#US delta variant

[iicraft505]

throat hurting is one of the worst symptoms end my suffering

[memoryoflooping]

my verdict on pfq is that this sucks so fucking bad. i made my account in 2020 and only now i can say i'm having fun bc i can shiny hunt and stuff way more effectively. doing stuff like tr as a solo player sucked so fucking bad (three months ago i was on dragon tr and i couldn't fucking shiny or albino hunt. i couldn't hunt until fucking july), and i don't even wanna hunt the cool specials bc w the revamps they will just. completely change the fucking colors, so if you liked a albino or melan the way it was you might as well die. do not even get me started on this shelter systemmmm bc like wym "The Shelter should remain an incredibly inefficient way to find Exclusives/Variants, whether that be for initially Dexing them, or for breeding extras to adopt through there" like how the fuck do you hunt them then?????

[reasonsforhope]

I'm sorry I'm sending so many asks. I've been struggling like this for a year now, and it's barely gotten easier, but you've often been a good help with my anxiety. I really appreciate everything you do. It's hard to have hope.

I've had a really bad moment again recently. I have to be honest, the worst thing, that makes me the most anxious out of everything else, is COVID. Because it feels like nobody is paying attention, and that there is no good news. There is never any good news. COVID is always the catalyst for the worst of my anxious slumps. It's really bad. COVID is very, very scary. If you somehow have anything for that, I'd be thankful. Often I've only been able to set my heart on nasal vaccines, or next gen vaccines in general, but they're not going fast enough whatsoever.

I'm sorry, again. I don't want to try and treat you like a therapist. I just trust you. If this is too overwhelming, you can just delete it, but if you do, I'd like to know. Just so I'm not waiting for it to be answered.

I just ravaged through someone's doomy collapse blog, again, after stumbling on it in my rising anxiousness, and it was not good. I think I'm clearly too open-minded of a person to some degree, and I feel so pulled around by information that I see. I don't want to be placated, out of the loop, or lied to, but I don't want to feel hopelessly depressed. Everything is too complex. I feel like I've been through this maze, top to bottom, over and over again, and again. I just wish I knew how much truth their words held, or anyone else's words held.

And I wish we were all masking, at the very least. I'm holding myself back from swearing. I don't know if you'd have a good way to counteract general "collapse" thoughts, either. But that's also a thing.

<3 I'm touched by your trust.

I just found some good news about COVID - the first genuinely good covid-related news article I've seen in a while, instead of all of the "ah but young abled people are fine!" bs - and remembered this ask.

"As new varieties of the coronavirus took center stage during the COVID-19 pandemic, the odds of developing long COVID dropped. Those who were vaccinated against the virus saw the biggest plunge over time.

For every 1,000 unvaccinated people, 104 developed long COVID up to one year after an infection during the pre-delta phase of the pandemic. That fell to 95 per 1,000 during the delta variant’s era and 78 during omicron’s reign. Among vaccinated people, just 53 out of 1,000 developed long COVID up to a year after infection during delta and only 35 during omicron, researchers report July 17 [2024] in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System data looked at people who had a COVID infection from March of 2020 — the month the pandemic began — to the end of January in 2022. The researchers, from the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, compared the rates of long COVID during three phases of the pandemic among those who had and had not gotten vaccinated...

A comparison of omicron infections with infections from prior eras found that 72 percent of the drop in the long COVID rate during omicron was attributable to vaccines. The remainder was due to changes in the virus and improvements in medical care and the use of antiviral treatments during the omicron phase.

Even with the steep decline in the occurrence of long COVID for vaccinated people, there is still a risk, the researchers write. With “the large numbers of ongoing new infections and reinfections, and the poor uptake of vaccination,” they continue, this “may translate into a high number of persons” with long COVID."

-via ScienceNews, July 17, 2024

--

Masking continues to be important. The virus continues to be a problem. But especially given the decline in masking, I'm really encouraged to see this news. Because long covid IS scary. And I'll take any good news on this front that I can get.

It's especially encouraging because it shows how much staying on top of your vaccinations really does matter and really can prevent long covid.

I'm also really hopeful (though I don't have a related background and have no idea how realistic my hopes are) that this trend has been continuing past the end of the study (2022).

[covid-safer-hotties]

Boy! That natural immunity for covid sure is ramping up!

Evaluating the risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection with the Omicron or Delta variant in Wales, UK - Published Sept 6, 2024

Abstract

Recent studies suggest an increased risk of reinfection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant compared with previous variants, potentially due to an increased ability to escape immunity specific to older variants, high antigenic divergence of Omicron from earlier virus variants as well as its altered cell entry pathway. The present study sought to investigate epidemiological evidence for differential SARS-CoV-2 reinfection intervals and incidence rates for the Delta versus Omicron variants within Wales. Reinfections in Wales up to February 2022 were defined using genotyping and whole genome sequencing. The median inter-infection intervals for Delta and Omicron were 226 and 192 days, respectively. An incidence rate ratio of 2.17 for reinfection with Omicron compared to Delta was estimated using a conditional Poisson model, which accounted for several factors including sample collection date, age group, area of residence, vaccination and travel status. These findings are consistent with an increased risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant, and highlight the value of monitoring emerging variants that have the potential for causing further waves of cases.

If we had "lasting natural immunity" to covid, this last sentence would not be what scientists are finding. Covid (especially omicron derived variants, e.g. ALL THE ONES CURRENTLY IN CIRCULATION) has evolved to be excellent at immune escape. Anyone telling you that an infection is as good as a vaccination is a liar dealing in dogma, not science. Mask up to prevent the spread to keep the virus from mutating so rapidly so that we can actually build up some worthwhile lasting immunity through vaccination.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hello! First of all, thank you for the wonderful content! It's a real joy, and an enrichment, food for both the brain and the heart! I was wondering if through your treasures, you could find some writing notes/words/concepts/vocabulary relating to genetic engineering? Like...creating a virus, and a vaccine for it, modifying the virus so it has certain specific effects.... Thank you in advance!

