#Optometry Offices

[mconsent]

Top Technologies Shaping Modern Optometry Offices | mConsent

In the dynamic realm of healthcare, the world of optometry is experiencing a profound transformation fueled by the integration of innovative technologies.

These advancements aren't just limited to diagnostics and patient care; they are significantly enhancing the efficiency of daily operations within optometry practices.

This article delves into the top technologies that are reshaping modern optometry offices by streamlining their day-to-day functions.

1. Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Practice Management Software

Efficient patient management and office operations lie at the core of a thriving optometry practice.

The introduction of EHR and practice management software has revolutionized the way clinics handle administrative tasks, schedule appointments, and manage patient records.

These systems facilitate seamless communication between different departments within the office, leading to streamlined workflows, reduced administrative overhead, and an overall enhanced patient experience.

2. Telehealth and Remote Consultations

The advent of telehealth has brought a paradigm shift in how optometrists connect with their patients. By offering remote consultations through secure video conferencing, practitioners can extend their reach beyond geographical boundaries.

This technology not only improves patient accessibility but also optimizes the scheduling of appointments, reducing wait times and enhancing the efficient use of resources.

3. Automated Appointment Reminders and Scheduling

Incorporating automated appointment reminders and scheduling tools into the daily routine of optometry practices has had a significant impact on reducing no-shows and last-minute cancellations.

These technologies send timely reminders to patients, ensuring that appointment slots are utilized effectively and that practitioners can maintain a steady flow of consultations throughout the day.

4. Inventory Management Systems

Efficiently managing the inventory of eyewear frames, contact lenses, and other essential supplies is critical for smooth operations.

Advanced inventory management systems leverage technology to track stock levels, anticipate demand, and reorder items in a timely manner. This ensures that the practice can meet patient needs promptly.

5. Optical Dispensing Software

For optometry offices that offer eyewear, optical dispensing software is a game-changer. This technology streamlines the process of selecting frames, taking measurements, and placing orders.

By digitizing these steps, practitioners can ensure accurate prescriptions, efficient fittings, and seamless communication between the optical department and the rest of the practice.

6. Document Management Solutions

Managing a multitude of patient records, prescriptions, and insurance documents can be overwhelming.

Document management solutions enable optometry offices to digitize and organize paperwork, making it easily searchable and accessible when needed.

This not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of errors due to misplaced documents.

7. Communication and Collaboration Platforms

Efficient communication is the cornerstone of any successful organization.

Optometry offices are embracing communication and collaboration platforms that enable real-time interaction between staff members, ensuring that everyone is on the same page regarding patient appointments, procedures, and any other relevant information.

Conclusion

The technological landscape of modern optometry offices is evolving at an unprecedented pace. While advancements in diagnostics and patient care are remarkable, the technologies focused on streamlining daily operations are equally transformative.

By leveraging mConsent’s innovative technologies, optometrists can optimize their practice's efficiency, enhance patient satisfaction, and ultimately provide the highest quality of care in a seamlessly organized environment.

As the journey of technological innovation continues, the future holds endless possibilities for further enhancing the operational excellence of optometry practices.

[businessmemes]

Charlie is lucky -- 1/3 of all examinees have the eyes of a medical coder, a florist or, worst of all, a teacher.

[whyshedisappeared]

please god make it so that my glasses get back today

[diseaseriddencube]

remembered that human Alastor wore glasses and I'm kinda thinking that's the fic I should write, just a serial killer going to the optometrist 😍

[dr-whoopsie-daisy]

Me on the outside:

Me on the inside:

[rosesvioletshardy]

currently how i feel

[olomaya]

Private Clinic - Optometry (+ updates)

So this is the optometry portion of my Private Clinic mod (eventual series). I had hoped to get this out much earlier but just lost interest/motivation but I managed to eke through with hours of 2024 to spare. 😅 Procrastination and I are long-time friends so I'm pretty proud of myself -- the old me would have just dumped this project and moved on to some new shiny. That's not to say that I didn't but at least this time I came back to it!

What this does:

Adds the ability for licensed doctors (see private clinic for details) to run an optometry clinic and treat patients.

Creates astigmatism and a couple of other eye diseases for Sims

Adds update to the clinic system allowing you to set office hours as a doctor, or make appointments as patients, track billing, income and expenses, among other new features

A few updates to the Private Clinic Psychiatry module such as more buffs added that can be treated and being able to use the main controller's payment system.

There is A LOT of information so please read through the documentation (there's two, a new one for the PC core features and one just for optometry) before using and bug reporting. This is a scheduled post (I'm currently under a table somewhere eating grapes) so please don't DM me with any bug reports. Instead, please log it here. If you see the same issue you're experiencing already logged, then just add your name or number to the "I have it too" column.

DOWNLOADS:

Private Clinic main files - Please sort the files list by date so you can see the 5 files which have been updated/added for you to download. You NEED the MAIN file, MaladyManager and prescription objects to run any of the modules. The rest depends on which features you want.

Private Clinic Optometry Module

Private Clinic Psychiatry Module update

Credits and thanks to all the wonderful cc creators whose objects were made of use in this mod:

@aroundthesims (of course), the exam chair and eye chart from this amazing hospital set by Hekate999, Lavoieri, Moonskin93 for the contact lenses, Syboulette for the actual contact lenses, and the true to their name simcredible designs for the eyeglass rack.

Thanks to @simsdeogloria for helping me test this mod.

If you have any issues, please do log them. And if you can't use the log, please let me know!

