#we both have rotator cuff injuries lol

[temporal-mechanic]

My shoulder brace came in and I'm very tempted to draw O'Brien in one

[hear-that-music-in-the-air]

Ada and Ian Headcanons (Rhythm Doctor)

this got Long As Hell i'm sorry lmao. headcanons under the cut!!

Ada:

- We know that Ian is a radiologist, but I think Ada is probably a general practitioner/primary care physician! If she's canonically a cardiologist (bc heart stuff) then that's my bad lmao. But based on what we see in the game, she doesn't really seem to specialize in anything. She instead seems to have a wide range of medical knowledge and we see her treating a variety of different illnesses/injuries, including Mr. Stevenson's broken leg and Lucky's torn rotator cuff. We know that she's been having to do pretty much everything around the hospital bc they're so understaffed, and primary care physicians usually have fairly extensive medical knowledge covering multiple fields, which I think is what allows her to do that.

- One of my biggest hcs about Ada is that she has a very strained relationship with her parents, and that her parents are also both doctors, though I imagine they're close to retirement by now. However, unlike Ada, they both specialize in highly specific fields like brain surgery or something (I actually do imagine her dad to be a neurosurgeon lmao), and because they're both so successful they have incredibly high expectations of her. They look down on her for choosing to be a GP/primary care physician because they think of that work as somehow less important/less worth her time. They're the kind of people who absolutely have a superiority complex about being doctors and ~saving lives~. Also definitely not the kind of people who should have had kids. They're distant at best and extremely judgmental and condescending at worst.

- Ada has one younger sister who's six years younger. Because their parents were always so busy with their careers, Ada basically grew up taking care of her sister, which definitely contributed to her mentality of feeling responsible for everyone all the time. Her sister moved out of their parents' house as soon as possible and is currently attending college somewhere far away, but she and Ada still keep in touch. Ada being an eldest daughter just makes too much sense to me lmao

- I like to think that Ada is an extremely affectionate person by nature. But because of growing up with emotionally distant parents, she doesn't ever really expect for that affection to be returned, especially from Ian who's not very outwardly affectionate most of the time. So when he does go out of his way to express affection it means a lot to her :)

- Because of the way her parents are, I think she kind of has an unconscious mentality of "no one is ever going to love me as much as I love them." She also struggles with people-pleasing tendencies (taking on more work than she can handle, having difficulty saying no to people) and self-esteem issues. So whenever someone goes out of their way to show her love, it kind of catches her off guard lol

- Ada's primary love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation (I'll explain this more below lol). She's REALLY big on physical touch—Ian generally does not like physical touch and one of the only people he tolerates/enjoys it from is Ada. Though I definitely think acts of service is one of her love languages too, as seen in Middlesea College Life. I simply think that she has so many love languages because she's FULL of love

- I imagine Ada as someone who feels her emotions very strongly, and who is generally just a highly emotional and empathetic person. Her empathy makes her good at connecting with the patients, but it also means that she feels everything so much all the time and it can be overwhelming for her sometimes. She’s undoubtedly very intelligent, but I think she’s still very much a heart over head type of person. She also cries pretty easily, though she has to try her best to keep it under wraps at work. The list of movies that make her cry is extensive, which Ian lovingly teases her for.

- Ada is extremely nearsighted and can't see much at all without her glasses. Because of this one of her favorite jokes is saying “I’ve seen enough” and taking her glasses off lmao

- Courtesy of @nightmun: Ada earnestly loves dad jokes, puns, and anything similar. Ian gets her a joke book as a gift once and regrets it immediately.

Ada, incredibly excited: IAN WHAT DOES A LEMON SAY WHEN IT PICKS UP THE PHONE

Ian: …what?

Ada: YELLOW!! *WHEEZE*

Ian: <:)

(this is the fifth one she’s told him today)

Ian:

- Ian’s mother is a single mom and his dad left when he was ten, hence why Ian is currently the only one taking care of her. Ian was also an only child. I imagine he and his mom are very close since it’s just been the two of them for so long, so her illness has really been taking a toll on him.

- Ian is bilingual and speaks Mandarin! I don’t think he has a canon ethnicity in-game (though please correct me if I’m wrong), but I’ve been thinking of him as Chinese Canadian, in line with @pokeblog123’s headcanon that Middlesea is in Canada. I imagine he and his mom speak Mandarin at home sometimes.

- I think Ian probably did robotics and/or coding as hobbies in high school and college! We know that he’s insanely tech-savvy, and he seems to have quite a talent for programming. In that same vein, another one of Ian's hobbies is buying old/vintage video game consoles from garage sales, on eBay, etc. and taking them apart to see how they work, sometimes also restoring them if he can.

- I know this is a pretty popular hc already but I think Ian is autistic/generally neurodivergent lol. I do try to write him with this in mind

- Related to that, Ian struggles with social cues to a certain degree, and subsequently has more trouble connecting with the patients than Ada. His little character card says he’s “better with computers than people” and I think this is probably because people are just difficult for him to read. Computers are much simpler; they’re predictable and generally do what they’re programmed to do. People are a lot more complicated. I do think he’s learned to read Ada fairly well simply because he’s known her for so long

- Ian's primary love language is acts of service/gift-giving. He struggles with physical touch and with verbalizing his feelings so he shows his love by doing things for people instead (which was part of the inspiration for my fic "Helping Hand"). If he goes out of his way to do something for you, that’s how you know he really cares. He's an actions over words type of guy :)

- Ian can be very blunt and straightforward, as we see in the game, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care. We know from game dialogue that he regularly encourages Ada to take breaks and is generally concerned for her wellbeing, and we can also infer that he worries a great deal about his mother. He definitely cares, he just has different ways of showing it.

- Ian normally doesn’t cry very easily and he also doesn’t like to cry in front of other people, but my hc for why he cried at the Stevensons’ reunion is because it reminded him of his own sick mother, who’s been alone ever since his dad left. He’s usually not one to cry in public but that just got to him. I like to think that Ada checked up on him afterwards.

(ACT 5 SPOILERS)

- Although he doesn't really show it, I think Ian probably feels a certain amount of guilt for everything that's happened with Connectifia Abortus, especially now that it's been revealed that the virus originated from the system he created. He knows that the rhythm defibrillator system could put the patients in danger if the virus keeps getting worse, and he's been working day and night to try to fix it. Of course, Edega's demand for a "miracle cure" at the expense of caution and safety certainly isn't helping matters. Given that Ada also needs treatment on occasion, one of Ian's biggest fears is that Ada will get hurt because of the virus (and, he thinks, because of him).

