#Viral Infection Screening

[joga-blog]

Interpreting Viral Marker Test Results: What You Need to Know

In the realm of medical diagnostics, the Viral Marker Test stands out as a crucial tool for identifying and monitoring viral infections. This test plays a pivotal role in the early detection of viral pathogens, enabling timely intervention and management. In this article, we will delve into the fundamentals of the Viral Marker Test, its significance, and its application in the field of medicine.

What is a Viral Marker Test?

A Viral Marker Test, also known as a viral marker assay or viral serology test, is a diagnostic test designed to detect specific markers or components associated with viral infections in a patient's blood serum. These markers may include antibodies, antigens, or nucleic acids that are indicative of viral presence or past exposure.

Types of Viral Markers:

1. Antibodies:

Immunoglobulins IgM,IgA and IgG, are antibodies produced by the immune system in response to a viral infection. IgM is often the first to appear, indicating an active or recent infection, while IgG suggests past infection or immunity.

2. Antigens:

Viral antigens are substances that trigger an immune response. Detection of viral antigens in a patient's blood may indicate an ongoing infection. Antigen tests are commonly used for rapid diagnosis.

3. Nucleic Acids:

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests detect the genetic material (RNA or DNA) of the virus. PCR is highly sensitive and can identify the virus in the early stages of infection.

Significance of Viral Marker Testing:

1. Early Detection:

Viral Marker Tests are instrumental in the early identification of viral infections. Early detection allows for prompt medical intervention, reducing the severity and duration of the illness.

2. Monitoring Disease Progression:

Serial testing with Viral Markers helps healthcare professionals monitor the progression of viral infections. Changes in marker levels over time provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of treatments.

3. Public Health Surveillance:

Viral Marker Tests play a crucial role in monitoring and controlling the spread of infectious diseases within communities. They aid in identifying and isolating infected individuals, helping to prevent outbreaks.

Applications of Viral Marker Testing:

1. HIV Testing:

Viral Marker Tests, particularly those detecting HIV- Antibody, are widely used for screening and diagnosing HIV infections.

2. Hepatitis Screening:

Tests for hepatitis viral markers, such as Hepatitis B surface Antigen(HBsAg) and anti-HCV antibodies, are vital for diagnosing and monitoring hepatitis infections.

3. COVID-19 Diagnosis:

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of Viral Marker Testing. PCR tests and antigen tests are commonly used to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2.

Conclusion:

Viral Marker Testing has revolutionised the field of diagnostics, providing healthcare professionals doctors with valuable tools for the early detection and monitoring of viral infections. As technology continues to advance, these tests are likely to become even more accurate, enabling more effective strategies for managing infectious diseases. The importance of Viral Marker Tests in safeguarding public health cannot be overstated, making them an indispensable component of modern medical practice.

[bereavedmum]

Admission to the Cancer Centre

Tonight was to be Leah’s first time attending a big family get together since her bone marrow transplant – she’s day 179 post transplant. The Dr told us a few weeks ago that her lymphocytes were on the rise & were out of the “danger zone”. Leah was a bit short of breath when climbing the stairs yesterday but her temperature was normal & she was otherwise well so we decided to wait and mention…

[nightmaretour]

(Image descriptions are in alt text due to taking up most of the post and making people less likely to read and reblog, a fully screen reader friendly version can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/nightmaretour/761524737363099648/this-is-the-fully-screen-reader-friendly-version)

With everything going on, it's easy to miss that September is sepsis awareness month. As a sepsis survivor myself, I feel a great responsibility to spread awareness of this greatly underestimated killer, in hopes that this information might help some of you to save a life in the future.

Sepsis is a disease that affects around 49 million people worldwide every year, and responsible for around 20% of all global deaths, claiming approximately 11 million lives per year. It's estimated that one person dies of sepsis every 2.8 seconds. Around half of those who survive sepsis are left with physical or cognitive disabilities for the rest of their lives. On top of that, it's the most vulnerable of us that are most likely to develop sepsis.

Despite being one of the global leading causes of death, very few people know much about sepsis or how to spot it, which is what makes it all the more deadly. Sepsis kills approximately 1 in 6 people who contract it, but spotted early, patients with sepsis are around half as likely to die as those who have been allowed to develop into the later stages.

Sepsis is always the result of an existing bacterial, viral, fungal or even parasitic infection, usually due to a serious infection such as pneumonia or meningitis, but it can also be caused by something as small as an infected papercut or bug bite. Almost half of all cases occur in children.

But most importantly, it's all about time. If you or someone you know is experiencing any symptoms that you suspect might be sepsis, get to a hospital. It's far better to be wrong and live than it is to be wrong and die. I sincerely hope that you will never have to use this information, but if you do, I hope that it will help you to save a life.

Sepsis is incredibly time sensitive, even a few hours could be the difference between life and death. If you spot any of the signs in yourself or someone else, do not delay. Seek emergency treatment immediately.

For more information, visit:

Worldsepsisday.org

Globalsepsisalliance.org

Sepsisresearch.org.uk

Sepsis.org

[liminalweirdo]

[image id: two screenshots of four tweets by user lisa_iannattone on Twitter, posted on 19 December 2022 at 1:14 p.m., reading sequentially: "It's absolutely wild to me that we're pretending that the higher than average number of respiratory tract infections and the pandemic of adults with pneumonia this year is not a warning sign of immune impairment. This is literally how immunodeficiency would present.In clinical practice, we we want to screen for the possibility of an undiagnosed underlying immunodeficiency syndrome, "how many respiratory infections do you get in an average year?" and "have you had pneumonia more than once?" are the 2 first questions we ask.There's been more pneumonias among my healthy adult friends & acquaintances in the last 6 months than among my immunosuppressed patients in the last 6 years. Something is clearly off. And healthy adults with pneumonia is not a viral transmission dynamics issue.This thread blew up and some people aren't sure if I'm suggesting immunity debt. Definitely not. Staying healthy doesn't make you sick, pathogens do. As for the immunity "gap", it's likely a contributing factor but doesn't explain adults with pneumonia. It's SARS2 I'm worried about.

end image id]

hey, the pandemic is not over. wear a mask.

in case this is unclear, immunocompromised, immunosuppressed, and other disabled people are not getting sick the same way as healthy adults because they are masking the fuck up and/or still largely being forced to isolate, while many many “healthy” adults are not. just because you are healthy doesn’t mean you are immune to long-term effects from covid. anyone can become disabled at any time. immunity debt is not real.

do your part to protect yourself and others. not wearing a mask is worse than ableism. It’s disablist.

Please at least wear masks in public indoor, and crowded outdoor spaces. Make public spaces safe and accessible for everyone.

[heepthecheep]

There is so much medical misinformation on Tumblr that people take at face value and it's kind of fascinating but also really fucking bad

Off the top of my head?

- drugs; prescription, OTC or recreational can absolutely have an effect on your health. Dosages aren't suggestions and neither is stuff like "don't take with alcohol" or "don't operate heavy machinery"

-in addition to the last point, addiction is real and not something made up by your parents to keep you from doing weed in highschool. It can take different forms

- don't take other people's prescriptions. Again, with the dosage thing, expiration dates, and especially not antibiotics

-speaking of which, antibiotic resistant infections (ie. MRSA, ERSA) are caused by not finishing your prescription of antibiotics or taking antibiotics inappropriately (ie. When you have a viral infection) (and there are other issues too but these are probably the main ones that are most relevant to a layman) and are not caused by "antivaxxers" (seriously, I've seen this argument applied to the covid vaccine. A vaccine for a virus that no doctor would treat with antibiotics- not the mention that MRSA is literally referring to Staph Aureus)

-just because a disease is uncommon or "extinct" in your part of the world doesn't actually mean it is. Pathogens have animal and environmental reservoirs. Similarly, diseases that have been eradicated in your well developed and wealthy part of the world still kill people in places that aren't as wealthy and/or developed. The only diseases that are actually extinct are Smallpox and Rinderpest- and no, the parents who think vaccines cause autism aren't going to cause them to come back

-your weight, diet and lifestyle ABSOLUTELY affect your health.

-people on Tumblr seem to have some weird vendetta against doctors ordering blood work, but it's an absolutely valid and important screening and/or diagnostic test, and is helpful in monitoring many conditions

-Puberty, pregnancy and aging are natural processes that are not inherently harmful. Furthermore, people on Tumblr act as if pregnancy is the most dangerous thing in the world...while blaming the process itself and not the shitty, abusive and corrupt obstetrics community (or they point to history (and focus entirely on Europe) and act like issue is the process and not the ignorance towards germ theory, lack of or misunderstanding of hygiene, not understanding how women work, etc)

-hormones control a lot in your body and aren't just your sex hormones. They exist before you're even born and continue to exist after puberty ends.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

By Dr. Chinta Sidharthan

Unvaccinated volunteers who contracted COVID-19 in a human challenge study showed significant memory and executive function decline lasting up to a year, despite no reported subjective symptoms, prompting new questions about the virus’s long-term cognitive effects.

In a recent study published in the journal EClinicalMedicine, a team of researchers from the United Kingdom examined the cognitive deficits associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. They conducted the first human challenge study among a prospectively controlled group of unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2 naive volunteers, who were inoculated with the wild-type strain and observed for long-term cognitive problems.

Background Substantial research now indicates that long-lasting cognitive deficits impacting memory, comprehension, and concentration occur even after mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. A large proportion of individuals who recover from COVID-19 continue to experience “brain fog,” memory lapses, and difficulty forming words for months after the initial acute infection.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have observed cognitive decline in patients one year after the infection, and brain scans have detected shrinkage in areas of the brain related to cognition and memory. Furthermore, blood tests in patients hospitalized due to SARS-CoV-2 infections have detected elevated levels of brain injury markers, such as neurofilament light (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), indicative of potential future cognitive problems, though markers like Tau were not significantly different between infected and uninfected groups.

However, the retrospective nature of these studies has posed difficulties in accounting for the role of occupations, pre-existing health conditions, and social factors in the risk of cognitive deficits after COVID-19. Furthermore, the pace at which cognitive deficits develop after mild SARS-CoV-2 infections and the duration of these deficits remains unclear.

About the study In the present study, the researchers challenged a group of unvaccinated, SARS-CoV-2 naive volunteers with the wild-type strain of the virus in controlled conditions. The volunteers were then quarantined and followed up to determine the long-term cognitive impacts of COVID-19.

