #httyd fanfiction #drug cw #httyd songfic #songfic #drabble #angst #hiccup httyd #astrid httyd

4 notes · View notes

canonicallyanxious · 2 years

Note

hi! saw your last anon and sorry if this is annoying, but just wanted to ask u a question. i don’t know anything about d20 (assuming it’s like a d&d game) but i did watch all the free game changer episodes on yt and i’m lowkey obsessed and want more. is d20 the same kind of vibe, assuming it’s the same people? for someone who isn’t and has never played d&d would you reccommend starting d20? i kinda don’t want to pay for dropout, so maybe i’ll start with that :) have a nice day!

not an annoying question don't worry!! in fact i feel like i have to apologize in turn because i already know i'm going to be incapable of being normal about answering this question lol but me being verbose as hell on main, what else is new, etc. etc.

Re: whether d20 has a similar vibe to game changer -

so i'd say you're right in that d20 involves many of the people that are featured on game changer since they're both produced by collegehumor/dropout. as you might know Brennan Lee Mulligan who appears pretty often on game changer is the main DM for d20, and since d20 is an anthology show the casts rotate out every season but one of the most frequently recurring casts incudes Zac Oyama, Ally Beardsley, and Lou Wilson who are also pretty frequent guests of game changer [the others were also involved with Collegehumor at some point, can't remember if they've been on gc tho]. collegehumor folks sometimes appear in other seasons as well - for example rekha shenkar and lily du have been in multiple d20 seasons, jess ross and mike trapp have also featured, and there's even one season that's oops all collegehumor folks called Mice and Murder which is basically holmesian style turn of the century murder mystery but everyone is an anthropomorphized animal [dropout exclusive but the first ep is on the d20 yt channel]. so if you vibe with the humor and the personalities of the people who feature a lot on game changer, it's likely you will vibe with the humor and tone of d20 too!

that said, given that game changer is styled after a traditional competitive game show and d20 is an actual play show where people play tabletop rpgs together they are very different in the sense of genre. d20, while largely improvised [which believe me is a fact that will probably be hard to believe when watching it but is entirely true], is very much a collaborative storytelling effort between the people involved and makes very concerted efforts to present a tight and cohesive narrative through their seasons. so d20 is great if you like fictional narratives and fun and colorful characters, but if you want more traditionally unscripted content like gamechanger i recommend checking out:

dirty laundry [which is actually a spin-off of a gamechanger episode; hosted by Lily Du, first ep available on the CH yt channel]

make some noise [unfortunately i think right now all the make some noise eps are also dropout exclusive, here i have linked to the trailer, but it is another spinoff based on this honestly iconic game changer ep wherein Josh Ruben, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Zac Oyama make weird sounds at each other and it's the funniest thing in the world]

Um, Actually [nerdy trivia game show hosted by Mike Trapp]

Rank Room [fyi it's an older show and they don't make it anymore but i still think it's a fun watch; hosted by Katie Marovich]

[do u see what i mean. i thought this first question would be a short answer skdfjnsdkjfnsdns so uh deep apologies for what will come after this bc i have THOUGHTS about your second question]

Re: would i recommend d20 for someone who has no experience with d&d -

short answer: yes absolutely 100%.

long answer: why do i so enthusiastically recommend d20 for people who have never played dnd? because i am a people who has never played dnd and d20 is one of my favorite shows ever! tbh i do think i am kind of biased as d20 is really the only actual play show i've ever been able to get into and i'm sure there are plenty of other shows out there that work for other people [if you're a podcast person for example you have tons of good options, i however am Not] but there are a number of reasons why I personally enjoy d20 as an actual play show:

I often struggle with other actual play shows because of how long and meandering they are. I think this is more of a personal preference thing because even when reading/watching more traditional forms of media i always tend to prefer tighter narratives with a clear ending in mind [e.g a 3 season show with a good finale is more compelling to me than an ongoing 10 season show with no ending in sight] but because d20 is an anthology show and each season is more or less a self-contained story aside from the few sequels i find it much easier to keep my attention on the episodes. to be sure the eps are still quite long, most ranging from 1.5-2 hours, but brennan + the other dms they feature on d20 do a really good job of keeping the pace moving while still giving the players freedom to explore the world and make their own narrative choices [which i think is one big appeal actual play shows has over other forms of media, the improvised and collaborative nature of the storytelling versus something that's already been fully scripted beforehand].

