#high fever module

[miku-module-showdown]

White Dress (left) VS High Fever (right)

[mikrokosmos]

The Gothic in Classical Music History (1760s-1920s)

Intro Back in high school I fell in love with two things; classical music, and Edgar Allan Poe. I’ve always loved Halloween, October, spooky things, ghost stories, horror and slasher movies, etc. And I always loved finding classical music that was also spooky, or dark, or evocative of the same eerie experience of a cold and foggy October day. Thinking about these memories made me want to put together a short list of Gothic Classical music.

But what do I mean? There is no true “Gothic music” as in a specific movement in classical history, because the traditional Gothic refers to literature. Not all art movements have corresponding trends in all mediums. Even so I thought it would be fun to say, if there was such a thing as Gothic music, what would that include?

18th Century

John Henry Fuseli - The Nightmare (1781)

Music of the 1760s-1790s, corresponding with the first wave of “Gothic Novels” in the English language. Some names in this era include Horace Walpole (The Castle of Otranto), Ann Radcliffe (The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Italian) and Charles Brockden Brown (Wieland). The closest we have to music of this same era would be in the Sturm und Drang style. Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) was used to describe music written in a minor key that was restless, agitated, intense, emotional, and more extreme than the typical expectations for restraint and lightness/clarity, music that aristocrats in powdered wigs and velvet and lace could relax with. Strong changes of emotion and more emphasis on subjectivity, reflected by sudden modulations and pulsing rhythms.

The most famous piece that I associate with Sturm und Drang is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “little” g minor Symphony no.25, K.183 (1773). It is famously used in the opening of Miloš Forman’s Amadeus (1984). It is a fun piece, and that opening movement is full of fire, and probably the young Mozart having fun (he wrote it at 17. If you ever want to lower your self esteem, look up what music Mozart wrote at your current age.). Another major work would be Joseph Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony no.45 (1772), written in the very unusual for the time key of f# minor. And of course, even though he comes later, anything Ludwig van Beethoven published in a minor key has a lot of muscular passion to it, and his early/classical era of the 1790s is no joke. Check out the final movements of his Piano Trio no.3 in c minor and his Piano Sonata no.1 in f minor, or his most famous early sonata, the Pathetique.

But if the Sturm und Drang style and Gothic genre also emphasize the disturbed and the psychological, we can include programmatic works that do the same. Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni (1788) has an incredible moment in the finale. The sociopathic hedonist is confronted by the ghost of the man he murdered in the first act, who possesses a statue and confronts Don Giovanni with his sins. Don Giovanni doesn’t repent, so he is dragged into hell with a chorus of demons. Always a good reminder that Mozart wasn’t the eternal child who wrote pretty melodies.

19th Century

Caspar David Friedrich - The Abbey in the Oakwood (1810)

Music of the early 19th century corresponds better with Gothic fiction because Romanticism in art brought greater interest in the supernatural, in the subjective, in emotional reactions to the universe… major names in fiction include the poetry of Lord Byron (Darkness), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein, The Last Man), and Sir Walter Scott (The Bride of Lammermoor). Greater emphasis is put on the anxiety of the unknown, supernatural fears beyond our control.

Of all Franz Schubert’s songs, Erlkönig (1815) best exemplifies the Gothic (and this is a bold claim because I only know about a fraction of Schubert’s extensive song output). In it, a father and son are riding on horseback. The son is sick with fever. As they ride, the son cries out that he can hear the Elf King calling out to him, some evil spirit or demon that wants to take the son’s life. The father tries to calm him down, but the Elf King gets closer and closer. By the time they reach home, the son has died. Was the Elf King real? Was the son hallucinating from fever? How literal should we take this text? The ambiguity of subjective experiences and how we interpret and understand reality is a major theme in Gothic fiction.

Many famous German operas lean into the supernatural and magical. In this period we get Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz (1821), considered to be the first Romantic opera. In it, our main character Max who needs to win a shooting contest so he can be allowed to marry his lover, Agathe. He is given a gun that can shoot magic bullets by another forrester Kaspar (who has his own plans). Kaspar tells Max to meet him in the “Wolf’s Glenn” in the woods at midnight for more magic bullets. In the Wolf’s Glenn, Kaspar calls for a spirit, the Black Huntsman Samiel, to help him curse the other characters, offering Max’s soul in exchange. Making deals with demons/the devil was another fascination in Romanticism.

Legends of a diabolical nature were springing around great musicians. At the end of the 1700s, Giuseppe Tartini wrote his most famous composition, the “Devil’s Trill” Violin Sonata in g minor which is full of virtuosic passages. Tartini claimed that the Devil appeared to him in a dream, and that he sold his soul in exchange for the Devil to be his servant. He handed the Devil his violin, and the Devil “…played with such great art and intelligence, as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy. I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke” Source

Similar stories came about with violinist Niccolò Paganini, who astonished the audiences of the early 19th century with his (for the time) otherworldly technique, dazzling them with scales and leaps and scratches the likes of which you can hear across his 24 Caprices for solo violin. A young Franz Liszt was at one of Paganini’s concerts and he was enthralled and inspired to become the “Paganini of the Piano”. He too would dazzle audiences with his percussive intensity, glittering arpeggios, and dreamy modulations to possess women with the spirits of hysteria and other dated misogynistic diseases. Cliche to say but before Bieber Fever, before Beatlemania, there was Lisztomania.

The sense of Faustian bargains comes through in the pieces Liszt wrote after Goethe’s Faust. The Faust Symphony (1857) includes a movement for Mephistopheles, the demon/ the Devil that bargains with Faust. The Mephistopheles movement has no original theme, but takes and corrupts the themes of Faust and his lover Gretchen into a mocking tone. Later on, Liszt was inspired to write a tone poem “The Dance in the Village Inn” or Mephisto Waltz no.1 (c.1862). He also wrote it for piano around the same time. The story has Mephistopheles taking Faust to a wedding in a village and playing the violin so madly, the partygoers are intoxicated by the music and go off dancing in the woods. Emotions taking over and making one act irrationally was another fascination in Gothic fiction.

Liszt would go on in his later years writing a few more Mephisto waltzes, with a lot of forward thinking harmonies and piano writing, unfortunately not as popular. Mephisto waltz no.2 (1881) has moments that make me think of Debussy, and the third (1883) has glittering and ethereal moments. But the best example of Liszt’s interest in the Gothic would be his earlier concert piece Totentanz (1949), or Dance of Death (Danse macabre). In it, the piano and orchestra play out variations on the Medieval chant Dies Irae, always reminding us of the inevitability of death. The variations depict skeletons dancing wildly all while the Mephistopheles at the piano unleashes his seductive tones.

The Dies Irae chant goes across our pop culture, with one famous iteration being a synthesized version of passages from Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique that Wendy Carlos wrote for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) after Stephen King’s novel of the same name. And it was Berlioz’s symphony that enchanted audiences in 1830 with new, titanic sounds beyond what orchestra music had been before. In the story of the Symphonie fantastique, an artist has tried to overdose on opium after feeling rejected by unrequited love, but instead he has a vivid drug induced nightmare where he is sentenced to be beheaded via guillotine, which was still a traumatic living memory for the Parisian audience. He then sees himself among ghosts and monsters during a witches’ sabbath, the lovely woman’s beautiful theme is distorted into a grotesque mockery, the Dies Irae comes back among the cackling. It was a new degree of imagination expected from the audience. Later, Berlioz would depict demons in Pandæmonium (the Capital of Hell in Dante’s Inferno) at the end of his Damnation of Faust.

Through the mid to late 19th century we get authors of Gothic literature such as Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth Gaskell, Emily and Charlotte Brontë, Nathaniel Hawethorne, and Victor Hugo. We also get two more operas that have Gothic themes. First is Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (1843). In this opera, a ship on the North Sea collides with the Ghost Ship of the Flying Dutchman who is cursed to sail the seas forever, but is allowed to come ashore once every seven years and if he can find a wife, he will be freed. I’m sure you can guess how this opera ends. The overture is often played in concert for a condensed version of Wagnarian thunder and romance. The next important opera is Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth (1847), because Shakespeare was being revived and translated in different languages across Europe and Verdi loved his plays. In the opera, Macbeth comes across a chorus of witches that foretell his success and downfall. He is too ambitious and goaded by Lady Macbeth, plans to take the throne through deception and murder. Lady Macbeth is later haunted with phantom blood on her hands which only she can see. And Macbeth succumbs to his inevitable fate.