The researchers ensured that all the ethical guidelines were followed in this human challenge study, and written consent was obtained from all the volunteers, who were also compensated for the time spent in quarantine.

The study enrolled 36 healthy adults between 18 and 30 years who had never been vaccinated against or infected with SARS-CoV-2. Of these, 18 participants were classified as infected, while 16 were uninfected. The volunteers underwent extensive tests and screening, including blood tests, chest radiography, body mass index, and assessments for COVID-19 risk factors.

The participants were then intranasally inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 and quarantined for at least two weeks. The follow-ups occurred at non-regular intervals for up to a year after the inoculation.

The viral loads in all the infected participants were monitored twice a day through naso- and oropharyngeal swabs. Additionally, the researchers administered a subjective symptom survey thrice daily to track the symptoms. The participants were categorized based on whether they experienced a sustained viral infection, and six were administered remdesivir as a precaution.

The researchers measured the participants' cognitive performance through 11 computer-based tasks that measured various cognitive domains, such as reaction time, memory, spatial reasoning, and planning. The participants were required to perform these tasks at baseline, on each day of the quarantine, and at each of the five follow-ups. The primary cognitive measure was the baseline-corrected global cognitive composite score or bcGCCS.

Additionally, the researchers also analyzed the levels of brain injury markers, such as neurofilament light (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), in the blood samples obtained from the participants.

Results The study found that bcGCCS scores indicated that the infected individuals exhibited significant cognitive deficits compared to the uninfected individuals. These deficits were sustained for almost a year, with no recovery or improvements noted. Despite these objective cognitive deficits, none of the infected volunteers reported subjective cognitive symptoms.

The cognitive area that showed the largest deficit was memory-related tasks, such as those measuring immediate and delayed memory recall. The infected individuals performed worse than the uninfected ones on memory-related and executive planning tasks.

The cognitive tasks were grouped based on whether learning effects were observed across sessions, and the results indicated that the cognitive differences between the uninfected and infected individuals were robust even after accounting for learning effects.

Furthermore, some brain injury biomarkers in the serum, such as GFAP, were higher in the infected participants than in the uninfected ones, but other markers, such as Tau and NfL, were not significantly different between the two groups.

Although these findings indicated that SARS-CoV-2 infections resulted in measurable differences in various aspects of cognitive decline, especially in the areas of memory and executive function, the statistical tests revealed no significant correlation between cognitive deficits and viral load, brain markers, and symptom severity.

Conclusions The study indicated that while objective and measurable changes could be observed in various aspects of cognitive performance due to SARS-CoV-2 infections, further research is essential to understand the biological mechanisms behind these cognitive deficits. The researchers believe that more long-term studies on larger cohorts are required to understand the long-term impact of COVID-19. Importantly, the study results suggest that these cognitive changes might persist even in the absence of subjective symptoms, highlighting the need for more sensitive assessment tools.

Journal reference: Trender, W., Hellyer, P. J., Killingley, B., Kalinova, M., Mann, A. J., Catchpole, A. P., Menon, D., Needham, E., Thwaites, R., Chiu, C., Scott, G., & Hampshire, A. (2024). Changes in memory and cognition during the SARS-CoV-2 human challenge study. EClinicalMedicine, 76. DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102842, www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00421-8/fulltext

[chestcongestion]

Demon-to-Demon Ch.3/5: Ha//zbin Ho/tel

Warnings: Contagion and mess (a lot more mess this time)

Word count: 3,763

Chapter 3 is finally finished! Two more to go (at least). I love the idea of Al/ast/or losing his inhibitions when he's feverish, I just think it'd be neat, so that's explored a bit in this chapter. This is kind of a chill interlude in between the "plot", I'm excited because next chapter I get to write Ro/sie... anyways, I hope you enjoy! ^^

“SnFf! Good Mbordi’g Pentagramb City- SnFF!- I’b Katie Killjoyy-Yiihh’Shewww! Ih’kshew!... bringi’g you your day seven update on what experts are calli’g ‘The Red Spread’... the mbysterious viral infectio’d has infected about 78% of the city, with no sign of stoppi’g… more on the spread when we return!” 

“Can’t believe they’re still mbakin’ Killjoy work while she’s sick- snff!” Angel remarked from his spot on the sofa, massaging his sinuses with his fingertips. 

“I can’t believe that more than three quarters of the Pentagram have got whatever the hell this is,” Husk added, scrubbing the underside of his nose with the back of his hand. 

“Do we hafta watch the news every morning?” Niffty groaned from her nest of blankets on the floor in front of the sofa, “They’re showing a five hour marathon of beheading footage in thirty minutes.” 

Husk rolled his eyes, “You kndow the rules- snff- we cast a vote every time we flip channels, you want the executioner network to win, you gotta make a solid argument,” he explained from his position draped across Angel’s lap, his eyes irritated and watery from the congestion packed into his head with noplace to go. 

“That’s no fair, Alastor’s vote shouldn’t count, he doesn’t even know what’s going on!” Niffty argued, folding her arms. 

“He does- HrR’SCHOOO!... Fuck!- He does, watch,” Husk argued back, snapping his fingers to get Alastor’s attention from his dazed position in his armchair, “Alastor…Earth to Alastor!” 

Alastor redirected a glassy eye in Husk’s direction, feverish blotches on both of his cheeks, “Hmm?” he asked, rubbing his nose with his handkerchief. 

“Next flip, what’re you voting for?” Husk asked, smiling as he watched Alastor thinking in real time, the metaphorical cogs in his head overheated and sticky. 

Alastor sniffled, staring at Husk for a moment, “Uhb… snfF!...He-eh’KSHIEW! Hhn’Kxxhht!... what were we talki’g about again?” he asked, blowing his nose. 

“We’re changin’ the channel, Smiles, whadda you wanna watch?” Angel asked, pulling a thermometer off of the arm of the sofa and sliding it under his tongue. 

Alastor blinked, “Ndature documentaries,” he giggled deliriously, scrubbing under his nostrils with a single finger in an attempt to snuff out a tickle in his sinuses that was threatening to morph into a sneezing fit, “The really gruesombe ondes- snrk!” 

“See? He’s-” Husk paused to cough, “-perfectly conscious, isn’t that right, Alastor?” he asked. 

“What’s right?” Alastor asked, blowing his nose again, “Ehhh’TShewww! Heh’KSHEW! Heh’tschiewww! Hh’Ktshhiew!” 

“Don’t worry about it,”  Husk laughed, his laugh quickly turning into a harsh, raspy cough, “Fuck, that hurts.” 

Angel reached over, rubbing Husk’s chest and attempting to quell the rumble of congestion in his lungs with a few pats, “Mmph,” he hummed in consolation, pulling the thermometer out when it began to beep. 

“Thanks,” Husk replied breathlessly, attempting to shoot a glance at the thermometer, “What’s the verdict?” 

Angel sighed, massaging his temples, “I’ve stih…h-hihh…Ih-A’KSHHHEW! ‘Kshhew! ‘KSCHUHHH!” he said, nearly folding in half from his sneezing fit, “Still got a fever… damn thi’g won’t budge… 102.” 

Husk sighed, “Damn shame… mby turn, hand it over,” he said, taking the thermometer and sliding it under his tongue, purring as he patiently waited for it to beep, “102.” 

“My turn! My turn!” Niffty exclaimed from her nest of blankets, getting a hold of the thermometer and holding it under her tongue, squinting at the reading on the small screen with her eye, “101.” 

“Space Cadet, wakey-wakey- snff!- your turn to check your temperature,” Angel croaked from his spot on the sofa, flicking a bottle cap at Alastor to snap him out of his febrile trance. 

“Hmm? Wha? Oh…” Alastor mumbled, wincing as he placed the ear thermometer into his left ear, shooting a quick glance at the viewing window after it beeped, “103 and- snff!...hH’KZzschiewww!- seven tenths.” 

Angel and Husk shot one another a knowing look, but shortly after, Angel hugged Husk tightly, shivering in his loose tank top and baggy pajama shorts. 

“I’mb so fucking cold… dammit…” Angel whispered, his teeth chattering as he nuzzled up close to Husk, “You’re such a good radiator, but I’mb still freezi’g…Snfff-snff!” 

“That’s cause you aren’t actually cold,” Husk replied, feeling the heat radiating from Angel’s body, “It’s just the fever.” 

“This is bullshit,” Angel complained, folding his arms before going back to cuddling Husk, flipping channels until a boring rerun of a reality TV show came on. 

“Hi guys,” Charlie greeted upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Vaggie following close behind with KeeKee in her arms, “Feeling any better?” 

Angel blew his “nose” into a tissue, tossing the soggy paper into the trash can next to the sofa, “Nope,” he replied, massaging his sinuses with his fingertips, “Huhh…H-hah…Ah… AH’TSHHHIEWW! Ah’kShewww! HAH’KSCHIEWWW!” 

Husk and Niffty shook their heads in silence. 

Alastor rubbed his eyes with both fists, before blinking drowsily in Charlie’s direction and greeting her with an eager wave, giggling, “When I hold mby hand in front of you, you disappear,” he chuckled, turning to smother a barking cough into his sleeve. 

Charlie winced, shooting Husk a knowing look, “Fever?” 

“Fever,” Husk replied. 

“It’s kickin’ his ass, watch this,” Angel said, struggling to contain his hoarse laughter, “Alastor, shut your eyes.” 

Alastor complied. 

“What color are your pants?” Angel asked, watching Alastor tilt his head down to look at his maroon flannel pajama pants, but still holding his eyes shut.  

“Black?” Alastor replied, feeling around in his man-made darkness for his pajama pants, “Black.” 

“Oh my gosh,” Charlie chuckled, gently scratching behind Alastor’s ears, “Open your eyes, Alastor.” 

Alastor complied, swaying in his armchair until he saw KeeKee strolling past, scooping her into his arms and nuzzling his face against her soft fur, “So soft,” he whispered. 

“Honestly, I’d say to stop toying with Alastor while he’s delirious, but being able to fuck with one of the Pentagram’s cruelest overlords with no consequences is kinda sweet,” Vaggie said, trying not to laugh as she walked over to Alastor’s armchair and poked his nose. 

“Hh’Kzzhshttt! HH’KShheww! HH’KSHHHEW! Hnk’TSHHIEW!...Hh’KSzxhhtt!” Alastor held up a hand in front of his nose and mouth, nearly paralyzed by the sudden fit, his eyes beginning to water, “Snfff! Snff-SNFF! Uch…” 

Vaggie struggled to contain her amusement until Alastor loudly blew his nose into his handkerchief, the wetness of the sound making her wince from disgust, “That’s so gross…” she whispered. 

