#Viruses in winter

[gotyouanyway]

another thing is that yes masking mainly prevents you from spreading covid via your breath and only does so much to protect you from inhaling it, but a mask will still protect you quite well from more droplet-borne viruses that are going around right now and they still help stop you touching your face with your dirty hands and getting yourself sick that way. which is a big deal right now with everyone's immune systems being damaged and all these other viruses going around. maybe a mask won't really stop you getting covid but it can go a long way stopping you from getting every other cold and flu and stomach bug going around too. and covid isn't the only virus that can cause long-term damage especially if your immune system isn't working right. so like the overall protection factor of wearing a mask rn is probably higher than ever. zero risk, high potential reward

[gingerale2017]

sometimes i forget about cress like im thinking of a scenario and i skip a character and its cress not bc i dont like her (i AM her actually) but i create stories where her certain expertise (hacking and illegal stuff) doesn’t fit w the plot im cooking up.

i can’t make a kaider fic without thorne and i cant write thorne without cress. so i have to somehow make her more relevant than just being thorne’s gf but an essential person to the plot.’idk how to explain it but i ALWAYS have to change smth abt my story to make cress fit

[ellearts]

September 1 clocks in and I'm sick again :<<

[ayamohammed2024]

Hello

my name is Aya, I am 26 years old, currently living in the northern part of Gaza City, and I am a mother of two children. My oldest is my daughter, Sana'a, who is 5 years old, and my youngest is my son, Wasfi, who is 3.

Since the morning of October 7th, 2023, our lives have been turned upside down. We have lived through the hardest days of our lives, facing displacement and homelessness. We have been forced to leave our home more than ten times since the war began. We would leave without knowing where to go.

We sought refuge in schools and relatives' homes, hoping we could return home and that this nightmare would end. But our house was bombed, and our dreams were destroyed. We became homeless and displaced.

Every day, we wake up to the sound of bombs and rockets. I lived in constant fear and terror with my children, especially when my family's house was bombed while we were taking shelter there.

We are experiencing a real famine in Gaza. I’ve gone to bed with my children many nights without dinner because there is no food available. We have had to eat animal and bird feed due to the high cost of flour just to fill the hunger of my young children. Even after eating it, we all suffered from diarrhea and severe stomach pain. My children developed rashes on their bodies due to the spread of viruses and the accumulation of garbage. There is also a severe shortage of water, and even when we find it, it's not safe to drink.

My children cry, asking for vegetables, fruits, and eggs, but we can’t afford them because we have no income. The gas shortage has forced us to use fire for everything—cooking and baking—using plastic and pipes because firewood is so hard to find.

My children also developed jaundice, and I struggled a lot to get them better because there was no access to vegetables, fruits, or medicine. I even feared that my son might have developed polio because he already had leg problems before the war, and they worsened due to malnutrition.

Winter is coming, and we have nothing for it. I need clothes and shoes for my children to keep them warm, but I can’t buy them because they are so expensive.

For this reason, I beg of you and hope that you can support me, even with the smallest contribution, so I can provide my children with the most basic necessities of life.

I was displaced with my children to my family's house, tears in my eyes. On the way, Salah Al-Din Street was bombed, and the Israeli occupation committed horrific massacres. By the grace of God, we survived for the first time. We lived in terror and fear. A few days later, my family's house was bombed, and we were pulled out from under the rubble, miraculously surviving for the second time.

When my husband heard the news that we had died, he came to bid us farewell, only to find us alive by God's grace. We returned with him, but as the situation worsened and the fire belts in our area increased, we started to flee again and again, not knowing where to go next.

I beg of you to share my story and help me continue to live.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #230 )✅️

Vetted by butterfly nu #1133

[terfteenthdoctor]

Some of you need to be introduced to winter sports. They do wonders for your lungs, and wonders for your soul.

[ageofgeek]

Ugh. I’ve had laryngitis for the past 4 days and it’s hellish. I can’t talk and feel like crap, and I’m also on my period. And it’s my birthday in 2 days.

Not having a great time rn.

