#My immune system is SO unreliable

[unhingedlesbear]

hi guys NOOOO FUCK!!! NOOOO!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!! (I'm sick again)

This how I am rn fr

[felassan]

More on the Varric deaths stuff, two, as well as on DAII Exalted March and DA:I -

"This expansion was going to be called Exalted March, and here, Varric was going to finally step out from the interrogation room so we could play in the present day, so to speak. It was also here that Varric - in a climactic confrontation new villain Corypheus, introduced in Legacy - was going to die. "So what I wanted to do with the expansion was: there's a lot of stuff we cut and I really wanted to put a bowtie on the Dragon Age 2 story," former lead writer David Gaider told me earlier this year while chatting about the creation of the Dragon Age world for a piece about maps. "It had the confrontation with Corypheus and the whole thing. We'd introduced him in a DLC, which I didn't want to do, but we did it, so I wanted to sort of tie that off. And I wanted to kill Varric because he was the viewpoint character and I'm like, 'This is his story, it needs to end with his death.' "He was the unreliable narrator, right?" he added. "I felt like it had to end with him. So we had this great moment where Corypheus is using the Red Lyrium and it's growing out of control, but [Varric is] a dwarf so he's a little bit immune, so he's able to do the Wrath of Khan Spock thing and get in close and destroy it. And he gets Corypheus enough so the party can take him out, but then he's dying from Red Lyrium poisoning so there's this nice moment with him and Hawke as Hawke says goodbye. And with his death, the story ends. And I felt that's appropriate for Dragon Age 2's arc." Exalted March, however, was never released. BioWare cancelled Exalted March to refocus the studio on new game Dragon Age: Inquisition and the move to new engine Frostbite. The expansion was "cannibalised", as Gaider put it, talking to me, and expanded to become Inquisition. Which is how Corypheus suddenly became the main villain in Inquisition, and how Varric managed to stay alive. It didn't stop Gaider trying to kill him again, though. "I tried to kill him in Inquisition," he told me. "I think mainly because I didn't get to do it in [DA2]. And everyone was like, 'But the Inquisitor isn't Hawke! It lacks the same meaning.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I guess you're right.'" Still, it was a difficult thing to let go of. "I was a little bit upset," he said, "and I remember I went and said - because they wanted to start work on Dragon Age 3 immediately - 'Well, you can make me do that, yes, and I will just be the guy in the meetings doing this [he makes a standoffish posture]. Or you can let me go home for a month or so, get this out of my system and grieve, and I will come back. And I swear, when I come back, I will be ready to go.'" He was true to his word, but he still wasn't entirely done trying to kill Varric. In March last year, Gaider revealed there were once plans for Corypheus to attack the Inquisition's mountain castle base, Skyhold. "The threat of Corypheus after Haven was never truly realised," Gaider tweeted. "An attack on Skyhold would have upped the ante. Maybe I could have killed someone finally... but instead, Corypheus remained a remote villain you chased but were rarely chased by. "By the way," he then added, "if you're wondering who I would have killed in Skyhold, given the chance, the answer is obviously Varric. That dwarf was meant to die in the (cancelled) DA2 expansion and escaped his fate despite having been in my crosshairs ever since." Varric survived again. "After Dragon Age Inquisition came out I'd already left the Dragon Age team," he told me."

[source]

what I'm reading, if I understood it right, is that Varric has survived death at least 3 times thus far.. (；・∀・)

[falling-star-cygnus]

This isn't really angst but I want to share this idea with you anyways, Nicole and Anby get sick, like really sick, so Billy and Nekomata take care of them, Nekomata goes out to get medicine for Anby and Nicole so Billy does some nice things for them while waiting for Nekomata to come back, like putting a cold towel on their heads and making chicken noodle soup for them, and when doing this he gets to hear some muttered apologies from Anby and Nicole about the way they treat him

AHHH THIS IS SUCH A CUTE IDEA -> i'm on it o^o7

posts might slow down for a little bit, but I'll definitely try and knock out what's already been sent in as speedily as possible while ensuring [hopefully] good quality :D

the other format i tried out didn't necessarily do bad, but i think i'll stick to this one after all. since i created the Master List at long last uWu

"Hey, Manager," Billy says into Nicole's phone, trying to keep his voice as unassuming as possible, "Boss won't be able to make it to your hangout today."

"Oh no!" Belle immediately frets on the other end, "What's going on? Is she okay?"

Well. The goal was not to make her worry. Damnit.

Objective failed.

"She's okay. Her and Anby just came down with a... pretty brutal fever, if I'm being honest. They should be fine in a few days, though at max!"

Hopefully. Billy had heard stories about humans with sickly immune systems that... didn't always survive a fever. The stories had never scared him before but...

"Kitty's out getting some medicine for them right now," the android forces himself to continue, lest he dwell on that too long, "And I'm staying here to make sure their temperatures don't get too high."

That's what you were supposed to do when humans got sick, right? He was kind of just basing everything off Nekomata's experience and one episode of the Starlight Knights where two characters- who should be love interests but weren't- got stranded together on a desert planet and one of them had to take care of the other. But the other wasn't really human or anything- so it was kind of an unreliable source of information.

So he also did a quick google search.

"That's great, Billy," Belle's gentle voice brings him back to the present conversation, "Sounds like they're in very capable hands then. My mind is put at ease."

....oh!

That was nice to hear. That she believed in him.

