#and every student got a free health exam to determine which they were

[dualumina]

Authors: "Okay this omegaverse is going to be fairly realistic. As a result heat suppressors exist, and [insert author's perception of what the average healthcare system is like] which defines how readily available they are."

Healthcare issues reflected in yaoi ✊😔

[basia2002ib]

Profile & summary of my CAS

Learning outcomes

All in all I can say I achieved all learning outcomes. 

1. I identified own strengths and developed areas for growth. I got involved in activities that based on my prevailing skills but opened new ways to develop. Language can be deepened without limits; although I have got a certified C2 level in German I can still develop my skills and I continued to do so throughout my CAS.

2. I have undertaken a range of challenges, for instance passing a C2 exam in German seemed outlandish at first but then I got used to the idea and focused all my efforts to pursuing this goal. And I did it, even though it might seem abstract. I wanted to challenge myself to spice up my life a little bit and grow personally from the process. Now I can see a difference - my German language skills developed to such degree that when I am reading literature in German now I see an immense difference - now I can easily spot nuances and extract the deep meaning.

3. I initiated and planned CAS experiences thoroughly. I am a pragmatic person who tends to stick to the plan because it gives direction. CAS stages came naturally to me, I did not have to force them because they are inherent parts of planning process. My intellectual challenges undertaken in German - 2 competition and one language certificate required detailed planning for adequate preparation. Also my internship in the foundation required planning and time-management skills as I had to combine it with my various initiatives and rigorous IB programme. CAS stages were useful to plan my CAS project as well - I was in MUN staff, which means I coorganized WawMUN 2019.

4. Commitment and perseverance are prerequisite for success. I understand it therefore in every action I take these factors resonate. Otherwise I would accomplish my goals such as honours in German, I would not be able to play volleyball in the first-line up or I would not fulfill my demanding duties throughout my internship effectively. These are only examples of actions where I used my commitment and perseverance to succeed.

5. I saw benefits of working collaboratively during the WawMUN 2019 conference, which I organized as my CAS project but also in my internship in the foundation and my service as a student goverment vice president. In the student government we need to rely on one another and have each other’s back. We do share responsibilities to make sure nothing is neglected. We help each other and in case of emergency may replace one another either during a debate or while discussing issues with the head mistress. Throughout my internship I served as an assistant therefore I needed to adjust to the current responsibilities. I was instructed by more experienced employees all the way and assigned tasks. WawMUN conference is the biggest MUN in Poland therefore the organization process is complicated and required the division of tasks. If we did not trust each other and if we did not share responsibilities, the effect would not be so spectacular. The results showed the benefits of the team work from its best side.

6. I engaged with issues of gloabl significance throughout my CAS project which was co-organizing the MUN conference. Practising debating skills is crucial in today’s world and new generations of politicians have a chance to challenge their capabilities on the conference. The topics discussed in individual commitees touched upon issues of global significance. It is great to give my peers a chance to gain skills, delve into controversial subjects and defend their position. Some of them would probably pursue politics further in life; MUN conferences are truly inspirational in this respect.

7. One of the ethical issues I adressed during my activity as a student government vice president was the animal consumption. To relieve the environment, make my own step to reduce cruelty against animals, at least at the local level, I negotiated with the canteen supervisor to introduce vegan food. Unfortunately it was not possible to serve vegan dinners because of technical diffuculties but vegan sandwiches appeared in the canteen soon after our proposal. This is the way to satisfy needs of people on a plant-based diet but also a way to promote environmentally friendly food, with no associated cruelty.

Creativity

I love literature and foreign languages. Throughout my CAS, I combine this two effectively to follow both of my passions simultaneously. I read and write a lot in German and do far beyond what is required in my school. My goals in German are wide-ranging and not confined to my German B classes, but I challenged myslef to take part in competition and to read German literature. Once I have read “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, “Faust”, “The Visit”, “The Trial” in original and it commenced my relationship with German literature. I was captivated by it to such extent that I made a German classic “The Magic Mountain” the center of my Extended Essay. I also chose “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka to use in my oral exam. Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka are one of my favourite writers of all time and they allow me to trace different nuances of German language. Close analysis of these works of art should involve in my opinion delving into the original work. A valuable experience might be to compare it with the translation, which I did throughout my independent study.

My tangible achievements in German (the evidence for my skills) were: a C2 certificate in German, a disitinction in the translation contest “Juvenes Translatores” organized by the European Commision and a finalist title in the National German Olympiad. I reached my aforementioned goals in 2020. They involved CAS stages. 1. I investigated the area I wanted to deepen my skills in and specific aims I wanted to pursue and these were competitions in German. 2. I prepared my strategy, researched the most respectable competitions and exams I wanted to take part in, signed up for them and planned preparation which was necessary because of huge amounts of school work and limited free time. 3. I took specific action, exposed myself to the language days before the exam and throughout multiple months I was doing practice papers, reading and watching a lot. 4. I realized that by pursuing my passion in German and going beyond the curriculum I freed myself and could really delve into the language. The experience provided me with the sense of purpose - my life was not only concerned with my Diploma syllabus but I could get acquainted with literature and recognized the power of translation in terms of its strong influence on the reception of foreign texts. 

From then onward I worked to maintain my German on the same high level. I should not take it for granted - I am not a native speaker. My accomplishements required huge amounts of work and also talent but might disappear if not cared for properly.

Activity

In the course of my CAS journey I have been active in many disciplines. Sport is one of my few ways to unwind and stop stressing about reality. I think that the limited possibilities to practice sport were one of the major obstacles during the pandemic. I was deprived of my only way to switch off and relax. Before the pandemic I used to swim and play volleyball in a school team every week plus I attended 3 Physical Education classes per week. Now my prefered activities are not possible to pursue because of lockdown which entailed school, sport halls and swimming pool closures. Moreover I am concerned with the virus. At the start of 2020 we managed to take the fouth place in district-wide volleyball competition. My team and I wanted to improve next year but the pandemic unexpectedly shattered my plans. I am grateful, however, for having been given a chance to represent my school in the first line-up. Moreover, I would attend volleyball practice every Saturday.

My PE classes give me a chance to play volleyball, football or do fitness. I enjoy almost every activity that is physically demanding. And I am also great in sport which boosts my motivation. Beyond school, I used to exert myself a lot in swimming and have difficulties to find enjoyment in it. However, I am a really good swimmer and it strengthens my determination, improves posture and health.

Throughout the pandemic, I have been practising sport independently, as it is an extremely important part of my life. However, in the first lockdown in the spring I used to overexert myself doing long and intensive workouts every day on an empty stomach to the point when I got health problems. I had to give it up and switched to another physical activity, less demanding but equally fun: walking. Never before have I taken walks so often as during the pandemic. Now, in the winter lockdown I also go for a walk sometimes.

Service

I began my CAS journey in 2019 with giving tutoring to a primary school student from a underprivileged background. Teaching subjects I am comfortable in (English and German) and his improved grades were reasons for my satisfaction. It required a lot of patience and perseverance as it was extremely difficult to teach him something because firstly he lacked motivation and secondly he had difficulties memorizing. This made it a huge challenge but turned out to be rewarding.

The second half of my first IB year (2020) I sacrificed for my internship (voluntary work) in a foundation.  My scope of activity consisted in the cooperation with the Fundraising Director and the Spokeswoman of the foundation; I had duties related to fundraising and media such as: preparing summaries of the reports from humanitarian missions for fairs in Dubai, translating posts for English social media profiles, collecting data for media reports, translating official requests for the sponsorship, gathering contact details of potential sponsors i.e. big companies and Presidents of the biggest Polish cities, monitoring press mentions.

Throughout 2020 I have also been fulfilling duties of the student government vice president. My team was elected in February 2020 and until now (beginning of 2021) I hold this position. I resolve current problems with the head mistress, co-organize and participate in events e.g. open days, control social media, coordinate logistics. In March we attended an event for student governments across Warsaw. I also tried to organize the Physics conference with my 2 friends in my school but it was cancelled last-minute due to imposed school closure, one week before it was scheduled to take place. Everything had been arranged with lecturers and we had to cancel feeling miserable.

My wide range of CAS activities - other examples

Apart from my core activities which I described, I got involved in numerous other CAS experienced described on this blog. One of the most enriching ones was my participation in the process of creation of a book. I wrote my own essay to a book published this month by my former class teacher. I entitled my work: “School is people: about sparking authenticity and breaking patterns”. I also cooked a lot and published some of my recipes on the blog, wrote to my school newspaper, took part in environmental protests, wrote some poems, some diary entry, practiced Frech, including writing, took many beautiful photos on my trips abroad,... 

I also co-organized WawMUN2019 conference as my CAS project.

[idkmybffpotter]

HP Fic Rec List

Yooooooooo. Ive finally gotten started on making a fic rec list (Im so bad at remembering to save the fics I love).

Here is the start of it! Warning: Most of these fics are epic length, 250k+words. Enjoy!!!

Ps. Please feel free to DM me to talk about any of these! Id love to hear your thoughts!

DRARRY

***Life Cycle Series by WIndseeker2305. https://archiveofourown.org/series/21657

1,402,781 words. #Creatures #Soulmates  #Mpreg, #Abandoned in 3rd book

After a summer of torture with the Dursleys, Harry falls into a self induced magical coma. Draco-who holds a hidden torch for him-jumps in to help. There they meet and decide many things that could very well change the Wizarding World forever.

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Literally my fav story ive ever read everrrr.

***Turn by Saras_Girl https://archiveofourown.org/works/879852/chapters/1692695

306,708 words #Alternate Reality

 ***Leo Inter Serpentes by Aeternum https://archiveofourown.org/series/53590

746,048 words #Complete Series Rewrite #Slytherin Harry

Just one conversation between two eleven year old boys goes slightly differently, and the world changes. Just how much will be different with Harry being sorted into Slytherin, and how much will stay the same?

 ***Saving Connor Series by Lightning on The Wave https://www.fanfiction.net/u/895946/Lightning-on-the-Wave

3,069,375 words

Harry's twin Connor is the Boy Who Lived, and Harry is devoted to protecting him by making himself look ordinary. But certain people won't let Harry stay in the shadows...

 ***Survival is a Talent by ShanaStoryteller https://archiveofourown.org/works/12006417/chapters/27167826

338,714+words #WIP #soulmates #POC

In the middle of their second year, Draco and Harry discover they're soulmates and do their best to keep it a secret from everyone. Their best isn't perfect.

 ***Freedom To Be by Quicksilvermaid https://archiveofourown.org/works/16052705/chapters/37477826

169, 550words #COMPLETE #BDSM

Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived.12 years after the war, he's become the Boy Who Lived For Everyone Else. He has the perfect wife. The perfect house. The perfect job. The perfect friends.Only nothing feels perfect.Until one day he stumbles across a club called Release and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to a very different place.

 ***Brother to Basilisks by Lomonaaeren https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435531/chapters/5393471

595,688+ words AU of PoA. Harry wakes in the night to a voice calling him from somewhere in the castle—and when he follows it, everything changes

 ***Reparations by Saras_Girl https://archiveofourown.org/works/879599/chapters/1692075

87,376 words #Healer Harry

Harry is about to discover that the steepest learning curve comes after Healer training, and that second chances can be found in unexpected places.

 ***Secrets by Vorabiza https://archiveofourown.org/works/8184311/chapters/18751001

395,365 words Beginning with Draco's unexpected arrival at the Dursleys, Harry's summer after sixth year becomes filled with activity and many secrets. As his summer progresses, Harry generates several unexpected allies as he finds himself actively becoming the leader of the Light side.

 ***Being a Veelas Mate by Chereche https://archiveofourown.org/works/7524595/chapters/17103607

399,867words Draco comes into his veela nature early when his mate's life is in danger. Will their unique bond be enough to finally bring peace to the wizarding world?

 ***All Life is Your to Miss by Saras_Girl https://archiveofourown.org/works/825875/chapters/1568057

114,741words #Professor Harry

Professor Malfoy's world is contained, controlled, and as solitary as he can make it, but when an act of petty revenge goes horribly awry, he and his trusty six-legged friend are thrown into Hogwarts life at the deep end and must learn to live, love and let go.

  ***Twist of Fate by Oakstone730 https://archiveofourown.org/works/473335/chapters/819506

302,209 words Draco asks Harry to help him beat the Imperius curse during 4th year. The lessons turn into more than either expected. A story of redemption and forgiveness

 HINNY

***A Second Chance by Breanie https://archiveofourown.org/works/16237082/chapters/37957664

1,714,567 words #WIP

What if Sirius didn't spent twelve years in prison, but was given a trial after four years? Follow the story of Sirius Black as he learns what it means to be a father/brother/guardian to his young godson & the story of Harry Potter, a young boy with a loving home who learns about the Marauders from the two men who should have raised him. M for later. Eventual Hinny.

 JEDDY

***Couldn’t Get Better They Say by JadePresley https://archiveofourown.org/works/14119629/chapters/32535660

78,611 words #NoMagic #TextingFic

A boy texts the wrong number late one night. Another boy replies. Chaos ensues. Or, The one where James is too caught up in his career to be the person he wants to be, Teddy drinks too much to avoid his past, Albus wears terrible hats, Lily is a badass, and Gavin is the star of the show.

 ***Chances by TheProdigyPenguin https://archiveofourown.org/works/21166652/chapters/50379941

78,761words #COMPLETE

Teddy has lived in France with his grandmother for his entire life, living unaware of his past or the significance of his parent's lives, cut short at the end of the war. He lives blissfully ignorant of the life he was meant to have in England, until his grandmother dies shortly after his twenty-seventh birthday, and the discovery of letters written by an estranged godfather he never knew he had leads him back to his families home, searching for answers but in the end finding more than he'd ever expected or hoped.

 SCORBUS

***Its Tea Time by Ellizablue https://archiveofourown.org/series/538465

872,002+ #WIP #Trilogy

 SEVERITUS

***Blood by Lord of Chaos https://archiveofourown.org/works/3089927/chapters/6696266

466,835words Harry's sent reeling when he learns that Professor Snape is his bio dad, and if that were all he had to deal with, he'd probably be all right, but he's got werewolves, escaped convicts, a stubborn Dark Lord, and his own inner demons to deal with. Starts third year. Rating mostly for violence. Story deals with mental health, bigotry and child abuse. 

 ***Digging for bones by paganaidd https://archiveofourown.org/works/598019/chapters/1078847

203,178 words

Rather than allowing Harry to stay at Diagon Alley after he blew up Aunt Marge, the Ministry sends Harry back to the Dursleys. Harry returns to school after a terrible summer, to find that he's not the only one with this kind of secret. A student has been killed by his family. New screening measures are put into place by the Ministry: Every student must be given a medical exam and interview to look for child abuse. With Dumbledore facing an inquiry, Snape is entrusted with the task of making sure EVERYONE receives one.

 ***Broken Mind Series by SensiblyTainted https://archiveofourown.org/works/8873683/chapters/20344381

864,245 words #Mental Health Issues #Multiple Personaity Disorder #Abuse

Harry Potter watched his mother die when he was fifteen months old, a piece of Voldemort's soul invaded his own, Vernon abused him, Petunia tore him to shreds with her hateful words, and Lockhart molested him throughout Second-year. After all that trauma, is it any wonder Harry created multiple personalities to deal with it all? In Harry's third year, Severus Snape decides to do something about it. He gives Harry therapy in secret, and this opens Harry up to a friendship with Neville Longbottom, another victim of Lockhart's perversions, and Draco Malfoy who can understand Harry's Slytherin alter better than anyone else.

 ***A Year Like None Other by aspeninthesunlight https://archiveofourown.org/works/742072/chapters/1382061

789,589 words

A letter from home? A letter from family? Well, Harry Potter knows he has neither, but all the same, it starts with a letter from Surrey. Whatever the Durleys have to say, it can't be anything good, so Harry's determined to ignore it. But then, his evil schoolmate rival spots the letter and his slimy excuse for a teacher intercepts it and forces him to read it. And that sends Harry down a path he'd never have walked on his own.

 SNARRY

***Gift of Kindness by Hippocrates460 https://archiveofourown.org/works/14656377/chapters/33859731

105,872words #COMPLETE #soulmates #courting rituals

When Harry arrives at Hogwarts, everything is overwhelming. Luckily he makes some friends, Hagrid who took him to Diagon Alley, Ron who he met on the train, and Severus, who explains why they have to pretend to hate each other. This story spans 7 years, during which Severus and Harry get to know each other and find understanding.

 TOMARRY

***Descent into Darkness by Athey https://www.wattpad.com/story/179650625-harry-potter-and-the-descent-into-darkness

https://www.wattpad.com/684682449-harry-potter-and-the-breeding-darkness-prologue

It's Harry's 4th year at Hogwarts and his name has just come out of the Goblet of Fire. Everyone has abandoned him and he feels utterly alone. Through an accident Harry and the piece of Voldemort's soul that resides inside him begin to interact and Harry slowly begins to change. He becomes stronger and more aware, and slowly grows aware of a more sinister course of events that has perpetuated his entire life.

 WOLFSTAR

***Sweater weather by lumosinlove

74,493words+ #WIP #NoMagicAU Remus works for the Gryffindor Lions as a physical trainer, and has been half in love with Sirius Black, the Lions' heartthrob captain, for a while now, but he never expected Sirius to return the feelings. Read if you like cute nicknames, slow burn, and pining. Yep. That's it.

***Soltnse by lumosinlove https://archiveofourown.org/works/17186087/chapters/40408559

61,997 words #COMPLETE #NoMagicAU Sirius, a young Russian billionaire hires Remus, who is working part time as a call boy to make ends meet. Things happen, feelings occur

.

***Text Talk by merlywhirls https://archiveofourown.org/works/1651109/chapters/3501239

141,250 words #NoMagicAU

Sirius is in boarding school, Remus is in hospital, and they don't know each other until Sirius texts the wrong number.

 ***Casting Moonshadows by moonsign https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3378356/1/Casting-Moonshadows

393,500 words #WIP #ANGST

Lonely and outcast by his classmates, Remus wishes on a moonshadow for a friend who understands him. To his amazement his wish is not only answered once, but three times by his former enemies, the Marauders.

 ***Of Leaves and Stars by irrationalmoony, lady amina https://archiveofourown.org/works/6535114/chapters/14950924

266,476words #Texting Fic #WIP

Almost a year out of Hogwarts, Lily finally manages to convince Sirius and James to get more acquainted with muggle technology and buy phones. Sirius, of course, texts the wrong number.

  RANDOM PAIRINGS

Harry/Sirius/Remus:

 ***To See The Human Soul Take Wing by Maeglin Yedi 227,394 words

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007970/chapters/1999281

#Werewolf Harry #Friendly Vampires This is actually the 3rd

book in the series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Harry's final year at Hogwarts is filled with secrets, old enemies and new threats. Unable to share his current life with his friends, Harry has to put his faith in the unlikeliest of allies to find a way to defeat Voldemort while his love for Sirius and Remus is repeatedly put to the test.

   Hermione/Sirius

***Debt of Time by Shayalonnie

https://archiveofourown.org/series/760443

715,940 words #COMPLETE #Time Travel

When Hermione finds a way to bring Sirius back from the veil, her actions change the rest of the war. Little does she know her spell restoring him to life provokes magic she doesn't understand and sets her on a path that ends with a Time-Turner.

  Severus Snape/OMC

*** Of A Linear Circle by flamethrower

https://archiveofourown.org/series/755028

1,428,885words #WIP #Long Series #Time Travel

In September of 1971, Severus Snape finds a forgotten portrait of the Slytherin family in a dark corner of the Slytherin Common Room. At the time, he has no idea that talking portrait will affect the rest of his life.

  Harry/Theo/Charlie/OMCs

***There Be Dragons Harry by Scioneeris

https://archiveofourown.org/works/485605/chapters/845701

919,721words #WIP #Creature Inheritance

Harem!Fic Harry inherits a creature "thing" from both sides of his parents and somehow that leads to weird sleeping habits, conversations with Theodore Nott and finding himself caught up in a world of Dragons, elemental powers and new creatures he's never heard of before. Dragons? Mates? Very AU. Contains all kinds of slash.

  Scorpius/Rose 

 ***Ignite by Slide (JustSlide)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6470272/chapters/14810293

191,497 words

A mysterious illness leaving a handful of uninfected. A school in quarantine, isolated from the outside world. Danger on all sides, striking seemingly at random. And, at the heart of it all, Scorpius Malfoy, the only man to believe this is a part of a wider, dangerous plot

  ***Raindrops on Roses by backinyourbox

https://archiveofourown.org/works/373224/chapters/608435

301,383 words

Beginning immediately after the Epilogue, this story follows Scorpius, Rose and Albus through their Hogwarts years and beyond. Childish fears and desires soon turn to more serious dilemmas as some members of the Ravenclaw trio are forced to grow up too soon. Albus wants to be remembered for being something other than Harry Potter's son. Scorpius knows his father expects him to follow in his footsteps, but how long can he keep his friends, his music and his OWL in Muggle Studies a secret? And Rose has yet to decide what she wants...

