Studying (as usual) on Library

Ian Malone

September 23, 2023 12:07 AM

Studying (as usual) by Ian Malone

As the end of the year got closer, Ian could feel RATS breathing down his neck more and more, Crawling on him. Biting him.Carrying fleas to give him the plague. Actually, that was one of his worst nightmares, not just getting the plague but being sick on the day of the test and not doing well on them because of it (and then taking his illness home and giving it to his mom). Also, Ian supposed that if he caught the bubonic plague he might actually have bigger issues than not doing well on his exams, because he would likely die, and then be unable to be a Healer anyway.

However, while he didn’t want to get a fatal disease in general for obvious reasons and not just because Ian needed to be a Healer and fix other people’s weak immune systems so they didn’t die, he also didn’t want to get a temporary illness that both prevented him from doing well on his RATS and that spread to his mom making her much sicker than he had been. The former of those things could also happen if Ian got too sick to study or learn new skills that would be on his RATS, although in that case, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about his mom catching it as it would be out of his system by that time.

And Ian did suppose that he could take a retest if he did poorly on RATS due to illness. Still, he’d really rather not. Not only was sickness unpleasant, as he was well aware due to his mom’s health issues and his own desire to become a Healer, he also didn’t want to have to keep worrying about RATS. Although of course the extra study time would be nice.

Because Ian could not get enough study time. Honestly, as glad as the Teppenpaw was that he didn’t have the time-sucking required school event that was the Challenges this time, it really was only a slight improvement given that RATS were harder than CATS. And he still had to take five of them! Most people only had three or four and not as much as riding on them. Well, maybe they needed them for their careers but Ian didn’t think their careers involved literal life and death!

Not that it made him think he was better than them. He knew that people had different skills and interests and life experiences and that people of all careers were needed in the world like Aurors and social workers and professors and chefs. None of them were better than each other based on their career choices (or even lack thereof, like most pureblood women that Ian knew). Even test examiners were not inherently sadists. Admittedly, he was still on the fence about dentists though.

That wasn’t the point however. It was more that Healers needed to continue more classes than a lot of others and also, Ian was under more pressure. He was worried that a single E would prevent his career plans and cause lives to be lost in the future. The seventh year could not have that!

Not to mention that he didn’t know what he would do if he couldn’t be a Healer. It was admittedly also a big part of his identity as he had never wanted to do anything else.

So far, Ian had yet to make a mistake, thankfully. He didn’t get perfect scores on every assignment,but he did still get pretty much all Os. Well, except in DADA when he had to be quick on his feet. Unfortunately, there was no way to study for that, he was just never going to be good at anything athletic.However, the other components of that class brought his grades up. Which just meant he had to study harder in that class in order to do so.

Ian opened his textbooks and began to study. So deep into it was he that he didn’t notice when someone was standing over him.

11 Ian Malone Studying (as usual) 1522 1 5

Constance Melcher

October 17, 2023 8:05 PM

Some propose it's a portmanteau of "student" and "dying". Do you agree? by Constance Melcher

When Constance grew tired of reading in the library - and yes, sometimes even she got tired of reading, albeit more often physically, as in her eyes were straining, rather than any lack of inclination - sometimes, she would sit and watch. And because her mind was in the habit of forming patterns, she would take count of her surroundings, and of the people she saw passing in and out.

Most often, in her experience, she saw other Aladrens. Next often were Crotali, who likely strived for excellence to fit into their structured lives (something Connie could definitely appreciate). Pecaris were fairly rare. But Teppenpaws - those were the wild cards. Some were frequent, others rare, but without much pattern. Their House traits did not seem to overlap as much with the pursuit of knowledge, and so it varied more down to an individual level.

Ian Malone, seventh year Teppenpaw, was one of the more frequent ones. Usually, Connie had noticed that they were not necessarily in the library at the same time, but she thought she recalled passing him on the way in or out quite often.

Because of this, she had never noticed what table he liked to sit at. If today was an indication, the answer was apparently the same one as her. Connie swallowed, weighing her options. Ian was in her spot, and she did not like to stray from her patterns.