"Do- do you have any suggestions?" the android ventures, figuring it couldn't really hurt, "I mean- I can totally take care of them on my own, but- surely the legendary, all-knowing Phaethon might have some advice for a plain piece of scrap metal like me...?"

Perfect save.

In the end, Belle doesn't really tell him anything that he didn't already get from Nekomata or from the computer the Hares' all shared. Cold towels, warm soup that's easy on the throat, and lots of rest.

The two Demara's were laid up in one room to prevent contaminating Nekomata. Or him, too, but the only way the android could get sick was via computer virus.

Which- they all learned the hard way. That was not a pleasant experience, nor one he was eager to repeat... but he would if it meant Nicole and Anby could recover faster.

With no time to sit on his thoughts, Billy replaces the cloths on their heads with all the gentleness he can muster. He must- at least- be doing something right, because the two already look more peaceful than they had before the call with the Proxy.

"Mm.. m'sorry.." he thinks he hears Nicole mutter.

Bad dream? He ponders, hastily striding over to fix the towel across her forehead. Maybe she was dreaming of the time Eous shut off in the Hollow and they had thought about turning them in.

Or- Billy had suggested turning them in.

Twasn't his proudest moment. He sincerely hoped Phaethon never found out about that-

"...m'sorry," she mutters again, turning onto her side with a furrowed brow, "..sorry.. Billy.. for yelng' all th'time. You're a good android. Good fr'nd. 'n I... dn't say it... nuff."

...

If he had been built for crying, Billy was sure he'd be making a mess of his faceplate right now.

The things his family team does to him... he was going soft.

As the android fixes both the Demara's towels, as he helps prop them up and spoon feed the delirious duo medicine and soup, and as he tucks them back in for a nice long nap, privately he thinks...

Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

[stari-hun]

Reverse 1999 Yappin Masterlist

𓆙 Orange marks the best content

My other Masterlists ! Headcanons and Ships , Wilderness , Critters

Reverse 1999 Character Diagram - Full Game 1.8

Timeline of Events

Insight 2 - Timeline of Insight 2 , Insight 2 is like Winx

Character Bonds - General , Greenlake, Book 6 , Book 6 part 2

The Atlas : Overview and the Narrator's Omniscience

The Atlas : Book 6

What would I ask the Cave of Truth?

Character Analysis

Sonetto - Insight 2 , One Day Sonetto Will Go Against Pavlov

Constantine - Before the Storm, The Happiest about the Storm, Constantine would've always ripped Verneider apart

Sophia and 37 , Looking to you and Looking beyond you

Small Arcana piece from the web event - "The wise ones drew a circle at their feet and declared themselves apart from this realm."

General

Shitty Summaries - Book 3. , Book 5.

Reverse 1999 is an Existential Horror - Vereinsamt and Uncannt Valley Instinct

Scoops of Angst - Marcus , Verneider Vs Isokania , Vertin's Trauma from Book 3 , Sophia and 37 vs Sonetto and Vertin , Sophia left right before the truth reached Apeiron , Mr Karl not being outed as an abuser before or after his death is... , Monologues , KB Shamane and Kumar : The Bullet ,

MESMER AND MEDPOC SIBLINGOLOGY !!!!

37 is the only cast member of Apeiron who truly suits the island, but it's also what makes her naive

"Crush me into dust."

As close as they are, Sonetto and Vertin can never go back to the bond they had as kids while Sonetto is a field agent

Book 6 : Cause it needs its own tab

E Lucevan le Stelle Mini Summary

E Lucevan le Stelle Diagram - 1. , 2.

The Pacing of E Lucevan le Stelle : How the Isolde keeps herself off innocuous until she's ready to enter the stage

Isolde - The Small Room - Isolde Character Story , Isolde is a man hater and it would 100% include Kakania if she was a man

Kakania - My gripes with her , Kakania is an unreliable narrator and dependent on Isolde as well

Marcus - The worst birthday ever (and possibly Isolde's gift)

Isokania - Outside Perspective on Isokania , Doomed from the Start , Their comic panels line up...

Theopil , Theopil Continues to Haunt the Narrative

The Dittersdorf's - Theopil

Isolde and Playwright

Heinrich and Diggers

Isolde - + Jessica , Character Bingo, Trista made the servants think she was crazy, Insight 2

Theories

Arcanists as a Community Don't Think of Sexuality or Gender

Character Stories are The Stories Arcanists WANT to Tell

The Player isn't Vertin

Pandora's Magic on Vertin

The Storm's Origin

Vertin's mom casted the immunity spell on her

Arcana knows the original name for arcanists

Arcana put out the ads for the Manus and information about the Storm out so it could reach the SPDM children

Worldbuilding

The Foundation vs Manus Vindictae

The Foundation (+ School of Discipline and Laplace)

The Artificial Somnambulism and Modern Perspective

The Foundation is Brainwashing People

Zeno - Greenlake's View Versus Rayashki

Reverse 1999 and Customs after the Storm

Shamane's Character Story was good insight on how the ecosystem in Reverse 1999 works.

Appraiser Arcanum - General (Getian, Pandora, Windsong, Marcus) , [Features of Bones]

Arcane Traces last 15,000 - 17,000 years

Numbers System for Book 5

Economy Ramble

Events

Nightmare at Greenlake Relationship Chart

Blonney would be into Creepypasta

Kumar and Shamane : Doomed Family

Kaalaa Baunaa and Divination after Kumar's death

What if Vertin was in Mor Panhk?

Kumar is my favorite NPC and she should be yours too

Shamane and Kaalaa Baunaa and the remnants of Kumar

Makower Overreacted Super Hard

Uluru Games : Ezra saw someone die in his character story??