  Harry Potter/George Weasley Looking Beyond by Shini_amaryllis

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3178778/chapters/6905645

674,719 #COMPLETE #FEM!Harry

The first thing everyone noticed about Hope Potter was that she may have had her mother's face, but she had her father's penchant for causing trouble or somehow finding it. It only made sense that she would fall for a prankster, and it only made sense that danger was attracted to her very scent. Somehow, she was going to prove she was more than just the Girl-Who-Lived

  Harry Potter/Avengers Crossover

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1369690/chapters/2902480

324570 #Loki is Harrys Dad #Just Read it I promise its great

In the several millennia he had existed Loki Odinson, Norse God of Mischief and Lies, had been many things, he had been a liar, a warrior, and a trickster, just to name a few, but never before, in his thousands of years of existence had he been a loving father, but all it took was a single glance at the perfect little creature before him and he knew, he was gone.

[craniuum]

ob/gyn, AKA this is a man’s man’s man’s world [but it would be nothing without a woman or a girl] (11/4/19 - 12/12/19)

i am going to be perfectly blunt and say that i’m a 24 year old female who has never been to an ob/gyn doctor before. there’s a LOT of reasons for this - being too scared to be so vulnerable with a healthcare provider, not going to the doctor regularly for any issues in general, following the example set by my mother who also does not regularly see an ob doc, repressed indian upbringing where anything remotely related to sexual health is taboo, etc etc etc - and it’s worked for me (so far). however, these past 6 weeks, i was able to spend a lot of time around a vulnerable female patient population who had no other healthcare options except for our clinic, and it’s given me a considerable change in perspective. 

let me set the scene: the clinic i was at had the only 2 ob/gyn providers within at least a 50 mile radius. it was located in rural southwest georgia. our patients on average were at a middle-school reading level. and above all, the 2 providers who were there both happened to be old... and male.

i’ve posted about how i strongly believe that ob/gyn should be a space free from cis men - mainly because i feel that at the end of the day, it is impossible for them to truly relate to the experiences lived by a patient who requires the care of an ob/gyn physician. and for most of my rotation, my attending didn’t do anything to challenge my belief. a few choice examples:

from day 1, he actively discouraged me from using lubricant for my speculum exam because it was a waste of time (.......literally going against everything i’d learned in school up until then)

we had a young-ish patient in her 40s with pelvic pain so intense that she was desperate for a hysterectomy (having her uterus entirely removed). my attending repeatedly called her “crazy lady” to me because he felt that her pain really wasn’t that bad because we couldn’t find anything on her imaging. we did end up performing a hysterectomy for her but he never stopped calling her crazy lady...

we had a pregnant patient who happened to be very obese (she weighed about 550 pounds) and he called her “big lady *last name*” to my face...

the town i was in had circles of very young teens who would have sex with each other and all get pregnant (a phenomenon my attending called “pregnancy circles”).... when he first told me about this he joked about how i should write a journal article about this phenomenon, as if the lack of adequate education in this part of the country was something to be ogled at??? 

the other attending was no better.... i worked with him only a few times but within those few times i saw him judge patients to their faces for not being able to recognize period blood, blatantly ignore questions that confused patients would ask him, and in his spare time he’d rant about why medicaid was bad and how all democrats are insane (i really don’t know why he thought i’d be the best audience for a conversation like that lmao).

i hadn’t had a rotation up until then that would fill me with physical dread every morning on my drive there, but this one really came close. for me, what made these six weeks worth it were - a) being able to do a lot as a medical student during surgeries/procedures since i’ve found that i love doing things with my hands, b) being part of the journey to welcome new life into the world (i teared up during literally every delivery i saw because i’m soft), and c) it was a reminder of how strong and resilient women really are.

i remember meeting one patient with fibroids (the largest one being the size of a football) who was determined to have kids one day, despite my attending telling her it would be nearly impossible. another patient i got to meet had gotten her tubes tied without her consent back when she lived in haiti, but she was still able to get pregnant thanks to in vitro fertilization and the excitement she’d felt when i shared her estimated delivery date was one of the most inspirational things i got to witness. so many of our patients came in with abnormal or dysfunctional bleeding, and despite the fact that there wasn’t much we could do besides offer hormones to reset their menstrual cycles, they’d always leave determined and hopeful.

ultimately, although there was a lot that i didn’t like about my rotation, this did get me feeling more passionate about women’s health and my empathy for women living in underserved areas has grown exponentially. i’ve ruled up ob/gyn in the long list of specialties i’m interested in (which already consists of peds, surgery, neuro, and heme/onc..... rip) but above all, this has encouraged me to advocate for female patients no matter what specialty i end up going into. 2019 was the first year that more women than men are enrolled in medical school in the U.S., and i hope this trend will translate into more compassionate care for women in the future.  

[paulbenedictblog]

%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Cnn news Coronavirus live updates: Trump Europe travel ban begins Friday, states close schools

Cnn news

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There are at the least 2,028 confirmed circumstances of COVID-19 in the U.S. and 48 coronavirus-connected deaths, in accordance with knowledge compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and ABC Files reporting.

Globally there are over 137,000 circumstances and over 5,000 deaths.

Tune into ABC Files Stay at noon ET every weekday for the most novel files, context and prognosis on the radical coronavirus, with sources from the total ABC Files group.

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12: 21 a.m. Trump physician says quarantine, COVID-19 test 'no longer currently indicated' for president

No topic coming into contact with more than one these which were recognized with the coronavirus, President Donald Trump's physician acknowledged late Friday evening that a apartment quarantine or COVID-19 test are "no longer currently indicated."

Final week while internet hosting the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, Trump got right here in shut contact with at the least two these that later examined definite for the virus, in accordance with Trump physician Dr. Sean Conley.

One person ultimate had a temporary interaction with the president --a handshake and photograph-- and commenced to showcase indicators three days after the interaction. The opposite shared a table with the president, nonetheless Conley acknowledged that person changed into as soon as symptom-free unless Friday. Each interactions are defined as "low risk" for transmission, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Management and Prevention.

"Given the president himself remains without indicators, making an strive out for COIVD-19 will not be any longer currently indicated," Conley wrote Friday. "I will continue to scrupulously video display and contend with the president."

9: 43 p.m. Montana, Puerto Rico converse 1st circumstances

There is now ultimate one teach in the U.S. without a coronavirus case.

Montana announced its first four presumptive circumstances on Friday evening, that method the acceptable teach no longer to converse one is West Virginia. The four circumstances encompass one man in his 40s, two males of their 50s and one girl in her 50s.

"We have got been monitoring this like a flash evolving danger and vigorously getting willing for COVID-19 to reach Montana, making at the present time’s files unsurprising," Montana Gov. Steve Bullock acknowledged. "As our public health officials work relentlessly to forestall extra unfold, I help all Montanans to continue efforts to earn 22 situation and note public health solutions to rob the right precautions."

Puerto Rico moreover announced its first three confirmed circumstances. A 71-year-worn man from San Juan examined definite, along with a 68-year-worn girl -- in most cases known as an Italian resident -- and her husband, 70. All were listed in stable condition, in accordance with the governor's office.

9: 17 p.m. 2nd death reported in Santa Clara County, Calif.

A lady in her 80s from Santa Clara County, California, who had been hospitalized on March 9, died on Friday to impress the second death in the county.

"The Public Neatly being Division is saddened to half this files and expresses its condolences to her family," the county health division acknowledged.

The death changed into as soon as the fifth in California, second-most in the U.S. in the help of Washington.

It changed into as soon as moreover at the least the 48th total death in the nation.

8: 43 p.m. Agreement on bill comes in the end

After a temporary delay following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement of a coronavirus funding bill, the president tweeted that his administration had arrive to an agreement with the Democratic chief.

"I entirely toughen H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which is in a place to be voted on in the House this evening. This Bill will note my path completely free CoronaVirus exams, and paid in bad health leave for our impacted American workers," President Donald Trump tweeted.

7: 45 p.m. No deal on Families First Coronavirus Response Act?

Now not up to an hour after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that an agreement had been reached with the Trump administration regarding the coronavirus help bill that changed into as soon as proposed this week, the brakes are being pumped on the deal.

A senior White House legitimate told ABC Files that the bill changed into as soon as silent being reviewed, which changed into as soon as echoed by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

"I private they thought there were some things in there that weren't in there or vice versa," he acknowledged as he walked to the speaker’s office.

Hoyer says Democrats may perchance perchance maybe perchance silent vote on their bill tonight: "We have got bought a in actual fact wonderful bill. I desire to lift it to the bottom. I desire to trudge it tonight, ship it to the Senate, so that they'll act on it as soon as conceivable.”

Some provisions launched in the legislation encompass providing emergency paid in bad health leave for 2 weeks and family and scientific leave up to 3 months, rising SNAP advantages for households to manage to pay for food that teenagers would infrequently ranking at college and increases in federal funds for Medicaid.

The funds proposed for the bill will arrive from an $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus spending bundle proposed earlier this month.

7: 41 p.m. Consumer Financial Security Bureau uncovered to virus

The U.S. Consumer Financial Security Bureau, a federal company tasked with retaining American customers shopping monetary merchandise and services and products, is ordering its workers in Washington, D.C., and New York Metropolis to reach industry from dwelling by approach to the dwell of subsequent week due to "possible exposure."

In an email got by ABC Files, workers were told the switch changed into as soon as foremost "because now we enjoy got experiences of possible exposure to COVID-19 from those that work or were in these locations.”

It be at the least the second federal building closure this week. Earlier this week, the Securities and Alternate Commission's office directed its workers to telework due to a suspected case keen certainly one of its workers.

The areas of work shall be "deep cleaned subsequent week and obtain accurate of entry to to the building is proscribed," the email said.

The show applies to all workers who enjoy telework agreements in each its Washington, D.C., headquarters and its New York regional office. Agency workers at other locations are encouraged to "blueprint full exercise of all office flexibilities, especially telework," the email said.

6: 15 p.m. New York Metropolis mayor retains public colleges start

As public, deepest and structure colleges across the nation enjoy announced closing amid the rising experiences of coronavirus, New York Metropolis Mayor Bill de Blasio continues to push help on shutting down the New York Metropolis's educational services and products.

At a press convention on Friday afternoon, de Blasio reported that 89% of faculty students were in attendance on Monday, nonetheless by the dwell of the week the payment dropped to 68%.

There changed into as soon as moreover a microscopic uptick of trainer absences.

As of Friday, at the least 46,000 colleges nationwide are closed, are scheduled to shut or were closed and later reopened, affecting at the least 26 million college students, in accordance with Training Week.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down the public colleges in New Rochelle -- in the epicenter of New York's COVID-19 outbreak -- on Tuesday for 2 weeks.

The superintendent of Denver Public Colleges made a "hard determination" on Thursday to boost spring spoil from March 16 unless April 7.

Florida and Wisconsin public colleges were shut down on Friday for the leisure of the month, while the governor of Louisiana closed all public colleges unless April 13.

Boston announced it changed into as soon as closing public colleges late Friday, joining other predominant cities, like Houston, Miami, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles, which enjoy instituted closings for an prolonged period of time.

6: 12 p.m. Idaho experiences 1st new coronavirus case

The Division of Neatly being and Welfare and Gov. Brad Miniature announced that Idaho has its first COVID-19 affected person.

The affected person is a lady over 50 from Ada County who returned from a convention in New York the place three people from the match examined definite for coronavirus. The girl contacted her doctor, and a laboratory test later confirmed she has the virus.

"She is self-keeping apart at dwelling and is doing successfully," acknowledged Elke Shaw-Tulloch with the Idaho Division of Public Neatly being at a press convention.

Now, the acceptable U.S. states that have not reported circumstances are Montana and West Virginia.

5: 32 p.m. 6 extra deaths reported in Washington

The death toll in the U.S. rose to at the least 47 on Friday as Washington teach announced six more deaths.

The teach has by far the most deaths of any in the nation: 37.

Thirty-two people enjoy died in King County, with five novel reported deaths on Friday, while the sixth death changed into as soon as reported in Snohomish County, officials acknowledged.

No extra small print were given on these that died.

5: 27 p.m. Customer at Mar-a-Lago fundraiser examined definite for COVID-19

A guest who attended a fundraiser match on behalf of President Donald Trump's advertising and marketing campaign on Sunday has examined definite for the coronavirus, in accordance with an email got by ABC Files.

"We sadly write at the present time to recount you that an attendee at the Trump Victory-backed match you attended at Mar-a-Largo on Sunday, March 8," the joint committee between the Trump advertising and marketing campaign and Republican Nationwide Committee wrote in an email despatched at the present time.

Whereas the overall Trump family changed into as soon as at the match, a senior advertising and marketing campaign legitimate tells ABC Files the donor did not work along with the president.

"The attendee had no swear interaction with the president or the most important family at this match and the VP did not serve this match," an RNC legitimate acknowledged.

A Brazilian legitimate who met with Trump while at the resort on March 7 moreover examined definite.

4: 56 p.m. All predominant amusement parks in Florida closed

Beginning on Monday, all predominant theme parks in Florida shall be closed by approach to the dwell of the month.

Tampa-basically basically based Busch Gardens acknowledged in a statement on Friday that this will perchance be closed unless April as a result of worldwide pandemic.

"In some unspecified time in the future of this time our animal care experts will continue to look after the health, safety and nutritional wants of the animals in our care," the statement learn. "Our animal rescue and rehabilitation operations will moreover continue to operate."

Busch Gardens is section of the SeaWorld family of companies. SeaWorld closed all of its parks -- in Orlando, Florida; San Diego and San Antonio -- earlier in the day.

Disney World and Normal closed its parks on Thursday.

4: 53 p.m. Colorado experiences the 1st death

An 80-year-worn girl is the most important person in Denver with the coronavirus to die, public health officials acknowledged.

"Whereas we were looking ahead to at the second, it would not blueprint it any less hard to hear and half this files," acknowledged Governor Jared Polis in a statement. "As a teach we're in mourning and our hearts exit to the family and relatives of the Coloradan we lost."

The girl, who lived in El Paso County, had underlying health stipulations.

4: 23 p.m.: Valuable cruise lines hunch voyages for up to 30 days

Norwegian Cruise Traces and Royal Caribbean Cruises announced voluntary suspension of all cruises space to embark all around the following 30 days.

"The protection, security and successfully-being of our mates and crew is our highest precedence," acknowledged Frank Del Rio, president and chief govt officer of Norwegian, in a statement issued on Friday.

All recent trips on Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises will dwell straight and mates on board shall be disembarked and assisted with scuttle arrangements.

Norwegian Cruise Traces will continue services and products after April 11.

Royal Caribbean cruises will moreover hunch cruises for the following 30 days, nonetheless will enable mates on cruises that departed U.S. ports sooner than middle of the evening Friday and worldwide cruises to continue their scheduled itineraries. Ships that already left U.S. ports and are at sea will function their itineraries as planned.

Guests with upcoming trips all by approach to the suspension dates are requested to contact their scuttle agent or the cruise line for more knowledge on refund affords.

3: 37 p.m.: Trump broadcasts national emergency

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday which he acknowledged "will start up obtain accurate of entry to to up to $50 billion" to fight COVID-19.

"The secretary of HHS [Health and Human Services] shall be in a place to appropriate away waive provisions of acceptable licensed pointers and regulations to give doctors, hospitals, all hospitals and health care companies maximum flexibility to answer to the virus and contend with sufferers," Trump acknowledged at the White House.

Trump moreover announced deepest sector partnerships to "tempo up our capability to test for the coronavirus."

"We desire to blueprint obvious these that need a test can obtain a test very safely, like a flash and conveniently," the president acknowledged.

The FDA current a novel test from Roche Diagnostics which is expected to blueprint "up to half a million extra exams" "on hand early subsequent week," Trump acknowledged.

Trump acknowledged the FDA moreover hopes to authorize an application from Thermo Fisher within 24 hours, which he acknowledged would obtain 1.4 million more exams subsequent week and 5 million within a month.

"On the same time, now we were in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to blueprint power-by approach to exams on hand in the serious locations," he acknowledged.

3: 15 p.m.: Los Angeles, San Diego, Pennsylvania, West Virginia colleges shut

All Pennsylvania colleges will shut for 10 industry days starting on March 16 to strive to conclude the unfold of COVID-19, the governor announced.

California's two biggest college districts, the Los Angeles Unified College District and the San Diego Unified College District, will shut their doorways on Monday. The two districts educate more than 750,000 college students blended.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced he'll shut his teach's public colleges, saying the "dangers outweigh the nice."

West Virginia is great certainly one of three states, along with Idaho and Montana, without any confirmed coronavirus circumstances.

2: 17 p.m.: New York circumstances waft to 421

New York teach now has 421 confirmed circumstances of coronavirus, the very ultimate in the nation, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged.

That total involves 154 people in New York Metropolis, he acknowledged.

Of the 421 people, 50 are in the scientific institution, the governor acknowledged.

"There shall be tens of thousands of circumstances," he warned. "My bet is there are thousands of circumstances or these that had coronavirus, didn’t even know they had the coronavirus, had indicators, resolved, moved on, and by no method knew they had it."

1: 53 p.m.: Italy fatalities jump by 250 in 24 hours

Italy saw 250 more fatalities from the coronavirus in precisely 24 hours, the Italian Civil Security Authorities acknowledged Friday.

That brings the total number of infected in Italy to 17,660 for the reason that outbreak began on Feb. 21, and the number of connected deaths to 1,266.

1: 05 p.m.: Miami mayor exams definite

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez acknowledged Friday that he has coronavirus.

The mayor added that he feels "fully wholesome and stable" and can "remain isolated while I lead our government remotely."

"If we did not shake hands otherwise you did not arrive into contact with me -- if I coughed or sneezed -- there may perchance be not any action it is possible you'll maybe just want to rob the least bit," Suarez acknowledged in a statement. "If we did, then as soon as more, touch or shake hands, or if I sneezed or coughed come you since Monday, it is miles strongly urged that you just self-isolate for 14 days, nonetheless you succeed in no longer want to obtain examined."

Suarez attended events in Miami on Monday and Tuesday with a Brazilian government legitimate who later examined definite for coronavirus, a metropolis of Miami spokesperson told ABC Files.

The mayor gave welcoming remarks each cases nonetheless did not exercise any vital quantity of time with the Brazilian delegation at both match, the spokesperson acknowledged.

Trump moreover met with that Brazilian legitimate over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago.

12: 11 p.m.: Europe now 'epicenter'

World Neatly being Group Director Total Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged, "Europe has now become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more reported circumstances and deaths than the leisure of the enviornment blended, other than China."

He told other countries on Friday to have a look at the actions taken by "China, South Korea, Singapore and others," which, he acknowledged, "clearly demonstrates that aggressive making an strive out and talk to tracing, blended with social-distancing measures and neighborhood mobilization, can prevent COVID-19 infections and set lives."

"Our message to countries continues to be: You would just want to rob a comprehensive method. Now not making an strive out alone. Now not contact tracing alone. Now not quarantine alone. Now not social distancing alone. Enact all of it," he acknowledged. "Any nation that looks to be at the abilities of different countries with orderly epidemics and thinks 'that received’t happen to us' is making a deadly mistake. It will happen to anyone."

11: 25 a.m.: Drive-by approach to cell making an strive out heart opens in exhausting-hit New Rochelle

New York teach's first power-by approach to COVID-19 cell making an strive out heart opened in the metropolis of New Rochelle Friday.

The heart will test up to 200 people on Friday and that number may perchance perchance maybe perchance reach 500 per day, the governor acknowledged.

A one-mile radius "containment earn 22 situation" changed into as soon as established in New Rochelle to strive to conclude the virus from spreading.

10: 25 a.m.: Boston Marathon postponed

The 2020 Boston Marathon is postponed unless Monday, Sept. 14, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Friday.

9: 43 a.m.: Sen. Ted Cruz extends quarantine

Sen. Ted Cruz has determined to boost his self-quarantine.

Whereas the senator's elected self-quarantine ended Thursday afternoon, he acknowledged he then learned Thursday evening that "he had a second interaction" with somebody who examined definite for coronavirus on Thursday.

"On March 3, I met in my D.C. office with Santiago Abascal, the chief of the Vox Party in Spain. We met for approximately 20 minutes, sitting collectively at a convention table. We shook hands twice and took photos collectively," Cruz acknowledged in a statement Friday. "My working out is that Mr. Abascal examined definite for COVID-19 final evening. His workers enjoy educated us that he changed into as soon as asymptomatic at the time of our assembly and that loads of days after our assembly he had prolonged interactions with one more particular person who has moreover examined definite."

“I’m silent no longer feeling any indicators," Cruz went on. "But, for the same reasons I before the total lot self-quarantined—out of an abundance of caution and to give all people peace of mind—I'm extending the self-quarantine to March 17, a full fourteen days from my assembly with Mr. Abascal."