BOFA THEM:

- I think Ada was Ian's first, and possibly only, good friend at college. I imagine they met through their shared classes and Ada was one of the only people who made a point to talk to him. After that she sort of just stuck around, much to Ian’s initial surprise. He had always struggled with making friends and he was hesitant to open up to her at first, but her persistence and genuine sincerity eventually won him over. Now they’re best friends :)

- I've seen other people say that they were probably roommates at some point in college/med school and I definitely think so too. I'm sure they pulled a lot of all-nighters together lol

- Once Ada and Ian became close friends, I like to imagine that she also got to know Ian's mother. She's always gotten along with her very well, and because her own parents were so distant, Ada came to think of her as somewhat of a parental figure. When Ian's mom first got sick and started requiring intensive care, Ada insisted on helping out with anything they needed.

- What I was referencing above about Ada and physical affection: I think Ada might be somewhat touch-starved because of my headcanon that her parents aren't very affectionate people. She craves physical touch and words of affirmation because she never got much of that from her parents. Once Ian figures this out, he tries his best to do those things for her even though it doesn't come as naturally to him (as in like, he’s normally not one to initiate hugs but he’ll give Ada a hug if he can tell that she needs it).

- Ian’s pragmatism balances out Ada’s bleeding-heart altruism, and vice versa. I think over years of friendship they’ve learned to appreciate the other’s perspective and find a middle ground, though of course that’s not always possible in high-stress medical situations.

- Ada doesn’t really understand anything about the online games that Ian plays, but she probably uses gamer lingo incorrectly on purpose just to annoy him lmao

- Unrelated to anything but I think one of their favorite pastimes is hate-watching Grey's Anatomy together and making fun of all the medical inaccuracies (I’ve never watched Grey’s Anatomy but I’ve heard there are many). Despite this they’re both low-key invested but neither of them wants to admit it lol

Anyway I love them. In my mind they are besties who get married for tax benefits. Thank you for your time if you read this far lmao

[thekristen999]

A bit of an update for those who might be curious. This week marked what I hope was the peak of misery. The pain in my shoulder and arm had reached a state of such discomfort that the only relief I could get was from my massage therapist and she had to actually help me lie down on the table because I couldn’t move my arm enough to do it on my own. At this point I have about 50% range of motion.

Last week I fired my PT guy because he treated me like a number. Never supervising me, never asking about my progress. Who left the room most of the time.

On Thursday I met with my new PT and what a world difference. She examined me for a while, testing both arms for range of motion and strength. Documenting every test, asking me detailed questions. She concluded that I don’t have a rotator cuff injury per say, I have a pinched nerve in my neck and it’s the pinched nerve that has caused all the radiating pain in my arm, the spasms in my ribs, and the inflammation in my shoulder. 

After doing about twenty mins of neck excises my radiating arm pain stopped! I might have wept in relief. This is the first weekend without severe arm pain. She gave me things to do at home and work and said once we get my neck healthy, we’ll work on the rest of me. With my new insurance I’m still - finally- going to get an MRI soon because I’m still not 100% sure all my issues is from a nerve, but the endless cycle of what they hell is wrong with me, or false vague diagnosis might be over. I’m sure as hell tired of journaling about it...lol

[hoonbunn]

Side Effects

In which Terra just came back from his surgery and is very high on painkillers. He sees Aqua and asks if he could go out with her. She says she’s married (but didn’t mention she’s married to him) So he looks at her for a moment as it slowly sinks in and he starts a high pitched noise before he cries in despair. (prompt by @chachacharlieco)

Forgive me. I may have had a little fun writing this. I do happen to work at a hospital (non-clinical) and I’m pretty familiar with the surgery process at my specific location. I also wrote this while at work too so LOL. I do plan to make a small comic based off of this too!

Read on Ao3

‘What’s your relationship to the patient?’

‘…’

‘Ma’am?’

‘H-huh? Oh! I’m his wife.’

The woman at the desk smiled. ‘And your name?’

‘Aqua.’

The woman reached over to a stack of what looked like pagers on her desk and handed one to the blue haired woman. ‘Alright, Aqua, if you want to, you can go ahead and have a seat. That pager I just handed you only works here in the hospital. The tracking number you were given earlier-‘ the woman gestured to a large television mounted on the wall. ‘-the numbers cycle automatically and will let you know where your patient is within their procedure.’ The woman turned in her seat to point to a corner in which Aqua’s gaze followed. ‘In that corner we have complimentary coffee and hot water for tea. Feel free to help yourself.’ Aqua nodded in understanding. The look on Aqua’s face must have looked concerned because the woman smiled again. “Don’t worry sweetheart, He’s in good hands.

She stood at the desk for a moment before decided what she should do. Aqua could go for a wander around the hospital, maybe stop at the cafe, but she didn’t want to miss the doctor if he were to come out and tell her how the surgery had gone.

Opting for the later option, Aqua found a set of chairs on the far wall she could sit in and wait. She had brought a book with for the wait considering the surgery could take close to 3 hours; easily an hour and a half alone for the recovery room.

This was the first time Terra was getting a pretty major surgery. Sure he’s had to have stitches for stupid things here at there, but this was the first time he would actually have to be put under anesthesia. When his doctor told him the 6 weeks of physical therapy hadn’t helped his torn rotator cuff, the earthy man nearly looked like a ghost leaving the office after hearing he would need surgery and more physical therapy.

Aqua recalled the moment Terra came home from work complaining about how bad his shoulder hurt. Since Terra worked in construction, he was always doing stupid things at his job. In the past, he’s pulled a few muscles here and there and even then for the few days he was in pain, all he could do was complain. Aqua couldn’t help but be amused as she attempted her usual methods to shut him up; a gentle massage that would usually result in Terra always managing to get Aqua undressed and in bed… or on the couch. Unfortunately this time the results were different.

Terra had been in so much pain that he wasn’t even interested in sexual activities, which was rather odd considering how ‘handsy’ he got most days. Half of him actually complained that the massage wasn’t working and it hurt more. The following nights, Terra wasn’t able to sleep properly due to the amount of pain he was in. After almost a week of trying to convince him, Aqua was able to drag him to the doctor where he found out about the rotator cuff. Terra was forced to take a medical leave from work so he could attend his mandatory physical therapy sessions, all of which Aqua attended. They both thought the therapy was working until a week ago when his doctor told him nothing had changed and that he would need it surgically taken care of.

That morning when they arrived at the hospital, Terra could not sit still. When the nurse had come to get him so they could prepare him for surgery, He almost made a mad dash for the exit. When Aqua was able to see Terra before he was sent in for surgery, she had to contain her laughter at the sight of him. The hospital gown that was given to him hardly fit; his muscles were so constrained in the sleeves of the gown and the back of the gown couldn’t be tied around his upper body. The length of the gown was even more amusing considering it was so short on him that it hardly covered half the surface area of his exposed thighs. At one point, he was about to rip the stupid thing off and lay in the bed butt ass naked.