Happy New Year!

[simsdeogloria]

Saint Magnolia Hospital

Been a while but wanted to pop in and show you all what I've been up to. I started this Hospital in Saint Greer, but now it moves around to all my towns with me. Been inspired to finish decorating as I eagerly await the next version of @olomaya's Private Clinic mod. Coming soon is Optometry, which I've included a space for on floor one, more maternity care so that's the second floor, and currently we have the psychiatry module, so I have a counseling room and office on floor three, meeting space, and of course all the techy machinery. Along with a beautiful but totally not functional kids ward. Photos below. Will also be on my simblr.cc for more details :)

[aimeedaisies]

The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in November 2024

01/11 As Visitor of Strathcarron Hospice, visited the Hospice. 🫂

As Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, visited the Headquarters at Edinburgh Castle. 🫡

As Patron of the Eric Liddell 100, attended an Awards Dinner at George Watson’s College, in Edinburgh. 🏃🏼‍♂️🍽️🏆

05/11 As Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, presented Merchant Navy Medals for Meritorious Service at the Corporation of Trinity House. 🎖️

As President of Racing Welfare, attended a Reception at Sladmore Gallery. 🏇🏼

06/11 On behalf of The King, held an Investiture at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

As Patron of the Learning and Work Institute, and as President of Carers Trust, this attended the “Driving Change” Conference at City Lit College. 📒

As President of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences, attended a Reception at Brunswick Group. 📚

As Patron of Shaftesbury, later held a 180th Anniversary Dinner at St James’s Palace. 🍾

07/11 As Vice Patron of the British Horse Society, attended the Annual Awards and Race Day at Newbury Racecourse. 🐴

Alongside the King and the Duchess of Gloucester, held a Reception at Buckingham Palace for medallists of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 🥇🥈🥉

09/11 With Sir Tim Was present at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. Also in attendance were, The Prince and Princess of Wales, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and The Duke of Kent were also present. 🌹

10/11 With Sir Tim Attended the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph. Laid a wreath alongside the King, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh. Also in attendance were, the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent. 🌹

11/11 unofficial Sir Tim, as GWR Advisory Board member, visited Swindon train station with the Poppies to Paddington, then travelled to Paddington Station by train. 🚝

unofficial Sir Tim Attended a Service of Remembrance at Paddington Station. 🌹

12/11 Attended the HIV Drug Therapy Glasgow Congress at the Scottish Event Campus. 💊

Visited the University of Glasgow’s Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre. 🔬🥼

As Royal Patron of MND Scotland, attended a Supporters’ Reception at the MND Scotland Office. 🍾

13/11 Visited the College of Master Kilt Tailors’ Headquarters at Askival of Strathearn. 🪡🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Opened Letham4All’s Letham Community Hub. 🏢

Opened the YMCA Tayside Youth Centre in Perth. 👦👧

As Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, held a Chancellor’s Dinner at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. 🎓🍽️

14/11 As Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands, attended the Nursing and Optometry Graduation Ceremony in Inverness. 🩺🎓

16/11 As Patron of the Scottish Rugby Union, attended the International Rugby Match between Scotland and Portugal at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇵🇹🏉

19/11 Attended a Reception at the Suffolk County Council Offices before opening the Gull Wing Bridge in Lowestoft. 🌁🎗️✂️

Unofficial Sir Tim presented the Billy Deacon SAR Awards during the Air League’s Annual Reception Ceremony at the House of Commons. ✈️

20/11 As President of the Royal Yachting Association attended the British Olympic Sailing Team Luncheon at the Royal Thames Yacht Club. ⛵️🍴

As Commandant-in-Chief (Youth) of St John Ambulance, attended the Young Achievers’ Reception at the Priory Church of the Order of St John in London. ⛑️🩹

As Chancellor of the University of London, attended the Foundation Day at Senate House, and conferred an honorary doctorate in Literature on Queen Camilla, for her public work in the field of literature and literacy. 📜🎓

21/11 As Patron of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, attended their Winter Symposium. 💉❄️

As President of the City and Guilds of London Institute, attended The Princess Royal Training Awards Conference at Goldsmiths’ Hall. 🏆 Sir Tim Laurence presented the Billy Deacon SAR Awards during the Air League’s Annual Reception Ceremony, held at the House of Commons, on 19 November 2024.

With Sir Tim As President of the British Olympic Association, attended the Team GB Ball at the Roundhouse. ✨

26/11 Opened the Hospice UK National Conference at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow. 🏥

27/11 As Chancellor of the Health Sciences University, attended a Graduation Ceremony at the Bridge Theatre in London. 🎓📜

As Patron of Transaid, attended the Annual Showcase at the Africa Centre in London. 🚛🚚

As Royal Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, attended a New Fellows’ Dinner at Drapers’ Hall. 🍽️

28/11 On behalf of the King held morning and afternoon Investitures at Buckingham Palace. 🎖️

29/11 As Patron of the Moredun Foundation, attended a Conference at the Moredun Research Institute in Penicuik. 🐖🐑🐄

Total official engagements for Anne in November: 43

2024 total so far: 414

Total official engagements accompanied/represented by Tim in November: 3

2024 total so far: 94

FYI - due to certain royal family members being off ill/in recovery I won't be posting everyone's engagement counts out of respect, I am continuing to count them and release the totals at the end of the year.

[librarycomic]

Optometry by Xiang Yata. Translated by Jerrica Meng, Fish Wang, & Xiang Yata. Driftwood Press, 2023. 97819490065244.

