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newstfionline · 5 months

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Monday, April 29, 2024

The Class of 2024 (AP) On a recent afternoon, Grant Oh zigzagged across the University of Southern California campus as if he was conquering an obstacle course, coming up against police blockade after police blockade on his way to his apartment while officers arrested demonstrators protesting the Israel-Hamas war. In many ways, the chaotic moment was the culmination of a college life that started amid the coronavirus pandemic and has been marked by continual upheaval in what has become a constant battle for normalcy. Oh already missed his prom and his high school graduation as COVID-19 surged in 2020. He started college with online classes. Now the 20-year-old will add another missed milestone to his life: USC has canceled its main commencement ceremony that was expected to be attended by 65,000 people. “It’s crazy because I remember starting freshman year with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which came after senior year of high school when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening and COVID, and xenophobia,” he said “It feels definitely surreal. It still shocks me that we live in a world that is so fired up and so willing to tear itself apart.”

Tornadoes kill 4 in Oklahoma and leave trail of destruction (AP) Tornadoes killed at least four people in Oklahoma and left thousands without power Sunday after a destructive outbreak of severe weather flattened buildings in the heart of one rural town and injured dozens of people. Nearly 30,000 people remained without electricity after tornadoes began late Saturday night. The destruction was extensive in Sulphur, a town of about 5,000 people, where many downtown buildings were reduced to rubble and roofs were sheared off houses across a 15-block radius. “You just can’t believe the destruction,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said during a visit to the hard-hit town. “It seems like every business downtown has been destroyed.” Stitt said about 30 people were injured in Sulphur alone. Dozens of reported tornadoes have wreaked havoc in the nation’s midsection since Friday.

Millions of American kids are caregivers. (WSJ) Leo Remis goes to high school, plays videogames, and helps take care of his disabled mom. Three afternoons a week, he flexes his mom’s legs and arms to keep muscles from deteriorating and blood clots from forming. When her hands shake, he helps her eat and brushes her teeth. “It is my normal,” says Leo, a tall, lanky 15-year-old high-school freshman. There are an estimated 5.4 million children providing care to parents, grandparents or siblings with chronic medical conditions or functional decline, up from about 1.3 million nearly 20 years ago.

New leaders take on Haiti’s chaos as those living in fear demand swift solutions to gang violence (AP) It has been only a day since the transitional presidential council was installed in Haiti, and the list of demands on the Caribbean nation’s new leaders is rapidly growing. Haitians want security, food, jobs—and they want them now. The members of the council, tasked with with bringing political stability to Haiti, are under immense pressure to produce quick results, despite a deep-seated crisis that has been years in the making. Making Haiti safer is a priority. More than 2,500 people were killed or injured from January to March alone, and more than 90,000 have fled the capital of Port-au-Prince so far this year amid relentless gang violence. “The task is really monumental,” said Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia. Gangs have burned police stations, opened fire on the main international airport that has been closed since early March, and stormed the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Assailants ambush and kill 3 police officers in southern Chile, shaking the country (AP) Armed assailants ambushed and killed three law enforcement officers in southern Chile on Saturday before setting their car on fire, authorities said, the latest attack on police to revive security concerns in the South American country. It remains unclear who carried out the assault on Chile’s national police force in the Biobío region some 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) south of Santiago, the capital. But a long-simmering conflict between the Mapuche indigenous community and landowners and forestry companies in Biobío and Chile’s Araucanía region farther south has intensified in recent years. That has prompted the government to impose a state of emergency and deploy the military to provide security. Armed Mapuche activists have long stolen timber and attacked forestry companies that they claim invaded their ancestral lands, among other targets like churches and national institutions.

Britain’s Conservative Party, like the U.S. Republican Party, is in turmoil (Washington Post) Five years ago, Britain’s Conservative Party scored a landslide victory in a general election that contained outlines of a realignment in that nation’s politics. Today, those same Conservatives appear headed for one of their worst defeats in a generation, an unraveling of a once-proud party that has come with astonishing swiftness. The decline and fall of the Conservatives is the story of a political party that has become exhausted and inward-looking after more than a decade in power. Not unlike the Republican Party in the United States, it is riven by factionalism, stained by scandal and judged by many voters as incapable of dealing with the country’s problems—all amplified by a whipsawing series of leadership changes. Since 2010, Britain has had five Conservative prime ministers, including three in 2022 alone. One of them, Liz Truss, lasted just seven weeks. British politics have been through a whirlwind over the past decade: a failed referendum on independence for Scotland in 2014, a general election in 2015, the Brexit referendum in 2016 that took Britain out of the European Union, another general election in 2017, then the election in 2019, followed by two years of the pandemic and then the rapid succession of leaders in 2022.

Orange crush: Boats packed with revelers tour Amsterdam canals to celebrate the king’s birthday (AP) Decked in the national orange color, dancing to music, and eating orange-glazed pastries, many in the Netherlands Saturday are marking King’s Day, celebrating the birthday of their monarch. As King Willem-Alexander celebrated his 57th birthday with his family in the northeastern city of Emmen, people across the country engaged in the traditional “free markets” held on that day, selling second-hand toys, books and other items. Others toured through the historic canals of the capital, Amsterdam, with vessels of all shapes and sizes jostling for space on a busy canal.

Russia renews attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector as Kyiv launches drones at southern Russia (AP) Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine overnight, in attacks that appeared to target the country’s energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Russia said its air defense systems had intercepted more than 60 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region. Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that Russia had launched 34 missiles against Ukraine overnight, of which 21 had been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. Private energy operator DTEK said four of its thermal power plants were damaged and that there were “casualties,” without going into detail. Earlier this month Russia destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants and damaged others in a massive missile and drone attack as it renewed its push to target Ukraine’s energy facilities.

The US and China talk past each other on most issues, but at least they’re still talking (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his just-concluded latest visit to China with a stop at a Beijing record store where he bought albums by Taylor Swift and Chinese rocker Dou Wei in a symbolic nod to cross-cultural exchanges and understanding he had been promoting for three days. Yet Swift’s “Midnights” and Dou Wei’s “Black Dream” could just as easily represent the seemingly intractable divisions in the deeply troubled relationship between the world’s two largest economies that both sides publicly and privately blame on the other. Blinken and his Chinese interlocutors, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, all referred to these rifts even as they extolled the virtues of keeping communication channels open to manage these differences and avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations.

Fears of a new war on Israel’s border with Lebanon (Guardian) For the Israeli communities evacuated from the country’s far north in the aftermath of 7 October, there is no longer any doubt about whether full-scale war with Hezbollah in Lebanon is going to happen. For most people, the only question is when. Nissan Zeevi, 40, has spent the past six months working as a first responder in Kfar Giladi. “Everyone knows something is going to happen, because we have to push Hezbollah back to be safe.” In the first days after Israel began its retaliatory offensive in Gaza, US president Joe Biden dissuaded Israel’s war cabinet from also launching a preventative ground offensive on Hezbollah that could trigger a regional conflict. Instead, on Israel’s northern front, the two sides have found themselves fighting a war of attrition, but the situation is unsustainable and getting more dangerous by the day. About 60,000 people living in northern Israel were given evacuation orders and another 20,000 left of their own accord, damaging harvests and shuttering businesses. Weeds have grown tall in deserted gardens and parks. On the Lebanese side of the border, approximately 100,000 people have fled their homes, but without government funding to stay in repurposed hotels or holiday apartments. No one, on either side, knows when they will be able to safely return.

Aid Flows to Gaza Are Rising, U.N. Says, but More Is Needed (NYT) Under intense international scrutiny, Israel has expedited the flow of aid into Gaza this month, but humanitarian groups say that more is needed as severe hunger grips the enclave, particularly in the devastated north. The increased levels of aid are a good sign, but it is too early to say that looming famine is no longer a risk, said Arif Husain, the chief economist at the United Nations World Food Program. “This cannot just happen for a day or a week—it has to happen every single day for the foreseeable future,” Mr. Husain said, adding that the main need was for more food, water and medicine. “If we can do this, then we can ease the pain, we can avert famine.”

#headlines #news

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edgarlemusrivera · 2 years

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Filling Out the AAMCAS

The AAMCAS is the central application system for American M.D. schools and I will be using is as an example because the systems for D.O. and Caribbean medical schools are very similar. This application opens may of the cycle year, for example if you plan on starting medical school in 2024, the application will open May 2023. In this application a lot of information will be submitted. For example, a full course load will be listed including classes that are planned for future semesters. Up to 15 activities can be included and, in this section, and they should be the most valuable experiences during your undergraduate years. Typically, strong letters of recommendations should be sent from 2 science professors, 1 non science professor, a leader from an organization, and a principal investigator if working in a lab. This is only the baseline, up to 10 letters can be submitted but it is always quality over quantity. MCAT scores will also be submitted here, all attempts within the past 2 years must be submitted. Finally, essay prompts will be answered, and they tend to vary year to year. This part of the application is universal to most medical schools and are called primaries. If the school is interested, they will send back a supplemental application called a secondary. After this application section is when invitations for interviews start.

