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eldritch-spouse · 2 years ago

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[Part 5 of Gifted. Fem reader.]

Previous poll winner: Grimbly (56.7%)

TW: Creepy one-sided mommy kink, later becomes mutual.

New choice! [VOTE]

When your leg lightly pokes the smaller monster, his previously cute expression morphs into a smarmy, gross smirk.

" Hah. Looks like you might wanna reconsider. " His hands are on his waist as he regards the wraith.

" Fool. They're not in the right mind to be making decisions. " The other counters.

" Mm. Cope harder. "

No matter how hard you try to keep your eyelids open, they flutter repeatedly, eventually shutting for good. Your consciousness fades on Morell's chopping table.

...

There's a chirp. Then another. You hear something rushing nearby. A liquid. The noise, paired with a slight chilly sensation, becomes uncomfortable, forcing you to gradually wake up.

Eyes eventually parting, the shapes of the revolving world finally begin to make sense, and you find yourself in a garden. Not just any garden, the same one where all this madness started. Alertness seeping back into your form, wary hues scatter until they find a fountain.. If you can call it that. Yes, it's not exactly standard. The thing takes on a strange, bent shape which seems to loop in itself like an optical illusion designed to confound the mind. Water rushes down its sides, then up, then diagonally- Like it's crawling around it, alive. You'd imagine this is what a being who has never seen a fountain in their life would make, putting aside the way this thing very clearly defies physics.

You've been around here for a while however, and as such, you know better than to question the logistics of this location. The how and why of this reality is irrelevant. Nevertheless, the sound of water cascading and dripping aimlessly is the least bit soothing to your overworked, stressed brain, so, with a quiet sigh, you glance at the flowers who have been chirping all this time- Swaying and twirling at each other as if to communicate. To think those things have teeth. That they bit you. Cursed garden indeed...

" It's beautiful in its own way, right? "

Your heart, that poor, miserable organ which has been tested thoroughly throughout this entire day, threatens to leap out your ribcage for what feels like the hundredth time.

" Geez silly, it's just me. "

Bulging eyeballs zero in on the monster sitting next to you. Grimbly... Ah yes! The one you picked, good. He's far too close, thigh brushing yours actually. How had you not noticed him before? Shortly after this initial observation, you realize you're on a bench, and a quick self-check reveals that you're wearing an entirely different get-up. In fact, you're clad in what looks to be a pastel pink Summer dress with subtle floral patterns. Huh. Well, you suppose it's better than torn, bloodied scraps?

The bat monster notes your disoriented staring and pipes up. " Ah, I hope you don't mind. It's just, you looked so bad in that trash, I found something much better for you. " Bright magenta hues almost seem to sparkle at you. " You love it, don't you? "

Yeah, sure. You love being minimally covered. Now that you think about it, he must have undressed and garbed you himself while you were out cold. Slimy fucker. Regardless, a free dress is a free dress, so you nod cautiously.

" Yay. I'm really glad, mommy! "

Fucking what now?

You give the monster a subtle side-glance. This is a grown adult. He may be small in stature but this is definitely an adult. There is no way in Heaven or Hell he's actually mistaking you for his mother, this is very clearly a "thing". A thing he's involved you in without asking. God damn it, and here you thought this one could be slightly more normal. Serves you right.

" Uhum. " Because what else are you supposed to say? That he's a creepy loser? So are the others. You can only hope that he's a less powerful creepy loser. Hell, if all he wants to do is pretend you're his "mommy" and have you pet his head, then you'll consider yourself very lucky.

Wary eyes glance around again. It's noon-ish? Indeed, between being inside, with all that ruckus and calamity, you much prefer this twisted garden. You can still hear people in the vicinity, but nowhere near the amount indoors. All the chattering, cackling and yelling was getting in your brain far before you were even handed to Morell like a tasty morsel. This... This is much better, it has saved you from a pounding headache, and your body is only somewhat sore. You must not have slept on this bench.

Hold on.

You're in the garden. And what a large garden it is- But that's hardly the point! What matters is that, if you can get this one off your hairs, you could maybe try to find a way out of here. After all, if you're fast enough, clever and quiet like a mouse, would it truly be impossible to just leave? There has to be an exit. Somewhere. For all intents and purposes, this is the closest you've been to freedom ever since being dumped here by the Icon of carnality. Yes... Good.

A small weight on top of your right hand jolts you. You didn't even realize you had them fisted around the hems of your dress until he gently grasped one. Forcing a deep breath out of your lungs, you meet his big, rounded eyes.

" I know your day has been tough so far. How are you feeling now? "

That calm breath was fruitless, for those words alone instill insurmountable tension within you. How dare he? How are you feeling?! Fucking hopeless, how about that! Tarnished. Frightened. Panicked. You want out. You just want out. You want to go home, you want to see your family and you want to pretend that none of this happened. That you weren't picked to be some appetizer, some distraction brought on by a demonlord.

Tears slide down your cheeks faster than you realize you're crying.

" Oh. Oh no, please don't cry mommy, I didn't mean to- I promise! "

Grimbly scoots even closer, smaller, four-fingered hands reaching for your cheeks and softly wiping away the waterworks. Although you freeze, expecting some sort of catch behind the act, he only spares you a soft smile. Before sitting sideways on your lap that is. Ugh.

" It's okay, you don't need to cry anymore. You have me now, after all. " The bat half-jokes, earning only a sniffle in return as you try to gather your bearings.

Shaky hands hover, having nowhere to poise, until the waiter rolls his bright eyes and grabs them, manually wrapping them around himself in a clumsy embrace. He's smooth, surprisingly soft. " We can talk about anything you want, okay? "

What is there to talk about, your cynical side snarks. Yet, if he's responsive to conversation, for whatever reason, then maybe you can make the most out of it.

" How many floors are there in this building? "

" It depends. " Grimbly shrugs. " Today there's extra ones, because we're kinda flooded with clients. I just hope they don't rush to the aquarium, serving there is no fun, everything's wet and slippery and I don't know how to swim. "

" Do you know how to swim, mommy? "

Your eyelid twitches. " ... Yes. "

The monster gasps. " Oh! Can you teach me someday? "

You don't even know if you'll make it past today. " Uh, sure. "

God, this is awkward.

The waiter purrs loudly, exactly like an overgrown kitten, as he dips his face into your chest, struggling with his own horns. " Thank you! " He's nuzzling, you can feel the pointed tips of those fangs dragging on your skin as he tries to shove his face on your tits. You've no doubt he picked a dress with significant cleavage for this very reason. You don't think too much of your chest, but he seems fixated on it nonetheless.

Silent, passive seconds pass. You're not too sure what you signed up for before passing out, though, thinking back on it, maybe you made the right choice? The mysterious figure in the hood was so ominous, at least this one seems way less intense. Clingy definitely, but way less intimidating.

" You're so nice... " The monster attempting to become one with your tits purrs in a saccharine tone.

" Am I? " A sort of corrosive dryness seeps from you. Your patience for games is dwindling.

" Yeah. You're not like the other ones. " Grimbly hugs you tight, sighing in a way that sounds much too infatuated while he adjusts his position on your lap, tail swatting behind his lithe figure. " You're not screaming, trying to run, or calling me names- I knew I was right when I said you were special. "

Maybe you're just too tired to do those things. Or, better yet, you know it would worsen your chances of survival. The urge to yell and flail is right around the corner, but so it the other voice asking you if you'd like to live to see another day.

" You're perfect. " He swoons, shifting his legs on your lap. " You love me already, don't you? "

Your chin is grasped, forcing you to face the hysterical-looking monster on top of you. Ah. So you were wrong. He's not any safer than the other ones, in fact, he's apparently a lot less stable. Something in the blade-thin pupils of those sweet round eyes tells you it's a horrible idea to antagonize him.

" O- Of course. " You stammer, trying to smile in a comforting way but very aware that your discomfort is shining through crystal clear. Grimbly tilts his head expectantly, and your eyelid twitches a little. " ... Sweetie. " For good measure, you give him a couple of pats on the head.