Ultimately, while she felt bad to disturb his studying, she decided that it was exactly what she had to do. “Excuse me,” she said when she got to the table. “Do you mind if I join you? This is my favorite table.”

OOC: Assessment of Ian based on what I gather from his posts. Mentions of passing each other done for convenience of the same table preference, but if you think it's a little too close to godmodding, let me know and I'll edit.

12 Constance Melcher Some propose it's a portmanteau of "student" and "dying". Do you agree? 1523 0 5

Ian Malone

October 18, 2023 12:27 PM

Yes, yes I do by Ian Malone

Sometimes, when he studied-and it seemed like Ian was always studying-he felt like he was simultaneously drowning and climbing a mountain, both of which were things that he hoped to never literally do. And it was a mountain that seemed to get bigger and bigger. Like he had reached and surpassed that peak that said “CATS” only for the mountain to suddenly get bigger and he had to reach the top which said “RATS” Which Ian was certain would only rise to yet another peak with his first big college exam.

Some people would wonder why someone would put themselves through such an intense level of constant stress. Especially because-as the Teppenpaw well knew-stress could cause health issues. However, being a Healer was everything to him because of his mom. It was his passion in life. Besides, someone had to do it and he wanted to more than anything. Plus, Ian was simply wired in a way where he was inclined to stress out about everything and because this was so important to him, he didn’t want to leave any room for error.

Besides, Healers couldn’t make errors or people would die. Ian would literally never forgive himself if someone died because of him! This was actually something that he had nightmares about on a regular basis and to make it worse, the victim was often his mom! Despite the fact that Ian knew people could not treat their own relatives.

Although, now that he thought about it, how close a degree of relation did it have to be? Like could one treat very distant cousins? Because Ian was related to an awful lot of people.

Still, despite how illogical that and all dreams could be-like the ones where he showed up to RATS in his underwear and rats devouring Mr. Barba and the other examiners and taking their place and the ones where he ended up doing the opening dance at the Ball while partnering either a text book or a giant rat in his underwear somehow he kept ending up in his underwear in his dreams, despite the fact that Ian never even walked around his own dorm in his underwear when he was awake-the ones where he was responsible for his mom’s death-and sometimes, also in his underwear- were the most upsetting.

Not to mention the ones where he had to climb a sheer rock face-yes, also sometimes in his underwear-in order to save his mom’s life. Those were usually vague as to how doing so would save her life and probably a huge metaphor for all the studying that Ian had to do but also sucked based on the fact that in them he had to do something athletic and dangerous or his mom would die. Those were usually a huge relief to wake up from. He’d take the devoured by rats dream any day over those.

Anyway, that person who was standing over him that he hadn’t noticed, spoke to him. The Teppenpaw looked up to see Connie Melcher there. “Sure.” Ian replied. He didn’t know the Aladren well, though they were cousins somehow. He wasn’t sure of the exact degree of relation as currently, he did not have any extra space in his brain for anything but RATS and class related studying which included his family tree. It was probably distant enough that it wouldn’t be unethical to treat her as a patient though.

Still, she was someone whose presence was unlikely to be a hindrance to Ian’s need to study. Except, it was only polite to make a little conversation. “So, how are you? Studying for exams?” Obviously Connie was a sixth year so she did not have CATS or RATS this year but she still had them for her classes.

11 Ian Malone Yes, yes I do 1522 0 5

Constance Melcher

October 20, 2023 4:00 PM

That is unfortunate. by Constance Melcher

Ian kindly obliged her question, and she took a seat beside him. “Thank you,” she returned politely. She placed the large book she carried on the table before her and opened to the page she had last been on - 354, paragraph 2, no bookmark required - and was about to begin reading when Ian continued to speak.

“Studying, sort of, but not for an exam,” she replied. She held up one side of the book to allow him to see the cover. It was definitely a textbook, but not one for any classes Sonora offered. “I have been interested in anatomy lately,” she explained. “I am currently on the circulatory system. It’s quite fascinating.”

Constance paused, debating whether or not she felt like pushing her luck. Ian had been polite to indulge her at her favorite table, and they were related in one way or another, so perhaps this trend would continue. However, it was impossible for even Connie to avoid the reality of the fact that she was a bit peculiar in her specificities.