another thing i struggle with is how cumbersome dnd combat can be, personally i don't think it's the most accessible especially for people who have no ttrpg experience but d20's combat actually works pretty well for me because 1. they plan their combats before the season starts and especially in the earlier seasons of d20 they stuck pretty strictly to alternating between roleplay versus combat episodes so it's easier for me when i know kind of what to expect and 2. because they plan their combats in advance they are able to build INCREDIBLE custom battle sets with custom minis [shout out to Rick Perry!] and for me the visuals really help me keep my attention on the combat versus when combat is more theater of the mind [which to be clear does sometimes still happen in d20]. Tbh i still think combat can be a little clunky especially in the earlier seasons of d20 but i think the show has always gone to a lot of effort to create really creative and engaging combats for both the players and the audience and as it's gone on they've only gotten better at achieving this

in that vein i think the fact that d20 is 1. entirely filmed and 2. edited very well is VERY helpful for someone like me who has traditionally struggled with podcasts because the lack of visual context makes it hard to stay focused. as far as the editing goes i know some people prefer more of a livestream feel but just for me personally having the editing and the different camera angles and the sound cues and the music [d20 is really good at picking royalty free music for their soundtracks btw may i just say] gives me something more concrete to focus on and keeps it more visually interesting. and i do feel that they still make an effort to preserve the more natural/organic feel of ttrpgs by limiting their cuts story wise and focusing a lot on player reactions in the moment so for me it kind of hits the best of both worlds!

personally i think the choice for d20 to cast a lot of talented improv comedians is fucking inspired, especially when the show is so comedy-oriented. improv comedians are good at making bold choices on their feet, crafting rich characters while improvising their dialogue on the spot, and collaborating with each other, which are all skills that are very helpful for an actual play show context and everyone they cast on d20 is SO talented at all of these things. there are some players on d20 who also have little to no experience with dnd [notably Ally Beardsley has only ever officially played dnd on camera for d20; Rekha Shenkar and Mike Trapp in Escape From the Bloodkeep were also very new to dnd at the time] which on the one hand i think helps audience members like me who are inexperienced with dnd knowing some of the players are in the same boat but also they tend to make some of the wildest most out of the box choices as a result of being new to the game. so i think ultimately it's just a really fun combination and it's so much fun to watch in action!

and just a few more reasons why I consider d20 a favorite in a more general sense:

I mean Brennan Lee Mulligan as d20's main DM is a HUGE draw of d20 in my opinion. like if you were already a fan of him from game changer or other college humor content i think you will especially appreciate him in d20 because he is absolutely in his element here. actually last year i made a ppt for my friends about why i like d20 so much so here is a relevant excerpt:

i want to emphasize that d20 is a comedy-oriented show so tonally comedy is what it will prioritize. however i also want to emphasize that this does not mean it pulls any punches with the emotional depths it's able to reach. the themes and the worlds and the characters are SO rich and complex and compelling and I think i have experienced basically every human emotion and then some while watching this show. i also think it's incredibly character driven and does an amazing job of prioritizing character and relationship development and player agency, which is one of my favorite things to see in any kind of show!

and conceptually i just think it's so much fucking fun! it being an anthology show means there is something in here for everyone but i have enjoyed every season i have watched immensely [which is all of them except for one!] and have found it remarkably easy to become invested in every single one. you want to know what it would be like if dnd took place in a john hughes style teenage coming of age movie? or what if lord of the rings was about the bad guys but also it’s a workplace comedy? or how about an urban fantasy story set in modern day new york with a secret sixth borough hidden away in the world of dreams? you can have it all and more from d20! and this is just the seasons that are available on yt for FREE there are so many other cool and fun stories and worlds and dms to engage with!!!

tl;dr it's a good show and i like it very very much thank you for coming to my ted talk

#answers #daffodiline #you know what. if you don't end up reading all of this. i don't blame you lol #tl;dr i highly recommend d20 but if you like game changer there are lots of other things to check out on youtube too!

4 notes · View notes