Writing Notes: Virus & Vaccine

References How Viruses Work; Replication Cycle; Mutation, Variants, Strains, Genetically Engineering Viruses; Writing Tips; Creating your Fictional Virus & Vaccine

Virus - an infectious microbe consisting of a segment of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat.

It is a tiny lifeform that is a collection of genes inside a protective shell. Viruses can invade body cells where they multiply, causing illnesses.

It cannot replicate alone; instead, it must infect cells and use components of the host cell to make copies of itself. Often, a virus ends up killing the host cell in the process, causing damage to the host organism.

Well-known examples of viruses causing human disease include AIDS, COVID-19, measles and smallpox. Examples of viruses:

Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and can invade living cells��including bacteria. They may interfere with the host genes, and when they move from host to host, they may take host genes with them.

Bacteriophages (also known as phages)—viruses that infect and kill bacteria.

Size differential between virus and bacterium

Viruses are measured in nanometers (nm).

They lack the cellular structure of bacteria, being just particles of protein and genetic material.

How Viruses Work

Viruses use an organism’s cells to survive and reproduce.

They travel from one organism to another.

Viruses can make themselves into a particle called a virion.

This allows the virus to survive temporarily outside of a host organism. When it enters the host, it attaches to a cell. A virus then takes over the cell’s reproductive mechanisms for its own use and creates more virions.

The virions destroy the cell as they burst out of it to infect more cells.

Viral shedding - when an infected person releases the virus into the environment by coughing, speaking, touching a surface, or shedding skin.

Viruses also can be shed through blood, feces, or bodily fluids.

Virus Replication Cycle

While the replication cycle of viruses can vary from virus to virus, there is a general pattern that can be described, consisting of 5 steps:

Attachment – the virion attaches to the correct host cell.

Penetration or Viral Entry – the virus or viral nucleic acid gains entrance into the cell.

Synthesis – the viral proteins and nucleic acid copies are manufactured by the cells’ machinery.

Assembly – viruses are produced from the viral components.

Release – newly formed virions are released from the cell.

Mutations, Variants, and Strains

Not all mutations cause variants and strains. Below are definitions that explain how mutations, variants, and strains differ.

Mutation - errors in the replication of the virus’s genetic code; can be beneficial to the virus, deleterious to the virus, or neutral

Variants - viruses with these mutations are called variants; the Delta and Omicron variants are examples of coronavirus mutations that cause different symptoms from the original infection

Strains - variants that have different physical properties are called strains; these strains may have different behaviors or mechanisms for infection or reproduction

Genetically Engineering Viruses

Using reverse genetics, the sequence of a viral genome can be identified, including that of its different strains and variants.

This enables scientists to identify sequences of the virus that enable it to bind to a receptor, as well as those regions that cause it to be so virulent.

Vaccine - a special preparation of substances that stimulate an immune response, used for inoculation

Vaccines & Fighting Viruses with Viruses

Common pathogenic viruses can be genetically modified to make them less pathogenic, such that their virulent properties are diminished but can still be recognized by the immune system to produce a robust immune response against. They are described as live attenuated.

This is the basis of many successful vaccines and is a better alternative than traditional vaccine development which typically includes heat-mediated disabling of viruses that tend to be poorer in terms of immunogenicity.

Viruses can also be genetically modified to ‘fight viruses’ by boosting immune cells to make more effective antibodies, especially where vaccines fail. Where vaccines fail, it is often due to the impaired antibody production by B-cells, even though antibodies can be raised against such viruses – including HIV, EBV, RSV & cold-viruses.

Related Articles: Modified virus used to kill cancer cells ⚜ Genetic Engineering ⚜ Engineering Bacterial Viruses ⚜ Benefits of Viruses

A Few Writing Tips

As more writers look to incorporate infectious diseases into their work, there are quite a few things writers should keep in mind:

Don’t anthropomorphize. Really easy to do, but scientifically wrong. Viruses don’t want to kill you; bacteria don’t want to infect you; parasites don’t want to make your blood curdle. None of these things are big enough to be sentient to want to do anything. They just do it (or don’t do it).

Personal protective equipment. This includes wearing gloves, lab coats, safety glasses, and tying your hair back if it’s long. It is the same as Edna Mode’s “no capes.” Flowing hair looks cool all the way to the explosive ball of flames that engulfs someone’s head.

Viruses are small. You can’t see viruses down a normal microscope—they need a special microscope called an electron microscope. These are highly specialized and take a long time to make the preparations to be able to see the virus. Normally viruses are detected by inference—measuring part of them using an assay that can amplify tiny amounts of material, for example PCR.

Viruses don’t really cause zombie apocalypses. 

Vaccines work. But they take time. The best vaccine in the world will still only prevent infections two weeks after it is given. Drugs are quicker, but still take some time. But the good news is an infection is not going to kill you (or turn you into a zombie) quickly, so they both have time to work.

Scientists use viruses as a vector to introduce healthy genes into a patient’s cells:

Your Fictional Virus & Vaccine

When creating your own fictional virus, research further on the topic and consider choosing a specific one as your basis/inspiration.

Here's one resource. For some of them, you'll need a subscription to access, but those that are available give you a good overview of the virus, as well as treatment options.

You can do the same for creating your fictional vaccine:

Here's one resource. And here's one on vaccine developments.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ⚜ Writing Notes & References

Lastly, here's an interesting article on how science fiction can be a valuable tool to communicate widely around pandemic, whilst also acting as a creative space in which to anticipate how we may handle similar future events.