Alastor brushed off Vaggie’s comment with the flick of a stuffy ear, readjusting himself in his seat and pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders, “Well excuse mbe,” he scoffed, pinching the friction-reddened underside of his nose between two fingers in an attempt to stifle a second sneezing fit, “Hh’ktshh! Hhn’ktsh! Hh’kzhht! HHN’kshh!” 

“Bless you,” Charlie said, “Hopefully you guys will start feeling better soon, this thing can’t last that long.” 

“I hope so,” Husk sighed, “I mbiss breathin’ through mby ndose.” 

Husk’s garbled consonants made Charlie wince. 

“I wish there was something I could do to help,” Charlie sighed, leaning against the back of the sofa. 

“Oh! I know! I know! I can help!” Niffty cheered, turning to cough into her elbow after raising her voice strained her sore throat, “I used to do this all the time when I was alive! Be right back!” 

Before Charlie could open her mouth to object, Niffty had vanished into the kitchen and returned with four mugs and three medium-sized towels, each of the mugs releasing tendrils of steam into the air. 

“I’d get bags of tea that weren’t really good to drink but smelled really strong, and I’d make a cup, and put the towel over my head to breathe in the steam, it works great!” Niffty explained, returning to the comfort of her blanket nest with her own mug of hot tea, electing to sip from it instead. 

Husk shrugged, “I’ll try adythi’g ondce..snrkk!” he croaked, pulling the towel over his head and holding the mug of fragrant tea close to his face as he became surrounded by steam. 

Angel followed Husk’s lead, hoping to relieve the massive backup in his puffy sinuses. 

Alastor silently followed suit, rolling his eyes briefly when the towel snagged on his antlers, forcing him to neaten it out. 

A few minutes passed, and Charlie- who had left the room to feed Fat Nuggets and KeeKee- returned to her spot leaning against the back of the sofa, “So… how do you know if it works?” she asked. 

“You’ll see,” Niffty replied, swallowing the last sip of her tea and lying down on her side to relax in her pile of blankets, smothering a cough into her wrist and listening to Angel, Husk, and Alastor’s sniffles as they grew looser and looser. 

“HrR’SCHHUHHH! Huh’KSHOOO! Hh’TSHHHOO! Huh’TSCHOO! Hnk’TCHOO! HUH’KSHHHUHH! Hnk’TSHHHEW!” Husk sneezed, each sneeze growing wetter and wetter as the congestion in his sinuses got looser.

“Heh’Kshhhew! Hnk’SHHHEW! Hnk’Tshhiew! HEH’KXHHT! Hnk’TSHH! Heh’TSHHIEW! Hnk’TshhhiEW! He-Eh’kshhhiewww!” Alastor followed suit, struggling to catch his breath between sneezes from underneath the towel.

“A-ahh…H-hah…HAH’TSHIEW! Hah’tshew! Hah’kshhiew! Ah’kshhieww! Hah’TshhhiEW! Ah…AH’KTSHHHIEW!” Angel sneezed.

“Ohhhh, that’s how,” Charlie said with an amused smile. 

  Husk peeled off his towel to reveal his flushed face, damp fur, and the continuous trail of watery mess trickling from his adorable feline nose, a trail that he attempted to stop with a few watery sniffles, to no avail. 

“Holy shit,” Husk muttered, his voice hoarse from the sneezing fit scraping his raw throat, as he dragged the back of his hand under his nostrils, “That felt great, I can breathe…but I can’t stop sne-eezing-Hnk’Tshoo! Hnk’Tschuhh!” 

“Bless you,” Charlie giggled, plucking two tissues out of the box on the arm of the sofa and handing them to Husk, who in turn used them to wipe off his hands and the underside of his nose before soaking the tissues with one gurgling blow, “Jeez, you were really stuffed up.” 

“Not anymore, shit,” Husk said with a relieved sigh, wrapping a finger in a few tissues and gently cleaning the inside of his fluffy ears, “Even cleaned out my ears.” 

“It can get in your ears?!” Charlie inquired, leaning over the sofa and staring at Husk’s ears intently as they twitched. 

“Mmhm, it’s why I’m damn lucky I don’t have any… a-ah…AH’KTSHEW! Ah’kshhew! Ah’kshhiew!...” Angel commented, pulling off his towel and finger-combing his moisture-dampened locks to fluff them back up, wincing at the spray coating the fur on his hands, “Euch… I need a shower after that.” 

Angel stood up, swaying a bit on his feet, “I’ll be right ba-ah…a-AH’KSHHIEW! ‘Kshhew! ‘KSHEW!...snff! I’ll be right back…” he said, cautiously wandering up the steps and disappearing down a hallway. 

Alastor’s watery sniffling and frustrated grunts made Husk and Charlie turn to face him, the towel still draped over his head. 

“Hh’KZXHHT! Hhnk’Tshhiew! Hhk’TSHHIEW! Heh’KSHEWW! Hhn’KzZsschiew!” Alastor’s sneezing continued, his desperate gasps in between fits riddled with the low rumble of congestion in his lungs. 

“Uhm… Alastor, you can take it off if the smell is too much,” Charlie proposed, watching The Radio Demon doubled over in his chair, completely at the mercy of his sinuses. 

“I ca-ahh.. Hh’KSCHIEW! Hhn’KSHHUH!... they’re st-uhh… s-stuck on my aahn- HEH’KSHHIEW! Heh’KSHewww!- antlers,” Alastor struggled, punctuating his sentence with a productive-sounding cough, his voice dripping with frustration and embarrassment at his current predicament. 

‘Brilliant, Alastor, just brilliant, you’re writhing like a simple-minded cat with its head stuck in a paper bag’

Charlie reached over, pulling the towel off of Alastor’s head, gently pulling away the segments of towel caught on his antlers, “There we go,” she said, smiling at her triumph. 

Alastor opened his mouth to utter his reluctant thanks, but quickly held a miraculously-clean handkerchief to his mouth instead, coughing as the crackling congestion in his chest inched its way up his throat. His fever-warm cheeks burned red-hot with embarrassment as he spat something into the red cloth before leaning back into his armchair to catch his breath. 

“That sounded…uhh…” Charlie began, wringing her hands and sheepishly looking away out of disgust. 

“Nasty,” Husk practically gagged. 

“I second that!” Vaggie called from the other room. 

“Cool! I wanna see, Alastor, lemme see!” Niffty pleaded, speed-crawling over to Alastor’s feet and sneaking a peek of the soiled handkerchief, “Woah…” 

“That’s quite enough,” Alastor scoffed, silencing another wet cough behind clenched teeth, “I’m fine… I’d prefer if we could pretend that didn’t happen.” 

Husk blinked, noticing the stiffness in Alastor’s smile and the embarrassment in his watery eyes, shooting his boss a knowing smirk, “I think somebody’s fever finally went down,” he chuckled, “Don’t worry, boss, you didn’t do anything too embarrassing.” 

“I can strangle you to death with one hand, and I will not hesitate to do so,” Alastor hissed, still struggling to fight back his cough, eventually relenting and holding his handkerchief back up to his mouth. 

“Think you’re a bit too busy stranglin’ yourself,” Husk teased, knowing that Alastor’s coughing fit would keep him from reacting violently to Husk’s sass. 

Alastor spat another load of sputum into his handkerchief and took a desperate inhale, a relieved grin flashing on his face when said inhale wasn’t accompanied by a crackle of more congestion, “I’m finished,” he panted, squeezing his soiled handkerchief in one hand as it vanished into the ether by way of its own shadow. 

Charlie leaned over and quietly popped the thermometer into Alastor’s ear, getting a quick reading, and pulling it away, “102, it did go down! Are you feeling any better?” she asked. 

“Quite the opposite, actually,” Alastor grumbled, running a clean handkerchief under his nose to wipe away the mess from his sneezing fit, “Especially since I’m in my right mind again.” 

“Damn shame,” Husk laughed from his spot on the sofa, ducking when Alastor threw his miraculously-empty mug at Husk’s head.

“This is humiliating,” Alastor grumbled, covering his eyes with both hands and rolling onto his side in his armchair, pulling his blanket tighter around his frame.

“Y’know, Alastor, maybe you’d be more comfortable if you had room to stretch your legs,” Charlie offered, “Since Cherri’s not here, you could take the loveseat on the opposite side and Niffty could take the armchair.” 

“I’m perfectly fine where I am, thank you,” Alastor replied, trying and failing to suppress a shiver. 

“Are you sure?” Charlie asked, shooting Alastor a compassionate smile, which finally got him to relent. 

“If you insist,” Alastor sighed, getting out of his chair and walking over to the loveseat on the opposite side of the sofa , lying down and completely wrapping his body in his blanket. 

“There you go, doesn’t that feel better?” Charlie asked, draping a second blanket over Alastor’s reclined form. 

“Only physically,” Alastor replied, his teeth chattering slightly as he struggled to conceal the pain in his eyes, “Thank you.” 

“No problem… are you okay?” Charlie asked as she watched Alastor continue to shiver in spite of the blankets. 

Alastor’s shivering calmed down, and his eyes noticeably glazed over again, looking glassy and distant as his gaze lost focus and his smile became more toothless and dopey. Charlie noticed the deep flush in Alastor’s cheeks, his heavy breathing, and the sweat trickling down his face from his hairline. 

“I’m fine… Hh’Kshew!...pardon me,” Alastor mumbled, readjusting himself under his blankets. The Radio Demon stared at Charlie for a moment, scanning her with his glossy eyes before shooting her a puzzling smile, “Your hair is so pretty… it’s like a tied up hay bale…” he giggled. 

“Oh… thank you?” Charlie replied, raising an eyebrow and cautiously reaching down to press the back of her hand against Alastor’s forehead.

“Aaaand he’s gone again,” Husk announced, “That didn’t last long.” 

“He’s burning up… I didn’t expect his fever to go back up so fast,” Charlie said, overwhelmed with concern as she took Alastor’s temperature with the ear thermometer, “104… I’m going to go see if we have some medicine somewhere.” 

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t roll off the loveseat and hurt himself ‘till you get back,” Husk said, turning away briefly to blow his nose before focusing his attention on Alastor’s relaxed but loopy form. 