When the anesthesiologist entered the room to talk with them, Aqua sat next to Terra’s bed and rubbed his arm softly to keep him calm. When it was time for the procedure to begin, Aqua gave Terra a kiss and plenty of reassurance that everything would be fine.

At the moment, Aqua had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the woman from the desk was now standing in front of her trying to get her attention. ‘Excuse me, miss?’

Startled, Aqua looked up. ‘Y-yes?’

Her reaction was clearly common seeing as the woman dismissed it. ‘The doctor will be out momentarily to tell you how everything went. So, for patient privacy reasons, if you’ll just come with me, I’m going to put you in one of our consultation rooms.’

Aqua quickly gathered her things as she followed the woman across the room to where the consult rooms where. When the doctor came in, he told her exactly what she wanted to hear. ‘Aqua, everything went great. We were able to make all the necessary repairs we needed and with just a bit more physical therapy, Terra should be good to go in a few months time. Considering he’s such a… large man…’ The doctor was referring to Terra’s over all size; height and weight, ‘it could be a while before he wakes up. So hang tight here in the surgery lounge  and a nurse will bring you to him when he’s coming off the anesthesia.’

Aqua sighed with relief as she thanked the doctor. Before he stepped out entirely, the doctor turned to add something else. ‘Also, Aqua, for the first 12 hours, he’s going to be under some pretty strong pain killers. Since we don’t know his history with such medications…’

Aqua smiled. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll keep a close eye on him. Chances are he will just be extra tired and hardly do anything.’

When the doctor left, Aqua went back to sit down. She pulled out her phone to let everyone know how the procedure went. Their good friend, Ventus, was the first to message back saying he was on his way over to the hospital to visit.

Aqua spent the hour switching between text messages and her book. When the nurse had finally come out to get her, she was anxious to see how Terra was. As she was lead back to the post-op recovery room, she sent out a few more text messages before losing phone service entirely; the hospital unfortunately had it’s dead zones and the post-op area was one of them.

When they got to Terra’s bed, he was passed out cold with a thick line of drool running down the side of his mouth. Aqua considered this to be the first time he’s gotten decent sleep since getting the injury.

Another nurse readjusted some equipment as Aqua sat down in the chair next to Terra’s bed.

‘He was awake not long ago but it seems as though he’s out cold again. You can thank the medication for that. I’ll be back shortly to see how he’s doing and if he isn’t awake, we will see about getting him up.’

Aqua nodded. ‘We’re in no rush. Thank you for everything. By the way, I have another person coming to see Terra… will it be alright if he comes back as well?’

The nurse scribbled something down on to her clip board and smiled. ‘That’s not a problem at all. So long as they’re over 18, we allow two people back here in the post-op area. I’ll inform the nurse liaison.’

‘Thank you.’ And with that, the nurse stepped out and Aqua was left with her unconscious husband. She sat there holding his hand, rubbing her thumb against the side of his hand as he slept. Considering he showed no signs of waking soon, Aqua opened her book on her lap and started to resume her reading.

It was when she felt Terra’s hand clench and his rough voice that it snapped her out of the enchanting book she had gotten sucked into. ‘Gosh… you’re really pretty Aqua…’

She placed her bookmark between the pages and set her book aside. ‘Well good morning there sleepy head. How’re you feeling?’

Instead of responding, Terra lifted the hand in which she was holding so he could look at it. ‘Your hands are really soft…’

She stifled a laugh as she forced his hand back down to rest on the bed. ‘Well, yes but that’s not what I ask-‘ Aqua paused. The medication… ‘Terra, how are you feeling?’

Terra again ignored her response as he tried to lift his hand and reach out to her. ‘Hey… do you think I could take you out for dinner and a movie? I’d like to get to know such a pretty woman such as yourself…’

Aqua internally sighed. The drugs he was on clearly had him delirious and he seemed to have no recollection that the two of them were actually married. ‘Terra, no… you can not.’

‘But why?’

‘Because.’

‘Because why?’

He was playing with her fingers now. ‘I really want to go out with you.’

She chuckled. ‘I’m sure you do Terra, but I can’t. I’m married.

There was a pause. His fingers slipped away from hers as a soft ‘Oh.’ slid past his lips. His gaze drifted to the light fixture on the ceiling. As Aqua was about to ask him again how he was feeling, someone knocked on the door. ‘Come in!’

To her relief, it was Ven. ‘Hey Aqua! Hey Terra!’ Aqua waved but Terra’s attention seemed to remain on the light fixture. ‘How’s the big cahoot feeling?’

Aqua shrugged. ‘Not sure. Since waking up, he’s done nothing but compliment me and ask me on a date. The pain killers he’s on clearly have him delusional…’

‘What did you say?’

Aqua looked at Ven with a confused expression.

‘You know…’ Ven leaned over to whisper to Aqua. ‘Did you say he could take you on a date?’

Aqua snorted. ‘Of course not. I told him I was married.’ Just didn’t mention that I was married to him…

The moment Aqua said the word ‘married’, the pair was startled by a strange noise coming from Terra.

He lies in the bed, eyes streaming with tears as a low whine comes from him. His whine eventually cracks and becomes high pitched to where he’s full on in tears; his eyes closed and his chest heaving.

Aqua immediately is at his side trying to soothe him. ‘Terra! What’s wrong? Are you in pain?’

He doesn’t respond to any of her questions as he shifts in the bed, trying to curl up but all the equipment attached to him prevents that.

Aqua goes to run her hands through his hair in another attempt to calm him. ‘Terra…’

After a few minutes of his loud wails, Terra eventually falls back into a half sleep. He mutters just above a whisper, ‘She’s married…’ before he’s out cold again.

‘What was that about?’ Ven had plopped down in the second chair and leaned back.

Aqua sighed. ‘Ven… this is going to be a long 12 hours…’

[actuallyadhd]

ADD, Autism and tics

Hey, I got a good kick out of submit long posts…no other kind for me😂, I’ll try however. I’ve always considered my condition “the bastard child of Autism” I’m Caucasian, 48yrs no history of brain damage/injury (although I believe the Dr. squeezed my head w/forceps too much-older brother has symmetrical features, head, while my head is curved from top to chin.) Lightweight @ 5lbs, 8oz. At age 7, I was diagnosed w/ ADHD. Ritalin was prescribed then undone. The sudden drop off was too much for my parents and I (fighting verbally). They were instructed to keep me active.