Thanks so much for your kind words, you're so lovely! Hope this helps with your writing. Would love to read your work if it does :)

[thelampisaflashlight]

The ghouls, but specifically stuff about the water/water hybrids ghouls. Let's go.

-Due to the instability of his vessel, Water, the first ghoul to hold the bass position in the band, was destroyed by his own magic, and thus returned to the pit.

His successor, Lake, and Lake's subsequent replacement, River, also succumbed to this same issue, but, after an unfortunate amount of trial and error, the ministry was able to create their first viable water ghoul; Delta.

However, until Mist's summoning not long after, the ministry could not confirm whether or not they truly fixed the issue or not, as Delta was a hybrid, leading to the false conclusion that his quintessence magic kept him from succumbing to his water side.

-It's largely Delta's fault that there's a tradition of "bullying the new guy" among the band ghouls, generally speaking, but especially in regards to new water ghouls.

Delta teased Mist, Mist teased Dew... and then Delta decided to tease Dew, too.

Rain managed to escape this particular hazing ritual largely because Delta enjoyed teasing Dew more than him, and because Dew elected to go the, "I don't want to talk to you." route instead.

-Since leaving the band, Delta has been more in-tune with his quintessence side, and so he has taken up a position in the abbey's infirmary as part of the medical staff.

This is the only place where his antics involving Dew/teasing him are strictly not allowed, a rule which he respects due to his want to retain his job.

He also does not use any of Dew's -or anyone's- health information in his jokes, as even he thinks that would be crossing a line.

-Mist and Rain are saltwater variant ghouls, whereas Delta and Dew are freshwater, with their secondary subcategories...

Mist-Abyssopelagic Zone (The Abyss) variant, Rain-Mesopelagic Zone (The Twilight Zone) variant, Dew-Tundra/Plains Hybrid variant, Delta-Wetland/Temperate Forest Hybrid variant.

...This basically means they're all water, but their relationship with it is very different.

Mist's water magic is survival/instinct based, meaning it is used predominantly for hunting, whereas Rain's is used more so for camouflaging him, allowing him to glamour himself more readily than others.

Since Delta and Dew are hybrids, their magic is a bit more specific in terms of which form they have the most control of it in.

Delta can only manipulate freshwater containing dirt and debris, meaning he's good at removing impurities from water and cleaning it/cleansing wounds, which makes him an excellent addition to the medical staff.

And Dew can... Dew can make ice? Act like a humidifier?

...Yeah, he kind of got the short end of the stick on that one.

And lastly;

-The water ghouls all have a pact that if anyone messes with one of them, then they're all obligated to jump said person, no further questions asked.

One witness to such an event heard the "victim" shouting, "THE BITCHES HAVE UNIONIZED!" and indeed, indeed they had.

[mengjue]

What's Happening in China? The November 2022 Protests

Hello! I know that there's so much going on in the world right now, so not everyone may be aware of what is happening in China right now. I thought that I would try to write a brief explainer, because the current wave of protests is truly unprecedented in the past 30+ years, and there is a lot of fear over what may happen next. For context, I'm doing this as someone who has a PhD in Asian Studies specialising in contemporary Chinese politics, so I don't know everything but I have researched China for many years.

I'll post some decent links at the end along with some China specialists & journalists I follow on Twitter (yeah I know, but it's still the place for the stuff at the moment). Here are the bullet points for those who just want a brief update:

Xi Jinping's government is still enacting a strict Zero Covid policy enforced by state surveillance and strict lockdowns.

On 24 November a fire in an apartment in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, killed 10. Many blamed strict quarantine policies on preventing evacuation.

Protests followed and have since spread nationwide.

Protesters are taking steps not seen since Tiananmen in 1989, including public chants for Xi and the CCP to step down.

Everyone is currently unsure how the government will respond.

More in-depth discussion and links under the cut:

First a caveat: this is my own analysis/explanation as a Chinese politics specialist. I will include links to read further from other experts and journalists. Also, this will be quite long, so sorry about that!

China's (aka Xi Jinping's) Covid Policy:

The first and most important context: Xi has committed to a strict Zero Covid policy in China, and has refused to change course. Now, other countries have had similar approaches and they undoubtedly saved lives - I was fortunate to live in New Zealand until this year, and Prime Minister Ardern's Zero Covid approach in 2020-2021 helped protect many. The difference is in the style/scope of enforcement, the use of vaccines, and the variant at play. China has stepped up its control on public life over the past 10 years, and has used this to enforce strict quarantine measures without full regard to the impact on people's lives - stories of people not getting food were common. Quarantine has also become a feared situation, as China moves people to facilities often little better than prisons and allegedly without much protection from catching Covid within. A personal friend in Zhengzhou went through national, then provincial, then local quarantines when moving back from NZ, and she has since done her best to avoid going back for her own mental and physical health. Xi has also committed China to its two home-grown vaccines, Sinovac and Sinopharm, both of which have low/dubious efficacy and are considered ineffective against new variants. Finally, with delta and then omicron most of the Zero-Covid countries have modified their approach due to the inability to maintain zero cases. China remains the only country still enacting whole-city eradication lockdowns, and they have become more frequent to the point that several are happening at any given time. The result is a population that is incredibly frustrated and losing hope amidst endless lockdowns and perceived ineffectiveness to address the pandemic.

Other Issues at Play:

Beyond the Covid situation, China is also wrestling with the continued slowdown in its economic growth. While its economic rise and annual GDP growth was nigh meteoric from the 80s to the 00s, it has been slowing over the past ten years, and the government is attempting to manage the transition away from an export-oriented economy to a more fully developed one. However, things are still uncertain, and Covid has taken its toll as it has elsewhere the past couple of years. Youth unemployment in particular is reaching new highs at around 20%, and Xi largely ignored this in his speech at the Party Congress in October (where he entered an unprecedented third term). As a result of the perceived uselessness of China's harsh work culture and its failure to result in a better life, many young Chinese have been promoting 躺平 tǎng píng or "lying flat", aka doing the bare minimum just to get by (similar to the English "quiet quitting"). The combination of economic issues and a botched Covid approach is important, as these directly affect the lives of ordinary middle-class Chinese, and historical it has only been when this occurred that mass movements really took off. The most famous, Tiananmen in 1989, followed China's opening up economic reforms and the dismantling of many economic safety nets allowing for growing inequality. While movements in China often grow to include other topics, having a foundation in something negatively impacting the average Han Chinese person's livelihood is important.