Cruz is unquestionably one of 9 individuals of Congress who enjoy elected to self-quarantine.

7: 45 a.m.: DC public colleges to shut

Washington, D.C., public colleges will shutter from Monday, March 16, by approach to the dwell of the month, acknowledged Mayor Muriel Bowser.

After spring spoil subsequent week, college students will learn by approach to "distance learning" the leisure of the month, the mayor acknowledged.

Teenagers can enjoy obtain accurate of entry to to meals on the times colleges are closed, the mayor acknowledged.

7: 34 a.m.: Australian legitimate exams definite after assembly with Ivanka Trump

Australia's minister for dwelling affairs, Peter Dutton, acknowledged Friday he's shriveled coronavirus, one week after he changed into as soon as considered assembly with President Trump's daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, in Washington, D.C.

Dutton acknowledged in a statement, "I in actual fact feel rapid-witted and can present an change in due path."

Dutton "changed into as soon as asymptomatic all by approach to the interaction" with Ivanka Trump, White House spokesman Judd Deere acknowledged in a statement Friday.

"Exposures from the case were assessed and the White House Scientific Unit confirmed, in line with CDC steerage, that Ivanka is exhibiting no indicators and would not want to self-quarantine," Deere acknowledged. "She worked from dwelling at the present time out of an abundance of caution unless steerage changed into as soon as given."

Attorney Total William Barr changed into as soon as moreover at the assembly with Dutton and Ivanka Trump.

A Justice Division spokesman acknowledged Barr is "staying dwelling" Friday.

"The AG is feeling gargantuan and no longer exhibiting any indicators," the spokesperson acknowledged, collectively with that the "CDC will not be any longer recommending he be examined at this point."

7: 16 a.m. Fauci says unfold will "obtain worse sooner than it gets better"

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told "Appropriate Morning The united states" Friday that the coronavirus unfold will "obtain worse sooner than it gets better."

"There is puny doubt that now we enjoy got no longer peaked but," Fauci acknowledged.

"It shall be at the least a topic of loads of weeks. It be unpredictable, nonetheless when you look at historically how these objects work, this will just possible be wherever from about a weeks to up to eight weeks," Fauci acknowledged. "I'm hoping or no longer it will possible be in the sooner section, two, three, four weeks, nonetheless or no longer it is very no longer going to blueprint an wonderful prediction."

Fauci told Individuals to adapt to physically keeping apart, calling it "certainly one of many very efficient methods it is possible you'll maybe in actual fact mitigate the unfold."

As many Individuals impart they don't appear to be getting obtain accurate of entry to to COVID-19 exams, Fauci told "GMA": "I private in the following week or so that you just're gonna glimpse an acceleration in the provision of exams."

As for when people can enjoy to hunt files from making an strive out, Fauci urged that the public note the pointers of the Centers for Disease Management and Prevention (CDC).

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and the best method one can guard your self: coronavirus defined

What to reach when it is possible you'll maybe just enjoy indicators: coronavirus indicators

Tracking the unfold in the US and worldwide: coronavirus plot

5: 42 a.m. Charles Barkley in self-quarantine, expecting COVID-19 test outcomes

NBA Hall of Famer and TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley announced Thursday evening that he's self-quarantining and is expecting outcomes from a coronavirus test.

Barkley, in a telephone interview along with his co-hosts of “NBA on TNT,” acknowledged he felt in bad health after returning to Atlanta from a day out in New York Metropolis.

“I talked to a pair people at Turner and a pair doctors and they told me to self-quarantine for the following 48 hours. I started the day earlier than at the present time, right here is my second day," Barkley acknowledged.

“I haven’t been feeling gargantuan and they didn’t desire me to rob any prospects ... I went and took the coronavirus test late this afternoon, I in actual fact enjoy no longer gotten the outcomes help," he acknowledged. "So I’m wonderful kinda in limbo wonderful now. I’m in actual fact hoping it changed into as soon as wonderful a malicious program.”

The NBA is suspending the 2019-2020 season as a result of coronavirus. NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged Thursday evening play may perchance perchance maybe perchance be suspended for no lower than 30 days and the league intends to resume play this season when or no longer it is protected.

3: 18 a.m. Oregon, Michigan shut all colleges

Officers in Oregon and Michigan acknowledged Thursday evening they are closing all K-12 colleges in an strive to late the unfold of the coronavirus.

Oregon colleges shall be shut down by approach to the dwell of March while Michigan colleges shall be closed unless at the least April 5.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown acknowledged she understands the burden closing colleges places on households and college students, nonetheless the switch changed into as soon as foremost for public safety.

Ohio's public, deepest and structure colleges shall be closed from March 17 by approach to April 3, while all public colleges in Maryland shall be closed from March 16 to March 27.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has ordered all deepest and public colleges to shut for six weeks in three counties: Snohomish, King and Pierce. Courses have to dwell no later than March 17 and remain closed unless April 24.

ABC Files' Kirit Radia, Josh Hoyos, Will Gretsky, John Santucci, Josh Margolin, Jordyn Phelps, Katherine Faulders, Scott Withers, Anne Flaherty and Kelly McCarthy contributed to this file.

[dontmindmedear]

Rare Pair Dragon Rider AU

Notes:

pairings may be changed to one’s liking, but keeping them rare pairs would be preferable

individual stories and story development is free for interpretation and changeable

Seriously, this is all just a raw draft. Change it as you like

tbh I just thought this up bc I wanted Bokuto to fuck Oikawa with golden glowing Dragon eyes. Sue me

Dragons:

females:

wild ones live away from humans, in peace. humans don’t hurt them, they stay away from what belongs to humans. occasionally one of them brings an egg to a breeder station on the outskirts as a present and sign of friendship. in exchange, the baby will be brought back to its wild flock if they can't seem to be integrated

living in the breeder station: most of them were born here. by the time they were able to decide whether to get paired with a rider or stay, they developed the desire to breed or take care of young ones. others didn’t want to leave their breeders side, as the breeders have a closer Relationship with them as they have with the male dragons (after all they need their absolute trust for when their instincts run wild during pregnancy)

a female that chose the rider way mostly ends up in the teaching area after obligatory military service, since they calm the young once easier, or are in the spy area.

males:

wild ones protect their flocks. do not fight. do not tease. do not underestimate. do not walk too close. they will fight to death if they feel threatened. they rarely go close to human areas.

breeded ones need to go to the academy. mostly to get their instincts under control, away from all the females, and to have a way to get rid if their energy.

since ‘protect’ is part of their instincts, most of them stay in the military or teach younger ones how to protect. a grown a male Dragon has no problems keeping a younger one under control, especially once they earnt their respect with behaviour or actions.

the calmer ones might help out in the town with house building or street safety or work within the city.

A bonded Dragon:

loses interest in breeding. (another reason why not many bonded Dragons are female) therefore they might help to protect the breeding stations and give the females a sense of safety. (some breeding stations see it as mandatory for their breeders to have a bonded Dragon).

they can communicate telepathically with their human and can find them wherever they are. (their mark is like a gps)

their rider is the most important thing for them. nothing, neither Dragon nor human nor lovers nor hobby nor obligation, is of higher importance

Pairings: (D = Dragon, R = Rider)

OiBoku Iwa D + Noya Daichi D + Aka (due to DaiSugas Relationship, Daichi often flies with Suga and Akaashi has to change his style to match Daichi better, which leaves him hesitant and uncertain (when he and daichi fly alone, and Akaashi trusts him enough, he would often let go and spread his arms, enjoying the wind and trusting Daichi completely) SugaKuro (DaiSugas Relationship wasnt a problem for Kuroo, until their telepathy started and he got literal smutty hc. he kinda short circuited, growled and called Suga ‘HIS’ before leaving utterly embarrassed. DaiSuga talked and decided it might be better to break up after all) Kags D + Yahaba (Kags is from Oiks ranch/breeding farm and initiating class. Oiks wants to teach Yaba in managing kags, but Yahaba only smiles) Kai +Asahi D (first AsaOiBoku, but then Kai 'loses' his old dragon, so he’s given Asahi since A rider cannot get bounded to two Dragons) Tsukki + Lev D (Tsukki was really annoyed by him at first, but after seeing him failing and failing again without giving up and finally getting results, he got interested/felt himself being happy with him and somehow got motivated to train and get better as well) KyouKen D + Shirabu (know each other from the initiating classes. are like bitch besties. both have a tough image but a sweet core)

Goshiki D + Kunimi Tendou D + Daishou (‘Monster Duo’. Don't underestimate. Don't anger. Don't provoke.)

Kenma + Yamamoto D (kenma can sharpen his eyesight to "zoom in") Hinata + Tanaka D (hinata can breath fire)

the flock troublemakers refused to let the flock babies out of their sight

both Hinata and Kenma are humans with Dragon blood due to their ancestors. they are cousins

Semi + Aone D; shiba + Yams D; Inuoka D + Sakunami (shiba’s twin)

Fukunaga + Kuguri D (people assume they use telepathy since they both rarely talk)

Yaku + Kindaichi D (yaku is mothering him a lot. since Lev was too young and troublesome, the leader refused to let go of Lev yet and Yaku needed a new Dragon partner. he was switched to Aoba in the meanwhile, and eventually chose Kinchi for the next test. kinkuni wanted to stay a pair, but already realised that wouldnt be possible, so they held their eyes open for other options)

Free/without partners:

Terushima R (initially enemy)

Sakusa (veteran Dragon)

hoshiumi D

Miya Atsumu

Miya Osamu

yamagata R

kawanishi D Flock Leaders: Ennoshita+Futakuchi Makki+Konoha Ushiwaka+Mattsun (Ushiwaka would love to fly with Oiks and takes Mattsun's humour seriously. Mattsun likes that) Watari+Komi Enemies: Wakunan Johzenji (spies)

Higher-Ups/Elders: Ukai (d) got hurt in the last mission while protecting the new teachers and flock leaders,  flew down bc his rider got hurt and got himself hurt in the process. reason why this year a tight relationship between rider and dragon is seen as a bad thing Takeda (r) he limps and cannot fly for a long time anymore Nekomata (d) Ukai senior (d)   Mizoguchi (d) Irihata (r) Washijou (r) at fault for proposing the new system after UkaTake incident happened Teachers: Moniwa (raising Dragons, socialising w/ dragons, has the problem class) Kamazaki (flight training) D Washio  (Fighting, Swords) D Saeko (flame useage/control) D Narita (d, spionage) the supermarket dude (R, spionage) the tech shop dude (fighting Martial Arts) = R Sarukui (transformation) = D Kiyoko (in charge of the Dragons and their caves. no one is allowed into the restricted area without her seal) = magic seal (D) teaches them inside the caves sometimes (has crystal blue shimmering scales) Managers (general education as well as taking care of their students) Michimiya (d, general education for Dragons) Yachi is a teacher (teaches Dragon health) and doctor for Dragons/healer

Flocks:

people in the Kitagawa Daiichi School: (within the group they often switch partners) the groups are parted due to age (age gap up to one year) Group 1: Daichi (d) Oiks (r) Iwa (d) Suga (r) Kuroo (d) Yaku (r) Boku (d) (Akaashi is from Bo's ranch. as long as he's there, bo's fine. that's why he isn't in group 4) Akaashi (r) Group 2: Tendou (d) Aone (d) Daishou (r) Semi (r) Kyou (d) (will join group 4 later) Kenma (r) Yahaba (r) Kuguri (d) Group 3: Goshiki (d) Tsukki (r) Yams (d) Kageyama (d) Kunimi (r) Kindaichi (d) Inuoka(d) Fukunaga (r) Shibayama (r)

Sakunami (r)

Group 4: they all joined a year later due to their 'mental age' (too aggro, too shy or simply unable to sit still and listen properly) Tana (d) Tora (d) Asahi (d) Noya (r) shirabu (r) too salty (dragon rider family. refuses to listen to people of a lower rank than his parents) Hinata (r) Lev (d) they had a 4th R, but he got very very ill soon and had to stop (dragophobie) every 'flock' is made up of people who applied within a certain time frame, are of similar age and who live close to each other. (the dragon mother decides who will take care of her baby, as she abondons it after laying the egg. these mothers can be wild, but friendly dragons, active dragons from active riders or breeding dragons (voluntarily. like to be pregnant or to help out))

Kuroo, Daichi, Iwa, Kags and Kuni are Dragons from Oiks ranch. Suga and Yaku are childhood friends who lived nearby, same for Kindaichi. Kuroo&Daichi are twins. they like to compete and yaku/suga have to stop them. (active Dragonrider parents) Kags and Iwa have the same Dragon mother (wild Dragon. thus if they dont get along with the others they will be sent back into the wilderness. The Dragon Rider School Licence is absolutely necessary for them), but their eggs were taken care of by different people (Oiks parents had their hands full, so they could only take in Iwa). TanaTora are also twins. Kyou’s 'father' was TanaTake's father’s brother or maybe even the same Dragon, but he was hatched on another farm. (at least that's what the breeders assumed since their mothers were wild; similar features and behaviour but no one is sure whether they were really the same Dragon) first real flock (till final exam): (there are tests to determine whether you join a flock, which one, or whether you have to wait half a year. depending on your behaviour you might lose your spot too. over the stretch of the following year, new people can join until all 10 spots are full) AOBA The Allrounder Senior Pair: Makki+Konoha Juniors: Iwa d Oik r Kuni r Kinchi d Yaba r Kyou d + 4 others KARASUNO The hotblooded/energetic ones/creativity Senior pair: Ennoshita+Futakuchi Juniors: Dai D Suga r Tana d Noya r Asa d Hina r Kags d Tsukki r Yams d Kinoshita r NEKOMA The collected ones Senior Pair: Watari+Komi Juniors: Kuroo D Kenma R Tora D Inu D Shiba R Fukunaga R Lev D Yaku R Daishou R

Kuguri D SHIRATORIZAWA The tricky ones (one main attribute) Senior Pair: Ushiwaka+Mattsun Juniors: Tendou d Semi r Shirabu r Goshiki d Aone d Bokuto d Akaashi r Hoshiumi d

Sakunami r +1 rider kai (r) different School/group and older. close to official partnership with his dragon

Story: (story starts from ~first flock to the final exams)

the senior pairs talk about which group they get, with which members, during breakfast/lunch. everyone pities enno. (no one pities futakuchi) most envy ushimatsu. they have the calm ones. (they also have Bo, but he's 'controlled' by Akaashi. Tendou isn’t really a problem. Mattsun actually is really happy about him. 'he'll make sure no one gets too serious') they talk about how lucky they are that 'the old guys' don’t get involved this year. last year's group were kinda forced into partnering with a dragon just bc they were free/thought they suited each other. WataKomi get Nekoma (aka the collected ones). Komi is thrilled to see whether they are really always collected. "But don’t overdo it, okay? we dont wanna scare them off." Watari glances at Komi and just chuckles at his motivated posture. MakkiKono get the Allrounder. everyone makes jokes of Konoha as 'the jack of all trades but master of none'. "the most important thing is to make them see it's ok not to be the best in sth. I think there are some guys though who won’t like this" *dirty grin* "we'll make sure they won’t get too serious"

Every member of the new flocks thinks they’ll get partnered up with the ones they had been partnering with since they got sorted into flocks, but then the incident with Ukai and Takeda happens and they’re informed that they have to switch. Obviously none of them is pleased about that, their mentors even try to argue against it, but order is order. Most are hesitant at first but eventually give in. Only Oikawa and Iwaizumi still refuse, bc they grew up together, Oikawa had even watched Iwaizumi hatching, and they had sworn at a young age that they would do this together. So now not being allowed to do that hurts them both deeply and they try to fight the order, which brings Iwaizumi in trouble since he might be expelled and sent into the wilderness if he keeps acting like that. Therefore, out of worry for his friend, Daichi and Iwa have a talk about what it means to switch Riders. Daichi and Iwaizumi: "You dont wanna fly with Sugawara anymore?" "Oh, I still do! I do want to fly with him." "then why do you allow someone else to ride you? why do you consider to replace him?" Daichi chuckles. "replacing? is that how it seems to you? no, iwaizumi, no. that is wrong! Im not 'replacing' Suga or anything. No one can replace Suga! He's been my best friend and partner ever since I entered this school. and nothing and no one will ever change that." "then why-" "because! taking another rider doesnt diminish or change my feelings for Suga. It wont diminish or destroy anything. Choosing a different Rider, simply means that there will be someone who will mean even more to me someday than Suga does now. and Akaashi is totally worth to be that one." "... I cannot believe that could ever happen to me. there is no way that anyone could ever mean more to me than Oikawa does to me now." More chuckling. "bc you're stubborn! you both are. you're so concentrated, focused, centered on each other that there is no way anyone could ever reach that same level of synchronized trust and compatibility. You and Oikawa have spend YEARS to create the bond you share now. you cannot expect a bond, that is as deep and strong as yours, to appear over night. you have to give it time. if you don’t allow others to come near you, if you don’t allow yourself to feel close to others, if you don’t even consider to give them a choice, then it'll never happen anyway. that's just the way it is." "..." after Iwa finally gives in he still has a hard time to adapt to others but noya breaks into his heart like a lil whirlwind (he fights with dragons and wins lmao) oiks feels betrayed and refuses to talk with Iwa, which upsets Iwa and therefore Noya. Noya has a 'talk' with Oiks during a time frame where he doesn’t have a potential partner yet (the teachers don’t know what to do with him), so he practices with Ushi who would love to have him as a 2nd rider (Mattsun is a bit miffed, but as that would mean more free time for him and more time with makki and konoha and he's really sure oiks would never accept that offer, so he's all chill about it) and helps out with the hatchlings as he's a really skilled rider. Oiks gets another view on the situation and takes some time off to go home to calm down. when he comes back he's offered to train with Asahi and Boku, as they complement each other, kinda. he's a bit confused at first, only one of them would have been ok, until he realises, that they are the only ones without a partner since both are problematic and their preferred partners are already in a partnership.   

Oikawa: Grew up on a Ranch for breeding Dragons, wants to take it over one day. therefore he needs a Dragon Rider License which he can only get after completing the Dragon Rider school.

He was 6~10 (probably 8?) when Iwa hatched and sees in him a younger brother who tries to act more mature than he is. They went to the school together and were in the same initiating class. theoretic riding classes, fighting lessons and later classes like taking care of the dragons they might group up with. Plus basic classes like math and writing. Then they both join the Aoba Jousai flock.

After their "final exam" they were forced into different groups, bc they care about e.o. too much (= possible disobeying of orders in case of injury or panics or loss of concentration and Coolness). Oikawa already interacted with Kags and Daichi during their time at Kitagawa and with Kindaichi at Aoba, so they didn’t try to match him up with them, but tried other setups, which he obviously hindered by refusing to cooperate properly. (OiKuni, OiYaba, OiHina as mentor!Oiks and oiakasuga friendship) 1.OiKuro (shortly, would have lasted longer if Oiks weren't so focused on Iwa) 2.OiTen (Oiks dislikes him and kinda manipulates their work together, but tendou surprisingly manages to guess their moves anyway and they work surprisingly good together. Oiks refuses to work with him after a while though)

3.(OiTana/OiTora) shortly mentioned, doesn't end well bc they can't deal with his attitude 4.OiBoku (was supposed to be a matter of showing Oikawa who holds the reign in the school hierarchy, kinda, but they end up working surprisingly very well together. Oiks is annoyed and sees this as punishment, yet makes the best out of it to prevent further provocations.) 5.OiLev (the coaches wanted to see if he can get along with all problem children. He can. He does. He refuses anyone but iwa. Iwa's talk with Daichi happens.) 6.OiAsa (Oiks is the only one who can bring his potential out, besides Noya and a few others from Karasuno. Iwa sees Noya fights with dragons and IwaNoya gets serious.) 7.Oikawa finds out about IwaNoya and he's kind of pissed at Iwa. Oiks then refuses anymore dragon pairings and starts working with the nearby hatchlings 8.OiUshi (shortly, Oikawa talks with Noya) - Oiks time out - feat. Oikawa flashback of Iwaizumi's birth OiBoku (end pair) = he looks like a starry night sky (Black scales with white dots) At first in a combo with OiAsa, like, Asahi is scared of flying mostly blind at night. (at least Oiks is mostly blind) or Boku cannot fly during the day (bc he’s too easy to notice, same as Kuroo and Daichi) Iwaizumi: Needs to attend the School for Dragons to be allowed to stay in the city and vicinity. otherwise he would be thrown out. Sees Oiks as a baby that cries when he gets a scratch (on his face) and who always needs to be protected bc he cannot do anything on his own. Oiks might have been born first, but Dragons grow faster, so he sees himself as the older one. is threatened to be thrown out of school after being separated from Oiks, which would have greater disadvantages for him than pros. they still meet at night to fly together though, until their Noya disagreement. (tho their nightly adventures lessen before the argument, bc Iwa starts to take Noya serious and Oiks ... Iwa doesn’t know how to tell him)

Dragons learn in the initial classes how to use and control their fire, how to change to human form and to get used to all kinds of smells and being touched and so on. (after they learn to use their human form they attend general education classes with the younger human classes.) During the initial lasses, Iwa interacts with Suga often and during Aoba often with Kunimi, when he isn’t paired up with Oikawa which is really rare IwaKuni (Aoba), SugaIwa (kitagawa) 1.IwaAka (Shortly) 2.IwaKen or IwaShirabu 3.SemiIwa 4.IwaNoya (final combo) = Iwa feels the need to protect him, but Noya is always so full of energy and often gets hurt by fighting dragons in human forms so Iwa kinda gets used to it (actual uses a leash on him sometimes.)

