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This blog is inactive. I will keep it up, because it was my first and the memories are great. :)

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Halloween shenanigans at work, 2021

My pumpkin entry won for the decorated category.

I was also in the team that decorated the 7th floor break room door, and we tied with 4th floor. I’ll pick up my prizes (just snacks) next week. And I can get pics of the two winning doors then, too. I forgot to take pics myself, and the pics are in my work email.

Oh, but this was my costume.

I kept randomly asking people “How are you feeling? Any plague symptoms today?” But too many people (even in a health department) aren’t well educated… and thought I was either a grim reaper… or a crow character from The Wiz. I just mentally 🤦🏻‍♀️ several times yesterday and had to explain about the plague doctors. 😔

FYI, that short cloak on my shoulders was a skirt I bought at Spirit. Then I cut along a seam (so one side was still sewn), shifted the sides to overlap quite a bit, folded over the cut edge (the one on top), and sewed on some buttons I took from a shirt that was missing a button.

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Some silly plague doctor postcards I made to pass time while stuck in quarantine.  These and several other of my bad ideas are available for sale on redbubble and etsy store

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Plague doctors! All too relevant right now. These plaguey bois are available on Redbubble as stickers. Let them remind you to take care of yourself. It is what they love to do. The plague doctors have your best interests at heart. Trust them.

(for real though, be kind to you in these times. be kind to others. this is what’s most important)

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I just found this amazing piece of art on Pinterest and managed to find the artist on Instagram, it’s by the very talented Shoegazerx.art 

Definitely check out their page for more Copia artwork.

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this has been a psa brought to you by soup

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hire me nintendo

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Have you ever wanted to show off your LGBT pride AND your plague doctor pride with one convenient design? Well you’re in luck, I dusted off my old redbubble and now I’ve got a whole parade of pride plague doctors available for purchase right here! 

And if youre missing your pride flag, feel free to contact me! Ill see what i can do!

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you can identify the rank and class of a plague doctor based on their uniform Owl- specialise in mass-curse control and magical diseases Crow- traditional doctors, are trained to treat large amounts of patients at once Eagle- royal physicians, good at long-term treatment Vulture- quarantine enforcers 

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Be queer, no fear!

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Was this done already? Anyway, here.

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Dr James Barry, the first doctor to perform a successful C section wherein both mother and child survived, was a huge champion of handwashing at a time when most doctors didn’t wash their hands. For this reason, many of the chilldbirths he delivered resulted in healthier babies and mothers. He was also a gay trans man, who specifically wrote that upon his death he wished for his body to be taken in its nightshirt, wrapped in his sheets as a shroud, and placed into the coffin so that nobody would see his body. His wishes were not respected, and as a result he was outed at his death.

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Deer Doctor

Excerpt from chapter one, “Deer Baker”. Warning! Contains uncensored swearwords! (It’s dayly used by nearly everyone but just in case.)

   [...] 

   Idle late morning chatter makes its way over the roofs where it mixes with cinder clouds from their trusted homes, promising a warm meal in later hours. From far away the village gave off welcoming greetings, inviting any lonesome traveller that decided to wander the paths of Mother Nature.

  “Ah, great. Where did that voice come from?” The lonesome traveller questions their surroundings, looking around but their attempts of finding the source of their confusion goes unseen. “Thee are not a voice from my surroundings. Are thee in my head? Get out or pay rent. I charge forty pounds a week, or eight hundred schillings if thee are a good tenant.”

  The wise individual seems a tart bit irritated but still in the mood to make jokes, as their head snaps around in all directions, still trying to spot the source of the lovely voice, blessing them with their presence.

  “Thy voice is hardly a blessing.” The individual barks back with a snide remark, intending on harming the self-esteem of the graceful voice filling their surroundings with melodic tunes. “Any more of thy tasteless narcissistic remarks and I will drown thee in cow waste.”

  Who could such a rude individual possibly be? Surly one of the lower class. No one with higher profession would be so tactless to a great individual like the soft spoken voice. But, alas, it is not that way, for you see, dear reader, said rude individual is a doctor, cloaked in white robes with hood and dress and black accents that are found in their belts, waist high gloves, elevated heeled boots, huge doctors bag and a small deer skull with antlers in between where their collarbones would be.

  Their head snaps around anew, showing the long beaked mask in black, seemingly stitched together with eyes, comparable to safety-googles, as the darkened glass is surrounded by white. Even more agitated their grip on their black staff tightens as they hold it up like a weapon. The white ceramic male deer skull atop of said staff glistens dangerously in the golden light of the sun.

  “It better should be!” Irritated noises fly out of the doctor’s mouth. “Thee come along like it is no one’s business and decide to pester me! Now thee are making it worse by describing me to some by a hiccupping fate guided people? I do not know what thy game is here exactly but be aware that I do not like it! Thee did not even ask for my consent first!”

  No one consents to existence, my deer fellow. For you and them are not so different, and yet, dear reader, you are probably wondering ‘who is this individual dressed up in plague doctor garb in Victorian times?’ Their name is Doctor Sika.

  “How in the fuck do you know my name?!”

  How in the world do you know that word?

  “It is the middle-end of the nineteenth century. We use it now as a swear word. Stop evading my question!”

  But alas, the melodic voice did just that, for it has better things to do. Doctor Sika is one individual, where it is impossible to determine their gender, age or heritage, since all of those indicators are covered up by their robes. Even their name seems to be not the one their parents had given them on their day of birth. Then again, their parents are long gone and could not protest for their disrespect.