Bessmert and Getian

Notes on Shuori ; Jiu Niangzi, Getian, and Jessica)

Farewell, Rayashki - Windsongs Vibe , General Vibe + Me being sad and upset

Ley Lines: A Strong Supporting Field

Evgeni is Anti Earth

Series of Dusks -

Semmelweis in imperfect and she embraces it

Kakania is INSUFFERABLE outside of the perspective of someone who needs her

Theory ! The Director intercepted Semmelweis' death

[somerandomcryptid]

These sketches are an absolute mess but I want to talk about AiE!Sam so I'm afraid you aren't getting anything better right now :)

Now if you remember anything about the previous sketches I've done for a much more snakey Sam then you might be slightly confused but don't worry. That Sam is still intact. In fact much more intact then this one!

This is just the Sam that the character of Sam, warden of Pandora's vault was based on. But for the purposes of least confusion we will refer to the real Sam as Sam and the character as Awesam from now on.

Warning for mentions of murder and very vague descriptions of the state Sam's body was in when it was found.

Sam Isenberg was one of the early developers on Adventures in Esempi before his mysterious murder in early 2011 The killer is completely unknown as of now. But Sam's body was found in his apartment. Rather disfigured as well. But despite the torn up state of the apartment and victim, no traces of evidence for police to follow were left. Sam's life before his tragic end was quite full though. And he was a well accomplished person. Beloved by many despite how XD, his ex-wife and fellow developer on Adventures in Esempi describes him as quote "One of the biggest snakes I've ever met. He was the kind of guy who works with you for years and then turns without any notice or reason." This may have been referring to the fact that shortly before Sam's death he was filing for divorce and attempting to get full custody of his and XD's two children, a case left unresolved after the fact.-A telling of his life was supposed to be written out and published by Sam's son Dream. But Dream also went missing only 2 months after the announcement and the book never came out. XD still seeming to hold animosity for his ex-husband and never picking up the project despite being asked to by the public and allegedly his teenage daughter. But we do have some things about Sam's early life and feel it's important to share what we know. Sam was born in 1972 to two loving parents and lived most of his early childhood in Texas before moving to Florida when he was 14. This is where he would meet XD and live the rest of his life.-From our information he was a kid that got sick pretty often -a trait that passed onto his son-resulting in him tending to wear a face mask for much of his childhood and through his teenage years, though his immune system would improve in his 20s The first murder/missing case that would happen around Sam would happen in 1988 when he was 16, being a very close friend who formed a friendship trio with him and XD. The next missing cases that would pop up around him would be in his college years, a classmate and professor respectively His life would not all be dreary though! In 1994 Sam would announce his engagement with XD and they would get married the following year. And the following year after that, 1996 their first child would be born, Dream. From what we know the time of Dream's childhood and early teen years seems to have been a happy time for the family. Untill their second child, Drista was born in 2010 and well we've mostly covered Sam's short life after that.

And there's my man! He's actually so chill compared to Awesam. Too bad he's dead.

I do love how I am creating ships that absolutely no one will understand. Because I mean really.. Sam/XD is not something even I predicted.

I do love them though, just a guy/an extremely unhinged guy is a very fun dynamic

Plus I just love how much of an unreliable narrator XD is about the situation

Also I like their kids a lot.

I should really talk properly about ai!AiE!Sam/awesam though at some point. Because he's an absolute mess! There's just a plot point he features heavily in that idk if I want to spoil.

But I guess I've already spoiled a lot of stuff by even just talking about real!AiE!Sam soooooo oops

Anyway thas about it :)

@calamari-minecraft-corner

[valravn72]

Disabled Xion Flags!!

For funsies :3

Alright to use without credit, just please reblog if saving/using!!! Thank youuuu 🫶

Reasons for my disabled Xion headcanon below the cut (the summary bc otherwise I will go all day):

Xion is obsessed with “usefulness” and only considers illness in light of how it will affect her productivity or burden others

Xion is also very preoccupied with whether or not she is worthy of existence

Xion experiences chronic episodes of dizziness, migraines, fatigue and fainting. This comes from how her body reacts to her paradoxical existence and how the state of that existence relates to the simultaneous nature of Sora, Roxas and Naminé

The way her body attacks itself because it knows something is wrong is so so real as a disability allegory immune systems be like that

She collects shells!!! And stims with them by rubbing them!!! And gives people them as her love language!!! Autism!!!! And she carries them around in her big dramatic coat pockets! Me frrrrr

Also having Nobodies as a dissociation/low empathy allegory effects her character a lot, including how she and Roxas don’t really understand most phrases and social norms… autisma…!…

She spends a lot of time in bed recovering from fainting episodes and dizzy spells

Roxas’s comas usually have clear causes that correlate with events such as Sora being put to sleep, but for Xion it’s usually just because she’s in burnout. My girl’s a spoonie

Another autism moment is how ???? her gender is. She’s widely considered to be a trans allegory and autistic people are statistically more likely to experience gender in abnormal ways/be nonbinary so wahahaha my headcanons support each other that’s how right I am

The separation from her body that comes with finding out she is a replica is a good parallel with disability mourning (as well as dpdr and gender dysphoria)

She’s also very fixated on whether or not she is “real” and how she could become real and is referred to as an object or a doll/puppet by a lot of other characters, which is a big trope in disabled media

Overall her internalized dehumanization and ableism is a big part of her character