09/27/22 11:15

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bagelboys-withcreamcheese · 3 years

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Modern Things I Would Introduce To Each VDL Gang Member

I had to take some people off because I couldn’t think of anything (I’m sorry please don’t come after me)

*anything you guys come up with, I’ll add to the list in red*

Dutch Van Der Linde

-Science (Mister ‘I don’t believe in evolution’)

-Actual Philosophy

-Mangos

-Curling iron

-Classes in gender studies and critical race theory and he is to take them over and over again until they stick

-Probably the grippy sock hospital at one point

-Animal Farm by George Orwell

-The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Hosea Matthews

-Rocky Horror Picture Show

-Dead Poets Society

-Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

-ABBA

-Bullet proof vests

-Medication for whatever is wrong with his lungs

-Hugs from me specifically

-Planners

-Brokeback Mountain

-Gang of Youths

-That dad thing where they reach back from the front seat to ask for snacks

-Coffee shops

-Used book stores

-Mr. Rogers

-My beat up dragontology book I got for Christmas when I was 10

-Sherlock Holmes (the books, but I’d tell him there’s a show and movies)

-True Crime Podcasts

Arthur Morgan

-Affection and praise without any strings attached

-Art classes

-Digital drawing/art

-Stuffed animals (the toy kind not actual stuffed animals)

-BCG vaccine

-The candle section at any store but Target specifically

-Closed terrariums to keep his flower in

-The Beatles (I feel like they would confuse him but he’d still like it)

-Bob Ross

-Zelda: Breath of the Wild

-Paleontology

-Late night car rides

-Hozier

-Doc Martens

John Marston

-Shampoo

-Monster Energy Drinks

-My Chemical Romance

-Swim Lessons

-Dr Pepper

-Converse

Charles Smith

-Minecraft bees

-Reservation Dogs

-Wood carving and glass blowing art

-Blankets with tiger stock photos on them

Javier Escuella

-Guitar Hero

-Spotify

-Electric Guitars

-Modern clothing styles

-Music career opportunities

-Pepperoni pizza flavoured Combos

-Pineapple Fanta

Lenny Summers

-Marvin Gaye

-Buzzfeed Unsolved

-Just dance

-Mario cart

-Marvel

-Root beer

-Bullet proof vests

-Those really old, cheesy western movies to laugh at

Sean Macguire

-Buzzfeed Unsolved

-Just dance

-Mountain dew

-Mario cart

-Koolaid/capri-suns

-Helmets

-LetterKenny

Jack Marston

-Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

-The How To Train Your Dragon trilogy

-The Owl House

-Crayons

-Stickers (especially scratch and sniff)

-Diary of a Wimpy Kid

-Star constellations

-Dinosaurs

-Slushies

Mary-Beth Gaskill

-Fanfiction

-Cottagecore

-True crime podcasts

-Animal Crossing

-Cardigans

-Harry Styles

-Hozier

-Titanic

Tilly Jackson

-The Jackson 5

-Fuzzy socks/socks with patterns

-Oversized hoodies

-Lemonade

Karen Jones

-Wine

-Men that’ll last longer than 5 seconds

-Reality TV

Molly O’Shea

-Mitski

-Independence

-Healthy relationship dynamics

-Soft, comfy pajamas

-Bullet proof vests

Miss Grimshaw

-Bullet proof vests

Bill Williamson

-Basic hygiene and deodorant

-A class in gender studies and critical race theory

Kieran Duffy

-Petting zoos

-Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

-Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

-Those cheesy horse girl movies

-My Little Pony

Reverend Swanson

-An addiction support group

-Addiction treatment and recovery

-Risen by IcarusFeathers on AO3

Leopold Strauss

-Empathy

-Turtleneck sweaters

-Shark Tank

Simon Pearson

-Pirates of The Caribbean

-British Baking Show

-Hell’s Kitchen

-Betty Crocker

-Moby Dick (if he hasn’t already read it)

Josiah Trewlany

-2am Waffle House

-Harry Houdini

-Martinis

Micah Bell

-Karma :)

Everyone collectively

-Dental/basic hygiene

-Family Therapy

-Those videos they would play in school about what smoking does to your lungs

-Halloween

-RuPaul Drag Race

#can you tell who my favorite character is?#and who i don’t like very much #red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #rdr2 #john marston #hosea matthews #tilly jackson #mary beth gaskill #karen jones #susan grimshaw #simon pearson #lenny summers #sean macguire #javier escuella #charles smith #jack marston

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lannister-slings-and-arrows · 3 years

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Chapter Two of Like Lovers Do

The fourth in a Rafael Barba/Reader/Frederick Chilton threesome verse written in collaboration with @pascalispretty . Mood board also by the lovely and talented @pascalispretty !! Yep. We did this. Was it necessary? No. Did we enjoy it? Sometimes. Are you going to read it? I sure hope you do and that you like it! Like all of the stories in this series, this can definitely be read as a standalone work. Cross posted on ao3!

Part Four of the series So Much Easier than You Realize

For @thatesqcrush 's Sexy and Smutty Summertime Bingo, fulfilling the Double Penetration square.

Chapter One: A Little Like Devotion Chapter Two: All Wound Up Chapter Three: Just So We're Even

Warnings: well porn, lol. sex: anal (f. receiving) and vaginal, double penetration, sass and snark, Fred being officious, kissing, dirty talk, fingering (vaginal and anal), safe sex practices, Rafa unable to help being a bit of a jackass but ultimately being a sweet nice boy Rating: Explicit. (porn, porn, porn) Word Count: 5429 Summary: Learning the value of compromise results in a very nice vacation and a few fantasies checked off of Fred and Rafa’s lists.

Rinsing your hair out, you give yourself more reasons to try this: it’s Fred’s fantasy and, after all, he'd listened when you and Rafa had told him it was absurd to fly to the Caribbean or a Pacific island for four just days. And he had driven the two of you for six hours just to get here. Maybe he deserves a reward.

Your mind made up, you’re careful to clean up for what you’re planning. Once you’re done, you step out of the shower and wrap yourself in one of the towels. Fred had given you another for your hair, but Benn has a hairdryer discarded on his countertop, so you use that.

One your hair is dry enough that it’s not dripping water everywhere, you perfunctorily towel yourself off before wrapping it back around you. By the time you get back to your room Fred and Rafa are curled up on the bed together, having made it halfway through dressing before taking a nap clearly proved a more tempting prospect.

“C’mere.” Rafa pats the sliver of mattress that they haven’t occupied, not even bothering to open his eyes or lift his head up. Instead, you make your way to the foot of the bed and let the towel fall to the floor. You turn your back to them to rifle through your suitcase for your own moisturizer, content to let them come to their own conclusions in their own time while you finish up.

You’re sitting on the end of the bed, just about to wipe off your hands on the towel you had dropped, when the leg you’d been sitting next to vanishes from the corner of your eye and you hear the comforter rustling and someone sitting up.

“You’re naked.”

“Thanks, I hadn’t noticed,” you tease Rafa, not deigning to look over your shoulder and smiling instead at the framed photograph of a city skyline hung on the opposite wall.

“You’ll catch your death with that wet hair you know; it’s not really spring yet,” Fred informs you in his ‘I went to medical school’ voice.

“See, I always thought that was a myth. I mean, germs don’t magically manifest themselves when your body temperature drops to a certain point, right? Unless I missed more of sophomore biology than I thought I did staring at the back of Ryan Jacobs’ head.” You do turn around to face them then, your smile widening at the scowl on Fred’s face.

“That’s not really what I meant, or how that works, actually--” Rafa covers Fred’s mouth with his hand and asks,

“Have plans to stay this way or were you just torturing us before you put on clean clothes?”

You frown, thinking, and shrug.

“Oh, I dunno. Depends on what better proposal I get, I suppose.” You smirk at Rafa. “Got anything for me, counselor?”

Rafa smoothes his face into a nonchalant expression of studied indifference. He sighs and offers,

“I guess I could be persuaded to fuck one or the other of you. Since you both look so bored. Honestly, I’d be doing you a favor putting some excitement into your monotonous lives…” He can’t hold back a smile any longer when Fred pushes his hand away and glares at him.

“I have a better proposition,” he tells you, kneeling up and reaching for your arm. You let yourself be tugged all the way onto the bed and crawl up the mattress between them, settling on your ankles and raising your eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

“I’ll fuck you because it’s one of the things I want most in the world, always. I am constantly thinking about being between your legs with your warm cunt around my fingers. Or my tongue. Or my cock. Even watching Rafael fuck you would go miles towards saiting my desire to spend hours breaking you down piece by piece and see you shuddering on my bed.”

You stare at Fred, opened mouthed, having completely lost the thread of your plan for the rest of the night. Rafa clears his throat next to you.

“Uh, yeah, I think he might win this one,” he concedes, hand tracing chaotic patterns on the soft skin of your back. Fred dips down to kiss you but you back off.

“Mm, no, as much as I really love the sound of that…”

Fred sits back and raises an eyebrow at you.

“He conceded, I clearly won that contest,” he points out to you, arrogant to a fault.

“And it was gorgeous and an excellent suggestion,” you admit, trying not to smile at his pompous tone, knowing it would ruffle his sensitive feathers. “But I have a better one.” You lean a little closer to him, until your lips are brushing the shell of his ear. “I want you to fuck me. I want you both to fuck me. Wouldn’t you like that, Fred?” You feel the shiver that runs through him and back off a little.

