#to summarize I was laughed at and treated as less then for like 30 minutes trying to teach them math but in the fake nice way so

[thecranewivesrpf]

when you had a shitty day but the gay people in your phone are nice to you and say hi because they care about your presence and you aren't a waste of space

[jewels2876]

Always. - A LOKI finale synopsis

So I thought I could write something magical or be inspired by the Loki finale for @the-th-horniest-book-club as it's their last day of celebration.

And it hit me. I can't.

Here's what I can do: dissect this episode down to its heartbreaking ending because at the end I still have a million questions and it's gonna take a cartoon What If?, a Spiderman movie, maybe a Hawkeye show?, and a Dr. Strange movie to answer them all and I'll STILL have questions after that.

Consider for just a moment what happened to 2012 Loki when the TVA captured him way back in Episode One - what the hell did removing Loki do to the MCU timeline? Thor: The Dark World never happened. And no I don't mean you can pretend Marvel put it out there because they did, and it's one of the worst Marvel movies, there I said it. But if TWD didn't happen, what else could have been affected?

And with that disturbing thought we begin...

The opening credits HAVE AUDIO! Every tag line uttered as the characters flash on the screen, EVEN LOKI gets his "We have a Hulk" in. It is awesome; it is glorious; it is expected with EVERY Marvel creation going forward.

Loki and Sylvie should know better than to stare at a door; they always seem to open on their own when that happens. Miss Minutes pops up out of nowhere, scaring the bejesus out of 70% of people, the other 30% wanted to see her one last time. And she's not the same Miss Minutes we first met. She's edgy, she's less peppy, and she gives our duo an offer. Honestly, she should have known the result but 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ravonna is doing something in her office; if she's cleaning it's a piss poor job. Miss Minutes shows up and tells Ravonna she gave her what she needs. Ominous.

Back to Loki and Sylvie who finally meet "He Who Remains." Now we all know guys with names like "He Who Must Not Be Named" are bad news. Guys, to answer the question asked in the show, I'm a little disappointed. The disappointment lasts about five seconds... The office they get transported to reminds me IMMEDIATELY of a certain movie and certain buildings we've seen before (insert duh at this point because you too have seen every Marvel movie ever.)

****** Side note: anyone know if Tom takes his tea with only two sugars? No? Yes? Okay getting back to other things ******

At this point, we get back to Ravonna and her lack of cleaning when Mobius shows up with the pruner (it has to have a cooler name! side side note: nope just glowing batons) and we get a nice little flashback to Original Ravonna (maybe?)

****** 2nd side note: since when did everyone who's not a Russo brother start using OHIO for origin stories? Seriously, go watch Black Widow. I'll wait.******

Now back to Loki, Sylvie, and He Who Remains, hereto known as HWR, who pulls the same trick we saw in the first episode with the "read and sign" guy with the adorable kitten. HWR needs a kitten, a pet at the very least. "You can't get to the end until you've been changed by the journey." HWR s is winding up for a pitch and also summarizes the show too. Loki asks if it's a manipulation; HWR finds the word interesting and I do to. Here's why:

Odin manipulated Loki's abandonment to his advantage

Thanos put Loki under mind control and used him

This is the 2012 Loki as a reminder, so he hasn't been subjected to imprisonment on Asgard or the brotherly banter/squabbles he and Thor have escaping Asgard, nor “Get help” from Ragnarok so it should come as no shock that Loki looks angry. After all, Odin and Thanos kind of killed any hope in Loki of feeling wanted or needed. Aren’t father figures supposed to instill hope, instead of disgust? Yeah, I can answer that one but that’d be an entire other post.

Now we’re back to Ravonna and Mobius and they spat over who was more betrayed - news flash: it was Mobius. But Ravonna has to do for the digs. “Those variants?” “You threw it away for a couple of Lokis.”  Mobius tries to reason with Ravonna, sounding exactly like Glenda and Elphaba from Wicked (his “together” is spot on Glenda!) Ravonna opens a portal looking for “free will” after giving Mobius one last beatdown.

And we’re back to Loki, Sylvie and HWR. HWR gives them a bit of his backstory; I have a suspicion he’s glossed over some of it (he admits being called a conqueror for cryin’ out loud!) He has a maniacal moment, standing on his desk, voice getting a little shrill and thin. He also admits he’s probably the saner of his variants (my words not his.) Then after his real-man-behind-the-curtain routine he makes them an offer. Take his place. Loki, who has been remarkably non verbal, asks why HWR would give up control. Good question from the guy who wants to be in control yet was meant to thrive on chaos he creates. If anyone is keeping score, questions have been asked but not a single ANSWER has been given! Sylvie isn’t believing a single word while our Loki’s wheels are turning.

****** 3rd side note: the acting has been PHENOMENAL this entire series. Forget what Marvel promised and didn’t deliver (fluid Loki) and a scene we’ll be getting to, Tom and company have been nothing short of an Emmy, which I expect next year.******

HWR finally gets fed up with Sylvie and tells her to grow up. Because she took her pruning personally. Now I’m not going to say she shouldn’t be upset about her pruning; Marvel made it A POINT of showing her playing, content on Asgard, when they took her. But HWR has a point. He’s offering an option that allows Loki and Sylvie to do whatever they feel is best and it’s the wrong time for Sylvie to get in her feelings. Of course 99% of us know that’s EXACTLY when feelings choose to surface.

Then something happens - we don’t know who or what did it. Was it Ravonna and her leaving? Did Ravonna meet someone we suspect? Was it Mobius? Miss Minutes? The agents? We may never know exactly but now HWR is actually in the dark. Mr. Know-It-All suddenly doesn’t know it all.

Sylvie thinks she has her opportunity to fulfil her quest but it’s our Loki who protects HWR. Loki doesn’t tell her she’s wrong or right, just to stop and THINK. And now we get a glimpse of 2018 Loki:

See the bigger picture

Let’s talk about it

I believe HWR

What fills the void of a dictator?

What if we unleash something worse than HWR?

Now here’s where Marvel gets an B+ in character development. They took the 2012 Loki hell bent on destroying Earth to rule it and gave him just enough growth to become the 2018 redeemed Loki ODINSON, willing to sacrifice himself to Thanos (even if he did think he wouldn’t die.) It’s not a perfect arc by any means, but Marvel got there and this is one thing I applaud.

Sylvie now thinks Loki is lying to her to get to a throne and is clearly upset they are not seeing eye to eye on this and another point to Marvel. Loki, for only seeing a few videos that Mobius showed him, still has more life experience in his SINGULAR moment with Thanos to know that there is ALWAYS something bigger, badder, WORSE around the corner and he does NOT want to make the wrong decision. Wow.

To trust or not to trust. 