We also get two significantly “Gothic” pieces of orchestra music. They are both tone poems, which also reflects the concert goers’ tastes. The one that has always been a quintessential “Halloween classical” piece is Camille Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre (1875), opening at the stroke of midnight (softly evoked by the harp), a violin shrieks out the tritone (the “Devil’s interval” which the Romantics thought meant was cursed by the superstitious Medievals, really it was an idiom for “hard to use in music”) and introduces ballroom music along with the clacking bones of skeletons dancing in the graveyard (evoked by the xylophone). The skeletons dance through the night until the rooster crows at dawn.

The other great Halloween concert piece is Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain (1867) which depicts another witches sabbath, this time on St. John’s Night, a major holiday in Slavic Eastern Orthodox culture. Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940) would help bring this poem to life with an animated phantasmagoria of ghouls and skeletal horses and other demons flying around the mountainous demon Chernoberg.

[Here I want to give a quick shoutout to Cesar Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Huntsman), a tone poem about a Count who doesn’t go to church one Sunday, and instead rides around to whip peasants for his own amusement, so demons drag him to hell. Not nearly as famous a concert piece as the others mentioned in this list but it has colorful orchestration so you should check it out.]

The initial idea for Fantasia was for Disney to repopularize Mickey Mouse by writing him into an animated version of Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The original poem by Goethe was a classic that Paul Dukas set to music in 1897. In it, we hear the Sorcerer leave his Apprentice to clean the floors of his workshop. The Apprentice uses magic to bring a broom to life so it can do the chores for him. The Broom mindlessly pours buckets of water all over the floor, and the Apprentice isn’t good enough with magic to stop it. He chops it up into pieces with an ax, but they regenerate into several brooms which go back to marching water in. The Sorcerer returns to clean the mess and scolds his Apprentice. This charming tale has a darker and more diabolically fun tone in Dukas orchestra.

20th Century

Harry Clarke - Illustration for "Masque of the Red Death" (1919)

In the same exact year of Dukas’ tone poem, we get Bram Stoker’s Dracula. At this turn of the century other major names include Gaston Luroux (The Phantom of the Opera), Robert Lewis Stevenson (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Henry James (The Turn of the Screw), Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray). At this time, there are a few more pieces that continue trying to evoke Gothic subject matter. One comes from Gustav Mahler’s Symphony no.7 (1905), sometimes dubbed “Song of the Night”. Two of the symphonies five movements are titled “Nachtmusik” (night music), the first is more in line with Gothic anxiety and spookiness than the second which is more like a serenade. But the most Gothic movement is the Scherzo which sits in the middle of the symphony and is like a Viennese ballroom full of dancing corpses and skeletons as waltz music decays with them.

A surprising example (at least, because of how relatively obscure it is) comes from Claude Debussy with parts of an opera based on Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher that he worked on between 1908-1917. Not too much a surprise on the one hand because French translations of Poe’s work became popular and influential. On the other hand Debussy is more known for evocative sound pictures, unique musical colors, and subtlety. Perhaps he was drawn to symbolist and psychosexual interpretations of The House of Usher, the same interests that preoccupied him with his only finished opera Pelleas et Melisande. Roger Orledge reconstructed the opera and tried to stay true to Debussy’s style, so what we do have is passable and as shadowy and vague as his other orchestral masterpieces.

Maybe the hardest work to recommend (but I do recommend regardless, give it a chance) is a Modernist song cycle for chamber ensemble. Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (1910) uses freely chromatic atonality to give a demented color of psychosis experienced by Pierrot, personified version of a stock character for old Commedia dell Arte plays, a clown who over time became the “sad clown”. Maybe a precursor to the demon from Stephen King’s It, or the demented clowns and jesters that laugh at the madness of the cosmos across Thomas Ligotti’s short stories.

This was only meant to be a small overview of works that could fit my own view of the Gothic in music. There are more examples I could include, so as a hint toward today, I’ll end with a piece that was written about a century ago, yet sounds as if it could have been written today. Henry Cowell’s The Banshee (1925) is a short piano piece, so if you can, at least listen to this one. Instead of playing with the keys like you’re “supposed to”, Cowell asks the performer to drag their fingers along the wires directly. This creates disturbing reverberations and scratching sounds that tingle the back of your neck, that feel like the otherworldly cry of a Banshee.

Happy Halloween.

[queenendless]

Chase (Darth Vader x Fem!Adult!Reader)

A/n: Tales of the Empire gave me ideas. Particularly on a snowy chilly planet ... it's a very open setting as to what is going on in this so bare with me. First time writing SW stuff on here.

So AU with unburnt Vader who's also kinda OOC in this, some fluff and steamy romance with some Anakin at the end, but it's a short ass piece cause of short notice for today.

PLEASE DONT REPOST, EDIT, COPY, PLAGARIZE, TRANSLATE AND OR STEAL MY FANFIC WORK. RATHER IF YOU DO ENJOY IT THEN LIKE REBLOG AND FOLLOW ME PLS N THNX.

And May The 4th be with you.

Your cloak blew from the chilly winds.

Your hood covered head raised up to meet at the top of the snowy hill.

Climbing up with the darkening gray storm clouds piling up, heighting the anxious tension filling you up inside, the helmeted figure coming into view struck through your core.

He had pursued after your wandering lost self.

You wanted to see how far he would go, as selfish as that was.

Your fear of the cold blooded, brutal Sith Lord becomes mingled with how you are lustful of his imposing presence.

Your cape fluttered in the blowing cold winds as you hurried away, straight to the ice cave entrance.

He knew you thrive off the chase.

And you knew he was relentless in playing along.

“You cannot run forever, Y/n."

His deep modulated voice bounced off the towering crystal ice walls, using the light shining from the high cracked ceiling to guide you.

“I've come this far.” Your tepid sweet voice echoing back at him had him growling a bit.

“You cannot hide from me.”

You didn't need to be Force sensitive to feel that he was honing in on you quickly.

Your flushed nervous face met your eyes as your bumpy reflection followed your side, his heavy footsteps sounding that much closer. “Doing good so far, all things considered.”

You should have figured uttering those words into existence would jinx your ongoing streak. The moment you stepped back from the dead end and spun around on your heel, you bumped into that armored chest.

You screamed a bit as his leather black gloves grabbed your forearms and pinned you to the wall gently but firmly.

His red lenses hid his eyes boring into your very soul, his giant frame enveloping you, pressing you carefully against the alien texture. His heavy breathing made your breathing go silent like a scared mouse, caught by the big bad beast.

“The game is over.” For some reason, he sounded so smug about it.

“You're unbelievable.” You pouted up at that obsidian face.

“You're foolish.” He scoffed.

“Says the man wearing the robot suit.”

The fact that he released his grip on you and leaned back a bit to actually take off that intimidating helmet still took your breath away.

“It helps with the image.” To hear that warm enriching amused voice again already had you giggling as your hands cupped his sculpted cheeks to pull his face down to peck those tempting lips.

His helmet clanked along the ground as his arms slithered around your waist to lift you off the ground, grinning slyly to you hugging his waist in response.

“It's working, my Lord.” You shakily spoke, weaving through that shoulder length darkened hair to tug him closer, pecking many a time quite desperately.

“This little ploy of yours has gotten us completely off track.” His husky tone was sheer evidence that he did not give a damn. Not one bit.

“Forgive me, Lord Vader, for my teasing.”

You squeaked as those giant leather hands of his cupped and squeezed your ass.

“I shall have to punish you, my dear. Quite thoroughly~” Those blue eyes were riddled with devious intention, marking your neck with ferocious bites along your delectable skin.

Your fevered gasps and lecherous cries traveled the caves as you became a mess under his wet steamy mouth. “A – Ani~!”

The former Jedi turned Sith Lord smirked, devouring your mouth with that needy tongue of his.

“Hush, my love. We're just getting started.”

[cressidagrey]

Indelible Scars - Chapter 5

Summary:

Azriel knew pain. So did Galena.

Also known as: Azriel’s mate is a healer and the first time they meet, he nearly dies on her.

Warnings:

Irresponsible use of Sleeping Potions, Cassian's POV

(thanks to @cafekitsune for the super pretty dividers!)

