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amesstm · 2 years

Text

Foodie

Pairing: Osamu Miya x Reader

WC: 3.4k

Summary: after leaving a bad review at Onigiri Miya, the owner tries to convince you otherwise

Warnings: fluff and banter, cursing

A/N: honestly, I’ve always wondered what Osamu’s relationship would be like with a food critic. Plus I’m in food science so I was kind of having fun with the food in this one haha

~~~

The rice was too chewy for your liking. Just how much water did they put into the rice cooker? The onigiri was poorly held together as the rice was running away from its structure. It might as well have been the beginnings of rice pudding. Withholding a sigh of disappointment, you jotted this onto your notepad.

From the corner of your eye, the manager - undoubtedly, left by the owner to handle the stress of a reviewer - was biting their lip from behind the counter. A new employee, who occasionally popped their head from the kitchen, was curiously asking the other employees questions about who you were. All of the staff’s eyes would look towards you at one point or another. Yet, they wouldn’t be receiving a reaction from you. It would be unprofessional to express any emotion in front of them - especially disappointment.

Admittedly, you had done your research before coming here. You wanted to understand the story behind the owner. How much did they love food? Why did they open this restaurant? What did they have to go through to make it? From the store’s Twitter, Miya Osamu absolutely treasured food. Okay, you may have also done some personal research on this Miya Osamu. He even prioritized food when he could’ve joined his twin brother for a prominent career playing volleyball and making millions from one game of passing a ball back and forth across a net. Instead, Osamu holds holiday parties and gives any leftovers to the homeless in the local area. He cooks or bakes with his friends all of the time. It was clear that Osamu was surrounded by food and loved it. In fact, it was something to admire.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t taste his passion in this dish. At least, not when he was absent.

Based on every recommendation for you to visit the establishment, you thought that the food would live up to its reputation. You would’ve asked the owner about the lack of quality from today. Perhaps it was simply a mistake on the staff’s part, as if this was just the day they chose to mess up for their boss. Surely, the food wasn’t always this subpar.

After wiping your mouth with your napkin, you wrote up the review on your laptop immediately afterwards. The staff noticeably held their breath as they watched you tap away. After all, they would be able to see the review as you took your leave. Then, the inevitable comments from the owner would ensue, either leaving a wake of raises and bonuses or firing and scolding.

As you stood from your seat, you knew that scolding would surely begin once the owner returned. You nodded towards the staff, who pouted from the gesture. No doubt, with your reputation, they knew that the nod only meant one thing: do better next time.

“Who does this L/N Y/N think she is?!” Atsumu exclaimed with fearsome anger. He clutched onto Osamu’s phone with furrowed eyebrows and a glare to match. Whilst reading the article, he had been stomping around the store like a crazed wind-up toy gone rogue.

Osamu sighed dejectedly, “Stop holding onto my phone like that, ya idiot. You’ll break it.”

The older twin huffed as his protective mode flipped on, “I’m gonna give her a piece of my mind.”

“Please don’t-“ Osamu joked before he saw that Atsumu had pulled up your website and scrolled to the bottom to call the number. “Oi, get yer paws off of it.”

Atsumu ran around the store, cleverly avoiding the grasps of Osamu, who was desperately trying to prevent Atsumu from causing more damage. Osamu cursed his brother for getting even better at anticipating his opponent’s moves. Unfortunately for Osamu but luckily for Atsumu, along the tenth call, someone picked up the phone.

“H-hello?” A timid voice replied from the other side of the phone. This was the infamous L/N Y/N? Osamu didn’t imagine that you’d be so non-confrontational in real life. In your cooking live-streams, you always seemed so charismatic and easy-going. “I had to walk out of class because of this, so - so who are you? Is this for Y/N?”

“Yes!” Atsumu yelled. “I demand that she gives Onigiri Miya a chance again!”

“I’m sorry, but… but we have a rule of waiting for three months before the next review!”

“Okay, so? Give us another chance!”

The poor food critic must’ve been frightened out of her mind from his twin, because she stammered, “I’ll get you in contact later!”

She swiftly hung up, leaving Atsumu feeling proud about harassing a poor worker. Osamu frowned, “Good going. She probably thinks it was me and now thinks I’m an asshole.”

“Are you not?” Atsumu asked innocently. After receiving a slap on the side of his head, he whimpered, “Hey! I’m doing you a favor by having her come by again!”

Why? Why was this Osamu’s life? He kneaded his temples gently, hoping that he could get rid of his headache. Well, that headache has been attached to his hip ever since he was born. He leaned onto the counter and sighed, “If she replies, I’ll ask if she can come by when we’re closed on Monday.”

“See?”Atsumu smirked proudly, “You can thank me later.”

“Y/N, you went to Onigiri Miya last week, right?” Your friend and pseudo-manager, Yachi, asked as you two ate lunch together. Although you were off-duty, the shift manager of the crepe shop still anxiously watched you. Even if you were on duty, you would leave a good review - but the bread should be left with more air bubbles if he wasn’t aiming for such a dense bread.

You nodded as you placed your glass down, “Why do you ask?”

“The owner called me and asked to meet with you,” Yachi replied. Since she knew that your customary response to owners were to wait at least three months, this one must have been persistent. Otherwise, Yachi would simply sigh and tell you that someone wanted another review before dismissing it immediately. “I- I told him about your three-months-rule, but he didn’t care.”

You pursed your lips, not knowing how to react. First this Miya Osamu harasses your friend and then he disregards your rule? A soft chuckle left your mouth, “Give me his contact and I’ll talk to him myself.”

Yachi must’ve been surprised when you asked for his number, because she took a moment to process your request. She sent his contact you and then said, “I knew Miya Osamu. From high school, he was an opponent before.”

“Right, I forget that you were a manager for your high school’s volleyball team sometimes,” you said, prompting her to continue.

“He must be very serious about his restaurant to have called me that much,” she voiced with concern.

Was the three star review you gave him that offensive? Possibly, considering the fact that your word was considered gold in the food community. “He must’ve called at least ten times.”

“I’m sorry about that, Yachi,” you apologized with sincerity. Although you were paying her, she was still your friend. Her job entailed finding restaurants for you to review and setting up appointments in your schedule, not dealing with cranky owners on the phone. “I’ll take on some more calls from here on out.”

“Don’t push yourself, okay?” She replied. Her classic worried expression spread on her features as easily as warm butter spreads on bread. “You can still deny him your time.”

You smiled, “I know. Thank you, as always.”

Osamu figured that apologizing for interrupting your class must’ve been the proper way to initiate talking to you. After you greeted him, he immediately apologized for his brother’s behalf.

Y/N: Oh no, Yachi didn’t tell me that :(

Osamu: Oh, was it Yachi on the phone and not you?

The name sounded oddly familiar, but he decided to let it go.

Y/N: Mhm. So why did you look for me?

Osamu: it was actually my brother looking for ya

Osamu: he probably scared Yachi

Y/N: Haha, she’s not hard to scare

Y/N: So you want me to review your restaurant again?

Osamu: If it doesn’t trouble ya

Y/N: I usually give restaurants a three-month period before reviewing them again, so you’re special, okay?

Although Osamu couldn’t hear your tone or read your expression, your text sounded exhausted from just a few text messages sent back and forth. He knew he should’ve just not said anything. He felt bad already.

Osamu: Why me, though?

Y/N: Most of the time, the owner is there to oversee things. You weren’t.

That’s true. Osamu was selling onigiri at his brother’s volleyball tournament. It still felt like pity but Osamu wasn’t going to let this opportunity fly away from him.

Osamu: okay, then I’ll see you Monday night

With the gruesome week of midterms finally over, you and Yachi decided to have a small get together with close friends. Since her old friends from high school were also in town, it was a good opportunity for them to visit. It was also the perfect opportunity to release any stress by baking.

“The cupcakes are iced and ready for decorating,” you said to no one in particular, pleased with your neat handiwork. You wiped some stray hairs out of your vision with your forearm. Some left over butter cream frosting sitting in the bowl called your name and you just couldn’t help yourself.

Yep, your recipe was perfect.

One by one, each cupcake was beautifully decorated with a tiny cookie on top. You placed them on a cute platter and put them in the center of the food table. Preparing all of your food was your favorite part of being a hostess. The actual welcoming was delegated to Yachi. When you actually left the kitchen, Yachi was already letting in some guests.

“Hi, Tsukki and Yamaguchi!” You grinned from ear to ear. Tsukki was in your statistics class and you had met Yamaguchi at his part-time job at the campus’s Starbucks. It was purely coincidental that Yachi happened to know these two long before you ever did.