“Tell me too,” Rafa grumbles, aiming a swat at your backside. You want to roll your eyes at him, but instead you give him a little smile.

“Fred asked me a little while ago how I’d feel about the two of you double teaming me. I was just wondering if he was still interested.” Rafa sits bolt upright, palming at a handful of your ass as he scans your face.

“I’m interested.” Rafa digs his fingers in a little harder. “I’m very interested.” Fred runs his hand along your side almost appraisingly.

“Do you have any preference as to who goes where?” Instead of waiting for a reply, he dips his head down to press kisses over your breasts.

“I’ll let you decide that one, Fred. As a reward for bringing us here.” You comb your fingers through the hair at the back of his head, a thoughtful hum vibrating against your skin as Fred ponders your question.

“I want to be able to see your face,” he murmurs against your breasts as his hand slides between your legs. “I want you to keep my cock warm for me while Rafa stretches you out, want to be able to feel him pushing into your ass.” His thumb finds your clit and traces a circle around it. “Can I? Will you let me?”

“God, yes.” You sound breathless already as Fred rolls your clit under his thumb, and you clutch at his shoulders.

“Get the lube, will you Rafael?” Fred manages before he wraps his lips around one of your nipples, sucking and dragging his teeth carefully across the sensitive flesh. You whine, gripping tightly at the tee shirt he’d put on after his shower and trying to pull it over his head. He lets you tug it off him and immediately reaches for you again, sliding a finger inside of you to work in concert with the thumb on your clit. You dig your fingers into his hair as he plays with your cunt, his teeth still brushing your nipple as he licks and sucks.

You open your eyes to see Rafa, fantastic ass on display in those tight boxer briefs he loves, bent over Fred’s bag rifling through clothes and sundries before finally standing with a soft “ah-ha!” His skin glows in the late afternoon sun streaming through the window behind him and you shiver and smile, running your fingers through the soft dark strands on Fred’s head, content and excited, and still a little surprised with these two beautiful men of yours.

Rafa catches you looking and stops, standing in the warm spot in front of the window, his back to the breathtaking view of the ocean offered by this back bedroom, and he smiles softly at you.

“You are breathtaking like this,” he informs you wonderingly, sunlight turning his dark hair into a golden halo around his head. “The both of you.”

“You aren’t so bad looking yourself,” you pant, fighting to keep your eyes open and your knees underneath you as Fred’s fingers unerringly find every spot inside of you that makes you want to roll over and beg.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Fred grumps, lifting his head from your breast just long enough to find the other one.

“Don’t tempt me,” Rafa mutters, still staring and luxuriating in the warm sunlight on his bare skin, smiling at the two of you. You feel Fred jerk against you and he bites down a little harder on the skin around your nipple. Rafa winks at you and abandons his sunning spot to come back to the bed with the lube in one hand and the other palming lightly at his cock.

“How do you want us, Fred?” he asks, climbing onto the bed next to the psychiatrist and slapping his ass companionably before leaning over him and kissing you deeply. You moan a little into the kiss, trying to take a deep breath through your nose as Rafa’s tongue licks past your lips into your mouth. Fred lets go of your nipple with a soft wet sound and stays there, panting, with his face resting on your breasts as the two of you kiss above him. His fingers still in your cunt for a moment and he wraps his free arm around your waist, hugging you closer to the warm bulk of him.

“Why don’t I lie back against the pillows, and you can lie on top of me? Rafa should be able to touch you like that,” Fred murmurs against your breasts, rolling his thumb over your clit again. “How does that sound, sweetheart?” He moves his fingers a little faster, and you sag against him as he presses against that spot inside of you.

He makes you come almost embarrassingly quickly, your face buried in the crook of his neck as the wave of your climax washes over you, radiating out from your centre until your toes curl and your fingers clutch a little harder at Fred’s back.

“Good girl.” Fred is gentle as he moves his hand from between your legs and shifts backwards, taking you with him as he leans back against the pillows. “Isn’t she, Rafael?”

“Our sweet, perfect girl.” Rafa, his cock half hard against your backside, runs his fingers down your spine as you settle yourself over Fred. His fingers slide lower, moving until they’re just under your thighs. “Kneel up for a moment while I get these off Fred.”

You do as you’re told, glancing down to see that Rafa has stripped his own off at some point, and you smile to yourself when you feel Rafa press a kiss to the nape of your neck. Fred runs his fingertips gently up your thighs and along your ribcage, stopping when he gets to the undersides of your breasts.

“Rafa’s right.” Fred shifts underneath you as Rafa eases his underwear off. “You’re such a sweet girl.” He pulls you in for a kiss, his fingertips still brushing gently up and down your sides in rhythmic patterns that make you sigh against his soft lips.

When you settle back against him, you can feel his hard cock pressing against your cunt. You give an experimental flick of your hips and shudder when his length slides against your sensitive clit.

“God, I could watch you slide that cunt along his cock all fucking day,” Rafa groans behind you, giving your ass a quick smack. You do it again, only for Fred to lean back with a smile on his face.

“Enjoying yourself there?” Fred rocks his hips a little under you, letting you relish in the drag of his cock against your cunt. He looks so handsome underneath you in the soft afternoon light, and you lean down to kiss him again in lieu of answering.

You feel Rafael wrap his hands around your hips, his fingers pressing against the old bruises that are littered there, and you hum contentedly. He lifts you up a little and Fred wraps his fingers around his cock to guide it to your entrance.

Rafa controls your movements, letting you sink down slowly onto Fred’s cock. You groan as Fred splits you open, your nails digging lightly into his chest once he’s finally buried to the hilt. Fred pulls you down until you’re lying on top of him, your head tucked under his chin.

It’s not the first time you and Fred have done this; you’ve taken naps with him like this on more than one occasion, his cock inside of you while you sleep against his warm bulk. Rafael palming at your backside while you lie like that is a new feeling, however, and you whine as his fingers dig into your flesh.

“God, you’re so warm and wet and perfect,” Fred mumbles against the top of your head. “Why didn’t we get tested sooner?” You have to agree, the feeling of him inside of you with no barrier only makes you feel closer to him, makes the position feel more intimate.

“You sure, sweet girl?” Rafa asks, sitting back to watch as his big warm hands pull your cheeks apart, giving him the perfect view of your cunt stretched around Fred’s cock and the tight spot he’ll soon be pushing into. You tremble at the cool air against you and the thought of Rafa staring at you there and grip Fred a little harder. You nod your head, your cheek rasping against the hair on Fred’s chest.

“I’m so sure, Raf, please.” Freds hands are stroking up and down your spine gently and you feel his every breath underneath you. With the sunlight streaming in through the big windows of his bedroom the two of you could be taking another one of your naps with each other. Rafael just sits there behind you, hands kneading your ass, watching for a few more minutes before he does anything, and even that--Rafael unable to not touch, not fidget with some part of you or Fred--isn’t anything entirely new.

You’re so relaxed on top of Fred that you don’t hear Rafa open the bottle, but you definitely feel the cold shock of the lube as he drizzles some between your cheeks. You jump and swear, shuddering as you feel it drip down over where you and Fred are connected and then moan softly and shift around on top of him as you feel Rafa’s finger drag up from your cunt to rest over your hole.

“So responsive,” he murmurs, not even trying to conceal the smugness in his voice. You want to respond, you don’t want to give him the satisfaction of having the last word, but then he starts to circle his finger--feather light and tantalizing--and you can’t do anything but whine breathily, turning your face to bury more fully against Fred’s warm chest.

“Shhh,” Rafa soothes, finger pressing no harder as he circles and strokes. No matter how many times you do this with the two of them it still feels like… like something forbidden. Wrong, secret, and so so good.

You hear the deep rumbling purr of Fred groaning under your ear when you clench around his cock as Rafa pushes a questing, experimental fingertip inside of you and that only encourages the hot feeling low in your core. Rafa leaves his finger there, the rest of his hand just resting on your skin, and lets you breathe for a minute, getting used to the stretch. It doesn’t feel that much different from when they do this normally, but you know as soon as he gets it in further…

Fred breathes steadily under you and Rafa’s finger pushes in ever so slightly more when he leans forward to place a soft gentle kiss to your ass cheek. Your pleased hum quickly turns into a yelp when he is unable to resist taking a quick hard bite, and you feel the smile on his face against your skin before he pulls back, taking his finger with him.

“What would you say to teeth shaped bruises right on your ass?” he asks speculatively, finger circling your hole once more, another finger swiping up some more of the lube to bring it closer.

“Rafael, really?” Fred asks from beneath you, and you can practically hear his eyes rolling. “Why don’t you just tattoo your name there while you’re at it?”

The hitch in Rafa’s breathing is the only warning you get before his entire finger suddenly pushes into you.

“Fuck--” you both groan simultaneously.

“Fred, Christ, not the time to say things like that,” Rafa admonishes, a little out of breath as you squeeze around his finger, whining and breathing hard.

Now it feels different. Whereas you normally feel just a little full, with his finger in you along with Fred’s cock you feel so stuffed that it’s a little hard to breathe. You can nearly feel one or the other--or hell, maybe it’s both—of them in the back of your throat and you were not expecting it to be quite like this.

Rafael’s fingers are big, but god, this is still just only one finger.