The fabled Galena was nothing like what Cassian had expected. 

But then, he hadn’t really thought about what to expect. Somewhere in his mind, he had thought she would be even older than Madja. An Ancient High Fae that had seen everything and because of that experience would be able to help Azriel. 

But Galena wasn’t. 

Galena was young, with her magic feeling like ice and peppermint, which she kept tightly leashed…until it bled all over the room, the moment she started casting. 

She was powerful, he realised that then too. Quite powerful, exact in the way she wielded it as well. 

Ice and Peppermint, and somehow matching her scent perfectly, like freshly fallen snow in a forest. 

He could smell that now, all over the room. Her scent weirdly seemed to match Azriel’s of cedar and ist, even as miserable as he smelled at that moment, the normally clear scent muddled with pain and hurt and sweat. 

She worked differently than Madja had. Madja was calm and collected, seemingly nothing surprising her. Zoreen had been warm and caring. 

Galena…Galena was…pointed. 

He couldn’t find another word for it. She knew what she wanted to do and how. 

She had cast more magic in five minutes than he had ever seen Madja do and had then taken a break from that to ask Cassian to open up every window. 

“Do you have ice lying around or something?” she had asked quietly, and Nesta had asked the house to provide teatowel with ice in them, just like Nesta and she had used throughout the night. 

“We tried to get his fever down,” Nesta said quietly. “But it didn’t work.”

“We’ll try again,” Galena said calmly. “It’s getting too high for my peace of mind…if this doesn’t work, I’ll have some more draughts for him to take, but I don’t want to do that to him before I know what is actually wrong with him…I don’t want to take the risk of accidentally making something worse,” she uttered under her breath. Cassian slipped the ice beneath the back of Azriel’s neck, getting a weak groan in response, another cough…

He hated every fucking minute of it. 

And then Cassian could swear he could see Azriel relax, which was ridiculous because he was unconscious, every muscle of his body lax anyway. 

But the tightness around his mouth had eased, like he was resting and it was…

“His breathing is easier,” he said wondrously. The wheezing had stopped. His chest moved…easier. 

“It’s me,” Galena’s voice was quiet, coming from where she was perched on the chair he had procured for her. 

Cassian turned to see her sit there,  nearly unnaturally still, eyes closed, concentrating on something. He hadn’t thought that she could even hear him. “I am modulating his magic, so to speak…Stopping him from fighting to come awake…He relaxes, and that makes it easier for him to breathe,” Galena explained. 

“You can do that?” Nesta asked surprised. Cassian had never even heard from anything like that. He met his mate’s gaze, from where she was standing at the foot of the bed, hands wrapped around the wooden footboard. Watching Galena with something in her eyes that he couldn’t quite place. 

Not pity maybe…but understanding…Nesta had taken one look at her and she had managed to keep the shock from her face better than he had. Since then, she was watching Galena like a hawk, her arms crossed waiting. 

“As long as I am near him, yes. It’s normally used under very different circumstances,” Galena explained, blinking open her eyes again. “You can use it to soothe a babe back to sleep. Clotho lend me an ancient book about nursery magic,” she explained nearly absnetmindeldy, as she searched through her back for something. 

She was a very relaxing presence to be around, he realised. Quiet and focused and…so still. Like every movement was thought out. But then, he reflected, as he saw the cane leaning against the chair he had procured for her…she probably did need to think about every fucking movement she made, so it wasn’t going to outright hurt her. 

“You know Clotho?” Nesta asked, sounding shocked.  

“We are Pen Pals,” Galena answered, her voice quiet. Or maybe that was just the natural state of her. Quiet and focused. 

Somehow that made so much sense. 

Two females who clearly knew the cruelty the world had to offer. That knew how it was to be judged by everybody around them…Madja had helped heal Clotho and maybe even her niece, so of course, she would have introduced them. 

He imagined that only somebody that had similar scars could truly understand how it was to live with the everyday. 

For just one moment, Cassian wondered what had happened to Galena. 

What had resulted in the scars covering her face and her neck and her hands…what had resulted in a leg that was so destroyed that even agic couldn’t heal it anymore and she was stuck using a cane. 

When had it happened? How had it happened? 

Was the story as disgusting as the one how Azriel had gained the scars on his hands? Half-brothers out for blood and doing an experience of how oil and fire mixed? 

The scars looked similar for both of them, like skin and fat and muscles, had been melted away by the flickering of flames. 

Even to this day, Cassian knew how much Azriel hated fire. 

He was never obvious about it of course, but he had oftentimes found his staring in flames happily flickering in the oven and having an expression on his face that…well. 

He imagined if somebody had felt the full brunt of flames, then one would be hesitant to get near them. Regardless of how much one needed to. 

He pulled back the hand that he had kept on his brother’s shoulder, breathing now deep and even and turned to watch Galena do her work. 

She was looking at Azriel, an unreadable expression on her face, one hand hovering over Azriel’s arm, nearly glowing…

And then it cut off sharply and she stared at Azriel, shaking her head. 

“I need…a comparison,” she muttered under her breath, her eyes snapping up at him. “Can I cast a diagnostic on you, General?” she asked him suddenly. 

“Yes, of course,” he agreed immediately. “Whatever he needs.” 

 Ice and Peppermint waved over him for just a few seconds and her eyes narrowed, staring between him and Azriel. 

“You need to eat more vegetables,” she told him absentmindedly and he just stared at her. Right. “You lack iron. Preferably spinach or peas or broccoli.”

“I eat enough vegetables,” he disagreed with her and she rolled her good eye, the movement in sharp contrast to the consummate professional she seemed to be most of the time.

Nesta snorted in amusement.

“Does he need Iron too?” he asked her drily and she just shook her head. 

“Oh no, he needs other things,” Galena assured him.” “It’s fascinating…It’s different, even when it shouldn’t be different… He’s just as full-blooded illyrian as you are. It should be the same…”

Cassian had no idea what she was speaking of and crossed his arms. 

“What shouldn’t be the same?” he asked her tightly. 

She waved her hands and suddenly golden runes appeared before him, two rows, beneath each other. 

“See this?” she asked, and he stared at the runes. He couldn’t read them, and had never learned that side of magic because Illyrian killing power did not lend itself to this kind of magic at all. 

But even he could see that the two rows were different. Similar but not the same… 

“The upper one is Azriel, the other one is you, General. Your power levels are obviously similar, and you are similarly trained, but he has a few…interesting points you don’t have,” she said quietly.   “He’s just as full-blooded illyrian as you are. It should be the same. But it’s not,” she said with something that must pass as a smile for her. “Older, seemingly. Ancient .”

Ah.

Cassian rubbed his face. “His father was a Lord. Mine was just a random soldier,” Cassian said quietly. “Illyrians breed for magical power…He comes from an older line than I do.”

Family lines were important to Illyrians. He knew that, even when he had never taken any interest in that. Why should he? He was simply a bastard. Az was a bastard as well, but his father had been a Lord of one of the war camps…His family had reigned there…hailed from deeper in the North. 

The differences were small but there. 

Galena slashed her hands, the runes disappearing. “Older…just as powerful like you…but different. Bigger Wings,” she said thoughtfully. “Which are more powerful, but you have it easier to manoeuvre,” she said thoughtfully, taking in the wings that were spread out underneath Azriel. 

He was thankful that she didn’t reach out to touch them. Azriel didn’t like having them touched. He was…touchy about it. 

Cassian could understand that. If his wings had been crippeled and bound to his back for over a decade, then maybe he would be touchy about them as well. 

“He’s private, isn’t he?” she asked but didn’t seem to actually expect an answer.

“He is,” he answered nonetheless.

“Even now, he’s shielding against me. His magic is pushing mine away,” she said, something akin to amusement and awe in her voice.

“What are you doing?” Nesta suddenly snapped and Cassian stared as Galena unwrapped a roll filled with…implements. Steel implements. Sharp Knives and other things. 

“I need some blood,” Galena explained calmly. “Not a lot. One vial should be plenty,” she promised. “I’ll make a cut on his arm, get the blood and then heal it.”

The idea of anybody sticking a knife in Azriel’s arm right now, when he was already weak and sick was more than Cassian could think to stomach. He understood that she wanted to see the blood itself, test it for something or other but…

“Do you want me to do it on myself first?” she offered calmly, not seeming hurt in the least by the look of horror on his face. 