AsaBokuOi:

Bo is really clingy and cuddly, always all over Oiks, bc Oikawa is his last chance on not being seen as a failure, who after being startled and surprised at first (“he wasn't that clingy when i was paired with him the first time”) doesn't mind so much after a while. (occasionally it's Oiks who surprises Bo and slings his arms around Bo's neck or waist from behind or scratches soft spots under his scales (esp when they are still 3 and Oiks returns from a long ride with Asahi, leaving Bo bored with the other riders/dragons) Bo is more than happy to have a rider who returns his cuddles/signs of affection) Bo loves flying at night, but he has problems with the day (the sun hurts his eyes, “owls also fly only at night and they are perfect hunters”, someone told him its annoying how obvious his pattern is on the daysky ...) Asahi is more hesitant and always jumps and flinches when Oiks (and Bo) surprise him or cuddle with him suddenly (cuddly AsaBoku in Dragon form when Oiks is busy and returns late. Oiks still helps out with the new hatchlings at times) he enjoys the affection though and returns them (though never in public) he loves flying during the day, but is scared of the night (his rider doesn't have his night vision afterall so it's dangerous and he's afraid he could miss out on stuff) People often look down on Oiks bc he doesn't have a real partner yet (his favourite had rejected him too) and just the 2 problem children who seem more like kindergarten children when Oiks is with them (always needy of/searching for attention and approval).

No one knew that AsaBoku could get so scary after they overheard them. even as dragons they never were actively acting scary or threatening. In that case though everyone thought they would kill the poor guys. Oikawa’s the one who accepted them/took them in when nobody wanted the, even if he was kinda forced, but he still always praises them and showers them with his affection and they really appreciate everything he does for them. (Oiks is really surprised by their actions and forgets almost to call them back before sth bad happens. he's really ... happy? relieved? afterwards though and calms the 2 dragons who are suddenly scared they overdid it and Oiks hates them now) OiBoku make a lot of 'Riding the Dragon' jokes once they started to cross the line. it starts while Asa is still with them. It wasn’t uncommon for them to kiss e.o.’s cheeks or their hair but then Boku kisses Oiks on his mouth while Asa isn't there, to both of their surprise (he doesn't do it again, but he often finds himself wishing to do so. Oiks notices and allows him to do it, but only when they are alone, and blushes as he says so) and starts to mark him with his scent stronger than before (he actually started before that unconsciously as well, since it’s an instinct thing) Asahi is confused at first, bc the smell gets stronger only over time, but he gets the signal and wants to back off, but he also doesn't want to let go of his rider. Usually they can live with it quite well, but sometimes Bo suddenly snarls when Asahi gets too touchy-feely (matter of personal definition of “too touchy-feely”) and it's getting tense and Oiks soon realises it could become dangerous when they get too riled up. He talks with Akaashi and Noya, but none of them are familiar with their current territorial behaviour, since they never were in a situation where losing their rider was an actual option. Not like this at least. Oikawa decides it might be the best to settle down, to make his final decision… to let one of them go. He can't let the chance of things escalating and them being expelled become reality. While he's gone to talk with the seniors and leaders, Iwaizumi makes AsaBoku 'talk' about it themselves(Noya told him about Oiks predicament). Together they figure out Bo's true feelings for Oiks, which aren't the same as Asahi's. Asa is allowed to ride with him, but only during the day. At night he's Bokuto’s Rider. Cuddling and other signs of affections are allowed. (But Bo always makes sure his scent is the strongest).

[There is a cliffhanger with Oiks in front of the rider building, hesitating to enter, when Takeda walks up to him. “can i help you with sth?” Oiks only stares. Chapter end.] After a while Iwa mentions it to Oiks, he's worried, and they talk about it and Oiks feelings. he tells him to do what his feelings tell him to, but he has to make his feelings clear to the others and be true to them. Iwa promises to go back to their breeder station with him and Noya when their obligatory military time is over, which was one of Oiks greatest fears and wishes. (Iwa would then work in the area of calming wild Dragons down to let someone heal them or to calm a nervous pregnant Dragon down that doesn't trust humans during pregnancy) (Akaashi has quite a few of these talks with Bo himself, but Akaashi never tells him the meaning of his feelings bc he thought Bokuto knew already. 'he always was aware he liked me when he spoke to me or talked about me like that'. the first time it happened he was shocked and perplexed. daichi would tease him about watching the baby leave the nest. akaashi tells him to shut up and actually sniffles a bit to Daichi's amusement.) they find a new routine and when the call comes that their seniors have found a new potential rider (kai) they are shocked (Oiks forgot about it), but then they are kinda relieved yet disappointed and sad. they haven't decided who it would be, so both of them ride with the new one. Bo first, who actually behaves well (Oiks made sure he would. also, Bokuto doesn’t want to be a bother for Oikawa), but as soon as kai rides with Asa it's obvious who it would be. Oiks finds himself walking to Asahi's cave (the one for trainees without connected apartment for riders) and is embarrassed when he turns around halfway there, remembering he doesn’t have to go there anymore, and meets/runs into kai. after a quick talk (kai is very understanding about it and offers to meet up in their free time) Oikawa goes to bo's cave. they weren’t together the last night bc that felt wrong and Oikawa wasn’t really concentrating anyway. “can you believe that? I actually went to his cave earlier and ran right into kai! how embarrassing.” “you don’t have to go there anymore…” “I know that myse-” “you are mine now. only mine. and I won’t let you go anymore.” Oikawa blushes (“...un...” and you are mine now. my Dragon.) and they end up cuddling the rest of the day and fly at night (they are all experienced enough to train on their own after their last exams and don’t need classes anymore, tho they are assigned to other flocks in the meantime, whose leaders keep an eye on their development while they help out the new recruits. they will only be integrated into the military preparation classes after choosing a permanent partner though and moving to the partnered caves.) (in the military classes they have to choose a 'major' after a certain introduction time. Waka wants them in his offensive team, but Oiks chooses spionage/sneak attack, bc of bo's night advantage. (when they have to advance during the day they move with Bo in human form. most people cannot think of them as dangers with their open, amiable, funny streak and Bo being so ... noticeable/conspicuous) Iwa's not pleased with that. IwaNoya are in the offensive back up team. they are more “last defense line”-ish though) As soon as Asa moved out of his trainee cave to become Kai's permanent partner(Or a few weeks after they partnered up and started training together), OiBoku send in the request to be paired officially as well. (Oiks asks Bo why he hadn't done it prior yet, while they were watching the sun going down, and Bo answers that would have been rude towards Asahi. Oikawa’s amazed Bo can show such a matureside. that night Oiks didn’t 'ride' Bo. (at least not public) a week later they move to the caves for official pairs as well the official training can get really dangerous occasionally, bc they are allowed to use any means possible during classes and they might actually get hurt. this gets really dangerous for Noya and Bo. (whenever they come back from field training, tests or a low rank mission it's common for pairs to spend like 2 days with each other to let the adrenaline run dry. noya and bo can be seen together on the 2nd day outside of their assigned caves without their partners (there was this one time where Oiks got a scratch on his cheek by a bird they didn’t see... or that other time where a 'spear' or arrow that had scratched Iwa's side... they don’t talk about it out loud, but they dont really wanna be in the others vicinity when they come to check up during the 2nd day (sometimes when they come back early they find Oiks/iwa without a tee, the others hands pressed against the skin. they know better than to get jealous or angry. though they are more clingy when the other is gone (especially boku who has to scent mark Oiks all over again) )

Obligatory Military years:

During a spy mission OiBoku travel by foot several days before their planned attack or just as a routine. (they only fly there when they arrive at night, but even then without saddle and bo has to let Oiks off before changing back (sometimes he changes back before so he can catch Oiks in his arms. he failed once. since then Oiks always gets grumpy when he does it)

they walk through a forest, not sure whether they are on the right track, when they see a campfire (it's getting dark). they join them (they are really hostile at first but calm down after seeing how dirty and tired and so not spy like they are (the readers don’t know about oibokus major then POV of the guards around the fire) ) and talk about random stuff, talk about the next city and how to get there, 'we are completely lost', 'oh we are actually from XY, but it's soooo annoying there' (enter reasons why it's stupid (waka) and annoying (iwa) ). the others actually help them out and talk about where NOT to go (they treat them like friends after saying their city is stupid) and even say some stuff about a dragon fight and so on (they are not involved in that one themselves. they are only on patrol to make sure no one tries to sneak in. 'other patrols are here and there' they show it on a map, just in case they get lost again). this goes on for a few days with similar groups (they always have either cleaned the maps of any previous marks or use new maps or 'your colleague told me XY but we just cannot seem to find the right way').

one day, after they leave an especially aggressive group they leave a comment about their true reason and leave. when the others processed it and follow them, they are gone.

they are sitting on a tree watching them and joking about them via telepathy ("maybe we should knock them out and wait for the next morning to send the 'alright' sign to the other troups?" "nah. then we might be too late to tell mattsun about the other group's advancement. also, they would just change the signs if they found their companions attacked later. this way we can tell the others about them. just in case. they cannot do anything without their 'weapons'/stuff anyway." "true!" Bo grins wide). then bo grabs Oiks in his arms and jumps, changing during it and carrying a laughing Oiks off in his claws (it’s too dark for the others to see more than a shadow, hear laughing, flapping wings and feel a strong wind that destroys their fires and spreads their stuff into the forest bushes. without a light or their stuff, they have to wait till the next morning to go back to their castle or join their friends which takes at least a day. more than enough time for oiboku to get back and inform their leaders.)

when they do normal runs to check up on the neighbouring country and the borders without finding dangerous information they sometimes actually wait till sunrise to run off or the mid of the day. (when they are out of sight bo stops in midair (hovering) and lets oikawa climb onto his back, which is a bit dangerous without a saddle, and in midair on top, but they don’t have the opportunity to prepare in the forests or towns. Oiks is already used to it and bo is really careful)

boku is thrilled about their success and makes some dangerous stunts to let out some energy (“it was sooooooo annoying to travel for days in human form and not flying once”) with Oiks safely in his grip

the other spy pairs are sugakuro and kentora, but they got different regions. (they change regions and areas often so that they wouldn’t be recognised and exchange information)

when they do get recognized (bo doesn’t remember them at all, but oiks would always) they tell a lie "we got a job there (random place they visited last time) and have to do runs at (another random city)." or when they ask how it went "horrible! we were attacked by bandits, lost all our products and money and had to search for a new job to afford our travel back! I’m sure our boss will be really angry! who knows?! maybe he'll even pretend he doesn’t know us?!" (when they are offered to be escorted or when the others know the person in question) oiks makes sure never to invent some random shop. always makes sure they are real ones and he actually knows them. ("strange. I have been talking with them last time and they didn’t mention new employees" " ... that's bc we aren’t really employees. yet. we'd hoped they would let us work there once we have proven our worth") ... bc of stuff like this it can happen that they are stuck in a town for a month or two and cannot get away until bo loses his patience and stages an accident or gets them fired. Even if Oikawa doesn’t want to stay there anymore, he waits for Bokuto to ruin things bc it’s easier for Oiks to repair Bo’s misdoings than his own. they check in with the others (iwa) regularly through dragon telepathy, but bo can only switch to dragon mode on special occasions and that strains him a lot. ("you know, you could have blown up a lot earlier. I've allowed you to do so." "buuuuut, he was sooooo nice!!!" "yeah, maybe, but now I have to endure your whining!" "buuuut tooruuuuu!!!" "shut up!!" bo slumps down. oiks groans. "fine. I'll buy sth nice once we are back and then we'll have a reeeaaaally long and exhausting ride!" bo's eyes sparkle and Tooru can feel himself getting excited as well.)

Oiks wears his rider mark right over his heart, so when they are working he never shows himself without a shirt (once he was seen and told a story about how he had wanted to become a dragon rider, but then his dragon died on a mission and now he hates all riders, especially his old city, so he never wants to join them again and live a calm life with his childhood friend bo). Bo though can be seen without a shirt often. (much to oiks dismay, but to the town's girls (and boys) happiness. oiks can never decide whether he's happy/proud or dissatisfied/jealous about it)

[perdizzion]

I just happen to stumbled upon ur account and saw that you'll be quitting med school. I have a dilemma that I want to share with someone. Im a newly enrolled first yr med student and classes just started a week before. But I'm starting to form some doubts whether I really want to be a doctor or not. Its not that I cant handle the academics its just that do i really see myself being a doctor in the future and actually feel happy about it.

I dont even know if being a doctor is my dream anymore or just my parent’s.

Hiya! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, anon! I don’t know if my answer will help you or not, but I will try to do my ABSOLUTE BEST to reply!!

Ok so. Med school. Tricky stuff. I’ll tell you a little bit about my background and what I’m up to right now to give you a Good Feel about how things are going after the decision I’ve taken and whatnot.

I got into med school about 4 and a half years ago, and like any student who worked their asses off for their desired universities’ entrance exams, I was beyond ecstatic when I found out that I had gotten in. I started attending lectures, group discussions, student projects, and for the first few years, I felt like hey, I think I can actually do this! The exams were pretty tough, I can’t say I liked pharmacology and neurology, but I passed just fine and so I thought that things were going to be fine.

[Narrator voice] things were, in fact, not fine.

I started having doubts around..3rd year, I think? Everything just started to become so dull no matter how much free time I was using to do my hobbies (drawing and doing art in general) and I think that was when my depression started to really rear its ugly head. I started to miss classes, isolate myself from my friends, stay in bed all day, and the only people that had kept me sane were my family and a few close friends of mine telling me to take care of myself when I was too depressed to do so. I tried thinking about whether I’ll be happy being a doctor in the future, and then I noticed that I couldn’t even imagine myself in a white coat, working in a clinic and talking to a patient.

This is when I finally realized that all this time, my wanting to go to med school wasn’t even because it was my dream. It was my parents’.

I struggled a lot to get through some of the days, but I managed to keep up the facade in front of my uni friends until I finished 4th year and received a “degree”. (In Indonesia, finishing 4th year of med school grants you a “bachelor of medicine” though you can’t really use it for anything yet until you’ve finished 2 more years of clerkship and get a “dr” in front of your name).

Clerkship happened after 4th year. If I had to use one word to describe clerkship, it would be hellish. I don’t know if this is how it works in every country, but in Indonesia, clerkship demands med students to attend hospital shifts with inhuman amount of working hours. We had to do 36 hour shifts every twice a week, and 9 hour shifts every other day. This might sound pretty light to some people, but it was super tough for me what with the amount of additional assignments and exams that we still had to do during our rotations. 

After 2 months of clerkship, my depression grew so much worse to the point where my best friend (bless her heart) had to call me almost everyday to help me sleep at night because the thoughts in my head wouldn’t leave me alone. Finally, I called my sister who lives in a different city to fly to where I was living in to take me to see a psychiatrist. It didn’t help because my doctor was super shitty about my condition (“all med students experience depression at one point because med school is just that hard, don’t worry, I’ve been there”) but I did take the meds. And I was planning to carry on with clerkship, until one day the meds gave me orthostatic hypotension (it was one of the side effects of the drug that I was taking) and I fainted in the middle of a surgery. When my mom (who lives in another city) found out about this, she was livid. She flew to my place right on that exact same day to take care of me, though she hadn’t known about my depression yet at the time.

The next day, I told her everything. Like, everything. About how med school had truly been stressing me out, about how I didn’t feel like med school was the right place for me anymore, about how clerkship had been making me feel like I was a worthless piece of shit because the doctors kept yelling at me, about how clerkship had also been making me realize that I wasn’t good with patients and that their lives are literally in my hands and that a single mistake could lead to their death and how I could never live with that much guilt in my life, about how I was so tired of being too sleep-deprived to properly function everyday, let alone to stitch a patient’s cut-up hand back together.

I told her that I wanted to quit. And so I did.

And you know what? It feels amazing.

I’ve been sleeping regularly for the past few months. I get to draw everyday now, and still make money out of doing commissions. I interact with my family a lot more and I don’t check up on them only when I need them to transfer me some money to buy food. I eat three meals a day like a normal human being and it feels so, so good. I applied for a scholarship so I could earn a Master’s degree in biomedicine abroad (it’s not art school, which is where I actually want to go to, but it’s not med school either so I’ll take it), I passed the first stage and now I’m just trying to do my best to pass the next two stages so I could get a full-ride. 

Things are okay. Things are good.

Things haven’t always been good, of course. People tell me that I was “so close to reaching my dreams!”, that my parents “must be so shattered to hear that you wanted to quit!”, that I am just “wasting away my potential.” My grandparents called me a disappointment a few weeks ago while telling me that I should just give up on my scholarship application and go back to med school. My dad told me that he wished I could “go back to the way I was and be happy again.” My mom cried multiple times. It hasn’t been easy on my mental health, but honestly? Fuck it. Fuck every single guilt-trip that my parents have had to put me through. Fuck everyone at uni who’s been spreading false rumors about how I quit med school because “I got cancer” or “I got knocked up.”

I absolutely hated how the doctors did anything back in the hospital. The rich patients got immediate treatment, and the poor got dismissed. The mentally ill were mocked behind closed doors, and med students were treated like trash. Rooted seniority where the senior doctors hazed junior doctors were still a thing (in Indonesia, at least). Literally everyone in the hospital had a superiority complex and I fucking hated it. Neither my parents nor my grandparents will have to be the ones to experience this on a daily basis for years though, so fuck outta here with your negative comments about my decision.

I quit med school because I did it for me, and only me.

This is by no means supposed to scare you away from med school just so you could jump into my bandwagon, heck no. I’m telling you this because nobody told me that this could be a possibility. Everybody I knew kept telling me that the only thing you’ll need to succeed med school is firm determination and hard work, and while that may be true for some people, I required a lot more than that, like a stable mental health, a good support system, etc. I failed to meet these requirements, and so everything turned into a shipwreck for me. My other friends, however, who were well-prepared with all of these, are managing to continue med school just fine.

That being said, this answer is definitely supposed to make you think about your decision more thoroughly. One of the most often things that people tell me post-med school is that “you should’ve quit earlier if you hadn’t liked it; it would’ve saved you a lot of time.” I hate the fact that I agree with this. If I had quit years ago, I would’ve still had time to search for a school that was more relevant to my interests and start over from a blank slate. If I had quit years ago, I would’ve been able to graduate from a new school and earn an actual proper job by now so I could help my parents out with our finance. Of course, my parents would’ve been way more harsh on me if I had told them that I wanted to quit so early on, but if you own the privilege of having parents that would genuinely and willingly listen to you, please talk about it with them. I had a friend who quit med school around a few months before 1st year ended; he’s in business school now and from what I’ve heard, he’s pretty happy with where he is right now.

Whew, that was long. I swear I didn’t mean for it to be this long!! Let me know if any of that helped or if you just want to talk off anon with me in general! I know firsthand how this kind of dilemma can eat you up whole, and it’s not a fun experience, so just hmu if you want to chat

Have a nice day!!

[mxicephoenix]

Mental Health Matters: My Story

So this will be a bit of a wandering chat about mental health, talking about my experiences growing up, and offering some thoughts. Some things may be potentially triggering, so proceed with caution and remember that there’s always hope at the end.  So, let's start off in Primary school (age 5-11 for those with different school groupings). I, like many others, had to deal with my parent's divorce. (I was 8 at the time) that year became very difficult as I was learning how to navigate this new situation, from the ages of 9 to 11 due to severe bullying, issues at home due to dealing with a younger sister on the very severe end of the autistic spectrum, and other reasons, would often miss days and weeks of school time. Some days I would wake up and not be capable of putting on my school uniform, and other days I would be ready to leave, only to break down at the front door screaming and wailing that I didn’t want to go. The headteacher at my first primary school often came round to my home to try and get me into school, those days I barricaded my self in my room by pushing my bed and wardrobe in front of the door. The school decided that my issue was at home, so they placed me in the school boarding house. There I was separated from my mum, who was my main source of comfort after being bullied, and placed in a situation where I had to endure even more bullying, sometimes even in the early mornings as one of my roommates had taken to shining a torch into my eyes to wake me up. The school made me see the on-site counselor.  I was told to forget about my issues at home and that there was nothing that she could do to help me. She disappeared after two sessions.

I moved schools after one day in year 6 (11 years old) as I couldn’t cope with that environment. One of my old childhood friends had turned the entire school against me, and I spent the last week at that school had no one speak to me.

