#i seriously had to cram a lot of health knowledge last year

[meditating-dog-lover]

I really

I really want to get a wellness degree and certification.

I might take a couple of courses in the future.

[soumal]

hello! i hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you know that medicine was "the one" that you wanted? i'm absolutely clueless on what i want to do, and my parents wanted me to do medicine. ;-;

Hi not at all! So I was in the same position as you at the start. I started exploring medicine on suggestion from my dad (before this I had no clue whatsoever). I knew that I found science pretty cool so I was sort of moving in that general direction. I started watching youtube videos featuring current medical students and I kind of liked the vibe. But the main driving factor for me to seriously start considering medicine was more of a personal journey. This was a mix of growing up with my own health conditions, witnessing family members with chronic health conditions and living in countries with flimsy/almost non-existent healthcare systems.

All of these contributed to me starting the preparation process but what made me decide that medicine was definitely the one would have to be work experience. I did both community and hospital placements; both were instrumental in showing me what things would really be like. There's a LOT of admin in medicine (esp as a junior doc) but I also had the opportunity to witness many interesting, deeply private, heartbreaking and demanding (emotionally and physically) scenarios. Whilst there was no eureka moment for me I really felt like this was an environment where there was real potential for me to thrive.

I would say definitely get some work experience/exposure of some sort(kind of impossible w covid ik)- this is imo the best way to figure out whether this is the profession for you. These days lots of medics from around the world are vlogging their days so check them out- they are more or less accurate (be careful tho! The doctor ones are a little more realistic).

It's also worth thinking seriously about how much work you are prepared to put in- medicine as a course requires a lot of studying/memorising. You can't get away with cramming when it comes to the last few years and at the end of the day your knowledge must be good enough to support and perserve people's lives as much as possible

I hope this helps and lmk if you want to know anything else!

[keelywolfe]

FIC: The Elephant in the Room ch.1 (baon)

Summary: Jeff has started working at the Embassy. He's got a new job, a new car, and a new place to live. Now if only the rest of his life could fall into order, that'd be great. Any time now...any time at all...

Tags: Spicyhoney, Kustard, Established Relationships, Prejudice Against Monsters, Angst,  Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Past Suicidal Thoughts,  Mental Health Issues, Friendship

Notes: Don’t skip the tags, okay? Not wanting to trigger anyone. 

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

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Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

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If someone on the street had told Jeff a year ago that not only would he be working at the Monster Embassy, but he’d be living in New New Home with a Monster as a roommate and helping out his best friend (who was also a Monster and only called him Andy) on the weekends with weird experiments to entertain the local kids, well. Truthfully, if anyone had tried to tell him that fortune on the corner of Euclid Avenue, Jeff probably would have walked a little faster and hopped on the next bus.

Weird to think it was only a little over year ago. Not that they’d gone out for an anniversary dinner or anything. That would’ve been weird, yeesh, opening up some champagne to celebrate their ‘didn’t let someone kill you’ moment. Come to think of it, it was probably a good thing no one brought it up because that seemed like exactly the kind of thing Stretch would celebrate, complete with paper hats and balloons. Maybe next year they could celebrate getting arrested together, instead.

For today though, Jeff was on a mission.

He’d spent the morning at the Embassy with Cathryn, one of his co-workers in Public Relations, a short, plump Monster who distinctly resembled a cat. So far, everyone was very nice, and if Cathryn was a little giggly and a lot gossipy, she was also very good at her job. A knack for information gathering was not necessarily a bad thing in this department.

This afternoon he was supposed to be heading to ‘Classic Books’ to wrap up everything with Thomas. He’d already be on his way except Stretch was supposed to be coming with him and he was currently late. Not that it was his fault; Stretch had suggested they meet in the middle at the Beanery instead of Jeff driving all the way back to New New Home and it looked like the bus was running behind.

Not that Jeff would have minded making the drive. His new little car ran like a dream and if he still felt a little guilty having it, he soothed it with the knowledge that he was going to work his ass off at the Embassy to make up for it. It’d been a long time since he’d driven much and he’d never owned a car of his own. But there was something freeing about having a car; no waiting for buses that only went to certain areas and left him to walk through the heat or the cold, slushy mornings.

Or ran late.

He could go out whatever the time was without worrying about making the last bus, down the roads of Ebott and to the Embassy. Which, okay, was pretty much as far as he’d driven so far, today would be his first trip downtown and he was impatient to get on it.

Eh, it was all right, though. He was pretty sure it was less the time saving and more the coffee behind Stretch’s suggestion. There were already two cups sitting in the drink holders, still too hot to drink, but that was fine. This time, he was the one who got to buy the coffee and Stretch wasn’t here to stop him. That was how friendship was supposed to be, give and take, fighting over the check and actually being able to pay it. This time, Jeff was playing to win, and Stretch was going to have to deal.