He opened his mouth to refuse but Nesta was quicker. “Yes.”

Galena didn’t even seem surprised by the request, picking out a sharp knife from the black leather roll and rolling up her sleeve, to show a forearm littered with scars. She didn’t flinch as she cut a short line into her skin, waiting until bright ruby red blood was beading at it and then caught her blood into a vial. She waited calmly until it was filled to two-thirds and then covered the wound with her hand, for one moment glowing. 

As she pulled back the skin looked exactly the same as it had before. 

“I can easily see the big problems with a diagnostic but if I want to fine-tune something it’s easier to see on blood,” she said calmly, cleaning up her knife with a rag and some kind of solution, before she dropped it into another pouch. 

“Alright,” Cassian agreed. 

Just as promised, quick and easy, Galena had one vial of Azriel’s blood and that was it. 

He could feel her magic welling deep as she checked the blood over, surprise and shock coming over her face. The vial glowed nearly silver in her grasp. 

She cast a second time. Then a third. Checking the results she had gotten the first time. 

“What are you getting?” 

“My own magic infused in his blood,” she answered, brows pulling together. “That doesn’t…” she uttered under her breath staring at Azriel and then back at the vial of blood. 

She shook her head, clearly calming her thoughts, as she did something else to the vial, watching it carefully. 

“Oh,” she muttered in surprise. 

“What?” Nesta demanded sharply.

“His blood is filled with a laundry list of Potion ingredients,” Galena answered honestly. “Poppy, lavender, absinth, mirthroot…Madja gave him a Cough Draught and a Fever Reducer. She did not give him even a third of what I am getting from him.” 

He could just stare at her.

What? 

“Is he on any medication?” she asked him. 

“Not that I am aware of,” Cassian answered honestly. “Madja hasn’t given him anything but a Bruise Balm and a Pain Relief Potion in months.”

Nothing that would explain so much different medication. 

“It’s no wonder that we can’t figure out what’s wrong with him. Every diagnostic goes haywire because there is too much in his blood to figure out what the actual problem even is,” Galena said darkly. “I don’t know a single potion that uses everything that I am getting from his blood.  Half of them would never be used together anyway, either they cancel each other out or they wouldn’t work well together at all,” she said with a shake of her head. 

“Is it a poison?” Nesta asked immediately, but Galena made a so-so gesture with her hand. 

“If you are asking if somebody fed him this combination to make him sick, they did a piss poor job at purposefully poisoning him,” she answered drily. “They are better-working poisons that would be easier to procure than whatever he ingested that resulted in…this.”

She sighed for a moment, watching Azriel for a moment. 

“What are we going to do now?” he asked her. “Can we give him an anti-dote?” he demanded. Something? They needed to do something! They couldn’t just…

“I am going to cast another diagnostic on him,” Galena said, her voice decisive. “It’s going to go…deeper in a sense. We’ll see if he even lets me in,” she explained. 

“What if he doesn’t?” Cassian dared to ask and Galena turned her head to look at him, the full brunt of these horrible scars turned towards him. 

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to that,” Galena told him evenly. He just nodded. 

“Is it going to hurt him?” Nesta wanted to know but Galena shook her head. 

“It’s invasive, but not outright painful,” she admitted. “Madja has often cast them on me,”  she explained. “We don’t normally use them, because they strip away every bit of privacy you have about your own body,” she admitted. “But I need to know what he has ingested to result in this mixture in his blood.”

Quite frankly by now, Cassian was desperate enough that he didn’t fucking care as long as she found out what was wrong with Azriel. 

Galena’s magic thickened.  He had no other explanation for it. 

Thickened and stretched and tightened…locked into a battle of wills with Azriel. 

He could just stare at her, the sharp set of her jaw as she clearly did her best to bend Azriel’s magic to her will. 

Cassian didn’t actually believe that she was going to manage it. Azriel was the most stubborn male he had ever met. If Azriel didn’t want something, then it wasn’t going to happen. He had fully well-expected Galena to need to give up, because Azriel, even in his unconscious state, wasn’t having it. 

He could feel the deep well of ice in his brother’s magic suddenly, could nearly taste the cobalt blue power even without the use of siphons. 

He carefully monitored the situation, ready to throw himself in the fray at a second notice if Azriel’s killing power decided to get rid of the poor healer who only tried to help him. 

A sharp surge of something, and between one blink and the next, he could feel the very foundation of the House of Wind shudder as he had only felt it when Rhys was in residence. 

This was…

He stared at the two figures, magic swirling around them, Galena nearly glowing with something…

And then something cracked, sharp and fierce and suddenly, his brother caved in, his magic bursting out to pull Galena’s magic into its embrace, shadows seemingly bleeding out of Azriel’s tattoos, swirling around him…swirling around Galena. 

The magic settled. And Cassian watched wide-eyed, in shock and terror, as the tendrils of shadows wrapped themselves around the scarred hands of the healer. 

There you are. 

Their voice was beautiful and horrible all at the same time, the voice of many in the voice of one…echoing across the walls, and into the rooms. 

Not once before in over 500 years, had Cassian ever heard the shadows talk. They talked to Azriel, they whispered their secrets to him. But they had never talked aloud. 

He was quite sure that he must have lost every bit of colour in his face as he watched the shadows crawl their way across Galena, trail over every bit of skin they could reach, over delicate wrists and her neck, over her cheekbones, dusting themselves over her nose and her lips… 

He had only seen them do that to torture people. And then it hadn't been done with this kind of delicate touch, like they tried to remember every second of this touch. 

Master needs help. 

[aflamboyanceofflamingos]