[huda123sblog]

Hello

My name is Hoda, I am twenty years old and my husband's name is Sobhi, he is twenty-four years old. We live with my husband's family, which consists of fourteen people. Our lives have turned for the worse since October 7, 2023. Since that day😭, the occupation forced us to leave our home and we were displaced from 8 to 10 times. Then we went to the security line in the south of the Gaza Strip🇵🇸 because of the fire belts, missiles and shells. We went without shelter. After that, torn tents were provided to protect my family🙋‍♀️🙋. The news came to surprise us that our home was bombed. Here, our dreams and hopes were shattered.

Now, we are suffering from the lack of flour for my family due to the exorbitant prices of food🥬🫑. This has caused malnutrition for my family, as well as the lack of water. When water is available, it is unclean and unfit for drinking. This has caused the spread of epidemics and viruses that caused the spread of skin rashes in my family. Animal food, such as fodder and barley, was mixed to provide food for my family, which caused stomach pain and diarrhea.

I beg you In achieving my dream of having children, I got married at the age of fifteen and now it has been five years since my marriage and I have not had children, so please help me collect money to plant children. 😭🙏😢

Otherwise, I did not complete my studies due to lack of money and lack of a place to study, and I hope that you will help me achieve my goals🙏🙏.

We suffer in lighting fires that are used to heat water, cook food and provide warmth. The price of firewood has risen insanely, so we use pipes and plastic instead of firewood, which has led to a crisis in the respiratory system. Winter may be coming and my family and I will not have clothes, blankets, shoes and useful tents. I do not know what I will do to protect my family from the bitter cold. Thank you. ❤️

I was hoping to beg you to help me and my family survive the danger of war.🙏😔🔗

@xxx-sparkydemon-xxx @lampthehealthminister @baandar @doug-dimmadumb @astronotesstuff @prokyon @the-bitch-isback @aceofrage @intheindustrynow-blog @horrorcore2002 @thescavenger29 @yvening @springcres @meowmaids @akaratna @ezras-turtleneck-blog @fagarlic @grandpom @omens-augury @pianta @kingtransgender @friendlizard @intricatecakes @marbirds @error-core-animations @block-swing-perry @br-eddrolls @kraigerzz-blog @daily-click-reminders @commissions4aid-international @anneemay @tumkaafiho @balaclava-trismegistus @ripley-stark @mangocheesecakes @bees-fantasies @girl4pay @turtletoria @rikebe @esperantoauthor @starless-gaze @frehscah

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #314 )✅️

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

By Anthony Robledo

The side effects of newly discovered COVID-19 strain XEC might not be as severe, but is part of the more contagious variant class, experts say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines XEC as recombinant or hybrid of the strains KS.1.1 and KP.3.3., both from the Omicron family that became the predominant strain in the U.S. late December 2022.

The variant, which first appeared in Berlin in late June, has increasingly seen hundreds of cases in Germany, France, Denmark and Netherlands, according to a report by Australia-based data integration specialist Mike Honey.

XEC has also been reported in at least 25 U.S. states though there could be more as genetic testing is not done on every positive test, RTI International epidemiologist Joëlla W. Adams said.

"We often use what happens in Europe as a good indication of what might happen here," Adams told USA TODAY Friday. "Whenever we're entering into a season where we have multiple viruses occurring at the same time, like we're entering into flu season, that obviously complicates things."

What is the XEC variant? New COVID strain XEC is a recombinant strain of two variants in the Omicron family: KS.1.1 and KP.3.3.

The hybrid strain was first reported in Berlin late June but has spread across Europe, North America and Asia with the countries Germany, France, the Netherlands and Denmark leading cases.

Is the XEC variant more contagious? While there's no indication the XEC strain will increase the severity of virus, it could potentially become a dominant strain as Omicron variants are more contagious. However, current available COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots are particularly protective against XEC as it is a hybrid of two Omicron strains.

"These strains do have the advantage in the fact that they are more transmissible compared to other families, and so the vaccines that are currently being offered were not based off of the XEC variant, but they are related," Adams said.

Like other respiratory infections, COVID-19 and its recent Omicron variants will increasingly spread during the fall and winter seasons as students return to classes, kids spend more time inside and people visit family for the holidays, according to Adams.

How can we protect ourselves from XEC and other variants? The CDC continues to monitor the emergence of variants in the population, according to spokesperson Rosa Norman.

"At this time, we anticipate that COVID-19 treatments and vaccines will continue to work against all circulating variants," Norman said in a statement to USA TODAY. "CDC will continue to monitor the effectiveness of treatment and vaccines against circulating variants."