She also parrots back ableist things people have said to her in order to justify not asking for help, especially when Roxas and Axel try to convince her that she comes first

There’s some dialogue from other characters where several of them mention how they think she’s overworking herself and is too invested in seeking approval

Saïx calling her a “waste” is a big part of her character arc. As is losing to Riku, which is stupid because he’s older than her and has more experience

When Roxas gets sick she immediately recognizes him hiding his symptoms, working too hard and refusing help and begs him to be gentle with himself because she understands exactly what he’s going through

Her body and abilities are consistently depicted as being unstable in nature overall. Her magic and abilities are unreliable and can stop working for seemingly no reason

She also has a high sense of justice, starts out nonverbal, displays limited emotions when not having a breakdown and is very rule focused + takes what authority figures say at face value. My little yippee

She’s very quiet overall and also stays in her hood a lot, which is common for Nobodies to disguise her identities but she’s also very inexpressive when hooded and is only verbal with effort. She retreats into her hood when overwhelmed pretty consistently, especially when she doesn’t want to engage emotionally. In the manga she is shown to typically be expressionless when in this state.

She’s doomed by the narrative and she knows it

She was basically made as a backup in case Roxas and Sora couldn’t be useful to the organization, so her body is reacting to how there’s several pieces of herself missing and how they all exist simultaneously and effect each other constantly even though they’re all completely separate people. It’s implied that only absorbing Roxas and Sora would allow her to have a stable body. She opts to have Sora absorb her instead.

Anyway yeah this isn’t really a perfect explanation but this is the most I can do without writing another Jumbled Autism Dump essay. I hope it was legible and thank you for reading it lmao. I’m just excited to spread the gospel of spoonie Xion

[homosexualmorelikehomiesexual]