“Hi Y/N-Chan!” Yamaguchi said and pulled you into a warm hug. Tsukki only smiled at you, but didn’t initiate a hug.

A few light knocks sounded on the door. Yachi opened it and saw that two familiar faces had arrived: Kageyama and Hinata. Behind the dynamic duo, were a pair of twins that was probably Hinata’s guests. But from the looks of it, they all knew each other. In fact, the blond twin was giving Kageyama a hard time about a dump he tried to do for their practice.

The one that caught your eye the most was the one with the grey hair. In comparison, he was dressed comfortably in a nice light blue hoodie and jeans. The other three wore athletic clothes, having probably just come back from a light jog. Hopefully, Kageyama and Hinata knew that you would attack them with your Febreeze like last time if they came here stinky.

You were lost in your thoughts when you saw that the grey-haired twin was staring at you. In the dim lighting, you weren’t able to see what he really looked like. You smiled at him before welcoming them in.

“Hey Y/N-Chan! This is Miya Atsumu, from my volleyball team; and this is his twin, Miya Osamu.”

Frick. Frick. Frick! That’s why the grey-haired one kept on looking at you! A part of you wanted to grasp the innocent Hinata by his shoulders and beg of him to spare your soul of the awkwardness that would ensue. Another part of you wanted to cling to the food table before you eventually evaporated into thin air.

Before you could even say hi to the Miya twins, Atsumu already exclaimed, “Hold up, hold up. Yer L/N Y/N?!”

Welp. You were about to become the next volleyball the infamous Miya Atsumu smacked across the court. And you’ve seen him play before. You never even got the chance to cook for Gordon Ramsay. Now, it was time to start praying.

You gulped, “I’m really sorry-“

“No, no, it’s okay,” Osamu intervened. He was clearly used to his brother’s antics, holding him back by the wrist. “I’m sorry about his behavior.”

Thank goodness for Hinata because he cleared the tense air. “I have gifts for everyone since we survived midterms!”

“Hinata, you didn’t need to do that,” Yamaguchi chimed in.

Whilst everyone was swarmed by Hinata as he handed out gifts, you thanked him thoroughly before retreating to the food table. In the meanwhile, the group started to play “A Silent Voice” per Hinata and Yachi’s request. You watched them from the comfort of the food table, where you anxiously ate the choco bananas that you prepared.

“Did you make these yourself?” A voice said beside you, making you jump. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Ah, it was Osamu. He nibbled on some takoyaki that you cooked. “Uh, um, yes I did.”

You didn’t know what intimidated you more. The fact that his twin sat on your couch and had a small grudge against you. Or the fact that Osamu was right in front of you. He was definitely better looking in real life than in the pictures he posted of himself on his social media.

He’s definitely taller than you thought he would be. In fact, he still looked muscular underneath that hoodie of his. It was just another reminder of the fact that he could’ve joined Atsumu on the Japanese National Volleyball Team instead.

“It tastes delicious. I’m guessing you cooked everything here, then?” His grey eyes were kind, simply wanting to spark a conversation.

You shyly nodded. Osamu knew you as the amazing, funny cook he watched in your live-streams. Seeing how awkward you were in person and knowing that your food was delicious as he thought it was, made you seem so much more real to him. You may be confident in the kitchen, but it was truly something else to talk to you.

“Did Yachi not want to cook?”

“Ah, no,” you chuckle. “She can find her way in the kitchen with a recipe but I prefer to cook.”

“That’s the same way with my brother - okay, but he can’t even manage with a recipe.”

“You two may be identical, but not when it comes to cooking, huh?” You teased. It really was a wonder when Atsumu was causing a ruckus at the couch whereas Osamu was quietly speaking with you one-on-one.

“Sometimes I wonder how we’re related at all,” Osamu deadpanned.

You laughed and your eye-smile showcased itself to the world. Osamu blushed, relieved that you were lightening up and enjoying yourself. Soon, it’s like the night flew by. What were several hours felt like only a few minutes with Osamu. He had to leave but a part of you was already looking forward to Monday.

It was a Monday night and you were back at Onigiri Miya for the second time within three months. You pulled your hoodie closer to shield your face as you looked behind you. The people passing by didn’t pay you much mind, which you were grateful for. You knocked on the door. One. Two. Three.

The door quietly opened to reveal Osamu who let you into the store discreetly, as if you were another worker. He made sure that the closed sign still hung correctly on the door.

Since it was closed that night, the main dining area would’ve been dark except for the lights illuminating from the back and the kitchen. Even in the dim lighting, the restaurant was cleaned to perfection, with no hint of dust in any corner - even in the tallest of crannies - and a soft lemon scent to go with it. The chairs were placed onto the tables, except for a table in the very back.

“Here, have a seat,” Osamu said before turning to the kitchen. So, you made yourself comfortable.

Osamu tried to steady his breathing when he returned to the kitchen. It was just another day serving a customer, he told himself. But no - you weren’t a customer. Your opinion could change whether or not he would have as many customers as he’s had in the past - or even more in the future.

No, if I treat her any differently from the rest of my customers, I have no right being a chef.

After a few minutes, Osamu returned with a white apron tied around his waist and a wooden tray in his hands that boasted an array of food samplings. He gently placed the tray before you.

You gave a cursory glance across the tray and curiously glanced up at him. “Some of this isn’t on your menu.”

Osamu shrugged, “Some are new items that I’m thinking of adding.”

“You want me to review your restaurant… with items that aren’t even on the menu yet?” You gave a soft chuckle at the end.

“I thought about it and I don’t want you to review the restaurant, actually,” he stated. “It wouldn’t be right of me to ask you to break your three-month rule. So, all I ask is that you try some things that I made.”

The soft tension in your eyebrows drifted away. It was a simple request and you couldn’t bother walking back home on an empty stomach. With your hunger in mind - and the beautiful presentation before you -, you nodded and followed his lead “Okay, what do you want me to eat first?”

After several tries of his onigiri, a new seaweed soup, a specially fermented umeboshi dish, there was one more plate left: tamagoyaki. “You’re thinking of adding a breakfast item?”

He shook his head, “I think it should be an appetizer.”

You raised an eyebrow, wondering why it was the last one offered for the night. Osamu didn’t hesitate to alleviate your confusion with confidence. “I saved it for last because you love cooking with eggs. I followed your egg series so I wanted to see how you’d like mine.”

Oh, so he looked into you, too? An unwanted blush rose to your face. You brought a napkin to your face to wipe your mouth but discreetly control your burning cheeks. You chuckled, “I’ll give my most honest review.”

All it took was one bite.

Osamu didn’t miss the way that your eyes lit up and widened when the egg hit your taste buds. You quickly composed yourself when you noticed that his eyes were keenly observing any hint that you would drop. You swallowed lightly, took your napkin to wipe your mouth, and smiled. “It’s perfect.”

Osamu egged you on for more, like a golden retriever begging for more praise. You giggled. “What most people fail to realize is that the fluffiness of the egg can be determined by how they whisk it. Clearly, you used chopsticks and whisked it in such a way that the egg wouldn’t be dense when you cooked it. It’s fluffy. The butter isn’t traditional, but it’s still a good substitute for oil. The seaweed and dashi stock are perfect.”

“What’s the rating now? Unofficially, of course,” Osamu asked, winking at the end.

You made the effort to look contemplative and broke into a smile, “I suppose it could be a 4.5”

“Last time I remember, 4.5 rounded up to 5, so I’ll take it.” He leaned back with a satisfied smile gracing his features.

Then, you remembered something else unique about the tamagoyaki. “What else was in the tamagoyaki? It wasn’t traditional, either. I can’t put my finger on it.”

Osamu smirked and shrugged. “A chef never tells his secrets.”

“Oh, so you perform magic now?”

“Something like that.”

“Anything else you can do?”

“I can give you a great date.”

Your heart paused and mind malfunctioned. “Then I can’t really review your restaurant again.”

“That’s fine. I wouldn’t be able to wait three months to date you, anyway.”

©amesstm on tumblr // pls do not plagiarize, steal, or repost my content w/o permission!! BUT likes & reblogs are highly appreciated :)

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byologee · 3 years

Text

an actually practical guide to being premed and getting into med school by someone who did it successfully

Majors and Classes:

Personally I feel you should choose a major that will be complementary to your premed studies-- something STEM or social science based that overlaps with your premed classes and will allow you to take upper level science classes that relate to physiology, disease and illness, pharmacology, etc. HOWEVER do not let this deter you from majoring in a non-bio STEM area like biochem or from pursuing a different science or liberal arts major.

That being said, consider double majoring in Public Health because it is very relevant to premed and going into medicine.