The Spark - 24 Nov 2022 Urumqi Apartment Fire:

The current protests were sparked by a recent fire that broke out in a flat in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang province. (This is the same Xinjiang that is home to the Uighur people, against whom China has enacted a campaign of genocide and cultural destruction.) The fire occurred in the evening and resulted in 10 deaths, which many online blamed on the strict lockdown measures imposed by officials, who prevented people from leaving their homes. It even resulted in a rare public apology by city officials. However, with anger being so high nationwide, in addition to many smaller protests that have occurred over the past two years, this incident has ignited a nationwide movement.

The Protests and Their Significance:

The protests that have broken out over the past couple of days representing the largest and most significant challenge to the leadership since the 1989 Tiananmen movement. Similar to that movement, these protests have occurred at universities and cities across the country, with many students taking part openly. This scale is almost unseen in China, particularly for an anti-government protest. Other than Tiananmen in 1989, the most widespread movements that have occurred have been incidents such as the protest of the 1999 Belgrade bombings or the 2005 and then 2012 anti-Japanese protests, all of which were about anger toward a foreign country.

Beyond the scale the protests are hugely significant in their message as well. Protesters are publicly shouting the phrases "习近平下台 Xí Jìnpíng xiàtái!" and "共产党 下台 Gòngchǎndǎng xiàtái!", which mean "Xi Jinping, step down/resign!" and "CCP, step down/resign!" respectively. To shout a direct slogan for the government to resign is unheard of in China, particularly as Xi has tightened control of civil society. And people are doing this across the country in the thousands, openly and in front of police. This is a major challenge for a leader and party who have prioritised regime stability as a core interest for the majority of their history.

Looking Ahead:

Right now, as of 15:00 Australian Eastern time on Monday, 28 November 2022, the protests are only in their first couple of days and we are unsure as to how the government will respond. Police have already been seen beating protesters and journalists and dragging them away in vehicles. However, in many cases the protests have largely been monitored by police but still permitted to occur. There seems to be uncertainty as to how they want to respond just yet, and as such no unified approach.

Many potential outcomes exist, and I would warn everyone to be careful in overplaying what can be achieved. Most experts I have read are not really expecting this to result in Xi's resignation or regime change - these things are possible, surely, but it is a major task to achieve and the unity & scale of the protest movement remains to be fully seen. The government may retaliate with a hard crackdown as it has done with Tiananmen and other protests throughout the years. It may also quietly revamp some policies without publicly admitting a change in order to both pacify protesters and save face. The CCP often uses mixed tactics, both coopting and suppressing protest movements over the years depending on the situation. Changing from Zero Covid may prove more challenging though, given how much Xi has staked his political reputation on enforcing it.

What is important for everyone online, especially those of us abroad, is to watch out for the misinformation campaign the government will launch to counter these protests. Already twitter is reportedly seeing hundreds of Chinese bot accounts mass post escort advertisements using various city names in order to drown out protest results in the site's search engine. Chinese officials will also likely invoke the standard narrative of Western influence and CIA tactics as the reason behind the protests, as they did during the Hong Kong protests.

Finally, there will be a new surge of misinformation and bad takes from tankies, or leftists who uncritically support authoritarian regimes so long as they are anti-US. An infamous one, the Qiao Collective, has already worked to shift the narrative away from the protests and onto debating the merits of Zero Covid. This is largely similar to pro-Putin leftists attempting the justify his invasion of Ukraine. Always remember that the same values that you use to criticise Western countries should be used to criticise authoritarian regimes as well - opposing US militarism and racism, for example, is not incompatible with opposing China's acts of genocide and state suppression. If you want further info (and some good sardonic humour) on the absurd takes and misinfo from pro-China tankies, I would recommend checking out Brian Hioe in the links below.

Finally, keep in mind that this is a grass-roots protest made by people in China, who are putting their own lives at risk to demonstrate openly like this. There have already been so many acts of bravery by those who just want a better future for themselves and their country, and it is belittling and disingenuous to wave away everything they are doing as being just a "Western front" or a few "fringe extremists".

Links:

BBC live coverage page with links to analysis and articles

ABC (Australia) analysis

South China Morning Post analysis

Experts & Journalists to Check Out:

Brian Hioe - Journalist & China writer, New Bloom Magazine

Bonnie Glaser - China scholar, German Marshall Fund

Vicky Xu - Journalist & researcher, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Stephen McDonnell - Journalist, BBC

M Taylor Fravel - China scholar, MIT

New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre - NZ's hub of China scholarship (I was fortunate to attend their conferences during my PhD there, they do great work!)

If you've reached the end I hope this helps with understanding what's going on right now! A lot of us who know friends and whanau in China are worried for their safety, so please spread the word and let's hope that there is something of a positive outcome ahead.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

What do you think happened during/after the fight Delta had with his Gaster(in the Final Ep. 1). What are your headcanons for it?

Apologies for the delay in response, I needed to both gain energy/motivation to reply and also to go rewatch Ultra/Vitaltale to refresh my memories.

And also the way the videos were sorted on creator’s YT channel was confusing my brain for some reason, so I just scrolled through their entire channel in order to find every piece on the AUs & put it into separate chronological order in a playlist of my own. Then I tried to rewatch all of it.