It’s a beautiful sword fight that HWR sits back and watches like it’s ESPN. The lighting is gorgeous behind the action and is leading up to my next OMG moment: STOP.

Loki asks Sylvie to stop, almost like a child. Like someone who knows exactly where the fight leads, where it goes, and where it ends. And he says as much to her as well. Sylvie feels like that person who just wants the fight to be over; she hunches into Tom’s space and the lighting suddenly stays green and blue. Guess who’s green? Guess who is blue?

This goes back to my Emmy mention. Even if it’s ONLY for technical work, it’s so deserving. Sylvie, in green, tired, emotional, struggling with something we aren’t supposed to know just yet. Loki, in blue, almost as if his Jotun form has taken over, strong, sensible, relatable, empathetic.

And then that damn kiss!  Marvel missed another opportunity here. Two Lokis had the opportunity to show self-love, familial love, friendly love, ANYTHING BUT A DAMN KISS!!! I’m not saying they couldn’t have feelings for each other, but it NEVER has to be romantic just because it’s a guy and a girl. **dramatic sigh goes here**

Sylvie pushes Loki through a portal she has opened, then turns to stab HWR through the chest, as he predicted. HWR actually chuckles, which makes me wonder if he expected this exact turn of events. As if we’ll ever know for sure.

Of course the timeline is going nebular and we’re treated to a shot back to the TVA. Mobius and B-15 exchange words as they watch the timelines grow and grow. Loki is sitting on a couch at the TVA and decides he’s not done? You’re supposed to guess the motivation because everything seems normal at the TVA. Loki finds Mobius and B-15 and admits to everything. Loki calling HWR terrifying is terrifying all on is own. And this of course is where it ends.

The post credit scene is just a “Loki returns in Season Two.”

Guys, this season was a mixed bag. There was some good, there was some not so good; there were laughs and a couple of tears. But it also has me SO HYPED for what’s to come. More Loki, more Marvel content, more... everything, I hope!

[stories-from-my-mind-to-yours]

You don't know you're alive until you're almost dead.

Cpt Craig Stevens of the United States Space Marine Corps made his way sliding down the emergency ladder as the sirens were blaring through the ship. His augmentations made him faster, smarter and stronger than humanly possible. His eyes saw every detail of every inch even at almost free fall speed. The signs with levels swooped past his eyes, as he saw level 17 he jumped off, ready to turn right and run to the armory. That was, if there had been any working artificial gravity on 17. There wasn't. He tried to turn as he soared through the air at break neck speed, but to no avail. He desperately clawed at everything, ANYTHING, to stop him from hitting whatever was in his path. In the corner of his eye, he saw the large titanium beam he had just propelled himself towards. "Fuck, this is going to hurt", he thought to himself before the violent impact knocked him out.

Mission specialist/engineer Sophia Karlsson woke up as the first alarm sounded. She practically jumped into her uniform, grabbed her utility belt and looked up at the stat screen. Her eyes widened in pure disbelief, and she bolted through the barely opening door, snatching her MPH (Multi purpose helmet*) from the shelf just outside the door. She felt a massive shiver through the floor, and almost fell over. It had felt like an earthquake, in a spaceship! She put her belt and helmet on, and called out for The ships A.I.

"T.I.N.A! SITREP! deploy repbots A.S.A.P and close all air locks! I wanna know what's going on NOW!" Her training kicked her into overdrive, adrenaline rushing through her veins, it felt like ages before Tina replied.

The familiar robotic voice crackled lightly in her ears before complying.

"A hull breach detected at level 6 caused an automated sealing of all adjacent air locks. Atmosphere holding steady at 86%. A.G.I (artificial gravity inducer*) down on levels 13, 17 and 21. Repair bots deployed. Multiple casualties detected. Smoke alarms on multiple levels."

"What the hell is going on Tina?!" Sophia shouted with a slight hint of panic in her voice.

"I do not know." was Tina's simple reply.

Commander George Engel of the United Space Federation, captain of the USF SX Concorde, woke up freezing, disoriented and had trouble breathing. His ears were ringing, he had a blasting headache, and he didn't even notice the gaping hole in his bedroom wall, that he was on the wrong side of, before his heart had stopped beating. His last thoughts were that he did like the view. Ice covered his grey hair quickly, and his eyes glazed over. Along with himself, a large number of bodies were slowly drifting away from the damaged spacecraft.

MS/E Sophia Karlsson knew she could be hot headed, stubborn and sometimes arrogant. But she loved her job, mostly. But trying to repair a ship possibly under fire, ON fire, isn't anyone's favorite job. But her quick thinking had probably saved at least a dozen lives, even if no one else knew it. She connected the last circuit board to the A.G.I control board and rebooted it. The dull thumping of the gravitational generator recommenced. The vibrations were further apart now, like whoever was firing at them were getting bored. Were they under attack? She wanted to know, but didn't expect someone to tell her. But she had to try.

"Tina, get me the bridge on vidcom."

Her helmet-screen came on, Major Erik Karlsson replied. His familiar voice calmed her frantic pulse, and reassured her everything would be all right. She saw only his right side, as he focused on other matters, his helmet sat at the control panel beside him. He looked drenched in sweat, his red beard dripping. He glanced at the screen beside him and smiled.

"Tell me how bad it is."

Sophia quickly summarized what she knew.

"31 unaccounted for so far, 19 badly injured or deceased. Fire is out, A.G.I. is up and running, hull damage manageable and repairs underway. What happened? Sir." She added hesitatingly, not sure of his new position, he shouldn't be on the bridge?

"Tina, give us a private channel." Tina acknowledged their comlink was secure with a sharp beep. Major Karlsson continued. "It was a meteor shower. Caught us by surprise, since the proximity radar had been turned off. Get me the log, I want to know who did it."

"I'll get on it right away. Anything else?"

He turned to face her on the screen for the first time during their short conversation. She wasn't ready for the gash that ran across the left side of his face, where his eye had been there was a bloodied bandage, and his neck, beard and uniform were stained dark red. A bioseal covered the lower right half of his face, meaning he had been treated for his wounds already. The sight was almost too much for her, and tears started filling her eyes.

"I'm just glad you're alive sis. Everyone above me in rank got sucked out when the captains cabin were hit. Every door opened shortly before. Only reason I'm alive is because I heard the doors open, so I got up and closed the airlock between our half and the senior officers department. The officers in training can get loud sometimes you know?"

She realized how close he had been to dying. Her throat clenched up, and he saw the expression on her face and chuckled.

"It's ok sis, I'm not dead yet, and I don't intend to die either. You just keep us floating and we'll be all right, ok?"

She still couldn't utter a sound, so she smiled, he smiled back, that crooked smile was made worse by half his face being missing.