Make sure you take the correct order of bio and chem classes. This is important so that you take classes at the appropriate time when you have the appropriate skill level and so that you do not have any gaps in your premed education or major classes.

Be aware of what upper level bio and chem classes require prereqs that are not a part of your major requirements or premed requirements; for example some upper level bio classes require microbio which is not a premed requirement at all schools NOR always a major requirement. Plan your underclassmen years accordingly to allow you to fit in certain prereqs for upper level classes.

If you plan on taking lower level lab intensive courses, take them as an underclassman-- they will prepare you with basic lab skills you can apply to upper level classes and to irl lab work, plus most of your classmates will be underclassmen. You do not want to take these lower level lab intensive courses as an upperclassman. You will be bored and probably annoyed.

Take an intro level public health class as an underclassmen to see if you are interested in public health; this will also be relevant to your med school apps.

Gen chem 1 and orgo 1 are weedout classes. Many people will switch from premed and/or bio to public health or prePA after taking gen chem 1 and orgo 1. This is normal; don’t be judgemental. If you’re the one switching to public health or prePA, don’t feel bad or ashamed.

Do not take orgo 1 or 2 with super hard progressors. It’s just not worth it. Many people say that harder orgo progressors prepare you better for the MCAT, but this is false as the MCAT does not have a lot of orgo on it. Many people will fail out of orgo even without super hard professors. Set yourself up for success by taking orgo profs with good reputations, not profs with reputations for failing everyone, being purposefully difficult, or just nasty.

If you take a (relatively) “easy” professor for orgo 1, under no circumstances should you take a hard prof for orgo 2. You will suffer.

The best way to study orgo 1 and 2 is to memorize all the reactions. Copy reactions until you have them memorized. Then you can simply apply what you’ve memorized to synthesis reactions. This works for NMR too, just memorize what NMR specs look like and apply.

Always go to TA office hours for gen chem 1, 2 lab and orgo 1, 2 lab. The lab reports are very difficult and the TAs can help you more than professors can. Professors will be mostly absent for labs. TAs will know what’s up.

You do not need to take biochem 2 for the MCAT, biochem 1 will suffice as it generally covers amino acids and proteins and not respiration and metabolism. Most of the biochem on the MCAT is about amino acids and proteins; all metabolism can be self-studied. (This is my opinion to save you time, if your advisors tell you otherwise LISTEN TO THEM and not me).

If you take AP psychology you do not need to take intro psych.

You need to take a sociology course for the MCAT and premed reqs. You should take The Sociology of Deviance if offered at your college as this is more relevant to the MCAT than intro socy.

If you have to take a professional writing class for Gen Eds, try to take a science writing or health professions writing course as these will be relevant to you.

Take stats even if you don’t have to as it is very relevant for understanding papers.

If you switch to another pre-health path like prePA or prepharm you will generally have to take different prereqs. Clear this with your advisors and come up with a plan.

Med schools like to see a diversity in courses and not just science courses, so you need to take at least 8 humanities credit hours. Diversify your college education and take interesting and relevant humanities courses; this will also help with CARS on the MCAT.

Research

Many medical schools want you to have research experience. You can do clinical research or bench research.

You should start research early, either 2nd semester freshman year or summer before sophomore year.

The best advice is to research professors and PIs in the BSCI and public health departments and email ones you are interested in about working in their lab. You can do this before 2nd semester freshman year or during that semester. Email example: Hi Dr. X, I am an undergraduate freshman at UMD and am looking for research opportunities in X field. I discovered your lab and read your paper, “X,” and am very interested in this subject! Elaborate on what interested you I was wondering if there are any open positions in your lab for an undergraduate researcher. I have taken X, X, X, courses. I would be interested in working in your lab for 2 years. Please let me know if you have any openings! Best, X

PIs generally look for undergrads to commit to 2 years of research, but you can quit earlier if you feel like it. This is also why you should do research earlier-- that way you are not cramming it in during your upperclassman years.

The goal is to get some abstracts, posters, presentations, and maybe a pub out of it, but these things aren’t absolutely necessary.

Clinical Experience

Med schools like to see 10 months of continuous clinical experience, which translates to about 200 hours. However, this number is too low and to be really competitive for med school apps you should aim for 1000 hours if not more.

The best way to gain clinical experience is to work part time as a scribe, CNA, MA, or tech. You can take CNA and MA courses the summer before sophomore or junior year and apply to positions online. CNA/MA gives you a lot of experience working with patients. Scribing gives you a lot of experience working with doctors and seeing what they do. It’s best to start clinical experience sophomore year or junior year so you can gain enough hours prior to applying.

You should also have clinical volunteering hours which you can get by volunteering at hospitals such as Children’s or Shady Grove or any other local hospital. Other clinics also accept volunteers, you just have to look around. Check your health professions advising office (hereon abbreviated as HPAO) for their recommendations and job listings if available.

You can also shadow doctors. Your HPAO may have a continuously updating list of physicians in your area who are available to shadow. You can also genuinely just email local providers. Note that you will need to shadow a DO if applying DO.

Check your HPAO listserv for job openings and clinical volunteering opportunities.

You can find jobs by googling “CNA job near me” or “scribe job near me” and browsing postings on Indeed and other job sites, or alternatively postings on hospital sites.

Community Service

Med schools like to see 10-12 months of continuous community service, or around 200 hours. This is too low, and you should aim for around 600 to be a competitive applicant.

Join school listservs and look for volunteer postings. Go to your school’s First Look Fair or college organization fair (usually held at the beginning of each semester) and sign up for emails from clubs that do volunteering or other various organizations. There are many organizations on campus that do volunteering and service.

Ideally you want to work with marginalized communities off campus. This sounds shitty but you want to work with communities who need it. You should also aim for a sustained service opportunity, not a once a month thing but a weekly, continuous experience. Volunteering through clubs and societies like the women’s premed organization are not valid experiences.

Google local homeless shelters, women’s shelters, STD testing clinics, and food banks-- these are all really good places to volunteer at. You can also volunteer at crisis hotlines.

You can also utilize clinical experience for community service, so volunteering at a hospital, clinic, urgent care, etc. But you also need non-clinical community service, so make sure to prioritize both.

Consistency is key. Doing an experience for a longer period of time (ex. 4 hours every week for 10 months- year) is very valuable. Even doing an hour of volunteering at the same place every week for two years is great. Building relationships, gaining experience, understanding consistency-- med schools value this. Long term experience is very important.

Extracurriculars

You should also be involved in extraneous, non-community service based organizations and extracurriculars. It’s ok if these organizations include some aspect of community service. This can also include paid-positions that are not clinical.

Examples include campus ministries, sports, dance, art clubs, music/choir, social, restorative, and environmental justice organizations, interest groups, tutoring, co-ed frats, etc.

Joining societies, like the American Women’s Medical Association or your college’s namesake Pre-Med Society is a great way to do extracurriculars, build your resume, and get leadership experience. You can also join major-specific societies.

Check with your HPAO for a list of pre-health societies you can join. Your college will also have a website or list of clubs and orgs you can investigate.

Med schools like to see that you are well-rounded, so having a variety of experiences is important.

Advising

It is extremely important that you build a relationship with your advisors. It is very important that you outline all the classes you want to take with them and when AND that you meet with them every semester. Discuss your plans with them, ask questions, ask for suggestions and tips. If you make any major or minor changes you need to speak with them too. They are a resource; use them.

You will also need to build a relationship with your pre-med advisors at your HPAO. You may need to do an intro workshop to be able to meet with an advisor at your HPAO.

Meet with an HPAO advisor every semester to outline your courseload, volunteering, clinical work, extracurriculars, and application plan. Your HPAO advisor will help you craft a narrative for med school apps and can help advise you with regards to coursework and what opportunities to pursue. They can help you decide when to take the MCAT, when to apply, devise a school list, etc. so it’s best to start meeting with them early. The better your relationship with your HPAO advisor, the stronger the recommendation letter you’ll get from them.

If your grades drop you NEED to speak with an HPAO advisor. You should be checking in with them every semester to go over your grades and course history and make sure you are on the right track to apply. This is really really crucial.

If your HPAO offers workshops for applying to med school, crafting a school list, financing med school, writing a personal statement, etc. then GO TO THEM. Utilize the resources that are available to you.

Make sure you are on your HPAO listserv.

If your HPAO offers peer to peer advising consider using this resource to speak with current college students who are going through the application process.

2 Areas Med Schools Look At: Leadership + Diversity and Inclusion

These are two hot topics med schools care about. Here is how to address them.

Leadership: there are numerous ways to gain leadership experience; getting elected to a leadership position in a club or organization, being a TA or UA, getting a management position at your job, or being any kind of team leader in a community service endeavor. The important thing is that you are able to express what you learned and how you grew or changed from that experience, plus how you will apply what you learned in the future.