So I've been dealing with a really bad fever for the last few days, and apparently i had written something i have no recollection of writing so here it is:

~~~~~~~

Tim had dug himself into a hole.

To anyone that knew him, that fact wouldn't be too surprising. Tim had always been a very capable individual, but every now and then he became too in love with how capable he was and he would trip over his own ego. Usually the boy could get out of the messes he created, the sudden humbling giving him a clear head, but this time, he didn't think he could climb his way out on his own. 

The first shovel of dirt of this metaphorical hole came over 4 years ago, lining up with the first shovel of dirt of a literal hole. 

Jason Todd had died. Robin had died. 

Batman was in shambles. 

And 13 year old Tim Drake thought that because of the knowledge he had, it was his responsibility to fix him. 

Batman needed a Robin, and despite what Nightwing had implied, Tim was nowhere near cool enough to be Robin. 

So what would make Batman get his own sidekick? If his enemies had one! Batman would be forced to find someone else to deal with the sidekick while he dealt with the actual Rouge. 

The Joker was obviously out. Beyond the fact that the Joker was horrible, Tim may be joining up with a villain but that didn’t mean he wanted Batman to hate him. 

That meant he needed to find someone Batman didn’t enact a lot of violence on. That got rid of the Scarecrow and the various crime bosses (Black Mask, the Penguin, etc.). Bruce had been close to Harvey Dent, but a 50% chance of death was a percentage that was just a little too high for Tim (oh how that would change). Most of the lower tier Rouges (Kite Man, Mad Hatter, etc.) had gone under after the got wind of Batman's fury, not to mention that Tim really didn't want to spend his days smelling like ketchup. Poison Ivy and Killer Croc were cool, but their skills weren't exactly ones Tim could replicate. 

That left Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and the Riddler. 

The Mr. Freeze was more gentle with kids, their “villiainly” being based on the actions of adults, and the latter three were in it for their own interests rather than the purpose of killing or invoking fear, Catowman wanted shiny things, Harley wanted chaos and fun, and while the Riddler didn't share the same soft spot for kids, he respected intelligence. 

Tim chose Catwoman; the least lethal, and the closest with Batman. The skills she could teach him would also be more helpful in other situations.

It took about a week from the day he knocked on Selina Kyle's door to convince her to train him, but soon enough, a couple days before his 14th birthday and a few more calls to 911 about petty thieves left in the wake of Batman’s grief then Tim would have liked, “Stray” entered the scene. 

And his plan was working! 

The first time Batman had seen the second pair of cat ears he had paused mid ass-kicking of a carjacker and followed the duo, leaving the guy with more teeth then the others.

Slowly but surely, as time went on, the punishments the Batman inflicted started to fit the crime. By the time Tim was 15, he even thought he had seen a small upturn at the corner of Bruce’s mouth as he witnessed a bit of friendly banter between the two cats!

This was when the young villain had started to become a tad bit overconfident. In his defense, he had managed to keep his identity hidden from even Oracle! Lifts in his shoes, a voice modulator, make-up to disguise his facial features, along with a set of the same goggles Catwoman had kept and physical information from being revealed, and Tim Drake never interacted with Selina Kyle so there was no reason that anyone should have suspected him.

That overconfidence is what led him to replicate his plan. If one Rouge sidekick had benefits, then two Rouge sidekicks would mean double the benefits!

Solving riddles wasn’t too hard for the young boy, being able to see double meaning and red herrings was a skill taught to him by Janet Drake, and he took to the escape-room-esque plans for his heists quite easily. The thing he couldn’t figure out was creating riddles of his own. Mother had taught him that knowledge was power, you only reveal it if there was something to be gained, so purposely revealing information about his intention, helping his opponent was not something Tim was accustomed to, not bound to the compulsion to always tell the truth.

If the boy truly wanted to replicate the Riddler, then he would have to learn from the man himself.

Convincing the enigmatic man to teach Tim was easier than it had been with Catowman, the impressive display of bypassing the puzzles that hid the location of the game-playing criminal certainly helping.

Now, 15 years old with an unexplained skill boost in his AP Lang class (the lessons on wordplay were a definite help), The Riddler’s protege, ‘The Puzzler’ became the newest addition to the Gotham Rogues. He resented that name by the way. It was supposed to be Sibyl or Sphinx, they were on theme because they spoke in riddles and though he would deny it, the use of greek figures were his own little way of mocking Oracle, who still couldn’t figure out his identity. But apparently Poison Ivy and the Riddler had brunch once a month (something about being the green Rouges?) and she had heard the Riddler refer to him as “the little puzzle piece” when he was talking about his apprentice and the puzzle theme stuck despite how uncreative the name was.

This is when things became a bit hectic. Not only did Tim have to hide his nightlife from Batman and his parents, now he had to keep his two mentors from realizing that their mentees were the same person. 

He managed to convince Selina that the reason he was so busy lately was the AP classes that came with sophomore year, and while it wasn’t a lie, it certainly wasn’t the full story.

Nygma was easier to deceive. Tim had refrained from sharing his actual identity with the man (just because he would tell the truth in his puzzles for the sake of theme didn’t mean that he would be sharing personal information if it wasn’t needed. The only reason he hadn't hid it from Selina was to gain her trust, something that wasn’t needed with the Riddler) so just saying that he was busy was enough.

All the effort was worth it though. Things kept getting better.

Nightwing was seen in Gotham more often, and Spoiler (someone who Tim initially thought was trying to steal his thing by being a sidekick of the Cluemaster, only to realize she was working against him) had been seen fighting alongside the Batman one or twice. 

On an unrelated note, Stephiane Brown suddenly had her tuition for Gotham Academy paid for in full by the newly created Jason Todd Foundation.

Since things were going so well, he decided to push his luck a little further.

Unfortunately for Tim, he would soon realize the reason he was known for his bad luck in the future.

It started off like other times. Tim convinced Harley Quinn to take him under her wing, and “Ace” made their debut along with Tim’s 5 in AP Psych (Thank you Dr. Quinzel).

Steph and Tim happened to share a few classes together, and went from study buddies (Tim helping her in Chem, and Steph helping him in American History) to close friends.

Spoiler officially joined the Bats, and there were rumors of another bat joining the clan as well. Well there were no actual rumors, but the newest Wayne kid, Cassandra, had started joining him and Steph at their lunch table so her becoming a new bat wouldn’t be too surprising.

Soon enough though, things went to shit.

To start off, the first time Spoiler met Ace, she threw a brick at his head.

Second, His parents had caught him sneaking out and had grounded him, meaning that he now had to wait until they did their last check on his room at 12:00 to sneak out. 

The lack of sleep was starting to catch up to the highschooler. Handling 3 separate nightlife identities was hard enough, but doing so while exhausted was even harder.

After pulling an all nighter to study for a test the night before, he had gone to Selina’s apartment dressed as Ace, and had both costumes not been mostly black he would have been undoubtedly caught before he managed to fix his mistake.

Puzzler once spent a whole night sounding like Stray, and he didn’t think that his “sore throat” lie was all that believable.

Tim accidentally made a cat pun instead of a bat one when engaging in vaguely flirty banter with Spoiler as Ace and Harley had set him down to have the talk, stating that she would love him no matter who he liked and she would be happy to serve as a wingman for him and Catwoman’s protege. It would be funny if it wasn’t so embarrassing.

Third, Cassandra Wayne definitely knew something.

Tim’s “rumors” were right. 2 weeks after Cass had first joined their table Black Bat made herself known. By pinning Puzzler to the ground.

The next day Cass spent the entire lunch period staring at Tim. When he attempted to throw her off by invoking a mix of Stray and Ace’s mannerisms she stopped staring, instead choosing to freak Tim out more by smiling knowingly. At his wide eyes she mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key only throwing Tim off further. Cass was too smart to not have known, but there was no reason she wouldn’t tell if she did know, right?

Last, but not least, and the worst of all:

Jason Todd was alive.

~~~~~~~

I have no clue where i was going with that last line, but i see a vision, so I'm hoping it will come back to me, but if not, any suggestions or constructive criticism (or a better puzzle themed name for tim) would be helpful

[songsofbloodandwater]

My Notes about Engaging our Senses in Herbalism

Inspired by The Sensory Approach to Herbalism Workshop, a 3-part series by The Herbal Academy

Sensory herbalism is the practice of engaging our senses when working with an herbal ally, to get to know some of the effects they may have on our bodies through the physical sensations they bring when in contact with us. Specifically through the senses of taste, smell and touch. Besides helping us to, more intuitively, figure out in what ways an herbal ally may help us, it may also help us find new ways to experiment with old allies (always paired with good research and safety practices).

More importantly, with old and new allies alike, it is a practice that invites us back into being present when taking herbal medicines, and being conscious of what that medicine feels like in our bodies.

𝚃𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎:

S̲w̲e̲e̲t̲: mostly comes from sugars, like monosaccharides (fructose, glucose, etc) and polysaccharides. They may not taste sweet like processed sugary foods—but sweet like starchy grains and root vegetables. This can indicate nourishing and demulcent qualities. Can help in coating and soothing tissues. Sometimes they are tonifying, and help to modulate the immune system. S̲o̲u̲r̲: mostly comes from organic acids. Cooling, refreshing and invigorating, but also astringent. They may help in lowering circulation, and aid to release excess heat and fire from the body. The sour taste promotes digestion by stimulating the production of digestive enzymes and fluids in the body, which in turn can enhance absorption (of nutrients or any other substances the sour ally is paired with). B̲i̲t̲t̲e̲r̲: tends to come from tannins and alkaloids, and from many other kinds of bitter peptides and polyphenols. These allies are cooling and drying. They also stimulate the digestive system and in turn enhance absorption. They move water and fluids around in the body and can promote liver function. S̲a̲l̲t̲y̲: indicates it may be high in minerals, like sodium and potassium. Water follows salt, therefore it also moves fluids in the body. Mild diuretic, can get rid of excess fluid and with them, toxins and waste products in the body. Can also soften hardened tissues and help reduce congestion.

𝚂𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕:

Strong smell may indicate the presence of aromatic compounds, volatile oils or essential oils. Allies high in these compounds tend to be warming, relaxing, and help to disperse energy. Some are nervines, and may help with focus and reduce stress. May also have decongestive, carminative properties.

𝚃𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑:

A̲s̲t̲r̲i̲n̲g̲e̲n̲t̲s̲: tend to come as tannins. You may feel their action as drying, toning, tightening the skin, or leaving your mouth dry. May help to reduce excess of fluids and tone tissues. M̲u̲c̲i̲l̲a̲g̲e̲n̲o̲u̲s̲: feel gel-like or watery, moisturizing. Demulcent, coating and soothing. May help to alleviate inflammation, cooling the body. Some are vulnerary, helping to heal wounds faster. P̲u̲n̲g̲e̲n̲t̲s̲: strong, hot or spicy taste and smell. Feel "hot" on the skin and leave a warm to burning sensation on the mouth. Their qualities are warming and diffusing. They can help to lower congestion, get rid of pain and inflammation, and raise blood flow in the body. They are often also antimicrobial. These allies tend to have a warming effect first, raising temperature, but a diaphoretic effect in the long term, acting against fever.