“Too much?” Rafael asks.

You take half a minute to answer him, feeling every line and ridge of his knuckle and suddenly feeling even more of Fred’s cock in your cunt. Eventually you decide that this is fine, you can do this, and you nod decisively.

“No, I like it. Keep going.”

Rafa shifts on the bed, finger still inside you and wiggles it a little. You gasp and dig your nails into Fred’s sides, causing him to hiss and curse quietly. Rafa pulls his finger slowly out of you and you feel the cold drip of more lube against your skin before he presses two fingers to you again. You stiffen on top of Fred and Rafa grumbles deep in his chest, words inarticulate, and pets your ass with his free hand.

“Shh, no, relax darling, that’s it,” Fred praises quietly, fingers kneading the muscles of your back till you melt on top of him. Rafa gently presses the tips of both fingers against you and pushes in again, humming when you whine as they slide in.

“God, Fred. I swear I can feel you through her.” Rafa curls his fingers just a little inside of you, angling them downwards. You shiver on top of Fred, Rafa’s words making something that already feels forbidden downright taboo. He works you open with his fingers, his free hand gripping your hip tightly.

“Good, sweet girl. Are you going to let Rafa give you another?” Fred pets at your hair gently, kissing your head when you can only manage a whine. “Sit up a little for me, I want to see your face.” It takes you a moment to oblige; every time you shift, Fred and Rafa are jostled inside of you, the barest movement sending sparks shooting in your core. You manage to prop yourself up on your hands even as your arms shake.

Fred moves his hands to help, wrapping them around your waist to support you as you try to hold yourself up. You feel Rafa drip more lube over you and you hiss.

“All green, sweetheart?” he asks, the tip of his ring finger pressing against you. You nod but you know he will settle for nothing less than verbal confirmation.

“Green, Raf, just--just slowly.” You know it’s an unnecessary addition; you’re hardly being rushed as it is, but he always likes and asks for clear boundaries. When he starts to press the tip of his third finger against you, you have trouble relaxing at first; you clutch at the sheets and clamp down on Fred and Rafa.

You wail when his finger finally pops past that tight ring of muscle to join his other two, your eyes closing so tightly that your face hurts. He stills immediately, and when you manage to force your eyes open again Fred is looking up at you with concern.

“Green, green, ‘m fine. Just so full.” You’ve never felt like this before. It’s overwhelming, like Fred and Rafa are the only things holding you together and the things that are trying to tear you apart. Experimentally you rock your hips, and nearly headbutt Fred as your arms give out, all of your other muscles going slack so that the ones in your core can tighten.

“God, Rafa, if you thought she was tight before--” Fred manages, sounding more than a little breathless as his hands clutch at your back. Rafa shuffles a little closer to you, his cock hard against the back of your thigh as he patiently works you open. You’re only capable of soft whines and little whimpers as he drizzles more lube over his fingers to push inside of you. When he’s satisfied that you’re thoroughly stretched and prepared, Rafa leans his head down to murmur to you.

“Can I, sweet girl? You ready for my cock?” he coos, mouthing along your neck. You nod frantically, gasping when Rafa wraps his free hand around your shoulder and tugs you gently back.

“Fred, can you…?” he asks, and Fred quickly moves one of his hands to your hip and the other to your shoulder, pushing gently to help hold you up enough that he can see your face. You look down at him as you balance your weight on your arms and watch the muscles in his flex. He smiles softly at you.

Rafa lets go of your shoulder and you hear more lube come out of the bottle, and you feel his arm move behind you and hear the wet noise it makes as he spreads it along the length of his cock, stroking a few times and groaning softly.

“Rafael, really, now is not the time,” Fred admonishes, and you grin at the scolding.

“I don’t tell you how to fuck someone, I’d appreciate it if you’d extend me the same courtesy,” the lawyer grouches from behind you, shuffling closer. You feel the blunt head of his cock, slippery with probably too much lube, bump against you.

“Color,” he orders, voice deep in your ear and going straight to the tight, boiling place where Fred is seated deep inside you.

“Green,” you reply quietly, feeling more than a small flutter of nerves in your stomach. You relax your fingers in the sheets just long enough to bunch more of the expensive cotton between them and grip hard again.

“Relax. Breathe out.”

And Rafa takes his cock in his hand and pushes gently at you, holding his breath as the head slides achingly slowly inside of you until it finally passes the tense muscles and settles.

There should have been a pop or something, you think hysterically, not breathing and trying not to panic. Like in a cartoon. This deserves a sound effect if anything ever fucking did.

“Take a breath, breathe,” Rafa growls, closer to you now, holding still, and radiating heat against your back. Has he always been this warm?

“Dear fucking god,” Fred croaks underneath you. “Rafa, Rafa, Rafa…”

“Fred, color?” Rafa sounds like he’s barely hanging on himself and you still can’t take more than tiny, gasping breaths, your thoughts flying all over the place

What does the word full even mean?

“Green,” Fred replies, quickly. “I think.”

“You think or you know?” Rafa starts to pull back and you cry out. He stops moving again.

“Wait, yellow, hold still,” you pant, finding the words buried deep inside some part of your brain that you’d managed to forget existed in the past fifteen seconds.

All three of you stop moving, and stay there panting and connected. Words are slowly coming back to you the longer you’re able to convince your lungs to inflate to their entire capacities and yet you still couldn’t describe what you’re feeling right now if someone held a gun to your head.

“Green,” you finally manage. Fred takes a deep breath under you and echoes that same color. Rafa pulls back until he’s nearly all the way out of you and pauses again.

“Take another breath and let it out. Fred, you’re going to draw blood if you don’t readjust your grip on her.” You look down, careful not to jostle either of them, and see Fred’s short nails digging into the skin over your hip. Any pain there hasn’t really registered yet, but he moves his fingers anyways, careful as always.

“Look at me, sugar,” he requests tenderly. The green of his eyes is soft. Soft and gentle like the water of the lake you grew up next to as the water got shallower near the shore. It’s heartbreaking, the way he looks at you sometimes.

“You’re amazing,” he states matter of factly and you can feel yourself blush. You drop your eyes to his collarbone and he tuts at you.

“Let me see you.”

Rafa pushes his cock back in so slowly, first the head, and finally a couple more inches of the shaft and you whine, gripping Fred’s sheets, holding his eyes, sure that you’re going to implode, fall apart like an improperly cared for building.

“Breathe,” Rafa repeats and you feel your heart fluttering about as fast as a bird’s.

It’s so goddamn much.

“Fred, I can feel your fucking cock against mine and it’s just...'' Rafa trails off and squeezes your shoulder urgently, clearly wanting to pace the three of you and starting to have some difficulties.

You and me both pal, you think to yourself and can’t decide if you want to laugh or cry.

Naturally you do both.

“Green,” you whimper preemptively, seeing the frown on Fred’s strained face. “Green, green, green--God, Fred, your eyes are beautiful,” you babble, embarrassingly, hoping neither of them remember that later.

Rafa grunts and pulls back, shuddering. Fred looks up at you, overwrought.

You feel more lube dripped down between your cheeks and over your hole and Rafa praises,

“Oh, my darling, precious, lovely girl, you’re doing so, fucking well.” He pants for a few seconds, resting his head between your shoulder blades. “Once more for me, can you do it? Are we still green?”

You nod fast and deliberately relax, staring into Fred’s eyes and seeing that water again. Remembering it hit the breakwall over… and over… and over, hearing that soft lapping sound...

Rafa moves forward again and finally, he’s seated all the way inside of you, only a thin wall separating his cock from Fred’s.

The first time you went on a rollercoaster you thought you were having a heart attack. The thrill of the view from the top would have been enough of an experience to make the day worthwhile, but then you plummeted almost all the way back down. Through the rush of adrenaline in your blood and the way that gravity conspired with acceleration to make it feel like you were flying out of your seat the most all encompassing thing you perceived was breathlessness. It was like for ten seconds a huge hand came along and simultaneously held you down and reached into your throat to constrict every organ in your body. You felt the air leave your lungs at the same time that you were sure you’d never feel something as amazing.

This was like that all over again. You feel the same weightless, gravity defying acceleration breathlessness with their cocks inside you and it is glorious.

“God, you were right, Fred,” Rafa pants, his breath hot between your shoulder blades. “Why didn’t we ditch condoms sooner? Fuck, the way the two of you feel--” he cuts himself off, mouthing kisses against your skin instead.

You’re aware that you’re shaking in between them, but you don’t have the wherewithal to stop. It’s like they’re cracking you open all the way up to your ribs, your every nerve ending feeling exposed and raw as they do nothing more than lie there and breathe with you.

After a long moment, Rafa gives the smallest, experimental flick of his hips. Loud groans rip out of the three of you in unison, the sounds melting together in the humid air. When he does it again, you cling helplessly to Fred and bury your face against his shoulder.

“Such a good girl--” Rafa croons, his weight shifting off your back as he moves to kneel behind you instead. You let out a juddering moan as his movement shifts his cock inside of you, and you feel his hand splay against your lower back.

“How does she look, Raf?” Fred asks, rocking his hips ever so subtly underneath you now that he no longer has Rafa’s weight holding him down. Your breath hitches; the two of them are barely moving, but you feel like you could come from the barest touch from either of them.