Which was hard, because I kept getting distracted and my attention kept drifting away. I will probably try to rewatch again soon, when I am capable of actually retaining the information in my mind accurately.

(Random side note because the thought just occurred to me; I find it very interesting how both Doggo and Papyrus demonstrate bravery when facing up against the unknown threat in Vitaltale Episode 1.4.

Whereas Sans, who will eventually absorb the SOUL of Bravery to become the Delta we know, is all for evacuating. Love how this Sans is not naturally brave in the typical way, even should he eventually come around to gaining the bravery soul in Vitaltale as he did in Ultra.)

Anyway. On to the actual question. My mind is a little wonky today so if I get anything wrong or confused about the question feel free to correct me.

So it’s to my understanding that Echo (Ultratale’s Gaster) calls Sans/Delta to the Ruins for a “chat” after Delta’s fight with Cross. Echo has information for Delta—a way to “fix” their mistakes, but he will not tell Delta unless he fights for it.

Delta calls the information “old,” and says he’s going to beat Echo into the ground anyhow. Gives me the impression that he’s possibly more fixated on his current task—protecting AUs—then trying to go back and fix the past.

Because Ultratale was ultimately rebooted into Vitaltale we obviously don’t know for sure how this battle ends and likely never will, but I personally HC that it has multiple endings.

1. Delta loses, Echo doesn’t give him the information. The two go on their separate ways and live their own lives.

2. Delta wins. Echo attempts to tell the information, but Delta stops him. Says he doesn’t want to know and just wants to move on with life. That it’s what Papyrus, Frisk, and the others would want them to do.

3. Delta wins, Echo tells him the information of how to go back and fix it all. Delta refuses.

4. Delta wins, gets the information, and he accepts. Perhaps this information leads into the formation of a variant AU—a reboot, that creates Vitaltale. Chara doesn’t absorb Frisk’s soul and therefore can’t prevent them from Resetting.

(Side note: perhaps, for a character defining moment, in every ending where Delta refuses to hear or accept this information, Echo always furiously protests against this. Maybe Echo is the voice encouraging Delta to go back, to fix it all and “fight for us,” whereas Beta is the voice encouraging Delta to keep moving forward.

Echo cannot let go of the past because he was shattered and wasn’t ready to leave it, but he is was always aware.

Beta never got to truly live either because they were murdered and kept in a jar, but they were not as aware of the world outside the jar and thus is able to move on easier. Because Beta’s life was over before they truly got to live it, whereas Echo/Gaster’s was cut off at its peak.

Delta is in the middle of this. Experienced with life, but still young. His life is just starting—he’s halfway out of that cage—whereas Beta realizes they are free and is just trying to convince Delta to join them, and Echo..the cage is open, he can step out now.

But he spends his time trying to coax Delta and Beta back inside instead, and to help him bring everyone else back in the cage where it’s safe and familiar.)

Delta, now just Sans and perhaps without any memory of the events of Ultratale, manages to convince Frisk to Reset near the end of a Genocide route and be better. However, the Determined Omega!Chara must still Erase this world—the culmination ending exactly as Ultratale did.

Omega!Chara absorbs Frisk’s Soul, prevents them from Resetting and goes on a Genocide to Erase this world once and for all. Sans attempts to prevent it, even by giving characters such as Doggo hints and tips to help them in combat against the unknown threat.

None of it matters. Sans’ attempts do nothing, it ends in Genocide and Sans absorbs the Bravery soul—going on to protect the rest of the Multiverse.

He always fights Cross, he always fights Echo. He’s always given the choice—go back and try again and again, or accept what happened. Be brave, and move on. Do what Doggo and Papyrus did—brave in the face of impossible odds.

Anyway I guess my little HC is basically that Ultratale and Vitaltale are connected in-universe. Vitaltale is the story of how we got to Ultratale, and Delta must choose between the mortifying ordeal of the unknown and living with his mistakes & losses, or the comfort of a past that’ll end horribly in Ultratale; but at least he never lost anyone yet and no mistakes were ever made.

If he chooses to move on, he goes to the Omega Timeline where he meets Color, Epic, Core Frisk, Killer. Grows closer with Beta, Cross, XChara. Adopts a service/therapy dog he names Zorox (which is someone else’s HC, I don’t know if it’s okay or not with being tagged). Lives life, saving and protecting people.

Sans manages to escape the loop of Undertale only to find himself in another due to the rebooting nature of Ultra and Vitaltale. Only this time he has the ability to choose to escape it, he just has to be brave enough to attempt it—even though it seems impossible.

(Also how, despite the way his experiences could understandably lead him to Nihilism, helplessness and the belief that nothing he ever does or says will ever matter or change anything, he learns to be brave enough to keep trying anyway.)

Anyway. Sorry for the long rant that got horribly off topic at points. I had a lot more ideas about this by the time I was done than when I first read the question. Have Delta & Echo being silly and zesty respectively to make up for it:

[nerdiqueen]

hang on I have to rant

if you're not already aware, the five-man band is a literary device used to classify teams of 5 characters. it's what I call an external trope, meaning that you fit the trope to the characters, they don't innately have it.

a:tla has a pretty solid one, and it's well known enough, so I'm gonna use it to show you what I mean

it is comprised of:

the Leader, who directs the group and is usually the main character (aang)

the Lancer, who serves as character foil to the Leader and is often a bad-guy-turned-good or rogue element (zuko)

the Big Guy, who solves physical problems for the team and is frequently a goofball (toph)

the Smart Guy, who solves technical/logistical problems for the team and typically serves as an "idea guy" (sokka)

and the Heart, who solves emotional problems for the team- if there's only one girl, she's probably the Heart (katara)

there are three star wars groups I want to look at: delta squad, domino squad, and clone force 99.

first is domino squad, as they fit this trope the easiest.