"You didn't feel anything when this happened right? I knew that twin clairvoyancy was bullshit." She laughed out loud, the shock of seeing her brothers face like this had her mind in shambles. If there was one thing he could always do it was make her laugh. He was her big brother only by a few minutes, but he was as steady as a rock, a fixed point in whatever storm they were in. She couldn't bare to loose him.

"Can you take a look at level 6 when you have time? I hate to load everything on you, but I don't know who I can trust right now." She nodded, then quickly realized he couldn't see it.

"Yeah sure." Her voice held, but just barely. He smiled at her again, then resumed his duty as Commander. Talk about a speedy rise in rank.

She terminated the vidcom and collapsed on the floor. Tears streaming down her face, she shivered from head to toe. 50 probably dead. Sabotage. Murder. On a space exploration vessel? Why? How? Her mind was going on adrenaline, shock and recycled oxygen, she needed a drink. Or five. "Tina, secure the logs, and get me Craig on vidcom." She needed him, now, more than ever.

"Captain Stevens is unavailable for vidcom at the moment. Logs are secured."

"Well where the hell is he then?" Her heart skipped a beat.

"Captain Stevens tracker is at level 17. His Multi purpose helmet seems to be in his personal locker." Tina replied.

"Yeah of course, why have your helmet on you, that would be stupid."

Tina didn't reply.

She headed for the elevator, but it was used for transporting injured down to medbay. She sighed and glanced at the sign next to the elevator, indicating she was on level 30. Great. Only 13 flights up by ladder to 17. She opened the service door next to the elevator shaft and started climbing.

The medbay was jam packed. The I.C.U was full, all nurses had been on their feet for 20 hours, and doctors Green and Moreau were exhausted. But finally everyone was stable. They had only lost two to their wounds, thanks to their surgical skills, and fantastic nurses. Doctor Tom Green collapsed on the couch in their shared office. Doctor Frank Moreau was already sleeping in his chair. They had both taken more than one stimpak, and the crash was imminent. He just hoped nothing else would happen for the next six hours. He slowly drifted of to dream land.

Sophia had reached level 21 and her arms and legs were burning. Only four levels to go she thought to herself. She secured herself to the ladder and leaned back to rest for a moment.

"Tina, show me the logs from when the proximity radar was disabled." Pages of green text on a black background appeared on her screen. Last disabled by Tom Hardy, engineering, one hour before the meteor shower hit. "Tina get me Tom on vidcom."

"I am sorry, I can not find Tom Hardy on the ship." Replied the synthesized voice in her ears.

"Show his last known position."

An overview layout of the ships profile were shown on her screen, a small green blip appeared on top of the bridge outer hull as the ship profile turned three dimensional and turned to show his position relatively to the underlying structure.

The proximity radar tower was immediately above Commander Engel's quarters. Coincidence? Perhaps. But she intended to find out.

"Show me Tom's location at the moment of impact." The image showed Tom's blip floating away into space mere seconds before the first meteor hit them. Something had happened, Tom had been there, but she couldn't say if he had been involved in any way. She dismissed the images on her screen and continued her climb.

On the bridge order was slowly returning, as their new captain slowly assessed his new crew members. His voice was firm and clear, but his mind was racing. He had not been vetted for command as he had a minimum of 6 years to clear the experience needed to be even considered. But he had been an officer in USF for seven years, had commanded several ground missions and he was well known for his calm no matter the situation.

Lieutenant Carlisle requested his attention.

"Commander, we have a possible jackpot 90 minutes out, please advice."

"On screen." He replied.

The screen showed what looked like a replica of Earth. Clouds, seas, and land, it looked perfect.

"Any designation Carlisle?"

"Negative sir, unregistered planet."

He had no choice. They were in desperate need of repairs, and planetside repairs would take immensely less time. "Helm, plot a course, slow and steady. Get us there in one piece."

Their unanimous "Aye sir!" made him smile. Ah, to be young and foolish. He was 32 himself, one of the youngest to make officer, and by far the youngest to make commander. But the circumstances were just that, circumstantial. "Now let's just survive this day, and then we'll see." He muttered to himself.

Sophia had reached level 17 only to realize that the door was jammed. Of course, how could it not? Today was not a good day. Everything was going to hell. What more would turn out to be a disaster today? She sighed. She connected her arm-mounted service module to the door, and forced a manual override. The door groaned loudly as it slid almost halfway open, revealing total chaos on the other side. She squeezed through the opening and stepped into the hallway. "Tina, where is Craig?"

"Captain Stevens location is Junction 6 Delta."

She looked up at the orientation signs at the top of the wall. 6 Bravo. She went right, towards junction 6 Charlie. When she reached Charlie, she couldn't see Delta. The passageway was completely blocked by debris. She went straight ahead but there was no way she could get through. She used her card to unlock Charlie 8, whoever lived there wasn't home anyway. The small living space was tidy, and looked exactly like all the others. She opened the closet towards the Delta wall. All closets had emergency doors in them, in case the electronic doors failed. "Tina, open Charlie 8 emergency 2 please." The door slid open, revealing a wall of clothes behind it. She moved the clothes aside and peeked inside. Empty. She stepped through and made her way through the cloned room to the door, which slid open silently. The debris blocking the corridor to her right was a massive wall, but she couldn't do anything about that now. To her right was Delta junction, but no Craig. "Tina, where is Craig?"

"Captain Stevens location is Junction 6 Delta."

"Show me his tracker on screen." A fluttering image of the junction from above showed him to be just around the corner to the left. She took two steps forward and stopped. Blood. So much blood. She dashed around the corner, careful not to slip in the sticky red substance, her heart beating so hard. "No no no no no, Craig, nooo!" Her panicked scream echoed of the walls. She tried to jump over the pool of blood on the floor, landing on her knees in it, she checked him for a pulse. She couldn't feel anything. His face was pale, eyes half closed, lips blue. "MEDIVAC NOW TINA!" She screamed, she couldn't hold back the tears and panic in her voice. She held her ear above his mouth, and felt the faintest breath escape his nostrils. She couldn't see where he was bleeding from, but she didn't dare move him. An automated emergency stretcher unfolded itself behind her, and beeped loudly to call attention to itself. She slid out of the way quickly, her hands covered in Craig's blood, the stretcher folded itself over him, sealed itself and shot into the emergency transport chute. She sat sobbing on the floor, convinced he wouldn't survive. The floor in the hallway was covered in blood from side to side.

The emergency alarm sound in the medbay, which announced 10 seconds to arrival of an emergency stretcher. Doctor Green shot up from his chair, bloodshot eyes and a headache from hell, but he was awake at once, knowing he didn't have a second to spare. The second alarm meant 5 seconds to arrival, but he was already out the door.