The CDC recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older, with some exceptions, receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus, regardless whether or not you have previously been vaccinated or infected.

Norman urged Americans to monitor the agency's COVID Data Tracker for updates to new variants.

KP.3.1.1:This dominant COVID-19 variant accounts for over 50% of cases, new CDC data shows

What is the dominant strain of COVID in the US? COVID-19 variant KP.3.1.1 is currently the dominant strain accounting for more than half of positive infections in the U.S. according to recent CDC projections.

Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14, 52.7% of positive infections were of the KP.3.1.1 strain, followed by KP.2.3 at 12.2%, according to the agency's Nowcast data tracker, which displays COVID-19 estimates and projections for two-week periods.

KP.3.1.1 first became the dominant strain in the two-week period, starting on July 21st and ending on August 3rd.

"The KP.3.1.1 variant is very similar to other circulating variants in the United States. All current lineages are descendants of JN.1, which emerged in late 2023," Norman previously told USA TODAY.

COVID XEC symptoms There is no indication that the XEC variant comes with its own unique symptoms.

The CDC continues to outline the basic COVID-19 symptoms, which can appear between two to 14 days after exposure to the virus and can range from mild to severe.

These are some of the symptoms of COVID-19:

Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache Loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea

The CDC said you should seek medical attention if you have the following symptoms:

Trouble breathing Persistent pain or pressure in the chest New confusion Inability to wake or stay awake Pale, gray or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds

[yosh-iro]

my eyes are getting swollen again :(

[counterintuitivecomics]

Thought I'd share the Palestinian colors version of my MASK UP! poster 🍉😷🇵🇸 Thank you so much to everyone who shared and downloaded the FREE MASK UP! poster pack!

Hypothetically, you can print this on a risograph by download the design in separate color files and using red, black, and green, and it'll look basically like this mock-up. Let me know if you actually print it in any way, I'd love to hear more C:

We CAN take care of each other, and a better world is possible. If you're feeling alone and helpless, masking up with N95s/KN95s when around others, indoors AND outdoors, is a great place to start. Masking helps protect us from deadly pathogens (like viruses and smoke) PLUS it stymies police surveillance and makes events more accessible to disabled people. All our struggles against fascism and genocide are united, and Palestine will be free!

[ID: "MASK UP!" above 3 figures in different respirator masks, drawn from the waist-up and moving forward shoulder-to-shoulder, all in the colors of Palestine’s flag (red, black, white, and green). Top figure: An Arabic person in a fluttering white kufiyah over a black hijab and dress, plus a white Aura 9210+ N95 disposable mask. L: A fat teenager with monolid eyes, in a black hoodie with a genderqueer symbol, and a black disposable Laianzhi HYX1002 KN100 mask. They’re holding a box labeled FREE that’s full of COVID-19 Rapid Tests and plastic-wrapped N95s. R: middle-aged Black person in a power chair, wearing a Flo Mask eslastomeric respirator with a customized rainbow cover, a winter hat with a Disability symbol pin over mid-length dreads, and shirt featuring 6 flags. (R to L) Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Tigray, Ethiopia. Underneath reads: "RESPIRATOR MASKS PROTECT: your health, your identity, and your community. Find resources near you at COVIDActionMap.org." End ID.]

[cozage]

HELLO IVE BEEN WAITINT DOR THIS MOMENT CAN I REQUEST FOR LAW A ONE SHOT OF HIS SO BEING SICK N HES JUST SUPER WORRIED N SCARED FOR HER WELL-BEING AND NURTURES THEM BACK TO HEALTH THANJ YOU I LOVE TOU HAVW A GEWAT DAY/NIGHT TOODLES POOKIE PIE

A/N: Apparently I don’t know how to write short fics anymore. Here you are :) Word Count: 3k Characters: gn reader x Law CW: reader sickness, serious sickness, angstttttt (with fluff at the end. i'm not a monster)

Sickness

It took a sniffle for Law to finally see the signs. 

You were already asleep, sprawled out in the bed when it happened. You had been abnormally warm today, spending most of it in a tank top and shorts despite being in a winter ecosystem. When it was time for meals, you opted for ice cream over anything else. You hadn’t been very hungry, and that was the only thing you craved. The crew had made fun of you, but you hadn’t shot back any witty remarks like normal.