So my father puts this four eyed new kid in fast paced sport. Baseball🙄. So hard to sit still on the bench, then up to bat to strike out. Ended up pretending to go. My father would not allow me to watch the Hulk…thought it made me mad. It did….but who knew about “hyper focus” back when. I did blow up…the Hulk didn’t get bullied or beat up. Searching for anything to stop the harassment. My own brother bullied me. I chased him into his room several times. He’d lock/ dresser against door laughing. Last time it happened, I grabbed chef’s knife, fully intent on planting it in his face. I was livid…beyond that…My mom would keep telling me if I ignored the bullies they would go away. Never happened. All other parents told their kids to hit back and tell them not to f w/you or you’d kill them. Sets your reputation. In gr10, in front of 30 kids, main bully confronted me (he thought id done something, yet it was someone else) for what still feels like an eternity. Tried everything to get me to fight, even slapped me😲. Having left baseball for tae kwon do👍🏻, I learned only to get involved as a last resort.

Told my father this story for first time this summer. I was in a full on cry as I made a slapping motion, until my inoperable torn rotator cuff caused arm to jerk back to my chest. I never told anyone until then. A friend had same issue w same guy and had teeth knocked out. In our 30’s, we actually planned to pillowcase this dufus -ring doorbell, one guy holds him, other puts pillowcase over head/arms then beat the hell out of him. We were very serious and at a combined weight shy of 600lbs, weren’t worried anymore. From small boy to being harassed, assaulted, bullied and threatened to be killed (twice people have done that) as a grown man at work. An old guy was retiring, shakes my hand and says: “don’t be an asshole your whole life” First inkling it was ME. Union/management useless, so on a bright day during my hour long commute, I started to laugh and cry at the same time and I thought that’s weird but then I remembered my previous thought I’d come up with the way out of all this…I’d end me. Happy with the thought too! Had to take buyout as I was planning on taking coworkers with me from a dark place.

Genetics loads the gun, stress pulls the trigger. Got to the point I’d be introduced to people, tell them they’ll either like me or hate me in five minutes. People were honest and I ask what I did/said to get their backs up, trying to pinpoint it.

Now, if someone threatens me, I don’t get anxiety (I have horrible social and general anxiety) about what they might do, it’s what I will do. I’ve uncluttered my life down to sharing a small apt. Roomate has Tourette’s and we both are agoraphobes. Read recently first recorded school shooting in Canada was ‘78…how many kids just toughed it out back then? Since video games, guns are in kids brains. IMHO, I could easily have been driven to that brink. I’m down to a room looks like a teenager lives here. Mom died in August (used to rock back and forth watching TV🤔), weeks before that had to put my dog down. Mom wasn’t suffering. I genuinely felt better. Singing in car, telling jokes (the vestigial remnants of my sense of humour is all self deprecating now. If you see my self esteem, let me know-it’s covered in jokes. Today I can’t walk 15 feet without forgetting my mission. If my short term memory gets any shorter, I’ll go back in time lol. and the average Joe/Jane always says oh I do that all the time.

I was speaking with the regional director of CMHA. She asked me something and I told her I’d have to look it up on my phone. Roomate is there, ask if he’s seen my phone and told CMHA to hold on while I looked for it.

I was on the phone.

People call me paranoid, I say hyper-vigilance. sit with back to wall, watching all the time. Lastly, as my ass is sore from sitting, there are tons of details I could spew. The story is so long now and in 15 YEARS of seeking help, it started with anti depressant Paxil (felt like Dexter w/o the killing…nothing). Also lost all libido, including morning wood for six months. This year shrink sees me for 1/2hr, calls me bipolar, prescribes “mood stabilizer” and Benztropine for any tic issues. Last thing I need is a pill that causes more damage than the good it MIGHT do. I already take through the day: 2.5 Percocet 5/325, Ibuprofen 1200mg, Adderall 20mg XR, Clonazepam 8mg (down to four most days) Seroquel 50mg (weight gain, vicious sweet tooth), Benztropine 1mg at night.

Imagine having torn shoulder, combined with fast reaction from years of martial arts, topped off with ADD…Impulsive subtype. Something falls off table, I reach, then scream.

It’s just me and my car now. I hang out with no one, get invites just to sabotage them anyway. Everyday I wonder why I’m still alive. When things were at the lowest, I walked into hardware store for items I needed to complete my mission, as calm as can be. Wondered what cashiers reaction would be if I told her what they were for…thought that was funny.

Wish all the best & good luck,

Ian

[avengerdragoness]

Once Prisoners - Part 1 [Shiro x Reader]

Requested by anon: “Can I request a voltron imagine where the reader was rescued from the galea because when shiro "disappeared" he was transported on the reader's ship and they travelled the galaxy together, messing with galra bc she was a prisoner too, and trying to find voltron. Then when they find voltron, the reader keeps getting hit on by everyone and lots of jealous shiro. (I love your work and change this if you want just something x shiro i love him)”

A/n: I hope I’m interpreting your request right lol. I decided this will probably be around 2 or 3 parts due to the sheer size of the request. I hope that’s okay! I’m happy about that because I’ve been dying to write some Shiro lol. Also I hope you guys like this. Let me know what you think, I’d love any feedback you all have!

Part 2 - Part 3

Warning: Season 2 Spoilers

________

Shiro wasn’t sure what was happening, all he remembered was jamming his bayard into the black lion before taking the last strike at Zarkon, then feeling the rush from the explosion. Now his head was pounding as he laid on a cold, hard floor.

Groaning he struggled to open his eyes, sitting up he observed the room. “You’ve gotta be kidding me” Shiro mumbled, recognizing what this room looked like. Once again he’s stuck in a Galra prison.

He pulled himself to his feet, feeling pain shoot through his skull. Cautiously he snuck over to the door, peering out the barred window, out of the sights of any guards. He didn’t see anyone but he heard yelling. The voice was far but he could tell what they were saying, “Let me go! Take off these cuffs and see how far you get!”

“Shut up!” A galra guard yelled before he heard an impact and a grunt. When he saw the shadows come around the corner he hurriedly backed away from the door, hiding in the shadow of the room. Holding his breath as the door opened. Watching as someone was roughly thrown in, you quickly regained your balance and charged at the door before it closed. Your shoulder ramming into it.

He noticed your wrists bound in cuffs, but they were different from any he had seen before. You slid down the door, a pained whimper escaping your throat while sitting with your back leaning against the cold metal. He heard you pant, every so often wincing. Maybe he could help, but how were you going to react when a stranger literally just popped into your cell.

“I know you’re there. Who are you?” Shiro hadn’t noticed you were looking at him until now. He choked on his words before stepping into the light, noticing how your eyes widened. “You’re the Black Paladin.”

“H-how’d you? Wait.” Shiro stopped himself, noticing the blue markings under your eyes. “Are you --” “Altean, I recognized the symbol on your chestplate. That’s how I know you’re a paladin.” You cut him off, wincing as you shifted where you’re seated.

“How are you alive? The only Alteans left are Allura and Coran.” Shiro questioned dumbfounded. You smiled at him, “Who told you that? They’re the only surviving two on the good guy’s side at least. The druids are all Altean. Haggar is Altean.”