Two android nurses came bursting out into the ambulance room, just as the stretcher came bursting through the door, alarms blaring and red and blue lights illuminating the walls. It landed on the table in the middle of the room and unfolded it's passenger. Doctor Green immediately called out for five units of blood, and turned captain Stevens in his side. He had a deep gash across the base of his neck, but there was almost no more bleeding. "Make that 10 units nurse! NOW!" Nurse Avery, an android powered by Tina, was way ahead of him. She already had two bloodlines connected, as well as stitching the deep wound in the captains neck. Being augmented, he had quick release connections in both his armpits, giving him a fighting chance, but hypoxia will kill any brain, augmented or not. Sophia had made her way to the medbay a few minutes later, and watched through the small window in the door as Tina embodied every tool at her disposal to save his life. A hand on her shoulder startled her, a small scream escaped her mouth before she jolted around and saw Tina's second android nurse Ava. "Forgive me Sophia, I didn't mean to scare you."

Sophia waved her hand at the android, and looked over her shoulder at the lifeless body on the medical table. She whimpered helplessly, tears flooding her eyes again.

"You shouldn't be here Sophia, please come." Tina's soft voice calmed her a little bit, but not much. She shook her head and exclaimed sharply "No! I'm staying here, I need to see him!" Sophia collapsed once again to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, the fatigue finally catching up to her. Tina lifted her softly and easily into her arms, and carried her to the waiting room couch. She held her closely, while simultaneously working on the love of her life. Tina diverted more computing power to the android nurse, helping it make its best effort at saving Craig's life. Artificial intelligence shouldn't have favorites, but T.I.N.A isn't any AI. And Sophia was her favorite human.

Sophia woke to doctor Green lightly shaking her shoulder. The expression of resignation on his face was what she had feared. Her mind in shambles, she had no reason to hear his apologies. She bolted upright and ran to the window. The table was empty. The android nurses stood at their charging stations. Everything stopped, time ceased to exist. The only thing in her universe was pain. A whimper of helplessness escaped her as she slowly lost all power in her legs, the pain inside tore through her like a plasma grenade, and her scream could be heard several levels both above and below. She didn't hear the door opening behind her, the sound of heavy boots on the floor, she didn't hear her own voice screaming, a deafening sound that drenched everything. But when she felt the familiar arm around her back her scream suddenly ended, the other arm grasping her legs and as lightly as a feather lifted her up to his chest. She looked into his icy blue eyes, she could barely breathe, she clutched his hair in her hand, she pressed her face in his neck and she cried. And she slept.

Part II

https://roninjason.tumblr.com/post/171918375360/you-dont-know-youre-alive-until-youre-almost

[bad-end]

sandcastle | 3/5 | dlrg

3193 words

its literally been a month im sorry

Part III. Put to Bed With a Shovel

Tomorrow came as yesterday did, and Noblesse took her afternoon nap as she did everyday at 2:30. Unlike yesterday, Royal Guard slipped out for the cafe as soon as he saw the soft rise and fall of her chest.

He arrived ten minutes early, but Dreadlord had promised to treat him so he couldn't order a drink yet. What would he do then? He found an empty seat and waited.

Dreadlord's blue streak appeared in the window, and shortly after, the door to the cafe jingled. Royal Guard gave him a nervous smile he tried to pass off as less nervous than intended. Dreadlord wore a confident one in return.

"Sorry, did I make you wait?" Dreadlord ran a hand through his hair. When was the last time he combed that thing? It was quite a mess, and it could hardly be called hair.

"I just arrived, actually." Royal Guard offered him a comb from his bag, and Dreadlord pocketed it with a promise to comb it later.

"Did you order already?" Instead of going back to Royal Guard's seat, Dreadlord led him to the table there sitting at yesterday.

"Not yet."

"Oh, good. I'll go right now. What can I get you?”

Royal Guard glanced at the menu, "Black tea, one cream."

"'Kay, be back soon."

Royal Guard sat down at the table and glanced out into the ocean.

Of course, Dreadlord would invite a stranger out for tea. As long as he was interested and could get what he wanted out of it, Dreadlord would do anything.

"Here. Earth to Ciel, Earth to Ciel." Dreadlord slid the cup under his chin, and the scent made Royal Guard snap back to reality. He tore his gaze away from the ocean, though somewhat reluctant to do so.

Royal Guard stared at the cup on the table and after a moment, accepted it. "Thank you. Why did you look for me?"

Although he knew what the old Dreadlord would say, he didn't know about this new Dreadlord. He could see the words forming, 'Because I was interested in you'.

The one before him seemed to think about it, and finally settled on, "Because you seem like you'd be interesting. It's not everyday fancy visitors come to this town. I've said that before though, right?"

He did say that before.

"Do you track down everyone you find interesting?"

The Dreadlord in his mind: I don't find many people interesting.

The Dreadlord standing before him echoed those sentiments. "There's not much to be interested in here." As he said this, he leaned into his palm and stared at Royal Guard.

“Why invite me then? What do you find interesting about me?"

"I wanted to talk. Someone like you must have interesting stories. They don’t have to be good stories or anything, but I was curious about you." Dreadlord's gaze had fallen on his the cup on the table, running his finger over his name scrawled in permanent marker, "I've never left this town, so... let me live your lives just a little too. I want to see the world outside."

Royal Guard couldn't come up with an answer. Since the original's death, the house felt awful without Dreadlord's skulking shadow, and Chiliarch hollering at the top of her lungs. So, they had been traveling, never staying in one place for too long. There was no reason to.

Even if he could show Dreadlord the world outside, where does one begin to summarize the few hundred years between the original's death and the present?

This Dreadlord seemed so young and so inexperienced. Compared to his older counterpart, there was no gritty look in his yes. Honestly, Royal Guard felt a bit guilty, knowing what the other had been like but being unable to tell him.

  "How old are you?" Royal Guard didn't mean for the question to slip out.

Dreadlord gave him a stare that he couldn't read, "How old do you think I look?"

"Twenty....three?"

A smile curled onto Dreadlord's lips, "Close. I'm 24, actually. How old are you, Ciel?

"Twenty-seven." Give or take a thousand or so?

Still, twenty-four was older than expected. Without the contract, he thought Dreadlord not much older than a young adult.

"Twenty-seven and rich as hell, it must be nice." Dreadlord sighed and took a sip of his coffee.

"It's not-?

"Just kidding, you're more like... her partner in crime, right?"

Desperate to change the topic, Royal Guard shook his head, "You wanted to hear about the outside world, right? Would you like to hear about my adventures?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, of course!"

The stories Royal Guard tell capture Dreadlord's attention, he wore a look on his face that must have matched the look on the first human's face when he discovered fire. He was a child in a candy shop.