Why Isn't Oliver A Girl? A Saltburn Analysis

shoutout to @aquickstart for this brilliant question that led to me writing this in my notes app at 7 in the morning and simply does not deserve to be relegated to DMs. hope you all enjoy our brainrot!

~~~~

i think it depends on this. which aspect of olivers desire for felix is most offensive to modern normie sensibilities? the homosexual one, or the selfcestuous one? i...say its the former. i think its seen as normal to want, if not allowed to actually achieve, (particularly given british bloodline classism), for a white man to want to be a different, more powerful white man. to want to ascend his social position for power.

but if oliver was a woman, it would be the inverse. her romantic desire would be seen as normal, (if still unsettling, because of its sexually predatory nature. because people are not used to thinking of women as interested in or capable of sexual violence, much less seeing it onscreen.) but her desire to BE him would be the uncomfortable part, bc women are not supoosed to want power in a man way, theyre supposed to want it in a woman way. theyre supposed to work within the system as a damsel to white men. white women, particularly those who are not opporessed in any other way, are the First Lady to white supremacy. they are not supposed to want to fully replace men at the top of the food chain, they are supposed to utilize their position as subordinate to further their entitlement to second in command status; because being subordinant grants them the plausible deniability of victimhood. just as felixs appearance of ultimate generosity absolves him of guilt for his privilege, so does white womens appearance of ultimate victimhood absolve them of theirs.

except....thats actually common. look at terfs. look at White Feminism and how it seeks to merely replace men rather than dismantle the system entirely. so while on some level it would still be upsetting to cis men to see a story that seemingly openly condones misandrist social climb, i think they would dismiss it as simply reverse sexism. and people would misinterpret it as that, as being a poor attempt at feminism that accidentally shows its ass by glorfiying girlboss feminism.

but. thats the (unreliable) narrative girloliver tells us.

because girl olivers desire for felix would not be one of heterosexual romantic interest. it would be one of cannibalistic gender envy. girl oliver could not exist, because she would be a trans man.

and THAT. would make people WAY too uncomfortable. it would put way too much scrutiny on the very few trans men in the public eye. it would not be safe. the reason we are able to take saltburn in good faith, is because the narrative of gay male desire as predatory is no longer the only depiction of it. i think it would break peoples minds seeing transmaculinity as predatory rather than transfemininity, and not in a good way. i dont think cis men would even conciously pick up on it, much less feel threatened by it. i think theyd be far more uncomfortable with the idea of women, cis women, being sexually predatory.

but cis women in the audiences would lose their shit. because they see transmasculinity not as predatory, but as cowardly. as a betrayal of sisterhood, a joining of the enemy and a defecting of that mutual suffering under patriarchy that white cis women cling to because it grants them that immunity when they enact their own bigotry. because womanhood is something you are supoosed to love and hate in equal measure. so to want to denounce it, to be dysphoric and find more joy in being masculine, is offensive because it bursts that bubble, it shows this narrative of universal sisterhood for the cult that it is. wanting to leave means you are excommunicated. just as a trans woman wanting to be accepted into that sisterhood, bursts the bubble because it acknowledges that theres more to womanhood than hating it.

but....heres the thing. this is what would make girliver (heh) saltburn brilliant. it would force people to reconsile with the fact that out of the two. out of transmasculinity, and girlboss feminism. one of them is much more uncomfortable to us, much more of a threat to patriarchy rather than a contribution to it. and its not the one we pretend it is. desoite the supposed accepted narrative that misandrist social climb is the most hated thing...its actually a fundamental part of how white patriatchy functions. the REAL thing people consider transgressive, is the notion that you would want to be a man not for power but for the joy of it. to separate maleness from power. because you are not allowed to feel that. either as a trans or even it seems to me a cis man.

one of my first thoughts when i went to answer this was that... canon oliver and felix as metaphors speak of...white male emptiness. of the way consumerism, both in the capitalistic material gain sense, and in the primal cannibalistic sexual consumptiom and discarding of your conquests - is the only avenue through which men are allowed to signal a personality. they do not get to experience true self love outside of who they  provide for or who serves them. self love and appreication of ones own beauty outside of sexual usefulness are considered feminine. so is appreciation of beauty as a whole outside of sexual appeal. it is considered gay (in feminine therefore transgressive therefore infectious and predatory way) to appreciate a nuce fruity drink. or a sunset. or to put effort into ones own appearance, outside of the exclusive purposes of either getting pussy, or living up to the male power fantasy. to love masculinity for masculinities sake. not in a romantic way but in a self love way, is a deeply transgressive act. that NO ONE talks about. but it is everywhere. so for girl oliver to ugly cry while flicking the bean like its an actual dick on top of a grave, only to retroactively claim her obsession with felix was just a good for her girlboss narrative...that would rip the common narrative like a wet paper bag.

it would also totally reframe the sex scenes with venetia and farleigh. with venetia it would be a case of...on the one hand the taboo of predatory lesbianism. but on the other, the girlbossification of..... katy perry style straight women sexual experimentation. particularly with transmascs, bc it gives them the plausible deniability that its not actually gay. so thered be a lot of debate there who is really taking advantage of who there. especially because nonpenetrative particularly lesbian sex isnt seen as real sex therefore its not seen as a form of assault. and with farleigh itd be a case of girlbossifying sexual conquest over men. pegging. tho i doubt girl oliver would pack a strap. maybe shed finger him idfk. but itd definitely be some sort of like, sexual dominance as empowering until you think about the racial dynamic and realize its actually buckbreaking.

so ultimately i think it would be BRILLIANT. but it would also be a fundamentally different story, which people simply are not ready to hear. idk enough about emerald fennell to judge whether or not she would be able to even think of this, let alone portray it faithfully, given she is a white wealthy cis woma, but especially after barbie, i am IFFY about white wealthy cis womens attempts at feminism. particularly when it comes to gender transgression and portrayal of transmasculinity of any kind. fucking sasha in barbie is the only one who dislikes hot pink feminism, shes not even a proper tomboy, and shes effectively forcefemmed

[the-bunny-burrow-archives]

Ok, it is time I actually get to this, so uh um here's the first book review for "The Bunny Burrow Archives"!!!! Mlem mlem mlem mlem mlem.

I will warn it's been a bit since I've done a book review, so if you have any critiques like ever over how I do my book reviews, please do not hesitate. I can take criticism. Unless like said criticism is like "fuck you that made no sense and it's just bad"

Anyway, here is the cover of the book that I very much enjoyed!

Please note that I am going to be using the words science and medicine interchangeably because I am unsure which is the more appropriate term.

Personally, Dr. John S. Tregoning, in my opinion, has written one of the best books over medicine and pathogens I've ever read. Mostly because it is the first book I've ever read over those topics, unless you count science textbooks from like school, but meh. Honestly, the material taught in this book is worth so much more than my schooling ever gave me. Not only because Tregoning had incredibly crystal clear explanations for stuff I have next to no understanding for. But also how well it structured and laid out.

Before getting into the main topic of the book "Pathogens and How We Fight Them," Tregoning ensures the reader has enough of an understanding of the topics before getting into them. Thankfully, he has a sense of humor and doesn't write it out to sound like some boring math lesson or a book review >_< He goes over so much that I am surprised he is able to fit it all in 340 pages. Given how much information there was, I honestly should read it a second time to ensure I have a clear understanding of everything buuuut meh.

Infectious mentions all forms of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungie, and parasites. Whilst giving the science lesson of a life (better than like crash course science on YouTube), he also gives a detailed history of how far medicine and science have come. Including mentioning the stupidity of some doctors from the dark ages. I feel it's kinda of a more well-known fun fact that doctors used to not wash their hands cause they couldn't explain why it helped, so they didn't bother with such a basic task. But did you know that apparently some doctors used to wear blood stains on their aprons kinda of like a show of pride, thinking that having a bunch of blood splashes on it meant you were a good doctor. Honestly, hearing that was like wtf how could they think something so barbaric, but then again, this was before many of the advancements in the field of medicine, and also in the dark ages of medicine.

I will say I do really like chapter 14 because it offers a doctors very detailed explanation as to why anti vaxxers exist. Like 20 pages worth of an explanation better than any 3 page article on some news or whatever site. And I especially appreciated the new insult for people who can't wear a mask properly <i>Maskentrottel</i> or, in other words, a mask idiot in German.

Since this book was being written during covid, it does mention it a fair bit. Along with an explanation to the question, "How did covid get a vaccine so fast when it took longer for every other vaccine in history?" (Imagine me saying this in a mimimimi voice). Other than the obvious of hello, the whole world was working on it in a collective effort, and the fact that science and medicine constantly get more advanced. It also mentions the breakthrough that lead to a vaccine.

I honestly don't know how to structure this review mainly because there is so much to talk about. Whether it be mentioning how poop influences our microbiomes at birth which goes to determine how our immune systems are formed all the way. Up to how to know whether or not a scientific study or science paper is trustworthy. There was so much.

I will say I kinda wished I would've seen a mention of the unreliability for the studies done during the AIDs scare/pandemic saying ONLY gay men get it. Mainly because straight people wouldn't bother with STD testing or anything of the sort at the time in fear of being called gay, and maybe also due to them having a less care about sexual health at the time. But then again, he did do an amazing job covering it, and that's kinda just me being picky about that. Please do not mistake me for being like mad or disappointed it wasn't mentioned I'm just using this as a way to say, "Did you know?"

The biggest critique I have is that with the amount of information within this book, I felt it to be a little cramped and sometimes hard to keep up with everything. Maybe it would've been best to have it like a two part book or just make it bigger, cause I like my books thick anyway. But regardless, I still very much enjoy this and highly recommend it because it's a great read.

[pyrepostings]

Whumperless Whump Event: In Hot Water

Dangerously high fever / Cool baths / “We have to get that number down somehow.”

Free Birds and Fiddlers

cw: sickfic, starvation (self imposed), suicidal ideation and actions, unreliable narrator