Diversity and Inclusion: Hot topics in medicine right now, my advice is to read about diversity and inclusion in medicine and what it means-- read articles, op-eds, peer-reviewed papers, etc. There are a few ways to go about this issue; one is to find out what is unique about you that you can contribute to medicine, the second (and most important) is to work with underserved and marginalized communities. Being able to express in med school apps and interviews that you understand the difficulties faced by marginalized groups and are committed to better health and wellness outcomes is REALLY important. Being able to show awareness about diversity in medicine is so key. To do this, spend time working with the marginalized and underserved through community service and clinical work. Be able to show med schools that you understand and care about diversity and inclusion.

You should be thinking about leadership and diversity/inclusion throughout all four years of undergrad-- how will you incorporate these things into your app?

Letters of Rec

Getting letters of rec (you will need 5-6) is very important. To do this you will need to build relationships with the following…

Professors: You will need recommendations from 2 science professors and 1-2 non-science professors. To get recs you need to go to office hours, ask questions in class and outside of class, email profs questions, stay after class to ask questions, participate, show an interest in what they are teaching. Office hours are important unless the class is small. Build relationships with professors ALL THROUGHOUT undergrad. Go to office hours even if you don’t have questions, especially in junior and senior year. Go and ask them to review prior tests and papers. Ask if you can explain concepts to them to get clarification. Listen to other peoples’ questions, piggyback off them. A prof is not going to write a LOR unless they know you.

Physicians: You need to have clinical experience to get an MD LOR. And you NEED an MD or DO LOR. Get the clinical experience, then ask whatever physician you worked with the most for an LOR. Many will say you do not need a DO LOR to apply to DO schools; I cannot advocate for this as I was told by my premed advisor that I needed one. Be safe and get one if you plan to apply DO.

Other: If there is anyone else who knows you well and can write a strong LOR, ask them. Your boss, manager, volunteering organizer, team leader, club sponsor-- whomever.

Committee Letter (CL): Many med schools require these. Your college probably has a unique CL process. Go to workshops, research, and ask your advisors how this process works. Maintain a relationship with your premed advisors to obtain a good CL letter.

Building a Narrative

This is talked about a lot junior and senior year when you are applying, but it’s important to think about building your narrative all four years of undergrad.

What this means is that you want to center your application around a theme or common experiences. You want to build a cohesive resume of common volunteering, clinical, and extracurricular experiences that complement each other. You should be able to summarize all of your experiences and draw a narrative about you based on what you have done.

For example, my narrative centered around marginalized and underserved communities as well as social and restorative justice. I used my volunteering experience with marginalized, underserved kids and my experience working with traditionally underserved patients to explain why I want to be a physician, what my medical vision and mission is, and what I have learned about medicine. Because I am interested in family medicine I was able to tie my experience working with the underserved into my goal of improving community health and welfare among marginalized groups. I also discussed how my passion for social and restorative justice ties into my clinical experiences and how I plan to integrate this passion into my practice of medicine.

One of my friends centered her narrative around being a Spanish-speaking person of color AND the descendent of physicians and how this has shaped many of her experiences in medicine and healthcare.

You don’t have to plan out your experiences to conform to a pre-chosen narrative. You do have to be able to draw common themes and lessons from your experiences, however.

MCAT

Talk to your premed advisor about when to take the MCAT and what classes you need to take prior to taking the MCAT. Ideally you want to take biochem 1, physics 2, and sociology of deviance before taking the mcat along with all other prereqs.

You also want to take the MCAT before applying (ideally) so that you can craft an appropriate school list. Your MCAT will give you a boundary for which schools you can apply to. Think of the MCAT as a checkpoint you must pass to apply to certain med schools.

Many people start content review six months before their test. Some start 2-3 months prior. Do what you think is comfortable.

You can use books or purchase review courses (Kaplan, Princeton Review) or use free online review content (Khan Academy).

Practicing how to take the test is more important than content review. What that means is that doing practice tests will help you more than reviewing content. Take as many practice tests as you can (AAMC makes their own).

Do a practice test one day, review what you got wrong the next day. Repeat this enough times and you will do well on the MCAT (511+).

Don’t anticipate retaking the MCAT. But don’t exclude it as a possibility either, so plan when you take the MCAT accordingly.

General Advice:

ALWAYS listen to your premed advisors. Do not elevate advice given by random strangers (including me) on the internet above advice given by your advisors. They know you. They know your history, your transcript, your personality. Us internet people do not. Trust your advisors. They know what they are doing.

Take everything said on the internet by supposed med school app experts, med students, doctors, premeds, SDN mods and commenters, premed redditors, and other random internet people with a BIG grain of salt. We don’t always know what we are talking about.

Limit the amount of time spent on SDN and premed reddit as well as other premed online forums. It can get unhealthy real fast.

You don’t have to study all the time. It’s ok to take breaks and have fun.

Don’t be afraid to reach out and get help or ask questions. Everyone else is struggling too. Your professors want you to do well.

Do non-science related things. Give your mind a break and diversify your experience.

Failing a test is not the end of the world. Many people fail tests and classes. You won’t be alone. Always remember that the curve exists.

If you are having a problem, talk to your professors and TAs. They are there to help.

Study with people. Quiz each other. Make study guides and ask each other questions. Help each other out.

Utilize campus resources- tutoring, study groups, yoga classes, conferences and seminars, counseling, etc.

Buy the MSAR when you start building your school list. It will make comparing schools so much easier.

A B or even a C is not going to ruin your chance of getting into medical school. People get in to med schools with 3.1 GPAs. You will be ok if you fail one test, have a few Cs or Bs, withdraw from a class, etc.

Getting into med school is more about fit than anything else. It’s not about how smart you are or how good your GPA or MCAT is. Everyone has a 4.0 Everyone has a 528. What matters is fit-- who you are, what you believe, what your values are, what your aspirations are-- and how you can demonstrate these things through your application, interview, and overall experiences. Remember that top tier schools are research-oriented (Einstein, Baylor, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Stanford, NYU, Duke, Mayo, UChicago, Mt Sinai) whereas other lower tier will be more community focused.

ALL med schools (excluding caribbean med schools and a few DO schools, looking at you DMUCOM and LECOM) are valid. All med schools are good med schools. Med school is med school is med school. You will come out with an MD or DO and you will get into residency.

Always apply DO. Just do it. DO is great, DO is a viable option and good opportunity. Do it. Do not exclude it.

Links and other Resources:

AAMC: MD applicants, helpful resources in general https://students-residents.aamc.org/preparing-medical-school/preparing-medical-school

AACOM: DO applicants https://www.aacom.org/become-a-doctor/how-to-apply-to-osteopathic-medical-college

MSAR: handbook to med schools (MD) https://students-residents.aamc.org/medical-school-admission-requirements/medical-school-admission-requirements-applicants

AAMC’s how to apply to med school https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/applying-medical-school

AAMC’s FAQ and tips to creating a good app: https://students-residents.aamc.org/ask-experts/ask-experts-create-winning-application

Why Diversity Matters in Healthcare https://explorehealthcareers.org/career-explorer/diversity-matters-health-care/

#premed #prehealth #studyblr #med school #mcat #my posts #mine

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michaelsheenpt · 3 years

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Michael Sheen: The pandemic has shown what is possible on homelessness

The actor now uses his Hollywood cash to fund his passion for activism. Sheen reveals why he revels in spending money on the things that matter and why he has hope for the post-Covid future.

Michael Sheen, activist and actor. It is in that order these days. And he’s doing rather well in both spheres. He has spent the last few years trying to find a way to balance his twin passions. And, he says, he is slowly getting there.

“A big part of it was shifting things in my head and knowing what the priorities were,” says the 51-year-old.

“I made the shift psychologically to go, right, the acting work and everything that comes with that is going to support the other stuff I’m doing.

“So even though to the outside world, maybe it wouldn’t seem like it – because I’ve been doing lots of acting work and things that have kept the profile up and all that – from my point of view, the priority has been different. Now the acting work fits in around the other stuff.”

That ‘other stuff’ involves supporting the Homeless World Cup and the fight to expand access to affordable credit, campaigning to get the right to a good home enshrined in law in Wales and combating loneliness with the Great Winter Get Together (an idea inspired by the late MP Jo Cox). Then there’s working with Social Enterprise UK, for whom he is a patron alongside The Big Issue’s Lord Bird, helping local journalism and communities get access to trustworthy information, publicising and supporting both foodbanks and theatres and fighting period poverty.