But the end of the hour approached, and at three thirty Royal Guard rose from his seat. "Thank you for the tea and the chat."

"It was lovely. I'll be here tomorrow if you want to come by again." Dreadlord wore his million dollar smile, "Think about it and let me know, okay?"

He made no promise of it when he left the cafe and hurried back to the Inn. Noblesse would be awake and be wanting her afternoon tea.

"Come back tomorrow," was what Dreadlord meant. In truth, Royal Guard wanted to be able to not go back and not feel guilty for it, but when it was Dreadlord, he would feel guilty if he didn’t go back. Noblesse wouldn't banter with him, and even if this one was younger, the schematics of what he could become were still obvious.

The day after, Royal Guard went back to the cafe. Dreadlord had commandeered a seat already, and when Royal Guard stepped through the door, he abandoned it to usher him to sit down. While Dreadlord went to get their drinks, Royal Guard stared out at the ebb and flow of the sea.

Was this the same ocean they saw in Hamel when Elrios still existed and was this the same ocean that surrounded their trips around the world? Why did Dreadlord look so melancholic whenever he saw it? Royal Guard saw no sadness in it.

His questions would have to be answered later because Dreadlord returned to the table and handed him a few napkins.

It was the polite little things like that which made Royal Guard's chest ache badly. Such polite little things here reminded him that it wasn't just Dreadlord being polite, but rather a stranger took his place.

"Ciel," Royal Guard glanced across the table at the mention of his name. "Are you one of them fancy battle butlers?"

"Why the battle?"

"You just seem like you could kill a man and not feel bad about it."

Not amused, Royal Guard asked, "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a florist, though it wouldn't be my first choice."

"Then, what would be your first choice?"

"I don't know. I've never given it much thought." He laughed, "Maybe a hitman?"

Ironic, Royal Guard fell silent and sipped at his tea.

“But you are a butler, though? You didn’t deny it when I asked.”

“I keep her affairs in order, so you could say I fill the functions that a butler is expected to fulfill.”

“I didn’t think they existed anymore,” Dreadlord stared into his coffee cup, “Are you two on a vacation?”

“Of sorts, we wanted to get away.”

The old Dreadlord would have pressed the question. “From what?” He could hear it in his head now. On the other hand, the Dreadlord in front of him simply let it go and it fell into silence. Desperate to bring some conversation back into the silence, Royal Guard asked, “Who is the little girl that you’re always with?”

“... A child my parents adopted before the died.” Dreadlord smiled, “I always wanted to be a cool big brother and have a little sister, but she doesn’t feel just like a sister. Like a soulmate?”

“A.. soulmate?”

“Oh, that sounds creepy, doesn’t it?” He laughed, and ran a hand through his hair, “I meant that we were destined to meet. Does that make sense?”

God must be laughing at him right now. Even if he wasn’t the old Dreadlord, he was Dreadlord all the same. Royal Guard swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to say something. Nothing came out.

“I know it sounds weird, you don’t’ have to stare at me like that.”

“No, it’s… I understand. I feel the same way about my master.”

“Your parents adopted her before they died, too?”

Royal Guard stared at him, and Dreadlord laughed again. His laugh sounded so good and natural, Royal Guard wondered how long it had been,

“You don’t have to get so mad,”

He wasn’t sure if he was glad Dreadlord was still as infuriating as before his death. It was a bit of both, in the end.

Dreadlord asked questions that were easily answered. Should be he thankful that Dreadlord wasn’t Dreadlord enough to see through his lies? Royal Guard noticed a nervousness about him. He hesitated on words the old Dreadlord would have said without reservation. The most private thoughts he had, he saved for himself in a more obvious manner than he did before he died. Wasn’t that the result of being human?

The alarm goes off, and Royal Guard bade him farewell. Dreadlord doesn't keep him, instead, he looks up from his table and said sadly, “I wish you’d stay longer.”

The only thing he could do, Royal Guard supposed, would have to wait for the shell to come off.

“I’ll try to stay for longer next time.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Whatever’s good for you is good for me. I’m glad you made the effort to come.”

He passed by a small girl on his way out. Her eyes lit up as they passed each other, she gasped, and immediately threw her bag into Dreadlord’s lap. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dreadlord lovingly ruffle her hair. His chest tightened.

“Isn’t that the guy with the girl that has the really pretty eyes?” Chiliarch asked. Royal Guard heard her over the people talking in the cafe.

“Yeah,”

“What’s he doing here? Did you stalk him?”

“Don’t say that. He came of his own volition.”

“I don’t know what volley-shun means!”

Dreadlord’s laugh rang in his ears again and tinged his ears red, and he could see Chiliarch puffing her cheeks out in indignation without even looking at them. There was no reason for him to be here any longer. He walked back as fast as he could.

  A week of visits later, and one day Noblesse chose not to take her midday nap.

It surprised him. She was a creature of habit as much as anyone else, and she hated having to disturb her routine for other things. He didn’t ask her why. She simply said she wasn’t going to take a nap that day.

“Why don’t we go to the aquarium again today, and for a walk, as well? It’s quite nice out.” She said, even though the sun was beating down on the earth and he could see heat waves coming off the ground.

Still, without a second thought, Royal Guard agreed. Dreadlord could wait a day for him, couldn’t he? They weren’t dating. Royal Guard didn’t owe him anything. But then again, it’s not like they were dating in the old world, either.

The aquarium was empty in the middle of the afternoon, probably because of the heat. Despite the weather, Noblesse had not complained at all.

Even the sharks felt the heat because they weren’t nearly as active as they were the last time. They drifted by but paid very little attention to their surroundings. Noblesse wasn’t watching them, either.

When the end of the tunnel came, they stood in front of the ceiling-tall jellyfish tank again. Noblesse had her back towards him and she asked, “Where are you going during my naps?”

“Come again?”

“I know you’re leaving to go somewhere during my naps. I won’t force you to tell me, but I’d like to know where you’re going.”

Of course she knew. Why should he have expected her to be as asleep as he thought she was?

“I’m meeting someone. To talk.” Royal Guard said.

Noblesse pauses, and then spoke somewhat sadly, “Dreadlord?”

“Ah,” She saw though him like he as clear as glass.

“It’s okay if you’re seeing him. I know he must have come for you.” Noblesse placed a hand on the cold tank, “But you should be more careful. We won’t be here forever, and I think you should decide what you want to do before we leave.”

Finally, she turned towards him and warned him with a serious expression, “You should tell him about us. About you guys. He deserves to know about what we are.”

“Right,” Royal Guard wanted to sigh of relief but found nothing relieving in those words. He thought about them, of course, on his way to and back from the cafe. When he had thought about bringing up their past, he could never say anything.

“Let’s go back,” Noblesse said again, “There’s nothing to look at today. Even the clams are sleeping.”