A young woman walks into an optometrist's office to get a pair of glasses, and he tests her eyes by showing her a series of images, asking what she sees and if it's clear. This is the start of a surreal, illusive journey that moves through different styles of comics and various media. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland and Grant Morrison's most meta comics. It's beautiful, delightful, and everything about it wowed me.

Included in the back is a conversation with Yata where she discusses the book's origin and why took her ten years to make.

Worth noting: I continue to fall in love with amazing Table of Contents pages, and this has one of the best. I've scanned it to include with the review, so take a look.

[tulipanthousa]

Patton breaking a window with his voice duiring sex has been brought up before. And I raise you: patton breaking his glasses (and/or Logans)

im so sorry to sidestep the sexy but god. the potential here. first scene from Sherwoods POV sweating bullets trying to explain to the optometrist why they need to come to wickhills with WOODEN HAND OPTOMETRY TOOLS to do 6yo logan's first eye exam. Second scene Logan and Patton in the optometrists office "wow you really destroyed these impressive" while Patton's got his face buried in his shoulder tears in his eyes trying not to break into absolute hysterics. Logan is internally begging for death

[mconsent]

Managing Online Reputation for Optometry Offices | mConsent

In today's digital age, online reviews have become make-or-break for healthcare practices. Positive patient reviews boost optometry offices' visibility, credibility, and new patient acquisition. Negative reviews can seriously damage reputation. Savvy practices need to proactively manage their online reputation through reviews. Here's how:

1.List Your Practice Properly 

The first critical step in managing your online reputation is to ensure your practice listings on major review sites like Google My Business, Yelp, and Healthgrades are completely filled out. These profiles serve as a foundation for collecting reviews, so having accurate, detailed information is essential.

Start by claiming and verifying your practice on these sites if you haven't already. Provide your full address, phone number, website, hours of operation, insurance accepted, bios and photos of your optometrists, list of vision services offered, and anything else relevant to patients. 

Keep these listings updated regularly as details change. For example, if you add a new optometrist or service, update that. If your hours shift due to holidays, reflect that too. The more comprehensive your profiles, the better prepared patients will be to leave detailed, meaningful reviews of their experiences.

Proper listings also make you easier to find online. Patients searching for an optometrist in your area are more likely to click and engage with full, accurate profiles. This brings more eyes to your practice and review platform. Maintaining robust profiles is the critical first step to proactively managing your online reputation through reviews.

2. Monitor Review Sites

Once your practice profiles are properly established on major review platforms, the next important step is to regularly monitor these sites for new reviews. This allows you to quickly identify and address any concerning, inaccurate, or fraudulent reviews before they have a chance to negatively impact your online reputation.

Set aside time each week to proactively check all the sites your practice is listed on. Look at both high-traffic platforms like Google and Facebook as well as lesser-used sites like Healthgrades, RateMDs, and others. Sort by recent reviews first so you can spot any problematic ones while they are still fresh.

Watch for reviews that seem dubious, overly emotional, mention issues not relevant to eye care, or could be from a competitor masquerading as a patient. Also be on the lookout for duplicate reviews posted across multiple sites, which violates policies.

Flag suspicious reviews for the site’s moderators to investigate - most major platforms have procedures for reporting questionable content. Acting quickly increases the chance of getting detrimental reviews removed before they accumulate and sway potential patients.

Staying on top of new reviews as they come in allows you to respond, report issues, and protect your online reputation in a timely manner. Checking all review sites consistently is critical for monitoring what patients are saying about your optometry practice.

3.Respond to All Reviews

The third key strategy for managing your practice's online reputation is to respond professionally to every review in a timely manner - both positive and negative. Actively replying demonstrates you are listening, care about patients' experiences, and are committed to continuously improving.

For positive reviews, be sure to thank the patient for taking the time to write something nice. You could also highlight what specifically they complimented and say you are proud of your team for providing that great service. This reinforces positives and encourages more praise.

For negative or critical reviews, never get defensive. Instead, apologize for their unsatisfactory experience and say you will follow up with them directly to make it right. This shows other readers your responsiveness to feedback. You can also mention steps your office takes to prevent similar issues in the future.

Set a goal to respond within 1-2 business days of any new review. Quick, caring replies give the impression you are an attentive business that values patients. An unanswered negative review looks much worse than an addressed one.

Replying publicly provides visible proof you listen and quickly address problems. This conscientiousness about online reputation management earns patient trust and loyalty.

4.CLAIM Your Listings

Once your practice profiles are set up on review sites, the next vital step is to formally verify and claim ownership of these listings. Every major platform has a process that allows businesses to confirm they are the official owners of their profiles.

Claiming your listings provides important benefits when managing your online reputation. It gives you more control over editing basic information, photos, services, hours, and other details on your practice's profiles. This helps present accurate, up-to-date information to patients.

Claiming also gives you access to enhanced analytics like review monitoring alerts, private messaging with reviewers, and review gathering campaigns. You can utilize these tools to better understand patient feedback and proactively gather more reviews.

The claiming process involves confirming you represent the business through steps like entering a verification code, providing identifying details, or having a postcard with a special code mailed to your practice's address.

Take the time to formally claim each of your listings on Google, Facebook, Yelp, Healthgrades, and anywhere else relevant. The increased functionality and insights will help you better manage your online reputation through reviews moving forward.

5. Encourage Satisfied Patients

An essential part of managing your online reputation is proactively encouraging reviews from satisfied patients. Positive reviews on sites like Google, Yelp and Facebook can counteract any negative feedback and showcase your practice's strengths through real patient experiences.