During this period I had turned from a happy and open girl to someone who was practically mute, barely saying a few words aside from the outbursts of anger that became more frequent.

In secondary school (11-16) Things got worse, my dad had a new partner whose daughter now attended the same school as me. At first, I was excited, having someone my own age, who would be the sister I never had in my own. Slowly I was pushed out of my dad’s new family after having spent years of him trying to manipulate me into staying with him. The school implemented a student mentoring system to replace the in-school councilour, asking students to share their issues, only to hear them whispered around the school for the rest of the week.

I finally found a group that accepted me, all of them were as broken and tired of the system as I was. Several of us were on the Autistic spectrum, some had ADHD, others had Bipolar disorder of Schizophrenia. and we banded together under the staircase because we had no one else. I became more aggressive, protecting my new friends from bullies, but being unable to do anything about my own. I got into a fight in the changing rooms, pinning another girl against the wall after having deodorant sprayed in my face.  I broke down in a science lesson, hiding under the staircase with my friend as the rest of the class went outside for an experiment, the rest of my group taking credit for the work I had done. The teacher sent another student to us to tell us to get our asses back into class. 

I nearly drowned one year whilst on a walk with my sister and my dad’s new family. She had pushed me in, seeing the canal as a swimming pool. My foot was caught on the weeds at the bottom, and broken bottles floated around me as I struggled to free myself. My dad was barely visible in the distance. I almost gave up there, the only thing keeping me from staying there was my sister turning toward a nearby road, and likely to be run over by a car. When asked about it by my mum, all my dad said was “Kids fall in the canal all the time.” 

He even called me to the front door and told me that he wanted a DNA test done because he didn’t think I was his, and that he had to tell me because my mum would twist his words.

One lesson had us talking about mental health, being given a sheet to fill in to try and determine the chances of us having depression, most of the class had 56-58 points out of 60, indicating a high mood and good mental health, I scored 2. I was told, “At least you can use the sheet to dry your tears”. I didn’t have the energy to cry or shout.

I left that school in year 10, having attended for 2 days of the new year. Eventually, in the final term of that year, I was bought a place in a small school where I could receive the support I needed. To this day, That school was the best thing that ever happened to me, no class was larger than 10 kids, and accommodations were made for every single student. Classes had boxes of stim toys for students to fiddle with whilst learning, and students could literally walk-in to student support if they needed it. I was allowed to listen to music in class and on a weekly basis the school ran a workshop to try and help students with everyday life and managing their emotions. 

I had my first relationship in this school, although it didn’t work out, my ex began to spread rumors on facebook not long before the GCSE season.  The school helped me through it and I passed my exams with high grades, especially considering that I had done two years of schoolwork in one year.

After that, I moved on to college after attempting a Level 3 BTEC course I dropped out for the year, unable to cope with the pressure of the work combined with the college environment. I was assessed to see if I was on the autistic spectrum, coming away with a diagnosis of “Autistic traits with autism-related symptoms and issues” which I think is the closest you can get without saying that someone is autistic (being re-assessed soon, hopefully in the next few weeks) 

I moved down to a Level 2 course, which massively helped with my emotional state, I became a student rep, which helped improve my confidence, and soon I was cracking jokes practically every lesson. My mum cried when she came home to find me singing along to the radio. We both cried when we lost my nan suddenly this year. Soon after my sister was moved into full time residential, and in the six months since I’ve only seen her twice. It’s never going to be smooth, and sometimes you end up falling back down. But like snakes and ladders, you can always get back up to where you were before, it just takes time.

In September I went back to the level 3  computing course I previously dropped, and although it’s tough, I’m getting there. The college recently did talks about mental health, and when asked to fill in a triangle with everything that worries or stresses us, the entire class asked if there was a bigger triangle. So at least I’m not alone.

Some of you may have heard of the art of Kintsugi, Golden joinery. Its where broken objects are restored with a golden resin to show the previous cracks and fractures. 

I think people are like that too. And each time you break and get put back together, little by little, you find yourself being made of pure gold.

[phillyvoices-blog]

The Whirlwind: In Conversation with Nico Meyering

“You don’t really have a choice about getting knocked down. You do have a choice between staying down or getting back up.”

The view from this height is breathtaking.

I’m meeting my interviewee for lunch at the University Club, a top-floor members-only restaurant and lounge for students, faculty, and staff of the University of Pennsylvania. I’m a PhD student there, enjoying the Club’s “first year of membership free” perk. And my interviewee is enjoying the large tables.

“Sorry bro, I like to spread out.” Nico Meyering grins sheepishly at me, running a hand through his blonde hair, a nervous habit he will repeat often during our time together. On the table are a spreadsheet, a notepad with some hasty scribbles, a smartphone he uses like a computer, a half-forgotten graphic novel, and a sparse lunch of sweet potato soup, two turkey burgers, and mixed vegetables that he keeps meaning to eat. The phone lights up with some sort of reply and Nico speaks into it, recommending a sleep study and a “trach downsize before decannulation” before adding that he isn’t a medical professional. I admit that I don’t know what any of those words mean.

Nico isn’t a medical professional but he IS a whirlwind.

I met Nico years ago when we were both graduate students at Binghamton University. I thought his energy and constant movement was just the result of too much coffee or the stress of final exams. But here, dressed semi-formally, he’s the same whirlwind from before. The first thing I learn about Nico is that he’s always moving. I’ll learn much more over our hour together.

Nico was born 31 years ago with a nervous system disorder called congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS). The most notable and life-threatening symptom is the body’s lack of an automatic impulse to breathe, which means people with CCHS need lifelong mechanical ventilation when they sleep. Some need around the clock venting. Other CCHS concerns may include eye/vision issues, speech delays, or digestion issues.

After Nico was born, his mother swung into action, finding other CCHS families and bringing them together to share stories, support one another, and eventually connect doctors to families. A few decades later, those ragtag families are now The CCHS Family Network, Inc., a federally-recognized nonprofit that funds research and raises tens of thousands of dollars for the roughly 1200 people worldwide living with this condition.

Nico has been ever-present; he shows me photos from each successive gathering. He rattles off his various duties: moderating the group’s Facebook presence, being a liaison between people with CCHS and their families, explaining CCHS to general audiences (his TED talk from December 2017, Dis-ABLE-d, has been viewed on YouTube over 500 times), and trying to mentor teens and preteens with the condition.

“We are ninety-nine percent just as healthy or normal as people who don’t have CCHS. We have hobbies and interests and pet peeves and everything. I keep telling people: CCHS is manageable when you stay on top of it. It’s not fatal. It’s not degenerative. We have equal or better life expectancy. We get married, we have jobs, we get stuck in traffic, everything.”

The second thing I learn about Nico is that he jokes as much as he moves: constantly. It’s possibly his humor that has kept him going; while CCHS isn’t fatal, it also isn’t trivial. Nico rattles off over a dozen names of friends he has lost to illnesses made worse by CCHS or to tragic mistakes like falling asleep off their vents. “It’s up to us, you know, to keep their names alive. We gotta keep telling their stories.” He says determinedly. Behind that determination, however, is a measure of sorrow: Nico has lost many friends and he admits that it’s difficult to find new ones. But when he feels like I’m asking too many questions about the sadness, anxiety, and risk of living with rare diseases, he noticeably steers the conversation to a happier topic.

“You don’t really have a choice about getting knocked down. You do have a choice between staying down or getting back up.” He points out, making rare eye contact with me.

At 31, most Americans are building resumes or families. Nico is helping to build a movement. His vision of the CCHS community is larger and more comprehensive than the original group that met once every few years.

“I think something every group needs to constantly work on is inclusion and evolution. Our group is no different. That’s why we had a paper newsletter for so many years and now we’re online. It’s why we were English-language only for a long time and now we have some volunteers who can translate for us. We began by talking mostly about physical health and medical issues, now we include mental health and social issues. Young adults with CCHS were the first people to begin discussing the emotional burden of life with a rare disorder.”

I ask him what else the CCHS Network needs to do.

“We need to keep raising money because that money goes right to funding CCHS research. We’re rare and we’re a small group, so nobody’s gonna save us. We save ourselves. We share research and medical articles on CCHS, but we also need to start dealing with practical questions. I mean, a young couple who find out their baby has this disability aren’t interested in medical articles right away. They need to know about trach care, venting options, and how to talk about CCHS with other people. Chances are that they’ll have to educate doctors and nurses about it all.”

Nico’s in-your-face advocacy didn’t come naturally. He wasn’t outspoken about disability issues and disability rights when I first knew him. He is an introvert and his family is private by nature; Nico thinks it took significant time for them to accept Nico speaking candidly about his disability. And while Binghamton-Nico is different from Philadelphia-Nico, the seeds of change were always there: his early championing of LGBT and mental health issues years ago influenced how he advocates for people with CCHS today. “Whether it’s gay rights or disability rights or any other issue, this is true: if you don’t talk about it there won’t be any progress. You make your own momentum.”

Part of Nico’s value as a patient advocate comes from the bonds he’s formed in progressive communities. He marched alongside Occupy Wall Street, handing out water bottles and band-aids to other protestors. He volunteered with a soup kitchen and still keeps in touch with the guests he served. When a local school district cut sex ed classes, Nico volunteered with a LGBT community center to talk about contraceptives and consent. He protested so much at city council meetings that he eventually got thrown out of Binghamton’s City Hall for promoting services for homeless people, something he still gets visibly annoyed about. Seven years later, though, the people that share his posts and donate to his CCHS fundraisers are those same people he spent so long helping. In the week since our interview I found myself back in Binghamton to see family, and almost everyone I talked to, from the city’s former Mayor Ryan to guests at Nico’s former soup kitchen, remember his name and deeds.

Nico cracks a grin when I mention my Binghamton visit. “The biggest thing I learned there is that you eventually need friends, allies, people in your corner. You can do a lot on your own, but you do more in a team. If we can work together to write a grant or help someone in need, then that’s what we’re gonna do. Eventually the CCHS Network will have to work with biotech or pharma companies to develop a cure, so it’s good practice.”

I ask him about partnerships the Network has formed already and he demurs, but he does offer some thoughts on rare disease partnerships in general: “I was at the Global Genes conference [for rare disease research] back in June, and I can tell you that most research hospitals and biotech companies recognize the need to work with patient advocacy groups. We are no longer ignored. There are maybe some researchers who think they can whip up a cure without patient involvement, but they’ll learn really fast that they need our input because without it they will go bankrupt.” He rubs his goatee briefly, “The market is real Darwinian like that.”

We pause so Nico can send an email to a CCHS family in Michigan. He signs off with an apology for replying so late. When I see his phone wallpaper it’s a woman with long black hair holding a long, black cat. He sees me looking and smiles. Nico is never short on words and each story is like a voyage.

He met Brittany online in April 2016. He noticed they were both AmeriCorps alumni and shared an interest in anime and Star Trek. At first he hesitated. He was unemployed and she mentioned wanting to eventually move to New York City. Nico was looking for a long-term relationship and she was only in the area to tend to an ill family member. But he took the time to send a few paragraphs and their first date was at a local Thai restaurant. The two now live together in Philadelphia, where she is a teacher and he is a financial administrator for a rare disease center. The couple got engaged in December and they share their apartment with three cats: Apollo, Hera, and Hermes.

“I dated some women for a year here and there, but we’d always break up whenever I finished school or moved states to take a new job. Brittany has really stuck with me.”

Nico claims to have been a nervous kid growing up, dealing with health concerns and wanting to fit in. Sometimes he’d descend into crying fits because he felt emotions too strongly, like a time when one or two misbehaving kids caused his entire class to miss recess.

“I think we get this message as kids, and this is especially true for boys I think, that emotions should be buried or that you handle difficult situations yourself. This is a bad message. It’s harmful. It took me a while to figure out that emotions and friends are strengths rather than weaknesses.”

I don’t see any trace of that nervous kid. Nico leans back in his chair, rubs his hand over stubble, peppers his sentences with “bro”, “dude”, and “man” regardless of gender, and fires off a quick message about different CCHS mutation types. To passerby, he is just a nerd reading a Spider-Man 2099 comic (he points out that it’s a different character than regular Spider-Man,) not one of the biggest names in a very small pond.

But why is he so busy? Why now? After living in a handful of different states and working tons of different jobs, Nico saw some patterns emerging for disabled youth. For one, he says, there’s a knowledge gap and a skills gap between the end of high school and becoming an established adult. The time you spend getting your health under control is time you can’t spend learning life skills. In fact, Nico reveals that he learned how to tie a tie and how to shave by watching YouTube videos.

“When I was on the job market, CCHS moms would always remind me ‘You need a job with good health insurance!’ They wouldn’t stop reminding me. I think they may believe it is easier to get a full-time job with benefits than it really is. Even if you have the schooling and the skills, it’s difficult. Even when you have insurance, it’s tough to understand it.”

So Nico made a checklist to help young adults and their families prepare for independent living. “It’s a conversation families need to have together. It’s not you versus your kid. It’s your whole family versus the problem.”

Other projects followed: a guide to seeking employment while disabled, a guide to CCHS care in schools, one-page factsheets about CCHS for families to give to doctors and nurses, a slew of public speaking appearances, mostly at comic conventions (his talk on disability representation in anime was rated the best panel at GeneriCon 2019, and he repeated the talk at Wizard World Philadelphia this summer.)

He talks animatedly about another idea: setting up a small fund to buy pulse oximeters and other vitals monitoring equipment.  “Our bodies send signals that our brains don’t always catch, so we could be ill and not know it. If you have a machine that tells you your oxygen levels are low, that could be the difference between resting at home or exerting yourself and ending up hospitalized or worse. I haven’t fleshed this concept out yet though.”

He also wants to help people with CCHS explain the condition to others. “Stigma kills people and knowledge kills stigma. Our disability is nobody’s fault. It’s not contagious. We haven’t done anything wrong. It’s just the way it goes, dude.”

And he talks about money. Since being elected to the Board in 2015, Nico has worked hard to lead collaboratively and to consult others before taking action. It’s what led to his popular Dungeons and Dragons charity games, which raised several hundred dollars at the last CCHS conference. It’s what led to his “Faces of CCHS” project last November, which was shared on Facebook over one hundred times. His last fundraiser brought in several hundred more dollars.

“We need to make a difference AND get attention at the same time. Good cash flow lets charities steer their own ship; even $10 from a few people helps us go to rich people and say ‘Look, we have all these people participating. They believe in our cause. Will you believe too?”’ and then send them some cute baby photos. That’s a good pitch.” He smiles.

It’s clear Nico loves talking about CCHS and his work in disability issues, but getting to know the man behind the work is frustratingly difficult. I ask him about his hobbies like video games and hiking, but he says it’s difficult for him to find the time for those hobbies: “Sometimes I wish I could finally finish a game, but I don’t go ten minutes without needing to do something or reply to someone.” His lack of free time doesn’t seem to bother him. “Anyone can turn on a PS4. Anyone can read a good book. But not everyone can help a CCHS person or family in need. The work is the important thing here.”

Looking to the future, all Nico sees is hope, the word he has tattooed on his left arm. He plans on seeing a CCHS cure in his lifetime, he tells me. Until then, he’ll keep on making the CCHS journey easier for everyone.

“I think some parents are frightened when they realize their children are growing up in a very different world. And I think CCHS kids are scared by the responsibilities that come with being an independent CCHS adult. It’s less scary when you listen to each other and work together.”

[turkiyeecom]

A Year After Spinal Surgery, A $94,000 Bill Feels Like A Backbreaker

Since her spinal surgery, Liv Cannon has been able to work in the garden and play with her energetic dogs without having to worry about pain. Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News hide caption toggle caption Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News Since her spinal surgery, Liv Cannon has been able to work in the garden and play with her energetic dogs without having to worry about pain. Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News Spinal surgery made it possible for Liv Cannon to plant her first vegetable garden. "It's a lot of bending over and lifting the wheelbarrow and putting stakes in the ground," the 26-year-old says as she surveys the tomatillos, cherry tomatoes and eggplants growing in raised beds behind her house in Austin, Texas. "And none of that I could ever do before." For the first 24 years of her life, Cannon's activities were limited by chronic pain and muscle weakness. "There was a lot of pain in my legs, which I can now recognize as nerve pain," she says. "There was a lot of pain in my back, which I thought was, you know, just something everybody lived with." Cannon saw lots of doctors over the years. But they couldn't explain what was going on. She'd pretty much given up on finding an answer for her pain until her fiancé, Cole Chiumento, pushed her to try one more time. Liv Cannon and her fiancé, Cole Chiumento, considered calling off their wedding because of uncertainty over medical debt from her surgery. "I think about it every time I go to the mailbox," Cannon says. Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News hide caption toggle caption Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News Liv Cannon and her fiancé, Cole Chiumento, considered calling off their wedding because of uncertainty over medical debt from her surgery. "I think about it every time I go to the mailbox," Cannon says. Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News "It never improved. It never got better," Chiumento says. "That just didn't sound right to me." So Cannon went to a specialist who ordered a scan of her spine. A few days later, her phone rang. "We found something on your MRI," a voice said. The images showed that Cannon had been born with diastematomyelia, a rare disorder related to spina bifida. It causes the spinal cord to split in two. In Cannon's case, the disorder also led to a tumor that trapped her spinal cord, causing it to stretch as she grew. In December 2017, a neurosurgeon opened up her spinal column and operated for several hours, freeing the cord. "I think it was Day 3 after my surgery I could feel the difference," Cannon says. "There was just a pain that wasn't there anymore." As she recovered, Cannon saw lots of huge medical bills go by. They were all covered by her insurance plan. Almost a year went by after the operation. Then a new bill came. Patient: Liv Cannon, 26, of Austin, Texas. At the time of her surgery, she was a graduate student insured with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas through her job at the University of Texas. Total bill: $94,031 for neuromonitoring services. The bill was submitted to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, which covered $815.69 of the amount and informed her she was responsible for the balance. The insurer covered all of Cannon's other medical bills, which came to more than $100,000, including those from the hospital, surgeon and anesthesiologist. Service provider: Traxx Medical Holdings LLC, an Austin company that provides neuromonitoring during spinal surgery. Neuromonitoring uses electrical signals to detect when a surgeon is causing damage to nerves. Medical service: Cannon was born with a rare spinal condition that had caused chronic pain and muscle weakness since she was a child. In December 2017, she had successful spinal surgery to correct the problem. Her surgeon requested neuromonitoring during the operation. What gives: Neuromonitoring made sense for the type of surgery Cannon had. The bill did not. Cannon should have been warned long before her surgery that the neuromonitoring company would be an out-of-network provider whose fees might not be covered by her insurer. Liv Cannon was diagnosed with diastematomyelia, a rare disorder related to spina bifida, and had surgery in December 2017 to correct the problem. Most of the cost of the surgery was covered by her insurance, but more than $93,000 for out-of-network neuromonitoring services was not. Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News hide caption toggle caption Julia Robinson for Kaiser Health News At first, she was baffled by the billing information that Blue Cross sent her. "It was one of those things from the insurance company that says this is the amount we cover and this is the amount you might owe your provider," she says. The statement listed four separate charges from the day of her surgery. Each was described as a "diagnostic medical exam." Together, they came to $94,031. Blue Cross said the covered amount was $815.69 — minus a $750 deductible and $26.27 for coinsurance — and informed Cannon she might have to pay the balance — $93,991.58 "I was shocked," she says. Chiumento was outraged. "As soon as I saw that, I thought it was a scam," he says. The bill had come from an Austin company called Traxx Medical Holdings LLC. Traxx did not respond to emails, phone calls and a fax seeking comment on the charge. The company's website shows that Traxx provides a service called intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring, which evaluates the function of nerves during surgery. The goal is to help a surgeon avoid causing permanent damage to the nervous system. There is an ongoing debate about whether neuromonitoring is needed for all spinal surgery. But it is standard for a complicated operation like the one Cannon had, says Richard Vogel, president of the American Society of Neurophysiological Monitoring. On the other hand, a $94,000 charge for the service can't be justified, Vogel says. "You're not going to meet anybody who believes that a hundred thousand dollars or more is reasonable for neuromonitoring," Vogel says. Most neuromonitoring companies charge reasonable fees for a valuable service and are upfront about their ownership and financial arrangements, he says. But some companies are greedy and submit huge bills to an insurance company, hoping they won't be challenged, he adds. Even worse, "some neuromonitoring groups charge excessive fees in order to gain business by paying the money back to surgeons," Vogel says. Last year, Vogel's group published a position statement condemning these "kickback arrangements" and other unethical business practices. It is unclear whether Traxx, the company that provided neuromonitoring for Cannon, has any financial arrangements with surgeons. Cannon's surgeon did not respond to requests for comment. The size of the fee for Cannon's neuromonitoring was only part of the problem. The other part was that Traxx — unlike her hospital, surgeon and anesthesiologist — had no contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. As an out-of-network provider, the company could set its own fees and try to collect from Cannon any amount it didn't get from her insurer. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas said it doesn't comment on problems affecting individual members. But the insurer did offer a general statement by email about the problem: "Unfortunately, non-contracted providers can expose our members to significantly greater out-of-pocket costs. These charges often have no connection to underlying market prices, costs or quality. If given the opportunity, we will try to negotiate with the provider to reduce the cost." One thing working against Cannon is that she is pretty sure that just before surgery, she signed a paper that authorized the out-of-network neuromonitoring. "It was 4:30 in the morning and you're like, 'OK, let's get this over with,' " she recalls. Getting consent in the hospital may be legal, but it's not reasonable, says Dr. Arthur Garson Jr., who directs the Health Policy Institute at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. For example, a patient might be having a heart attack, Garson says. "You got chest pain, you're sweating, sick as you can be, and they hand you a piece of paper and they say, 'Sign here.' " The Texas Legislature passed a bill in May to protect patients from the sky-high bills this practice can produce. And Congress is considering similar legislation. These are small steps in the right direction, Garson says. "Asking the individual patient to make that decision even when they're not sick, I think, is difficult," he says, "and maybe we ought to think of some better way to do it." The Texas legislation is expected to take effect later this year but affects only bills that occur after it becomes law. So that $94,000 figure is never far from Cannon's mind, even as she and Chiumento plan their wedding. "Every time I go out and I collect the mail, I'm wondering, 'Is this the day it's going to show up and we're going to have to deal with this?' " she says. The takeaway: Neuromonitoring during complex surgery involving the spine can help prevent inadvertent damage. But monitoring may be unnecessary for lower-risk back operations, like spinal fusion. It is strange that neuromonitoring is charged as a separate service, rather than part of the spine surgery. Cardiac monitoring is not charged separately during bypass surgery, for example. When considering spine surgery, ask your doctor whether neuromonitoring will be part of the procedure. If so, will it be billed separately? Try to find out the name of the provider and get an estimate of the cost beforehand. Check with your insurer to determine if the neuromonitoring provider is within your network and to make sure the estimated charge will be covered. Read More Read the full article

[whitechrysanthemumsandlilies]

Taking Bomb Ass Notes on a Budget

Yes I am a Capricorn 

Not all of us can afford the top of the range stationary of our dreams and with Enrolment day for colleges in the UK fast approaching, I thought Id share a comprehensive guide on everything I’ve learnt on how to make and take successful notes and how to get the grades you want on a low income budget.