It seems you've gouged what he wanted correctly, because the waiter relaxes, leaning into the touch. " I knew it. " He lilts. It almost feels threatening.

You try to focus on the relatively calm surroundings, hearing some flapping and thumping in the distance. Not for long however, because a claw hooks onto the front of your dress and slips your tits out. You can only tense, observing the small bat hybrid excite himself with the sight of them. It certainly doesn't help that the slight breeze has your nipples rock hard like pointers. Small hands practically dart to hold your now exposed breasts, the touch greedy and self-serving more than anything. He's clearly not intending to massage you, more so rolling them for his own lurid entertainment.

A not half bad suggestion crosses your mind. What if... What if you used his own kink against him for a second? Would that work? Worth a try.

" Grimbly! " You call sternly, making the hypnotized monster blush and jump slightly. " What do you think you're doing?! Is this any way to behave? " A small part of you writhes, cringing.

" Buh- "

" But nothing. " You insist.

The smaller monster's face goes from velvet to crimson, although whether that's good or bad is up in the air. He covers his groin, expression deflating. For a moment, you almost believe he's going to come to his senses and let it die, your expectations are shifted upside down when he gives you a teary-eyed look.

" But I was so good! " His fists ball. " I didn't touch you while I was dressing you up even if I wanted to so bad! " A shiver crawls up your spine. " I'm being good for you! Aren't I? "

No. But the way the pitch in his voice rises makes you second-guess the effectiveness of pursuing this. " Mommy, why are you being so mean to me?! "

God, he's creepy.

Fine then, he wants you to play nice? Might as well get this over with.

Rolling your eyes, you shove his face between your tits, snickering at the surprised yelp he lets out, which very quickly morphs into a content murr. Those threatening pinprick points you can only guess function as fangs drag across the sensitive tissue of your breasts, and you vaguely wonder if he's going to bite at any point. Puncture into your chest. The mental image makes you shudder. His arms dart to squeeze the soft skin around himself more, and you take advantage of it by sliding a hand right down his body, to the sopping wet slit he tried to hide before.

Grimbly whimpers.

You don't know what to make of this guy.

He's definitely desperate, and even if he's got admittedly adorable looks, his attitude is invasive and abrasive. You can see through his little disguise, or maybe he's just become sloppy in his excitement, but this little fucker is toxic enough to smell. You'll have to be careful with him. For now though, you can afford being a little rougher. You deserve it even, after all that's happened to you. It's a miracle your poor body isn't sore. It should be.

With little to no hesitation, you slip two fingers into that eager hole, getting rewarded with moans that the monster tries to muffle against your skin, now merely holding onto you. The way you pump them is merciless, fingerfucking that pouch and ignoring the swollen cock begging to be freed. The bat's legs twitch, parting, his claws digging into your sides.

" Ghh- " He tries to form a sad excuse of a word, but you don't relent, getting some kicks out of torturing him this way. The sound of his slit greedily swallowing your fingers is lewd and loud.

" Mm, what was that? " You cruelly egg.

" Ngh- Mommy- "

" Yeah? " Grimbly makes another senseless noise and tries to buck into your motions. Your placid hand rises to grab him by the hip, and although you didn't expect it, you're able to keep him perfectly still. Or maybe he's letting you? You sense you have more strength over him.

" Words. " You demand.

" P- Please- Please let it out! It hurts- I need it! "

Your digits all but rip out of his hole, leaving it flexing solemnly before a short chubby cock pokes out. A smooth and slick member bobs in the air, featuring a tapered tip. He's the smallest you've seen today, but that's actually quite comforting. Just enough to make you feel good, and not have to worry about how your body is even accommodating it. Again, you're sure Vesper tampered with you in unwanted ways.

Not giving the needy waiter a moment of respite, you fist your hand around his pretty dick, pumping him fast and hard, occasionally stopping to toy with the odd tip and figuring out what feels best there. The monster atop you twitches and gasp, legs jerking while his body juggles excess sensation. But by God, if the look on his face isn't one of pure ecstasy, open-mouthed and eyes rolled, blinking with each new flare of heat.

It feels good to finally exert some sort of power over someone here. You're not foolish enough to believe you're safe, much less that you can intimidate this odd monster, but you can trick your desperate sense of control, pet it like one would a frightened animal, whisper that everything is fine- Because here you are, making the waiter choke on his own pleasured noises.

Some mean, wounded part of you wants to make Grimbly come from a harsh, merciless handjob. You want him to quiver and soak himself hopelessly, experience just a taste of the powerlessness you've been restricted to since the beginning of this cursed game, this obscene adventure born out of the depths of the Icon of Lust's debased psyche. You want to make sure he reaches that precious peak of pleasure, and then rip all touch away, see him buck like a stupid animal after your hand, cry and strangle out noises of despairing frustration as his orgasm is ruined.

For a brief instant, you stun yourself with the peculiar nature of your desires. You never once experienced a need to be so domineering and cruel... This place is sinking its filthy claws in your brain and it hasn't even been a full day yet. It's a horrifying possibility. Besides, you don't think it'd be a particularly bright idea to feed those urges.

" O-Ohn- N- Not yet! "

The waiter's ambiguous whining forces you to attention. He's thrashing a bit more, no longer the simple squirming of an overstimulated body but genuine attempts to halt things. You stop the moment he taps at your hand insistently.

Grimbly sighs, offering you a glazed smile. " I don't want to come yet, mommy. Not without you... "

Although the look he puts on is cute, you're too riled up to give him any leash, sliding him off your legs and placing him down with jarring ease. He weighs so little, it's bizarre, he definitely doesn't feel that light, and your upper body strength isn't anything to gawk at either. Huh. While he observes you vapidly, the dress is hiked up as you shift to straddle the small monster instead.

He's positively dwarfed by you, which is equal parts satisfying and arousing. The crimson burn on his cheeks agrees completely.

Although you hover tantalizingly over Grimbly's twitching cock, you don't touch or line the monster up with you, enjoying the frustrated brow crease wrinkling his otherwise smooth features. When the bat cares to look up from between plush legs, he finds you boring holes into him.

" A- Ah! " He flusters, breaking eye contact.

" What do you want? "

" Mmm... I want- " Magenta orbs flicker between the sight of your bare pussy to your eyes, begging wordlessly.

" You want? " Grabbing his member, you don't offer the bat any stimulation, even as his legs tremble and he bites his lips at the feeling of your pussy lips juuust grazing his tip.

" Please mommy! " He whines loud and high.

You actually can't contain the laugh that rips out your throat. " Please what? "

Grimbly cracks, voice acquiring a growled edge that wasn't there before. " I want your pussy! I want mommy's sweet pussy I Hhng- "

Gross. You sink onto him like an anchor.

A risky move, but fortunately, he's small enough that it went smoothly. While you blink and gasp in strong shocks of pleasure, Grimbly cries out like a needy whore, and you bet at least some people inside that blasted building heard it. Let them hear, fuck it.

He's still panting by the time dark hands hold onto your hips, throbbing inside you. Pent up little man, you doubt he'll last much longer. Drunk on the control, you can't take much more stillness, starting to ride the monster as hard as you know he wants it.

Grimbly's eyes widen and his mouth parts soundlessly, you grab the back of the bench to support yourself and grin as you fuck down onto his pretty cock, shivering at every choked out whimper he offers. What a pretty slut, maybe that's what the other ones saw when they took you. And you can't blame them for being weak to it.

The monster clips out moans with each bounce, your legs more powerful than his, jostling his lithe figure somewhat the harder you crash onto him. It's addicting, something you never thought you'd need so bad. Chasing your own pleasure becomes a secondary goal, overshadowed entirely by wanting to ruin the winged monster beneath you.

Grimbly seems entirely hypnotized by the sway of your tits, it would almost be hilarious if it didn't help make you feel so gorgeous and desired. One palm leaves the discolored bench to shove his face directly against your boobs, hearing him groan in rapture. The waiter boy gets to work fast, rolling a slick tongue around your nipple and kissing from one to the other, only ever stopping to drool and moan out what could be mindless pleas.

You don't ever slow down.