“And you?” Shiro questioned. “Me?” An airy laugh escaping your throat, “Collateral. I was captured before they slaughtered my people and devastated my planet. I was supposed to be protecting the Princess but King Alfor wanted my skill on the front lines. Zarkon and Haggar noticed my ability to harness magic, decided I could be of use. I’ve been on ice for ten thousand years, only waking up when Voltron did. I guess they wanted to have me around incase one of their druids fell to you guys. Until then, I’ve been a pet to the commander of this ship. Your turn, who the hell are you?”

“Takashi Shirogane, or Shiro. Black Paladin, I was held on a Galra ship for a year. Forced to fight in gladiator matches. Why don’t you use your powers to get yourself out of here?” Shiro questioned making you chuckle. “If you’re going to ask so many questions at least ask my name, Paladin.”

Shiro scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Oh sorry.” You shook your head, “[F/n] [L/n], and the cuffs suppress my magic.”

“I’m going to get us out of here. The other paladins of Voltron and I have wounded if not defeated Zarkon. The empire is weakened, now’s the time to escape.”

“If you can get these cuffs off me and open this door, I’ll shine your lion for you.” Shiro didn’t say anything but only smirked, walking over he engaged his galra arm. The tech in his arm connected to the tech on the cuffs, them both being galra he easily undid the cuffs as they fell to the floor. “I was kidding about the shining your lion thing, I’m not going to do that.” You clarified, rubbing your wrists.

“I thought so, come on. My arm can open the door I think.” You followed Shiro to the door, he checked the area, seeing the guards were rotating shifts. Reaching out of the bars, using his galra hand again to unlock the door. “Okay, I’m impressed”

Shiro chuckled, “Escape pods should be this way” he pointed down the hall, “But what about your lion?”

Shiro let his head hang, “I, uh, I don’t have it. When we defeated Zarkon he had this armour and it blew when we beat him. I’m guessing the energy of it transported me here.” He explained before heading in the direction of the escape pods. “Uh, Takashi hold on.” You called to him, having a better idea than a escape pod.

Though Shiro was taken aback at the sound of his true first name. Not many people called him by it. “How about a fighter instead of an escape pod.” Smirking at the shocked man.

Turning you led him toward where the fighter ships were. You knew the ins and outs of this ship, after your multiple trips to the commander you’ve become accustomed to the layout and guard rotations. A few guards caught you both but you guys easily took them out, but Shiro noticed the strain it was having on you.

“Up there” you whispered, pointing to the guarded door. “You take the one on the left, I take the right?” Shiro nodded. “On 3” he whispered, “1… 2… 3!”

As soon as the number left his lips you both sprung into action. Before the guards even knew it you were on top of them. Shiro knocked his guy out in a single punch, while you punched yours before flipping him over your shoulder. Knocking him out with one final jab.

“Nice move” he complimented. Making a laugh escape your throat, “Well, you’re not so bad yourself. Come on, before they send reinforcements.” Gesturing for him to follow as you snuck into the ship bay.

Shiro couldn’t help but admire you. You’ve been stuck in the hands of Zarkon for thousands of years, and conscious since he became the Black Paladin. But you’re barely flinching at anything being thrown at you. You’re so strong. He’s only known you for a few hours and you’re already having such an impact on him.

“Hey, you still with me?” You snapped him back to reality, seeing as he had zoned out on you. “What? Yeah sorry, I guess I got caught up in the moment.” He smiled sheepishly.

“It’s fine but let’s reminisce when we’re away from this place” He agreed as you both continued to sneak among the ships, making your way to the ones closest to the hangar door. Finding a suitable one, Shiro used his arm to grant access and you both climbed in.

You sat in the pilot’s chair, beginning to hit switches as the ship started up, while also turning off any trackers. “You know how to fly one of these things?” He questioned skeptically. “You doubt me?” Glancing at him over your shoulder.

“No, I wouldn’t say doubt. Just curious.” He shrugged as you started up the ship completely. “We’re going to have to race these guys, when they see one of their fighter’s going rogue they’ll know something’s up. Do me a favor and man the defences.” Immediately Shiro moved over to the other chair.

“Ready?” You asked looking at him. “Ready”

Upon hearing him you flipped one last lever and took the controls. Easily flying yourself out of the galra ship. Though as suspected, the galra were hot on your trail. “Quiznack” muttering under your breath. “I’m taking evasive maneuvers. I’d start shooting if you want to get out of here on one piece.”

“I’m on it” Shiro answered, beginning to take out the ships that he could. “Come on give me a way out.” You spoke to yourself, looking for somewhere to lose them. Seeing an asteroid belt in your sights, “Hang on!” You accelerated toward the asteroids. “[F/n] what are you doing?” You looked over at him, “Do you trust me?” He stared, shocked, for a moment, not tearing his eyes from yours. However he took a deep breath, answering “Yes.”

Smiling you turned back to the controls. Flying into the mass of rocks. You’ve been flying since you were a child, it’s one of the things that made you such a superior Altean warrior. You avoided each rock easily, the galara fighters behind you crashing into the space rocks.

Making it through in one piece you threw your hands up. “We’re out, we did it” you sighed in relief, relaxing into your chair. “Nice work. You alright?” Shiro’s brow furrowed in concern.

You nodded, “Yeah fine, let’s check the map to see where we are.” Standing and going to check the map, but instead your knees buckled under you. “[F/n]!” Shiro rushed from his chair and caught you before you hit the floor. “Are you alright? Tell me the truth.”

“I-I think I just need to rest. I haven’t slept in quintents and I’m not sure of all the injuries I’ve sustained.” Shiro had to think about it for a moment before he realized that meant days. “Here let me help you.” He wrapped your arm around his neck before lifting you up. Not struggling as he carried you over to what resembled a cot.

After letting you lay down Shiro went to the map you were talking about. “Can we send out a distress beacon?” Asking himself. “If you do that it will draw them back to us. Can you remember any places you’d been before?”

“Maybe they returned to Arus?” You shifted uncomfortably, staring at the ceiling while replying “Arus will be tagged on there most likely if the Galra followed you there.”

Shiro shook his head, “They wouldn’t risk the Arusians.” “Maybe flip through galra radio channels. Pick up any chatter.” You suggested and he nodded.

“So, did you know the Princess?” He asked looking over his shoulder at you. With a soft smile you nodded, “We were best friends all those years ago. How is she?” Perching up on your elbows.

“Tough on us paladins but she’s doing good all things considered.” Shiro continued to explain as he went through the communications. “I think I have something” he said listening to one of the stations. There were galra talking about taking another planet, “I’m going to set a course, Voltron might be there.”

“Okay” saying while laying back down.