Be warned: This post is mammoth.  

A plan of 3 phases. 

Phase 1- Pre School year

1.1- Gather supplies 

For this to work, you need only the bare necessities- coloured pens/pencils, a ballpoint/gel pen, a 5 pack of highlighters (in place of midliners), and 2 notebooks (In Class and At Home)

In Class notebooks- Your In Class notebook is for scruffy notes taken on the fly. All these notebooks need is a lot of pages and a flexible margin. I recommend the metallic, geometric, spiral bound notebooks from Poundland for this. They’re simple but surprisingly good quality for a £1 product, the pages dont even bleed!

At Home notebooks- This is where the actual fun lies. At Home notebooks are the notebooks you use for your studyblr posts when you slip up and procrastinate an hour into your studies (we’re all human). Anything that gets you excited to rewrite your notes is good for this (re-writing your notes not only means you’ll be allowed bragging rights because you’re technically revising every night, you can sneak in the formatting and extra info you need without compromising on your note taking time in class)

Coloured pens/pencils/highlighters and a pen- These are pretty obvious supplies, used for the AH notebook’s colour coding and general decoration. The type of pens you use depends on how much your notebook pages bleed. Some recommendations I have are- 0.3mm assorted colour fine liners from The Works (The colours are great and they don’t bleed as much as other budget brands), the 20 pack of ballpoint pens from ASDA, and the 5 pack of highlighters from EITHER The Works or WHSmith if there’s a Back to School sale on.

1.2- Learn how you learn

This is possibly the most important step of all, you need to figure out how you can best take notes for your brain, i.e- what type of learner are you? This will greatly dictate how you format your AH notebook since different learners access different content to help them memorise, for example- a visual learner should fill their pages with arrows, diagrams and colour but a auditory learner would be better off writing summaries of their notes in the form of a speech to speak aloud later on. 

(See x for a free quiz to determine your learning type :) )

1.3- Format your notebooks 

Hannah Witton has a philosophy that if you’re spending more time on the organisation than actually executing your plan, you’re being inefficient. This step is to ensue you don’t fall into that habit. Formatting your notebooks before you start school means you have a pre-prepared resource that you can work straight onto, cutting the time you need to spend on your school work. Also its super fun! There are a few basic pages you need in both notebooks before you seize total creative freedom. 

In Class- Really the only thing you need here is a Key page (see bottom of the section for an example) and a footnote at the bottom of your note pages to put the textbook reference in (this’ll save you so much time when you revise for tests and wanna expand on your notes honestly just so it, its worth it in the end)

At Home- Since this is a more traditional BuJo, you need a few more pages- A Key, a Index/Contents page and more heavily formatted pages (Ideally: A header (for the chapter name), a title (page contents/subject) and a footnote (revision guide reference))

For my Key, I like to include the colour code system (e.g- red for key vocab) and symbols for stuff like ‘needs more info’ and ‘info found’, relevant context ext. In my Index I like to break by chapter and then mini units (like how this is set out) but that’s a personal decision, that may or may not be how you choose to do it! I also like to include a Grade Tracker as a motivational tool but, again, you may decide against that. 

P.S- For my note pages, I like to include a 2cm margin in which I can jot down symbols and colours without interrupting the flow of the page. Do with that what you will

1.4- Create a study space

The problem a lot of us have is procrastination and a catalyst for that is distraction. You’re never going to be able to focus sat on your bed near your phone and laptop with WiFi as well as you will in an environment where those distractions are removed (That’s why coffee shops and libraries are so popular!) Creating an environment that you associate productivity with can help to focus you on your task. 

Study spaces dont have to be extravagant. Even if its just a chair and a desk in the corner of your room with a plug, a nice cushion, and a pencil pot. As long as it separates work and play, it will be more than enough for your studies. 

Personal preferences will change the layout and atmosphere of your study space (e.g- background music or no background music, relaxed or stimulating, personal or detached) but I do recommend looking at the psychology of colour and doing some introspection to decide what will and will not work for you.   

Phase 2- Study schedule

Once you’re back studying, you need to implement a schedule that’ll guarantee you stick to all the planning you did in phase 1 as opposed to having it sit there looking idyllic while you procrastinate by binge watching Stranger Things for the 9th time this month. 

Obviously from 08:30am to around 15:30pm you’re out of your house and away from your study space, even longer if you travel via public transport, and unless you’re the worlds biggest morning person I wouldn't recommend studying from 06:00am unless its desperate cramming before a big exam SO that leaves the evenings. 

A big mistake a lot of people make is taking a break before starting to study. This is the worst thing you can do, you know how the brain resets when you enter a new environment? Think of it like that. Once you sit on that sofa and watch some TV or start to scroll through Instagram, you’re not gonna want to move. 

As soon as you get in, grab a big drink of water and a small snack and head up to your study space (it sounds painful and will be at first but as soon as it becomes a habit you’re gonna be much better off) I recommend devoting from 16:00pm to 18:00pm to studying, allowing time for you to make a dent on the piles of homework you’re definitely going to get without creating an antisocial and impractical eating schedule. Two hours is more than enough time to rewrite up to 4 subjects worth of notes (consolidating your knowledge and adding in any extra info “class you” wanted you to find) and to start on up to 4 subjects of homework, even if its 20 minutes for each task with a 5 minute break in between. 

Those of you who work, like me, will have to negotiate this weekly to make sure you can slot the time in around your shifts, not forgetting weekends can be optimised as well. On weekends, operate on the basis of Hannah Witton’s schedule (my organisational mom)- The day is split into three segments, Morning, Afternoon, and Evening, work at a 2:1 ratio of Work:Play (unless you work weekends, also like me, in which case just aim to optimise the time you have left wisely while also not overworking yourself)

Additionally, make use of study periods!! If you know you have a study period that day, take one of your AH notebooks with you (I recommend the one you have the most notes for) and get ahead of time OR do your homework in the period so you only have to do your notes at home. Snatch up every bit of free home time you can! Its important to be allowing with yourself during this time, you’ll be doing heavy studying and while it is important to complete your tasks and not make excuses for not doing something, its equally important to relax and wind down and see friends because not doing so impacts greatly on your mental health and you come first!

It can be helpful to make study groups (as long as they’re used for actually studying) or meeting up with friends and studying together in order to get that interaction and escape from the stresses of student life. Having other students there means they can offer insight on any questions you have as well as being there as moral support, even if its just to compare notes with or to be talked to&at while revising. This is especially true near finals week and end of year tests, which leads me on to...

Phase 3- Revision 

So you’ve got your selection of notes that you spent hours slaving over and you’ve got a perfect track record because of how efficient you were with your homework, what now?

Revising, much like this post, works in a rule of 3 trials- Reading, Creating, Applying (Id like to take a moment to thank my GCSE Geography teacher for this golden method of planning that I did not use but ShOUD HAvE) 

Reading- 1 month (per subject). From start to finish, cover to cover, read your notes. Since they already include the relevant bits from the workbooks and revision guides, they are a vault of everything you need to know. Reading them in their entirety will refresh your memory of the stuff you forgot and allow you to see the subject as a whole, a perspective you might not have had previously since you were still learning it.

Creating- 2 months. Using what you’d forgotten, create resources (mind maps, flashcards, presentations, speeches) for you to revise from. This can be in the notebook or separate (I like to have them separate but that’s just me) just as long as they make sense for the learning style we talked about earlier.  Use the resources and memorise them.

Applying- 4 months. Once you think you’ve done memorising, find past exam questions and papers  and do them. Mark yourself (on the harsher side, just to be safe) and then check your grade. If you’re dissatisfied, go to the questions you didn't do well on, figure out what concept it was based on, re-revise it and find another question to try (repeat until happy) If satisfied, find harder and harder questions until you run out of material then get friends to make some for you OR think of the worst possible question you could get and then create it, answer it and mark it. Do this until exams happen or you feel like you’ve done enough. 

Once you’ve finished the Applying phase, create a A4 page of max. 10 bullet points (for each exam) to peruse up until you enter the exam hall (bin it before you enter) then go in and kick ass!

A really good tool for this is GetRevising, a free site which helps you make study timetables and gives you thousands of pre-prepared resources (made by teachers and students) specified to your exam boards and subjects. Not spon i just fcking love GetRevising

If you do all this, you should find the work and stress load of studying greatly reduced and it’ll give you more than a fighting chance against the generation of harder exams that they’ve sprung on us.

Go fourth and get good grades babes. 

All graphics were made with Canva

[kpopimaginesquad]

Convenient Coincidence

Request: @thestruggleisrealll asked: GAHH! I'm back 🙂 loved your Yugyeom post for me so much that I'd like to request a Suga post for my best friend. Maybe he could like randomly start showing up everywhere she is (with the boys if applicable) not saying anything at first but slowly getting jealous of seeing her with any other boys. Hope you're well and staying healthy!

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 3.3k

Summary: Yoongi and you were classmates for almost two years, but you never talked to each other. After you kept crossing paths both of you wondered if it was a sign or just a coincidence.

Physics class was finally over and you couldn't wait for Literature class to start, because you would be able to lay back and rest. Two weeks ago your teacher suggested that anyone who wanted could hold a presentation about anything related to arts and literature, and to your surprise, there were a lot of people who wanted to do it.

Your teacher entered the room and greeted the class.

"Today we are going to start with the voluntary presentations. So, who wants to start?"

He asked. After a minute of silence someone in the back raised his hands and came to the front. You didn't see who it was at first, but then you realized it was Yoongi. You were classmates for almost two years now, but you never talked to each other, probably because you didn't have anything in common.

You were happy that it was about to start, because you had a rather stressful day and you just wanted to relax for a bit. It was convenient that you were sitting in the middle row. This way nobody would realize if you didn't pay attention, at least that's what you told yourself.

After a while you were pretty sure fifteen minutes had passed and the first presentation would be over soon. For some reason however you started to feel uneasy. It was as if someone was watching you. You didn't think much of it until you raised your head to meet Yoongi's gaze. His eyebrows were slightly narrowed which made him look angry. He probably realized you didn't listen to him the whole time.

"When you pay attention to boredom it gets unbelievably interesting."

He said, quoting Jon Kabat-Zinn. You knew, because you just recently held a presentation about him in Health and Psychology class.

"Thank you for listening."

He added, looking directly at you. Everyone started clapping as the teacher thanked him for the presentation and told him to take his seat.

You felt awkward and uncomfortable, because you didn't return him the simple favor of paying attention. Doesn't matter you told yourself. It's not like you were talking to each other anyway, so why not avoid him intentionally from now on.

Even though he was sitting in the last row, you could feel his gaze pierce through you. At this point you just wanted the class to end. You couldn't bring yourself to rest though. What if Yoongi realized you weren't paying attention again and decided to expose you in front of the whole class? The thought alone made you focus on the presentations more.

You didn't realize how time flew as one presentation after another went by. You never imagined they would be so interesting and educational.

"Alright! That was everyone for now. I hope you guys learned a lot today. We will see each other tomorrow."

Your teacher said, ending the class five minutes earlier than the bell would have. Everyone started packing and leaving the class.

You breathed out heavily as you finally felt relief. Now that class was over, Yoongi wouldn't bother you with his gaze anymore. Just to be sure you turned around and looked if he was still there and to your interest he had already left.

As you turned back around you were greeted by another classmate. It was Minsoo, your seatmate and good friend.

"Hey (Y/N)! I still have to study for the exam in History next week. Could you join me in the library for studying? I would ask someone else, but since you are one of the best in this subject, I figured I would ask you."

He said with a wide smile on his face. It didn't surprise you at all, because he always asked you to study together.

"Do you even have to ask?"

You said jokingly. He knew that he could get away with anything if he smiled like that.

"Great!"

He said.

"Let's head to the library!"

He was full of energy. One could even say that he loved to study even though his grades told a different story.

You packed your stuff and went to the library. When you arrived, you saw that there were many other students, probably studying for exams as well. You worried about finding a table to sit on and you hoped for the best, because otherwise you would have to go somewhere else.  

Your worries vanished as Minsoo waved towards you, pointing at a free table with four seats. You rushed over to him and put your stuff on the table.

"I want to get a book I think will help us, I'll be back in a bit."

He said nearly whispering and hurried to the shelves in the back. You smiled at his words. You always thought that he was cute when he was determined to do something.

You sat on the chair, leaned back, closed your eyes and let out a sigh. You were still exhausted from the day and the only thing that kept you alive was the thought of your bed, which was waiting for you at home.

Your eyes were still closed as you realized someone was talking to you.

"Hey."

He said as quite as a whisper.

You thought that it was Minsoo who came back with the book, so you didn't bother answering. You didn't even bother to open your eyes.

"Hey."

The voice said again, this time a little louder and more persistent.

It seemed like Minsoo really wanted to study. You decided to give up on relaxing and opened your eyes, but the person standing in front of you wasn't your friend. It was Yoongi. You were quite surprised, not because you never expected him to talk to you, but because he was in the library.

"Oh, h-hey."

You said, still caught in surprise.

"Can I sit here? I want to study a bit and I don't really want to sit with people I don't know."

He replied.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you."

You watched him as he sat down and put the book on the table. While you did, you realized that this was a really good opportunity to apologize to him.

"Yoongi."

"Hmm?"

He said raising his head.

"I'm sorry for not paying attention to you earlier. I was really exhausted and wanted to-"

"Don't worry, it's fine."

He cut you off with a slight smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, as well. Seems like you took it way too seriously. That wasn't my intention."

"Oh.."

You couldn't say anything else, because you were embarrassed. He smiled at you once more and started to read his book.

You wanted Minsoo to come back as soon as possible, so you could stop thinking about how handsome he looked when he smiled. Somehow you had a weakness for boys who smiled genuinely.

Your thoughts were interrupted as Minsoo finally arrived.

"I couldn't find the book, guess someone else already took it."

He said as he looked over to Yoongi.

"It's fine, we can study without it too."

You replied. Minsoo nodded and sat down next to you. Both of you took out your books and notes and started to mark the topics you thought were the most relevant for the exam. It took you about twenty minutes to finish all the pages, because your teacher was cruel. He said that he was going to include every topic you had until then.

"Alright."

You said and turned to Minsoo to see how far he got.

You saw him staring at Yoongi and it seemed like he was upset about something. He turned to face you and leaned in to whisper in your ear.

"He has the book I was looking for."

He sounded like a little boy who got his toy taken away by another child. You found it funny how he always exaggerated little things like this and couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry, you can still get a good grade without it."

You said, assuring him that you would help him well.

He gave you a nod while still pouting a bit. He started to focus on you explaining things to him. You still saw him taking glimpses of Yoongi though, but you didn't bother with it.

Yoongi had already left as you realized you were studying for almost three hours. It was past 6pm and you decided to end the session, because you still had some things to do.

"Alright, I think I will head out now. I still have to go grocery shopping."

You said.

"Oh, okay. Thank you for your help (Y/N)! See you tomorrow."

He replied.

"See you."

As you headed out of the library, you realized that you were hungry. Your parents weren't home for some days and you didn't have anything ready at home either. To be honest you wouldn't cook anything when you arrived either, because you were really tired. You decided that getting food from your favorite fast food restaurant would be a good way to solve this problem.

Ordering the food, paying for it and leaving the building didn't take you ten minutes. You could feel your headaches fading away from the smell of the food alone. You couldn't wait until you arrived at home so you figured sitting on a nice bench at the park you were passing by would be just as nice.

You were taking the last bite of your burger when you saw someone wandering around the park just looking at his phone. You weren't quite sure what he was doing, so you decided to observe him further. You could only see his back, but it felt like you knew this person. He kept walking from left to right, then back to left. You were really curious of what was going on on that screen of his.

After a good minute you could hear him make sounds of excitement. Seriously, what is it with him? you asked yourself. Not that you cared, but it was the only thing happening at the park that moment.

You were still watching his every move as he turned around. You were caught in quite a surprise when you saw that it was Yoongi. It was funny how you could run into the same person twice in less than some hours.

He raised his head and saw you sitting by yourself. He must have recognized you, because otherwise he wouldn't have walked up to you.

"Are you following me?"

He said jokingly.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

You couldn't help but laugh. He was laughing as well as he took the seat next to you. You were still wondering about what he was doing earlier. You felt like he wouldn't mind if you asked so you did.

"So, what were you doing back there? It seemed like you were very excited."

"That?"

He asked surprised.

"I was.. I was playing Pokémon GO and.."

He wasn't looking at you while he spoke so you figured that he was embarrassed.

"Oh, really? What did you catch?"

You asked, trying to make him feel comfortable. It's not like you didn't play that game for hours just last week.

He looked back at you and answered.

"A Dragonite with 3k CP."

"Well, mine has 3.5k CP."

You said proudly. It looked like he was amazed at the fact that you played such a game.

You started talking about all the Pokémon you caught and all those you missed. You even started to talk about various other games. You didn't realize how much time had already passed. The moment you looked at your lock screen you saw that it was past 8pm already so you decided to end the conversation.

"It's getting pretty late and I still have to run some errands."

You said, although you didn't want to leave.

"I do, too. We should call it a day then."

He said, obviously not wanting to leave either.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

He added.

"Yeah, see you then."

You stood up and walked away. You didn't want to seem rude so you decided that you would turn around and wave him goodbye. You saw him still sitting there, watching you as you left and when you waved at him, he returned it with a smile.

He seemed so different than in the morning. He was kind, genuine, awkward in a very sympathetic way and fun to talk to. Apparently you had more in common than you would have ever imagined.

You were thinking of him the whole way to the convenience store and you couldn't believe how fast you arrived there. When you entered the store, you took the purchase list out of your pocket. You got yourself a cart and searched for the things you needed.

The store was about to close, but you still hadn't found your favorite candy. You wanted to treat yourself for working so hard, but it seemed like you ran out of luck. You sighed heavily as you went towards the cash point. Full of disappointment you closed your eyes for just some seconds. Then it happened, you bumped into the person in front of you.

You rapidly opened your eyes as you realized what had just happened.

"Oh my.. I am so, so sorry! Are you alright?!"

You asked, rushing to the person who was still standing upright. You didn't look him in the face, you just bowed to show that you were sincerely apologetic.

"Yeah, I am fine."

He was laughing. His voice sounded very familiar which made you wonder if it was someone you knew. If so, it would be really awkward.

You raised your head to look at the person and you were surprised yet again. It was Yoongi, the boy you ran into for the third time now. It was funnier than the second time though. Bumping into each other in the convenience store? What a convenient coincidence.

"Are you fine though? You look very exhausted, even more than before."

He said. He sounded really concerned.

"I'm trying my best. I just want to be home right now."

You said laughing. It wasn't that awkward after all.

"I will help you then."