“Thank you,” Charlie replied, leaving the room and leaving Husk alone with his fever-plagued boss. Niffty was still in the parlor, but she had fallen asleep after cozying up in her nest of blankets, and snored quietly on the floor, meaning that Husk had no one but Alastor to talk to. 

“Husker,” Alastor said in an almost teasing voice, shooting Husk a drowsy grin and staring at him with his glassy, vacant eyes. 

“What is it?” Husk asked, twitching his sensitive nose in an attempt to stave off a sneeze, “HRR’SCHUHH!” 

“H..-Hihh… How can you tell when an octopus egg is h-hahh…hatching?” Alastor asked, punctuating his sentence with a damp sniffle, wiping his irritated nose off with his handkerchief.

“I dunno Alastor, how?” Husk sighed, rolling his eyes. 

“It starts Kraken…Hih’SHHHEW! Uch… Excuse mbe…snff!” Alastor said, laughing at his own horrible joke until his boisterous laughter turned into a hoarse cough. 

“We’re not doin’ this, I’m not listenin’ to your stupid jokes,” Husk scoffed. 

“Ohh, that’s no fair, I had so mbany I was ready to try out- Hih’KSHHEW! Hih’kshhiew!” Alastor complained, blowing his nose. 

“Try ‘em out on Niffty when she wakes up,” Husk scoffed, smiling upon seeing Angel enter the parlor, now wearing a pair of pink velour pajamas adorned with black hearts and flowers, “How was your shower?” 

“Great,” Angel sighed, collapsing onto the sofa and letting Husk settle back in his lap, “Steam really does the trick when you’re plugged up- snff… it’s incredible.” 

“Glad it helped,” Husk replied softly, running his fingers through Angel’s clean fur. 

“Husker,” 

Husk rolled his eyes, “What is it now?” 

“Mby throat hurts,” Alastor said, his watery eyes looking genuinely vulnerable… almost pitiful as he spoke. 

“Mine does too, suck it up, maybe if you stopped runnin’ your mouth it wouldn’t hurt so much,” Husk said coldly, hurriedly holding a hand to his mouth to cover a violent cough and sighing with relief when Angel’s smooth hands began to rub his chest. 

Alastor nodded, lying down in silence on the loveseat and sniffling occasionally, curling in on himself and clutching desperately at his blankets. His chapped, shiny nose and feverish cheeks looked aggressively dark compared to his hypersensitive, sweat-covered, and unnaturally pale skin, and the tears brimming in his glazed-over watery eyes overflowed, running down his cheeks. 

‘I can’t believe you, we look ridiculous, pull yourself together…’ 

Alastor shuddered, whimpering quietly as his limbs ached and a violent pain radiated behind his eyes, cursing the razor-sharpness of his teeth that made them impossible to gnash and grind when he was in pain. 

‘I can’t… I can’t control it… I’m so tired, and hot… and achy,’ 

Alastor’s frustrated thoughts only made the hot tears on his cheeks run faster as he attempted to hide them with a damp sniffle, to no avail. He simply shut his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. 

“Oh my god,” Angel whispered, staring in awe at The Radio Demon’s hushed crying from the other side of the coffee table. 

“He’s completely out of his mind, he’d jump out a window before he let anyone see him like this,” Husk muttered.

“I know this ain’t the point, but your raspy voice is kinda sexy,” Angel whispered back, snickering when Husk playfully punched him in the arm, “Okay, I earned that one.”  

“Alright, it took a bit of digging, but I found some medicine-” Charlie paused upon re-entering the parlor, staring at Alastor’s shaking form and listening to his whimpering sobs, “-I’m sorry… is he?” 

Angel and Husk nodded in silence. 

Charlie gently pulled on one of Alastor’s ears, her heart dropping into her stomach when the gesture made Alastor let out a pained whine, before gently sticking the ear thermometer into the sensitive canal, “105…shit, why is this hitting him so hard?” she asked. 

“I mean, all four of us feel like absolute shit… but Boss was always real skittish and secretive about germs…HUH’KshOO! Hh’KSHEWW!...fuck- SnFF!- might be kickin’ his ass cause he’s never been sick before, or at least not this sick,” Husk attempted to explain, dragging the back of his wrist under his nose before Angel handed him a tissue, “Thanks.” 

“That makes sense… but it’s almost scary seeing him like this… Alastor? Alastor, wake up,” Charlie said, gently shaking Alastor to get his attention before pulling him into an upright position, “I’ve got something that should make your fever go down, okay?” 

Alastor nodded, reaching out and cupping Charlie’s face in his left hand, stroking her cheek with his thumb as his ears twitched, “Charlie?” he asked, the vacant look in his red eyes making Charlie chew anxiously on her tongue, he looked awful. 

“Yes, it’s me… can you see me?” Charlie asked, waving a hand in front of Alastor’s glassy eyes, her stomach twisting in knots when Alastor’s pupils didn’t follow her movement. 

“Mhm,” Alastor nodded, turning away from Charlie to muffle a fit of barking coughs into his handkerchief, “I think so.” 

“Okay, here, I’m going to pour the medicine for you, and you can take it when you’re ready,” Charlie said, pouring a dose of green fever reducer into the plastic measuring cup and handing it to Alastor, who surprisingly knocked it back almost immediately, licking his lips and flashing Charlie another delirious smile. 

“It tastes like apples,” Alastor said, giggling as he flopped back into a reclined position, doubling over when his laughter quickly devolved into another coughing fit. 

“I’m glad it tastes good, hopefully this makes you feel better,” Charlie said, gently massaging the back of Alastor’s head with her fingertips and turning to face Angel and Husk, “You guys want some?” 

“I’m fine, I’ll let this shit take its course,” Husk replied, Angel nodding in agreement, “I’m goin’ to sleep.” 

“Me too, Niffty’s got the right idea,” Angel sighed, getting comfortable on the sofa and uncrossing his legs, dozing off with Husk sleepily purring on top of him. 

“Thank you, Charlie,” Alastor said, his voice a hoarse whisper, “I hope you don’t catch thi-ihh… Hih’kshew! Hih’kshiew!...this…snff-snff!” 

“Of course,” Charlie replied, “I think I’ll be okay… you should rest… hopefully the medicine brings your fever down.” 

Alastor yawned, lowering his eyelids and cozying up to his pillow, his congested snoring joining the noisy snores of Angel, Husk, and Niffty as Charlie brushed his hair away from his forehead. 

“They’ll be better soon, it’ll be okay,” Charlie said to herself, getting one last look at her sickly friends before leaving the room to go chat with Vaggie, turning off the lights and lowering the volume on the TV before she tip-toed out of the parlor, leaving the quartet of patients in comfortable quiet darkness. 

[elucienweekofficial]

Elucien Fanfic Crossword Answer Key- Multi Chapter Modern AU

How did you do? It's our hope through this week of puzzles that folks are able to find an existing fanfiction that speaks to them! Consider these a small masterlist filled with recommendations from the community itself. Below you'll find every fanfiction recommended attached to the author who created it, added in the order they were submitted! Fics were also categorized to their best of our ability. Check them out below!

playgirl by @damedechance

Under the anonymous screen name witch_hazel, Elain Archeron has been moderating the chatroom of rising OnlyFans creator, swiper-no-swiping (Lucien) for a little less than a year. When he comes to Velaris from out of town, they agree to meet up, and the unspoken attraction between them reaches a boiling point.

I Can Wait For You At The Bottom by @missfckingfortune

Elain was going to make him say it. She was going to pry the answer from him, from deep inside in that place he kept the things he was not always ready to admit. “Because I still l-” Lucien faltered under her caustic glare like a coward. He could not fully own up to what he felt, what he never stopped feeling, even for a single second. “I still care for you, Elain.” “Weird,” She mused, tracing her elegant fingers around the rim of the tequila bottle. “Because in a lot of those songs, you make me sound like the villain."

Wishing On Dandelions by @separatist-apologist

When Elain is gifted a castle from her late Uncle, she expects it to come with bats in the attic and ghosts in the halls.

Not a grouchy English Lord hell bent on pushing her out.

Things I Can't Give Up, Not Even For You by @iambutmortal

Elain has no interest in the family business. Leave the crime to her sisters, she’s content to teach middle school biology at the same school she attended. But when rival gang leader Hybern endangers her life, her sisters decide she needs protection in the form of Lucien Vanserra their annoying, albeit attractive, associate. Elain’s determined to get rid of him. Too bad Lucien’s determined to stay.

tangled cable car wires by @thelovelymadone, @thehaemanthus and bennyslavabuns

Elain Archeron is about to start her two week staycation away from her rival, and co-worker, Lucien Vanserra. What could possibly go wrong?

back to december (all the time) by @poisonivy206

They are old friends, you could say. In the way that people who grew up in the same small town in the English countryside are. In the way that people who’ve known each other for longer than they haven’t are. In the way that people who’ve seen each other grow and change and fall apart are. But they’re not those people anymore. The Elain and Lucien standing here now haven’t known each other for years.

Lucien is always searching. Elain is afraid to be found. When life happens, they have to find themselves before making their way back to each other. Eleven years of twists and turns, hard decisions, old dreams, and new hopes.

Vanserra Wildlife Rescue by headcanonheadcase

Lucien Vanserra runs a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. When his mother sets him up on a blind date, he agrees. But on the night of the date, a call comes in about an injured fox. With no one else around to respond, Lucien cancels the date and goes out to help. Meanwhile, Elain Archeron was on her way into town to meet someone for a blind date when she accidently clipped a fix with her car. She wants to sit and wait with the injured animal to comfort it, but the man from the wildlife center asks her to wait in her car for him to arrive. What will happen when Lucien and Elain meet?

Neon In The Nighttime by @separatist-apologist

It's the end of the word as we know it. A west coast baker and the drummer of a metal band team up in Boston, MA thinking they're one of the last few people left alive after a viral outbreak turns those infected into blood hungry monsters.

Their destination: Los Angeles, California- the last place Lucien's eldest brother was living while gearing up for a presidential run. Lucien is desperate to escape the memories of his past life and what he had to do when his wife, Jes, became infected. Elain wants to try and reclaim the fractured pieces of the life she remembers before everything went to hell.

my true love gave to me... by @howlingcaptaincommando

Dear Elain (the note reads),

I know it’s not Christmas yet; you have very strict rules about when Christmas begins, after all. But consider this the first of twelve presents coming to you, from today until Christmas Eve. If anyone deserves to have the holiday properly celebrated, it’s you.