And then at bedtime, you had immediately pulled Law into bed when you both entered the room. Your cold feet pressed against his calves, causing him to hiss and jerk away from you. But you just gave a soft, sleepy giggle, wrapped your arms around him, and fell asleep almost immediately. He enjoyed your snuggles, but not even ten minutes later, you had pushed him away and kicked the blankets off, sprawling out in the bed in the little clothing you had on.

It’s not exactly where Law thought the evening was going. You had been so clingy over the past few hours, silently begging him to go to bed. He just thought the two of you were just playing a game of teasing, one that would end in a night of fun. 

And then you sniffled in your sleep and readjusted, groaning from the heat in the room. And Law realized what he had been missing all day. You were sick. How could he even call himself a doctor if he couldn’t see the obvious signs with you, the person he knew best? 

He needed to run a scan. He wasn’t sure how serious it was, and early intervention was always the best cure. He slowly, painstakingly, tried to get out of bed without disturbing you. 

“Law?” Your voice was thick with sleep, your eyes only opening a fraction of an inch. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he assured you. He bent down to kiss your forehead, but thought better of it. If it was contagious, he didn’t want to catch it. Instead, he put a hand to your face, and his breath caught in his throat. He could feel the warmth radiating off of you. Your skin was hot to the touch as he swept your matted hair away from your forehead. 

He was panicking now, but he gave you a tense smile. He had to maintain his composure. “Go back to sleep, alright?”

“I’m hot,” you whined, flipping over your pillow and pressing the cool silk fabric to your face. “I don’t feel so good.”

“I know,” he cooed, still brushing the hair out of your face. “Let’s get to the bottom of this, okay? See what’s going on.”

You gave a weak nod, too tired to do anything else. “Can we just do the exam here?”

“I’ve got you,” he whispered. One arm slid under your back, the other slid behind your knees, and Law scooped you up in one swift, gentle motion. 

You laid your head against his chest, and he could feel the heat coming off your body in waves. He forced his heart to remain steady and unbothered, fully aware that you could hear it. 

Silently carrying you to the medical room, his mind raced through the options of what you could be sick with. It was likely a virus, which meant it would be difficult for him to remove. And viruses could change and multiply on a dime. You were already displaying signs of-

“Law.” Your groggy voice jarred him from his thoughts. “I’m fine. Stop panicking.”

He had been so focused on his heart, he hadn’t been paying attention to the rest of his body. His grip on you had gotten too tight, his pace was just short of sprinting, and his breath was shallow and rapid. 

“You should’ve told me,” he said, carefully maneuvering you through the examination room door. 

“I didn’t think it was a big deal. It’s just a cold.”

“It could be-”

“Don’t start spiraling,” you scolded, giving a light cough. “Just do your job.”

His eye twitched in irritation, but he wouldn’t say anything because you were sick. He knew you were right, of course. But he hated when you had to call him out like that. He placed you gently on the cool metal table, and you hummed in delight at the refreshing sensation against your skin. 

He grabbed his sword and ran a quick scan, trying to find the source of your sickness. 

A red icon appeared in your scan around your lungs. “Bronclima,” Law breathed. “A very rare parasitic virus that can be caught in winter islands. The virus can hibernate for hundreds of years, usually residing in old snow caves.”

You gave a weak laugh. “Like the snow cave we climbed down into yesterday, huh?”

“This isn’t funny!” Law snapped. He ran to his bookshelf, searching for any information about it. “Bronclima is extremely rare and…”

“Deadly?” you finished for him. You suddenly felt infinitely more tired. “Can’t you just take it out?”

“Parasitic viruses are tricky,” he mumbled, flipping through an old book. “You have to get it all or else your body just becomes more susceptible to them. It’s hard to use a room technique on viruses in general, but parasitic ones are alive and can move, which makes it almost impossible.”

“Antibiotics, then.”

“No.” Law’s teeth were grit together; you could tell he was only keeping it together so you wouldn’t break down in a panic. “Antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. Viruses just have to run their course.”

“The strong survive,” you hummed, closing your eyes. “The weak die. I see.”

“You’re not dying,” Law hissed. “Bronclima only likes the cold, so we're going to keep you hot and force this thing to die, okay?”