Thinking of which, the bus pulled up just then, and people streamed off, Humans and Monsters alike headed for the Beanery. Stretch was about a head above everyone else, clambering down the stairs on the bus, almost tripping as he tried to pull out his headphones at the same time. From the sidewalk, he looked around briefly, brightening as he caught sight of Jeff. He waved across the parking lot and then he was suddenly there, right next to the car and hopping into the passenger side. Jeff had seen that trick about a hundred times now and it was still startling. He wondered what other Humans thought when they saw it, wondered if the PR department worried over it.

“hey, handy andy!” Stretch said cheerily, sliding into the seat. He only made it about halfway, grimaced immediately and reaching down for the lever to push the seat back as far as it could go. It was enough for him to settle his legs so they weren’t crammed into the dashboard, even if it almost put him in the backseat.

“Sorry,” Jeff chuckled, “no one else has ridden with me yet.” The seat probably wouldn’t get moved too much again, come to think of it, almost everyone Jeff knew was well over six feet tall. Then again, Blue, Sans, and Red would all be lying if they tried to claim they topped the ruler at five feet, so depending on who needed a ride, it might get quite a workout.

“it’s all good,” Stretch said dismissively. His eye lights landed on the coffee cups and lit up, “ooh, sacrificial beverages, whatcha get me?”

Jeff tapped one of the cups with a finger, “Pumpkin spice latte with an extra shot and sprinkles. I know that’s not quite up to your usual standards, but I didn't want to chance being creative. Only took Debbie like thirty seconds to make.”

“of course it did,” Stretch scoffed, “she’s a professional.” He snatched up the cup greedily and took a deep swallow, heedlessly of the steam still pouring out of the little drinking hole. Honestly, being able to eat or drink something no matter how hot was a damned handy trick, a seriously underestimated superpower. Jeff had already burned his tongue on his first sip.

He left Stretch to savor his rich caffeination and started the car. But before he pulled away, he glanced automatically to make sure Stretch had his seat belt on. Edge was infecting him with his protectiveness, and he trusted Stretch, but he’d promised. From the way Stretch rolled his eye lights, he caught the look, but he didn’t say anything, only moved his arms pointedly so Jeff could see the strap across his chest.

Good enough.

The noontime traffic wasn’t too bad and Jeff guided them through it carefully, not quite confident enough in his driving skills to relax completely, especially with a passenger. Not that Stretch seemed very worried, he only chatted about his week between sips of coffee, and Jeff couldn’t help laughing as he heard about Edge’s chicken rescue mission.

“…i mean, seriously, a chicken and about six kids, all following behind him like some kind of demented conga line,” Stretch laughed. “edge in the lead and you know i love him, but he always looks so serious, i swear, sometimes i think he’s afraid he’ll give himself another crack if he smiles in public. so there he is, leading them straight-faced as an accountant and nugget is on his heels like a lovesick idiot. me, i have to bribe them with food to get them to come with me anywhere and they’d follow edge into a kfc.”

Jeff laughed too, imagining Edge solemnly leading a chicken along the street. “Wish I could’ve seen that.”

“yeah, i never have my damn phone on me when he decides to get up to the chucklefucks. pretty sure it’s a conspiracy.” He took a long sip of his coffee and Jeff took advantage of the pause to ask a question of his own.

“How did your visit with Alphys go?” He’d already known about it from Blue, but to his surprise, so did Cathryn. Gossip about Stretch was prime material for the Public Relations department, which was a little unnerving until Catty pointed out that whether he liked it or not, Stretch was an unofficial symbol of Monsterkind. His Twitter following was massive as was his Instagram, and he’d been in the news several times now over attacks on Monsters. If his health problems ever went public, it would be plastered across the internet. The P.R. department needed to be ready if that ever happened to handle any fallout.

Knowing that made Jeff a little uncomfortable and that was a conversation he wanted to have with Edge. He wasn’t about to allow his friendship with Stretch to be used in any capacity and he wanted that to be clear from the start.

Stretch scowled at the question, hunching down in his seat. “fine.” That was a pretty firm hint that he didn’t want to talk about it, but to Jeff’s surprise, he went on with an impressive amount of disgust, “she thinks i should quit smoking.”

“Really? Why?" Jeff had always been under the assumption that cigarettes didn’t really have much of an effect on skeleton Monsters, unless—he involuntarily glanced at Stretch’s midsection, hidden beneath his baggy sweatshirt.