After appointments where everything went smoothly and the patient seemed happy, send a follow-up email or text asking them to share a review online if willing. You can include links directly to your profiles to make it easy. Offering a small incentive like a free eyeglass cleaning kit can motivate reviews too.

Get strategic with your outreach by segmenting patients in different ways. For example, send focused questions to patients seen by a certain doctor, for a specific service, or at each of your office locations. This allows you to build up targeted reviews relevant to patients' needs.

When possible, customize your prompts using details from the appointment. Mention something specific the patient praised like short wait times, your selection of eyeglass frames, or the technician's care during an exam. This makes reviews more authentic.

With a steady, segmented approach to gathering feedback from satisfied patients, you can build a strong foundation of positive online reviews that boosts your practice's reputation.

6. Address Negative Reviews

Despite your best efforts, negative reviews are inevitable in healthcare. Even the best optometry offices will sometimes receive criticism about wait times, bedside manner, billing issues or other problems. Handling these gracefully is key to reputation management.

If a negative review does appear, first apologize to the patient for their unsatisfactory experience. Empathize with their frustration and acknowledge if something clearly went wrong. Never get defensive or retaliate - this will only inflame the situation online and offend potential patients.

Offer to connect directly via phone or email to resolve the issue or provide clarification if needed. Follow through to turn the complaint into a success story. After privately addressing concerns, you can politely request the patient update their review based on the resolution.

For less severe complaints, publicly respond explaining steps your office takes to prevent similar issues in the future. This shows you listened and are committed to improving. Be sure to maintain patient privacy and avoid specifics in public replies.

With patience and care, negative feedback can become opportunities to demonstrate how your practice fixes problems and makes things right for patients. Handled well, other patients will see your responsiveness and be reassured.

7. Dispute False Accusations

In some cases, negative reviews may contain blatantly false information, fabricated accusations, or fraudulent claims about your practice. These outlier reviews should be formally disputed through the site's moderation process to request removal.

If a review alleges things that are demonstrably untrue or impossible, gather counter evidence like appointment records, emails, or staff accounts that contradict it. Screenshot the false review before submission.

Submit this counter proof through the platform's reporting tool to initiate a dispute. For example, on Google you would flag the review and select "Conflicts with facts" as the reason. Most sites also allow you to further explain the discrepancies.

The platform will then investigate to determine if the review violates policies against falsified or fraudulent content. If found to be false, the site will remove the damaging review so it can no longer impact perceptions of your practice.

While entirely fabricated negative reviews are rare, being prepared to dispute these through evidence-based moderation requests is an important last resort in reputation management. This helps safeguard against falsehoods unfairly tarnishing your optometry office's image.

8.Conduct Patient Surveys

A proactive way to generate more reviews is to conduct periodic patient satisfaction surveys. These provide a channel for recent patients to share candid feedback on their experiences.

Email brief surveys after appointments asking about quality of care, customer service, office environment and other aspects. Include open-ended questions for detailed comments. Offer a perk for completing like a gift card raffle entry.

For patients that give high marks, include a question asking their permission for pull-quotes from the survey to be publicly posted as an online review. This provides authentic positive content in their own voice.

Survey feedback identifies areas needing improvement too. If certain services or staff get poor ratings, take corrective actions and then follow up with another survey to measure progress.

Online reviews are most credible when they originate organically from real patients. Thoughtful surveys generate detailed insights that can then be converted into powerful reviews with the patient’s consent. This proactive approach further fills out your practice’s reputation profile.

9. Highlight Great Reviews

Once you have a solid base of positive online reviews, you can expand their impact by repurposing top reviews as testimonials. With the patient's consent, showcase glowing 5-star praise on your website, social media, printed materials, and more. 

For example, pull a rave review about your office's compassionate care or expertise treating glaucoma. Get permission from the patient, then feature their quote prominently on your website's testimonial page.

You could also share a top review on social media for Medical Appreciation Day highlighting your amazing staff. Make sure to tag and thank the patient for the kind words. Patients and followers will love the authenticity of real patient experiences.

For your office waiting room, print and frame your best Google and Facebook reviews to reassure prospective patients as soon as they walk in, and rotating the displayed reviews keeps content fresh.

10.Analyze and Improve

The final critical step in online reputation management is to regularly analyze your review content for insights that can inform operational improvements. Between the positives and negatives, reviews provide invaluable patient feedback on your practice.

Set aside time every 1-2 months to read through new reviews with the mindset of identifying potential areas for improvement. Look for any concerning trends around things like long wait times, rude staff, billing issues, poor follow up, or other criticisms.

Even a couple similar complaints signals something patients consistently find frustrating or unsatisfactory. Review your internal practices to determine what changes could address the problems surfaced through reviews.

For example, multiple reviews complaining about long check-in times may lead you to implement text message notifications when exam rooms are ready. Or feedback on great experiences with a certain doctor might mean giving them more new patient appointments.

Effectively utilizing patient review insights for ongoing practice improvements demonstrates you truly listen. Over time, operational changes driven by reviews will be reflected in growing patient satisfaction. Reviews stop being a reputation risk and become an asset for improving care.

With some effort, optometry practices can build an impressive total of positive reviews that reassure prospective patients during their provider search. Consistent monitoring, responding, and optimizing is key to maintaining a stellar online reputation.