“I’m already so hot, though,” you whined, rolling over on the exam table. At least the metal helped you cool down.

“Good. Stay hot. Stay alive.” Law picked you back up, and you groaned at the sudden movement and absence of the cold surface. 

He carried you to the shower without a word and set you down inside it. You could feel the anxiety rising in him as he fiddled with the temperature gauge, and turned the shower on.

You cried out in pain as the hot water hit you, and your hands flew up to try and block as much of the water as you could. Your skin immediately started to turn red, welting as the water cascaded over you.

Law saw your reaction and quickly tested the water with his hand, but it was only lukewarm. He clenched his teeth and slowly turned the water hotter, adjusting the nozzle so the water was raining down directly on you.

“Law!” you shrieked, trying to get out of the way without moving. You couldn’t find the energy to crawl away from the water, even though your skin felt like it was burning off. Law watched you carefully, turning the water temperature up slowly. 

“Please,” you sobbed, curling up into a sitting fetal position. “Please stop. You’re going to kill me, Law.”

“Hey.” Law crouched down next to you and tilted your head up to look him in the eyes. Tears and scalding water streaked down your face and blurred your vision, but you could see the familiar outline of him. He had stripped down to only his boxers, and he pulled you into his lap and held you close to him as the water rained down on your both. He kissed the top of your head, trying his best to comfort you. “You’re strong. You can handle this, okay?”

You let out a sob in response, but you nodded into his inked chest. You had been through worse, though you couldn’t remember a specific time at the moment.

The two of you stayed there for a long time. You weren’t sure exactly how time was passing, so you counted how many times his fingers ran down your hair. It was 259 strokes before you finally passed out from exhaustion and pain. 

You woke up, now in a steaming hot tub, Law still holding you. You let out a soft whimper from the pain, and Law jolted up. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, readjusting you slightly against him. “I must’ve dozed off.”

You gave another small nod, too tired to do anything else. 

“We need to get your entire body submerged,” Law said, his voice steely. “At least up to your shoulders.”

“Law, please-”

“I know.” His voice broke when he spoke. “I’m sorry, but I can’t lose you, okay? So please keep fighting.”

You could hear the desperation in his voice. He was on the verge of tears, barely holding it together for you. 

You had to fight for him. You owed him that much, and so much more. He always had faith in you, he was always saving you. This was the least you could do. Clenching your teeth and bracing yourself, you completely submerged yourself in the scalding bathwater. 

The heat of the water took your breath away, and you clamped your hands over your mouth to prevent any more air from escaping. You felt like your skin was melting off, but you forced yourself to stay completely under. You’d stay under as long as you had to if it meant getting this wretched virus out of your system. 

Two strong hands grabbed your arms and pulled you back to the surface. Law’s golden eyes pierced into your soul, scanning your face for any signs of distress. 

“Let me go back under,” you begged between heavy breaths. 

He scowled. “So you can drown?!”

You pulled away from him and plunged back into the water. It still burned, but it wasn’t as hot as before. 

Law immediately pulled you back up, trying to get you to calm down. 

“Soup,” you gasped, wiping the tears from your eyes. “I need soup.”

“What has gotten into you? Where’d this energy come from?”

“I want to live. I want to be with you. I’m not being taken out by some stupid virus. So go get me soup!”

Law grabbed your face and went to kiss you, but you pushed him away. As much as you needed his lips as encouragement, you couldn’t have him getting sick too.

“Soup!” You pushed him out of the tub, and he ran out the door in his boxers. You could only hope nobody else on the ship was awake yet. You were certain that would cause a lot of questions between captain and crew. 

Alone in the tub, the water felt much warmer. You could feel yourself sweating, and you were starting to get nauseous. Your body felt like it was on fire, but you forced yourself to keep your body submerged. You desperately wanted to get out, just for a second. But you couldn’t. You refused to give this parasitic virus even a moment of rest. Law was right. You were not weak. 

He came back into the room with a bowl of soup, and your nausea increased just from seeing the steam rolling off of it. 

Bile rose up your throat and into your mouth at the smell of the hot dumplings. You leaned over the side of the tub. “Law, I think-” 

Law quickly put the bowl down and grabbed a trash can, his skilled fingers wrapping around your hair and holding it back just as you emptied your stomach into the bin.  