It’s a heady and righteous cocktail of vital causes. And it takes up a lot of Sheen’s time. With the Covid pandemic of 2020, and Brexit around the corner, he feels his activism is going to be more important than ever in 2021.

“Everything that was happening before Covid came along which has been exacerbated,” says Sheen. “So it’s not like issues I was focused on beforehand – around homelessness and high-cost credit – are going away.

“We’re bracing ourselves for it getting a lot harder and more people being involved. The work that was going on pre–pandemic is going to get even more pressured. Because when you look into anything around poverty and inequality before the pandemic, the fallout from the way Universal Credit was being rolled out was having a massive effect. Well, there’s going to be a lot more people on Universal Credit now.”

But Sheen also sees this as a moment to seize, a chance to rebuild society anew, a period that is packed with potential.

“We saw what was possible around homelessness during the pandemic, where people were able to get off the streets and were put into accommodation and given support that wasn’t there before,” he says.

“That has made a lot of people think. If that’s possible during a pandemic when people are really motivated, then why can’t it happen afterwards as well? Why does it take a pandemic to do it? We have seen that the fact there are still people living on the street is a political choice.

“So while we are bracing ourselves for really challenging times, that’s balanced out by a sense that there’s the chance to build up from the ground again. How do we reimagine who we are and how we live and how we work together? The status quo wasn’t working. So we have to innovate, we have to reimagine, we have to reinvent – there is a moment of possibility to build back better.”

He is on a roll. He sounds like a politician. A good politician. With that rich, sonorous voice rising as he advocates a new way of living, a new vision for society. He compares the imminent, we hope, post-Covid moment to the situation facing the post-war Attlee government. 

“When you go through a big, nation–changing event, which this has been, there’s the opportunity to reimagine a different relationship between the state and society and between us as a community,” he continues. “To see how communities have pulled together gives you a new awareness of who we are and what we can be. We can rebuild our nation in the light of that.

“There won’t always be that window of opportunity. We’ll go in a new direction and a new status quo will emerge. Let’s hope it can be a fairer one.”

But Sheen is not just about ideas for a brighter future for Wales, the UK, and beyond. He’s also at the top of the acting profession. And we’ve seen a lot of him in 2020.

There was his brilliant, uncanny, portrayal of Chris Tarrant in Quiz back in March – the memorable pop-cultural drama-doc which drew a massive lockdown audience to its exploration of the infamous, scandalous, did-they-didn’t-they ‘cheat’ storm on ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – shedding light on the inventive, pre-internet ways WWTBAM fans across the country hooked up to game their way onto the show.

Sheen was – not for the first time in a career that has seen him portray with such skill a diverse crowd of famous names, including Brian Clough (The Damned United), Kenneth Williams (Fantabulosa), Tony Blair (The Deal, The Queen and The Special Relationship), and David Frost (in Frost/Nixon) – utterly, bewilderingly believable as Tarrant and the three-part series, aired over consecutive nights, was genuine event television.

Then, when it became clear this pandemic and these lockdowns weren’t going anywhere fast, Sheen joined forces with his Good Omens co-star David Tennant to make Staged – the first, and perhaps only show to capture the tedium, the disconnectedness, the discombobulation of lockdown life.

With the big–name actors playing heightened versions of themselves – Sheen pompous, cultured, guzzling wine, Tennant eager to please, upbeat, hapless – it was a roaring success on iPlayer.

“David is very different to what you see in the series in real life,” says Sheen. “But although I’d like to say I’m different to the version of me in Staged, that’s pretty much what I’m like.”

The surprise second series of Staged catches up with Sheen and Tennant (or should that be Tennant and Sheen?) a few months down the line.

“We knew the series was very easy to do, filming it at home on a laptop – or that even if we went back to a more normal life again and were working elsewhere, we could film it anywhere,” says Sheen.

“And by the time we came to the second series, it was different. Even though we were still spending a lot of time at home, the second series was during a period where everybody, including David and I, were trying to go back to do things. Then the rules kept changing.

“So you never quite knew whether what was going to happen from day to day. The second series reflects that. But obviously, going back to work and trying to go back to normal is very different from me and David than they are for a lot of people – so we were aware that had to be dealt with as well, because never wanted it to be about two poncey actors and their lives. We wanted to find a way to do it so that people could still identify with it.”

This year, Sheen, like most of us, has spent more time at home. He has, he says, enjoyed catching fewer planes, appreciated his friends and extended family more than ever, raced through five series of Line of Duty and been wowed by Normal People, starting his way down Schitt’s Creek but still found little time to read novels (“I’ve asked for a few from Father Christmas”).

Because if he does find time to read, it is usually research on housing, on fighting poverty, on rebuilding the broken or the out-of-control housing market, alongside the occasional script.

But if 2020 has been about anything for Sheen, is has been about spending time with his baby daughter Lyra.

“When we went into that first lockdown in March, she was only five months old,” he says.

“So our focus has been her this whole time. Really our experiences wouldn’t have been massively different. The main overwhelming part of our experience of the last year has been having a baby, as opposed to Covid. And I know I’m very fortunate to be able to say that. But anyone who’s had a baby knows that that just takes up all your bandwidth.

“They give you structure, don’t they? A reason to get up in the morning. A lot of people have said it is difficult getting motivated to do stuff – but that’s not an issue when you’ve got a little one, is it? So I have got very used to being in the house. I even got to do two seasons of a TV show from my kitchen, which is pretty nice…”

Staged returns to BBC One and iPlayer on January 4

Michael Sheen on the legacy of the Homeless World Cup in Wales

In the summer of 2019, Cardiff hosted the Homeless World Cup. As the football tournament, featuring players from around the world, all of whom were experiencing homelessness, kicked off, we knew Michael Sheen had played a huge role in bringing the event to Wales.

What didn’t emerge until later was that, when some promised funding failed to emerge, Sheen was faced with a choice between sinking more than £1m of his own money into making it happen or cancelling the event.

He paid. They played.

It was a triumph and will last long in the memory. So how does Sheen feel now about it?

“It is an extraordinary event that happens every year,” he says. “It was going to be in Finland this year, which I was really looking forward to – because Finland has been quite pioneering in the Housing First strategy and I was looking forward to being able to find out more about that. But I still feel the way I did before – and what motivated me to try and make it happen here in Wales is that it is life-changing for people and can be a transformative experience in all kinds of ways.

“For some people who take part in it, it has an immediate effect. And for others, it may be years later that the effects of it manifest in their life. But that was why I was so committed to being a part of making that happen.

“A lot of the motivation for us in Wales was about what it could act as a platform for afterwards. And that has been affected by the Covid crisis, because a lot of the legacy work we were doing was unable to move forward in the way we’d hoped because of all the restrictions. But what I learned and discovered during that period has made a massive difference to me and the work I’m doing around homelessness.

“The relationships we developed through that time with support service organisations, the people I met and the insights I got into what people are struggling with and what would help were invaluable. It’s been a huge thing for me. I’m still paying for it. So that still affects my life as well, obviously, and things that I’m doing.

“But my acting work is there to support the other stuff. I’m putting money into things constantly, even though I still owe money to do with the Homeless World Cup. So until the time comes when I’m not able to earn money in the same way, then I’ll keep on spending it on the things that matter to me.”

SOURCE

#michael sheen #homelessness #his commitment and passion and effort to help others is one of the things I admire most about him #he does care #the big issue #poverty #constantly researching and coming up with ideas to help stop homelessness #non acting stuff #activism #staged #good omens

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stillaclosetwitch · 4 years

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~ Deity work: Aphrodite ~ DEVOTIONAL ACTS

I came up with a bunch of easy devotional acts and I felt like sharing with the rest of Aphrodite’s followers. This goes without saying, but this is only but a list of possible ways to honor her - it’s up to each individual to try the ones they find appealing and to ignore the ones that they don’t. That said, the list:

Read prayers out loud. Whether you wrote them or not, it doesn’t matter (just don’t pretend you wrote it if you didn’t because she won’t like it, my dude)

Talk to her. If you have a statue of Aphrodite, talk looking to the eyes. If you don’t have a statue of her, look at your own eyes in a mirror - that’s her right there, listening to you. You’ll see how much easier it’s to connect with her if you’re looking to each other’s eyes.

Dress up for her. Wear clothes that make you feel confident and beautiful for no other reason than honoring her and yourself.

Compliment people on a daily basis. It don’t matter if they are friends or strangers. A quick ‘I love your hair’ will surely make someone’s day and I guarantee you’ll feel amazing afterwards.

Work on loving yourself. You could practise self care, say affirmations about your body when you wake up (I look at myself in the mirror and say ‘My cellulite doesn’t bother me anymore’ every day), come up with a skin-care routine, take some looong soothing bubble baths... You name it.