Conclusion

Managing your optometry practice's online reputation through reviews is crucial in today's digital landscape. Following proactive strategies like claiming listings, monitoring for issues, responding to all feedback, encouraging happy patients, and analyzing reviews for improvements will help you stay ahead of the curve.

With some time and effort, you can turn your practice's online presence into a strategic asset that builds trust and attracts patients. Patient reviews provide invaluable insights into your strengths as well as areas for improvement.

Leveraging solutions like mConsent's online reputation management platform can further enhance your practice's care and standing every single day.

[violent138]

what's your favourite writing compliment that you've gotten? (no.72)

It went like: "this was very accurate to my experiences working in a neuro-optometry office" and the person ended with saying it genuinely made them smile which was profoundly kind.

I always do ridiculous levels of research for fics even if it's unnecessary for the plot to naturally progress (like learning how a phoropter works and where it originated, in case Bruce wanted to infodump 💀) so it was really cool to see that the fic events actually lined up with someone's experience.

Thanks for the ask!

[jinko-hellhound]

“cancer eater” ch 1 — bungou stray dogs — atsushi, dazai, akutagawa, ensemble

True to name, Atsushi is the Man-Eating Tiger. All at once he develops fangs, a love of raw meat, and a horrible craving for his friends.

“Very dry air can make the tiny capillaries in your nose burst randomly, including in your sleep. One late, dry night in the dying days of fall, the sharp scent of copper drew Atsushi out of his closet. Barefoot and sleep-addled, he stood on the cold tatami and watched Kyouka sleep. Blood dripped down her nose, her cheek, the gentle bow of her lip. In the dark, the blood looked black.”

words: 3,559

first published: 9/3/24

characters: nakajima atsushi, dazai osamu, akutagawa ryuunosuke, edogawa ranpo, ada ensemble

relationships: nakajima atsushi/akutagawa ryuunosuke, nakajima atsushi & dazai osamu, nakajima atsushi & the armed detective agency

tags: dead dove do not eat, cannibal nakajima atsushi, graphic gore, hurt/comfort, hurt/some comfort, angst, self harm, eating disorder themes, cannibalism as a metaphor for love, armed detective agency as family

crossposted on ao3

* THIS IS NOT A DAZATSU FIC, Dazai and Atsushi’s dynamic is central and weird and toxic like in canon but firmly platonic. **NOBODY dies or is attacked by Atsushi in this fic.

warnings for this chapter: self harm, references to suicide/attempts, eating disorders/eating disorder-like behaviors, off-screen vomiting, gore, a cat dies

asks, replies, reblogs appreciated and encouraged! ask to be put on tag list!! 💕💞

It started with a dull pang in Atsushi’s stomach, a heaviness to his tongue, and an incessant craving for lentils and beef and spinach. He couldn’t stop eating, taking down two helpings for every meal, jerky sticks in between cases, protein bars while he worked. None of it satisfied him; even as his stomach bloated until he thought he’d burst, he put on no weight and his appetite only grew, and grew, and grew.

It started with his teeth becoming, somehow, too big for his mouth, forcing his lips to always hang ever so slightly open. Dazai loved this development. He liked to lean over their desks and pry Atsushi’s mouth open with his fingers and declare Look at those chompers! Hot embarrassment and overwhelming love would flood Atsushi’s cheeks when Dazai broke the monotony of work to bring the rest of the office into his jokes, or when Kunikida asked him how his gums were feeling in the mornings, or Kenji offered him a chewable necklace to ease the pain. Belonging had him floating as he walked. Belonging settled the growing pit in his stomach, or rather, belonging distracted him from how the pit was expanding exponentially each day.

The day Dazai discovered Atsushi’s growing-in teeth, Atsushi was forced to pose for a polaroid with his mouth wide and a ruler held up to his new canines. Then Yosano, with a gleeful spark in her eyes that had Atsushi shuddering, ushered him into the infirmary. She measured his canines, his nails, used some strange machine to examine his pupils. (Was she an eye doctor? Was she trained in optometry at all?) She had concerns about his braces, although it seemed like they wouldn’t pose an issue. (As always, he was embarrassed to even address his braces.) She asked after his diet and his height and his sleep patterns until she had reams and reams of notes on him. Feeling like an awful liar, he decided to keep his recent constant hunger to himself, for a reason he couldn’t quite place.

At the end of it all, she said, Be right back here when you come in next Monday. Then, taking his hand in hers, she smiled and continued, We’ve all got you, Atsushi. His fingers laid over her wrist, where her pulse was steady and hot. Its rhythm echoed through him, from his hands to his heart to his stomach to his teeth.

It started with a gaze that lingered on soft thighs, on meaty arms, on the long curves of necks and the fine details of ears. Kunikida’s broad shoulders when he stretched at his desk. Fukuzawa’s strong hands when they flexed over the hilt of his sword. Atsushi could not stop staring at everyone around him, in a way he never did before.

On the third day of Atsushi’s teeth adventure, he went on a date with Akutugawa. Which was — a recent thing. Less recent than the cravings and the teeth. But recent enough that Atsushi’s heart still fluttered when he and Akutugawa’s knees knocked underneath the cafe table.

After — well. They’d barely kissed and they’d hardly held hands. Everything between them was all new and precious, previous forced amputations and vampirisms and clawing attempts notwithstanding. Akutugawa was only just managing to choke out genuine compliments, and Atsushi was still learning how to reign Byakko’s temper in. They were still getting to know each other casually despite understanding each other intimately; they were figuring out how to be kind and couldn’t help but explode on each other still, every once in a while, until Chuuya or Dazai or Kunikida intervened in their own strange ways.