“It’s okay,” Law soothed. “You’re okay.”

Once you were finally done, he set the trash can aside and grabbed a rag to help you get cleaned up. “That’s a good sign,” he said, brushing your stringy hair away. 

You gave a light laugh. “How are you not completely disgusted with me right now? I’m a mess.”

“I could never be disgusted with you.” His voice was so caring and soft, you almost broke out in tears. 

“Soup,” you choked out, desperate to change the subject as tears welled in your eyes. You didn't want to be physically and emotionally vulnerable with him right now. One was enough for him to handle.

He gave you a small knowing smirk but didn’t say anything. Instead, he rested the soup bowl on the edge of the tub and climbed back in with you again. 

You reached for a bowl, but he intercepted your hands and pulled you into his chest instead. “Give yourself a moment to recuperate,” he said. “How’s the water feel?”

“Hot,” you groaned, but you nuzzled your head into his chest. “You’re a nice addition though.”

He trailed his finger up and down your spine, both of you laying against each other in silence. You could almost fall asleep like this if the water weren’t so uncomfortable. 

After a few minutes, he tapped lightly on your back. “Ready for the soup?”

“I’m probably going to barf again,” you warned. 

“I think I can handle it. I’m a doctor after all.”

You rolled your eyes, but picked up the bowl. It was so hot that you almost dropped it from shock, but Law grabbed your hands to steady it, and he nodded at you encouragingly.

The best course of action would probably be to drink the broth first, and then eat the dumplings. You pressed your lips to the rim of the bowl and inhaled. The steam burned your nostrils and the back of your throat. Every part of you was screaming in anguish, but you opened your mouth and tilted the bowl upwards. 

The broth flooded your senses- first with flavor, and then immediately with a burning sensation. You sputtered and choked from the pain, and Law pulled the bowl away from you as you coughed, attempting to clear your airway. You tried to settle yourself down, but you couldn’t figure out what was wrong. It was like you were choking and hyperventilating all at once. There was too much air, yet not enough. 

Law put the bowl of soup on the edge of the tub and began rubbing your back, trying to get you to calm down. You could see the panic in his eyes, despite his cool exterior. 

“What hurts?” He asked urgently. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” you said between coughs. “Just burns.”

After another few minutes, you finally calmed down enough to breathe without coughing. “Let’s try again,” you offered. 

“I hate being so useless,” Law said. “You’re working so hard and I can’t even do anything to help.”

“What are you talking about?” you scoffed. “You’re the only thing keeping me going. Every ounce of me wants to give up. And I would’ve if it weren’t for you.”

“That’s not what I-”

“Being a doctor is more than just operations, okay? You’re doing the best you can. Cut yourself some slack, Trafalgar Law.” The amount of energy you had to use just to form those words was making you a little dizzy, but you didn’t regret it. “Now give me that soup.”

It burned going down. You wanted to scream and cry and curse, but you didn’t. Even with tears streaming down your face, you drank the entire bowl. You could feel your stomach bubbling, trying to decide if it should reject the liquid again, but it stayed down. 

Law moved you to the shower again, and you let the hot water rush over your skin while he refilled the tub. The water from the showerhead still burned, but it was more like a tingling sensation now. You weren’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. You’d mention it to Law later; you didn’t want to inconvenience him with possible bad news at the moment. 

“Ready to move back to the tub?” he asked, poking his head into the shower. 

You gave a weak nod and pulled yourself to your feet. You began to take a step, but stumbled and fell. Law closed the gap between you in an instant, catching you and keeping you steady before you hit the ground. 

“You’re standing,” Law said, looking at you as if you had just performed a miracle. “You haven’t stood on your own since you got into bed last night.”

You gave him a smile. “Help me to the bath? I don’t think I’m quite ready to walk on my own.”

“You’re standing, though! Do you know how big of a deal this is?” You could hear the excitement in Law’s voice, which sparked your own joy. 

“Tell me.” You took a step towards the bath, your arm wrapped around Law for support. 

“You don’t understand,” Law said. “Bronclima takes your energy from you and you never get it back as long as it’s alive. If you’re regaining energy, then…” He helped you into the tub, afraid to say the last part. He was scared to hope for the best outcome. 