Xx A Secret Admirer

Or, the story of how Elain is wooed for four weeks by a secret admirer, and finds herself torn between the mysterious stranger who becomes more and more dear to her by the day, and the friend she's been half in love with for almost a year. How could she ever choose between them?

Turn Your Ghosts Into Mine by @highladydawn and @separatist-apologist

The Archeron women have been considered witches in their little Massachusetts town of Velaris for centuries and Nesta, Elain, and Feyre are no exceptions. After witnessing a love spell gone horribly wrong, the three young girls create a spell for their perfect man, vowing they will not love until they meet this man.

That, of course, all goes out the window when adult Feyre meets Tamlin Angelov. When Arizona detectives Lucien Vanserra, Rhysand Windhaven, and Cassian Sidra arrive on their doorsteps looking for the missing man, all three Archeron women will be forced to reconcile who they are and their place in Velaris.

Practical Magic AU

Sweet Nothing by @wilde-knight

When Elain loses her career-driven job and her presumed boyfriend in one devastating moment, her fall from grace is anything but graceful. In a desperate move to pick her floundering life up off the floor, she agrees to take a temp job working at a family-run farm over maple season. Can she make the wayward brother melt with the winter snow? Or will she remain frozen in defeat forever?

Around the World by @lucienarcheron

Elain’s night ends with an unexpected twist when she meets a handsome stranger at a bar. Eluien Prostitute/Client Modern AU

The Locker Room Pact by @king-maven-calore

Lucien Vanserra will soon find out that his transfer to play as goalkeeper for the historically rival football team entails many more responsibilities than he bargained for. Or: The one time Elain tries to have a casual hook-up goes spectacularly wrong.

Only On My Mind by @shadowriel

Everything in Elain’s life seems to be going wrong — from one failed relationship after another to the listless, draining hours she spends working in biotech. When Lucien, her former flirty, yet infuriating lab mate, joins the company and gets assigned to the same project, Elain can’t help but think that things will get so much worse.

A Elucien romcom inspired by Ali Hazelwood’s Love on the Brain

Don't Blame Me by @separatist-apologist

They say she's gone too far this time

Elain Archeron is certain Graysen Lockhart is the love of her life. She'd stake her life and her reputation on it, and could not be swayed…until visual proof of his constant, unrelenting cheating is sent to her in the undeniable form of pictures and screenshots. Humiliated and angry, Elain vows revenge the only way she knows will get under his skin.

She decides to sleep with his arch nemesis, Lucien Vanserra.

come a little bit closer (you're my kind of man) by @howlingcaptaincommando

When the summer gets too hot for comfort, the only thing for it is a pool party...with some very pretty boys.

or, Elain in her hot girl summer era, and Vassa encouraging every minute of it.

Holy Ground by @separatist-apologist

I don't wanna dance if I'm not dancing with you.

Elain Archeron thought she had it all until she catches her fiancé sleeping with another woman a week before they're supposed to be married. Forced to re-evaluate her entire life in the city she'd always dreamed of living in. Blind sighted when her ex-fiancé informs her he's taking his mistress on their honeymoon, Elain decides to move back in with her dad in his countryside home just until she's back on her feet.

Lucien Vanserra swore he was done with Elain Archeron when he learned the news of her engagement. Setting aside his childhood crush, Lucien gets on with his life, makes new friends, and starts a good job in the town he'd grown up in. The black sheep of the Vanserra family, Lucien tries to keep a low profile despite his elder brother's constant meddling. He's not looking for love.

When Lucien and Elain reconnected on the dock behind her childhood home, sparks fly instantly and Elain is forced to reconsider what she wants out of her life, and if there's a place for Lucien in it.

The Thin Lines Between Hate and Love by @thelovelymadone

it takes thirteen good interactions to forget one bad interaction. how long does it take to fall out of a negative view and in love? pretty quickly. but how do you fall out of trained habits? it’s suppose to take three silly weeks yes?

plant your story by @thelovelymadone

What do you get the “nepo” baby that has everything?

She has everything. Fame, fortune, family—name it, she has it. But after Hybern nearly gets her family under a conservativeship and dealing with the fallout of a failed engagement, the paparazzi have been hounding her front door nonstop. Frustrated, she tells a white lie—and now she’s got a camera in her face 24/7. Can she survive this? Or does she fall for the wrong guy again?

What do you get the child of a heart of gold that has nothing?

He has nothing. Not a cent to his name, his heroic deeds are classified, and his “found family” wants nothing to do with him. With the exception of one member: Feyre Archeron. He’s determined to get back on his feet and put that ex-Secret Service and Stunt Double training as a favor: be a bodyguard to the spoiled Elain Archeron. Should be easy right? Unfortunately, scaredy cat Princess tied their fates together and he can’t go through with this—or can he? He’s not going to fall in love with her, right?

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Something That Wasn't There Before by @thelovelymadone

Attorney Lucien Vanserra use to go into the Cauldron Brew for the occasional early morning or late night for a pick me up. But ever since law student Elain Archeron has taken over the counter, Lucien finds himself drawn to her. And he can’t explain why.

empty true promises by @thelovelymadone

Lucien Vanserra is your best friend. He’s the one to get you the guy you like to notice. Or he’s your teammate who kicks the soccer ball for you to score. He’s in the background in everyone’s life—including his own. A perfect, tight fit.

That is until one game of seven minutes of heaven will change his world forever—gone is the fox wearing a bunny mask. In his new place, he might get the starring role in his own life after all.

Even if he knows the female lead will not choose him in the end. For the female lead gets the guy and he gets to be her best friend, in the end.

[drdemonprince]

Re: super variable trajectories for quitting nicotine - The prodrome of viral hepatitis sometimes manifests as a sudden aversion to smoking! HepA is the classic example, but it can also be seen in HepB, C, and E. (Maybe HepD too? You need a concurrent HepB infection to get that and idk if you can really distinguish the two.)

One of my friends was a long-term smoker who got hepatitis and abruptly became grossed out by cigs. Even after she was treated/cured, she didn't go back to smoking—it wasn't repulsing to her anymore, just not as appealing or comforting. I'm assuming there are also people who stop smoking with acute hepatitis and take it up again as symptoms clear.

Lots of weird, interesting connections between addiction and microbiology!

wow what da fuck. i know i have antibodies for one of them i got screened recently

[ralfmaximus]

Here's the complete list of DHS flagged search terms. Don't use any of these on social media to avoid having the 3-letter agencies express interest in your activities!

DHS & Other Agencies

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Coast Guard (USCG)

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Border Patrol

Secret Service (USSS)

National Operations Center (NOC)

Homeland Defense

Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Agent

Task Force

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Fusion Center

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Secure Border Initiative (SBI)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)

Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Air Marshal

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

National Guard

Red Cross

United Nations (UN)

Domestic Security

Assassination

Attack

Domestic security

Drill

Exercise

Cops

Law enforcement

Authorities

Disaster assistance

Disaster management

DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office)

National preparedness

Mitigation

Prevention

Response

Recovery

Dirty Bomb

Domestic nuclear detection

Emergency management

Emergency response

First responder

Homeland security

Maritime domain awareness (MDA)

National preparedness initiative

Militia

Shooting

Shots fired

Evacuation

Deaths

Hostage

Explosion (explosive)

Police

Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT)

Organized crime

Gangs

National security

State of emergency

Security

Breach

Threat

Standoff

SWAT

Screening

Lockdown

Bomb (squad or threat)

Crash

Looting

Riot

Emergency Landing

Pipe bomb

Incident

Facility

HAZMAT & Nuclear

Hazmat

Nuclear

Chemical Spill

Suspicious package/device

Toxic

National laboratory

Nuclear facility

Nuclear threat

Cloud

Plume

Radiation

Radioactive

Leak

Biological infection (or event)

Chemical

Chemical burn

Biological

Epidemic

Hazardous

Hazardous material incident

Industrial spill

Infection

Powder (white)

Gas

Spillover

Anthrax

Blister agent

Exposure

Burn

Nerve agent

Ricin

Sarin

North Korea

Health Concern + H1N1

Outbreak

Contamination

Exposure

Virus

Evacuation

Bacteria

Recall

Ebola

Food Poisoning

Foot and Mouth (FMD)

H5N1

Avian

Flu

Salmonella

Small Pox

Plague

Human to human

Human to ANIMAL

Influenza

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

Drug Administration (FDA)

Public Health

Toxic

Agro Terror

Tuberculosis (TB)

Agriculture

Listeria

Symptoms

Mutation

Resistant

Antiviral

Wave

Pandemic

Infection

Water/air borne

Sick

Swine

Pork

Strain

Quarantine

H1N1

Vaccine

Tamiflu

Norvo Virus

Epidemic

World Health Organization (WHO and components)

Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

E. Coli

Infrastructure Security

Infrastructure security

Airport

CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources)

AMTRAK

Collapse

Computer infrastructure

Communications infrastructure

Telecommunications

Critical infrastructure

National infrastructure

Metro

WMATA

Airplane (and derivatives)

Chemical fire

Subway

BART

MARTA

Port Authority

NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center)

Transportation security

Grid

Power

Smart

Body scanner

Electric

Failure or outage

Black out

Brown out

Port

Dock

Bridge

Canceled

Delays

Service disruption

Power lines

Southwest Border Violence

Drug cartel

Violence

Gang

Drug

Narcotics

Cocaine

Marijuana

Heroin

Border

Mexico

Cartel

Southwest

Juarez

Sinaloa

Tijuana

Torreon

Yuma

Tucson

Decapitated

U.S. Consulate

Consular

El Paso

Fort Hancock

San Diego

Ciudad Juarez

Nogales

Sonora

Colombia

Mara salvatrucha

MS13 or MS-13

Drug war

Mexican army

Methamphetamine

Cartel de Golfo

Gulf Cartel

La Familia

Reynose

Nuevo Leon

Narcos

Narco banners (Spanish equivalents)

Los Zetas

Shootout

Execution

Gunfight

Trafficking

Kidnap

Calderon

Reyosa

Bust

Tamaulipas

Meth Lab

Drug trade

Illegal immigrants

Smuggling (smugglers)

Matamoros

Michoacana

Guzman

Arellano-Felix

Beltran-Leyva

Barrio Azteca

Artistics Assassins

Mexicles

New Federation

Terrorism

Terrorism

Al Queda (all spellings)