“God, Fred, she looks perfect,” Rafa grunts, wrapping his hands around your waist. With Fred holding your hips, the two of them are able to move you between them, their hips moving in concert with their hands as they reach for their own resolutions. You feel like you’re being pushed and pulled between them, and it’s delicious.

You continue to rest your head on Fred’s chest, not sure you have the willpower or energy to move it anyways, and every moan that rumbles up through his chest vibrates against your skin.

They have your complete and undivided attention, you can’t think of anything besides this feeling, how sturdy Fred is beneath you, how solid Rafa is behind, even if you had wanted to. Every inch of your skin feels electrified, and you’ve never felt closer to them. You can only manage choked out moans and little whimpers; you’re beyond anything coherent. The world has shrunk to the size of the bed, to the two men with you, and they’re all you’re aware of.

Neither of them last long; it’s all too new, and the way that Rafa fucks a little more desperately into you before he comes sends Fred hurtling over the edge as well. The two of them clutch at you, hands hanging on bruisingly tight, as they come with low groans and a few mumbled “fucks” from Rafa.

The three of you stay still for a long moment, all trying to catch your breath before you attempt to untangle yourselves. Fred moves his hands from your hips to wrap his arms around you and hug you close, nuzzling against the top of your head.

“Fuck, Fred--” Rafa eventually mumbles from behind you, starting to slowly and carefully ease his way out of you. “Inspired suggestion. And you, sweet girl, so amazing, you did so well--” It’s borderline incoherency from Rafa as he murmurs to you, a sign of just how dazed he is--how stunned all three of you are. You and Fred can’t even reply and just lay there.

It feels strange once Rafa is no longer inside of you. You whine at the sudden emptiness and at the feeling of excess lube and Rafa’s come trickling out of you and hitting your overstimulated cunt. You can hear him moving around, but you don’t even have the energy to turn your head.

Something is laid out on the bed beside you and the mattress dips as Rafa sits.

“Help me out here, Fred.” You open your eyes blearily to realize that Rafa has laid a towel out beside you and has a washcloth in one hand. He notices you looking and smiles.

“I think Fred would have a conniption fit if his parents’ housekeeper found lube and come stains on his bedding,” he whispers sotto voce, and Fred is too tired to even bother arguing back. Instead he slowly eases his way out of you, Rafa helping him to turn you on your back beside them. You know, even without looking down, that you must look like a mess; you feel almost uncomfortably wet and you’re glad for Rafa’s foresight.

You let your eyes close as one of them carefully cleans you off. They really do take such good care of me, you think sleepily as one of them lifts your hips in order to slide the towel out and slip you under the sheets.

“That was--you were incredible, honey.” Fred kisses your closed eyelids as he climbs into bed beside you. “Are you okay? Do you need anything? Did you like it?”

“Can we talk about it later? I just wanna sleep,” you mumble, sighing happily when Rafa presses against your other side and sandwiching you between them.

“Of course, sweet girl. We’ve got you.”

#rafael barba x frederick chilton #rafael barba x frederick chilton x reader #rafael barba x reader #frederick chilton x reader #frederick chilton #rafael barba #hannibal #law and order svu #fanfic #fanfiction #thatesqcrushsummerbingo

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caribbeanms · 1 year

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Caribbean Medical Schools: Your Pathway to a Medical Career

Are you passionate about medicine and ready to embark on a rewarding journey towards becoming a healthcare professional? Look no further than Caribbean medical schools. With their renowned reputation and comprehensive medical programs, Caribbean medical schools have become a preferred choice for aspiring doctors from around the world.

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allsaintsu · 3 years

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Grab the Golden Opportunity and Crack the Admission in Caribbean Medical School

Each medical student of every corner of the world will be ecstatic. All Saint University College of Medicine opens the door for global candidates again for MD Degree Program and others. The college is receiving an outstanding response from the students who are willing to pursue careers in the medical and healthcare fields. Following all the Covid safety precautions, All Saints University of Medicine is safeguarding existing students. So, there is no concern regarding the security on college premises.

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waterloou · 4 years

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jenniferdiazisatransgirl · 4 years

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My Journey

Hey everyone, As you will likely know by now I am a trans woman and I live in the UK where lately trans people have been under significant scrutiny by the press, government and groups claiming to be acting in the name of feminism.

One of the arguments used when not directly attacking trans people, is that the medical institutions that help us in the UK fast track us through transition, even the NHS and I know so many trans people in this country that I can say without a shadow of a doubt this is not true. This includes a significant number who have been under the care of Tavistock and Portman, the under 18s service which was recently banned from giving its patients hormone blockers without the approval of the courts.

But anyway, I’m gonna share my story and how lengthy the process actually is and I will warn ahead of time this deals with suicidal ideation, gatekeeping, mental health, etc. So proceed with caution. This will also be a long post.

September/October 2008

I can’t remember which month but it was just before my 16th birthday, my Dad encouraged me to go to my GP regarding my gender dysphoria. I lived with my transphobic Mum at the time and had to go behind her back which was terrifying to say the least. I saw a doctor called Dr Moulsher and explained everything I was going through and his response was, “I don’t think the NHS funds any of this.” He was very ignorant on trans issues but it actually fortunately worked out in my favour, I got lucky, I know, but he just wanted me off of his hands.

I explained in Sheffield there was a GIC (gender identity clinic) operated by the NHS known as Porterbrook and he was just like, “Oh right. Well I’m more than happy to refer you but they likely won’t see you till you are 18.”

He asked me some questions, wrote up a detailed report and put in the referral to “get the ball rolling” as he worded it.

I was terrified at the time of the referral letter going to my home address though and he was like, “Well it needs to be sent somewhere.” So he agreed to send it to my grandparents address.

Later That Year

About a month or so later a letter arrived at my grandparents saying I had been accepted onto Porterbrook’s waiting list, explaining it is substantially long, that they wouldn’t be able to see me till I’m 18, etc. Your typical boiler plate stuff. Also as I understand it they don’t typical accept referrals for under 18s so I got lucky there. I remember getting so excited when I got my letter though, that I took it into school to show all of my friends.

Back then it was a requirement that I have a mental health assessment while on the waiting list though. So I returned to Dr Moulsher who I had become rather comfortable with and had made him my regular GP. He made a referral to the local mental health clinic and that was that.

January/February 2009

A letter came in the post asking me to ring to book at appointment at the local mental health clinic. I couldn’t ring from home cos my Mum would overhear and she was spying on me a lot at the time due to really being against the fact I’m trans. My school - which was a Catholic school shockingly enough - had already decided my home environment had become so toxic that I needed removing from my Mum’s care. They would be a process that wouldn’t be completed till June 2010 but yeah, it had got that bad. Anyway, I ended up asking the school receptionist if I could ring on their phone to book the appointment. That was booked for February.

The appointment was a weird one to say the least. The doctor asked me a quite a lot of questions but these are the ones that stuck out.

So with this first one, I am going to preface with that as far as I am aware, I am white and of white ancestry for all the generations I know of. However I do have remarkably curly hair that left to its own devices grows into an afro (or at least what looks like an afro). So the first set of questions that stood out; Dr: What’s your mother’s ethnicity? Me: White British.

Dr: Sorry, did you say Afro-Caribbean? Me: No. White British. Dr: And your father’s ethnicity? Me: White British. Dr: Sorry, was that Afro-Caribbean?

Me: Nope. White British.

Not really sure how you can get Afro-Caribbean and White British verbally mixed up but he seemed very adamant at least one of my parents must be Afro-Caribbean.

He then later goes;

Dr: Do you have a partner?

Me: Yes.

Dr: Are they male or female?

Me: I have a girlfriend.

Dr: Then you can’t be trans. You can’t be trans if you like girls.

Me: What about lesbians?

Dr: That’s beside the point.

Shockingly, in the end he agreed with my GP’s assessment that I am trans but Jesus, as you can probably guess from above that mental health assessment was a minefield of weird.

24th October 2010

In June 2010, I was finally removed from my Mum’s care at the age of 17 and placed in supported housing and on the date about I got a phone call from Porterbrook GIC on my 18th birthday no less, inviting me to my first appointment in November.

22nd June 2012

I legally changed my name and title by deed poll to Miss Lily Nichole Robinson.

22nd October 2012

I’d now been at Porterbrook for almost 2 years, had lots of appointments, most of which repeated the same mundane questions and it had started to feel like nothing was ever going to change. I had become increasingly depressed and suicidal and I had decided that if nothing had changed by my 20th birthday I was going to take my own life. I did not want to enter my 20s still living my life as a man. I didn’t want to lose another year of my life.

I remember this date exactly, not because I marked it in my calendar but because Taylor Swift’s album “Red” came out that morning. Despite everything, I was dancing along to 22 that morning while ironing some clothes, before I headed off to Porterbrook. I didn’t really feel like it mattered, I was going to kill myself 2 days later but I figured what is the harm in going through the motions one last time.

I sat there, trying not to let on how miserable I was, didn’t see the point in letting them in on how I was feeling. Nothing would change.

I remember being asked some really gross questions that day though. I got asked if I masturbated and I just declined answering. When challenged I was just like, “I maybe trans and I may hate that equipment but I’m a human being. I still have sexual urges. What do you think the answer is.”

