Sparklypuppy05 - Sparkly's Personal Blog

How To Run Away From Home Masterpost

Ordinarily I’d just push y’all to the main blog, but the likelihood of clickthroughs from Tumblr is low, and I think this is really important information for a lot of folks out there in Tumblrland. This post is LONG.

Here’s the most important info from the HTRAFH series I posted on OSG this week. The OSG proper posts are linked throughout the text.

Where are you going? Who can help you? What do you need?

Not only do you need to pack a bug-out bag with some or all of your life necessities, but you need to be emotionally prepared for the fallout.

This is not an easy decision, and it should not be made lightly. Being completely independent and unsupported by your parents is fucking hard, which is why >70% of runaways go back home within a day. People doubt you and belittle you, it’s hard to get systematic support from schools or social workers, and you’ll be in therapy basically forever. It sucks. But it can be worth it.

Leveraging your freedom with the emotional and social consequences of being parent-free makes running away and life after being kicked out really difficult. When you commit to getting out, you have to make a lot of uncomfortable and difficult decisions that center on: which is worse.

Which is worse: living in a homeless shelter or feeling like a hostage of your family?

Which is worse: getting a crappy job or being financially dependent on family members who use money as a form of control?

Which is worse: uncomfortable conversations with police and social services or enduring abuse?

Make a Plan

What should you plan? How do you even get started?

The most important things you’ll need to know how to find are: housing, money, and support.

If you had to get out of the house in two minutes:

Where can you go?

How can you get there?

What would you do the next day? The next month?

How can you get food?

How can you get money?

What else do you need?

How can you keep from getting dragged back “home”?

Who can and will help you stay away?

Come up with a concrete plan that covers those things. If you can, come up with alternate plans in the event things don’t go the way you thought they would. Your friends’ parents may be generous to let you stay for a week, and they might even feed you when you’re there, but you need to think beyond that.

You can’t live off of other people’s generosity forever. Couch-surfing and crashing with someone rent-free must be a temporary part of your plan.

You’ll want to find long-term housing, whether it’s with a shelter, a hostel, or a transitional living program. At some point you will need money–for shelter, food, health, and fun. Find ways to make a living, even if it’s doing something as passive as taking surveys and watching videos on your phone.

Talk to people. See which friends can help you out, and who can point you in the direction of case workers. Call shelters and social services to ask for help. Apply for grants and financial assistance. You never know who is willing to help until you ask them.

If nothing else, know where to find a homeless shelter and food bank.

Pack Your Bug-Out Bag

What’s a Bug-Out Bag?

It’s a bag that’s ready and waiting for you when you need to get out–whether it’s a temporary relocation or a permanent escape. It’s a term used by the preppers but it’s also used among runaways and throwaways as a bag that has the bare essentials for striking out on your own.

Chances are, you can’t fit everything you need in a single bag–and even more likely, you won’t have access to the things you need to put in a bag. But figuring out exactly what you need is the key to planning a bug-out bag and your immediate future.

When I left home, I had an extra pair of pants and my wallet with a few dollars inside. I didn’t have a phone or a debit card or anything. Now I have a hoarded 300-square-foot apartment–living proof that if you keep pushing through, you will eventually have the material objects you need.

But if you can make a bug-out bag, find a safe space (or several safe spaces) and gather the essentials. If you’re in an abusive situation where your possessions and privacy are strictly controlled or monitored, you’ll have to be extra sneaky.

Good places to hide stuff:

between the mattress and box spring

underwear drawer

coat/pants pockets

bottom of a clothes hamper or trash can

an air vent

friends’ houses

sticks of deodorant

old pill bottles

book/binder safe

potted plants

battery compartments of electronics

What do you need in your Bug-Out Bag?

Anything that you might need or want if you had to get out of the house in less than five minutes. Here is a one-page printable checklist for pre-packing your bug-out bag:

edit: As a youth who was kicked out in a time before cell phones were ubiquitous, I neglected to include a phone on this list. However, if your parents pay for your phone, it can be cut off at any time or be used for blackmail against you. If you can spare the $10, get a burner phone at Walmart for emergencies.

Who Can Help?

What kind of things do you need on your Bug-Out Bag info list? Think about what you’ll need once you’re on your own. Money, food, housing, medical care, emotional support…

Keep a list of all of the people and places that can give you that so you know where to go in the middle of the night. These can be:

friends

family members of friends

your own sympathetic family members

social services/child protective services

the police

hotlines

domestic violence centers

shelters

food banks

employment offices

clinics

college financial aid offices

the library, which can put you in touch with all of the above

Seriously, I cannot emphasize the last one enough. Your local public or school library has so many regional-specific resources available for you if you just ask. If nothing else, the library is a good place to stay during the day when you have nowhere else to go.

Resources

Note: These links are mostly US-specific because that’s where I live. A quick Google search for these service keywords and your country or area will go a long way in finding supportive providers.

Crisis Hotlines and Chat Support

Most crisis help lines can help you out when you plan to run away from home by searching for shelters and case workers for you, or just by talking through the reasons you want to run away from home. They’re a great resource to have on hand when you’re feeling lost.