Terror

Attack

Iraq

Afghanistan

Iran

Pakistan

Agro

Environmental terrorist

Eco terrorism

Conventional weapon

Target

Weapons grade

Dirty bomb

Enriched

Nuclear

Chemical weapon

Biological weapon

Ammonium nitrate

Improvised explosive device

IED (Improvised Explosive Device)

Abu Sayyaf

Hamas

FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia)

IRA (Irish Republican Army)

ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna)

Basque Separatists

Hezbollah

Tamil Tiger

PLF (Palestine Liberation Front)

PLO (Palestine Libration Organization)

Car bomb

Jihad

Taliban

Weapons cache

Suicide bomber

Suicide attack

Suspicious substance

AQAP (Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula)

AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)

TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan)

Yemen

Pirates

Extremism

Somalia

Nigeria

Radicals

Al-Shabaab

Home grown

Plot

Nationalist

Recruitment

Fundamentalism

Islamist

Weather/Disaster/Emergency

Emergency

Hurricane

Tornado

Twister

Tsunami

Earthquake

Tremor

Flood

Storm

Crest

Temblor

Extreme weather

Forest fire

Brush fire

Ice

Stranded/Stuck

Help

Hail

Wildfire

Tsunami Warning Center

Magnitude

Avalanche

Typhoon

Shelter-in-place

Disaster

Snow

Blizzard

Sleet

Mud slide or Mudslide

Erosion

Power outage

Brown out

Warning

Watch

Lightening

Aid

Relief

Closure

Interstate

Burst

Emergency Broadcast System

Cyber Security

Cyber security

Botnet

DDOS (dedicated denial of service)

Denial of service

Malware

Virus

Trojan

Keylogger

Cyber Command

2600

Spammer

Phishing

Rootkit

Phreaking

Cain and abel

Brute forcing

Mysql injection

Cyber attack

Cyber terror

Hacker

China

Conficker

Worm

Scammers

Social media

SOCIAL MEDIA?!

[veronicaphoenix]

Chapter tags & trigger warnings: angst, sickness, best friends’ comfort, alcohol intake, implied depression. | Word count: 3.5k | Cross posted on AO3. | Series masterpost. ✧.*

General trigger warnings: This work addresses and depicts issues related to addiction and violence, contains explicit sexual content, and explores themes of childhood trauma. Reader discretion is advised. +18

Over the past two hours, my fever had spiked, signaling that I was getting worse. 

Although I had enjoyed a good night's sleep, as soon as I woke up, an unexpected wave of fatigue enveloped me. This sensation was different from the occasional bouts of coughing that would sporadically afflict me. 

By mid-morning, it became evident that I had caught some viral infection. 

As the day unfolded, my throat began to ache, and by lunchtime, my condition had deteriorated to the point where I couldn't muster the energy to prepare a meal. With Jolly off exploring San Francisco with friends from Sweden and Jesse away on tour with ERRA, I was alone, left to mend for myself.  

Struggling through a meager breakfast, I made it to noon feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. 

I lay on the couch with the back of my right hand on my forehead. I was sure I had a fever, but I didn't have a thermometer to confirm it. If Lia had been home, we probably would have had a box with one and some medicines, as had been the case when we lived together during our early twenties. Since she had moved into her apartment and Jolly, Jesse, and I had moved into a slightly smaller house, there were aspects of my life that had been somewhat neglected, and having medication at home just in case was one of them.

Lia was the one always ready and prepared to deal with any inconvenience and unexpected event. That’s why some times, besides managing the merch, she also helped with the logistic aspects of the band. She helped in the coordination of transportation, accommodations, and venue bookings, ensuring everything was in order. 

During times like these, I longed to call her for comfort and assistance. I knew she would be able to alleviate my discomfort. However, those days seemed to be a relic of the past. Lia was now committed to a relationship with Mitch, and she had started spending more and more time in his house, which signaled that this was more serious than I had hoped. 

I hesitated to reach out to her, afraid of intruding in whatever she was doing or, worse, being ignored. I would feel like shit knowing that she was with another man to whom she was giving more priority than me. I knew that she was in her own right and these feelings of mine were unnecesary, but I couldn’t help them. I knew she was at Mitch’s place. They had been together for over a year, but I was still not used to sharing her. Well, not that exactly. I wasn’t used to letting her go. I hated having to restrain myself every time I wanted her company. 

For all those reason, I eventually sent her a text message. I anxiously waited for the blue ticks that indicated she had received and read my words to appear in the screen. 

"I think I caught something. I feel like crap, and I don't even have a thermometer. Can you come by and grab something from the pharmacy on the way?"

She replied not later than fifteen minutes. 

“What’s wrong?”

“No idea. A virus, I guess. I feel powerless, my head feels heavy, and I think I have a fever.”

“Give me thirty minutes. I’ll be on my way.”

With the relief of knowing she would be here in less than half hour, I closed my eyes, reclining myself on the sofa. 

I drifted into a sort of dreamy trance, a state that blurred the lines between reality and the dream world. The urban symphony of cars passing by, a few people chatting, and an occasional dog barking felt like a distant backdrop. Although the house maintained an ideal temperature, my body stubbornly swung between feeling freezing cold one moment and uncomfortably hot the next.

By the time Lia showed up, I had already put on and taken off my sweatshirt more times than I could count. I greeted her at the door, and there she stood with a bag full of medicine and food. Despite the weariness also apparent in her eyes and the dark circles beneath them, to me Lia was a a ray of sunshine breaking through days of darkness.

As she entered, I couldn't help but smile. Lia dropped her backpack and stood on her tiptoes to peck my cheek. The gesture was met with a fit of coughing that made my shoulders shake. Lia shot a worried glance over her shoulder as she placed the supplies on the kitchen island. I closed the door.

"You look paler than usual," she observed, concern etched on her face. Before taking off her jacket, she returned to me, gently touching my cheek with one hand and then placing the back of her hand against my forehead. "And you're hot."

“Thanks,” I replied, smiling widely. 

She frowned and then slapped my chest. “Idiot.”

"No, you're right,” I conceded. “I'm a mess."

Despite how groggy I felt, I managed to sketch a smile that she tried to copy despite the concern that framed her face.

"How long have you been like this?" she asked.

"Since this morning" I replied. "I was fine last night. I don't know what the hell I caught." 

"Are you coughing up flowers this time?"

"Nope. Just feeling weak as shit, head is heavy, and throat is itchy."

"Okay. Well, sit down. I'll see what we can do."

I made my way to the couch and plopped down with a huff. I leaned back, resting my head on the headrest. Lia followed me with her eyes as she took off her jacket and started looking for something in the paper bag she had brought with her. 

"I stopped by the pharmacy before I came here. I wasn't sure what you’d need, but something will do. The rest you can keep in the bathroom or wherever you keep your meds."

I looked at her with a guilty expression, and she was quick to transcribe it. 

"You don't have anything, do you?"

I shook my head. 

"I think Jolly has some ibuprofen blisters in his room, but given how messy he is, before you find it I'll probably start feeling better."

"Fantastic," she mused, rolling her eyes. From the bag hse pulled out several small boxes of medication and a couple of foil-wrapped packages. "You haven't eaten either, have you?"

I shook my head again. Lia shook the two foil packets in the air.

"You're lucky. I brought burritos."

"Have I told you yet that you're an angel?"

She sat next to me on the couch two minutes later, scooping one leg over the rest of her body. She had taken the burritos out of their wrappers and separated them into two plates that now lay on the little table between the couch and the TV. After thanking her, I took one of the plates. Before placing it on my lap, Lia pulled a thermometer out of one of the back pockets of her jeans. 

She flicked on the thermometer and handed it over without a word. There was no need for instructions; we had been through this routine countless times, sometimes with the roles reversed. We sat in quiet anticipation, waiting for the thermometer to signal that it had done its job. I removed it from under my armpit, and instead of checking it myself, I instinctively passed it to her.

"You've got a light fever," she said, looking away from the thermometer and back at me. Worry etched her expression as she brushed a strand of hair from my forehead.

The only sounds in the house were the distant white noise from outside, occasionally interrupted by more dogs barking, and then the rhythmic ticking coming from the kitchen clock.

"Nothing that can't be fixed now that you're here," I grinned at her.

She shot me a reproachful look.

"Don't get too comfortable. It's not right for you to be so dependent on me. We talked about this the other day, Noah..."

"Bah, I have no idea what you're talking about," I retorted, shifting my focus to the burrito.

"All right, eat up. I don't want to give you meds on an empty stomach."

We ate in near silence, interspersed with occasional questions about her day and work. Lia usually spent hours in the studio with me and the boys, but there were times when she worked from home, focusing on her merchandising job, or went to the label's offices where logistics were handled. Lia was one of the hardest-working people I knew, and I admired her for it, knowing the challenges she had overcome while growing up. We had supported each other on our journeys, but the dedication each of us had shown to reach our goals was something that never ceased to amaze me.

Lia's drive and passion, despite her challenging past, left me in awe every day. She never took anything for granted, continually pushing herself towards her goals. However, I couldn't help but worry about her health. I knew that sometimes she sacrificed sleep and worked over-hours. It was a concern I had kept to myself, contemplating whether I should encourage her to ease up a bit or not, considering that I was just as much a workholic as she was.  

After finishing our meal, Lia brought me a glass of water and a couple of pills, which I swallowed without complaint. She suggested I lie down in the bed, but I insisted on staying on the couch, which led her to sit with me and deciding on watching a movie.

By the time the film concluded, I had dozed off, and Lia had made sure I wasn’t cold by drapping one of the blankets stacked in the corner of the couch over me.

I woke up to the clinking of cups. When I half-opened my eyes, I saw Lia in the kitchen, holding two cups by the handles with two fingers of her left hand. Two cabinets were open on her right.

"Lia? What are you doing?" I asked with a slightly hoarse voice, my eyes still adjusting to the intensity of the light.

Lia turned her head to look at me in surprise over her shoulder, and the first thing she muttered was an apology.

"I didn’t mean to wake you. I'm rearranging the cabinets."

If she was already finishing, it meant I had been asleep for almost an hour. Since Jolly, Jesse, and I had moved into that little house, we hadn't cleaned the cabinets even once, and they must have been loaded with dust and cereals scattered like rocks everywhere, among other things.

"You didn’t have to," I replied, sitting up and pulling my arms from under the blanket to stretch them like a cat. I felt somewhat better. The stiffness that had kept me on the couch for most of the day seemed to have dissipated a bit, and I felt like getting up and flexing my knees.