Today, everything was nice. Atsushi could not believe his luck to be sitting on this quiet cafe patio downtown, the gentle sun on his face, Akutugawa focusing on him with something like softness.

Akutugawa was in a tight turtleneck and sleek pants and designer sunglasses, his long, slender fingers resting on his mug, and Atsushi could not look away from him. Byakko caught Akutugawa’s regular heartbeat, the slight wheeze of all his breaths, the jingling of his keys whenever he shifted in his seat.

“So you’re growing fangs.” Akutugawa was stirring cream into his coffee but not looking at it. His gaze was always so intent as to discomfort. Atsushi could never handle holding Akutugawa’s eye contact too long, his eyes dark and focused; Atsushi always broke first.

Atsushi laved his tongue over his fangs, which were now always pressing into his bottom lip. “Yeah,” he sighed, spilling more sugar into his mug. “Dazai’s excited about it, at least. Yosano thinks I’m becoming more tiger-like because I’m finally eating enough, and safe, and not about to die all the time.”

Akutugawa hummed. He took a long drink of his coffee; Atsushi tracked the bobbing of his throat, mouth suddenly very dry. The white of Akutugawa’s thyroid cartilage peeked over his dark turtleneck, skin tight over delicate muscle. His shirt hugged his clavicle so that the bone stuck out like a handle. “Just don’t start eating people, jinko.”

“Right,” Atsushi said, laughing. Sticky sweat gathered at the small of his back. “How’s Gin?”

It started with canines that casually grazed his friends’ skin, playing with the idea of puncturing, a touch so light as to raise no one’s suspicion but his own. He couldn’t help it. It was instinctual that when another’s flesh neared Atsushi’s face, he’d twist his head, open his mouth, and let his teeth rest. Junichiro’s forearm, when he slung his arm over Atsushi’s shoulders. Kyouka’s jugular, when she fell asleep on his chest. He was transfixed, frozen, his teeth always hovering.

Atsushi discovered himself doing this for the first time while joking around with Dazai and Kunikida. Well, mostly with Dazai — Kunikida didn’t seem to think it was very funny, the way Dazai and Atsushi were bantering back and forth, tossing paper airplanes and erasers and crumpled reports, cursing dramatically every time they were hit. Kunikida berated Dazai, who pinned it on Atsushi, who started shooting back how he knew how many stacks of paperwork Dazai had hidden in his locker. Dazai scrambled across the desk, slapped his hand over Atsushi’s mouth, and started rambling out his explanations.

Atsushi did not fight. The heat of Dazai’s palm shocked him. He only needed to open his mouth a millimeter to rest the points of his canines on the full, calloused pade of fat there, his breath shaking with the threat of sinking down. Atsushi swore he could feel Dazai’s soul marching under his rough armor of skin, could feel it in his tongue and in his gums.

Dazai was still going back-and-forth with an increasingly irate Kunikida, but his eyes slid over to Atsushi. His fingers twitched, his index pressing purposefully into Atsushi’s cheek, and Atsushi realized he should have been sputtering and stammering and swatting Dazai away that whole time. So he did — with all the drama and indignance he could — but Dazai was still watching him, in that way he did when he wanted Atsushi to know he was being studied.

It started with his cuticles.

With him curled up in his closet, his canines digging into the tough skin around his nails, his pupils blowing wide at the copper taste of his own hot blood. It was Lucy’s wrists — the sight of them twisting as she poured his tea, the sudden, horrific, desperate thought of those fragile veins bursting on his tongue — which sent him here.

It was dark and dusty in the closet in which he slept. But his pupils were as blown as they could be, and Byakko had no problem watching the trickle of blood catch in the grooves of his knuckles. She chased it with her rough tongue, bit into his fingerbones, punctured the web between pointer and middle like paper.

Everything was quiet but for soft whimpers and the gentle sound of suckling on one’s own blood. Atsushi’s mouth trailed down, down, until he hit the meat of his forearm. His jaw opened wider, the points of his teeth settled on his flesh. A breath in, a breath out. Heady anticipation. He sank in. Bliss.

Tough meat, tender fat. Move up towards his wrist, find veins — hook his teeth into them, pull them out like licorice. Dizzy with it. Blurry vision, a pounding in his temples. Byakko’s regeneration made quick work of it, and he went again, until he no longer wished it was Lucy’s cephalic vein which he worked into the gap between his two front teeth.

At some point Byakko grew tired. He stood and found that she did not regenerate blood nearly as quickly as she regenerated flesh; gasping for air, he collapsed back down and laid there, yellow fat and drying blood smeared across his cheeks.

Eventually he realized his own flesh wasn’t enough.

Well, he says eventually. But the moment he first sank his teeth into his arm, he knew it wouldn’t work. It did its job — at first — but it left him numb, and desperate, a pit still in his stomach.

He was eating a lot of raw meat, these days. He tried sushi and sashimi to satisfy that urge, but it wasn’t bloody enough, wild enough, to replace — well. It didn’t satiate Byakko. Grocery store beef and chicken worked for a while, so long as he gnawed on his own arms every few days.

When Kyouka wasn’t home Atsushi would crouch over his counter, shovel the meat into his mouth, relish in the endless chewing of the tougher bits, the fat melting on his tongue, the cartilage crunching. There was lots of cartilage, lots of bone, lots of tough bits. He always bought the cheapest stuff. And he never got sick from it.