Once everything was set Shiro looked back to see you out cold. He took off his helmet and set it aside. Beginning to look around the ship for supplies. Finding food, water, and a first aid kit. Opening the kit he began to bandage and tend to any wounds he found on you before tending to his own. For some reason he felt a strong attraction to you, something he couldn’t explain.

Once finished, he sat in his chair. Eyelids feeling heavy as he too had a long day, causing him to unintentionally doze off.

You didn’t begin to stir again until a few hours later. Groaning as you woke up, noticing Shiro had taken to resting as well. Looking down at your arms taking note of the bandages. ‘Did he?’ Thinking while glancing over at him. You had to admit, Shiro’s pretty amazing. You’d heard talk of Voltron during your time stuck on that ship. Shiro being the head of Voltron only made him that much more impressive. He’s a natural born leader and caring, not to mention handsome, Allura made a good choice appointing him the Black Paladin.

Moving to the pilot seat you took over controls, heading to the coordinates Shiro had set. “I hope the rest of them will accept me the way he has.” Mumbling to yourself while continuing the flight. Glancing at Shiro again, a content smile on your face, “Yeah. I hope.” 

[captawesomesauce]

Thoughts at 115pm

Goal - My goal is to get my doctors together and write down everything thats wrong with me .. because god knows I keep forgetting shit. (which is one of the issues too!)

I literally horrified my mother last night as I was laying down on the couch and sat up and she saw my abdominal wall split.

But you literally start at the head and go down to the feet, and it's everything from the AMNR, the Optic nerve, the spot on the pituitary, the tinnitus and broken jaw... there's the torn rotator cuff and the a/c joint problem, the tennis elbows and the old tear in the bicipital tendon, there's the arthritis in the hands and that weird tendon out of place in my right hand, there's the left lung failure and pleurisy, the issue with the spinal column that might be auto immune, going lower is the torn abdominal wall (diastasis recti), the ibs, the diabetes is in this area I guess (go pancreas!), moving lower we have the dual igunial hernias (ouch), the left knee problem and tendonitis in both, the shin issue which is why I now have orthotics, and the spot on the bottom of my right foot that no podiatrist has been able to figure out yet.

And I know I'm missing and forgetting a bunch lol.

Oh!!! the back injury! the whole spinal baddness shit that I have to get RFA surgery for every six months. Forgot that. See? And that's not even including normal stuff like my asthma and my allergies, and what not.

But yeah, I just need it all in a nice packaged list so I can start dealing with school and work and what not.

Blah.

[scriptmedic]

Massage Therapy: Medical Applications and Mythconceptions

Hi everybuddy! Aunt Scripty here. Today’s guest post is written by Nana, a Licensed Massage Therapist in the US.

This is part 1 of a 2-part post on the basics of what massage therapy is (and, more importantly, isn’t). I’m so excited to have Nana’s posts here on the blog!

Keep in mind that even though this is a guest post, and I have not 1000% verified everything in it, it is still subject to The Disclaimer Of Doom. (The Doomsclaimer?)

I hope you all enjoy!

Nana, take it away!

Hello! LMT Nana here! ( @theoremofwhat ) You’re probably wondering what the heck I’m doing here. Or what the heck an LMT even is. I’m here today to help Aunt Scripty in her quest to dispel some Mythconceptions surrounding the medical field in a two part post on my specialty: Massage Therapy.

For the uninitiated, your first thought is probably something along the lines of, “LOL, happy ending, yo!” I’m here to smack that right out of your head.

Let’s start off with what Massage Therapy actually is. Defined by the medical dictionary,

“Massage therapy is the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of normalizing those tissues and consists of manual techniques that include applying fixed or movable pressure, holding, and/or causing movement of or to the body.”

Okay. What the heck does that mean? I’ll put it into context for you. A massage under this definition is when a trained person uses their hands, forearms, elbows, or other parts of the body to apply force to the patient’s body, or stretching/moving joints, for the purpose of loosening muscle and connective tissue, or to stimulate fluid flow (blood/lymph).

Sweet. That’s down. Let’s continue.

Massage is one of the oldest forms of medical care, …..

….with origins going back almost 5,000-4,000 years in Polynesian, Egyptian and Chinese cultures, these are passed down through written and oral traditions. Massage became popularized in western medicine by Hippocrates, who believed that massage was a highly effective and underutilized tool that requires a great deal of knowledge and training- views still held today by professionals.

The full history of massage is quite long and complicated- something I won’t go into here. It’s quite the drama, part of which contributes to some modern Mythconceptions that organizations like the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) are trying to smash out by regulating the practice and increasing public awareness. Studies into the history of massage, and even observances in modern populations have shown that the urge to aid hurts by applying manipulation through the hands is likely an ingrained impulse in humans.

Knowing this, one would think that just anyone could get up off the street and give a massage. While many a family member or good friend has helped that “knot” (called a trigger point) in your shoulder, giving a full body massage with the intent of aiding healing requires a lot of hands on training and knowledge of the human body. You wouldn’t want a receptionist diagnosing your cancer- you don’t want a receptionist handing your massage either.

Let’s go over the qualifications for a massage therapist, known professionally as a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) standardly, and/or BCTMB if they are Board Certified. 

Here in the United States (where I am) regulation is left up to the individual states. I am licensed through the state of Utah, so many of the laws and regulations I will be defining for you will be through that lens. If you would like a good launching board for other states, head here. 

The AMTA suggests a minimum of 500 hours of training for licensing, but states such as New York require up to 1,000 hours. Here in the state of Utah 600 hours is the minimum requirement. This translates to about 7-12 months of schooling.

During the course of schooling a therapist will spend most of their time learning medical Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, and Kinesiology. Basically? How the body is made, how it works, and how it moves. They are then trained in how this information applies to injury, illness and rehabilitation.

The rest is hands on training, identifying in person what abnormal tissue feels like, how to change it, when you should and can, when you should not massage, and areas of endangerment. And this is a VERY brief overview.

Aside from the all important training in medical A&P, we are given intensive training in the ethics side of massage. This is perhaps one of the most important separators between a LMT and a non licensed individual. LMTs are unique in the medical community because we have a specific training in how to touch.

Touch is one of the most sensitive things in the modern community- many suffer from Touch Deprivation because of stigma surrounding touch. Many perceive touch as a sexual thing. Others will react negatively to touch due to trauma in their life. Massage therapists must be prepared to present the massage in a way that cannot be perceived in a sexual, or threatening way, and may receive extra training to deal with victims of violence.

We receive training in how to conduct the massage- specifically in how to greet and interview the client, how to drape (the covering and un-covering an area to be worked.) and how to interact through out the session and how to end it. 