“Would you mind switching seats with me?” she asked, and while she had been considering it for what felt like a while to her, it was in fact quite abrupt in reality, thanks to the speed at which the inner cogs of her mind worked. “It’s just… that is my preferred seat, and the view from this one is… different.”

12 Constance Melcher That is unfortunate. 1523 0 5

Ian Malone

October 21, 2023 3:55 PM

Yeah, it kind of is by Ian Malone

Wow, Connie studied for fun? That wasn’t surprising, actually given what little Ian knew about her. Nor was he really judging her for it. Just…she had time to study for fun? To do anything for fun? Lucky her. He couldn’t imagine what that was like, the Teppenpaw couldn’t remember the last time he actually got to do anything for fun. Probably before he had entered Sonora.

He was unsure when he would get to have fun again either. Maybe when he graduated Healer school and had finished his residency and had at last achieved his goal of becoming a full-fledged Healer. So, years and years from now.

A thought that sort of depressed Ian. Granted, a large part of the problem was still his personality where he worried that if he stopped studying he would fail his exams and never become a Healer and people would die including his mom because the seventh year had to find a way to fix her immune system. Lots of people could become Healers and not go through all of this although someone who was completely relaxed about studying would likely not have been very successful at doing so either. However there was a happy medium and Ian just wasn’t inclined towards being in it.

Anyway, truth be told, he likely wouldn’t study recreationally once he got to the point where he could do anything recreationally. He had spent all his time doing so in order to reach his goal, and while he might read non-fiction for fun-someday-the Teppenpaw was at a point where he associated studying with something he had to do or else. Something that if he didn’t do it, failure and therefore, certain doom, was hanging over his head. So, it was an act that Ian associated with anxiety and necessity, not fun and he envied that Connie got to do it for enjoyment.

Because he did like to learn. If he didn’t, if he were wired differently, well, maybe he wouldn’t want to be a Healer. Not every child of a sick parent did. Olivia had never given indication that she wanted to do so, though that might very well be that she was a wealthy pureblood girl and also, maybe she had seen Ian’s anxious example and wanted no part of that level of stress.

Anyway, what Connie said she was reading about also caught his attention. Anatomy? That was something that Ian also obviously tried to read about-when he wasn’t studying for things that would be on RATS or exams for his classes. They honestly didn’t do nearly enough medical related units in his classes for his tastes. Ian understood why, the ethical concerns and the fact that they just couldn’t tailor their lessons to exclusively suit him but still he would have been a lot better prepared for his career if he had time to study anatomy and other medically related topics instead say, theories of what made something a charm versus what made something a transfiguration. Or more importantly, treating an injury left caused by dark magic instead of….anything involving dueling and having to be quick on your feet or anything else involving athletic skills

“Anatomy?” He asked his cousin. “That’s really cool. I’m interested in it too.” Pretty much everyone probably knew that Ian wanted to be a Healer. “I tend to want to focus on the immune system but the circulatory system is interesting too. Do you want to be a Healer too?” Yes, Connie was a wealthy pureblood girl but that didn’t mean she couldn’t or didn’t want to be one, just because it wasn’t the norm. Ian honestly had never seen the Aladren as being the norm anyway though he didn’t mean that in a bad way. Not everyone had to be a certain way.

And with her next question, she sort of furthered that opinion of not being the norm.He actually remembered reading something about a condition called Asperger’s syndrome and wondered if Connie had that or some other similar issue. Which he meant not as a judgment either, just a curiosity. After all, he almost certainly had some sort of anxiety disorder himself.

Although obviously it wasn’t Ian’s place to diagnose her for many reasons, not least of which was that it wasn’t even the area he intended to go into. Also, the fact that he was an eighteen year old boy who hadn’t even taken his RATS yet let alone gone to school to become a Healer and it was a while ago that he’d read about it and was unsure if he even had the right condition. “Oh, no problem.” Ian replied, getting up.

OOC: I know that "Asperger's syndrome" is now lumped into Autism Spectrum Disorder with other similar conditions, but wizards tend to be a bit out of date.

11 Ian Malone Yeah, it kind of is 1522 0 5