The water felt warm against your skin, but in an almost pleasant way now. You sat down and sunk into the water so that your entire body up to your shoulders was submerged once again. 

A blue hue emitted around the room, and Law ran another scan on your body and you closed your eyes and enjoyed the steamy atmosphere. 

“Clear,” Law mumbled. “It’s clear.” You could hear the scan being run again, and the soft positive beep of no issues being found. 

“Am I cured, doctor?” you hummed, your eyes still closed. 

“It’s gone,” Law whispered, hardly believing it himself. That virus had a 15% survival rate and usually lasted for days. And you beat it in less than 10 hours. 

“We can’t let this bathwater go to waste.” Your entire body suddenly felt very limp, worn out from what you had just put it through. “Come lay with me.”

“In the bath?” Law raised an eyebrow, but you held a hand out, beckoning him in. You knew he couldn’t say no to you after all you had been through. 

He gingerly stepped into the tub and rested his back against the wall of the tub. You felt his tattooed arms wrap around you and pull you up onto his chest. You rested on him, the water feeling much more inviting now than it had earlier. 

“This is nice,” you murmured, already starting to doze off to sleep.

“We can lay here as long as you want,” Law said. He held his composure until he was certain you were asleep, and then cried silent tears of relief until his eyes were red and puffy. He had been so close to losing you because of his negligence, and he vowed to never take you for granted again. 

[trinarysuns]

Fun things gleaned from reading The Witcher books after only knowing tv/game canon:

-There's something wrong with the sun's light and it's getting worse. It's theorized that in a few thousand years its light will be toxic enough that everything will be nocturnal. This is totally irrelevant to the plot.

-90% of landmasses in this world are in the northern hemisphere.

-White Gull isn't alcohol (probably), since child Ciri grabbed some off a table and drank it without flinching. It is however a diluted alchemical distillate that's a mild recreational drug (to Witchers) and a hallucinogen (to humans). Also it's blue. Black Gull, however, is just flat out a Witcher hallucinogen that's probably extremely toxic to everyone else.

-Yes, Geralt and the rest spend their winters in Kaer Morhen getting high for fun

-You've heard of Kaer Morhen's fanon hot springs, now get ready for its canonical HRT* mushroom and fern cave garden (*unspecified endurance enhancer (and pain inhibitor?) fed to unaltered Witcher candidates and also Ciri, which Triss tells Vesemir to dial back on because Ciri wouldn't go through puberty properly)

-The vague implication that wherever humans came from was not a medieval level world ("you destroyed your own world", the trial of the grasses involves tailored viruses, Geralt knows what genes are but is unclear on the concept of antibiotics). I'd bet that the grasses formula can't be recreated because at this point they just flat out don't understand it enough anymore. This is, again, totally irrelevant to the plot.

(I also now understand why 99% of fic takes place in the first half of the general canon or post-game Witcher 3, because the back half of the book series is... Nnnot very good. Genuinely not sure what happened there but The Tower of Swallows and Lady of the Lake are structural trainwrecks)

[mindblowingscience]

Every spring when the sun rises in the Arctic after months of darkness, life returns. The polar bears pop up from their winter lairs, the Arctic tern soar back from their long journey south, and the musk oxen wade north. But the animals are not the only life being reawakened by the spring sun. Algae lying dormant on the ice start blooming in spring, blackening large areas of the ice. When the ice blackens, its ability to reflect the sun diminishes and this accelerates the melting of the ice. Increased melting exacerbates global warming. But researchers might have found a way to control the snow algae growth—and maybe in the long run reduce some of the ice from melting. Living on the ice alongside the algae, postdoc Laura Perini from the Department of Environmental Science at Aarhus University and her colleagues have found giant viruses. Their findings are published in the journal Microbiome.

Continue Reading.