The appointment though, shockingly ended with them telling me they were going to put me on hormones. I was gonna get my estrogen. It was enough to give me a reason to keep on living.

But just bare in mind how close I got to taking my own life there. 2 days away from my 20th birthday. Also it took almost 2 years for them to say they’d be placing me on hormones.

January/February 2013

In January, I had my bloods taken to get a baseline and I was told about options for storing gametes. I did decide to consider this but in the end it ended up being too costly for me at the time. So in February, on a day it was snowing I got the train and was adamant the snow was not stopping me getting to Porterbrook and I had an appointment with the head clinician, Dr Kevin Wylie.

He oddly listed all the testosterone blocker options to me with side effects and risks and all the estradiol options to me with side effects and risks. In the end I chose Cyproterone Acetate for my blocker and Estradiol Valerate pills for my hormones.

50mg per day of Cyproterone Acetate and 2mg per day of Estradiol Valerate. I was ecstatic and took them both the second I got on the bus 😊

May 2013

Slightly unrelated to the medical process but just 3 months in and my mental health had improved drastically. Since I was removed from my Mum’s care I had become a bit of a shut in. I didn’t have any friends, my anxiety was through the roof, I was insanely depressed and I just avoided everything and everyone, only leaving my house for work. Hormones changed that though, I just felt so much happier and I also remember that Spring just being like really vividly aware of the colours of all the flowers and plant life for like the first time in my life. I actually wanted to go out and social and make friends and there was a local LGBT youth group for 18-25 year olds that I decided to join and I started to have and social life again. And by September 2013 I started university and soon came getting drunk with the LGBT Liberation Group at the various socials. I was happy and finally starting to feel like myself.

2013 - 2016

Porterbrook became very gatekeepy in the final stage of my transition. They didn’t like how I dressed. Apparently girls wear dresses while I preferred jeans, t-shirts and hoodies. I didn’t like wearing make-up. I wasn’t the 1950s image of a girl that Porterbrook seemed to expect. I actually have a trans guy friend who around the same time had been told he couldn’t start on testosterone unless he cut his hair short, cos apparently men don’t have long hair.

It pissed me off to no end because I transitioned to be me, not to be a performance of how the world thinks a woman should be. I refused to give ground on how I dressed, etc but in the end I ended up telling a few white lies to get past the final level of gatekeeping. And I can’t remember most of this dates as they happened while uni was going on in the background. But eventually Porterbrook gave me the go ahead for surgery, about 6 months later I had my second opinion and then I was referred for surgery.

January 2016

I had my pre-surgery assessment at Nuffield Health Brighton and I was told if I wanted I could have my surgery as early as March 2016. Due to university though, this proved a bit too soon and the date was pushed to June 2016.

22nd June 2016

The day before the EU Referendum I had my gender reassignment surgery. I don’t actually remember feeling all that ecstatic after the surgery. There was lot of pain and I was on a lot of drugs. But a friend, Rosie, who I hadn’t seen since high school lived in the area and she was at my bedside when I woke up. I was in hospital a week and had 3 months of recovery ahead of me.

Post Surgery 2016

Having surgery had been great, things finally felt right. My entire body felt right for once but I had tunnel visioned my life towards surgery and put a lot of stuff on the back burner and had some major post-surgery depression so I sort counselling at my university to get through these issues and once that was sorted I felt a lot more stable in myself and like nothing was in my way.

October 2016

I put in my application for my Gender Recognition Certificate only for it to get rejected because they did not like the assessment from Porterbrook GIC and Dr Wylie who wrote the assessments was off on leave. Me and a nurse had to sit down and look through my medical record to find a medical report they might accept and we finally found one. However they wouldn’t say what was wrong with the original which made Porterbrook kinda stumped on what was wrong.

February 2017

I received my Gender Recognition Certificate and my new Birth Certificate.

March 2017

I was discharged from Porterbrook GIC.

For those who are under the impression gender reassignment is a fast process it isn’t, it took me 8 years and 6 months start to finish, from initially seeing my GP at 15 to finally being discharged from Porterbrook GIC at the age of 24. It is a long ass process with a shit tone of gatekeeping and honestly going through the process as it stands isn’t something I’d wish on my worst enemy. When I was discharged from Porterbrook GIC in 2017 my first thought was, “I’m free. I’m finally in control of my own life.” As up until that point, I felt I had no autonomy and that my life and happiness was in the hands of doctors. It was miserable.

But there it is.

#trans woman #transgender #my life #uk #trigger warning #long post #miscellaneous

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themedicalchronicles · 4 years

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ECFMG Certification

Alright guys, a whole lot of info coming at you. For my premed followers, I want you to seriously evaluate if going the Caribbean med school route is truly worth it, and if you are willing to take on extra anxiety and stress. That being said, a different post on that to come again, but the ask box is always open!

So, the point of this post is to talk about the recent pathways ECFMG came up with for those students who were unable to take Step 2 CS in order to be eligible for certification. These include:

Eligibility for All Pathways

Applicants who are eligible to pursue ECFMG Certification based on one of the pathways include those who:

Have not already passed Step 2 CS.

Are not barred by ECFMG from pursuing certification.

Are not barred by USMLE from taking a Step or Step Component from August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

Have not failed a USMLE Step or Step Component (Step 1, Step 2 CK, or Step 2 CS) two or more times.

Have taken or been registered for any USMLE Step or Step Component since January 1, 2018.

Pathway 1: Already Licensed to Practice Medicine in Another Country Applicant has held a full, unrestricted license or registration to practice medicine in any country at any time on or after January 1, 2015. License does not need to be currently valid. The license or registration has not been subject to disciplinary action.

Pathway 2: Already Passed a Standardized Clinical Skills Exam for Medical Licensure - General Medical Council: Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) Part 2 - Australian Medical Council: Clinical Examination Part 2 - Medical Council of Canada: Qualifying Examination Part 2, National Assessment Collaboration Examination - Medical Council of New Zealand: NZREX Clinical - Medical Council of Ireland: Pre-Registration Examination System (PRES), Level 3

Pathway 3: Medical School Accredited by Agency Recognized by World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Applicant’s medical school is currently accredited by an agency recognized by WFME (and meets other ECFMG requirements). See the list of eligible schools. Date of graduation must be on or after January 1, 2018. An authorized school official must attest to applicant’s clinical skills.

Pathway 4: Medical School Participates in U.S. Federal Student Loan Program Applicant’s medical school currently participates in the U.S. Federal Student Loan Program (and meets other ECFMG requirements). See the list of eligible schools. Date of graduation must be on or after January 1, 2018. An authorized school official must attest to applicant’s clinical skills. Pathway 5: Medical School Issues Degree Jointly with a U.S. Medical School Accredited by Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) - Weill-Cornell Medicine - Qatar - Duke University - National University of Singapore Medical School

Now, why are these so troublesome and problematic? They are barring many intelligent and qualified students to go into Match 2021 who would have otherwise been ok if they had Step 2 CS under their belt. The ECFMG is allowed to enforce certain requirements, but they should give time for policies to go into effect, like one year, not one abrupt day:

They originally had the policy that all schools must be accredited by 2023. One Caribbean school with an adequate curriculum consisting of OSCEs, shelf exams, and more had a site visit for accreditation in May, which was postponed due to COVID. This school has previously had students match every year, but according to the new rule, students might not be able to go into Match this year.

USMLE itself allows multiple attempts on Step exams, and although it definitely is frowned upon, a student should be given an equal chance to justify himself in his personal statement, or even personal interview if granted.

Pathway 2 is unfeasible as well since many countries have postponed their exams too, and there are still travel restrictions, quarantines imposed, and even monetary issues for students. As a US IMG, going to Canada to take the NAC exam will be an added $2300, plus travel expenses, and housing, along with 14 day quarantine. Plus, ECFMG hasn’t even refunded the money for Step 2 CS yet.

The required English proficiency exam in lieu of CS: more info has yet to come, but how would this be equivalent? CS tests you on clinical skills and empathy, along with English proficiency. Prometric centers are still cancelling exams on students without proper notice, so how would this work? Plus, if a student can even get to the point of getting a program interview, that’s where they can showcase their language skills and people interactions, no need to pay another whatever hundred dollars just to take an English test.

The ECFMG should be helping IMGs, but at this moment many students are feeling helpless and lost about what their future holds. It will be difficult for many to wait one year or even more, before being able to apply for Match, which further poses the issue of programs considering graduation time; and the advice from many to go into research is always easier said than done - many programs are halted at the moment, and many students do not enjoy having research forced upon them. It’s also not that easy to just find a research place that will take you.

The pandemic of course was unexpected, but it is unfortunate that healthcare students and professionals are suffering the blunt end. Hopefully the ECFMG will be flexible and understandable and can deliver on options encompassing all IMGs asap. And hopefully more people will keep contacting them and advocating for IMGs. If it helps, there are two petitions, here, and here.

#ECFMG #ECFMG certification #IMGs #Caribbean med schools #med students #Match 2021

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freudensteins-monster · 5 years

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I Need a Hero!

Following on from Ooh! Barracuda!

Despite what Darcy had promised, their third date had ended with them still fully clothed, kissing goodbye on the street outside the restaurant they were supposed to be dining at, all because some asshat let mutated wannabe velociraptors escape from a lab in Nova Scotia.