"How are you feeling?" Lia asked, closing the cabinets. She had tied her hair in a poorly made bun and had taken off her boots.

I threw the blanket off and stood up, taking with me the glass of water I had left on the table earlier and took a couple of sips.

"Better. Thanks," I replied after swallowing.

On my way to the kitchen, my eyes glanced over Lia's backpack, and I deduced that she only had the essentials with her. I felt a tug in my chest. I didn't want her to leave.

"Are you staying tonight?"

Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed. However, she approached me and checked my temperature again with the back of her hand on my forehead.

I chuckled.

"What?" she asked, pulling her hand away.

"You’re tiny."

She looked at me with a frown.

"I'm not. You're a giraffe, which is totally different."

She was right, but when she was barefoot and so close, I once again realized our height difference, and Lia seemed like a little creature I could hide in my chest by wrapping my arms around her and squeezing.

I continued smiling because I couldn't help it. Clearly, her presence and the pills had taken effect.

"You're better," she concluded, "although you should take another pill before going to bed, just in case. And you should have a good dinner."

"Stay," I pleaded. "We can order a couple of pizzas and watch Spirited Away or a horror movie. What do you say?"

"I said have a proper dinner. Besides, I didn't bring anything. I don't have my MacBook, and I don't have any pjs here."

"As if that was an excuse… You have already slept in half of the t-shirts in my closet,” I rolled my eyes. "About the MacBook, nothing will happen if you don't work for a day. Come on, stay. Jolly won't be back for a few days, and I need a nurse."

"You don't need a nurse," she replied, letting out a smile.

But it wasn't hard to convince her. The difficult part was dealing with the sensation that invaded me when I saw her appear down the hallway before dinner, wearing my t-shirt and only a pair of long socks. It wasn't the first time (nor would it be the last) that I saw her like that. The feeling wasn't exactly unfamiliar either.

Before preparing dinner, we sat together on the couch for another while. Lia had taken a notebook from her backpack and showed me various drawings she had done in the past weeks. Most of them featured flowers, all the ones she knew (which were a lot), and also dark stuff where skeleatons, bats, and distorted faces were featured. The myriad of emotions expressed on paper always left me feeling overwhelmed.

"Hey, how is Black-Eyed Susan?" I asked when I remembered about the last plant I’d given her.

"Growing healthy and beautiful,” she said proudly, with a fucking beautiful smile. 

I felt a tug at my heart, knowing that I had pulled her away from the comfort of being with her boyfriend and the other little things that made her happy. 

"I'm sorry I made you come," I said after a while. "Did I ruin your day?"

Lia shook her head slowly, her expression unchanged. Concern, impatience... She extended an arm and took my hand, giving it a squeeze and then offering a warm but weak smile.

"I have no problem spending the day here taking care of you."

We continued talking, at times with few words and in a low voice. Midway through the conversation, her phone, which she had left on the kitchen island, buzzed silently multiple times, lighting up. Lia glanced at it disinterestedly over her shoulder. I sensed a wave of unease passing through her, but I didn't press to find out the reason because telling me about her weekend activities with her yoga class friends seemed to keep her away from any dark clouds.

When an ugly cough shook my body, Lia sat up and patted my thigh. She went to the kitchen and brought me a hot mug of lemon and ginger tea. After drinking a few sips, I let out a long sigh.

Lia knelt on the rug in front of me.

"Let's hope you get better by tomorrow. We'll see what to do then. I'll take care of preparing dinner, okay?"

"Mhmh,” I mumbled with my eyes closed. She made a move to get up, but I stopped her. "You know, it's easy not to miss you when you're here.”

Her features shifted to a tender expression. 

"I know."

She kissed my forehead.

After dinner (an avocado and hummus salad, and some fruit for dessert), we started watching a series on HBO and ended up falling asleep halfway through. When I woke up, it was already pitch black outside. Lia had her head resting on my shoulder, and her breathing was calm. I brushed the tip of my nose against her hair. That woke her up. She opened her eyes in time for her iPhone to light up, announcing a call from Mitch from the coffee table. Her eyes widened, and she muttered a curse, straightening up tiredly.

Right in front of me, she rejected the call. I couldn’t help but notice a bunch of unread messages from Mitch on her screen.

"Does he know you're here?" I couldn't resist asking.

"No," she replied, serious, still not looking at me. "We had an argument this morning," she said, pretending to be busy checking something else on her phone. "I told him I was going back to my place.”

She dropped the phone on the table like it was no big deal and flopped back on the couch. 

“You should’ve told him you’re here,” I said. 

"No, I don't think that would have been a good idea..." she muttered, resting her head against the cushions, the sleep not fully gone from her bones. 

"Why not? Lia, if you're serious about him, Mitch needs to learn to be okay with our friendship,” I insisted, throwing in some serious concern. I was also feeling sleepy and I looked forward to going back to my bed, letting the hours pass and waking up the next morning with this virus gone from my body. 

But I was more concerned about her than myself. 

Lia let out a long sigh and turned her head to face me. 

"Mitch says friends don't behave the way you and I do."

The sentence hung in the air. For a fraction of a second, my eyes wandered down to her lips. 

“Well,” I continued with a shrug of my shoulders, “not all friends have known each other since childhood. We’re different than other’s for that reason, don’t you think?”

Lia’s reply came after a while. It was just a sigh and her eyebrows raising and dropping, as if she was too tired to discuss the topic.

"Is he very jealous?" I found myself asking. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, my hands too close to Lia’s bare legs. 

"To a fair extent," she admitted, not sounding entirely convinced herself. “But I’m not ready to sacrifice our friendship.” 

Unable to restrain myself, I touched her cheek and smiled at her with tenderness, grateful for her words but at the same time conflicted by the problems it might cause her in her relationship with that idiot Mitch.

“Does this have anything to do with the call from the other day?” I inquired. Her voice on the other side of the line hadn’t left my head ever since. She had me truly concerned, but she was adamant on not telling me what happened exactly that night. 

It didn’t surprise me to see her tensing at its mention. She diverted her gaze. It pained me to see her like that. There was something she was not telling me, and the distance growing between us, the wall she seemed to be putting up, was keeping me from pushing in, reaching to her heart and finding the truth. 

“Lia?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she finally responded. Abruptly, the back of her palm was back on my forehead, catching me off guard. “You’re heating up again. Take another pill before you go to bed, yeah?”

“Lia…” I insisted when she stood up.

“Noah, really,” she looked so tired now, the circles under her eyes more pronounced. There was no noise at all coming from the streets and the atmosphere inside of the house seemed to be charged with something unwelcome. “Can we just not talk about it now?”

“I just want to know if you’re okay. You seem tired than usual. I’m just cheking in on you the same way you’re here checking in on me.”

“And I appreciate that, but I’m fine, all right? If there’s something going on with me and my boyfriend, I’ll take care of it.”

Raising an eyebrow, I added a hint of mock concern. Lia didn't take kindly to it, her shoulders slumping, resembling a six-year-old on the verge of pouting.

“I can take your word on that, right?” I asked, totally unconvinced. 

It took her a moment of hesitation before she nodded. Stepping closer, I placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her into my chest.

“Omff,” she let out when she crashed against my body. 

“That’s what you get if you give me those sad looks.”

“I’m not sad. I’m actually pretty happy being here with you.”

“I knew you liked playing nurse.” 

She retaliated by pinching my side, prompting a loud ‘ouch’ from me, and I released her. Her soft laughter filled the living room, the house, and the last image etched in my mind that night was her figure siappearing into the dark shadows of the hallway, a small private smile reserved just for me drawn on her face. However, there was something else. Maybe it was the fact that the smile didn’t reach her eyes, or perhaps the fact that her eyes were not lighting up when she was smiling. 

I stood motionless in the living room, my heart pounding a slow melody in my chest, still echoing the presence of Lia’s face just minutes ago. I felt unsettled, and in a futile attempt to seek reassurance, my fingers instinctively brushed against the tattoo on my neck, the one that read her name.  

[maaarine]

The Cause of Depression Is Probably Not What You Think (Joanna Thompson, Quanta Magazine, Jan 26 2023)

"A literature review that appeared in Molecular Psychiatry in July was the latest and perhaps loudest death knell for the serotonin hypothesis, at least in its simplest form.

An international team of scientists led by Joanna Moncrieff of University College London screened 361 papers from six areas of research and carefully evaluated 17 of them.

They found no convincing evidence that lower levels of serotonin caused or were even associated with depression.

People with depression didn’t reliably seem to have less serotonin activity than people without the disorder.

Experiments in which researchers artificially lowered the serotonin levels of volunteers didn’t consistently cause depression. (…)

Although serotonin levels don’t seem to be the primary driver of depression, SSRIs show a modest improvement over placebos in clinical trials.

But the mechanism behind that improvement remains elusive.

“Just because aspirin relieves a headache, [it] doesn’t mean that aspirin deficits in the body are causing headaches,” said John Krystal, a neuropharmacologist and chair of the psychiatry department at Yale University.

“Fully understanding how SSRIs produce clinical change is still a work in progress.”

Speculation about the source of that benefit has spawned alternative theories about the origins of depression. (…)

Repple warns, however, that another explanation for the effects his team observed is also possible: Perhaps the depressed patients’ brain connections were impaired by inflammation.

Chronic inflammation impedes the body’s ability to heal, and in neural tissue it can gradually degrade synaptic connections.

The loss of such connections is thought to contribute to mood disorders.

Good evidence supports this theory.

When psychiatrists have evaluated populations of patients who have chronic inflammatory diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, they’ve found that “all of them have higher-than-average rates of depression,” said Charles Nemeroff, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of Texas, Austin.

Of course, knowing that they have an incurable, degenerative condition may contribute to a patient’s depressed feelings, but the researchers suspect that the inflammation itself is also a factor.

Medical researchers have found that inducing inflammation in certain patients can trigger depression.

Interferon alpha, which is sometimes used to treat chronic hepatitis C and other conditions, causes a major inflammatory response throughout the body by flooding the immune system with proteins known as cytokines — molecules that facilitate reactions ranging from mild swelling to septic shock.

The sudden influx of inflammatory cytokines leads to appetite loss, fatigue and a slowdown in mental and physical activity — all symptoms of major depression.

Patients taking interferon often report feeling suddenly, sometimes severely, depressed.