fives is the Leader, the most strategizing one in the group

droidbait is the Lancer, far less cautious and more prone to injury than the others (the foil to fives' effectiveness)

hevy is the Big Guy, serving the oh-so-common "big gun demolitions expert" variant

echo is the Smart Guy, in the "guys, come on, stick to the PLAN" variant

cutup is the Heart, lightening the mood with jokes (hence the name)

the first to die is droidbait, leaving echo to serve as fives' foil, which allows us to see that fives is probably the most prototypical clone of the bunch. then hevy sacrifices himself, and cutup gets eaten, leaving only fives and echo until the Citadel arc which I haven't yet seen.

then we have delta squad. the thing about delta squad is that there are four of them, and while the four-man band is a thing, they make this perfect incomplete five-man band that I think is really really tasty.

boss (player character) is the Leader, guiding the team

sev is the Lancer, playing the "snarky rogue" archetype

scorch is the Big Guy, again the "big gun demolitions" variant- but with the added flavor of being very by-the-book (which we see the consequences of when he aligns with not only the empire but doctor hemlock himself in tbb)

fixer is the Smart Guy, tech expert

notice anything?

there's no Heart.

and that works. these are clone commandos- meant to be the most effective troops the republic has. they almost never interact socially outside of their squad, and when they do it's kept pretty professional.

we see that again in clone force 99, or as they call themselves, the bad batch

hunter is the Leader, his enhanced senses leaving him the most generalist of the batch (and also he's technically their sergeant)

crosshair is the Lancer, a "silent, ruthless efficiency" type

wrecker is the Big Guy, "big gun demolitions" variant yet again (I told you it was common) in the goofball flavor

tech is the Smart Guy, btw he's really well done and it never feels like he just "knows because he's smart" you can always tell how he figures things out

again, there's no Heart. but wait.

in the Bad Batch arc in clone wars, they pick up another member- echo. we don't see much of echo's interaction with the batch in that arc, but when we come back, echo is solidly in a sort of almost-but-not-quite Heart role. and then.

omega shows up in the "sixth ranger" role, there to shake up the group dynamic. throughout season one, we see omega slowly take over echo's role as Heart- and as this happens, it becomes clear that that was the role he was playing, as he talks hunter through how to best take care of omega. but omega, tagalong kid as she is, is much, much more suited to the Heart role than echo, and she takes his place- which allows echo to run off and have his own adventures with rex throughout seasons two and three, WHICH WORKS because echo is a regular clone who joined the batch later in life and thus isn't quite the same as the others, but omega is a deviant clone just like them!

[ask-meowscarada]

Fenne: "Woa! Your markings changed when you used that water type move, did something happen when you did it?"

(From @askfenne !!)

( Context 1, 2)

(( Here's a bit of trivia about Charade's type changes!

For those who don't know, Meowscarada's flower when in bloom bears resemblance to a pomegranate, which you can read more about on Bulbapedia. The meaning behind the flower in the base design is what inspired me to have her flower change based on her type!

As a Water-type, her flower is based on a white water lily. The bulb is replaced by a lily pad. The idea to change her cape (for all forms, but especially this one) was inspired by these Meowscarada variants by mykocalico!

As a Fairy-type, her flower is based on a pink shrub rose. While I can't find an exact name for the species, these roses are called "The Fairy" by some gardeners (it's also a plant in Stardew Valley). I think the design for the bulb was based on a generic flower bulb, but I can't remember (I'll update this post if I figure it out)!

As a Dark-type, her flower is based on the genus datura, one of several plants commonly known as moonflowers. Not only does this beautiful flower bloom at night, but their poisonous properties have led them to be commonly associated with witchcraft! The bulb is based on the datura's seed pod.

If Charade becomes a pure Grass-type through her ability, her appearance is the same as her default. (Don't fix what ain't broke, right?)

I've always loved the idea of weird type changes, like with Delta species and Tera types, so I'm glad I get to play around with it in a milder form! Then there are, of course, the Hidden Types of this blog... Maybe some day I'll come up with more hypothetical Protean type changes for moves like Thunder Punch or Triple Axel. ))

[biscgutz]

Ender man variants (overworld and nether)

Here is the first batch of enderman variants! Ill be giving average block heights and all that ^^

Here is your standard enderman, found in the overworld. About 3-4 blocks tall. They can teleport and are harmed by water

The cave ender, an underground variant of the common ender. 6 blocks tall. Due to exposure to skulk, these enders are blind but have exceptional hearing and smell. Unable to teleport but can teleport other things to them, aka what they hear closest to them. They are not hurt by small amounts of water. Usually docile

The first of the nether variants, The Magma or basalt ender. 4 to 5 blocks tall. Closely resembling ghasts things enders enjoy the hot lava baths of the basalt delta. Unable to teleport but completely immune to fire. They can shoot smaller versions of a ghasts fireballs and are harmed by water.

(inspired by destiny from @pangea-the-enderman​)

Crimson enderman are the largest enderman variant at around 7.5 to 8 blocks tall. These enders are very territorial and are often in disputes with piglins. They are bulkier and stronger then the average ender and can breathe fire. They are immune to all fire damage. They also have a chitinous armor on their body, evolving from being shot at by piglins. They often steal from bastions and are seen wearing makeshift golden armor or using gold swords.

 the last of the first batch, warped enders are the most elusive ender type and are usually drawn out with shiny objects. They are about 6 blocks tall and have a peculiar symbiotic relationship with the warped fungi around them. They are able to mimic any sounds they are familiar with, and often use it to hunt. they are incredibly friendly and like piglins, they trade!