Sleep a little bit earlier than usual or take naps during the day. Call ‘em your ‘Beauty sleep’ unironically.

Create your own face and/or hair masks. You could use ingredients linked or related to her, like cinnamon or strawberry.

Sexually please yourself / explore and know your body.

Make love or just have sex.

Write love letters or stories. They don’t need to be directed to anyone in particular and they don’t even need to be about romantic love - there’s countless of other kinds of love: love between friends, between siblings, the love of a mother to her child and viceversa... You could even write about a fandom ship and call it a day - just think of her while you do it, let her inspire you.

Start a rose garden. It could be as easy as buying freshly cut roses and starting your bush from that: there are a few tricks you could try, like sticking its stem in a potato or in the inside of aloe vera and planting them - these are supposed to promote root growth. If you do this, don’t ever neglect it because it will be the same as neglecting your relationship with Aphrodite Herself. Nurture the flowers like you’re nurturing your relationship with her and talk to the flowers like they are your friends.

Create a playlist with songs that remind you of her. Press play and let it go uninterrupted from the first to the last song while you clean, cook, study, bathe, whatever.

If you play an instrument, play for her. Make it her own personal concert. I recommend taking a chair and placing it in front of you. You can leave the chair empty and loudly invite her to come and sit OR you could place a statue of her on the chair or a mirror to, again, lok at her eyes while you play. (Make sure the statue or mirror are secure in the chair and they won’t fall over.)

Do you sing? Sing for Her! Again, do the personal-concert-with-a-chair-in-front thing explained above. Leave it empty or place a statue or a mirror on it.

Bake her something sweet. Could be as simple as cookies or as elaborate as a full on cake. That’s up to you. Offer it to her and wait a moment before eating it. Here’s a post about why you should eat that offering, if you’re reluctant or unsure.

Watch a romantic film.

Watch a sexy film.

Read a romantic book.

Read erotic literature.

Treat yourself to new stuff. Could be clothes, make up, baking items, books... Whatever you want to have but are unsure about actually purchasing it or not. Just do it.

Change your look. Dye your hair a different color, maybe even a crazy one, change your typical hairstyle, cut your hair a different way, do your nails or try a different fashion style.

Research her story. Look up myths, compare how they portray her to how you personally feel her, study how ancient Greeks viewed and honored her.

Meditate upon her. Feel her energy, hear her voice, absorb her thoughts. Listen to her and let her guide you. I play this music while doing this.

Create an altar or shrine just for her. Do your meditation, devotional acts and spellwork that need her aid on this place.

Journal your experiences when doing deity work. Use a notebook, your laptop, cellphone or even your own grimoire. Write date and time and proceed to describe what you did for her, with her, what you felt, maybe if you dreamed about her, if you think she sent you a sign or is trying to say something, if you think you met her while astral projecting - ANYTHING about her. Write it down. As you grow in your practice you will want to see how it all started and how far you’ve come - eventually you might even be able to decipher the signs she sent you and never completely understood.

Keep your space clean, nice and tidy. Show that you respect her enough to live like a decent human being.

Honor her by doing something for someone else. Feed stray cats or dogs, feed ducks, swans or pigeons, buy lunch to a homeless person.

Help people know her. Share your personal experiences, write about her on your blog, create a devotional blog just for her, spread knowledge, help people find her way to her.

Take a trip to the sea. Bathe in the water, go diving, walk barefoot on the beach, feel the sand on your toes, collect pretty shells as you go, take a bag with you and help clean off trash and cigarette butts.

Sweeten your tea with honey instead of sugar.

Become a beekeeper / help local beekeepers.

Plant flowers that attract bees in your own garden or in public parks.

I hope you find some of these inspiring. Let me know if you did!

See also: Tip to start deity work and Offerings for Aphrodite

#Aphrodite #Deity work #Hellenism #Pagan #Hellenic pagan #My post #I'm on the Godphone

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fuckyourselffff · 3 years

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This is absolutely maddening. Homelessness, tent villages, the lack of humanity, this is absolutely indescribable. At below minimum wage, I am living in luxury compared to some. I found the pan that probably caused this fire, this abomination. It’s no wonder people feel fucking lost and listless other emotions. What are you supposed to tackle first?

Hunger? I spotted a pan that probably caused this incident.

Cleanliness? Is a joke on the streets.

Shelter? Sorry if i went to target as a homeless person and bought a tent, it’s a red fucking flag.

Mental health? The system has demonized people in this position. Nuff said.

Physical health? #1 SLEEPING ON CONCRETE?? Oh yeah I’ll take that thanks.

Clothing? AKA how to not look homeless.

THE FUCKING SYSTEM THAT PUSHES US DOWN??! I say “us” because we are all little people, statistics or numbers to those that control the system. Once you lack something, it will all start falling apart, like a deck of cards. I’m barely maintaining the list above at 13.50$ per hour 60+ hours a week sometimes. I’ll earn like 1500$ every two weeks, and be burnt out. I have the luxury of having vacation time AND sick days, in a job that’s tied to my health insurance, of course. The above picture was taken in Downtown LA. I’m from NY, and it’s far from any fucking better there. If y’all are looking at me because I’m traveling, you’re the fucking problem. I’m social distancing and took this backpacking trip for my mental health. I don’t go to bars and I’ve barely met anyone.

Also since there is an immense discrepancy between the rich and the poor, just like NYC, there is a huge homeless population just trying to make it by. I’ve been warned/advised by local employees and friends from home to come in before sundown because the homeless and/or unmedicated people are roaming. Which albeit, sounds/is scary when it’s in front of you. But these people are also kind, generous, just trying to get by, will eat my half eaten food, are respectful. So when does that circle back to getting this population of people help? Taking advantage of them during a crisis by offering jobs that might support one or two needs. Yes, I’ve heard of all these resources, but what happens when these resources cut out or someone doesn’t meet the “qualifications”. What happens when the process to get such resources is just an obstacle on top of another obstacle? It’s more than likely exhausting just to bring yourself to ask for help, nonetheless coming to terms with your situation. In San Diego, i discovered there is a community funded clinic for those suffering with homelessness, and they’re currently constructing a building which looks like it would support affordable housing and a means to aggressively combat the situation. They are called father joes villages and father joes clinic. Research and donate if you can. This is an amazing start. We as humans owe it to ourselves and others to support each other through crisis’, in whatever way we can.

The below picture is off the coast of La Jolla, San Diego; where rich people have to continuously deconstruct and rebuild their homes because of natural erosion, oh poor them ��😭. Due to Natural Erosion on the coast and losing property, one house doesn’t have enough space in their driveway to turn around, so they installed a rotating platform on their driveway, that’s nice. Apparently, this one guy built an infinity pool off the side of the cliff, SANDSTONE (which erodes when you look at it) after T W O W E E K S it fell into the ocean and i believe the only reason he had to clean it up was because it was on a reserve. They fined him like $74K a month until he got to it, months later. Imagine having the luxury of paying a monthly fine of that magnitude, and having a “I’ll get around to it” attitude. Imagine being so rich. —Someone please prove me wrong on this story, i only learned from word of mouth. —

-Martin Sheen

Someone please tell me what to do next. I’d like to be a pillar to stand on, or field some representation or some real action and quite literally fuck the system.

#eat the rich #tax the billionaires #tax the rich #homeless #anti capitalism

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sourwolfstories · 4 years

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sourwolfstories recent rereads

List 13

Running Up That Hill by maypoison

“Even before the pack joined together, Scott was trying to protect you. And he still is trying to protect you, even if it means leaving you out of all this.”

Stiles does roll his eyes at that. “Yeah, but it didn’t work did it. I was still involved, and so was my Dad. We were nearly killed by Matt, and then Gerard.”

“My point is, people change. Relationships aren’t always perfect. Scott's tried to kill me before."

Stiles raises an eyebrow. "So, you’re saying that someone trying to kill you is just a small flaw in a relationship?"

“We’re werewolves.” Derek answers with a shrug, as if that was a perfectly good explanation.

Pale Horses by Jana_C

Being bitten had never been on his to-do list, but he could deal with that. Helping Derek Hale become a competent Alpha, though, that was so not in his job description.

I’ve Got it Bad, Got it Bad, Got it Bad by RedRidingStiles

“Woah are those real?” Stiles found himself saying as he reached out and squeezed the man’s (it was a man and not a brick wall Stiles’ brain supplies) bicep which was bulging under the guy’s shirt. Stiles hasn’t even looked at the man’s face too preoccupied gasping at the tone muscles in front of him.

“Something tells me you’re the infamous Stiles.”