~~~

The thing about starvation is that it is not a quick or clean death. It is also rare that the body simply switches off at the lack of food. No, it cannibalizes itself long before that. One of the first sources of proteins to be broken down and reused is the immune system.

A man wasting away to starvation will often finally succumb to sickness.

And so Kevin, when feeling that first shiver down his spine despite the warm blanket, the first tickle at the back of his throat that suggested a cough, carefully suppressed every symptom. He curled the blanket tighter, and muffled any sounds with a wad of the cloth.

He would not be able to hide it for long, but the longer he keeps his new condition from the guard in the room, the higher the chance it would release him from this prison.

One way or another, he will be free.

By the time Julian came with breakfast, he couldn't hide the shivering, or the sweat. He planned to just drain the broth without fuss and send Julian on his way, or hide beneath the blanket again if the other man decided to linger.

But Julian seemed to have other plans.

"How long have you been sick?"

He sounded almost mad. Scared, maybe? Oh he would be scared for Kevin to just slip out from between his fingers without his say-so.

"It doesn't matter, does it?"

"Yes, it does. Drink." He pushed the stew into Kevin's hands. "And I'm giving you two cups of water before I leave. You need the fluids."

"I don't need shite from-" He was broken off with a coughing fit, Julian steadying the bowl so he wouldn't make a mess.

"And I'll be telling Rynn you're sick. She will want to keep an eye on you for it."

"Oh grand. And what is she going to do that you can't?"

"I imagine she would be able to put an IV in your arm more effectively than I could on my own."

Kevin scoffed. "Like she'd waste limited medical resources on me."

"The only waste in that scenario is you refusing to drink and eat when you are perfectly physically capable of it."

Kevin stared him down. "You'd have to hold or tie me down for that. I'd kick and tear it out."

Julian returned the gaze with a steadiness that surely proved his worthiness to claim the lion moniker. "If that is what it takes to keep you alive, then so be it."

Kevin held his gaze for a few moments longer, considering this, and decided it was in his best interest to drain the bowl of broth.

~

Despite his increased fluids intake, which still fell below the line of what one would consider healthy, his fever flared. Rynn had replaced his heavy winter blanket with a lighter one so as not to incubate the fever. He had cursed her when he realized, his shivering only getting worse.

She increased the number of sponge baths she forced on him, and the water used was noticeably colder. When he refused the tea she brought him, on the grounds that he had agreed to drink water and soup broth and that tea was not a part of it, though really it was because he knew it was likely made with an herb or medicine to bring him from the brink faster. He found his broth next meal time had some new ingredients.

By the time his fever broke, Kevin didn't have the energy to be either glad or angry. He was just tired. Tired of being in pain, tired of the muscle soreness that came with constant shivering. Tired of the sticky sweat that covered his body and soaked into the sheets immediately after they were changed.

He just wanted out. And currently there was no end in sight.

Masterlist

@whumperless-whump-event

[jestingshadows]

Yes you're still contagious after the first 5 days (cdc literally has it posted on their site that this recommendation is to help the economy, not based on evidence. Check with the WHO for more complete info)

AND we also have very little evidence that testing negative (if you are recovering after a positive diagnosis) actually indicates that you are no longer contagious. Not to mention the over the counter rapid tests are super unreliable (my roommates and I all tested negative, which was confirmed to be false). So maybe quarantine for the whole 10 days, as much as possible, and definitely wear a mask and keep your distance.

Also, for anyone on the fence about whether we should still care: assuming you don't give a shit about anyone else: we're finding strong evidence that every repeated infection permanently compromises your immune system. Every time you get sick with covid, you take cumulative damage to your immune system. It's not a replacement for getting vaccinated. It's an invitation to get sick again.

We're in another covid wave!!

I'll give eight main things to do that I think are really important at this point ~

1. If you have covid, please quarantine to the best of your ability until you test negative. You are still contagious as long you are testing positive, not just the first five days.

2. If you have covid, please try to get in touch with everyone you've had contact with the past 5 days and let them know. This lets them take appropriate precautions around the other folks in their lives.

3. Once you're testing negative again, be careful not to overexert yourself. Listen to your body; if, after exertion, you find symptoms returning (eg fever, lots of fatigue) that means you overdid it and should scale back. Be very cautious about returning to full activity level. This is to prevent post-exertional malaise as a symptom of long covid.

4. If you've been exposed to covid, assume you're a question mark and possibly-covid-positive for the first five days after exposure. Let folks that you're spending time with know about your exposure before getting together, so they can choose their risk level in terms of if they're comfortable spending time with you, if they want you to wear a mask, if they want to wear a mask, etc.

5. If you have symptoms or have been exposed to covid, wear a mask in public. This should be KN-95, N-95, or KF-94 level quality, not a cloth or surgical mask.