  “First of all, my parents are well, second of all, giving thyself a different name is not disrespectful to thy parents. Whoever came up with and sticks to that is just butt-hurt that their child is their own being and can decide for themselves what they do with their life.”

  Even though the doctor seems rather rude, could it be that there would be a heart of gold underneath those snow bitten robes? A trope not so uncommon.

  “I would rather have thee as a pot of gold underneath a rainbow.”

  Rare and only the luckiest are able to find it?

  “Far away and unable to be reached.”

  Alas the doctor lacks tact and manners. No wonder they do not surround themselves with many friends. But their personality was not the only reason no one was around. The fires that had burned the houses until only burned flesh and bones remained were at fault. The culprit had been of higher standing, shielded by his believers and followers, so the young Sika could do nothing but wail.

  “That is untrue and quite frankly, very rude. Telling me, that I am tactless and lack manners and yet thee keep talking about a past I did not have. Just because I do not have many friends, does not mean that I have a horrible backstory, although I have seen injustice before, does not mean that I am a part of it! Whether I am the victim or not. Now please, if thee were to be so kind and leave me on my merry way. I have potential patients to attend to.”

  And thus the doctor swiftly started to walk, trying to loosen the bond that had just formed between them and the melodic voice, but their attempts are in vain, as they follow them to a grand and exciting adventure.

  “If thee don’t shut up I’ll put thee in my soup!”

[...]

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Remember how Dusky just had two friends? Yeah, that changed. They made their own Colony: The Bird Stake! …Yeah, don’t question Dusky.

Left to right: Dusky Vesper, Bubo Diacus, Rusty Northwest, Nachtigall, Scrub, King, Adal Aquila

Short infromation about the newcomers under the cut

Bubo Diacus (Bubo for short) takes on the role of the Shopkeeper. They travelled a lot before settling down in the forest and now sells all kinds of potions one should rather question than consume. But hey, no cat has died from them… yet.

Rusty Northwest (Rusty or Northwest) takes on the role of the Guard. They are well travelled in the art of fighting, especially with the stick they carry around wherever they go. Despite their skill they can be quite a scatter brain.

Nachtigall is just happy to be there. They are quit shy and were afraid that they would not fit in with the rest in the early stages of the group and is now a beloved member who has an open ear or advice to give, if someone needs it.

Scrub has a thing for aesthetics and is not afraid to tell their opinion. Despite the unusual healing methods the rest uses, theirs is the most trust worthy and rivals the ones of the doctors in the other colonies. Technically speaking they take on the official role of the Doctor.

King is the typical “Hard on the outside, soft on the inside”, even though their fluffy fur speaks otherwise. Their personality is also quite chipper and they get along with everyone, but they can also be quite reckless and sometimes needs help to get out of sticky situations.

Adal Aquila is the spiky friend of the group. Despite having quite a temper they always manages to weasel out of situations that could go south very quickly. They basically hold all the proactive and productive brain cells of the group.

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losing it over this

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how to handle old-timey disaster plague doctors in your fic

terms: “doctor” is anyone you go to for medical help. most plague doctors were freelancers (hired by the government later on) with an eclectic background in the below disciplines and beyond, including but not limited to, faith-healing, shamanism, alchemy (the crackpot medieval stuff, not the school of magic), general superstition, guessing, and lying.

barber-surgeon (later just surgeon*) = the quicker-fixer-upper. if it’s not supposed to be there or it’s infected and gonna kill you, the barber-surgeon cuts it off. you’ll find a lot of them on battlefields and war-torn regions, because they put the champ in amputation

*doctor on a boat is always called a surgeon, even if they’re not one. if pirates took your ship, they probably wouldn’t kill you

apothecary = the person and the place for pills, herbs, ingredients, materials like mortars and pestles, burners, etc. apothecaries can make medicines, prescribe, and administer them. they don’t need to confirm you’ve got a headache. here’s some cocaine

chemist = and apothecary that’s not just for medicine - a chemist will generally sell things that are already made, and ingredients that need to be synthesized (you buy potash from an apothecary, gunpowder from a chemist)

address: doctor, the good doctor

“Doctor” mostly implies expertise and study, so you can call almost any of the above “doctor” (barber-surgeons are sometimes an exception, since they’re also barbers)

“Good” in Renaissance and later vernacular implies camaraderie; “my lord” is any random noble, “my good lord” is a noble in your brunch crew. similarly, “the good doctor” is “my friend the doctor” (NOT “this doctor who is good at their job”)

training: like most professions, medicine has been a master/apprentice affair for centuries. during the Renaissance, formal medical schooling did become a thing, but most people (read: not nobility) would only trust provincially-trained doctors with real-world experience (there’s a whole commedia trope about the uselessness of doctor-academics)

reputation: is everything. skill is nothing. especially in wartime and epidemics, when medicine was just guessing and cutting or throwing herbs at a disease and hoping it’s not demons, people wanted doctors that made them feel safe, and with no mainstream form of formal training, the best doctor is the one with a) the most patients surviving long enough to talk about them or b) the best reviews from family of dead patients

Disclaimer: pseudo-euro plague doctor culture spans about four hundred years, and it’s hard to say what is and is not in terms of medical advancements in worlds that also have magic, so these are Big Sweeping Generalizations to help fill in the cracks.