[dyspunktional-leviathan]

1. ✅️My number has been verified by @gazavetters, my number on the list is ( #226 )

2. Knowing from the butterfly (1153)

https://gofund.me/5770752d

👋Hello, my name is Jamil Totah, I am 35 years old from the northern Gaza Strip. I am married to Tahani Subaih, 31 years old from the Gaza Strip. I am a mother of three children. The oldest is Sanaa, 7 years old, Hanan, 5 years old, and Hala, 3 years old. My children and I were separated from my husband and went to the southern Gaza Strip without my husband. 👨‍🦳 Since October 7, my children and I have lived in fear and hunger. We have lost many things in this war. We lost our home and our limbs. My children and I were displaced to places that are not suitable for living. Now we live in tents in Deir al-Balah. We are facing real famine in Gaza. My children and I went to bed without dinner because of the lack of food. We had to eat animal and bird food. 🥺 Because  The high cost of flour is just to fill my children's hunger and after they eat it causes them diarrhea and stomach pains and we are facing a problem in providing water and when it is available it is not safe to drink and my little girl cries and asks for eggs and vegetables🥬🫑 and fruits I cannot bear it because of the lack of money and the spread of viruses that caused my children to have skin rashes and winter is coming and I do not have the ability to provide my children with clothes, blankets and shoes to provide them with warmth

📢So I hope that you will help me in the near future even if it is a little to provide my children with their needs and necessities

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€536 out of €60,000

!!!!! No donations in three days, only one donation in six days !!!!!

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[wat3rm370n]

The Stigma of the Dark Ages.

What they’re talking about here is a society which has moved backwards, and is paying consequences already.

NPR - As the respiratory virus season approaches, where does the vaccination rate stand? November 27, 20244:47 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Rob Stein , Rob Schmitz Part of it is the lingering skepticism and outright hostility from the pandemic toward the COVID vaccine specifically and vaccines in general. Another factor is that people tend to underestimate how dangerous both viruses can be while overestimating vaccination risks. There's a lot of misinformation about how well the vaccines work and how safe they are. And finally, a lot of folks are just sick of vaccines because of all the shots they've gotten over the last few years. You know, put it all together and a lot of people are just feeling kind of done with vaccines. I talked about this with Dr. Gregory Poland. He's president of the Atria Academy of Science and Medicine in New York. GREGORY POLAND: “As a society right now, we're in a phase of rejecting expertise, of mistrust of any expert, whether it's science, meteorology, medicine, government - whatever it is.”

This is not unusual, there is no guarantee that society progresses forward. The Dark Ages happened, and that period was not the only time of regression on science.

MedPage Today - Nursing Homes Fell Behind on Vaccinating Patients for COVID — Billing complexities and patient skepticism partially to blame by Sarah Boden, KFF Health News December 5, 2024 Loveland has seen patients and coworkers at the nursing home where she works die from the viral disease. Now she has a new worry: bringing home the coronavirus and unwittingly infecting her infant daughter, Maya, born in May. Loveland's maternity leave ended in late June, when Maya wasn't yet 2 months old. Infants cannot be vaccinated against COVID until they are 6 months old. Children younger than that suffer the highest rates of hospitalization of any age group except people 75 or older. Between her patients' complex medical needs and their close proximity to one another, COVID continues to pose a grave threat to Loveland's nursing home -- and to the 15,000 other certified nursing homes in the U.S. where some 1.2 million people live. Despite this risk, a CDC report published in April found that just four in 10 nursing home residents in the U.S. received an updated COVID vaccine in the winter of 2023-24.

Going forward is a choice.

Public comment to CDC HICPAC committee November 2024 Infection control in healthcare. Chloe Humbert Nov 15, 2024 The Dark Ages was called that because society moved backwards from the technological advances that had come before. The fall of the Roman Empire was marked by elites who only cared about the status quo; they could’ve developed a steam engine as far back as Heron in 15 BC but didn’t bother. Going forward is a choice. In an article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases & Preventive Medicine there’s a description of what happened back then. “In medieval times, hospitals were hazardous places, Epidemic infections killed large numbers of hospital patients during this period. Hospital infection and death rates were high. When a sick person entered a hospital, his or her property was disposed of, and in some regions, a requiem mass was held, as if he or she had already died.” Going backward is a choice.

Stigma is part of a backward slide, and even if people don’t choose to go backward, we are all subject to community level leadership influences.

It’s called STIGMA. - wat3rm370n on tumblr - Oct 4th, 2024 When you hear that “people are tired of it” - that’s also part of stigma. And it’s not necessarily true that people are actually just sick of it - but they keep being told they should be. Informational learned helplessness can do that to us. Stigma is leveraged and reinforced on purpose by big money industry interests��who think any reminder of danger at all is bad for business. So it’s to some degree manufactured stigma.