National Domestic Violence Hotline: resources and support for domestic violence crises

Crisis Text Line: text-based support and counseling and links to additional chat- and hotlines

Crisis Call Center: hotline and text line for youth in crisis

Boys Town: counseling and assistance hotline for youth in crisis

Youth America Hotline: hotline and chat line for youth in crisis

Thursday’s Child: directory of hotlines, text lines, and chat support for youth in crisis [inexplicably has autoplay music]

Abuse Reporting and Recovery

Whether you’re trying to become emancipated, press charges against your parents, or you just need help with the emotional fallout when you run away from home, these organizations can help you find the resources that work for your specific situation.

American Bar Association: find legal help whether you’re pressing charges against a parent or you want to know what your rights are when filing for emancipation.

Cornell University Law School: information about the emancipation process

Safe Place Program: counseling and resources for youth in crisis

Child Welfare League of America: resources and information for crisis youth placement

Family and Youth Services Bureau: family violence services

Prevent Child Abuse America: resources for youth in crisis

Specialized Alternatives for Families & Youth of America: resources and information for reconciliation, foster care, and the juvenile justice system

Homelessness

Shelters gain and lose funding all the time, so it always helps to search for what’s still open in your immediate area. These websites and organizations can help with that search, but again: libraries are often safe spaces and the staff there know what’s in your neighborhood better than a stranger on the internet.

Homeless Shelter Directory: a map and listing for local shelters and transitional housing programs

40 to None: find shelters that are explicitly LGBT and youth-focused

Covenant House: shelter and transitional housing services across the US, Canada, and Latin America

National Coalition for the Homeless: resources and shelter listings

HUD Exchange: resources and information for homelessness

Homelessness Resource Center: information, resources, and training materials for homelessness

Family and Youth Services Bureau: youth homelessness programs database

National Center for Homeless Education: local and state services

Uhlich Children’s Advantage Network: counseling and shelter information (Chicago)

National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth: educational assistance and resources for homeless youth

National Center for Homeless Education: educational assistance and resources for homeless youth and adults

National Network for Youth: information and resources for homeless youth

Transitioning to Independence

Many of the homeless shelters and youth programs listed above have transitional housing programs, but here are two good resources for getting help transitioning to independent living when transitional housing programs aren’t available.

Help When You Need It: connects you with local providers for financial, food, and housing assistance

Year Up: transitional living programs that get you employed and housed within a year

Health and Wellness

Many homeless youth struggle with receiving adequate health care on the streets. These two sites help connect you with general and mental health services in your area, but they are by no means exhaustive lists. Search for free or tiered-payment clinics in your area for local providers.

Health Resources and Services Administration: find clinics and health services in your area

Mental Health America: map of available mental health clinics

General Youth Support

Most helplines and providers focus on immediate problems such as homelessness or abuse, but youth who run away from home have any number of other issues to deal with, from dating to drugs to staying in school. These organizations help supplement the day-to-day drama you have to deal with. Many larger cities also have youth centers, so be sure to search for what’s in your area.

Boys and Girls Club: outreach and after-school programs, as well as counselors and case workers who can connect you with local providers

ReachOut: information and advice for common issues facing youth today

YWCA: programs and services for at-risk youth

CenterLink: LGBT-focused community and youth groups

If you have any additional resources to add to this list, please reblog them or send me an Ask and I’ll update the list here and at OSG.

Imagine - Shadowhunters & Avengers

Imagine the Avengers suddenly being sucked into the war between the Clave and Valentine 

Steve looked between the black haired siblings, “First gods and aliens now demons?” He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Captain Rodgers it’s imperative that you and your team come back to the institute. We need all the help we can get.” Alec, the eldest Lightwood, told Steve. Alec’s eyes roamed the room taking in the sight of the Mundanes mightiest heros. 

“I’m not sure how much of a help we’ll be,” Steve begins but Tony cuts him off. 

“What Capsicle means is that yes we’ll help you. It’ll be fun.”   

gifs not mine

sometimes i wonder how a writer would describe me if i were a character in a book

reblog to add +10 haunting power to your ghost when you die

Jace: u can't bring people back from the dead Clary!!!!1!1!11!

Sam & Dean: *hysterically laughing in the background.*

Writing Traumatic Injuries References

So, pretty frequently writers screw up when they write about injuries. People are clonked over the head, pass out for hours, and wake up with just a headache… Eragon breaks his wrist and it’s just fine within days… Wounds heal with nary a scar, ever…

I’m aiming to fix that.

Here are over 100 links covering just about every facet of traumatic injuries (physical, psychological, long-term), focusing mainly on burns, concussions, fractures, and lacerations. Now you can beat up your characters properly!

General resources

WebMD

Mayo Clinic first aid

Mayo Clinic diseases

First Aid

PubMed: The source for biomedical literature

Diagrams: Veins (towards heart), arteries (away from heart) bones, nervous system, brain

Burns

General overview: Includes degrees

Burn severity: Including how to estimate body area affected

Burn treatment: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees

Smoke inhalation

Smoke inhalation treatment

Chemical burns

Hot tar burns

Sunburns

Incisions and Lacerations

Essentials of skin laceration repair (including stitching techniques)

When to stitch (Journal article–Doctors apparently usually go by experience on this)

More about when to stitch (Simple guide for moms)

Basic wound treatment

Incision vs. laceration: Most of the time (including in medical literature) they’re used synonymously, but eh.