And though they both claimed to want a do-over, culminating in the stereotypical post-third date activities, that first interrupted date was the start of a holding pattern.

They made reservations at another nice restaurant and Bucky walked Darcy to her room at the tower. They made out against the door – the inside of the door, as the hallway had hears, and high resolution cameras – but then Bucky cut it short claiming he had an early training session at the upstate facility in the morning.

Okay, thought Darcy. Except she learnt later on that he had volunteered for it the morning of their date.

The following weekend JARVIS found them an old school dance hall and the pair got dressed up in their 1940’s finest and went out dancing. Bucky walked her to her door again, and again cut their goodbye kiss short claiming tiredness because of the training upstate, and the travel, and the dancing.

Fine. Except Steve had mentioned two days later that Bucky had been putting extra sessions in at the tower gym – including the night of their dance hall date.

Darcy invited him around for a home cooked meal and suggested they watch something from Bucky’s “must see movies of the last 100 years” list. She instigated a little Netflix and Chill action, only for Bucky to put the brakes on claiming he wanted to see how the movie ended.

Really? It’s not like they couldn’t have paused the damn thing, Darcy would grumble to Jane later.

For their next date she pulled out the big guns: a slinky, sleeveless, little black dress that showed even more skin than the blue-grey number that had prompted Bucky to ask her out. When she opened the door Bucky’s knees almost buckled at the sight of her (or the girls) and Darcy thought she was on to a winner. She was flirty and affectionate on the way down to the lobby, and Bucky seemed to be reciprocating, but of course, their luck being what it was, the second he opened the car door for her his phone rang with an emergency Assemble.

Fair enough. He couldn’t fake an Assemble, but he didn’t have to look so damn relieved about it.

The mission took three days and when Bucky returned Darcy was caught in the middle of Jane’s latest breakthrough, so it ended up being a full week after their last failed date before they could reschedule. This also gave Darcy plenty of time to plan a course of action to address the elephant in the room, which basically boiled down to “talk about it like mature adults in an adult relationship”.

“This suuuucks,” Darcy groaned to her empty apartment as she waited for Bucky to knock on her door. Thankfully she didn’t have to wait too long; a minute later and she would have chickened out.

“Hey doll,” he greeted her with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. “I missed you like crazy this week.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been a crazy week,” she joked lamely, as Bucky made himself comfortable on her couch.

“Did you have anything in particular in mind tonight? I was thinking we could try that Caribbean ramen place Tony was going on about and maybe start one of those Star Wars trilogies everyone seems to love. Sam wants to watch them at the next team movie night, but you know he and Clint will just talk over them and it’ll just ruin my first viewing.”

“Speaking of firsts,” Darcy interjected, grasping at any excuse to get the crappy portion of their evening over with. “Do you not want to have sex with me?” Bucky balked and couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes. Darcy cursed herself for having the subtlety of Thor’s hammer, but sat as close to him as she dared and powered on. “Considering how you were looking at me the day you asked me out, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you find me attractive, but you keep pulling away from me when things get hot and heavy, and I know you’ve been making up excuses so you can cut out early. So… what is it? Why are you embarrassed to tell me no? Is it a religious thing – do you not want to have sex before marriage? A medical thing? Do you not want to have sex at all, or just not right now? Whatever it is, I just need you talk to me about it and tell me where you’re head’s at so I can adjust my expectations accordingly, okay? Because right now I feel like an asshole for trying to move us in a direction that you’re clearly not comfortable with.”

It took Bucky a minute to reply, his mouth opening and closing as he tried and failed to find the right words, but eventually he turned those beautiful stormy eyes of his in her direction and took one of her hands in his.

“First off, of course I find you attractive. When it comes to brains and beauty I think you leave Hedy Lamarr in the dust,” he assured her with a smirk. “And don’t go twistin’ yourself up thinkin’ I only want you when you’re wearing one of those maneater ensembles of yours. Done up and dressed down, soft and sexy; I like the whole package, sweetheart.” Darcy couldn’t help but blush. “And I do want to have sex with you…”

“But…”

Bucky sighed and squeezed her hand just a little bit tighter. “But… Nobody but doctors have seen me without my shirt on since I came back to myself, and I can’t stop worrying about what you’ll think.”

“About?”

“All this,” he replied with vague gesture.

“Your arm?”

“You gotta remember that I got the knock off version of the serum; I ain’t like Steve,” he added, anxiously rubbing his shoulder. “I might heal fast but my scars don’t fade like his do. At least, the ones Hydra gave me didn’t. It’s not pretty, and I just don’t want to see you pretending like they don’t upset you.”

“Of course they upset me, Bucky. But only because I wanna tase every Hydra goon in the balls for what they did to you. Seeing your scars isn’t going to make me want you less. Solid muscle and solid metal, cocky and self-conscious; I like the whole package, Sergeant Barnes,” she teased.

“Oh, yeah?” he smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Ugh, dude. Don’t make me fall on my sword.”

“Huh?”

“JARVIS, can you play my favourite fanvid?” she asked the ceiling with a sigh.

“Of course, Miss Lewis.”

“What are we watching?”

“Just… watch,” Darcy cringed as she shushed him. “And try not to hate me or, like, run screaming from the room in search of a restraining order.”

🎶 Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods 🎶

Bucky knew this song. He heard it every now and then when he was passing by Jane’s lab on the way to or from Tony’s, but it would always cut out when he got close. He’d asked Darcy about it once and she claimed it was her ringtone. Now that he thought back on it she had definitely been lying but he’d been too distracted by her bashful smile to notice it. He turned his attention to the television fixed to Darcy’s living room wall and as the song continued dozens of hastily edited together video clips were thrown up on the screen. Video clips of him. There were paparazzo footage of him and some of the team leaving a bar in DC after they’d gone out for drinks on Sam’s birthday, some video of him lifting weights in the gym for that Avengers Tower behind-the-scenes thing that Pepper had organized, though it was slightly pixelated as the editor tried to zoom in on his arms. There was even news footage from his missions with the Avengers, and a few of his missions against them.

“Is that… is that the Winter Soldier in Germany?”

“Um… yes?” Darcy winced.

“People like that – you like that?” he asked incredulously.

“I know it’s awful of me, and you have every right to hate me for making light of something that is obviously so awful, but seriously dude, you were built like a friggin tank! I don’t know what you were eating when you were hiding out in Romania, but damn!”

After a few more minutes of crippling awkwardness Darcy finally asked JARVIS to cut the feed.

“So…

“So… I hear this song playing in your lab all the time. Just how often have you watched this thing?”

“I plead the fifth,” Darcy blushed.

“JARVIS, how many times has Darcy watched this video?”

“Don’t answer that!”

“This is Miss Lewis’s 57th viewing of this particular Youtube video.”

Bucky looked rather pleased with himself. “Fifty-seven…”

“Okay, listen, I may have left it playing on loop one afternoon while I cleaned my apartment. I have not sat here and watched it fifty-seven times.”

“I can remember at least four separate instances where I’ve walked past your lab and interrupted this song.”

“So? That’s just four times.”

“Miss Lewis also asks me to loop her into gym’s security footage whenever you and one of your teammates are sparring.”

“JARVIS? What the hell?” Darcy screeched as Bucky doubled over with laughter.

“I apologise, Miss Lewis. I just thought Sergeant Barnes would appreciate having all the evidence at his disposal.”

“Go away, JARVIS.” Darcy sighed and tried not to combust from blushing as Bucky chuckled at her embarrassment. “Okay, fine. As you can see from Exhibits A through to like friggin J: I find you stupidly attractive. So, you don’t have to worry about me being upset about your scars from an aesthetic point of view, because if it’s not painfully obviously, I want to see you naked. Real bad.”

Then it was Bucky’s turn to blush. “Can I kiss you, doll?”

“Please,” she begged with relieved smile. “Anything to stop me from embarrassing myself further.”

They started tentatively at first, but soon things started moving in a horizontal direction, with hands toying at the hems of shirts and brushing over zippers, and Bucky pulled back. Darcy did her damndest not to let her disappointment show and waited patiently for Bucky to tell her how he was feeling.

“Do you think we could, uh, relocate?” he asked, surprising her as he tilted his head towards her bedroom door. “I don’t know if I’ll want to… I mean, we can try…” he stammered.

“Whatever you’re okay with. Whatever you want,” Darcy promised.

Bucky swooped in for another kiss before lifting Darcy up off the couch in one smooth movement, smiling like an idiot as she giggled in his arms.

“JARVIS, play us out.”

🎶 Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat / It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet / I need a hero! 🎶

#i need a hero #wintershock #mutual objectification #darcy lewis x bucky barnes #darcy lewis #bucky barnes #freudensteins-fics

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howaminotinthestrokesyet · 4 years

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No Stones Unturned: Keith Richards

Keith Richards’ interest in the guitar began at a very early age due to his grandfather. Gus Dupree had been a jazz musician during the big band era, who actually toured with a group called Gus Dupree and the Boys in Britain. His interest in the guitar began when his grandfather placed the guitar on a shelf out of reach of the young Richards. He made a deal with the young child that if he could reach the guitar, then he could play it. In interviews, Richards talks about using all kinds of boxes, cushions, chairs in order to get that guitar, His grandfather began to teach him very basic guitar lessons. The first song that he ever learned was “Malagueña,” a Spanish song. He was able to keep the guitar, but his father a war veteran who have been injured at Normandy did not share his son’s musical enthusiasm. Speaking of his father, upon his death Richards was given his ashes, which led to another humorous story about the guitarist. He said in an interview that he actually smoked his father‘s ashes.