Fevered with a foreign sense of glee, Grimbly's ripped back from your now soaked tits by the horns, you dip to share a domineering kiss with him, giggling into his mouth, peeling away only to stuff two fingers between his lips. He sucks on them automatically, and your hips snap as harshly as you can when he bites down, breaking the skin. The slight bit of alarm such sudden pain causes you is shadowed by curiosity -Then realization- As you see Grimbly swallow what few rivulets of blood he can leech out of you.

Vampiric. There's something you didn't see coming.

Apparently, the view of you flushed and debased above him, paired with the flavor of your blood and the delicious clench of your cunt around him is the perfect recipe for the monster to see stars, a mangled feminine cry released past your fingers as he seizes and pistons up pointlessly, his orgasm taking hold of him by the neck. Even then, only you remain in control, deciding how hard to milk his poor cock and taking every last bit of cum as deep as possible.

You only slow down when Grimbly begins crying and begging you for a break. Even still, you'd love to continue torturing him, maybe wring a second one out of his mess of a body. You allow yourself a couple of deep, calming breaths, trying to gather your mind in the haze of unfulfilled pleasure. Gentle palms scritch at the bat's chin and cheek, earning a satisfied, adorable purr.

" Mommy y-you... " He starts, when you rise off his spent cock, wiping some of his own seed on him with no shame. " You didn't get to come. "

" I'll live. " You shrug, watching him slump. Truth be told, your legs are a little sore from being tense with need all this time, from deliberately cunt-teasing yourself, but it's better this way.

While Grimbly slumps onto the wood of the bench and catches his breath, you focus on standing up to straighten the dress, comb over your hair, make sure the bleeding stopped, cover your breasts and think.

Your limbs are free, you're clothed and he's disoriented. The surroundings are basically devoid of others, it's calm. If ever there was a golden opportunity to dash away, this would be it. Hesitating, you glance this way and that, trying to estimate how far the garden stretches, if there's anything like gates in the distance. Which would be the fastest way out for that matter? There's almost a sort of smog effect in the air. Truth be told, the more time you spend out there, the less you like it, the more you feel like you shouldn't be here at all.

Which is true, you never should have been anywhere near this fucking hellpit. But it wasn't your choice now, was it?

Lacking any sort of direction, bare feet step onto the stone pathway that you assume leads North. It's hard to tell given how late it's getting and how blurred the sky appears from here.

You don't make it past three steps.

Something coils around your wrist, yanking hard. When you lose balance, stumbling, Grimbly meets your curved form with an eerie deadpan. When had the little shit gotten up? You didn't hear a thing! Your blood freezes.

" Where do you think you're going, mommy? "

" N-Nowhere, baby boy. " You try, as clear a lie as it is.

The bat tuts. " I really thought you loved me, you know? " It's ominous that you can't tell how serious he's being right now.

In seconds, more of a blink really, you're flung onto the very same bench. It takes a couple of stunted, very slow moments, for your brain to click that- Yes, the short thing you easily lifted minutes ago did, in fact, just launch you around like you weigh less than a feather.

You knew it was too good to hope that Grimbly was nothing more than a frail-armed little pipsqueak...

You try to stand again, jolted by pain on your right arm, which took the brunt of the impact. Something can be heard rolling on the stony ground, and when you think to track the waiter, his long tail slides an object from behind that twisted fountain. A transparent spherical shape is snatched in a four-fingered hand, you can spot something alive writhing within it. Fear starts taking a hold of you.

Grimbly unscrews the container and promptly discards the top half, by the time you realize it's imperative to start running, something foreign and wet has collided with your turning body. Frantic, you find... Strings? Tubes? Worms? Oh God, that's disgusting, they're alive and squirming like tentacles, what the fuck are you even looking at?

The purple and blue-ish things sprout to action upon the first blind palping of your skin, wrapping around your upper body tightly and latching wetly onto the back of the bench, jarringly forcing you to sit. It happens so fast that all you can do is bleat in terror and shake your head. The things pulse around your arms and torso, featuring a heartbeat of their own, invasively caressing your form. Your strength is moot against them, there's very little give no matter how hard you flex.

Panic-stricken, you can only look to Grimbly for answers. He appears perfectly calm, having taken the time to clean himself while you were bound.

" See? This is what happens when I can't trust you, mommy. " He pouts. " Trust is the foundation of every good relationship, you know? "

" What- What the fuck are you doing? "

" Nothing! " The waiter perks up, trotting over to your form and placing a light kiss on your forehead. You openly glare at him. " I need you to stay right here for me while I take care of some things in the restaurant, okay? "

" Yay! I'll be right back! After all, we aren't done. " The bat winks, seeming very excited even as he zooms past you. The last thing you hear from him being no more than a rushed- " Don't miss me too much! "

It takes a long while before you realize he wants an actual answer, to which you groan and nod, furious.

A tired, drawn-out sigh flows out your lips.

How many more times will you have to be tied up in a single day? It's getting ridiculous. From present wrapping to ropes to whatever these organic constructs twined around you are. It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?

Minutes pass. Darkness starts to creep in. You have no way of telling the time and have long since stopped trying to twist out of the tendrils. Or bite them off. You really wish you could hit your head against the wall, maybe drag the bench out with you, but it's firmly planted into the pathway.

There's nothing to do except stare longingly at the open garden, freedom taunting you like the cruel mistress it is. To think that if, maybe, if you hadn't hesitated, put thought into it, you could have been a great distance away from here already... Miserable.

You're trying to roll your shoulders against the oppressive force of the mass around you when the sound of chatter becomes louder. Footsteps, laughter, shouting. Monsters. People are exiting to the outside area of the building. Perhaps for an event? You can't tell, but it's not important.

What matters is that you can't be seen by groups right now, especially defenseless as you are. That'll be your death sentence, the final chapter of your life's book. More alert than ever before, you start squirming in earnest. Like Hell Grimbly's coming for you. You're fucked!

" Damn it! Stupid fucking things- "

Your aggravated growl rings out as you kick and jerk pointlessly, only serving to tire yourself out. Eventually, a forced sense of calmness, resignation effectively, takes hold. You slump without grace and allow the back of your head to rest on the uncomfortable metal frame supporting the wooden bench. When your eyes open, expecting to see nothing but the distorted sky's bleeding hues, two monsters stare down at you from the rooftop of the gothic infrastructure.

No... That's a monster with two heads. A winged, horned monster with paper bags covering its two heads. One of which has a hole ripped onto it, a red glow coming from within.

The fuck is that one supposed to be?

You squint. Demon? But what is he doing on the roof? In spite of the darkening surroundings, you catch glimpses of blue skin, spotted and sprinkled along his bulky body in a pattern that's not too distinct from the one on the stone paths on the ground... Oh.

Oh. It's a gargoyle. Wow. You never actually saw one of those before in your life. They're not very common. Did he... Are the bags stuck on his heads? Is he meant to have two heads?

Momentary shock set aside, it dawns on you that this monster has been curiously eyeing you for a while now. You have no idea for how long he's been staring, perched there silently like a vulture. Perhaps he's hungry, and you're starting to look like a decent appetizer to him. An easy kill. Trepidation has you gulping, though as soon as you open your mouth to try and communicate with him, ready to have to beg if need be, a grating chorus scrapes at your brain.

Another voice joins the choir of strangers conversing not too far away, this one much more obnoxious and harsh, drowning out all the others. The clicking of boots can be heard.

" Can you believe that's all they had for a starter? Absolutely disgraceful! And to think I've been hearing about this dump like it's the be all end all of recreational establishments- I've seen better entrées in the slop bucket shitheaps of Gluttony! "

Oh, there's that headache you were fearing.

" ... Yes, m'lord. "

Two figures approach faster than the rest of the crowd.

One is a towering, very pale demon with sharp facial features and a completely ridiculous attire. The cape is just the cherry on top. Nevertheless, the fact that he's accompanied by a golden-eyed imp in a dress, looking bored out of her mind, must mean he's of some relevance. You glance between the small four-horned demoness and the one ranting angrily as they settle far too close to you for comfort.