The evening is uneventful, but Royal Guard doesn’t mind. He puts Noblesse to bed and slips into bed himself.

  That night Royal Guard finds himself in the smoke scented room Dreadlord once occupied in the now demolished mansion.

His lighter sits on his nightstand. His pillows and blankets are in their usual places as Royal Guard left them that morning. Everything seems to be where they should be, except for the man that owned the room.

Royal Guard shook his head. He was dreaming again. Maybe it wasn’t a surprise since he had Dreadlord on the mind before he slept.

Speaking of Dreadlord, where was he? If he was not in his room, there aren’t many places in the mansion where he could be. Thought reluctant, Royal Guard opens the door of the smoky room and walks through the familiar halls he once called home.

He was used to Chiliarch’s screeching echoing through the halls. The halls are silent today, and it freaks him out of a little bit to hear the house so silent.

He stops in the grand hall and gazes down below at the ballroom. Though they had this mansion for so many years, he could count the number of time they used the ballroom on one hand.

Noblesse’s portrait hung from the gap between the staircase. Surprise colours his face a ghastly pale when he descends the stairs and stares at the large portrait. A large slash ran diagonally across the canvas, and the guts and frames of leaked through.

The atmosphere of the house changed with that discovery. Panic began to flood into his veins. Where are the others? He could hardly be alone in this house without knowing.

Heavy breathing started behind him and followed him like he was being chased. Quickly, Royal Guard found the hall that led to his room and shut himself in. The panting behind him stopped, but only because Royal Guard found the source.

Dreadlord sat on the wall with his back to the wall. His hand was clutching his chest, and his face was twisted in tremendous pain. When the door opened, he lifted his head in Royal Guard’s direction. “Hey,” He said, like this was a situation that could be explained by a simple hey.

“You’re-”

“I’m fine, thanks.” Dreadlord replied, “… is what I’d like to say, but as you can tell…”

“What did you-”

“Shut up for like, two seconds.” He shushed, “Don’t freak out and chill.”

Royal Guard reached out and gripped Dreadlord’s shoulder.  “you’re shaking, really bad…”

Without waiting for Royal Guard, Dreadlord, explained, “I broke the contract.”

“What did you do?!”

“Chiliarch is dead, I had to…” He opened, and then shook his head, “Nevermind, take care of yourself, okay?”

Dreadlord wore a smile, but the pain mars the tranquility and sincerity behind the words. He grumbled with his belt and coat, trying to find something. Royal Guard remembered this scene hundreds of years ago, but last time, it was a little different.

“Here,” Dreadlord motioned for Royal Guard’s hands, and when Royal Guard thrust his hand forward, Dreadlord pressed a small pistol into them. Royal Guard’s blood went cold. Shaking and trembling, Dreadlord reluctantly let go. His grip lingers, but he finally pulled away in the end.

“Do I have to beg?” Dreadlord laughed sarcastically despite his pain.

When the gym passed into his grip, Royal Guard resisted the urge to press it to his own temple. When you die in a dream, you wake up, but if he died in this memory, Dreadlord would not come back to life.

“IT can’t be that hard, can it?” Dreadlord reached forwards again and closed his hands around Royal Guard’s trembling. They were both shaking now, it’s hard to say who’s shaking is worse. “It hurts, Royal Guard, please.”  It was the first time he has ever heard Dreadlord beg so sincerely.

The gun went off, and Royal Guard woke in a cold sweat. Two words were lopped off in the dream, and in the memory, Dreadlord had quietly apologized underneath his breath and Royal Guard pretended he didn’t hear it.

Now awake, Royal Guard was still shaking. There was one thing that the memory had missed though, and it’s hard to say he’s thankful, but he’s vaguely thankful of it. Last time, he watched Dreadlord kill himself, and he wasn’t sure if he was happier that he had the chance to do it himself.

When Noblesse wakes up a few minutes later, Royal Guard has the tea brewing. They eat breakfast and go down to the beach to make sandcastles. No matter who big they build their castle, the sea washes them into the ebb and flow of eternity.

  In the afternoon, the sun hung high in the sky. Noblesse crawled into bed for a midday nap, so Royal Guard went to see Dreadlord at the cafe alive and well. He was marking a stack of papers and reading them over, He saw Royal Guard standing by the door, and quickly waved him over.

“I missed you yesterday,” Dreadlord said,

“It’s only been a day.”

“What, I can’t miss you?”

“It’s just a bit weird to be missed after a day.” Royal Guard admitted but sat down anyway. Dreadlord shoved all the paperwork somewhere else and the two of them settled into their weekly routine about life beyond this small village that might have been as much of a cage as it was a nest.

Noblesse’s words at the aquarium echo in his head. They were cryptic as much as they were ominous. What did Noblesse mean by that? He didn’t know, but that night he did sleep a little more tenuously than usual.  

[creativesage]

By Jonathan Li

TED Talks, YouTube videos, and even new platforms like Periscope are all changing the ways we transmit and receive messages. Powerful communication is no longer the formalized ritual it used to be, with a speaker addressing an audience for an extended period of time with prepared remarks. Instead, we’re embracing a more casual, direct, interactive form of public speaking. And the most effective communicators will be those who can embrace these methods strategically–bridging tried and true techniques with some of the new rules of the game. Here are seven things to keep in mind as you do just that.

Powerful communication is no longer the formalized ritual it used to be.

1. Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

Yes, you read that right. Forget what you learned in grammar school: Practice doesn’t always make perfect. Practice with feedback does.

Just doing something over and over again won’t necessarily lead you to do it well. You need to learn how to be self-critical about what you’re spending all that time practicing, then make adjustments accordingly.

That’s where the very same video technologies that are rewriting the rules for public speaking can help you adapt. Start simply by recording your presentation rehearsal–using your laptop’s camera or even your phone. The production value doesn’t matter as long as you can clearly see and examine your delivery. As media training expert TJ Walker points out, “You really cannot give a speech and be critiquing it at the same time.”

As you’re watching the playback of your speech, take notes on what you like and don’t like about your performance. Matthew Kohut, co-author of Compelling People, suggests that it’s especially important to pay attention to the middle of your talk to make sure your energy doesn’t flag. That’s typically where we dig into the details of our message, and it’s easier to lose some of the momentum we started with.

Then just hang onto what you like about your delivery and rethink the things you don’t.

2. Speak Like You Sing

Public speaking is like singing. A powerful voice gives you an edge.

When we’re speaking most of us breathe through our mouths. But inhaling and exhaling through the mouth while we’re speaking for extended periods can make the throat and tongue dry. Celebrity voice coach Roger Love says breathing the right way matters: “If you want to control the sound, you have to learn to control the air.”