Types of lacerations: Page has links to some particularly graphic images–beware!

How to stop bleeding: 1, 2, 3

Puncture wounds: Including a bit about what sort of wounds are most likely to become infected

More about puncture wounds

Wound assessment: A huge amount of information, including what the color of the flesh indicates, different kinds of things that ooze from a wound, and so much more.

Home treatment of gunshot wound, also basics More about gunshot wounds, including medical procedures

Tourniquet use: Controversy around it, latest research

Location pain chart: Originally intended for tattoo pain, but pretty accurate for cuts

General note: Deeper=more serious. Elevate wounded limb so that gravity draws blood towards heart. Scalp wounds also bleed a lot but tend to be superficial. If it’s dirty, risk infection. If it hits the digestive system and you don’t die immediately, infection’ll probably kill you. Don’t forget the possibility of tetanus! If a wound is positioned such that movement would cause the wound to gape open (i.e. horizontally across the knee) it’s harder to keep it closed and may take longer for it to heal.

Broken bones

Types of fractures

Setting a broken bone when no doctor is available

Healing time of common fractures

Broken wrists

Broken ankles/feet

Fractured vertebrae: Neck (1, 2), back

Types of casts

Splints

Fracture complications

Broken noses

Broken digits: Fingers and toes

General notes: If it’s a compound fracture (bone poking through) good luck fixing it on your own. If the bone is in multiple pieces, surgery is necessary to fix it–probably can’t reduce (“set”) it from the outside. Older people heal more slowly. It’s possible for bones to “heal” crooked and cause long-term problems and joint pain. Consider damage to nearby nerves, muscle, and blood vessels.

Concussions

General overview

Types of concussions 1, 2

Concussion complications

Mild Brain Injuries: The next step up from most severe type of concussion, Grade 3

Post-concussion syndrome

Second impact syndrome: When a second blow delivered before recovering from the initial concussion has catastrophic effects. Apparently rare.

Recovering from a concussion

Symptoms: Scroll about halfway down the page for the most severe symptoms

Whiplash

General notes: If you pass out, even for a few seconds, it’s serious. If you have multiple concussions over a lifetime, they will be progressively more serious. Symptoms can linger for a long time.

Character reaction:

Shock (general)

Physical shock: 1, 2

Fight-or-flight response: 1, 2

Long-term emotional trauma: 1 (Includes symptoms), 2

First aid for emotional trauma

Treatment (drugs)

WebMD painkiller guide

Treatment (herbs)

1, 2, 3, 4

Miscellany

Snake bites: No, you don’t suck the venom out or apply tourniquettes

Frostbite

Frostbite treatment

Severe frostbite treatment

When frostbite sets in: A handy chart for how long your characters have outside at various temperatures and wind speeds before they get frostbitten

First aid myths: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Includes the ones about buttering burns and putting snow on frostbite.

Poisons: Why inducing vomiting is a bad idea

Poisonous plants

Dislocations: Symptoms 1, 2; treatment. General notes: Repeated dislocations of same joint may lead to permanent tissue damage and may cause or be symptomatic of weakened ligaments. Docs recommend against trying to reduce (put back) dislocated joint on your own, though information about how to do it is easily found online.

Muscular strains

Joint sprain

Resuscitation after near-drowning: 1, 2

Current CPR practices: We don’t do mouth-to-mouth anymore.

The DSM IV, for all your mental illness needs.

Electrical shock

Human response to electrical shock: Includes handy-dandy voltage chart

Length of contact needed at different voltages to cause injury

Evaluation protocol for electric shock injury

Neurological complications

Electrical and lightning injury

Cardiac complications

Delayed effects and a good general summary

Acquired savant syndrome: Brain injuries (including a lightning strike) triggering development of amazing artistic and other abilities

Please don’t repost! You can find the original document (also created by me) here.

“But if you forget to reblog Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity.”

Hello! I was wondering if you had any links or tips for writing characters with distinct regional dialects?

Writing Accents and Dialects

Dialogue in fiction: How to write authentic dialects and foreign accents

How to Write Accents and Dialects

How to Give Your Character an Authentic Dialect

The Do’s and Don’ts of Dialects

Writing Dialogue in Accents and Dialect

The Uses and Abuses of Dialect

Dialogue: Writing Dialects and Accents

When Can You Include an Accent and Dialect in Your Dialogue?

Accents and Dialects

Writing Dialects

How to Write Accents and Dialects

Dialect and Contractions in Fiction

Writing Dialect in Fiction: a History and Study

Effective Dialogue: Accents and Dialects

How to Write Dialects, Accents, and Slang

Talking the Talk: Writing in Dialect

🙌💥🥊❣️🗯❣️🥊💥🙌

“i feel confident in myself and my abilities”

like = charge

reblog = cast