The imp takes out a cigarette from her black dress' pocket and lights it to her red lips. She can definitely see you sweating bullets, though just as clearly doesn't give half a fuck. The other one is still much too busy yapping to no one, eyes cast elsewhere.

" I'm not staying here all day, I have better things to do with my time, I'm not like those abject failures getting ruined in there- It's madness, this whole thing! I can't believe I agreed to it in the first place. Are you even listening?! "

The servant jolts, choking on her cigarette for a second as the distant haze fades from her eyes. " H-Huh? Yes, yes of course your majesty! "

Majesty... Uh oh.

You remember the gargoyle above you, checking to see if he's still there. Surprise surprise, he is. Exactly in the same spot, though a lot more tense in the vicinity of this new pair. Between this dubiously intentioned gargoyle and the guy nagging at his imp, you're not sure who to reach out to for help.

Neither option is particularly appealing.

#Grimbly oc #Cero oc #Pebble oc #yandere monster #monster smut #yandere teratophilia #terato #terat0philliac #monsterfucker #monster x reader #minors dni #not sfw

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darkwood-sleddog · 1 year ago

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you know i think it's really funny (derogatory) that tumblr seemingly has the ability to create popups for ad-free, crabs, anything that will get them money, but when it comes to using popups to guide new users around the website layout they're just like "uww what can we POSSIBLY do?? all these new people only know twitter and they couldn't possibly read a popup explaining how to use the site!! let's just change everything visually appealing about tumblr to cater to our inability to make popups for helpful reasons uwu!!".

like you know what i want? If you're testing a change on me I want a pop up that says so. I don't want to have to rely on the @changes blog to see that. If i'm testing a change I should be given a feedback form that is specifically about that change. I want the results of the feedback forms for changes to be publicly viewable to the userbase. you could learn so much about how this website actually functions for users through that, but no. we can only make popups when it fiscally benefits us! we can't use polls to get a sense of what the userbase is feeling! we can't publicize what % of feedback about a change was positive or negative. we couldn't...possibly...

#not dogs #tumblr #getting real sick of this shit #if you can make a pop up for ad free you can make a pop up explaining how to use this site #without changing what makes the site function and be visually appealing to those that have been here for a decade plus #look i understand tumblr is struggling to survive in this capitalist hellscape #but literally so is every other social media with the exception of those that #scrape people for their data #so you have a choice. you can be ethical or you can be profitable #which is unfortunate.#but maybe you'd be closer to profitable if you took your users seriously.

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battle-of-the-birds · 2 years ago

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NEW BRACKET BATTLE!!

Testing, testing, one two three.

Oh hey wow, look at that, a brand new idea popped into my head and now I’m doing it!

Welcome to BATTLE OF THE BIRDS [sick riff on a guitar], one of those epic poll brackets… but this time it’s birds. No, not characters, just birds. That’s right, House Sparrow VERSUS Swan, Kea Bird VERSUS Pigeon, any bird you can picture! Well.. probably not all of them since there’s a limited number of slots. Which reminds me…

Here’s the

form.

Don’t be afraid to submit some crazy birds… I’m talking Secretary Bird, I’m talking Albatross, I’m talking Cock of the Rock, I’m talking … whichever Bower Bird you think is the coolest (there are so many). GET CRAZY!! GET WEIRD!!! Let’s try to spice it up a bit!

Form closes May 7th! At 5 P.M. CST!

#poll bracket #bracket #polls #birds #bird

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marmarthehatterverse · 9 months ago

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It took forever (and one thorough rewrite) for me to get this to a place I didn't hate. The poll results really helped, so thank you to everyone who voted in that. Anyway, I felt bad about how long it's been, so have almost 500 words.

@steadfastsaturnsrings @coatedpanda16

Eddie is a shit guide. He’s not able to perform any of the skills his test results say should be easy for him. He struggles with the most basic of guide skills, and has only successfully linked with one sentinel on purpose. Yes, Eddie is a shit guide, and that’s exactly why he tries this.

Using training long abandoned, Eddie stretches out his mental awarness and pushes one thought onto the frayed mess that is the feral sentinel’s psyche:

Stop.

The sentinel freezes, his mind growing confused. (In in defense, a guide really shouldn’t be able to do this.)

Stop.

A new panic wells up in his head. These thoughts are not his thoughts. Why isn’t his body moving?! (There’s nowhere to hide in the bone cavity of your own skull.)

Stop.

The sentinel drops to the ground boneless and unresisting. (Eddie thought it would take more effort.)

“...Ouch.”

Eddie snaps his head away from the form of the felled sentinel, and rushes over to where Buck is struggling to sit up. Upon closer examination it’s obvious that Buck must have hit his head during the landing.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” With hands much more careful than tone would suggest, Eddie runs gentle fingers through Buck’s hair, assessing the bumps and lumps that he finds, helmet only able to help so much. Buck winces, but doesn’t try to pull away or stop him. Determining that the injuries are mostly superficial, Eddie helps Buck to his feet.

Buck, looking for all the world like a kicked dog, has the audacity to pout. Eddie’s eyes narrow. “Bobby would have been fine. It would take a lot more than one feral C rank to hurt him. You, specifically, know this.” The pout only grows. “Don’t look at me like that, you could have been seriously hurt. Hell,” he gestures pointedly in the direction of the felled sentinel, “You almost where!”

Buck follows Eddie’s angry hands and seems to become aware of the other sentinel for the first time since his fall. Eddie watches as Buck furrows his brow in obvious confusion. Just as Eddie starts to wonder if he was wrong about the head injuries just being bumps and lumps, Buck speaks:

“Eddie,” He starts slow, like he’s not quite sure how to finish. “How did you get him down so fast?”The questions draws Eddie up short, because Buck asked a great question, how had he knocked a feral sentinel out so fast. He knew what he was trying would have worked for someone like Bobby (well trained S tier guide forever bonded with the S tier sentinel), but even then, it would have taken a minute or two to render the feral sentinel unconscious. So how had he, Edmundo Diaz, very terrible no good guide™ , manage it on his first try in seconds.

#my writing #my fic #eddie is a bitch #who fought me every step of the way #until today #i have no clue what changed #but thank God it did #eddie diaz #evan buckley #bobby nash #buddie #911 abc #sentinel/guide au

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companion-showdown · 11 months ago

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Showdown 2k24 Nominations!

alright, redoing this post now that I can give a concrete start date of Monday the 15th of January!

Nominations for the tournament are open up until the start date, and you can submit anyone who could reasonable be considered a companion, either by sending me an ask or by filling out

this form.

If you make your nomination via the form you can also submit some propaganda to go alongside the poll. Anyone who was considered a regular at any point in the last year will automatically be included, as well as anyone who was in the original tournament (+/- a couple I might miss or misremember as being a regular because I don't have old lists anywhere). The exception to this is last years winner, Rose Tyler, she will not be getting a place in the main tournament, however after the final I will run a poll to see if our new winner can beat her. (oh and also maybe I'll leave the TARDIS out but not fully decided yet)

The tournament is going to be run in the same way I did @adventure-showdown, meaning I'll keep companions from different periods of the show and different mediums segregated at first so the nicher ones don't immediately get knocked out, and slowly get mingled together. The exact details are going to depend on just how may characters get included.