Afterwards Byakko would rumble approval and rest. She’d curl into the back of his mind, happy as a cat with cream, and Atsushi would find himself a beast, breathing ragged in the middle of his kitchen, blood and juices dribbling down his chin, the sun sinking low in the window.

But she would always be hungry again within the hour. So he dug into himself more, and more, and more. His thighs suffered too. He was drawing more and more blood, circling it back through himself, catching his own flesh and bits of bone.

Byakko worked hard but Atsushi knew he was starting to look a little anemic — always ghastly pale like he was when Dazai first found him, stumbling wherever he went. The others noticed. Ranpo was always squinting at him these days. Where’s your lunch, Atsushi? He was Atsushi’s worst nightmare right now — asking him about blood loss, iron deficiencies, diet. Always whispering to Yosano.

Atsushi tried local farmers and hunters, buying straight from the source. Then he’d had to haltingly explain to Kyouka why there was half a deer in their freezer, and anyway, it didn’t help much. And it drained his wallet.

So all of this was just… stopgaps. Preventative measures that became more and more desperate as that persistent ache made a home in his stomach.

He began to develop a horrible craving for his friends.

Not that strangers didn’t catch his eye. He’d go on jobs and stop and stare at murder victims, mouth flooding with saliva. He’d claw down a suspect and stop himself with his teeth scant inches from their jugulars. It was becoming harder and harder to be in public for the way his gaze couldn’t help but stick. Kyouka told him he was becoming a hermit.

But murder victims and murder suspects and waitresses and bus drivers… they just didn’t appeal to him nearly as much as his coworkers. Lucy’s cheeks were wonderfully full when she smiled, he noticed over a cup of tea. Kyouka’s shoulder was birdbone frail, but if he shifted his head the right way when he leaned on her he could feel the sweet rhythm of her pulse at the base of her neck. Yosano’s calves were beautifully accentuated by her heels, and Atsushi couldn’t help but track her graceful steps. When Ranpo offered candies to Atsushi, hands outstretched, Atsushi took special note of the soft plumpness of his wrists.

And Dazai, who was always touching Atsushi — arm around his shoulders, cheek leaning into the top of his head, sides flush together when Dazai was curious about Atsushi’s work — was just so very warm.

One day, Dazai came to work smelling of blood. Dazai said nothing of it. He was walking fine; the blood smelled not like it was old, but like it was clotting, and there wasn’t much of it. This was far from abnormal from Dazai. Atsushi had long since given up on expressing any concern, because Dazai always dismissed him, and all it ever served to do was shutter Dazai’s expression and make him all closed off and fake for the rest of the day. All Atsushi could do was watch, and try to prevent.

No one else noticed the blood, except Byakko was yowling.

When they worked, Dazai was usually only a few feet away from Atsushi. Their desks were corner-caddy; this was usually wonderful. Usually, Atsushi used their position to his advantage to always spy. He liked to watch Dazai and his unpredictability out of the corner of his eye, attempt to force Dazai into something understandable.

Today, their proximity was torture. Every man’s blood, Atsushi found, had a slightly different scent to it. Atsushi had smelled Dazai’s a million times and until recently it had never smelled so sweet that he needed to chug it.

The smell was clogging his throat. Atsushi kept forgetting his work, hunched over his desk like a freak, outright staring at Dazai for tens of seconds at a time. Dazai had to have noticed, but Dazai was good at acting like he had not noticed things in a way that told you he had absolutely noticed.

Desperately, Atsushi brought one of his hands up to his face to stifle the scent. He was able to work for ten, fifteen minutes. That smell of blood — of liquor and something heavy, of wet dog and cigarette smoke — crept in, but it was slow about it, sneaky; Atsushi didn’t realize his hand had stopped being effective until his teeth were already sinking into the hill of his palm. And then helplessly he bit, and bit, unable to stop himself, to even think about stopping himself.

And Kunikida shouted, his sharp voice ripping Atsushi’s teeth out of his own flesh. Not without carnage: bits of his own flesh caught on his canines and plopped onto the desk.

This was the first time Atsushi really had to lie. With his own blood pooling in the cracks in his lips, he stammered out something about zoning out, didn’t realize my teeth had gotten so sharp! Then he stumbled off to his lunch break.

The President had a gaggle of stray cats which gathered on the windowsills and in the halls and on the front stoop. Atsushi loved them from his first day at the Office. Helped Fukuzawa name all the new ones, volunteered to feed them, spent his breaks with them.

There was a convenient alleyway behind the Agency to which Atsushi often disappeared. When work and socialization got too much, the cheap metal chair and table someone had put out here were his lifeboat. The cats were a lovely bonus.

Lady, the fat black Maine-coon Atsushi had once nursed back from starvation, was the only cat around today. As soon as Atsushi sat down Lady jumped up onto the table, shoving her head under Atsushi’s trembling hands for pets; Atsushi admired her utter lack of shame.

“Hi, love,” Atsushi said, his head ducking low so Lady could hear the tremoring softness of his voice. Lady’s face tilted up to meet him. The top of her skull met Atsushi’s nose and lips. Byakko had healed Atsushi’s palm, but when he pushed his fingers into Lady’s fur, flecks of his drying blood caught.

That morning, Atsushi had eaten three steaks. His stomach did not seem to know this. Dazai, Dazai, Dazai, Byakko was thinking. Lady purred as though attempting to distract Atsushi so he shoved his face into her neck. He took deep breaths that smelled of dirt and fish and wet cat, trying to chase out Dazai.