Note- all of these variants are intelligent and have their own types of societies. Please ask me about em ^^

[faun-the-hound]

I've decided today that I'm (eventually) gonna actually write a rewrite/AU of Minecraft Diaries, does not yet have a title. I have many thoughts about the Shadow Knights specifically, so here's the most basic form of the Lore I've made up for them so far:

Shadow Knights reside in the depths of The Nether in a highly fortified mountain-like structure known as the Empty Palace in the middle of a lava lake, made up of blackstone spires and basalt deltas, carved out into hallways, rooms and windows.

There are two variants: Soldiers, the most common, they form squadrons under the orders of a Commander, the other rank, of which there are few. There are a total of around two-three hundred Shadow Knights in the Nether still loyal to their King/Lord.

Soldiers have two forms- human, where they look human (obviously) and the Shadow Form, which is used when raiding villages, fighting, or just causing carnage in general.

Commanders have a third form, a Tyrant, which is far more monstrous and feral, hardly resembling a human at all.

Gene and Sasha are both Commanders. Gene's Tyrant is giant and resembles a kraken (it makes sense, trust me) and Sasha's is spider-like.

Four of the five season 1 Knights (Gene, Sasha, Zenix, Vylad and Laurance) died in the overworld, then were brought to the Nether. Vylad died and was reborn as a Knight in the overworld, and Laurance died and was reborn in the Nether, which affects the way they are as Knights.

Killing a Lord/Family member to gain immortality also kills the Shadow Knight's humanity/conscience. It's the breaking point that makes them truly mad, fully loyal to their master.

On that note, Shadow Knights can get their humanity back if it is given and desired. Vylad got hers back from the old woman who told him to give Irene's blessing to Phoenix Drop (who I'm saying is Hyria, don't know if that's canon), and Zenix got his from Aph herself after a whole thing, I'll get into it in a different post (maybe)

anyway, yeah, the Shadow Knights are funky creatures to me. I will continue to shake the jar.

[lunarblogs0671]

FreshMare

Well Well Well, time to welcome my own variant version of "FreshMare". A combonation of Fresh and Nightmare. Although... this is no parasite infected nightmare, no no no.. This is actually an entity all on his self apart from Nightmare and Fresh.. in a way! (art by me)

My variant of FreshMare is actually an entity similarly made like Paperjam, pretty much left over pieces of magic slowly blending and mixing together over time to make this beautiful abomination shown here. -v-

~Lore drop~:

FreshMare(whom he later called himself Knox after growing annoyed from being referred to as 'FreshMare'), was created by the rare happening of Fresh and Nightmare getting into battle. The two powerful skeletons went at it for a long while causing alot of wreckage, despite the now empty plain, former coding of trees torn from their roots, debris scattered everywhere, and plenty of magical mess to be scattered around the plain, such as the tar like substance from nightmare and essence of colorful smoke as well as scattered left behind hosts Fresh used up in battle, as well as one tiny TRUEFRESH parasite spawn was left behind in part of the ruin.

Over time especially during the battle, the magical debris as well as the newly left and born, unknowledged parasite, had molded and mixed together, thus eventually forming a small skeletal figure with small plump tentacles, whom now is referred to as "FreshMare". Although, even during this event, he was left alone.. sadly abandoned and not discovered by his said 'creators'. Left to an empty wreckage of a broken au. Eventually, as years passed, he later grew slowly but surely, lost in thoughts, having already become one with the parasite spawn, as if acting like one person or siblings, wandering the mess of a void, eventually shifting his body and forming clothing best suited and comfortable for him, his tentacles grew larger and heavier over time along with him, dragging behind him or coiling and swaying idly.

One day he managed to open a portal out of this said wrecked void-like plain, which without hesitation he left, practicing this "World Hop" ability, traveling and exploring all the different worlds, AU's. He was able to gain more knowledge of things due to not being able to comprehend, read, or understand most things, but thankfully he is a quick learner, gaining knowledge quicker then most.

He never discovered who his true creators are, or the cause of his existence. All he knows he thinks of whom they are in distain, for abandoning him, leaving him to rot. He hopes one day to meet them just to pummel them into the ground and have them beg for mercy... though he can't think that way now, he doesn't bother about it.. now he wanders numbly, gaining knowledge about everything, visiting and revisiting au's. Becoming more observant.

He tends to act oblivious and is very quiet, but he's very intelligent and will not hesitate to be blunt about anything. He has a sadist mentality but doesn't act on it, tending to make dark or morbid humor. Unlike fresh, he does not have a swear filter and just so happens to not mind swearing and does so himself. He lacks any true emotions, given he hasn't learned or felt true emotions and often fights the fearful and rageful emotions of the parasite, keeping himself docile and at ease till the time comes

(Knox is now open for QNA

Here is also extra art of Delta being forced to babysit a little Paperjam, Enjoy :3

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

Under 1s account for 64 per cent of all childhood hospital admissions with Covid, study finds

By Tom Bawden

Under 1s account for 64 per cent of all childhood hospital admissions with Covid, study finds

Covid is almost as bad for babies now as it was in the early days of the pandemic, while the risk of serious illness among all other age groups has sharply reduced over time, a study has found.

Researchers found that 6,300 babies less than a year old were admitted to hospital, either wholly or partially because of Covid, in the year to August 2023.

As such, infants accounted for 64 per cent of all child admissions for Covid for that year, according to the new study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

The study shows the rate of hospital admissions among infants has hardly changed as the pandemic has progressed, with a total of 19,790 under-ones admitted between August 2020 and August 2023 (an average of 6,596 a year) – representing 43 per cent of all child admissions over that time.

Meanwhile, during the period when Delta was the dominant variant, from May to December 2021, infants made up less than 30 per cent of children’s admissions.

Taken together, these figures show that while serious cases fell sharply among children aged one and older, they are little changed among the under-ones.

The continuing high rate of hospitalisations among babies is largely because babies are born with no immunity to Covid and weak immune systems more generally.

This is in contrast to many older children, who have built some immunity from Covid infections and vaccines.