Errm yeah, so go wild, nominate whoever you like (as long as they are a companion). If they are from teh TV show they have to be on this list to qualify, and for EU companions I'm going with them needing a TARDIS wiki page, and also I will give them a quick proof read to make sure they pass, the bar is low but it is there

if you want to submit an alternate version of the character sorry but main version only unless you can give a really good reason, eg regenerations of a time lord

also, if they are primarily from another franchise that'll be a no

The full list of contestents is under the cut and will be updated as nominations come in. Its sorted by medium and then to be alphabetical by first name. if an eu companion exists in multiple mediums i just sort of picked one or I put them under the other category, people who exist in real life are also sorted into their own category. There are some characters under Classic Who/NuWho who were not companions on TV but were in the EU. Companions who's names are in green have had propaganda submitted for them, if they're not in green then they don't, and just because someone has propaganda doesn't mean i wont accept more

Classic Who

Ace McShane

Adric

Barbara Wright

Ben Jackson

The Brigadier

Chang Lee

Dodo Chaplet

Grace Holloway

Harry Sullivan

Ian Chesterton

Jamie McCrimmon

Jo Grant

Kamelion

Katarina

Leela

Liz Shaw

Mags

Mel Bush

Mike Yates

Nyssa

Peri Brown

Polly Wright

Romana I

Romana II

Sabalom Glitz

Sara Kingdom

Sarah-Jane Smith

Sergeant Benton

Steven Taylor

Susan Foreman

Tegan Jovanka

Turlough

Vicki Pallister

Victoria Waterfield

Zoe Heriot

NuWho

Adam Mitchell

Amy Pond

Bill Potts

Canton Everett Delaware III

Clara Oswald

Dan Lewis

Donna Noble

Graham O'Brien

Grant Gordon aka the Ghost

Handles

Inston-Vee Vindor

Jack Harkness

Karvanista

Kate Stewart

Martha Jones

Mickey Smith

Missy

Nardole

River Song

Rory Williams

Rose Noble

Ruby Sunday

Ryan Sinclair

Wilfred Mott

Yasmin Khan

Audio

Alex Campbell

Anya Kingdom

Bliss

C'rizz

Cass Fermazzi

Charley Pollard

Cousin Eliza: Christine Summerfield: Horus

Dalek Test Subject 2

Erimem

Evelyn Smythe

Helen Sinclair

Hex Schofield

Iris Wildthyme

Liv Chenka

Lucie Miller

Mark Seven

Molly O'Sullivan

Narvin

Oliver Harper

Sheena (The Starship of Theseus)

Tania Bell

Novels

Anji Kapoor

Anna (Good Companions)

Badger

Barusa

Bernice Summerfield

Business woman (Time on a Vine)

Catherine “Cat” Broome

Chris Cwej - have propaganda but in conjunction with another contestant

Cinder

Claudia Marwood

Compassion

Dorothy (The Wonderful Doctor of Oz)

Fitz Kreiner

Guinevere Winchester

Hector (All Flesh is Grass)

Homunculette

Ikalla

Irving Braxiatel

Jack McSpringheel

Larna

Marie (Alien Bodies)

Milena

Patience

Penelope Gate

Peter Summerfield

Rosie Taylor

Roz Forrester - have propaganda but in conjunction with another contestant

Ruth Leonidas

Sam Jones

Serena

Sibling Different aka Mae

The Mortimer Family (Ida, Alan, Helen, George)

Trix MacMillan

V.M.McCrimmion

Wolsey the Cat

Zeleekhà

Comics

Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer

Angus ‘Gus’ Goodman

ARC

Chantir

Child Master (The Then and the Now)

Cindy Wu

Dave Lester

Destrii

Duh

Flanx

Fey Truscott-Sade

Frobisher

Gabby Gonzalez

Gillian & John Who

Grayla

Hattie Munroe

Izzy Sinclair

Jayne Kadett

John Jones

Josie Day

Kroton

Ly Chee the Wise

Majenta Pryce

Maxwell Edison

Olla

Rose-the-cat

Shayde

Ssard

The Squire

Weeping Angel (Origins)

Real Life

Alan Turing

Claudia Winkleman

John Lennon

Jules Verne

Mary Shelley

Peter Cushing

Other

Alison Cheney

Andy Davidson

Antimony (Death Comes to Time)

Brian the Ood

Dormouse (The Red and the Blue)

Emma (curse of fatal death)

Koschie

Romana (Battle for the Universe)

Splinx

Susan Who

Tom Campbell

#doctor who #showdown 2k24

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traegorn · 5 months ago

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I've never actually done in person voting and I don't know how ? Only ever voted by mail from another country and my state purposely sent the ballot too late for it to be returned on time to be counted.. state is GA

I have severe anxiety so if you or anyone could walk me through it like I'm 5.. sorry

So I don't know the specifics about Georgia because I've never lived there (I've only ever lived in three states, and only two as an adult). Vote.org has a good information page though.

Effectively though, voting in person is fairly simple. As long as your registration is up to date, you should just be able to take your ID to your polling place, get in line, and the poll workers will give you the necessary instructions. It varies by state, so I can't get more specific (in Wisconsin we fill out a paper ballot that gets scanned like a scantron test, in Indiana we had electronic touch screen voting machines).

Once your done, you may have to hand something to a poll worker (they'll tell you what to do), but other than that it's pretty cut and dry. They're prepared for folks who don't know how it works (there are always new voters and transplants to the area every election), so there are folks who can help you out when you get there.

Just make sure your registration is up to date.

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k-s-morgan · 10 months ago

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Hi, praying you're safe and getting some rest where you can ❤️.

Thank you for the new chapter, it was wonderful! Seeing how everyone fulfilled their roles was hilarious, and I had a grand time trying to guess everyone's assignments. My guess is that Bard and Mey-Rin are the false suspects, their over-the-top cold behaviour did not convince me that either is trying to get away with murder 😂. Oh, and Ciel being disturbed by this change in his two servants was hilarious. Not including Tanaka in this because Ciel was on him from the beginning, and Finny is acting normal. Which in the current context is suspicious...

Now! The scene which has been in my mind and which I have been picking apart since I read it. The hand holding "experiment"!

There are a couple loosely formed theories in my mind which I would like to share bc I have to discuss themmm. First, most worrisome, is that Sebastian has some clue as to Ciel's real feelings towards him and this was an observational test meant to see if this is true, as well as the extent of it. If he were to find out the truth, and exploit what he sees as a weakness to his own advantage, it could create a chasm between them from which they couldn't return. Or... Ciel would find a way to turn it around on him, which would be relatively easy at this point as he is not fully aware of his feelings and their implications, although some feelings would be hurt, and Ciel would surely remember this attempt at bringing him down. In the aftermath I imagine he would continuously tear into Sebastian and his 'delusions' (chapter 19 vibes) until his last breath. A last breath which may come sooner rather than later with the way he taunts Sebastian with no restraints 😂.

Second theory is that Sebastian is testing whether the reactions he has to things like Ciel's proximity, his laugh, etc. are normal human reactions, and whether Ciel has the same reactions towards him. He may still be concerned about his human body's functioning, some chapters ago he did seem worried about the odd reactions it was producing. How odd that all of them were in some way related to Ciel. Oh, he laughed? Best sound ever, nothing else exists. He smiled at him? The world might have stopped for a second. Ciel did absolutely anything? That's weird, the fleshy air bags, which are essential to survival, stopped working...

Not to mention the comedy of him calling it an "experiment" because he can't admit that he enjoys Ciel's company, and the physical proximity they usually share in their routines.

This chapter had so many great scenes in it, time to re-read it and consolidate my guesses! (Would you consider doing a poll to see what people's guesses are before the chapter where it ends comes out?)

Hi! Thank you so much, I'm always so excited to get your comments - and I'm thrilled that you enjoyed this new chapter!

Reading your observations and conclusions was so fascinating, I can't even tell you. You and some other people noticed that Finnie is acting too normally, and yeah, he really is, so I've been very curious to see what everyone thinks about it.

You might be on to something about Bard and Mey-Rin, although the role of at least one of them will probably surprise most readers.

I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about the hand-holding 'experiment' Sebastian has initiated! Since the specifics of it will only become clear in the chapters from Sebastian's POV, I can offer some hints. First of all, no worries, Sebastian isn't aware of Ciel's crush and its magnitude - he remains an oblivious idiot in this regard :D If he did notice it and tried to use it against Ciel, then yes, Ciel would absolutely fight back despite his mortification. Sebastian would end up getting beaten down again and again for his misstep, and they would both inflict so many wounds on each other that healing from it would take ages.

Your second option had me in stitches! This is so like Sebastian. "Fleshy air bags" - lol, so fitting, it's absolutely something he would say.