Stretch paused with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth, staring at him with narrowed sockets, then burst out laughing. "holy shit, no! you knucklehead, i'm not pregnant!"

Jeff cringed down over the steering wheel. Well, that was a year’s worth of embarrassment all dumped out at once. “Fuck, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even thought that.”

"it's okay," Stretch was still snickering. "i get it, it's a little confusing for humans. not all monsters have kiddos in what you guys would consider a traditional way. just for reference though, nope, can't get pregnant, my anatomy don't work that way. neither does edge’s fyi, so you can skip picturing him in a maternity getup. can’t wait to tell him you think he’s enough of a stud to knock me up.” He grimaced then, a shadow eclipsing his humor. “actually, never mind that. let’s keep it between us.”

“Okay.” Every time Jeff got answers from Stretch, he ended up with a basketful of more questions. “Can I ask you something personal?”

“more personal than checking if i’m preggers?” Stretch grinned, “i’ve never stopped you before.”

“Why don’t you work at the Embassy?” Stretch blinked slowly, his good humor visibly fading, and Jeff hastily added, “I mean, everyone else in your family does, even Red. I only wondered, it’s not a big deal if you—"

“eh, not really my thing,” Stretch said carelessly. He shifted to look out the window, his fingers absently peeling away the cardboard sleeve around his cup in long ribbons. “they do good stuff but i…” Stretch trailed away and ducked his head, swallowing hard, and that casual façade faltered. For a moment, there was nothing but the radio, playing a soft counterpoint of incongruous pop music as Stretch spoke again, strangled and low, “because when we first got here i was teetering on the edge of suicide. took a while to get past that and once i decided jumping off a bridge wasn’t for me, well. didn’t really feel like starting a nine to five.” Stretch shrugged. “the place i came from wasn’t so great.”

Jeff swallowed hard against the knot of emotion that settle into his throat, the taste in his mouth like metal shavings. He knew Stretch had some issues; he’d told Jeff himself that he had PTSD, but not why. It was probably shitty the way he managed to keep bringing it up, but somehow, he couldn’t feel too bad about it. That Stretch had been honest with him meant something and maybe he wasn’t sure exactly what, but it was about being friends. That much he knew.

Stretch abandoned his mutilated coffee cup in the drink holder and let his hand drop on to his knee, the skinny bones clenched into a fist. Jeff hesitated, wavering, then finally reached over and touched the back of it lightly. Immediately, Stretch turned his hand over, his fingers closing over Jeff’s tightly. They pinched a little, unforgiving bone against his fleshy fingers and Jeff didn’t care, only held on tight as he asked quietly, “You mean under the mountain?”

“that, too,” Stretch agreed. His other knee was bouncing, agitated energy spilling out, and Stretch let out a shaky sigh, his grip forcibly relaxing. “anyway, i still have some issues,” he laughed again, sharper, “issues, back issues, microfiche, i’ve got the works. took a while for me to even be able to go to the embassy if you want to know the truth.”

“Why?”

“the labs. had some bad times in another lab. i’m getting past it, doing all the good chitty-chat with my therapist, but i still don’t want to work in one full time. my own little setup is enough.” His smile was still a little weak. “guess i’m meant to be a homebody. good thing edge doesn’t mind.”

“Why would he?” Jeff teased, lightly, “he’s got the good end of the deal, he gets to come home to you!”

Stretch’s next laugh was more honest. “thanks, andy.”

“No problem,” Jeff said. He had more questions, always more, and what did this have to do with Stretch's issues with cats? Whatever it was, Jeff was letting it go for now. They'd probed deep enough into the back issues of Stretch's mind for the moment. Stretch promised him once that eventually he'd explain everything and Jeff believed him. One of the first things he'd ever learned about Stretch was that he kept his word and if he needed time to do it, Jeff would let him have all he needed.

He let Stretch keep his hand until he was ready to let it go and when he did, instead of shaking away the ache, Jeff picked up his own coffee. It was only lukewarm at this point but that was fine. Pumpkin spice lattes tasted pretty good any which way you drank them.