Most infants are only in hospital for a short time – about two days – but about 5 per cent needed intensive care.

“The pandemic is as bad as it ever was for babies. Under-ones are the only age group where admissions have not gone down over time,” said Professor Christina Pagel, of University College London.

“As children over one year old gained some immunity from infection or were vaccinated (with vaccination mostly in teens), their risk of needing hospital fell. But this doesn’t help infants in their first encounter with the virus.”

She expects the picture among infants to have been “about the same” in the year to August 2024 as they were the previous year, “as we’ve continued to see waves of Covid and immunity in newborns remains low”.

This is the first study to show that UK Covid hospitalisations among babies have hardly fallen during the pandemic.

Although a vaccine has been developed for children aged six months to four years, these are only given to those who are clinically vulnerable.

As such, the best protection a baby can get is if the mother is vaccinated during pregnancy – ideally in the third trimester, scientists say.

The baby builds up some protection from the mother’s vaccination “in utero” and boosts this further after birth from breastfeeding, when antibodies are passed on through breast milk. The vaccine also reduces the risk of the mother catching Covid and passing it to her baby.

Professor Pagel points out that vaccine uptake in pregnancy is quite low, at about 40 per cent, and urges more pregnant women to get vaccinated.

“Not enough infants are being offering the protection of a vaccine – from six months – and the benefits of maternal vaccinations aren’t be promoted enough,” she said.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a vaccination during pregnancy reduced risk of hospitalisation for Covid among infants under the age of six by 61 per cent.

Analysis by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown that Covid hospitalisations in babies under 6 months old are higher than any other age group apart from over-75s – although the difference is that hospital admissions among that age group have fallen sharply over the course of the pandemic, even if they are still higher than for babies.

Dr Simon Williams, lecturer at Swansea University, who was not involved in the research, said: “The findings of this new study are very concerning and help to debunk the myth that Covid is harmless in children. Although a majority of children will not be seriously ill from Covid, this study shows that in some cases it can be serious, and particularly in babies, who are vulnerable and with low immunity.”

Sheena Cruickshank, professor of public engagement and biomedical science at the University of Manchester, who was also not involved in the study, said: “Young babies are exceptionally vulnerable to Covid as their immune systems are still developing.

“This paper shows that even while older children are being hospitalised less, this is not the case for younger children. If mothers are able to breastfeed and have been vaccinated during their later pregnancy, then their maternal antibodies can protect the baby.”

“However, takeup of these vaccines has not been quite as good as it could be leaving a lot of mums and their babies vulnerable,” she said.

Dr Mary Ramsay, director of immunisation at UK Health Security Agency, said: “The Covid vaccine for pregnant women is offered during a relatively short window during Autumn [October to December], so we advise them to take it up when it’s offered this year and not delay.

“This way the vaccine can protect more pregnant women and newborn babies, whatever stage of pregnancy they might be in and if they were to deliver prematurely.

“The Covid-19 vaccine is already offered to ‘babies over 6 months of age and children who have certain long-term conditions’, who are among those most at risk of severe illness.

“For other babies and children, Covid-19 will generally be a mild illness. Our surveillance shows that whilst infants under 6 months of age currently have the highest rates of hospitalisations, the number requiring intensive treatment remains relatively low.”

“As with all vaccination programmes, the JCVI keeps the Covid-19 vaccination programme under review and informed by best available evidence.”

Study: www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(24)00473-6/fulltext

[pandemic-info]

Long-Term Long Covid - by Eric Topol

Unfortunately, what was seen at 6 months largely continues out to 2 years. 

... [New paper at] Nature Medicine addresses what happened 2 years later to nearly 140,000 people who had Covid, compared with almost 6 million people non-infected controls.

... in the non-hospitalized group a substantial proportion— about 30%— of the 80 sequelae, including GI and neurologic, remained significantly elevated. 

... I’d like to point out the data analyzed in this study was enormous, as I tried to capture with one of the supplemental tables below, representative of many others. The authors took on many advanced analytic approaches with weighting, conditional modeling, and sensitivity analyses that I’m not going to review here.

... While this is the first comprehensive and systematic study of Covid at 2 years, it unfortunately is within a highly skewed population. The demographics of nearly 90% men, with a mean age 61 years, is far different than the prototypic person with Long Covid who is more apt to be female and age 30-39 years. Furthermore, to get 2 year follow-up it meant studying a population who had Covid early in the pandemic, before vaccines or the marked evolution of the virus with new variants, including Delta, which was more virulent that the ancestral or Alpha strains that preceded it. So please keep this in mind—the results are important but they may well not be representative of the real world, broader population, of Covid and Long Covid. That’s already a major hole in our knowledge base since there is no other report yet to systematically address a more representative population.

...

Summary

At two years after Covid, there’s a persistent and considerable burden of symptoms and multi-system organ involvement in an important subgroup of people. It’s also unpredictable who will be afflicted with protracted symptoms and new medical diagnoses. While there still is no validated treatment (the Big Miss, as recently reviewed), Long Covid marches on, not just over time for most of those already suffering, but also among newly infected or re-infected individuals — like we are seeing now with increase in cases in the United States and many other countries. The main emphasis here, beyond the enduring and very concerning symptoms and organ dysfunction, is that we are still in the dark. It will take many years to fully know the sequelae of Covid, be it from unforeseen, delayed adverse outcomes like what occurred many years after influenza or polio, or the secondary outcomes of organ systems that are clearly affected, or via promotion of autoimmune conditions or pro-inflammatory pathways, potentially exacerbating risk of atherosclerosis. We’re going to need many more years of careful follow-up to fully understand the ways and extent Covid has hurt us. Meanwhile, beyond the known strategies for prevention of infection, we must consider finding effective ways to treat people who suffer from Long Covid as an urgent and foremost priority.