Some from this theory is true, Sebastian has been testing himself and his feelings for Ciel, only in a somewhat new way. He cannot see Ciel's soul, cannot sense it - he actually feels disgust and disappointment, but despite his automatic prejudice, he keeps falling under Ciel's spell again and again. So this time, he decided to try stabilizing the bond between them in a more physical manner. He's trying to absorb Ciel, his pulse, his breath, his heartbeat, the feel of his skin, his scent as something completely separate from his soul. He's attempting to focus on him without paying any attention to what used to matter most to him (in his opinion).

The process, the motivation, and the results will be fleshed out when we return to this stubborn demon's head))

I'd love to do a poll but I honestly have no idea how to even approach it because there are many players and many roles involved! If someone has any guesses about who is playing what role, I'd be very excited to hear it - in notes, comments, asks, it doesn't matter. There were some very accurate observations made already and it's so interesting to see how you perceive everything.

#my fics #sebaciel #black butler #kuroshitsuji #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive

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covid-safer-hotties · 1 month ago

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Old News (Published Sept, 2022)

Also preserved in our archive

It's disgusting how little movement has been made since this article was published. Biden declared a victory only to be forced to step down by a covid infection this summer. We're done being ignored.

By Jamie Ducharme

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is used to feeling like the only person in the country who still cares about COVID-19. He ignores the side-eye he gets for wearing an N95 mask at parties—a self-imposed policy that makes him “look odd” but kept him safe after a recent work dinner turned into a superspreader event. The oncologist, bioethicist, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania provides each of his students with an N95 and runs four HEPA air filters during lectures. He rolls down the windows when he gets in an Uber and goes hungry on planes so he can wear his mask the whole time. He’s given up one of his favorite pastimes—dining at restaurants—even now that many people don’t think twice about eating indoors.

Emanuel, 65, takes these precautions even though he’s vaccinated and boosted and thus well protected against severe COVID-19. The acute disease doesn’t scare him much—but what could come after does. “The only thing that’s preventing me from leading a normal life is the risk that I’ll get Long COVID,” Emanuel says. “I can’t say why people aren’t [reacting like] their hair’s on fire. This is a serious, serious illness.”

Emanuel’s not totally alone. In a July Axios-Ipsos poll, 17% of people said their biggest fear related to COVID-19 is the possibility of getting Long COVID, a potentially disabling condition in which symptoms linger or emerge well after an acute infection. But at a time when the majority of U.S. adults think there’s little risk in returning to normal, mask wearers, test takers, and social distancers walk a lonely road.

Even public-health agencies seem over it. Throughout 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has rolled back many of its recommended COVID-19 precautions. CDC guidance no longer recommends social distancing, mask-wearing, or screening tests for most people who don’t have symptoms, and unvaccinated people don’t need to quarantine if they’re exposed to the virus. In a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sept. 18, President Joe Biden said “the pandemic is over,” even though “we still have a problem with COVID.”

The following day, chronic disease advocates protested in front of the White House, arguing that Long COVID and the related condition myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome constitute a public-health emergency and demanding that the Biden Administration improve its public-education campaigns, financial support for patients, and research efforts.

The CDC says its COVID-19 guidance is meant to prevent “medically significant COVID-19 illness,” which includes both severe acute disease and Long COVID. The agency contends its lighter touch is warranted now that the vast majority of the U.S. population has good protection against severe disease from being vaccinated, contracting COVID-19, or both. “Our emphasis on preventing severe disease will also help prevent cases of post-COVID conditions, as post-COVID conditions are found more often in people who had severe COVID-19 illness,” Dr. Barbara Mahon, who oversees work on coronaviruses and other respiratory diseases at the CDC, said in response to questions from TIME about the agency’s Long COVID guidance.

But even with high levels of population immunity, Long COVID cases continue to pile up. By the CDC’s own estimate from June, one in five U.S. adults with a known prior case of COVID-19 had symptoms of Long COVID. Having COVID-19 also raises a person’s risk of developing chronic conditions including heart disease, asthma, and diabetes, according to CDC research.

Long COVID can take many forms, including exhaustion, cognitive dysfunction, neurological issues, and chronic pain. People can develop it whether they’re young or old, sick or healthy, vaccinated or not. And while some people get better in a matter of months, recent studies and many patient experiences show symptoms can last years. There is no known cure for Long COVID, and the only way to prevent it is not to get infected at all.

That, a vocal group of experts and advocates say, is why people should resist the U.S.’ collective shrug to the unchecked spread of COVID-19. The virus may not kill or hospitalize as many people as it once did, but it still upends lives every day. Around 1.2 million people in the U.S. became disabled as a result of the virus by the end of 2021, according to the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank. Up to 4 million people in the U.S. are out of work because of Long COVID. Specialists who treat Long COVID report months-long waitlists. And in the current “let it rip” phase of the pandemic, all of that may get worse.

“We’re in the middle of the greatest mass-disabling event in human history,” says Long COVID patient and advocate Charlie McCone. And unless people wake up to the long-term consequences of COVID-19, it is “going to continue taking folks out like fish in a barrel.”

President Joe Biden ran on a promise to defeat COVID-19. And for a while, it looked like he would deliver. In the spring and early summer of 2021, the U.S. was recording about 12,000 cases per day. Vaccines were working. Masks were coming off. Life was good.

Then Delta hit, followed by the tsunami of Omicron, and the path out of the pandemic no longer looked clear. The messaging began to shift: the U.S. would learn to live with COVID-19, rather than defeating it. We couldn’t stop all infections, but we could defang them through vaccines, boosters, and treatments like the antiviral Paxlovid. The masks could stay off, even if the virus wasn’t gone.

Many Americans welcomed the return to normalcy. But to McCone, 32, that approach is “a crime against humanity,” given what we now know about Long COVID.

McCone got sick in March 2020. COVID-19 knocked him flat. He almost went to his local emergency room because he was so short of breath, and it took weeks for his respiratory symptoms to improve. After about a month, he finally felt well enough to ride his bike. “I just fell apart,” McCone remembers. The 15-minute ride left him with unshakeable exhaustion—and a sign that this would be no ordinary recovery.

More than two years later, McCone barely leaves the house, except for medical appointments. He still has severe fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, and nervous system dysfunction. He can’t work because of his symptoms, and his partner has become his caretaker. His symptoms got even worse after catching COVID-19 again in September 2021, so he’s “petrified” of getting reinfected—a fear he wishes more people shared.

“We’re letting millions of Americans and people across the globe walk, unwittingly, straight into this pit,” he says.

Hannah Davis, a machine learning expert who began researching Long COVID after her own diagnosis, also got sick in March 2020. Davis has testified about Long COVID before Congress and advised federal health officials about the condition. She says those experiences have shown her that health officials understand that Long COVID is a substantial problem, and that, while vaccines reduce the risk of developing it—by some amount between 15% and 50%, studies suggest—they are not failsafe. The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics recently reported that roughly 4.5% of triple-vaccinated adults developed Long COVID after being infected by Omicron. But the government doesn’t seem to want to dwell on these scary stats, Davis says. “It really looks like it’s being hidden intentionally,” she says.

Davis believes that’s because the Biden Administration leaned heavily on vaccines as a ticket out of the pandemic and is wary of walking back that messaging now, even as fully vaccinated and boosted people contract Long COVID. A representative for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not directly respond to that allegation when asked by TIME, but emphasized the importance of vaccination and said the department is still working “to understand this new post-infectious landscape.”

“Individuals, communities, and organizations must make decisions that create the right balance between the need to protect themselves and others from the effects of COVID-19 and the need to stay healthy in every sense of the word—such as mental health, getting an education, preventive and chronic disease care, and social interaction,” the CDC’s Mahon said in a statement.

Health officials are not doing enough to prevent transmission of the virus and help people understand its risks, says Kristin Urquiza, who founded the advocacy group Marked By COVID after her father died from the virus in 2020. “Leaders have thrown their hands up in the air and basically said, ‘You do you,’” she says.

The federal government has taken some action on Long COVID. In late 2020, Congress gave the National Institutes of Health (NIH) more than $1 billion to study it. But so far, this funding has yielded no treatments, no preventative tools, and little research that is immediately useful to patients. The NIH’s cornerstone Long COVID research project aimed to enroll 40,000 people; as of August, it had enrolled only about 8,000. That’s in large part because of the complexity and scope of the trial, according to the NIH.