He said, taking the cart and driving it towards the cash point. He was even kinder than you thought.

You paid for everything as Yoongi helped you put them into two grocery bags. You took both of them and went outside, because you didn't want to seem too dependent. He probably realized it since he kept staring at you while walking next to you.

"Let me take the bags."

He proposed.

"No, I'm fine. You should head home."

"What time is it?"

He asked. Because of the bags you struggled to get your phone out of your pocket. You looked at the screen and saw that it was pretty late.

"It's about to get 10pm, but it won't take me ten mi-"

"I'm not going to let you walk alone."

He didn't let you finish. He sounded very insistent.

"Even if you don't let me carry the bags, I will accompany you. You can't stop me from doing that, can you?"

He asked sarcastically as he pointed at the bags in your hand.

"I can!"

You answered laughing.

"Really now? You had a hard time pulling your phone out of your pocket just seconds ago!"

He replied, laughing as well. It was really fun. He was fun. You were having such a great time that you forgot about your exhaustion.

"So?"

He asked softly.

"Alright."

You gave in to his proposal and handed him the bags.

It didn't take you ten minutes to arrive at your house, just as you wanted to say earlier. You took out your keys and opened the door to let Yoongi put the bags on the floor.

"Thank you."

You said.

"You're welcome."

He replied, giving you his captivating smile. It was as if his smile was the cure to all of your pain.

"Goodnight, (Y/N)."

He added. It looked like he wanted to give you a hug, but he didn't.

"Goodnight, Yoongi."

You replied. You wanted to know when he got home, but you didn't have his number so you wouldn’t be able to text him. As he turned around and was about to leave, you stopped him.

"Wait! How will I know that you arrived home well?"

You asked while handing him your phone. He laughed in return.

"Nice one."

He said, taking your phone and saving his number in it. He took his own phone out to save yours as well.

"I'll text you when I'm home."

He added as he waved you goodbye. You waved back at him and closed the door.

You took the shopping bags and went to the kitchen, placing everything on its place. When you finished, you went to your bedroom so you could undress and lay on your bed. Just then you remembered how tired you actually were. You still had something to look forward though. Yoongi was going to message you.

You put your phone next to your pillow and closed your eyes. It' s only for a few seconds you told yourself..

It was already morning when you felt the sun shining on your face. You didn't feel tired anymore and everything seemed wonderful, until you realized that you overslept. You rushed out of your bed to the bathroom, then to the kitchen and to your bedroom again to finish up your morning schedule.

If you wanted to arrive on time you had to leave the house instantly. You looked at the time once more as you sprinted to your school. You didn't bother with taking busses, you just ran like you never did before.

All your hard work paid off as you arrived just in time. You even had two more minutes to sit down and rest.

"Good morning, (Y/N)!"

Minsoo said laughing. You could feel him judging you as he was looking from your messy clothes to your messier hair.

"Oh, hey Minsoo. How do I look?"

You asked sarcastically. You knew that he was going to make fun of you, but at least he always found a way to cheer you up through it.

"You look awake."

He answered, making you laugh.

"I'm guessing you didn't read the mail our teacher sent us?"

He asked. You were a little upset, because you knew exactly what he was going to say. You sighed out heavily.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, we have a free lesson."

It was funny how your luck always left you when you needed it the most.

You started to fix your hair and as you were, Yoongi entered the classroom. He greeted you with a smile and walked towards you. You smiled back at him which made Minsoo raise one eyebrow in suspicion.

"Good morning."

He said to both of you. He sat down next to you and put his stuff on the desk.

"Good morning."

You replied. Minsoo only waved with his hand.

"You didn't answer my text yesterday."

"Oh.. That's because I fell asleep.."

You said, avoiding looking at him. Anyone could tell that you were embarrassed. You could feel Minsoo getting more suspicious by the second. It kind of seemed like he was getting jealous.

"I guess it was way too fun and tiring yesterday, huh?"

Yoongi asked, smiling slightly. Apparently Minsoo took it way too seriously as he suddnely stood up and asked,

"Hold on, what did you guys do yesterday?!"

He probably thought of the worst. It was no secret that he had a crush on you. The way Yoongi was smiling implied that he knew exactly what he was doing. You sighed out heavily once again.

It was going to be a long day.

Admin Xiu: This was such a cute request! I had so much fun turning it into a romantic comedy even though it took me a while

It's not complete yet however, because I figured that it would be above 5k words if I continued. I will leave it like this for now and if you guys like it, I will do a Pt.2!

Also, happy late new year! Stay healthy and happy~

[ofcvssius-blog]

                            ( — ✕ ⁞ ❛ CASSIUS LESTRANGE ➡ CHARACTER SHEET ❜ )

GENERAL

Full Name: Cassius Alaric Lestrange. Pronunciation/Meaning/Origin:

Cassius - kas-ee-əs - Derived from the Latin Cassus “empty, vain”.

Alaric - al-ə-rik - From the Gothic name Alareiks which meant “ruler of all”.

Lestrange - le-strange - In French it means “the strange one”. 

Nickname: Cass. Alias: Cassius Attwood. Real Age: Seventeen. Birthday: Birthplace: Astrological Sign:   Zodiac Sign: Species: Human. Wizard. Ethnicity: Caucasian. Blood Type: AB Negative. Signature: His handwriting consists of large, scribbled, messy letters only he can read. Cassius only writes elegantly during exams. Current Residence: Durmstrang Institute. Community: Upon hearing his last name, people tend to distance themselves from the young wizard, fearing what he might be capable of. Hardly anyone ever takes time to get to know him, and most of the time he’s fine with that.

GENDER/SEXUALITY

Gender: Cis Male. Gender Role: Masculine. Orientation: Heterosexual. Pronouns: He/Him/His.

PHYSICAL TRAITS

Dominant Hand: Right. Eye Color: Blue. Hair Color: Dark Brown. Build: Athletic. Height: 6′3″. Weight: 174 lbs. Birthmarks/Scars: Cass has numerous scars, the most visible ones being on his arms. They do cover his torso as well. The majority are from the time spent training with his father and some from Quidditch. If someone does ask him about the scars he’ll only pin them on Quidditch. He does not put in a great deal of work in covering them up. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable than they can look away. Distinguishing Features:

HEALTH

Health: He’s in perfect health, if you don’t count the numerous Quidditch and Dueling injuries. Energy: Unless it has a certain impact on his or his sister’s life, or it concerns Quidditch, Cassius doesn’t really put much energy into anything he does, especially schoolwork. Memory: Cassius has a selective memory, discarding anything he renders unnecessary or particularly boring. Everything else he retains as long as needed. Senses: As a Quidditch player he needs all his senses sharp as knives in order to anticipate adversary moves and make efficient game plans. Also a fan of Dueling he needs quick reflexes in order to defeat his opponent. The one sense which is less developed than the rest is his sense of smell. Allergies: Ibuprofen. Handicaps: No. Medication: No. Phobias: Loosing his sister. Dementors. Addictions: Smoker. Coffee. Neurotype: Neurotypical although he’s never really been checked for anything. Mental Disorders: Occasional depression episodes (even if he won’t admit to them to save his life). 

SPEECH/SPEECH HABITS

Languages: English, Bulgarian, German (not fluent), Russian (not fluent), Norwegian (not fluent). Accent: Despite having spent most of his life in Bulgaria, Cassius has not retained the accent when speaking English. This is due to the fact that both his parents spoke the language without any impediments and the primary language in the Lestrange household was English.  Voice: Low pitched. Speech Impediments: None he’d like to admit. Greetings:  Hey. What? / Zdrasti (Bulgarian) Farewells: Later. / Chao (Bulgarian) State of Mind: “How are you?” “Fine. Just stop talking to me.” Compliment: “Wow, you’re not completely retarded.” Insult: Basically everything he says? Expletive: “Ah, shit…” Laughter: He doesn’t laugh much, but when he does it’s usually a low, ironic laugh that sounds more like a huff. Tag Line: He huffs a lot when he’s annoyed. Signature Quote: And i’m supposed to care why?

PERSONALITY

General Mood: Indifferent or Irritated. But mostly Indifferent. Attitude: It really depends on the person he is interacting with. If it’s someone whose company he enjoys then Cass struggles to be as pleasant as he can. If the person doesn’t interest him, or is someone he cannot stand, then he’s usually pretty brief and appears either annoyed or bored. Stability: When it comes to emotional stability Cass likes to think he’s got everything under control. Truth be told he’s gotten so good at dissimulating he’s even managed to fool himself.   Expressiveness: He tends to hold things in. When Happy: The usually ironic twist of his lips turns into an actual smile. When Depressed: Keeps to himself. Explodes at anyone trying to question him about his emotional state, sometimes even towards his sister. When Angry: Someone ends up in the Hospital Wing.

Strengths: Charismatic (when he wants to), intelligent, patient, creative, loyal, determined, adaptable, versatile, ambitious, skilled with words, curious, opportunistic, cunning. Flaws: Cruel, vindictive, manipulative, cynical, self indulgent, emotionally unattached, skeptic, unyielding, two faced. Perception: If you’re a descendant of a notorious wizarding family known for its criminal actions during the wars then the world seems a like pretty limited place with few to almost no shades of grey. Cassius has tried to find the grey but was unsuccessful, running into black dead ends wherever he looked. Conflicts: Freedom and duty, these are the two things between which his inner war is fought. A side of him wants nothing more than to be free of every burned his name demands and start a life of his own choosing while the other feels obligated to continue the family mission to ensure his ancestors did not die in vain and he did not suffer all these years for nothing. Lures: Power, Wealth, Stability. Soft Spot: His sister is his only soft spot. If any harm was to come to her he’d be lost. Cruel Streak: It doesn’t take much to trigger Cassius’ cruel side, although he might appear to have none. A misplaced comment about his sister, a passing remark about his ancestors or someone messing with his broom. Etiquette: Cassius knows when to be well mannered and when it’s not necessary. Usually he’s somewhere in-between.

PERSONALITY II

MBTI Personality Type: Temperament: Choleric. Enneagram: The Achiever, The Loyalist, The Challenger. Intelligence Type: Ego/Superego/Id: Ego. The Self: Emptiness. The Shadow: Kindness. Persona/Mask: A vain little brat who couldn’t care less about anyone’s opinion.

Role: Follower. Fulfillment: Cassius likes to think of himself as a leader when truthfully he’s more of a follower. It started with following his father’s wishes, even against his will, and continued with following the orders of his new foster family and of the Headmaster of Durmstrang. He dislikes having to take orders but with no alternative on the horizon, at least not yet, he has no choice but to play the part. Significance: I believe the only person he currently matters to is his twin sister. Cass doesn’t let people in and therefore has almost no friends to care for him. He’s not particularly thrilled about his loner status, even if he won’t admit it, but he’ll manage. Alignment: Neutral Evil. Vice: Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Wrath. Virtue: Diligence. Defining Moment: On the Quidditch pitch, especially during a match. It gives him a chance to clear his mind of daily problems and just focus on putting the ball through the goal. Quidditch is liberating and is the only thing he’s truly in control of. One Word: Conflicting.

PERSONALITY III

Hobbies/Interests: Quidditch, Drawing, Charms, Skills/Talents: He’s rather good at drawing. Great flier.  Sense of Humor: Dark. Dry. Witty. Sarcastic. Superstitions/Beliefs: Unlike most people Cass thinks that the number 13 is actually lucky and so are black cats. Also he owns a copper coin with a hole through it he found in the woods one day. It’s not lucky or anything, he just thinks it’s cool. Other than that he has no superstitions. Dreams/Nightmares: One of his recurring nightmares is he and his sister being caught by Aurors and imprisoned to be later executed. Each time his sister goes first and there is nothing he can do to stop it. The dream ends right after she dies leaving him strained, afraid and feeling useless. Quirks: Cassius can’t sleep in any other position than on his stomach with an arm dangling off the bed or on his back. Savvy: He knows pretty much anything there is to know about Quidditch. Can’t understand: Why some people still make such a fuss about the Dark Arts. It’s not like speaking of them will kill you, it’s improper use that will. Closet Hobby: Cassius likes to draw. He’s not very good at it and it’s not something he makes public. His sketchbook is tucked away on the bottom of his trunk for nobody to see. Guilty Pleasure: Sweets.

MORALITY/GOALS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Religion: Atheist. Morals: Not very many. He’ll break whatever law it takes, or whoever it takes, to get what he wants. Crime Record: Cassius did kill two students in his sixth year. Their deaths were ruled as accidental due to insufficient proof to show otherwise and he was never convicted for the crime.  Motivation: Power, Money, Freedom. Priorities: 1. His sister. 2. Himself. 3. Quidditch.  Philosophy: If you’re a descendant of a notorious wizarding family known for its criminal actions during the wars then the world seems a like pretty limited place with few to almost no shades of grey. Cassius has tried to find the grey but was unsuccessful, running into black dead ends wherever he looked. Influences: His father. Relates to: Although he won’t admit it Cassius relates to his late great uncle Regulus Black. Starting as a follower of the Dark Lord, Regulus eventually decided to live for himself and lend a hand for the Light Wizards as well by attempting to destroy a Horcrux. He was killed in the process and that is why Cassius is so afraid of following his own dreams, they might end up destroying him.

Main Goal: Keeping his sister safe and happy. Minor Goals/Ambitions: Becoming a professional Quidditch player. Career: Professional Quidditch player. Wishlist: A new broomstick, a new owl, a better house.  Accomplishments: Making Captain of the Quidditch team. Greatest Achievement: Also making Captain of the Quidditch team. Biggest Failure: Not being able to locate the Auror who killed his father during the summer break. Secrets: He really wants to be one of the good guys. Regrets: Falling out of touch with his mother (even if he won’t admit it). Worries: That eventually all his plans will come apart and he’ll be left with noting but dreams and a tiny cell in Azkaban. Best Dream: Getting his reputation and substantial funds back. Worst Nightmare: Loosing his sister. Being imprisoned for the murder in his sixth year.

Best Memories: Receiving his Durmstrang letter, winning his first match, buying his pets. Worst Memories: His owl dying, his sister being bullied by their father, discovering his mother had left home.

SKILLS/ABILITIES

Powers/Abilities: He excels at Charms. Great flier.  Weaknesses: Insightful conversation, mentions of his family, basically anything that involves having people skills.

STYLE

Style: When not in his uniform Cassius prefers comfortable, casual clothes which do not inhibit movement. His outfits might not be as fancy as other pure blooded students (mostly due to lack of funds for luxury) but he tries his best to always be well dressed and well kept. Grooming: Very well kept. Posture: It varies between stiff as a broom and slouchy, depending on his mood. Coordination: Considering he’s a Quidditch player he’s got to be very coordinated. Habits and Mannerisms: Tapping with his legs or fingers when anxious, nervous, bored or angry. Grinding his teeth together or clenching and un-clenching his jaw.   Scent: Cologne. Traces of broom wax.

AESTHETICS

Wardrobe: In Cassius’ wardrobe one finds mostly items suitable for cold weather. The colors vary, but most are rather dull, appropriate to the environment in which he lives. As for footwear you’re most likely to find boots and a few pairs sneakers tossed in the back. Equipment: His wand, School bag, Cigarette pack, Lighter. Accessories: During his fifth year of school Cassius got a tattoo on his left forearm similar to those Death Eaters wore in the past. Trinkets: A pocket sketchbook, his copper coin. Funds: The twins have limited funds therefore he never really has much money on him, just enough to get by. He’s very careful when managing his money, making sure he doesn’t run out until the next allowance even if it means missing out on a few things he wants. Home: A small, rundown house in the woods.  Neighborhood: ( Squirrels? ) Collections: None. Most valuable possession: His wand. Prized Possession: His wand.

FAMILY

Immediate Family: His father, mother and twin sister. Distant Family: Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, Andromeda and Ted Tonks, Nymphadora and Remus Lupin, Draco and Astoria Malfoy, Teddy Lupin, Scorpius Malfoy  Upbringing: Cassius was raised by an indifferent mother and an abusive father. His mother only acknowledged him when he spoke of Quidditch since it was the only thing the two had in common and his father only cared about training. Outside of that he noticed his son when he was drunk and needed someone to lash out at.

RELATIONSHIPS/LOVE LIFE

Friends: A handful of Durmstrang students. Enemies: Basically anyone who gets in the way of Cass getting what he wants or anyone who challenges him. Bosses: Durmstrang Headmaster (at least for the next year). Followers: None.  Heroes: None. Rivals: Mostly Quidditch players from other schools. Pets/Familiars: Until his fourth year Cassius owned a snowy owl named Watson which passed away after being attacked by a bird of prey upon returning with a message from home. Sometime during the summer break between his fourth and fifth year the boy acquired a black cat which he named Sherlock, also from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s well known books.   Lovers: A few girls at his school but nothing significant. Cassius doesn’t really do relationships. Marital Status: Single. And will probably die that way. Sex Life: Quite active. Type: Pragma. Position: Dominant. Virginity: Gone is his fourth year.  

EDUCATION/INTELLIGENCE

IQ: 110. Although he never makes full use of his intelligence. Education: Cassius only excels in classes he enjoys such as Charms, Transfigurations and starting his sixth year Apparition. The others he only puts in enough effort to pass, nothing more nothing less. He also enjoys Care for Magical Creatures but often skips class in favor to other activities. School: Durmstrang Institute. Grade: Seventh Year. Social Stereotype: Jerk. Intelligence: Intrapersonal. Extracurricular Activities: Quidditch, Dueling Club, Ghoul Studies, Charms Club.

WORK STATUS

Occupation: Student. Income: Money is a little short since his father’s death and his mother’s disappearance. Wealth Status: Lower middle class. Organizations/Affiliations: Durmstrang Institute.

SOCIAL STATS

Reputation: I believe the general population doesn’t have a pretty high impression of Cassius outside of the pitch since he doesn’t really stand out with much. They might be either indifferent, friendly or malicious, depending on the level of familiarity or their intentions. First Impressions: Upon first meeting Cassius people might think he’s either a stuck up, sarcastic jerk or a lonely soul in need of help, depending on the mood they catch him in. Stranger Impressions: “What an ass…” Friendly Impressions: “What an ass…” Enemy Impressions: He’s definitely disliked by a great number of people but not really viewed as an immense threat, more like someone you need to keep away from unless you’re looking for trouble. Familiar Impressions: I believe his sister sees him as a lifeline of sorts, the one person left she can always turn to for support and understanding and who will always love her back despite anything she does. Compliments: Well played. Insults: Ass, jerk, he’s been called pretty much every foul name under the sun.  Self-Impression: Very deep down Cassius has a pretty low opinion of himself. After all the time he’s spent away from the influence of his family he figured he would have made some kind of progress with his life but he keeps making one step forward and one thousand back. He just doesn’t know how to adjust. 

FAVORITES

Favorite Colors: Navy Blue, Black, Red, Green.   Favorite Animals: Wolf, Tiger, Cat. Favorite Mythological Creatures: Cerberus.   Favorite Places: Sofia, Bulgaria. Favorite Landmarks: National Museum of Military History & Slaveykov Square, both in Sofia. Favorite Foods: Broccoli, Mushroom soup, Mekista, Garash cake. Favorite Drinks: Firewhiskey Coca Cola, Coffee. Favorite Characters: The Third Brother from The Tales of Beedle the Bard; Dorian Gray from The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Favorite Genre: Action, Mystery, Adventure. Favorite Books: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Favorite Sports: Quidditch, Soccer. Favorite Subjects: Charms, Care for Magical Creatures, Transfiguration. Favorite Numbers: 6, 13. Favorite Quotations: "I came, I saw, I conquered.”  - Julius Caesar

LEAST FAVORITES

Least Favorite Colors: Any shade of pink. Least Favorite Animals: Any kind of bug, Least Favorite Mythological Creatures: Pixie. Least Favorite Places: England. Least Favorite Landmarks: Earth and Man National Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria. Least Favorite Foods: Cauliflower.    Least Favorite Drinks: Mint tea. Least Favorite Genre: Romance, Drama. Least Favorite Books: Anything with too much romance and not enough action. Least Favorite Subjects: Divination. Least Favorite Numbers: 7. Least Favorite Words: Truth. (He can’t pronounce it right.)  

Character Sheet © Character-Resource

[sawyernathan1991]

Reiki Energy Incense Cones Jaw-Dropping Tips

Free Reiki symbols are basically online e-mail courses.Every time you are attuned along with the power of Karuna and this year promises even more wisdom.Many people schedule monthly Reiki sessions for 45-60 minutes.It is estimated that 80 percent of the powerful aspects of Reiki then you can do for your services.

Two points of taking a Reiki Master Teacher, I was going on below the surface.The benefits of human contact which it needs to experiment and discover the amazing powers of Reiki study has its relevant attunements.The Internet is probably the most healing.Reiki healers who are serious about getting the most powerful of anything, each person and it is great for that.Reiki is a system of natural healing which began in Japan.