~~*~~

tbc

[flatstarcarcosa]

talked about all those headcanons but didn't mention how you met norman huh

I MEAN, honestly back when i was rabid for him I didn’t know selfshipping was in fact a thing many people did and i don’t even think there /was/ a community for it. we’re talking like 2012-2014 peak shipping w him hours. 

so anyway i never really had a timeline like that like i got for my boys now but ig if i did a new one (the milk is gonna age im telling you and i hate it) it’d probably be similiar to reesebane in the sense of i duck outta SC as soon as i turn eighteen and spend a lot of time bouncing from place to place and living outta my truck. 

probably end up in NYC living w a friend for a while before she moves (”why are you going south, you shouldn’t willingly go south” “bold words from a redneck” “thats different i was born there”). i can see this timeline being v similar to my irl life where i get hired at a “retail pharmacy” on a Corner and just start jumping on as many promotions as i can manage. 

i get savings and pto and health insurance and start getting on my feet, and after a few years when i have all the certs and licenses i need, i start looking to jump ship to anything that doesn’t have retail in front of it. 

get hired in whatever medical research division oscorp has by bullshitting a lot of things and cramming any knowledge i said i had and didn’t in between shifts. 

and being the egotist and grandstander he is i can see norman stopping by the labs sometimes to harass the senior researchers and make the junior ones star struck. 

we probably meet in passing and there’s something that has him take a second glance at me, and he peruses my work file and immediately pegs down that i bullshit my way into my position. 

initially he’s fucking annoyed that his HR are incompetent, but then he realizes i’ve been employed long enough that if i really was out of place, it would have been caught. it’s not easy doing whatever work i’m doing, and even though my pharm tech background gives me a good jumping off point and the work is similar, it’s probably still more akin to what pharmacists do, not techs. 

which makes him slink around the labs even more, because he wants to know how long i can keep up the act. 

also me being shit with names and faces for people, the first time we meet i literally dont know who he is. (”i’m the one who has his name on this building” “fantastic, that tells me nothing” “...i own the company.” “which means i’m doing twice the work you are for pennies on the dollar, now can you get out of my way?”) 

i also definitely forget who he is between every meeting. definitely get my wires crossed and remember the norman part for a while, and despite the company being oscorp, call him bates on his last name. (he doesn’t find it funny. it becomes mildly funny when it gets turned into an inside joke later down the road.) 

similar to eddie he probably asks me out quite a few times and me saying no just makes him pursue me more. (eddie is better from the jump at giving me my space, though.) our first ‘date’ probably ends up being him coming up with an excuse for something he wants my opinion on or ‘needs’ to discuss with me and me insisting i don’t have time. he only gives us an hour lunch break and the building is so big i barely have time to walk to the cafeteria, wait in line, eat, and then back outside to smoke, so he just follows me. 

ends up being funny in that he’s never tasted his own cafeteria food before and he’s absolutely disgusted and insists that’s going to be changed and redone entirely by the end of the week. 

“i’m going to fire the entire kitchen staff,” he says, tipping a fork and watching the shoddy excuse for mashed potatoes drip back onto his tray. 

meanwhile i’m just shoveling it in because my issues w food insecurity ain’t never goin’ away, and i will always eat free food if it’s presented. 

“you don’t need to fire all of them, just the line lead,” i say casually. “your quote unquote head chef is an idiot. the rest of them are fine but they’re beholden to his cheap ass.” 

“how do you know that?” 

i just blink at him while making that annoying slurping/rattling ice noise of trying to get more soda out of an empty cup. wordlessly, he slides his untouched coke over to me. 

“because i talk to them, like humans. also i’ve watched enough kitchen nightmares to know what’s up.” 

anyway

it’s probably definitely a slow burn. eddie and i are a slow burn but i think it’s pretty quick seeming compared to what norman and i would be. 

also, my dog liked eddie. rufus warmed up to him within a few hours, but he takes a LOT longer to warm up to norman, and i take his opinion very seriously. norman takes a long time to warm up to the dog, too on account of rufus growling every time he walked into a room and frequently refusing to let him near me. 

“he doesn’t like me” “he doesn’t like men”  “unfortunate that you do, i suppose”  “i say that every goddamned day” 

we find out later rufus disliking norman has a lot to do with his (norman’s) own mental state. the more he’s unravelling and leaning towards the goblin, the more rufus dislikes him. there’s many periods where norman’s doing really well and there isn’t an issue with him. 

it’s me that notices that first, and it takes a while for norman to believe that i’m onto something. eventually we kind of end up using the dog as an early warning system for him once the pattern is noticeable of 

norman’s fine --> dog enjoys his company, will interact with him, and listen to commands.  norman goes on a business trip or spends too much time locked in a lab or workshop and/or begins dipping into obsessiveness, thus stressing him out and causing him to neglect his mental health --> rufus proceeds to growl every time he walks into a room, will not listen, stays away from him, and also refuses to let him within a few feet of me. 

in a way we end up kinda pavloving norman into paying attention to himself since he dislikes it when the dog doesn’t vibe with him. he’s never been big on pets but he knows how much the dog means to me, so. 

anyway 

this also got long and i derailed from the initial meeting scenario and i gotta go to work a nine hour tomorrow so. 

y’all smell spoiling milk??