Lawmakers have introduced bills meant to improve research and support for Long COVID, but they’ve reportedly stalled due to a lack of support in Congress. And in August, HHS released two highly anticipated reports on Long COVID—one describing resources available to patients, the other outlining the government’s research agenda—that were largely panned by Long COVID advocates as more symbolic than substantive.

“Many of the resources provided in the reports seem like cold comforts and temporary Band-Aids when a tourniquet and emergency surgery is needed,” Urquiza said in a statement to Rolling Stone about the reports.

The HHS representative told TIME the reports are just the beginning, and the Administration’s work on Long COVID is ongoing. For people with Long COVID, “It can feel like the world is moving on, while leaving them behind,” the spokesperson wrote in the statement. “The Administration’s message to them is that, ‘We see you, we hear you, and we are taking action to help.'”

Some Long COVID advocates and scientists have called for an initiative like Operation Warp Speed—the Trump Administration program that quickly yielded multiple effective COVID-19 vaccines—for Long COVID treatments. But the NIH hasn’t built anything of the sort, says David Putrino, a Long COVID researcher at New York’s Mount Sinai health system. Despite its $1 billion budget for Long COVID research, “There’s been no process change between how they fund things outside of a health emergency and how they’re funding things in the midst of a health crisis,” he says. “We’re still following the same grant application procedures, the administrative load is the same if not more, and they have not hired additional people to program manage the grants.” In a statement, the NIH said application review is handled by an “ample and diverse set of experts.”

Dr. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a prolific parser of COVID-19 research on Twitter, says the NIH is doing good research on the underlying science of Long COVID, but he’d like to see more trials focused on treatments. “You need to do both, because we can’t wait another year or two for the biology to be better defined,” Topol says. (The NIH says it will begin treatment-focused trials this fall. Mahon says the CDC also continues to research Long COVID symptoms, prevalence, and risk factors.)

Research delays are not for lack of intriguing leads. A tremendous amount of Long COVID research has been published in the last two years, most coming out of independent laboratories, Putrino says. From this work, scientists have found multiple possible explanations for Long COVID symptoms: SARS-CoV-2 virus lingering in the body, abnormal immune system activity, reactivation of other viruses previously lying dormant, tiny blood clots throughout the body, and more. These disparate findings suggest that there may be different root causes or subtypes of Long COVID, which means all patients might not respond to the same therapy. But each one suggests a possible path to treatment worth testing sooner rather than later, Topol says.

Nobody knows exactly how prevalent Long COVID is, and some researchers argue that the CDC’s estimate of one patient per five COVID-19 cases is high. But, even using more conservative prevalence estimates, the volume of infections in the U.S. means the scale of the problem is massive. About 60,000 people in the U.S. currently test positive for COVID-19 daily. Even by more modest estimates, that means the seeds for a possibly debilitating condition are planted in thousands of people every day. During just the first two years of the pandemic, at least 17 million people in Europe developed Long COVID, according to a Sept. 13 report commissioned by the World Health Organization.

“If we have millions of people being infected, we’re going to have millions of people getting Long COVID,” Emanuel says. “That’s going to be an ongoing, serious national problem that is going to weigh down the economy, weigh down the disability insurance system, and be tragic for people.”

Journalist and author Katie Hafner, 64, was one of the unlucky people to develop Long COVID after being vaccinated and boosted. She got infected in May and was left with significant fatigue and brain fog. Her Long COVID symptoms were on the milder end of the spectrum and have improved with time, but Hafner says she can still manage only a few hours of work per day and has to carefully monitor her physical and mental energy levels. Her anxiety has also escalated since getting sick.

Hafner’s husband is Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Between his wife’s experience and his close monitoring of COVID-19 research, Wachter is concerned enough about Long COVID to avoid indoor dining and wear a good mask in crowded areas. For people who aren’t immersed in the research, though, “the cognitive load of doing all this three-dimensional chess [around risk calculation] is too much,” he says. “To me, the CDC hasn’t been very vigorous on Long COVID,” providing less guidance about prevention and risks than it did for acute infections.

Those risks are substantial. Wachter says he’s worried about Long COVID’s impact on the health care system—not just in already overloaded Long COVID clinics, but system-wide. “If it turns out that it markedly increases the rates of some of the biggest medical hazards we have in life”—including organ failure, heart disease, and dementia, as research currently suggests— “the toll of that over years and years will be tremendous,” Wachter says. “I don’t think [the CDC has] done a good job explaining that at all.”

The economic toll could also be massive. Up to 4 million adults in the U.S. are out of work because of Long COVID, costing the economy at least $170 billion in annual lost wages alone, according to a Brookings Institution report published in August. A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis suggests just 44% of people who worked before they got Long COVID are now fully employed, with the remainder either out of a job or working reduced hours.

Many long-haulers who are unable to work have turned to the disability system. But, anecdotally, many have had trouble getting their claims approved, either because they’re outright denied or forced to jump through hoops to prove they’re truly unable to work. A representative for the Social Security Administration said in a statement that, as of August, it had received about 38,000 applications that mention COVID-19, representing about 1% of recent claims—but since decisions are based on functional limitations, not diagnoses, it’s difficult to say how many people have sought support due to Long COVID.

Experts say there is more that can be done, even before new therapies are discovered or developed. To slow transmission and thus lower rates of Long COVID, Topol says the CDC should tell people to isolate for longer than five days after getting infected and campaign harder for people to get booster shots. Emanuel, meanwhile, would like to see better communication about which masks protect wearers from infection; respirators like N95s are more effective than surgical or cloth masks, but many people still walk around in droopy blue surgical masks. Public indoor spaces, like restaurants and schools, should also have enforceable requirements for ventilation and air filtration, given the virus’ ability to spread in the air.

A return to mask mandates would also be a good step, Davis says. But even if none of those changes are enacted, she says the government should at least emphasize how common Long COVID appears to be and that it can affect vaccinated people. She fears many vaccinated people think they’re in the clear and can’t get Long COVID, because the Administration has sung the shots’ praises so much. “We’re just drowning in this sea of misinformation that is not only causing people to poorly think about their own risk, but also putting other people at risk,” Davis says.

Those with Long COVID often say they feel like they’re screaming into the void, trying to get through to people who either aren’t aware of or don’t care about the condition and the possibility it could affect them, too. In grocery stores, Hafner marvels—and seethes—at the bare faces she sees. Sometimes, when she’s the only person wearing a mask, “I think, ‘Am I a pariah?’” Hafner says. “We’re at that point where the people in masks are the outliers.”

For many people who are done with the pandemic and the caution that came with it, a maskless supermarket may seem like a sign of progress. But for those with an intimate understanding of Long COVID, it feels like a bad omen.

“It’s no way to live,” McCone says of his day-to-day existence since developing Long COVID. His worst fear, and one that looks like it may come true if progress isn’t made soon, is that millions more people will have to learn that the hard way.

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gallant-basilisk · 1 year ago

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Heyyy can I request a fanfic of bakugou (mha) with an s/o that age regresses (the sfw type) when stressed and overwhelmed? Like having trouble learning for a school subject or the similar, going into that regression state where bakugou comforts the s/o and overall trys and make them feel better. I hope it’s not too much or difficult ^^

Okay, so I've never written an age regression, so please pardon me!

Also, my writing is a little rusty... Btw, I'm back... As is the norm for me I've ended up ghosting y'all 'cause I put too much pressure on myself, but I think I've got things under control... Hopefully... Point is, I won't have expectations for myself to deliver weekly for example, so hopefully I won't have another burn-out like this one anymore.

Imma do all the requests you've sent me before (a long, long time ago), then i think I'll implement some changes/ new stuff

I'm considering making a poll listing some fandoms (video games and animes mostly) to expand what fandoms I write for

+ I'm also considering posting fan art here, but we'll see! ☺️

"Ghfuu..!" Your eyes skim through the sentences on the paper laid out before you, chewing on the end of the pen held in your trembling hand, and you know you're supposed to know how to solve the problem, but you don't. Somehow, no matter how many times you reread that block of text something just falls apart when you try to put it into a simple math equation. That's gotta be it, simple, easy, not at all a problem. So why? Why do you not get it? You know you're not dumb. So you really don't get why...