To be licensed in the state of Utah, I had to undergo 600 hours of schooling by an accredited school. In my case it was a technical school focusing on medical careers: Nursing, Physical Therapy, Personal Trainers, and Dental Assisting. My actual course was almost 700 hours- ten months of school in total. After passing my schooling I took a national exam called the MBLEx, a test monitored by the FSMBT. (Which is terrifying, by the way. I legitimately cried when I passed. Most do not pass the first time around.) The Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing required proof of my schooling and my testing scores, along with proof of residency and I was fingerprinted. 

Once licensed and practicing you also need to understand that LMT’s have what’s called a scope of practice. This means we can only do certain things under our license, primarily, massage. We cannot diagnose, or prescribe anything. We are trained in Pathology so that we may identify potential symptoms, but we are under strict laws to only bring up our suspicions and direct you to your primary care physician or a specialist. We can suggest common, well accepted home lifestyle changes/ remedies with the caveat that the client must still check with a doctor before starting anything new. You should never take anything a therapist tells you as gospel truth because even if they have had excessive continuing education or 20 years of experience, we are not doctors.

Now that you know all this, let’s go over the common Mythconceptions we face in media. Because guess what? Massage is a largely misunderstood area and has been misrepresented so often I want to tear my hair out. These are things you should AVOID in your writing. Personally? I don’t care if you’re actually writing a story about a prostitute that wants to hide their illegal activities under the label of a masseuse. Figure something else out. I don’t really care if you’re going for a laugh, or a shocker. It’s an entire industry that you are undermining and actually inhibiting real world people from getting help.

Massage Therapy is purely for pleasure/pampering/rich people. Or, Massage Therapists are sex workers.

This is one that causes the most harm to my blood pressure. While massage is excellent for general mental health, it is also good for almost all areas of health, both as a preventative measure and an aid in recovery. I personally specialize in injury recovery- even more specially in rotator cuff injury. (The rotator is my favorite muscle group.) Others specialize in automotive accidents, surgery rehabilitation, trauma recovery, geriatric care, arthritis, sports, autistic children and adults, and hospital massage(for very ill people). The list is endless, actually. Specializing therapists can work independently or attached to doctors/ physical therapists/psychiatric professionals.

Changes in health care and pricing have made massage much more accessible. Many offices will accept insurance as a form of payment, and more and more insurance companies are paying for it. The industry standard in charging is $1 a minute- and considering the amount of training and the wear on the therapist’s body, this is more than fair. Other businesses will offer specials and memberships aimed at making regular massage more affordable to the average american. Depending on the office/private practice you visit, they will even help you with payment plans for your care. So even if your character is struggling financially, there are always options.

Massage being perceived as a sexual thing is a complicated subject, largely due to abuse of the term in history and cultural views(as mentioned above.) And it’s actually a dangerous one. Many, if not most, therapists are female.(This is beginning to change and it’s really exciting.) It’s not unheard of for a skeevy guy to go in for a ‘happy ending’, get refused by his law-abiding therapist, and attack her. I have not yet experienced this- but friends and coworkers have. Prostitutes masquerading as therapists also enforce this view that a massage is sexual.

In the 1800s, police began to crack down on certain businesses and drove prostitution from these places into massage parlors and bathhouses- leading to the degradation of the term “masseuse”.

So please. Do not use the term masseuse/masseur. As a professional I would say this would be the only time to use this portrayal of sex and massage- historically- and as long as you also make the commentary that there were legitimate practitioners at the time and this was an abuse of the term.

Please, please, please, do NOT use this in a modern setting unless you are prepared to make some very direct commentary on this abuse of the industry.

Aunt Scripty’s Note: Having gotten lectures from the FBI about this, it’s also important to know that a lot of the cheap / fake “massage parlors” you see (the really, REALLY easy to spot kind) are fronts for human trafficking. The “employees” may be victims of forced prostitution, held against their will or manipulated by others stealing their passports, and other atrocious human rights abuses. When you portray massage in your fiction as having “happy endings” or a front for prostitution, you are actually advertising for human rights abusers.

Now that we have that gross lump out of the way, moving on to number 2.

Depictions of a Massage in Advertising and Media.

You’ve all seen the classic image of a beautiful woman working on an equally beautiful human with the client laying face down, head resting on their arms, a gentle smile on their face with a blanket neatly arranged around their midsection, the beautiful therapist standing over them and tenderly dragging their fingertips across their skin, or placing hot stones right on the spine, and they are surrounded by nature and flowers or some shit.

WRONG WRONG WRONG.

I googled ‘massage’ and looked up images. I had to scroll for a good long while before I even found something that ALMOST represented what an actual table looks like, what proper body mechanics look like, what proper draping looks like. It’s vomit worthy. And holy-mother-of-profanities. You would NEVER rest hot stones directly on skin, much less the SPINE. 

The last thing I want on my table is flowers and fluffy shit. It’s unhygienic, potentially allergy triggering, and just in my way. Licensed practitioners follow strict guidelines set up by the local Health Department, and follow Universal and Standard Precautions set by the CDC. This prevents transmission of disease. 

My actual table is not so glamorous: made of standard wood or steel with a nice firm pad on top, ankle/knee bolster, and a face rest. (The face rest is either not too bad, or HELL, depending on the person. But it’s a necessary evil. That face rest is there for breath-ability when you are completely face down and I’m working on shoulders/neck.) We can dress them up in nice sheets and blankets, table warmers and the like. But they still need to be cleanable. 

And you’re definitely not going to look glamorous getting a massage. At times a client is so relaxed they end up drooling and snoring. It’s fantastic. Moaning and groaning is totally normal in a non-weird way. Falling asleep and waking up disoriented is also very normal. Twitching is also normal- although it feels weird. This is a sign of the muscle releasing.

If your character suffers from any anxiety, they may struggle to fall asleep on the table, or relax completely- they may attempt to exert some manner of control over the massage- by holding arms and legs, fidgeting, or they may relieve tension through talking. All of this is also 100% fine, but the therapist will likely try to help them relax in order to allow the massage to be as effective as possible. 

Next is the portrayal going the opposite way: guy goes in to get a massage and is practically torn apart and beaten by his therapist in order to get a “deep tissue” massage. This leads into the next Mythconception:

Massage HAS to hurt or leave you sore to be effective.

I’m not going to lie. Some times a massage does hurt. Sometimes it does leave you sore afterwards, technically you get a work out during a massage. Sometimes those muscles and fascia are so bound up and tight that releasing it is Not Fun™. Some muscles just don’t like to be worked. (Hee-llO subscapularis and psoas.) But there ARE ways around it. There are very gentle ways of coaxing a muscle, tendon, or aponeurosis into it’s natural state. 