Atsushi’s phone chirped — it was Akutugawa texting. Ryuunosuke, Atsushi thought to himself. They were trying first names, now. It was nice. New. And kind. But this text was an awful development, not for its content but for the way Atsushi’s blood ran hotter when he saw the name.

Despite all he’d eaten, he was still so hungry. Byakko heard him think Ryuunosuke and all her crooning of Dazai became screaming, wailing for Ryuunosuke, Ryuunosuke, Ryuunosuke, for that pale throat, that handle-bar clavicle. For his adam’s apple. Byakko wanted — Atsushi wanted — to roll it around his mouth like a ball.

It was entirely unconscious, sinking his fangs into Lady’s neck. Atsushi did not realize he had done it until he was already tearing out a chunk of flesh and fur and Lady was yowling, then whimpering, then nothing. And then Lady was still warm when Atsushi found her trachea and esophagus, and then her tiny heart and lungs.

Atsushi cried with it, shook with it; Byakko trembled in pleasure. The tender meat of Lady’s thigh was Yosano’s. The dying thrum of her heart was Kyouka’s. The warmth of her was Dazai’s. And the blood was Ryuunosuke’s, all Ryuunosuke’s.

He laid Lady’s bones to rest in a dumpster, then washed off in the cafe restroom, keeping his head ducked and eyes far away from Lucy’s. He was thirty minutes late back from his break. In the office he was silent, and heavy, and kept his back to Ranpo always.

Of course, Atsushi knew Ranpo knew. Ranpo held the fatal stopwatch — he could decide, at any millisecond, that Atsushi’s secret was up. This was only a matter of time.

It was late the night after Lady’s death that Ranpo appeared at Atsushi’s front door, a cage full of rats in his hands. Pale and hovering in the soft light, Ranpo looked, as he always did, a little otherworldly. His face was carefully calm. The rats squeaked a symphony that struck cold fear up Atsushi’s spine.

“Ranpo,” Atsushi laughed unconvincingly, “what’s this?”

Ranpo set the cage on the counter with a strong degree of solemnity. The lights weren’t on in the dorm, except for the nauseous yellow glow emanating from the bathroom, where Atsushi had just been hunched over the toilet, fingers down his throat, forcing himself to throw up his own blood. He thought his knuckles might be glaringly raw. And despite his regeneration, he was sure there was still blood on his thighs and forearms and the soft white cotton of his pajamas. But he was too scared to look down and check.

“You need to eat living things,” Ranpo said in lieu of how are you. His mouth was tight, eyes sharp.

Atsushi swallowed. Ranpo was — he was always very — wonderful. Amazing. At the start of things — the very start, when Atsushi was brand new and always swinging wildly between a ravenous appetite and complete self-starvation, it was Ranpo who left candies and chips and chocolate in his desk drawers. Ranpo who always knew when Atsushi was going home feeling off, who called Kunikida to make sure someone checked on Atsushi’s dorm late at night. Ranpo who knew when Atsushi was — when he would need Yosano to come and clean him up from his own messes even Byakko couldn’t fix.

And it was Ranpo who set the cage of rats on his living room table.

Haltingly, Atsushi said: “I need to eat people.”

“…But you won’t, will you, Atsushi?” Ranpo said it softly, with the intonation of a question; But it was Ranpo, and he was absolutely assured in his own correctness. Confidence was there in the set of his jaw.

Atsushi thought this wildly hopeful, even for Ranpo. It was rare that he doubted the Agency’s greatest detective, but — Atsushi had already started to eat himself.

Gesturing to the rats, Ranpo said, “You can be like a vegetarian.”

If it was anyone else but Ranpo, and if it were any other situation, this would come off as a lighthearted joke. But it was Ranpo, and he said it with complete earnestness and self-esteem. And while Atsushi thought Ranpo was, for once, wildly off base, he realized his heart was warm with love, for the kindness of this gesture — even though really Ranpo was probably only doing it to keep Atsushi from having Kenji for lunch.

His heart was absolutely white-hot with it, and all that love swirled in him until he found that he wanted to take his claws to Ranpo’s shoulders and lap up the blood.

“Let,” Ranpo started haltingly, a hand hovering over Atsushi’s upper arm, the pads of his fingers grazing copper-stained skin, “Let Dazai or the President — or myself — know, if you need anything.”

And then because Ranpo was no more a paragon of emotional intelligence than the rest of them, he left. And Atsushi went back to his bile-yellow bathroom, where his own blood in his own toilet seat. Over the cracking porcelain bowl, he bit into a squealing rat.

[deklo]

🧎

sorry i feel like ive complained so much lately and i specifically ALWAYS complain about optometry appointments but i have one next week and i needed to also make a contact fitting appointment (this is my first time getting contacts through this doctors office, ive had contacts for years DO NOT get me started) and it’s gonna cost money to get fitted (ANNOYING) and soooo much money for new contacts. and im dreading it. so much. i might have to get the type of contacts that are reusable because i currently use one a days and i love them but they are SOOOO EXPENSIVE WAAAA I HATE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE i’m sad and stressed and need a job hehe tehehe

i’ve been doing my nails, drawing on my ipad, and playing my switch so much more lately so i can reallyyyy feel how bad my eyes are getting and i’m gonna cry. i’m so sick of my prescription increasing. i don’t want a new doctor to tell me how bad my eyes are lmao

[atwhughesversion]

how long can it possibly take for contact lenses to be shipped to an optometry office i’m asking for a friend