You have a test tomorrow, you know it's important and it's really stressing you out. But it also makes you angry at yourself- why did you choose to leave doing this to the very last moment? You knew long before how much you struggled with math already, so why didn't you start earlier? Instead, you chose to ignore it and now, sitting at your desk so late at night, you feel so mad and frustrated.

You swing your legs under the desk in frustration, feeling a thick lump in your throat as your vision blurs. You throw your pen against the wall with as much force as you can muster and bring your hands up to your eyes, desperately trying to stop the tears from welling up in your eyes and escaping.

You grit your teeth as you bite down any noises trying to escape your throat, but you can't be bothered to lessen the strength or frequency of yours kicks against the foot of your desk, the frustrated thumps heard even from outside your room.

A soft whimper is all Bakugou hears as he swings the door of your room open, ready to yell at you for making so much noise, but he freezes as he sees you in this state - distressed, inattentative. He quietly closes the door and clicks his tongue, seemingly deciding something in his head as he stalks over to your sniffling, slouched form, your back turned towards him.

"Y/N..." He calls out softly - a stark contrast to his usual explosive personality - and leans down to be level with your face, patiently waiting for any sort of reaction or acknowledgement of his presence from you.

You see him, from the corner of your eyes, but you immediately whip your head to the other side, not wanting him to see you like this. "Go away...." You mumble under your breath, the sentence filled with a childish tone of frustration as you curl up on your chair, laying your cheek on your knees as you hug them closer to yourself.

Instead of insulting you or calling you some name, as you had expected him to do, Bakugou simply sighs and continues staring at you, which frustrates you, for a reason you can't explain. "Don't... Bakugou, stop!" You hiss, waving your hand in front of him to get him to leave you alone. "Y/N, stop with the tantrum." He says firmly, his tone eerily calm as he tilts his head just the slightest bit. His eyes scan the way you sit, how you try to curl up to the best of your abilities, how your body trembles from your shaky breaths as you sniffle, trying to hold back your tears. Then he looks over at your desk, narrowing his eyes at the paper filled with moderately easy math problems. He releases another tired exhale as he sees a few darkened damp spots on the sheet, the marks of your tears, then he looks back at you.

He straightens up and looks around the desk, quickly spotting your pen that rolled right up to your trash can. He picks it up and places it neatly on the paper, waiting for a few seconds as he thinks of what to do next.

"Y/N, baby... Look at me..." He places a hand on your head, gently stroking your scalp and twirling his fingers into your hair, careful not to pull it. "Teddy bear..." He whispers softly, a small smile on the edge of his lips as his hand slides down your face and holds the side of your cheek as it were the most delicate thing, slowly tilting your head to look at him. "Baby, what's wrong?" He wipes a single tear from your eye with his thumb and strokes your skin under your eye as he stares at you with a loving gaze, something entirely reserved just for you.

You let out a frustrated huff as you stare at him, the corners of your eyes red. You pout, but keep silent as you look away, crossing your arms. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what you need help with." He says teasingly, offering you a smile as his other hand joins in holding your face, gently stroking under your eyes. You huff, grimacing at his words.

Upon realising you wouldn't tell him in a straightforward way he tilts his head towards your table and leans down closer to you, his voice much more quiet and softer than before. "Do you want..." Bakugou takes a deep breath, mustering all his mental strength to keep up this gentle front. "Do you want Pom-pom to help you with homework, teddy bear?" He takes a moment to add, "Or do you want something else right now?"

You wipe your tears and swallow, trying to force back your crying, but failing miserably. You try to speak, but your words come out as incoherent babbles, which makes Bakugou chuckle as he looks at you in an adoring way. "Do you not want to do homework right now?" You shake your head, sniffling as you continue desperately wiping your eyes. "Figured." He lets a short laugh before snaking his arms under your knees and behind your back, picking you up and cradling you close to his chest. You immediately cling to him, grasping his shirt in your hands as you lean your head on his shoulder, still crying a little. "It's okay, teddy bear, you don't need to do your homework right now, I'm sure it can wait." You look at him with a frustrated expression, wiping your face in his shirt, smearing your tears and a little bit of your snot on it. "That.... that was uncalled for." He huffs, his voice a little angry, but he tries his best to conceal it as he carries you out of the room.

"What would teddy bear would like to do, hm? Sleep?" You shake your head, biting your lip uncertainly. "Take a walk?" You shake your head again. "Okay, then how about taking a nice, warm bubble bath, and I set up a tablet so you can watch a cartoon while taking a bath?" He offers as he makes his way to the bathroom, swaying you in his arms gently. You nod as your crying softens to sniffling and one of your hands snakes up to play with his spiky hair, loving the funny texture of it as you smile.

He nuzzles your face with his own, not caring about the dampness of your cheeks as a giggle escapes you, your other hand placed on his face, playfully pushing it away. "Pom-pom..." You exhale calmly, still playing with his hair as your eyes flutter and your other hand falls down to his neck, lazily wrapping around it. He winces as he hears the name from your mouth, still not quite accustomed to being called that.

"Teddy bear.." He whispers as he shakes you a little and you open your eyes, recognizing the familiar tiling of the bathroom as Bakugou places you down carefully, holding you up until he's certain you're awake (and willing) enough to stay upright by yourself. "I'm going to run your bath, you can bring any toys you want, if you wanna play with them..." He offered as he walked over to the bathtub and turned the faucet. You nod a bit more enthusiastically as you skip over to the cabinets and open them, excitedly taking out a bunch of toys in one fell swoop and bringing them to Bakugou, who simply looks at you gently as he helps you arrange the toys on the edge of the bathtub. You jump excitedly, feeling impatient as the bathtub filling up feels like it's taking ages, looking at Bakugou with a pout. "Teddy bear, I can't do anything about it..." He says, stroking your head. You roll your eyes and pace around. The logical part of you is, well, sort-of aware of how childish you're being, so you try to tone it down a little. Though the longer you try to behave, the more it seems the bathtub is not filling fast enough and the more difficult it becomes to stay put.

You groan exaggaratedly, throwing your head back and staring at Bakugou, your face inches from him. "Y/N." He warns, briefly glancing at you before returning to tapping the tablet's screen. You let out an annoyed noise as you go around and peer over his shoulder, leaning up against him. Your hand reaches out to point at your favourite cartoon, which Bakugou humors by ruffling your hair then promptly positioning the tablet on the tablet-holder mounted on the wall.

"Happy?" He asks with a hint of irritation, but his eyes remain kind as he looks at you nodding your head, then gestures behind himself to the tub. "Your bath's ready, the towel, toys are here and you can watch your cartoon. Now be a good teddy bear and enjoy the bubble bath, yeah?" "Yeah!" You jump up enthusiastically, giggling. "Alright. I'll be right outside. If you need anything, just call out. Got it?" "Got it." "Great, good teddy bear. I'm proud of ya for being so well-behaved." You avert your gaze in embarrassment, smiling awkwardly as Bakugou leaves and closes the door.

[...]

You giddily skipped down the stairs, four plushies smothered in your arms as you quickly make your way to the couch in the living room and throw yourself on it, landing on three of the plushies, while the fourth falls to the floor. "Careful, sweetie, you might hurt yourself jumping around like that." Bakugou laughs, having grown a little more accustomed to your behaviour and feeling more receptive of your childishness.

He places down a bunch of food, snacks and some take-out he ordered whilst you were enjoying your bath, plopping down beside you and pulling a large blanket over the both of you. One of his arms reaches out and pulls you into is side, leaning his chin on the top of your head, letting out a long sigh.

Today was definitely exhausting for him, not being very good at remaining this calm for hours, but he was more than willing to do it for you.

He just prays the next time you won't be even more unruly.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugou #bakugou x reader #age regression #age regressor #sfw #fanfiction #fanfic #fluff #comfort #reader insert #yandere #request #reader

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