6. If you're having symptoms, or have been exposed to covid, and *especially* if both - remember that tests right at the beginning have a high rate of false negatives. When I had covid, I tested negative on both rapid and PCR tests my first two days of having symptoms. It wasn't until the third day, when I no longer even had a fever but just cold symptoms, that I finally tested positive. Please don't just test the day after exposure and assume you're fine.

7. If you haven't gotten this year's booster shot yet, go get it ASAP.

8. Even if you're not symptomatic and haven't been exposed, strongly consider wearing a mask again in public places like stores and transit, and at larger/more crowded gatherings.

Remember, people have a variety of risk tolerances, for a variety of reasons. Some folks are immunocompromised so their vaccine doesn't protect them as well as yours protects you. Some people have conditions that increase the chances of a severe case. Some people can't risk long covid because of existing disabilities and precarious life situations. Some people are not high-risk themselves but have regular contact with folks who are. These folks all deserve to be able to keep themselves safe and make choices about the level of covid risk in their lives.

Posted 12/16/23

[zhongrin]

As the teahouse opened for a new day, another strange letter was left on the counter. Opening it reads:

[ To Covellio;

Salutations. I believe I haven't sent a letter in this format before. Do forgive me— Fontaine has kept me busy, with what being sent on trial due to a crime I can't speak of.

Anyway, I believe you know me as "Mirko". Although you may be curious why I haven't came to Liyue... I'm currently dealing with the Chief Justice and the Jester's whims.

I need to find h—

I was looking forward for a letter to arrive while I was kept busy, but unfortunately, I believe I lost the owner's letter. Can you inform me if she sent any? I hadn't received one ever since my first message.

Ma█be i█ w██ a██eady ██████████████████████████

My apologies. I've been having trouble with my current... condition.

With that in mind, I'll cut this one short. Hope to receive a response back from you.

Best regards,

Mirko ]

— 🃏💧

To Mirko,

It's actually Coviello, but close enough.

I believe Miss Meirin has mailed you her reply. The postal mail these days are quite unreliable, however, so I wouldn't be surprised if the letter was lost or arrived much later than expected.

Perhaps the next time you visit the teahouse again, I can brew you a pot of herbal tea to boost your immunity system.

Signed,

꧁ Coviello

[mythandmagicmuses]

Hey all,

So my shit immune system means I've been having infections constantly as well as new and interesting symptoms with my disabiities.

As my infopage explains this is why I can be a touch unreliable in rp despite my wanting to be better. I'm trying to get to a pace where I can write again. Hope you're all doing good and having fun

Jace <3

[hailthecriticalthinking]

It never ceases to amaze me when I ask for a rebuttal and I'm instead offered vague overgeneralized link to a website that is unrelated to what I said. Yes, that is the methodology by which embryos develop. Am I supposed to derive your point out of this information for you? Could you just not be arsed? I understand that through this action youre trying to assume the role of an educator, but it's lazy. I can to the same effect give you The Theory of Everything by Stephen hawking and just say "Here, this is why you are wrong and also soo stupid by the way? And illiterate. There, I win the argument forever."

Joking aside, sadly, you did not bring any source of information to the table that stands to counter my claim.

In fact, I tried to counter my own claim on your behalf and I discovered that the church has a vested interest in making sure people who are asking whether or not their unborn child is parasitising them know that DEFINITELY NOT. THAT IS NOT THE CASE. Unfortunately and to no one's surprise, organized religion is an unreliable source of information. So it seemed your work was cut out for you anyways.

Now lets get into it. A parasite is defined as any organism that derives nutrients from the host at expense of the host, so yes, an embryo may fall under this category. Same species parasitism is a thing. Regardless of whether or not the mother gets a *boost* from fetal DNA, the state of motherhood is physically, mentally, sociogically and financially handicapping for years to come. And a mother who does not wish to carry a child is put through a significant level of stress in being forced to carry that child. This is hopefully self-evident to you, as I would hope we all understand that there is very little societal help for pregnant women.

It's unfortunate that you couldn't find a specific study to present me that fetuses are unlike a parasite, because I can satisfy your request with few sources that indicate that the placenta behaves in a parasitic way, dodging the immune system of mothers, as it drains her body of nutrients.

And this text, that illustrates the nature of the way the fetus hijacks a mother's endocrine system. I find it noteworthy that this study descibes growth rate of the embryo as non-correlating with the protein intake of the mother, indicating that it is indeed drawing its nutrients not from what the mother provides, but from the body of the mother itself. Simarily, this is well-documented in the instances involving calcium absorbtion, pulling minerals from the mother's bones in lieu of adequate nutritional uptake, resulting in loss of bone mass for the mother.

Finally, as much as I hate to be contrary to your carefully harvested link of textbook quotes from the 90's: Life does not begin at fertilization, as the sperm and egg cells are also living cells, carrying information, performing functions. And humans shed these cells naturally and frequently. So unless you're going after people who are cumming and menstruating also, it's again another double standard that I suggest you take the time to assess.

We are biological machines running a continuity program. The reason we don't remember our youngest years may be because conciousness is not inherent to us, it is learned by us. This is a scientific theory, but I support it. It takes a considerable amount of time, even post-birth, for a human to develop their own personality.

And while y'all are running around being mad about snuffing out something that recieves less informational input than an insect, you are munching down on animals with the relative intelligence of four year olds. It's the hypocrisy and the cherry-picking that I find really wild in the whole situation.