Try breathing in through your nose, inhaling deeply from your diaphragm. Fill the bottom of your lungs as though there’s a balloon in your stomach. Speak only as you exhale, as the “balloon” gently deflates.

Considering the visual elements from the get-go forces you to think in a nonlinear way.

3. Scrap Useless Visuals

Don’t use imagery that doesn’t support your message. Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen explains, “The visuals need to amplify your message, not distract from your message.” If any slides you’re presenting help convey an idea visually, then by all means keep them. If not, leave them out.

As you’re preparing your talk, try going directly to PowerPoint or Keynote. Considering the visual elements from the get-go forces you to think in a nonlinear way. Storyboarding can help you see the bigger picture. Use index cards or sticky notes so you can shift ideas and images around as you sequence your speech. Focus on one idea per slide. Ask yourself, “How can I express this idea visually?”

Don’t settle for low-quality imagery. If you choose wisely, stock images can still pack a punch. Personally, I like to track down visual resources on GettyImages.com and its sister site istockphotos.com and on Dollar Photo Club.

We now no longer expect to have to read long lines of text when we’re watching a presentation–or even any text at all. Make sure you keep it to a bare minimum and use a point size of at least 30 so everyone can see it without straining their eyes.

4. Test Your Jokes Beforehand

Making people laugh is one of the best feelings you can ever get as a speaker–not to mention a great way to forge a connection with your audience. But you’ve got to test your jokes in advance to make sure they still land in the format you’re delivering them in. Never ask your friends, “Hey, is this funny?” because they aren’t your audience of strangers and can’t really be honest with you even if they want to.

Judy Carter, author of The Message of You, recommends throwing your funny line into a casual conversation. Make sure your friends or family members don’t know you’re winding up to tell a joke, and see if they laugh. If you get no laughs, you know it’s not funny and probably won’t work well in the context of your presentation either.

Tweak the line and try again with a different group of listeners.

Picturing your audience in their underwear is, quite frankly, a stupid strategy.

I recently asked Judy, “What should I do when nobody laughs at my funny line during my presentation, even if others did when I tested it out beforehand?”

She gave me this advice: Be honest. One thing newer speaking formats value highly is the genuineness that comes with doing away with formality. Cheerfully admit to your audience, “Well, my friends thought that was funny” or “Well, hey, I thought that was really funny.” You might get a bigger laugh than you expected when you smile and shrug off a failed joke.

5. Pretend You’re Chatting With Friends

Picturing your audience in their underwear is, quite frankly, a stupid strategy. It’s weird and unprofessional. Instead, imagine you’re talking to your friends in the living room.

Focus on your audience as though they’re guests you know well. Treat them like friends you’re having a casual conversation with. Some of the best communicators today have grown powerful audiences because they can make that intimate connection with the people they’re speaking to. This approach also has the upside of taking some pressure off of you to project a certain authority or bearing. You’ll feel less nervous and more confident if you ease up and keep it casual.

6. Arrive At The Venue Early

This is a familiar rule that bears repeating because it’s still useful even as other tactics change. Showing up 15 to 20 minutes early so you can get comfortable with the setting can make a huge difference. Make sure the technology you’re using will work. Check any audio or visual elements and do a mic check.

You can also take that time to practice your opening so you can hit the ground running as soon as you’re up.

7. Keep Ahead Of Change

The business world keeps changing, and so does public speaking. It’s important to keep up to date with the experts and the technological changes in how we communicate.

Veteran speaking expert Nancy Duarte predicts that presentations will become ever more interactive. People are losing their patience with lectures. Instead, they want to have conversations with speakers. In fact, Nancy calls it the “TED effect.” Because TED Talks have become so popular, it’s inevitable that many listeners will compare your presentation to some of their favorite TED presentations. You don’t need to replicate that format exactly, but take note of the dynamic, conversational nature of a great TED Talk and do your best to draw on it in your own presentation.

8. Finish Strong

You might get a bigger laugh than you expected when you smile and shrug off a failed joke.

We tend to remember the opening and closing of a presentation the best. End strong and get the audience to take action. Summarize your key points. Repeat your message. Then make a clear call to action that follows logically from what’s preceded it. Scott Schwertly, CEO of the presentation design company Ethos3, asks, “If you don’t have a call to action within your talk, then why in the world do you give it?”

Jonathan Li helps business leaders deliver their message effectively, confidently, and have the impact they want on their audience. [Ed. Note: Jonathan Li is credited with this version of this post, not Rich Bellis.]

Correction: A previous version of this article recommended finding stock images on photos.com, which no longer offers them. The story has been updated to include two current alternatives, both also operated by Getty Images.

[Entire post — click on the title link to read it at Fast Company.]

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Meet Dr. Whitehouse: Historical Endo Extraordinaire

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/meet-dr-whitehouse-historical-endo-extraordinaire/

Meet Dr. Whitehouse: Historical Endo Extraordinaire

It's not often you get to meet someone who actually worked directly with Dr. Elliott Joslin, "the father of diabetes care," back in the day. But lucky for us, fellow D-blogger and journalist Mike Hoskins lives in Indiana, very near the Eli Lilly HQ and a gentleman who's made an incredible impact on treating diabetes over the past 74 years. Don't miss his (somewhat lengthy) historical perspective today:

Special to the 'Mine by Michael Hoskins

You might call him an Endo for the Ages, someone who connects the past to the present and moves us toward the future in the world of diabetes.

For Dr. Fred W. Whitehouse, his first encounter with diabetes came at the age of 12, when his 8-year-broth

er was diagnosed during a family car trip from Arizona and California. This was long before the idea of adding "Dr." to the front of his name was even on the mind -- before a career in diabetes, and before he'd find a place in the diabetes history books as an endocrinologist who's been at the forefront of D-care for more than a half-century.

Now 85, Dr. Whitehouse practices three days a week at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

He took some time recently for a chat with us at the 'Mine, and our 90-minute discussion hit on just about every topic in the diabetes world, from his own family connections, to his humble medical career beginnings at the Joslin Clinic — working directly with the legendary Dr. Joslin himself! — to the evolution in care and research he's observed and helped shepherd in through the decades, his American Diabetes Association presidency, and even D-Camp, the Diabetes Online Community and his thoughts on how close we are to a cure. I'll do my best to summarize his exceptional journey here for you:

In fact, his journey unofficially began in August 1938 on that summer drive with his family, when his younger brother Johnny suddenly needed frequent stops to use the bathroom. Mom knew it was diabetes because one of her cousins had been diagnosed young and died in 1919 after slipping into a coma in Connecticut while on the way to see a "famous doctor" in Boston. Thankfully, Whitehouse's own brother's diagnosis came more than a decade after insulin's discovery, and a young Fred was determined to help take care of him.