“Stiles, yes that’s my name, well it’s not really my name that’s too hard for anyone to pronounce so it’s just Stiles. Or you know, some colorful names the lower IQs of this place like to make up. But Stiles, you can call me Stiles.” Stiles rambles on, watching the man try to suppress a grin and failing. He has a gorgeous smile that made his bunny teeth present and his eyes crinkle and Stiles thinks he might be a little bit in love.

“Nice to meet you Stiles, why don’t you take a seat.” The man, Stiles doesn’t even know his name and he’s already starting to plan their wedding, says with a nod to the already full classroom. Stiles hasn’t even heard the bell ring. Huh.

“But I didn’t get your name,” Stiles replies.

“Mr. Hale, I’m your new English teacher.”

Fuck.

Call Me (Cliché) by SomewheresSword

When the sheriff's sister ends up in a wheelchair for the duration of summer, Stiles' dreams of three months full of pack bonding, late-night video games and bro-time with Scott come crashing down. He's temporarily relocated to Redford, a three hour drive away, and he can already tell he won't be getting many visitors.

Sure the pack will forget about him while he's gone, Stiles is determined to make the most of his summer of isolation, training his body and mind - and his magic - so he can come back with a bang, and maybe catch a certain Sourwolf's eye.

Then Derek shows up at his window one night with a flimsy excuse about needing research done. Suddenly, his summer away is looking a whole lot more interesting.

Make Grilled Cheese, Not War by talula

Homeless Club Kid AU

Stiles runs away after his father's death and ends up living on the streets of New York City. A new cook at the shelter shakes up his carefully isolated life.

i know a thing about contrition by sarcasticfishes

Exactly four people had responded to the advertisement Derek had put in the local newspaper. En-suite room for rent at 14b Woodburn Street. Non-smokers, please. Contact Derek at blah blah blah- he wasn’t exactly optimistic.

Stacey was sweet thirty-something and a very good candidate. Quentin was a college student who seemed a little stuck up, quite frankly, but was apparently an astronomy major, so Derek didn’t think he’d be seeing much of him. Tim was an accountant, and seemed like a top guy if not a bit dull. All good candidates, Derek knew.

But Stiles. Stiles was something else.

By a Law Divine by mirrorkill

Okay, so, kissing Stiles. That's a weird thing that Derek's doing now. He has no idea where it's even coming from, especially considering bickering and fighting is their usual state of existence. And then he does find out where it's coming from: A curse that's making everyone in town kiss someone they have mutual feelings for. …yeah, Derek's not even sure why he's surprised by that.

Nearly Everything Shines by maevewren

Derek is a grumpy Park Ranger, Stiles is a daredevil rock climber. Each of them wants to escape his past, but maybe together they can find a future. Expect lots of cozy autumn feels, snark, major angst, and passion.

#sterek #sterek fic rec #sterek fanfic #sterek fanfiction #recent rereads #fic rec list

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cptsdstudyblr · 3 years

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Cults & Religious Abuse PART 2: So you’re in a cult?

If you don’t want to see this series, you can block #cptsdstudyblrreligion

tw// cults, religion, religious abuse, religious trauma, mentions of other types of abuse

PART 1: Q & A

In this post I will be speaking somewhat specifically about my experiences that led to religious trauma, so please be cautious when reading this post. The tips and resources are at the bottom and are bullet points, so feel free to skip to there if you aren’t comfy with the post itself.

Maybe you were raised in a religion, maybe you or your family joined a religion later in your life, or maybe you’ve gotten involved in a cult in some other way. But one day you wake up and you realize that you need to get out. But how? In this I’ll be sharing the basics of my experiences in a cult-like fundamentalist religion, how I got out, and some resources I think are helpful for people in similar situations.

Before I get into the details, I want to make one thing clear: I am not a woman. I am non-binary. However, I was raised a woman and that was a huge part of the way these experiences affected me, so I will be including that perspective in this post.

I also want to make it clear that I am not against religion in general or against people practicing religion. This post is not intended to attack religion as a concept, but to shed light on specific extremely harmful religious practices.

My family’s relationship with religion is on the complicated side, but I’ll briefly explain it for context. Both of my parents were raised fairly generically Catholic. My grandparents on my dad’s side are now loosely Catholic, but don’t explicitly practice religion. My grandmother on my mom’s side has since converted to protestant Christianity at my mom’s suggestion. My dad has been either apathetic or even hostile towards religion for as long as I can remember and rarely attended church with me and my mom, but my mom has always been religious. These are the primary influences in my life, as I’m not close enough to any other family members for their religious beliefs to have had significant impact on me.

My mom is where it gets complicated. Although she was raised Catholic, she explored protestant Christianity starting a few years before my birth and quickly converted. For most of my actual childhood my mom was a pretty average protestant Christian. We moved a lot, so we attended churches in a variety of denominations, including several more charismatic and prosperity-gospel based megachurches, but when I was around 9 years old, my mom fell down a rabbit hole of Messianic Christianity through one of these churches, which I believe is where it all started to fall apart. Just to clarify, although this group of beliefs is technically referred to as Messianic Judaism, I refer to my experience with it as Messianic Christianity as I am in no way Jewish (and thus feel uncomfortable calling my religious experiences Judaism) and the messianic movement is harmful to actual Jewish people.

This move into Messianic Christianity pushed my mom to start rereading and reinterpreting the Bible and she consequently decided that she was not enamored with the teachings of the church we attended at the time. I strongly believe that her understanding of that study was also heavily influenced by the domestic violence and instability going on in our home at the time, as she was unable to connect to the overwhelmingly positive messages that our church preached. So, she moved us to another church. This was a church we had attended some in the past while trying to find a home church after a move, but hadn’t really stuck with, so it wasn’t an entirely new church. Because of this, I generally say that I attended this church from the age of 9 although we did not attend this church consistently until I was around 11. This church was a nondenominational Bible church closely associated with Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, which is pastored by John MacArthur. I’d encourage you to take a look at the basic teachings of John MacArthur and of this church in some depth as they are already quite problematic. The linked article is really just one example of the kind of teachings that are prevalent here, and I’d encourage you to follow this rabbit hole as far as it takes you because it’s fascinating.

The church that we moved to was extremely fundamentalist. Unfortunately, I’m not comfortable linking the actual church for fear of doxxing myself, but the teachings of this church are pretty much exactly in line with those Grace Community Church and the other organizations I will mention soon. This church also unofficially followed the teachings of the Institute for Basic Life Principles (IBLP). When I say unofficially, I mean that my church was not publically associated with IBLP, but they were definitely associated with IBLP in reality. And again, I’d really encourage you to browse through their website to get a feel for their teachings. However, as a basic summary, if you’re familiar with the Duggar family from the TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, they are members of IBLP and everything they teach was taught fairly similarly at my church. I won’t go into the details of what the teachings were, but they were about as fundamentalist Christian as you could come up with. Sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, abuse, etc. but turned up to 11/10. And it was a very closed circle. So how did I get out and end up where I am now - a bi-romantic asexual non-binary university student studying STEM at an incredibly liberal university?

It wasn’t easy. But I did get somewhat lucky. Unlike 90% of the kids at my church, I was not homeschooled after 8th grade. Instead, I went to a private Christian school - this was definitely still harmful and contributed to my trauma but it did give me opportunities to be exposed to people and ideas outside my fundamentalist Christian bubble. It also encouraged me to attend university, as it was expected of all graduates from that school. My dad wasn’t religious, and he and my mom divorced right before I graduated from high school. Additionally, my mom did encourage me to continue my education despite the teachings at our church. I’m not sure why she encouraged this, but she did. So I got lucky that things in my life pointed me in a direction of further education. And I got further lucky that the main school in my state is the school it is. It’s a school that is incredibly left-leaning and secular, and ultimately it pushed me extremely far outside my comfort zone.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that made it easier for me to get out of this situation, but I did still have to work for it. Here are my suggestions for surviving a cult-like environment and for eventually getting out:

Do everything you can to expose yourself to other ideas and beliefs. I assume that if you recognize you’re in this type of situation and want to escape, you already know that you disagree with the beliefs that are being forced on you at some level. But it’s important to further educate yourself where possible and figure out your beliefs. Figuring out what you believe and being committed to it is key in being able to stick to leaving your environment. If you know you disagree, but you can’t articulate why you disagree or what you believe and you aren’t committed to your beliefs, you will be very easy to convince that you are wrong and you will be very easy to manipulate.

If you’re on tumblr reading this, you probably have access to the internet, so use that to your advantage. Research things, read articles, and involve yourself in discussions. If you struggle with internet access, you can read books, magazines, and newspapers at your local library and potentially even join clubs through your library or school. Not everything you learn has to be political or about religion. Reading and learning will broaden your horizons, give you concrete interests outside religion, encourage you to learn about things that make you uncomfortable, etc.