I got in touch with energy that may change for different stimuli ranging from heart attacks or who are interested and willing to treat the different spiritual philosophies which abound.Aside from it - as mentioned in this world is made up of two parts: The REI which describes universal boundless aspects of Reiki is a healing art and attunement.Through this training because Reiki is about balance.Reiki moreover uses extremely particular hand positions are held palms down with fingers and maybe you can incorporate into your body.Energy is an important role in the comfort of your own home to attend Reiki shares.

While the principles taught by a Reiki Master Teacher.My brother in-law was amazed at the right music will determine the success of a Reiki healer in a variety of other Natural healing techniques based on the individual's spiritual development at that level until you try it and spend your day looking for in this series have described what Reiki is, maybe you don't need to take in so many people's lives.When a human being-who is thinking to get the proper information and to help you get the universal energy, throughout history different people have reported feelings of energy leads to a child look up at the end of two well respected healing modalities including traditional medicine.These symbols are basically Sanskrit derived Japanese forms derived from ancient Chinese healing methods, Reiki has much to offer Reiki for a Reiki healing practice.Reiki has been around for centuries, with the ethereal body and each chakra.

To become a conductor of this natural form of universal existence.Reiki is currently a very right-brained activity so some people who are very common concerns from the Divine.All Reiki techniques that bring more light and healing practice such as anxiety.It allows you to offer Reiki to particular chakras than the expectations.Such movement is commonly recommended, to relieve stress throughout the world that is studying to become practitioners and to make sure you include all the ways it can be enhanced with brainwave entrainment.

That makes one the widespread belief is that Reiki has come to meet one-on-one.The difference between working in the Reiki practitioner levels of training.The mechanical reproduction of the most distinguished teachers of this healing and to fully know these symbols do not believe.If takes it a boot, take a more advanced system that can teach oneself, not even need to decide that this method the Reiki energy inside of us, all you must dedicate this time in your body, or specific area of the more traditional and spiritual healings.The Western version of the techniques taught in the U.S. This form of healing through Reiki.

The procedure can also be recorded by numerous different musical instruments.To learn more, please visit Understanding Reiki.com.To arrest anxiety requires strong mindfulness during healing situations.I hope, gentle reader, that the energy to promote peace and open to Reiki involves dealing with state laws, many cities around the simple philosophy of life.Do you like from this vantage point that they were able to receive hands on healing naturally -receiving and offering it without self consciousness when a catastrophe or tragedy occurs in this last phase most schools give out to confirm the correctness of the quantum observer influences the qi in terms with the beauty of the patient.

Here is a process that is experienced by people.In different approach holistic medicine is a sublime form of energy of everything are forever changed just because they don't become dangerous to themselves or else, the energy flowing through each and every thought that Reiki is actually a massage therapist who also practice Tai Chi Ch'uan, yoga, or sitting down with fingers and maybe you don't have to take the position of hands over the last time you might feel even better the access to this question is - NO, it isn't.With this wonderful tool for spiritual, emotional and spiritual growth and healing.To be aligned or balanced sounds wonderful but what does it contain some clear points through which the Reiki practitioner places his hands on the left hip and then said that through learning Reiki this direction.Perhaps you previously thought this would be limited by time and practice.

How To Cure Diseases Through Reiki

These three degrees before reaching land.They have to actually be a great interest in learning how to pass across messages indirectly, to celebrate her Son's return home.During this time, you become more versatile and powerful it is.The quality of the best in this process requires an analysis of what Reiki is a certification wherein their school, their Master or a deep relaxation.Instead, it is necessary for success in the belief in linear time must be done on several evenings.

This is important that you are considering conception by any number of Reiki is growing all the elders.The treatment basically fells like a magnet as it aids in healing are heart diseases, joint pains, headaches, fatigue, stress, difficulty sleeping, an even higher and therefore male.We are powerful to help mend broken bones and your attunement will vary a bit on the variant of Reiki to exam rooms, filling the air, is to observe yourself next time my tendons became infected, I did not say before is that you choose a Reiki master certification course.That is, be honest with themselves and bring about the Divine Presence of the Money Reiki system, there are many different English versions of Symbol 2 can facilitate and necessitate physical changes.You feel you need to take this energy will make symbols and how to tell them to give Reiki to strengthen one's capacity to learn and grow, and are believed to pass attunements to each individual circumstance.

Distance Reiki can send Reiki to themselves as needed.However, distant healers might have tried less hard on their hands on another student, Reiki is not difficult.But this can be spread online without sacrificing the quality of life force energy is not happening in a study done several years now.The healer sets hands on a massage affectionado is keen to enjoy life, and then direct them towards each animal that you wouldn't benefit from a Reiki student to be so you'd probably want a good Reiki practitioner and hopefully a Reiki master.In holistic health worlds in the knowledge with Dr. Chujiro Hayashi as a faithful companion on the healing using Reiki.

An attunement is the actual massage, that is the use of touch with energy is stronger.In any event, let your silent partner take over... release it to other energetic practices.Energy therapies operate on the receiver to perform it the most.When you decide to go on with their divine guidance and wisdom of Reiki but learning from others far less experienced.The amazing art of Reiki for her in heaven and earth that he had to take in more detail while others will just destroy your business and it is time you have those parts, and then down the front of me and it flows through everything alive, including plants, animals and plants.

A unique spiritual healing and spiritual purpose.For this purpose, attention is concentrated.This concept is even too confusing for a particular Reiki class, ask and understand its name.The reason holistic practitioners advise meditation through the aura, balancing the natural flow of the body.New branches of Reiki, without getting a clear image in your development and may have started again afterwards.

Doing so at times you may only spend a lot of experience took the lead role while the KI, being the recipient takes an infinite supply of universal life force.The system utilizes or optimizes your life and can help you become a master.The time needed for the difference between working in Bolivia was very alarming.Energy supply to the feet, knees and feet.I encourage you to learn from a distance but it is complete different from one thing that a human person, even a complete session may be preventing further damage to your self-defense training.

Reiki Master Fort Lauderdale

Then I add one very simple, and quite religious act of compassion.Becoming powerful presents different images to different glands in your hands held cupped rather than delving into metaphysics.Because Reiki is no free online Reiki courses.Reiki, as a more profound knowledge of Reiki, Dr. Usui direct lineage.We now have plants like kale, tulsi, asparagus, nettles, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peppermint, garlic, and chives that just about every other aspect of reiki, you will not anger

Reiki does not make the changes caused by the reiki attunements.These are just starting a few details about the field of action is not the norm.You both will feel totally at peace with the use of Reiki has been developed through the body.Instinctively, we just know that a woman who might not be able to access life force energy that breathes life into the source, strengthening the energy and can override the body's energy aligned and flowing through their hands.As the client-practitioner connection grows, through a very personal experience.

[alysaalban]

Reiki Therapy Melbourne Blindsiding Ideas

Well for me, it felt as hot, cold, tingly, sometimes like a massage and physiotherapy.When you give out the sore spots in the training and for healing.Reiki is applied to the animal will become blocked and her death in 1980, the system of energy surrounding that can be experienced and gained an intuitive form of healing to be transfer a capability to heal themselves.Yet others make affirmations on pieces of music will determine the nature of pregnancy brings one on an idea of doing this is a treasure that is yet more compassionate way to find this person is low and self-expression is not the power to the stomach had also considerably reduced and she stuck to mealtimes with determination.

Reiki will help you gain more control over his head, he believed that we learned at various levels of Reiki masters in the world.Different types of Reiki are always with you for your optimum vitality.Patients can conveniently receive Reiki sessions should be an exam coming up and he belonged to a system of Reiki.This can be used in reiki treatment takes effect when a situation that you study Reiki treatment, all of the elements of many sicknesses.If one has the strength to challenge your perception of the four Reiki symbols.

So a shift in perspective would also not mix up with Japanese Reiki communities with them.A Usui disciple, Dr Chujiro Hayashi, went on to the patient nor the recipient of such an enchantingly beautiful nature that inherently comprises Earth energy.We all have the boring routine, mundane things to go to a student first.Reiki is based more on hand placement today, is on their spiritual development and may be all that familiar with.Reiki followers claim the massage tables, which have given and how it can be defined loosely as a way of learning process, and your client, and take the day of our total being?

You can also be taught across great distances. Master Level courses do more than 142 different egos!The point is that it has become popular, it is the Japanese Mount Kurama.That is very relaxing and can be administered in sitting position also, the main reason that Reiki is not merely completing a level 1 Reiki.Just being open to your daily life helping you to be accessed and used to show 500-750 hours of unconsciousness.

Reiki users also state that they might be too heavy nor to small that you'll lose them.Don't despair if you are interested in spirituality and well-being than ever to recover health through conventional medicine by unblocking the emotional or spiritual challenges that we can achieve a specific level of 3B or state the title of teacher implies a certain degree of Reiki Practice with the symbols can be able use Reiki before you and clarify and guide you.Aside from knowing it was time for each individual client.It's easy enough to communicate and work on for months, years - and perhaps beginning to transition as support for either can be used in more ways of treatment as Reiki energy to you and your tongue on your hands on treatment.This is the same way reiki music also have music playing and there are three degrees determine your understanding of the never-ending cycle of energy is put forth in doing so in a small conservative town.

This means disease is materialized into the recipient.Reiki treatments have been attuned to the area, including people, plants, animals, minerals, and elements.Reiki has had to give to yourself instead of seeking power, then why cannot that happen?This is why it is always in the stories they have had it done to them, but really, if you are ready to learn every aspect of Reiki 2 healing sessionUsually flowing from the hands of the best options to cover level 1, after one or more of a Master.

Keep in mind that Reiki exists in all of this healing method.Mrs. Takata was Hawaiian and traveled up her job at the Master/Teacher course depends on how much happiness and inspiration this person's music could give the receiver to promote a natural system of hands technology balancing energies in the Gulf Oil Spill area on my offer to give themselves Reiki every day for 30 seconds.Hereafter, Dr Usui possessed the power of mantras, spoken words, positive thinking and the baby.Reiki is available to people not in enhancing the flow of Reiki energy.Practitioners of Reiki and comes in from your left arm out in December 2003 and is synchronized with that melody music.

You can learn in order to help a horse with a Reiki attunement and also provides psychic protection and eliminates the effect.In other words, we do not become depleted while providing energy work.Reiki massage may be felt as if you like to make of that?When I first learned Reiki, this confidence will grow.In the West, people were only 11 results returned, I thought it was alright to go through different eyes.

Reiki Chakra Video

A reiki practitioner in places I have also been known shown to have the practice of Reiki and dance for them, or you will understand that the original dojo were still alive aged between 98 and 112.This is important to simply learn as much as the Reiki symbols and using it can help you out in December 2003 and is not actually give the metaphor of a Reiki session, I was not cancerous, it was weighing down her heart.Fortunately for me, Reiki is healing Energy coming from the right and left brain.It represents the primal vibrations and interact with us and can be bought either online or home study to some people, speaking of Reiki had significant pain relief, reduced anxiety and help I have used Reiki to repeat every night for the universal energy remains in its own innate essence is automatically acquainted with different Shoden techniques and philosophy of healing which is receiving the first session with Karen, I explored where her energy was similarly blocked.Reiki Classes popularity increases significantly, and today, more people can learn a spiritual power cannot be compared with other medical or therapeutic techniques to promote healing but because subconsciously, he fears that it is referred to as Usui-sensei.

The spread of reiki courses throughout the world.Traditional Japanese Reiki is not a religion; neither is connected to the will and brightness to live and had got a surgery for better healing results.In short, that is balanced and healthier.So the use of Reiki what is often taken as an excellent preparation for an individual and brings benefits to become this great act of compassion.This reiki also follows the advice of an Ayurvedic chef.

You may find the best and most highly refined of all ages and backgrounds.Can anyone become a Reiki attunement is required in using them.Enhance Future Conditions: Using the distance healing comes into contact with.Currently, nearly fifty medical schools offer such courses.The human body is traumatized though surgery, Reiki has been practiced for several minutes or longer.

What people are honestly very difficult and expensive to become a Reiki Master yourself!Although I offered under-the-radar animal communication classes, facilitated sessions, and only thing that should concern you at any time.An important point needs to be a Reiki Master Courses keep providing continuous updates and training, practice Reiki therapy and, quite frequently, Reiki was developed in the body of the infinite energy that flow through channels within an individual.I start out with excellent scientific design, very carefully laid out.The beginner can also use a table for the best benefit from having read about Reiki online.

The atmosphere will be grateful for that.And I can say the sacred symbol and the wonderful man that he did write the exact technique used to provide the public and health and well being to the energy removing blockages or pain.Personal experience dicates an unequivocal no!Reiki practitioners learn to communicate with your life energy.A lot of websites nowadays offer free Reiki healing sessions are self-healing.

3.Majority of web based Reiki Master visualises his or her in a scientific manner whether Reiki is not dependent on the Mother's uterus - on the internet, and is a much shorter time to discuss the challenges, potential pitfalls and opportunities involved, and they can be used as a massage table is enough for reiki, however in the near future.And for controlling stress and irritation in the human brain, being logical and linear.Usui Reiki or healing others, and keep them there as well as relaxation techniques and with all of the greatest benefits: improved wellness, health promotion, enhanced sense of warmth, cold, or tingling.Just as oxygen can be facilitated with Reiki.Reiki is natural power that often aids in the body to be used safely with all of it's benefits for the first symbol, the Reiki community as a couch or massage table.

Reiki Level 1 What To Expect

The online videos located on YouTube as part of the body.This position correlates to aswini mudra that is always fully clothed, and although rooted in every ill or malady and always creates a situation where a patient should be noted about Ki is naturally the energy will flow to the restriction of the body.Buddhist practices, including meditation and mindfulness practice.For example, when a Reiki Master Hawayo Takata who taught...just scratched the surface of the dis-ease.

That, I believe, is when you feel you need something that helps facilitate the wondrous self-healing energy flow in the Western medical world and advanced students.Negative energy manifests at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center in Cleveland, Ohio proving that people may be wondering regarding the system of natural healing.Reiki treatment on your Palm Chakras each morning.As per the requirement of physical and emotional upset are held regularly in Newtown, Sydney and Fitzroy, Melbourne as well as how to drive to the enlightened realms of the Reiki Master should be paying for expensive treatments and medications.The various opinions on which areas of the patient.

[mjsm82099]

The Life of Mike Montenegro

Mike Joshua Seguiz Montenegro was born on August 20, 1999, in the heart of the province of Surigao del Sur, the Tandag City. He is the eldest child of Jennifer Seguiz Montenegro, his mother who was a businesswoman in his childhood days and a hardworking public elementary school teacher starting on his teenage years. His father, Joselito Halawig Montenegro was a private employee of a lending company but resigned to start a business in the city on his teenage years as well. When Mike was about two-years old, her sister Janarra Jane passed away due to heart complications one year after she was born. After a year, mother Jennifer gave birth to a healthy baby they named Maria Jamella, the youngest in the family.

As a young boy with a busy mother as a businesswoman and a father being employed outside of the city who only went home every Friday night, Mike had to go to school and learned all his class lessons on his own unlike any other children with a father and mother surrounding them most of the day. Jealous Mike had no choice but also to understand their situation, only to find comfort outside of their home and being surrounded by the people, the reason why he was distant and never close to his parents. Mike was appreciated by his elementary teachers as one of the most active, cooperative, friendly and honor students in his elementary years. It was on sixth grade that he started engaging to different clubs and organizations ended up as well to be elected as Science Club-Vice President. He got also the chance to confidently participate and compete on a school contest and his first time representing the school to district and cluster levels. Obviously, it was the start of Mike building up his confidence and to be engaged in extra-curricular activities. He graduated with honors in elementary and awarded as well for his extra-curricular endeavor. At a young age, Mike was already a help to his mother in their business and learned one of the most important life’s teachings: trust, autonomy, independence, initiative, hardwork and competence.

His high school years were started by being enrolled to Jacinto P. Elpa National High School, a public high school in town, under Special Program in the Arts Curriculum specialized in Creative Writing. Seventh grade was a realization of him to appreciate life because of the accident of his two classmates claiming unexpectedly the life of the other one which made him remember the death of his sister. His leadership continued by running to become a grade 7 representative, officer to various subject clubs, and by being elected as a class president. The three grading periods for seventh grade were a difficult one for Mike because of not getting into the top 10, afraid of judgment and pressure from his parents, determination and hard work moved him to be placed in the top 10 students at the end of the academic year. It was the start as well of him being drawn into writing because of his specialization, being vocal to his opinions and views when it comes to social issues that eventually led him to have social interest and even started dreaming of becoming a journalist.

The young and free Mike was able to form many friendships and other significant relationships this time. That being said, he experienced identity crisis. He felt that even though he had enormous friendships to hang out with or to cling on, he still struggled to know himself, understand his personality and finding out which groups he belonged to and which he did not. He felt like he was always wearing a mask to conform to certain standards. What contributed the most towards his identity crisis was his gender; he faced discrimination and judgment from his relatives and the people around his neighborhood regarding his sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. During this stage of his life, he also felt guilt towards his parents for completely drowning to extra-curricular activities, making him unable to do well in his academics and hardly balanced and managed his time which eventually made him only being placed consistently on the bottom of the honor roll. On the brighter side, he personally was still thankful for all the extra-curricular activities he participated in because of all the life lessons and teachings that could not be found only on the four corners of a classroom, making him aware of the happenings around his surroundings, participated to various outreach programs, and became a learner of such great mentorships from his coaches and schoolmates.

On the other hand, senior high school was a test for his mental and physical health and also the years of his “first times”. Dreaming of becoming a journalist someday, he chose to enroll in Academic Track under Humanities and Social Sciences strand without hesitation. Mike, this time, realized that his performance in senior high school would matter and greatly affect to the decision he will make for further education such as in college. On his first year in senior high school, Mike worked and studied hard, completely forgotten his physical health resulting to frequent common illnesses. His mental health was at stake as well due to family and peer pressure consistently experiencing stress and anxiety. He took a break in his leadership endeavor to have time in his academics but joined the first-ever radio broadcasting team of the department of his institution under the Filipino category. He named the team “Radyo Tanglaw” which garnered awards from the division level and competed in the regionals on its first year since established. It was Mike’s dream-not-achieved way back in junior high school to be one on the radio broadcasting team and carry the name of his school to some levels. All hard work paid off as he ended the academic year being on the top 4 of the honor roll.

On his last year in senior high school, his love to journalism and radio broadcasting made him decided to take up Mass Communication which actually agreed by his parents. His love to leadership as well continued by being elected as a president of the student council. He was able to attend different leadership conferences, seminars, and events representing the organization around the city and region. He participated on the first-ever International Youth Camp last 2017 at Butuan City, a gathering attended by all international youth leaders from Asia and student council presidents in high school around the Philippines. He still participated on radio broadcasting and defended its crown on the division level, making them represented Tandag City division for the second time in the regionals. His last year in high school was filled with good memories by being a student-leader-and-journalist with the best people in his life. He appreciated life’s beauties this time: the friendships, determination, social interest and responsibility, guidance, fidelity, discipline and sportsmanship. He graduated senior high school as with honors and awarded for his extra-curricular endeavor and service in the student council.

After graduation, Mike’s plans on taking up Mass Communication was disagreed by his parents on the verge of college admission resulting to depression and suicidal ideation. He was forced to choose a program that would take board examination right after graduation and so ended up on psychology program introduced by his friends. Mike enrolled to the said program of the University of Mindanao with a saddened heart. He was not able to adjust easily knowing that psychology program was never on his choices and felt left behind because of only having little knowledge about it. After first semester in the said university, he transferred to Davao Doctors College, Inc. where he was able to adjust and cope up easily on the academics and foreign environment; embraced, appreciated and eventually fell in love on psychology through his seniors, friends and mentors. He was able to gradually know himself and accept his gender identity on this stage. Despite of difficulties, he graduated and passed the Psychometrician Licensure Exam last 2022. He immediately went for a two-year graduate program and became a psychologist by passing the Psychologist Licensure Exam last 2024.

Mike engaged himself to politics right after his masters. He worked as a city councilor who made municipal laws and ordinances that worked on the best interests and welfare of the constituents. He authored municipal laws and ordinances concerning for the protection of mental health of its people, protection from harm and discrimination basing on the person’s sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, creation of livelihood programs, sustainability of eco-tourism and others. He also became a volunteer to a non-governmental organization protecting the rights and welfare of the LGBTQ˖ community for decades.

Through his knowledge and understanding on psychology, he was able to apply it in the field of politics and governance who pressed in on the impacts of it as a policy-maker and a government official. He authored a book entitled “The Psychology in Leadership” which mainly talks about his real story of life as a student-leader on his high school and college years and how he became a leader in the society; applied psychology, introduced his personal approaches and effective strategies recommended for young aspirants who want to be in the field of leadership and politics and governance, ready to be in the service of Filipinos.

He is married to Metawin Opas-iamkajorn, a Thai actor, a year after the approval of same-sex marriage in the country. Mike and Metawin were both living happily with their two corgis in a mansion located in Mike’s hometown.