“It matters a great deal if they are a person because you’re not allowed to kill people” My right to bodily autonomy and self defense give me the right to kill people under certain circumstances sweetie.

But the problem is you're not educated on what those circumstances are. Neither of those rights ever give you the "right" to kill a baby. Not even self defense is the "right" to kill. It's the right to nullify a threat. You are not supposed to try to kill the person in self defense. It just means you won't be held liable for their death if the force was justified. You don't know a single thing about a single right.

And the fact that you're arguing for the "right" to murder an innocent baby as if it's no big deal shows how little you value human life and that's not a good thing. That's a very bad, disgusting view to hold.

[hella1975]

IM SO ILL I LITERALLY HAVE NOT SLEPT IM JUST LYING HERE SOMEONE SEND ME LEMSIP OR LIKE HERBAL TEA OR SOME SHIT IDK IM SO AWFUL AT BEING SICK

[emcads]

this is a half baked thought but it compels me how the potc rpc (me included) latches onto port royal as a place for worldbuilding / domestic storytelling / etc because it exudes permanence and structure as opposed to places like tortuga and shipwreck cove which are transient by nature, and full of residents in transit, and ghosts, and stories.  ships, not homes.

[kiyaar]

Hey I’ve been sitting on this ask for a while now, but back in like 2018 I won one of the stony trumps hate auctions you participated in to raise money for planned parenthood that granted a writing commission. I asked for another chapter of Sins and, obviously, that never happened. I’m not asking for a refund since whatever, it went to a charity, but it’s still frustrating that you took the commission and then just went literal radio silence.

I sent you more than a few check-ins in the months after the auction ended and you never responded. You participated in the auction, got people to spend money, and then disappeared. It was shitty

I want you to know that there are about a thousand kinder ways you could have contacted me about this, and if you had done so, I would have happily given you an update. But this is ask is a real dick message and I cried a lot about it, so I’m not gonna bend over backwards to be nice right now. Your initial messages (asks, emails?) didn’t get to me. There is a LIST of places you can contact me in my sidebar. Tumblr is notorious for eating asks; it is known. (I scrolled forever, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.) There is not a single email from anyone in the sins pod in my fandom gmail, asking about sins. I have actually asked for a list of people in the pod + emails for this precise reason, and it was never given to me. I have written about my obstacles and why Sins might be delayed many times, on many platforms, so maybe you’re just not tuned into the right fucking frequency, anon. You could have easily reached out to the event mods and had them contact me, or sent me an email, directly, checking in, maybe inquiring if I was okay before coming and accusing me of fucking off because I don’t care. I am not actually okay, and I am, generally speaking, unreliable. Neither of those are reasons for you to come into my inbox without even using your name and call me a shitty person. I am unreliable because I’m fucking sick, anon. My health was sort of good when I signed up for that auction, and now it’s not. My past few years have been absolute garbage. I have been hospitalized several times. I lost some organs. I spent some time in a psych ward. I am, even as I type, still recovering from heart surgery I had in November.

I have fewer hours in a day than healthy people. I can’t do things I want to do. I can barely do things I need to do right now. I have all but stopped doing fandom events. (I did a little one this holiday season to feel like I still belonged to fandom.) I am always tired. I am frequently ashamed of my inability to overcome my body stuff and create, and it’s compounded by shit like this ask. Because it happens in real life, too. I cancel on people at the last minute because my energy and pain levels are unpredictable. It’s too hard to get into the city. I was too busy fighting with insurance. I had to sleep instead. I had a migraine that lasted for 2 weeks and I couldn’t drive. When you begin to constantly miss deadlines and appointments, people judge. Like you’re judging. Strangers, doctors, friends, family continually decide that I’m Just Not Trying Hard Enough to bootstrap my way out of whatever my immune system is doing. They put casual little barbs in their speech without knowing anything about my conditions: that they are under-researched, poorly understood, not funded by anyone that matters. They assume my inability to Do is a moral failing. Why are you sleeping so late. You didn’t even do anything today, how are you tired. They assume I must be lazy, that I am a flake. People drift away. I am not a flake, but my body sure as shit is, and for now it seems I’m tethered to it. You may find this shocking, but the health of my flesh vessel directly corresponds to my ability to write. I don’t know what you think, anon. If you think I just don’t want to do the work, or that I fucked off to wherever, cackling with glee. I’m also mad about your framing of this situation: it’s not a commission. It’s a gift, commensurate with a donation. That’s how charity auctions work. And still, I work on the gift. If feeling satisfied with your charity donation can’t keep you warm while I work, that’s not a problem I can fix. I owe you some fic but you don’t get to harass me about it. I can’t write if I’m dead. I am sincerely sorry I haven’t finished the next few chapters of Sins yet. Do you write, anon? Have you written a novel? Have you written two? That’s how long the first part of sins is. Two novels. Do you know how much energy and time it takes under the best circumstances? I am essentially writing a third novel with the end of this story. There are a lot of pieces; I am trying to put them together in a way that is satisfying, to you and to me. Do you know how much I want this story to be done? How much it means to me? I have years of notes: in voice memos, notebook margins, a whiteboard in my room. I assure you, I care. If you still take issue with my timeline, fine. Nothing I say is going to change that until you have personal lived experience of disability running your life. I want to be able to write faster and get it to you. As frustrated as you are, I PROMISE. It is a thousand times more frustrating for me, because I am stuck in this body and trying to wade through daily chronic fatigue and chronic pain and cognitive impairment. Perhaps you, too, would be unreliable if you were in such a situation.