When engaging with any herbal preparation, it is a great practice to ask ourselves (or the recipient) "how does that feel in your body?", and to get familiar with the ways in which that medicine's effects on our bodies manifest to our senses. To learn the language of our own bodies, and to learn how our bodies communicate with (and work with, hand in hand) our herbal allies.

[airisstars]

Drew Slow Motion Miku (High Fever module) I love Pinocchio P so much their music has changed my life they were one of the first vocaloid producers I started listening to and actually recognized their music anyways yeah I love Pinocchio P and you should to 🫵

[blukutz]

What are some of your favorite Project Diva Modules?

ahhh now i have to try and remember

i really like the senbonzakura modules, demons and the dead as well as ∞ are rlly pretty. astray (rin), high fever and bandaged heart (miku)…there are absolutely more but for the life of me i can’t think of them…

[sarabherbs]

Natural Platelet Support for Dengue and Chikungunya: Papgoat Syrup

Dengue and Chikungunya are mosquito-borne viral infections that continue to be significant public health concerns, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. These infections are not only painful and debilitating but can also lead to severe complications if not managed appropriately. One of the major clinical challenges in Dengue and Chikungunya is the rapid depletion of platelets in the bloodstream, leading to internal bleeding, shock, and even death in severe cases. In response to this pressing concern, nature offers a potential solution — Papgoat Syrup, a natural remedy designed to boost platelet levels and support recovery during Dengue and Chikungunya.

Understanding Dengue and Chikungunya

What is Dengue?

Dengue fever is caused by the dengue virus (DENV), transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. It affects millions annually and manifests through symptoms such as:

High-grade fever

Severe joint and muscle pain (hence called "breakbone fever")

Headache and retro-orbital pain

Skin rashes

Nausea and vomiting

Sudden drop in platelet count

The critical phase of Dengue often involves thrombocytopenia, a sharp decrease in platelets, increasing the risk of hemorrhage and requiring close medical supervision.

What is Chikungunya?

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is another mosquito-borne pathogen that causes high fever, rash, and persistent joint pain. Though rarely fatal, its impact can be long-lasting, especially when complicated by inflammation and low immunity. Platelet levels may also fluctuate in Chikungunya, albeit less dramatically than in Dengue.

The Importance of Platelets in Viral Fevers

Platelets, also known as thrombocytes, are tiny blood cells responsible for clotting and wound healing. In viral fevers like Dengue and Chikungunya, the virus attacks bone marrow and suppresses platelet production. Additionally, the immune response to the virus can destroy existing platelets.

If the platelet count drops below 150,000 per microliter, it is considered low (thrombocytopenia), and counts under 20,000 are considered critically low, necessitating immediate intervention.

Natural Remedies for Platelet Support

For decades, traditional herbal medicine has been used to treat fevers, inflammation, and blood disorders. Some of the most recognized natural platelet-boosting agents include:

Carica papaya (Papaya leaf extract)

Tinospora cordifolia (Giloy)

Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi or Holy Basil)

Goat milk, a traditional remedy believed to support platelet production and immunity

Introducing Papgoat Syrup: Nature’s Answer to Platelet Support

Papgoat Syrup is an advanced Ayurvedic formulation created specifically to assist in managing Dengue and Chikungunya by supporting the body's natural platelet production. It blends powerful herbal and natural ingredients with immuno-modulating and hematopoietic properties.

Key Ingredients and Their Benefits

Carica Papaya Leaf Extract

Clinically shown to increase platelet count in Dengue patients

Rich in enzymes like papain and chymopapain that support digestion and immune health

Contains flavonoids and antioxidants

Goat Milk Extract

Traditionally used to boost immunity and strength

Contains essential proteins and minerals that aid recovery

Known for supporting red and white blood cell production

Tinospora Cordifolia (Giloy)

Immunity booster

Anti-inflammatory and antipyretic properties

Reduces fever and helps cleanse the blood

Ocimum Sanctum (Tulsi)

Natural antiviral and antibacterial agent

Strengthens the immune system

Helps in stress reduction and detoxification

Phyllanthus niruri (Bhumyamalaki)

Supports liver function, which is crucial in Dengue management

Detoxifies the system and improves metabolic health

Punica granatum (Pomegranate Extract)

Natural iron source to combat anemia

Contains antioxidants and polyphenols

Advantages of Using Papgoat Syrup

✅ Herbal and natural origin

✅ Clinically backed ingredients

✅ No known side effects when taken as recommended

✅ Safe for children and adults

✅ Supports immunity and liver health along with platelet enhancementWhen to Seek Immediate Medical Attention

Despite using supportive care like Papgoat Syrup, you must consult a physician immediately if the patient experiences:

Bleeding gums or nose

Black or tarry stools

Abdominal pain

Severe dehydration or confusion

Rapid drop in blood pressure

Natural support works best in conjunction with medical supervision and not as a sole treatment in critical cases.

Bottom Line

Dengue and Chikungunya are no longer rare illnesses — they are seasonal threats that demand prompt and holistic management. While there’s no specific antiviral cure yet, natural formulations like Papgoat Syrup play a vital role in supporting the body’s recovery process. With ingredients like papaya leaf extract, goat milk, giloy, and tulsi, this syrup combines the best of Ayurveda and traditional knowledge to help patients regain strength and platelet count effectively.

Manufactured with the utmost care and quality standards, Papgoat Syrup is an innovative product by SarabHerbs®, a company committed to harnessing nature’s healing power to provide safe and effective health solutions. Always trust nature, but be wise — combine herbal remedies with medical guidance for best outcomes.

[healthblogger4u]

Top 10 Organic Teas to Help with Seasonal Allergies – HolyIndia

Seasonal allergies can take a toll on your energy, mood, and overall well-being. Sneezing, itchy eyes, sinus congestion, and fatigue are common symptoms during seasonal transitions. Fortunately, nature provides soothing relief through herbal and organic teas. These infusions help ease inflammation, support immune health, and calm allergy-related symptoms. If you're seeking a natural remedy to enhance your healthy lifestyle, try these top 10 organic teas that can help fight seasonal allergies while supporting your daily wellness.

1. Organic Blue Tea

Blue tea, made from butterfly pea flowers, is a vibrant herbal infusion known for its anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. This caffeine-free tea is a smart choice for those looking to manage seasonal allergies naturally.

Blue tea benefits for allergy relief:

Reduces inflammation linked to sinus and respiratory issues.

Rich in antioxidants that strengthen the immune system.

Naturally supports clearer breathing and mental clarity.

The best organic blue tea for a healthy lifestyle is cultivated without harmful chemicals and processed to preserve its antioxidant richness. It’s easy to learn how to make blue tea—simply steep dried butterfly pea flowers or blue tea bags in hot water for 5–7 minutes. Add lemon for a fun color change and extra vitamin C. While generally safe, be mindful of blue tea side effects, which may include mild digestive upset in rare cases.

2. Peppermint Tea

Peppermint tea offers a cooling sensation and acts as a natural decongestant. It’s effective in opening airways and easing throat discomfort.

Benefits:

Contains menthol that clears sinuses.

Soothes sore throats and coughs.

Reduces inflammation in the nasal passages.

3. Nettle Leaf Tea

Nettle tea is one of the most powerful teas for combating seasonal allergies due to its natural antihistamine effect.

How it helps:

Blocks histamines that trigger allergic reactions.

Reduces inflammation and hay fever symptoms.

Promotes detoxification and clear skin.

4. Mint Green Tea

Mint green tea is an ideal blend for allergy season. It combines the antioxidant benefits of green tea with the soothing effects of mint, making it both energizing and healing.

How mint green tea helps with allergies:

Contains catechins that reduce allergic inflammation.

Acts as a gentle decongestant.

Boosts immunity and mental clarity.

The best mint green tea for a healthy lifestyle uses organic peppermint and high-grade green tea leaves. This healthy tea is a refreshing way to support immune health and soothe seasonal symptoms. Perfect for morning or midday routines.

5. Rooibos Tea

Rooibos is a caffeine-free organic tea rich in quercetin, a natural compound known for reducing allergy symptoms.