Keith Richards attended Wentworth Primary School until 1954 with fellow classmate Mick Jagger. He also lived as his neighbor until family moves separated the two. The pair met again by chance years later on a train when Richards admired an album Jagger was holding. At the time, the latter attended the London School of Economics. He had sent away for Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry albums by mail to Chess Records in Chicago. They immediately bonded over their love of music. Soon after, they formed a band with mutual acquaintance Dick Taylor called Little Boy Blue. A few years ago, a recording for that very short-lived group was discovered and eventually put up for auction. An anonymous person purchased the recording, who turned out to be none other than Mick Jagger. The band folded when Brian Jones approached Mick Jagger about joining his blues group. This led Jagger to bring Richards along to the Bricklayer’s Pub to meet anyone else interested. Here they met Ian Stuart. The Rolling Stones were officially formed.

As previously discussed, a couple of key observations can be made about Richards and the band. First of all, unlike other bands that revolve around the rhythm of the drummer, the Rolling Stones has their tempo always set by Richards. They look to him in order to determine how fast or how slow they should be playing. On stage, this makes him more of the unquestioned leader as far as the music goes. Off stage, that role has alternated between him and Jagger, but now the singer runs everything. The other thing to be noted is that just like Ron Wood and Brian Jones each guitarist like Richards plays both rhythm and lead sometimes within the same song. This guitar weaving was developed by him and Brian Jones, but it is the talent of Richards that allows this to work so seamlessly. Actually, if you were describe his guitar playing overall you would notice that it stands out as in no way flamboyant or showing off. His solos get right to the heart of the matter, but you never see him venture off like his contemporaries Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton. Another quality of his guitar playing emerges in the acoustic guitar. He believe that playing acoustic was the key to maintaining his excellence as a guitar player. Certain songs like “Street Fighting Man” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” were actually originally recorded with acoustic guitar, then placed in a tape recorder and overdubbed using a louder speaker. In 1967-1968, he began to experiment with what are called open tunings. I will try not to get too technical here, but his inspiration for it was how a banjo is tuned. This became a trademark of the guitar sound in later years most notably the 1970’s like “Honky Tonk Women.” Vocally, Richards has sung on almost every Rolling Stones studio album with background vocals. He is also occasionally sung tracks on his own with the most notable one being “Happy” on Exile on Main Street in 1972. The song entered the regular concert set list, which led the band to have Richards sing one or two songs at every concert from then on. Another notable track was on Voodoo Lounge entitled “The Worst.” At a young age, As a student he stood out as an excellent singer in the choir, but when adolescence hit his voice changed, which led him to concentrate more on guitar from then on.

Jagger and Richards began their songwriting collaboration beginning with Andrew Oldham Loog coming on board as their manager. Coincidently, it was Oldham that told Richards to drop the S from his name for a time. A few years later he would add it back. Their first top ten hit was actually not for the band, but Gene Pitney. Another hit was “As Tears Go By” featuring Marianne Faithfull. Their first hit featuring the band emerged with “The Last Time” in 1965. Their major breakthrough came with the song “Satisfaction,” which included a famous riff Richards would later say came to him in his sleep. One of the qualities of their songwriting comes in the sheer variety including r and b, folk, reggae, disco, psychedelic, country, funk, and punk. Unlike other bands of the era, as popular music changed, so did The Rolling Stones. The basic process of the pair actually writing a song usually started with Keith producing the first chords and harmony. Mick would then complete the song with lyrics and a bridge. For the longest time, Mick would have to wait for Keith to create the music before he could start in on the track. This became the case with the recording of Exile on Main Street as he alternated between music and shooting up heroin.

Keith Richards has been active as a producer for the better part of his career, as well. Since 1974, he and Jagger have been credited as the producers of every studio album the band has made. The duo also has contributed as a producer for other artists working alongside other producers. For those albums, the pair are usually listed as the Glimmer Twins, which writers will sometimes refer to them in general. Some of the notable artists that Richards has produced for include Aretha Franklin, Ronnie Spector, Johnny Johnson, and a band signed to their record label, Kracker. In 1987, Richards formed the band the X-Pensive Winos as a solo project, which led to the release of the album, Talk Is Cheap. The album would go on to attain a gold status, and it still sells consistently to this day. The reason for the solo project came about because at the time of Jagger was increasingly interested in pursuing a solo album. This stood out as a time referred to in the band as World War III as Jager and Richards had a monumental fight in endangering the very existence of the band. An interesting sidenote to all of this was the band first originated for the Chuck Berry tribute film, Hail Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll. They would release a second album in 1992 entitled, Main Offender, while Richard‘s most recent release as a solo artist came in 2015, Crosseyed Heart.

As popular culture can attest, Richards has a reputation well deserved for his drug use. The interesting thing about it is that he fundamentally embraces that reputation. He has been arrested on drug busts at least five times throughout his career. The most famous one being at his Redlands estate in England in 1967 along with Mick Jagger. The bust cemented the reputation as the bad boys of rock and roll as well. Surprisingly or perhaps not, he has only served time in jail for the first bust. He was subsequently arrested twice in 1973, 1977, and 1978. Yet, one must know that for the Redlands arrest, which in retrospect was completely overblown by the authorities and the media; he only served one day in jail. As previously noted, he was arrested in Toronto in 1977 for heroin possession. At the time, they were planned to charge him with trafficking, which represented a fairly serious charge. His visa was confiscated, so Richards had to remain in Toronto for at least two months until the case came to trial. Thankfully for the guitarist the charge was reduced to possession. He was finally allowed to leave Canada to travel to United States on a medical visa in order to be treated for heroin addiction. For the most part, his use of heroin has always been the number one contributing factor to his legal problems. This final bust was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back when it came to his heroin use. The legal troubles from this caused such an inconvenience in his life along with court ordered heroin addiction treatment led him to being able to stay clean since 1978. Since that time, he has only used cannabis and alcohol, but never in moderation at times because that would just not be his style.

As previously stated, his decision to get clean in 1978 led to the end of his relationship with Anita Pallenberg. As that relationship was going downhill, he met model Patti Hansen in 1978, who the guitarist would marry in 1983. They have two daughters together born in 1985 and 1986. He wrote a children’s book about his grandfather introducing him to the guitar co-written by one of his daughters, Theodora in 2014. Her participation in the project made it all the more meaningful because she was actually named for the grandfather.

Actor Johnny Depp, who played Captain Jack Sparrow in the popular Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise previously stated that Richards was partially the inspiration for the character. He utilized a few of his mannerisms for the films. As life will sometimes meet art, the Rolling Stones guitarist actually appeared in the third and fourth films of the franchise. The name of his character was Captain Edward Teague. Coincidently, the other influence Depp used for the character was the Warner Bros. cartoon, Pepe Le Pew. These influences that were mentioned by Depp did raise concerns among Disney executives at first because they did not represent the wholesome image of their brand.

Growing up, Keith Richards was hugely influenced by a few notable artists. One of the first emerged in Elvis Presley in the mid-1950’s. The interesting thing about his admiration for Elvis came in the fact that Presley‘s guitarist Scotty Moore was probably much more influential than the king himself. Richards has stated previously that he listened to Elvis records more for the band, not just the singer. The second influence was Chuck Berry, who he later performed on the same bill with early in his career. This led to a funny story looking back, but maybe not so funny at the time. The Rolling Stones guitarist had picked up Berry’s guitar while he was out of the room. Berry came back seeing Richards holding his guitar, then promptly punched him in the face. He told him that nobody ever touches his guitar. Years later Richards would participate in the Chuck Berry tribute film Hail Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll, so time had healed those wounds apparently. The final influence emerged in many of the blues artists of the day, but if you had to name one it would have been Muddy Waters. The famed blues musician emerged as a giant influence on the band from creating their name to the music that they played. Richards played live with him a few times leading to a lifelong friendship. In 1982, in a BBC interview he was asked if the Rolling Stones could keep going for another 20 years. He answered that it is entirely possible using the example of Muddy Waters still performing and looking vibrant on stage at 80.

Keith Richards currently has three residences including ones in England, Connecticut, and Jamaica. The residence in England is actually the same house, the Redlands estate, where he and Mick Jagger were arrested for drugs in 1967. At home, his favorite dish to eat is shepherd’s pie. In his 2010 autobiography, he actually devoted a paragraph on the best way to cook this very British dish. The drummer from the band, the Stereophonics, once told a story that he had accidentally eaten some shepherd’s pie meant for Richards. He was immediately confronted by him, but no punches were thrown. If the guitarist is not working on any music, one thing that may surprise some people comes in the fact that he likes to read books. Although he never attended college, Richards reads quite a bit with a preference for history. He would say in an interview that if he had not become a musician, then he probably would have been a librarian. During his days of using heroin, he once said that he really regretted the fact that it prevented him from doing things like going to a movie or reading a book. Funny guy.

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