"I was the resident chemist in our family because I had an amateur chemistry set and would boil the urine, trying to get the color blue because that meant no more sugar in the urine," he said. "That was my initiation into diabetes."

But then, years went by and he didn't think about diabetes as a career-influencer. Instead, he wanted to go into obstetrics. "There's nothing more delightful than delivering babies," he says. But Whitehouse soon found himself at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, where Dr. Rollin Woodyatt was the leading physician for patients with diabetes, who most docs of those days weren't comfortable caring for. His own days caring for his brother Johnny came back, and his destiny seemed to fall into place.

After a stint as a Navy flight surgeon in the Korean War following his residency in Detroit, Whitehouse took a fellowship in Boston, MA, at the New England Deaconess Hospital — which shared space at 84 Bay Street with the Joslin Clinic at the time, about three miles from the site Joslin would later make its home. It was there that Whitehouse spent 15 months, working not only with a lineup of trailblazers from diabetes history but Dr. Eliott P. Joslin himself.

At the time because of his age (mid-80s), Dr. Joslin and spent most of his time in his office, but Whitehouse and the others would accompany him on the rounds when Joslin did see patients. Whitehouse recalls talking with Dr. Joslin about his entry into the D-field in the late 1800s, how his aunt had diabetes and motivated him to focus his medical career on the condition. And thank goodness he did!

"The old gentleman was still hale and hearty, and worked every day at the hospital doing his rounds every Saturday morning starting at 8 a.m. He really was a remarkable man," Whitehouse says of the legendary Joslin.

Whitehouse actually practiced with the "Big Four" of the time — Drs. Joslin and Howard F. Root who administered the first insulin delivery in the '20s, Priscilla White who revolutionized pregnancy and diabetes care, and Dr. Alexander Marble who focused on DKA and research. Later, Drs. Robert F. Bradley and Leo P.Krall and Joslin's son Allen joined the historical group that Whitehouse witnessed firsthand.

"Really, the strength of Joslin was the distinguished group he accrued who were high-quality, experienced, and specialized people in diabetes, not just some physicians who saw it on the side," Whitehouse says. "That team approach, the idea of focusing on high control of treatment, was what Joslin became known for. There were no clinical trials then and the thought was that complications may be hereditary, but that it could be controlled by intense care. But that wasn't proven by data for almost 40 years."

Back then, about three decades before home blood meters came onto the scene, it typically took about an hour to take a BG test in a clinic. At Joslin, Whitehouse said one could get that done in as quickly as 30 minutes. In those days, the color blue (dark blue, to be exact) was the goal because it suggested "normal blood sugar" and no glucose in the urine. He laughs now how many in the diabetes community advocate for the color blue and the International Diabetes Federation's Blue Circle, since it has a significant part in the pages of diabetes history!

Whitehouse left Joslin in September 1955 and went to work at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where he remains today. He served more than 30 years as chief of the Endocrinology Diabetes Bone Mineral Disorders Division from 1962 to 1995, and has long been regarded as one of the nation's leaders in the field of diabetes. He served as ADA president in 1978-79, and during his presidency the concept of ADA professional section councils — subgroups of members focusing on such specialties such as foot care, youth, pregnancy or complications. His honors include: the Banting Medal, Outstanding Clinician Award and Outstanding Physician Educator Award from the American Diabetes Association, and the Master Physician distinction from the American College of Physicians. The Henry Ford endocrinology division website says this about him: "Over the course of 60 years, Dr. Whitehouse has helped change the face of diabetes management and treatment." The Detroit hospital has even named a distinguished service award after Dr. Whitehouse!

He was involved in testing human insulin in the late 1970s, and along with one of his colleagues in Detroit, treated the patient who was the second-ever person to take human insulin (the first was in Kansas). He also treated some of the earliest patients ever treated with insulin who would utilize new tools such as the first-ever blood meters and insulin pumps, as well as those who had transplants of various natures. The first patient with diabetes to receive a transplanted kidney at Henry Ford Hospital did so on Oct. 31, 1974, and he says it was a great success — that woman lived a full life for 14 years before succumbing to a massive heart attack.

One of his other D-patients was Elizabeth Hughes Gossett, diagnosed at age 11 in 1919 and one of the first to ever receive insulin from Dr. Fredrick Banting in 1922. She married William T. Gossett, who was general counsel for Ford Motor Company and lived in southeast Michigan. Before her death from pneumonia in 1981 at the age of 73 (totaling an estimated 42,000 insulin shots before her death), she saw Dr. Whitehouse but actually kept her health and diabetes a secret from the world. She was a "closet diabetic," Whitehouse says.

That was perhaps the way then, but now with the advent of the Internet and the diabetes online community, PWDs tend to be more enthusiastic about sharing their stories and are looking to connect. Whitehouse thinks support and mental health is important, and though he's not sure if there's enough follow-up data to judge the clinical significance of something like the diabetes online community, he does think it sounds like a positive influence — much like diabetes camps.

"There are far less closet diabetics than there used to be, and people are more open. That's a good thing because you can learn from others who are going through similar experiences."

(DBMine: EXACTLY!)

Whitehouse was also one of the initial endos participating in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trials (DCCT) in the 1980s — government-funded clinical trials that led to the proof that better managed diabetes could delay or even eliminate complications. Whitehouse says not everyone in the medical field supported that theory or thought the study was worthwhile. Those naysayers got a big "I told you so" years later when the A1c became the standard to gauge a person's management.

"They thought the question had been answered in their own mind and they didn't want to be bothered," he said. "But we had to be able to prove this with science and data for everyone, rather than it being one doctor from one or two places saying this was their opinion. The time for scientific proof had come."

Looking back, Whitehouse describes the DCCT as the most remarkable study ever supported by the NIH, which is ongoing and now in its 30th year. (See the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) study that has continued following most of the original DCCT participants).

Whitehouse says he's amazed to have witnessed all the technological and daily care changes that have happened since he began in 1955, and that patients and physicians have much more basic knowledge about management. He believes the next leap forward will be just as amazing — prevention of type 1 and helping type 2s avoid complications with better management.

As far as moving toward a cure, Whitehouse has some thoughts on that, too.

"I think prevention of type 1 diabetes will come first," he said. "Then, better control of daily swings in blood glucose and better control over low blood sugar spells. Perhaps third will be better control of overweight and obesity. Last in my view will come the 'cure of the insulin-dependent diabetic person.' This will require stem cells from the diabetic's own tissues developing into beta cells, then preventing these 'personal' beta cells from being killed off as they initially were. This will be the crowning achievement. That's all coming, but I think diabetes will be around for a spell."

Unfortunately, that seems pretty clear. But we hope there'll be new Dr. Whitehouses in each generation, to help us take leaps forward in research and improving D-care.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

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