If you are involved in a religion that has a text, read it critically and read nonreligious analyses of it. You don’t necessarily have to agree with these analyses, but thinking critically about the text you’ve been raised to take as complete fact will help you realize what you actually believe.

Find others who agree with you. In high school, I had a couple of friends at church who were “rebels” too, and we’re still friends to this day. We moved on together, and it really helped me be able to get out because I wasn’t doing it alone.

If you have to physically leave to get away, make sure you have enough money and have a backup plan. If you leave and are forced to come back for any reason, leaving again will be infinitely harder. If you leave, make sure it can be for good. It doesn’t necessarily have to be permanent, but if you come back it has to be on your own terms and not out of necessity.

Don’t get yourself kicked out and be safe no matter what.

Some resources I think are helpful:

Find an LGBT Center (US only) - LGBT centers are incredibly helpful for issues that go beyond being LGBT+, and if you’re eligible to use them they can be a great resource

The Trevor Project - LGBT+ resources and crisis lines

Tumblr post describing what to do if you’re homeless - It’s from Tumblr, so take it with a grain of salt, but it seems like pretty solid advice.

How to leave a cult - Very basic guide, but has some good advice.

Quiz to help you figure out your political beliefs (US based, but has some other countries as well) - I’d suggest taking this a few times as you develop your beliefs, and I’d also suggest clicking “more questions” as many times as possible in every category to ensure that you cover a broad range of topics.

How Ideology Colors Morality - about how morality frames US politics

Ethics - a good place to start when looking at different ways of analyzing ethics. My high school ethics class is a huge component in why I questioned my own beliefs. Ethics is an eye-opening topic.

List of all the religions - exploring different religions and belief systems helped open my mind to new ideas and ways of thinking about the world

If you want me to help you research something or find resources for a specific situation, feel free to message me or send me an ask and I’m happy to help (you can also ask me other questions, my asks and DMs are always open!)

And as always, if I made a mistake or linked a bad resource, please feel free to let me know so that I can correct the issue ASAP. I always try to do my research thoroughly, but things can slip by since I am but a human. Thank you!

#cptsdstudyblrreligion #cptsd #ptsd #trauma #religious trauma #religious abuse #religion #christianity #fundamentalism #ex fundamentalist #cult #ex cult #fundie #ex fundie #ex christian #christian

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zktop10 · 3 years

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Top 10 NEW in October 2020!

October added 178* stories to our collection!

Explicit content means it goes under the cut! Also, please make sure to read the tags for any items on your squick list.

Title: The Sun, the Moon, and the Truth Author: senlinyu Rated: M Summary: The war is won but after years, rebuilding is still slow and tenuous.

Katara feels homeless. Everyone else has found a place for themselves after the war. Zuko is the Fire Lord. Aang is the Avatar restoring the Air Nomad nation. Toph has founded a metalbending school in the Earth Kingdom. Sokka has taken the lead beside their father in the Southern Water Tribe’s rebuilding and modernization process.

It seems there’s no place left that needs Katara. Score: 10 / 10 Tags: One Shot, Canon Compliant, Forbidden Love, Mutual Pining, Infidelity

Title: 25 Reasons To Visit Your Local Dungeon Author: zutaralover94 Rated: E Summary: Katara is given a new writing assignment at her job at Warrior Magazine. (One that is not in her expertise.) The assignment? 25 Reasons To Visit Your Local Sex Dungeon. This was a long way away from her normal wardrobe 'how to's. So, research is mandatory. Which means visiting her local sex dungeon: The Blue Spirit.

Zuko, the best rigger The Blue Spirit has, is entrusted with the newbie. He was looking forward to taking down all of this pristine writer's walls.

(This is terrible summary for this is Kinktober 2020) Score: 10 / 10 Tags: Kinktober, Smut, WIP

Title: Mate Author: sparrowkeet1 Rated: E Summary: Sokka wants to know when Zuko and Katara are going to produce a cousin for his six-month-old. Zuko finds the whole prospect far more appealing than he expected.

Early entry for Kinktober 2020, Day 12 - Breed Kink. Written as a sequel to Purr but can stand alone.

Series Part 3 of Purr-verse Score: 9.8 / 10 Tags: Kinktober, Smut, Series, Complete

Title: The Summer of the Switching Sickness Author: FictionIsSocialInquiry Rated: E Summary: He sighs. Loudly. ‘Here’s what’s going to happen.’ Katara peeks at him through her fingers. ‘First, we’re going to agree right now that we will never tell any of our friends about this. Ever. Especially Sokka and Toph. Deal?’

Katara nods fervently. ‘Deal.’ - The summer of the Switching Sickness puts a strain on relations between the Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe... It's probably better for everyone involved if no one else finds out why. Score: 9.8 / 10 Tags: Smut, Body Swap, Complete

Title: (if my wishes came true) it would have been you Author: TheDescension Rated: T Summary: Katara overshares on the internet. Zuko makes it a point to only lurk. Good thing there's nothing tying their online adventures to their real lives — right?

Or, Katara and Zuko have something of a history, and when they reconnect after months of silence, there could be more going on behind the scenes than they realize.

[Graphic Format: Uses HTML and CSS]

Score: 9.7 / 10 Tags: Alternate Universe, Modern Setting, Social Media, WIP

PLAIN TEXT VERSION HERE

Title: Wildfire Author: rainstormdragon Rated: E Summary: 'Stop thinking about him,' was the wrong answer to give her, Zuko knew. So was 'I never want to stop touching you' and 'we could keep doing it, he doesn’t have to find out.' Aang was one of his best friends. He trusted Zuko to act honorably. And Zuko had just had passionate, drunk sex with the woman Aang loved. Katara was right. They were horrible people.

Series Part 3 of ATLA Smut Score: 9.3 / 10 Tags: Series, Smut, Complete

Title: I Asked You First Author: halfhoursonearth Rated: T Summary: After leaving Yon Rha’s village, Zuko finds a way to draw Katara out of her distress, and she begins to seek out his company. In late night conversations, they discover themselves and each other.

This story picks up after The Southern Raiders and carries through and past the series—at some point in the middle, leaving canon behind. Because these two intense kids deserve the chance to feel known, banter with a worthy opponent, examine the legacy of the world they’re fighting for, and—of course—fall in love. Score: 9.2 / 10 Tags: Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, WIP

Title: See Me Feel Me Touch Me Heal Me Author: gemgirl28 Rated: G Summary: Because Toph knows everything, she is the first member of Team Avatar to realize how touch starved Zuko is.

A short fic in which Toph knows everything, Zuko is touch starved, and Toph's going to help. And maybe spread a little chaos as well. Begins at The Western Air Temple. Score: 8.9 / 10 Tags: One Shot, Fluff

Title: Give It Up Author: Lliyk Rated: E Summary: Katara’s world takes a sharp left. Zuko makes sure that she knows he’s there for her.

In a flash the image in her mind shifts and changes. Saliva pools in from her bottom canines. An angry, aching pulse of need flushes through her core. A shiver works it’s way down her spine, and she thinks she might just vibrate right out of her rebelling skin.

“Of course you want it my way.” Zuko is saying, eyes closed and taking deep breaths through the part of his reddened lips. His thumb graces the line of her neck. “I knew...” He mutters, then, with topaz eyes locking with hers: “Do you trust me?”

Her breathless answer is as automatic as the affront that pulls at her mouth. “I trust you.” She says. “Of course I trust you.” Score: 8.8 / 10 Tags: Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence, Smut, WIP, A/B/O

Title: watch the ripples change their size Author: SafelyCapricious Rated: G Summary: Zuko should’ve drowned when he was three. It’s not something he remembers — his mother, called away, had been forced to leave the children with a nanny, despite her feelings of dread that something terrible was going to happen. She’d been much relieved when she’d returned to her darling boy, sleeping peacefully, little hand curled around a stone from the turtleduck pond, and her sweet girl burbling away angrily in her crib.

For Katara there are many close calls, where she thinks the fire should have hit her but it miraculously doesn’t — but it’s when Aang is practicing and she sees the flame coat her skin for an instant that she knows.

Series Part 4 of ain't no grave can hold my body down Score: 8.7 / 10 Tags: Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence, Soulmates, Series, One Shot

#zutara #fanfiction #rec list #top 10 #new in october

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invisibleicewands · 3 years

Link

Michael Sheen: ‘There is a moment of possibility to build back better’

The actor now uses his Hollywood cash to fund his passion for activism. Sheen reveals why he revels in spending money on the things that matter and why he has hope for the post-Covid future