If overlooked chronic inflammation is causing many people’s depression, researchers still need to determine the source of that inflammation.

Autoimmune disorders, bacterial infections, high stress and certain viruses, including the virus that causes Covid-19, can all induce persistent inflammatory responses.

Viral inflammation can extend directly to tissues in the brain. Devising an effective anti-inflammatory treatment for depression may depend on knowing which of these causes is at work.

It’s also unclear whether simply treating inflammation could be enough to alleviate depression.

Clinicians are still trying to parse whether depression causes inflammation or inflammation leads to depression. “It’s a sort of chicken-and-egg phenomenon,” Nemeroff said.

Increasingly, some scientists are pushing to reframe “depression” as an umbrella term for a suite of related conditions, much as oncologists now think of “cancer” as referring to a legion of distinct but similar malignancies.

"And just as each cancer needs to be prevented or treated in ways relevant to its origin, treatments for depression may need to be tailored to the individual."

[ziggyzamio]

right back where we started from (buddie fanfic)

read here on ao3

👨‍🚒❤️👨‍🚒 eddie diaz (top) x evan "buck" buckley (bottom)

🚒 explicit rating

🚒 ongoing 21 chapters total (18/21 posted, 80k+ written so far)

🚒 mpreg, buck is christopher's biological parent, different first meeting au, fluff & angst, hurt/comfort, slow burn

excerpt from chapter 1 below

....after throwing up for the nth time that week and putting it off for as long as he could, Evan had finally given in and gone to see a doctor. He had gone in fully expecting some run of the mill explanation like an awful viral infection or, in the worst possible scenario, a football related internal injury. Evan had no way, however, of predicting this. “You’re pregnant,” The doctor announces, reading off Evan’s blood work chart and then proceeding to snap on a pair of blue nitrile gloves before rolling over the ultrasound machine he’d had a nurse bring in for him. “What?” Evan had thought it was strange when the nurse had initially brought the ultrasound machine out, but he’d watched enough medical shows on TV to know they used it to diagnose a whole bunch of other diseases, not just pregnancies. He watches in stunned disbelief as the doctor goes through the motions of turning the ultrasound machine on. He then disinfects the wand and reaches over to where Evan’s shirt is lifted to slather some gelatinous liquid on his lower belly that startles him at how cold it is. The doctor presses the wand insistently into the area between Evan’s pubic bones. “Yeah definitely pregnant,” The doctor confirms, pointing to a circular lump on the black and grey screen. Sure when this doctor had first walked in with his messy grey hair he’d given Evan a bit of a mad scientist vibe but he’d just thought the man was a little unkempt, not an actual quack. “Doc, you’re joking, right?” The doctor gives him a bit of an exasperated look as Evan’s head spins around looking for something like a hidden camera, that has to be the only explanation for this, right? Is he on some horrible prank show right now? “Did you have unprotected sex about 9 weeks ago, give or take?” “I mean, maybe?”

continue reading here

[ms-scarletwings]

Every Dredge Aberration (2024), Part 2

Brood Squid

Encyclopedia #110

Aberrant form of Arrow Squid

Description:

Tentacles sprout from a glowing core inside a gelatinous sac. Other cores lay dormant alongside

Comment: The first aberrant I caught where the original being, if it ever truly lived, appeared lost entirely to the corruption. It has been hollowed out and made the bloated womb for a nameless invader. It invokes two visceral images in my mind’s eye. The first being an infected cell, swelling with viral load until it is bursted, spilling out with new capsules of infection waiting to start the cycle anew. The other is of those real squids in the world which brood their own eggs to hatching. They too, sacrifice the last of themselves entirely to bring their spawn into a hungry world.

How to catch: Another coastal spawner in The Marrows region, albeit only appearing after sunset. Can be gathered in trawl nets.

Snag Squid

Encyclopedia #111

Aberrant form of Arrow Squid

Description:

Tasting tongues writhe wildly around sets of yellowed, crooked teeth. The top row are flattened like human molars.

Comment: The first aberrant that made me recoil back in my chair with a grimaced “Euuh” sound when I saw it appear on my screen. To think of what caution such a thing must be handled with, lest the role of butcher’s hand and sustenance become reversed. The artwork makes horrible suggestion of one animal in a slow transformation to become many. This layered hunger promises terrible growth and sprawling if it is allowed to consume.

How to catch: Ditto

Barbed Eel

Encyclopedia #112

Aberrant form of Grey Eel

Description:

A spine broken with sharp angles and crooked curves. A row of teeth bent on revenge.

Comment: Fortunately for I, there exists frilled sharks with a more unnerving presence than this gnarled creature. It is much like the Marrows themselves, crooked and strange, but conquered easily. Hunger on, scoliotic elver, but you won’t be the one who feasts before the sun rises.

How to catch: This wretch and its kin will require an upgrade from the basic rod to bag. Fish during the day, around the shallow waters about The Marrows. I always found them mostly around the rocks. Can be trawl-netted with the appropriate equipment.

Host Eel

Encyclopedia #113

Aberrant form of Grey Eel

Description:

Numerous glowing shapes flicker and squirm behind a distended ribcage. The rest of the fish is withered and drained.

Comment: Could it be… another strain of what plagues the brood squid? Unlikely, but to the animal, the difference won’t matter- its fate mirrors the other all the same.

How to catch: ^Ditto

Cyclopean Flounder

Encyclopedia #114

Aberrant form of Gulf Flounder

Description:

A sprawling, jellied mass spills from a single eye socket. What appears to be a dark pupil is in fact the center of an egg.

Comment: Oh…. It’s a yolk. That’s the nucleus. Another life, traded for the potential of a new one. Neither encyclopedia nor the artwork help me address the question of whether or not this flounder carries a fertilized ovum, and frankly, I do not know which answer would unsettle me more. Mercifully, ironically, this change has blinded it.

How to catch: Active during the day, and dwells only in the shallow water of The Marrows. Can be trawl netted.

Riddled Flounder

Encyclopedia #115

Aberrant form of Gulf Flounder

Description:

Baggy skin perforated with countless cavities. A singular, shapeless mass spreads underneath.

Comment: Ah, I must wonder at this piece if the devs looked to the Surinam toad, and if they found such inspiration there that they created this. The semblance to one of the real world’s beautiful horrors is unmistakable.

If this were the intention, then the riddled flounder would be all the more foreboding a sight. While the flounder’s skin only shelters a single resident, the flat Surinam’s cavities are each protecting a tadpole. Something else that interests me about the grotesque flounder is that, like the other variant, this one has been rendered sightless. In place of its eyes are protruding siphons of a sort. Their function- unknown.

How to catch: ^Ditto

[nhaneh]

the whole question of whether viruses are or are not really "alive" is kind of interesting to me because viruses are kind of like software if you think about it?

Like a virus on its own is a fairly inert thing - it's a packet of RNA code inside a protein casing and doesn't really do anything on its own except float around until they contact a matching cell membrane whereupon the casing gets hooked up and the RNA injected. In software terms, RNA is kind of like a segment of free-floating biological machine code, while the casing is the encapsulating data structure that allows it to interface with things, like the MZ EXE format of the DOS/Windows world or the ELF format of Unix and its relatives. What effectively makes biological viruses work at all is the fact that cells tend to absorb the contents of anything that can bind to their surface and have minimal if any protections in place against processing foreign RNA code. In computer security terms, cells are extremely vulnerable to remote code execution, and the antiviral protections that the body has is primarily a question of either identifying and eliminating viral particles before they get linked up to a cell, or murdering any cell that looks infected.

Okay that's interesting but what does that have to do with whether or not viruses are alive you may ask, so let me pull this analogy together a little by asking the following: Where does software exist?

This might seem like a silly question at first, but it's actually not as simple as it might seem. Consider this post you're reading - where is it? Well, on the servers of tumblr dot com you may say, but you're not looking at the servers right now, are you. Okay well a local copy on the device you're reading this on too then - and sure, there is definitely such a copy, but you're not looking at that either, not directly at least: that data only exists in memory as electrical signals and charges on a few microchips are not something we can see either. No, what you're looking at is an image most likely rendered on a screen through a complex interplay of code and data, of both hardware and software operating together, and only from that full stack of interoperating elements does the post you're reading emerge in a form that you can read.

Or, to go back to the main topic: viruses are code - code which comes alive when introduced to a living cell, but lies inert within the virus itself. They live in the sense that they have functional biological machine code, if you will, but lack the active process with which to execute said code themselves. Like software needs some kind of computer to run, a virus needs a living cell to run - they are alive but only when inside a cell, on their own in isolation they are just inert clumps of protein that depend on being picked up and executed.

A virus is kind of the ultimate expression of life as an emergent property: no one single part of the virus itself is really alive, and yet when introduced to a susceptible cell, its code will interact with the processes of that cell and real, living behaviour emerges. The life of viruses is not contained anywhere within the virus itself, it is something that only exists in interaction with other things outside of itself.

[tafferling]

Gimme them top five Kyle Crane moments please 👀

Five? Five? How can I only pick five! I suspect you mean from the game.

Please know I had to replay some of the game because I had to get a new GIF for one of those. I thank you for being an active contributor to maintaining my sanity.

(1) Beautiful Weather...

Him lamenting how he'll probably land on a bag of rusty knives one day. You may credit this moment for Taff still inhabiting this mortal coil.

(2) Every time he falls down

Especially when the elevator breaks after you paint an explosive frowny face.

(3) The Infamy Bridge Encounter

This moment has established itself as a very Kyle Crane thing to do. Made even better by how I managed this on my first playthrough when everything was still fresh (this GIF is a re-enactment of that). I screamed when the viral came out the door and accidentally mashed the right button. Smooched the screen after.

(4) When he tells Tariq to, well, get good.

... with kids, that is. Consequentially, how great Crane is with kids. The entire Gunsmith side quest with Rupert (including the Troll) is a highlight of every playthrough but I admit I am probably projecting a lot of headcanons onto this one. It's yet another example of oh so many how he puts himself between the innocent and danger, but also between the innocent and hard decisions.

(5) Every. Single. Time. He. Says. Fuck.

He wields the word masterfully. Yes, this counts for one! Don't look at me like that. The little Fuuuuck- when he gets shoulder checked by a Biter. The frustrated ones. The loud ones. The furious ones. The ones following a fucked up infected motherfucker spitting toxic snot. All of 'em. Also the ones complaining about mountains.

Honourable mention: His escape from the arena. Man can fight. And man can run.