Why it works:

Contains anti-inflammatory flavonoids.

Eases congestion and eye irritation.

Supports respiratory health.

6. Ginger Tea

Ginger tea is warming and soothing, perfect for allergy-induced sore throats and inflammation.

Allergy-fighting perks:

Acts as a natural antihistamine.

Reduces sinus swelling and improves circulation.

Supports digestion and immune defense.

7. Licorice Root Tea

Licorice root tea has strong anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects, especially helpful for irritated throats.

Key benefits:

Soothes throat and bronchial inflammation.

Acts as an expectorant.

Supports adrenal function during allergy stress.

8. Tulsi (Holy Basil) Tea

Tulsi tea is an adaptogen that reduces stress-induced inflammation, common during allergy seasons.

Why it’s great:

Calms the immune response.

Protects respiratory tissues.

Enhances resistance to environmental allergens.

9. Echinacea Tea

Echinacea supports immune response and shortens the duration of allergy symptoms.

Helpful features:

Boosts natural immunity.

Reduces throat irritation.

Acts as a preventive measure during allergy season.

10. Lemon Balm Tea

Lemon balm is a calming tea that helps with allergy-related stress and inflammation.

Benefits for allergy season:

Calms nerves and digestive upset.

Reduces inflammation.

Offers antiviral and antihistamine support.

FAQs

1. Can blue tea really help with seasonal allergies? Yes, blue tea contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that can help relieve sinus pressure and support immune balance.

2. How to make blue tea for allergy support? Steep dried butterfly pea flowers or blue tea bags in hot water for 5–7 minutes. Add lemon and honey for added benefits.

3. What is the best tea to reduce nasal congestion during allergy season? Peppermint tea and mint green tea are excellent choices for clearing nasal passages and easing breathing.

4. Are there any side effects of drinking blue tea daily? Blue tea is generally safe, but excessive consumption may cause mild digestive issues in some people.

5. Can mint green tea be taken every day for allergies? Yes, mint green tea is a healthy tea that can be consumed daily to help reduce symptoms and improve breathing.

Conclusion

Seasonal allergies don’t have to disrupt your life. Natural teas like blue tea and mint green tea are excellent tools to soothe symptoms and support your healthy lifestyle. Choosing the best tea for allergy relief means prioritizing organic food and organic products that support your body’s healing process.

Whether you’re sipping on the best organic blue tea for a healthy lifestyle or enjoying a refreshing mint green tea, these healthy tea options offer a safe, delicious way to feel better every day. Cheers to breathing easier and living well!

[miku-module-showdown]

Gothic (left) VS High Fever (right)

[onlinepaediatricfirstaidcour]

How to Choose the Right Online Paediatric First Aid Course for Your Needs: Your Key to Effortless Travel

When you're planning a trip with kids, excitement and anxiety often go hand in hand. Whether it's a weekend getaway or a globetrotting adventure, one essential that often gets overlooked is preparation for health-related emergencies. That’s where an online paediatric first aid course becomes your secret weapon.

Let’s explore how to choose the right course that matches your needs and ensures your family travels safe and stress-free.

Why Paediatric First Aid Matters—Especially When You Travel

Travelling with children means unpredictable scenarios—minor bumps, sudden fevers, allergic reactions, or worse. While we hope nothing goes wrong, being prepared makes a huge difference. A paediatric first aid course gives you the confidence to handle emergencies until professional help is available. And with the convenience of digital learning, an online paediatric first aid course makes preparation flexible and accessible for busy parents, nannies, and caregivers.

What Is an Online Paediatric First Aid Course?

An online paediatric first aid course is a digital learning program that teaches you how to respond to medical emergencies involving infants and children. These courses are often designed for:

Parents and guardians

Childminders and babysitters

Teachers and school staff

Travel bloggers and adventure-loving families

Most reputable courses follow national or international first aid guidelines and offer certification upon completion, making them ideal even for professional caregivers.

Key Benefits of Choosing an Online Course

1. Flexibility

Online courses let you learn at your own pace, from anywhere in the world. Whether you’re at home or preparing for a trip, the material is available 24/7.

2. Time-Efficiency

In-person courses often require a full day or weekend. With online options, you can complete modules in bite-sized chunks during breaks or bedtime hours.

3. Cost-Effective

Online versions are generally more affordable than classroom-based courses. You also save on travel and accommodation costs.

4. Updated Information

Digital platforms can update course content easily, ensuring you get the most current first aid guidelines and practices.

How to Choose the Right Online Paediatric First Aid Course for Your Needs

1. Check for Accreditation and Certification

Always look for courses that are accredited by recognized organizations. This ensures the course content follows medically approved guidelines.

In the UK, look for compliance with Ofsted and EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) regulations.

In the US, check if it aligns with American Red Cross or American Heart Association standards.

Certification is essential if you’re a childcare provider or planning to volunteer abroad.

2. Look at Course Content

Ensure the course covers all the core areas, such as:

CPR for infants and children

Choking and airway obstruction

Allergic reactions and anaphylaxis

Burns, bleeding, and fractures

Fever, seizures, and shock

Bonus points if the course also includes travel-specific modules like tropical diseases, dehydration, or dealing with altitude sickness in kids.

3. Evaluate User Experience and Accessibility

A course should be user-friendly, with:

Interactive videos

Easy navigation

Quizzes and practice scenarios

Mobile compatibility

If you’re travelling often or juggling kids and work, a smooth and engaging interface can make a big difference in completing the course.

4. Instructor Support and Community Access

Though the course is online, you shouldn’t feel alone. Some platforms offer:

Live Q&A sessions

Chat support with certified instructors

Community forums for discussions

This is especially valuable for asking questions or sharing travel-specific concerns with other parents.

5. Read Reviews and Testimonials

Before enrolling, read feedback from other parents or professionals. Platforms with high ratings and positive reviews generally offer better value and support. Look for mentions of:

How clear the instructions are

How easy the certification process was

Whether users felt more confident handling emergencies after completing the course

6. Duration and Validity

Check how long the course takes to complete and how long the certification remains valid. Most online paediatric first aid courses take between 4 to 8 hours and offer certifications valid for 2-3 years.

This is ideal if you want to refresh your knowledge before a big trip or renew a professional qualification.

Best Scenarios to Use What You Learn

Once you’re certified, you’ll be equipped to manage emergencies like:

A toddler choking on a snack mid-flight

A child fainting at a busy tourist site

Treating insect bites or sunburns while hiking

Recognizing signs of dehydration or food poisoning abroad

Your ability to act swiftly could prevent complications or even save a life—giving you peace of mind and making your travels smoother and more enjoyable.

Final Thoughts: Travel Smarter, Not Just Safer

Choosing the right online paediatric first aid course is more than just ticking a box—it’s a conscious decision to empower yourself and protect your family wherever life takes you.

Look for a course that is accredited, comprehensive, easy to follow, and fits into your lifestyle. Whether you’re heading to a local beach or an international destination, this investment in safety transforms how you travel.

Because when you’re prepared, you don’t just travel—you travel smart, confident, and worry-free.

[jeraldnepoleon]

Predictive Notes to Templates — Master Clinical Note Entry in Grapes IDMR | EMR | Hospital Software

In the modern healthcare landscape, efficiency and accuracy are essential. Doctors and healthcare professionals are constantly under pressure to document clinical findings quickly while maintaining the highest levels of detail and precision. With increasing patient loads and administrative responsibilities, manual clinical note entry has become one of the most time-consuming and repetitive tasks in hospital settings. Fortunately, hospital management software like Grapes IDMR is transforming the way documentation is handled.

Grapes IDMR introduces a powerful and practical solution to this everyday problem with its Clinical Note Templates and Predictive Note Entry features. These tools are designed to save time, reduce redundancy, and enhance the overall documentation workflow for both outpatient (OP) and inpatient (IP) departments.

Introduction to Clinical Note Templates in Grapes IDMR

One of the standout features of the Grapes IDMR EMR module is its ability to let doctors and clinical staff pre-define templates for frequently used clinical notes. Instead of typing out the same examination findings, complaints, treatment plans, and observations multiple times a day, users can create shortcuts to insert these notes instantly.