Also. DEEP TISSUE DOES NOT MEAN DEEPER PRESSURE. Repeat after me, children: Deep tissue does not mean deeper pressure. A gentle relaxing massage can have bruising deep pressure(not that I recommend it, and it’s probably not relaxing anymore!) Deep tissue is a specific modality with techniques to accessing deeper muscles under superficial layers of skin, connective tissues and surface muscle. It’s actually a very slow and focused type of massage. You don’t move fast unless warming up the superficial layers. It can utilize deeper pressure, but does not have to.

You might feel sore the next day; absolutely. You might feel a bit like you have the flu. This is common, but not the norm. You can wake up the next day feeling 100% fine. These not fun effects are though to be caused by the muscles getting a work out during the massage- just like the gym. The flu effects are thought by some to be caused by gunk pushed out of the tissue and back into the blood and lymph systems, or by dehydration due to increased circulation. This is why therapists will commonly tell clients to drink a lot of water/hydrating fluid after a massage. One single cause is not nailed down by researchers yet. Regardless, you should never be so sore that you can’t function the next day. That’s called an injury. (There are some applications of this in Physical Therapy, but I am the last person to ask about that.) 

Men give the deepest massages/Women only do the ‘fluffy stuff’

Again, this is silly. Take me for example: I am 5 foot zero and weigh 110 pounds, struggle lifting more than 50 pounds, and I have made a big biker guy cry on a dare. I was often the one in school to get the deepest pressure once I learned how to apply myself. (We tiny women actually have a reputation in the industry for this!) It’s not about strength or body type. It’s all about your body mechanics and leverage. I wish I had pictures of me pushing my foot/ standing against a wall to get deeper pressure into a client’s traps. Cuz it looks awesome. Plus, muscling your way through a massage is most likely to injure you as a therapist.

All massage is the same.

Massage is a scientific art form. This translates to there being as many styles of massage as there are therapists and clients. It all is dependent upon how/ what the therapist feels, personal experience, and training bias. Each client will receive a massage tailored to their body.There is no universal technique guaranteed to work on everyone. Every body is a wonderful, unique body. Every body.

I personally combine techniques from Deep Tissue, Structural, and Shiatsu massages. This for me turns to a relaxing massage that targets connective tissue to release longstanding holding patterns or to prevent them from forming after injury. I also specifically target techniques to stimulate the Endocannabinoid system. (Yeah. You read that right. Endocannabinoids.)

You shouldn’t get a massage if you are pregnant/ have cancer.

It used to be believed that massage could terminate pregnancy or spread cancer cells. Recent research shows the opposite to be true. Medical Massage has been shown to decrease unpleasant side effects of pregnancy and cancer treatments. There are different treatments for cancers that would be a contraindication (such as radioactive implants) and other medical conditions during pregnancy that would warrant it as well. There are other medical conditions or medications that require abstinence from massage, but that is in Part Two.

Massage is a new thing made up by hippies/ My character in a High Fantasy World/historical setting wouldn’t experience/need massage.

This is just silly. As we’ve seen in in our history, Massage is ancient, maybe even ingrained into our species. Massage was originally a tool of Shamans and other ancient healers- and very common in Midwifery. The applications of massage are endless in all time periods and worlds.

As for the hippy thing- Yeah. A lot of us are absolutely more 'crunchy granola’ than the rest of our medical world friends. Many believe and receive training in Energy Work including Reiki, accupressure, and other meridian massages. I won’t post any information on it here as this is a medical website and we do not have scientific proof of any of it yet. But it does happen, and at the VERY least has a strong placebo effect, so if you want to include it in your story, go for it. Just put some proper effort into how these things go down.

(BTW, you’ve probably seen some manner of funny human making jokes about their weird experience with an 'auric massage’ and the therapist just floated their hands above them, right? That’s because energy healers do not have the licesce to touch. As far as my current knowledge goes, there is no government regulation regarding energy workers of this class.)

Massage is a magic cure all

This may be originating more from bias within the profession- we all want to think what we do will help humanity live better all the time. Massage has HUGE benefits and many, but can’t fix anything and everything- and it certainly won’t fix you in one session. When I was recovering from a particularly nasty whiplash injury it took 6 months of bi-weekly appointments in conjunction with other therapy to fix me. How exactly this will work out I’ll cover in my second post.

Massage is a woman’s industry

This is mostly true, based only on statistics. It’s believed that only 12% of LMT’s are male. This is changing, slowly. It’s true for some pretty messed up reasons, and those reasons should die. Those who want to hide from some brutal feminist truth should leave now. 

NOTE: What I am about to say does NOT apply to those of you who have suffered through any kind of trauma. Your worries and fears are valid and will be treated as such by any competent therapist. 

Many people, male or female, simply do not trust male therapists- due to homophobia and gross concepts of masculinity, that being worked on by a male will make them gay/seem gay, or the fear that they will be accosted/fondled, even if they have no history of such a thing happening to them.

I straight up call out anyone who has the homophobic view as fucked up. Sometimes the thought isn’t even consciously homophobic. Casual bigotry is still bigotry. This also shows an underlying belief that all touch is somehow sexual.

So if your character doesn’t want a man touching them because it’s 'gay’, what does that say about them preferring a woman’s touch?

This also highlights the shitty idea that only women can be caretakers/healers/provide a service for tips or so on. It’s a similar situation to how people are surprised at or even mock male nurses, belittle high ranking female anything, or how a woman can’t be a soldier or cop. But that is a debate for another time. Just know it’s fucked up and please don’t perpetuate it, please do everything you can in your stories to change this view.

If you are going to a reputable business there is no worry about any of these things of course- for anyone. Laws, company policies, and personal ethics will prevent any misconduct on the therapist’s part. 

Here’s a few things to read up on regarding this: 1, 2, 3: This one is long but one of the best.

It’s a fact of life for massage therapists that at some point in our careers that we will be propositioned, or accused of inappropriate conduct (even if it is only perceived misconduct, or someone angling to get a free service).

This is not to say that misconduct doesn’t happen. Unfortunately it does. If you are including this in your story please frame it as something that is quite not okay on the part of either party, and show that the proper action is taken by authorities. This should never be portrayed as okay ever. (I’m looking at you- “hand of glory at the end of my Thai Massage Dean Winchester.”)

So there’s a number of Mythconceptions busted here. If you want to continue your research, hit up a local practitioner in your area- Many are more than excited to spread their knowledge! If you made it all the way through, congratulations! Your prize is reading Part 2: When your character will be needing/receiving massage, when they won’t or really shouldn’t, how a modern set up will go and how the therapist might be, and possible applications in a non-modern set up!

Hey everyone! Aunt Scripty again.

I hope you enjoyed  that post as much as I did. Thanks again to Nana for her expertise and experience, as well as writing-focused perspective!

If you are a healthcare practitioner and want to clear up some myths about YOUR specialty, hit me up and let’s talk!

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

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