Whether a physician needs to record “upper respiratory infection with mild fever” or “hypertension management follow-up,” templates allow these notes to be inserted with a single key combination. This drastically reduces the time spent on manual entry, especially during peak hours or when attending to a high volume of patients.

Predictive Suggestions from Previous Visits

A unique functionality within Grapes IDMR is the ‘Suggest Note’ checkbox. When enabled, this feature scans the patient’s historical records and offers relevant suggestions based on previous clinical encounters. This predictive intelligence can dramatically reduce the need for retyping the same information while ensuring consistency in how patient histories and ongoing treatments are recorded.

For example, if a patient has been seen previously for chronic diabetes management, Grapes IDMR can suggest previously recorded notes related to symptoms, diagnostics, and treatment advice. The doctor can then choose to use, modify, or append these suggestions to the current clinical note. This not only saves time but also improves continuity of care.

Using the Shortcut Master for Clinical Note Automation

To maximize efficiency, Grapes IDMR offers a tool called Shortcut Master. Accessible via the burger menu in the EMR interface, Shortcut Master allows users to create and assign up to 40 custom clinical note templates. These templates can then be inserted using keyboard shortcuts configured with the Control + Shift key combination, along with a designated trigger key.

Templates can be assigned to combinations using any letter from A to Z, numbers 0 to 9, or even arrow keys. This enables a wide range of shortcuts that can be customized based on individual preferences, department-specific needs, or the types of cases frequently handled.

For instance, a general practitioner might assign "Ctrl + Shift + D" to quickly insert a predefined note for "Diabetes Follow-Up Visit." Similarly, a paediatrician might use "Ctrl + Shift + P" for “Routine Child Vaccination Review.” This system is intuitive, easy to set up, and incredibly useful in streamlining clinical documentation.

Real-Time Editing and Customization

Even after inserting a pre-defined template using a shortcut, users retain full control over the content. Notes can be edited in real-time to tailor them to the current patient’s situation. This balance between speed and flexibility ensures that the documentation remains personalized and clinically relevant, without sacrificing efficiency.

The system is especially valuable in multi-specialty hospitals, where different departments may require unique documentation standards. Templates can be customized for general medicine, cardiology, dermatology, paediatrics, orthopaedics, and more, enabling each specialty to maintain its own library of clinical templates suited to its workflow.

Benefits of Using Clinical Note Templates in Hospital Management Software

The use of note templates and predictive suggestions provides a wide array of advantages that go beyond speed alone. Here are some of the key benefits:

Time Savings

In busy clinical settings, even saving a few seconds per patient can make a significant difference. With note templates, doctors can reduce time spent on repetitive typing and focus more on patient interaction and critical decision-making.

Consistency in Documentation

Standardized templates ensure that all doctors follow a similar documentation format, improving the quality and clarity of medical records. This also reduces the chances of missing important details in the clinical notes.

Reduced Typing Errors

Predefined content helps minimize human errors such as spelling mistakes or inconsistencies in terminology, enhancing the overall quality of medical records.

Better Workflow Management

With faster documentation, doctors can attend to more patients without delays, improving hospital throughput and patient satisfaction.

Seamless Integration in OP and IP Settings

Whether in outpatient departments or inpatient wards, the template feature is versatile enough to be applied across departments, ensuring uniform documentation practices across the institution.

Improves Learning and Onboarding

New doctors or clinical staff can quickly adapt to hospital documentation practices by using shared templates. It provides a baseline structure that reduces the learning curve and ensures compliance with hospital protocols.

Real-Life Application in a Hospital Setting

Consider a typical day in a multi-specialty hospital. A cardiologist might see 30 patients, most with similar conditions like hypertension, arrhythmias, or cholesterol management. Typing full clinical notes for each patient can be a draining and repetitive process. By using Grapes IDMR’s template system, the cardiologist can insert well-structured notes in seconds and make minor adjustments where necessary.

Similarly, in an inpatient setting, nurses can use templates for documenting vitals, patient progress, medication updates, and daily rounds, thereby improving efficiency and allowing more focus on hands-on patient care.

Scalability and Customization Across Specialties

As hospitals expand or diversify into more specialties, Grapes IDMR scales effortlessly. Each specialty can create and manage its own set of templates, making it ideal for large institutions with diverse documentation needs. Templates can also be updated centrally, ensuring that all users have access to the latest, most compliant documentation standards.

Conclusion

Grapes IDMR’s Clinical Note Templates and Predictive Note Entry features redefine the standards for hospital documentation. By integrating these capabilities into your hospital’s daily operations, you empower your clinical staff to work faster, smarter, and more effectively. This is not just about convenience—it is about improving the overall quality of care and ensuring that no detail is lost in the shuffle.

For any hospital or clinic looking to enhance their electronic medical record processes, adopting a comprehensive hospital management software solution like Grapes IDMR is the way forward. With its intelligent features and user-friendly interface, Grapes IDMR supports better clinical decisions, improves operational efficiency, and helps healthcare professionals focus on what they do best—caring for patients.

If you are interested in transforming your hospital’s documentation workflow, Grapes IDMR offers the perfect blend of innovation and practicality. 

For more Click The Link Below : Best Hospital Management Software YouTube Channel Link : Grapes IDMR Kochi Contact Us: grapeshms@gmail.com / sales@grapeshms.com

[augmentede-realities]

Unlock Your Potential with Fitness Wearables

The Power of Fitness Wearables

Fitness wearables have revolutionized the way we track and improve our health. Whether you are an athlete, a fitness enthusiast, or someone looking to improve daily activity, these devices provide real-time insights into your body’s performance. But what makes them so effective? Let’s break down the key components that power fitness wearables and help you achieve your health goals.

Active Substances in Fitness Wearables

Fitness wearables utilize advanced technology and key active substances to provide users with accurate health data. Each substance plays a unique role in improving fitness tracking and health management. Here’s how they work and the ideal usage for maximum benefits.

1. Heart Rate Sensors

Heart rate sensors use photoplethysmography (PPG) technology to measure blood flow under the skin. This helps track your heart rate during workouts, rest, and throughout the day. The recommended usage is to wear the device snugly around the wrist, ensuring proper skin contact for the most accurate readings.

2. Accelerometers and Gyroscopes

These sensors detect movement and orientation, allowing your wearable to track steps, running speed, and overall activity. The recommended dosage, in this case, is constant wear throughout the day to gather the most comprehensive movement data.

3. GPS Modules

For outdoor runners, cyclists, and hikers, GPS technology helps map routes and calculate distance. The ideal usage is enabling GPS during workouts or outdoor activities while ensuring the device is charged to maintain optimal performance.

4. Blood Oxygen Monitors (SpO2 Sensors)

SpO2 sensors measure the oxygen levels in your blood, ensuring that your body is receiving adequate oxygen supply during intense workouts or at high altitudes. It is recommended to take measurements periodically, especially after physical activity, to monitor respiratory health.

5. Electrodermal Activity Sensors (EDA)

These sensors track stress levels by measuring sweat gland activity. They help users understand stress responses and implement mindfulness techniques for relaxation. The best practice is to check EDA readings during meditation or relaxation sessions.

6. Electrocardiogram (ECG) Monitors

ECG technology measures electrical heart activity, providing early detection of irregular heart rhythms. Users should take ECG readings when experiencing abnormal heartbeats or as part of regular health monitoring.

7. Temperature Sensors

Wearables with temperature sensors monitor body temperature fluctuations, which can indicate illness or recovery needs. Daily readings can help track patterns and early signs of fever or stress-related temperature changes.

8. Sleep Trackers

Advanced sleep tracking analyzes sleep cycles, duration, and quality to optimize rest and recovery. For accurate results, users should wear their device consistently overnight.

Why You Should Invest in a Fitness Wearable

A fitness wearable isn’t just a gadget—it’s a personal health coach on your wrist. By wearing one daily, you gain valuable insights into your heart rate, activity levels, sleep patterns, and overall wellness. Whether you want to lose weight, enhance athletic performance, or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle, a fitness wearable provides the motivation and data you need to succeed.

Take the Next Step

If you’re serious about improving your fitness journey, investing in a high-quality fitness wearable is a game-changer. With cutting-edge technology tracking every step, heartbeat, and calorie burned, you’ll have the knowledge to make smarter, healthier decisions every day.

Upgrade your health today—get your fitness wearable now and take control of your fitness future!

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