#EG.5

[tomorrowusa]

Just because the COVID-19 emergency ended doesn't mean the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

You’re not imagining it: Covid-19 cases are on the rise again. Fortunately, since a vast majority of Americans have some sort of immunity, either from vaccination or a prior infection, or both, most people who get infected now will have a mild illness. And while there are multiple strains circulating (nearly all of them descendants of the Omicron XBB variant), they are unlikely to cause the “wildfire spreading” that occurred with the Delta variant and the first Omicron variant, said Dr. David Boulware, a professor of medicine specializing in infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School. That includes EG.5, which was recently named a “variant under monitoring” by the World Health Organization and currently accounts for about 17 percent of cases in the United States. “I’m not sure if it’s a surge, per se, or just uptick,” Dr. Boulware said of the current situation. Either way, he added, it’s a reminder “that, yes, Covid still exists.”

If you are fully vaccinated, including the booster, congratulate yourself. If not, this might be a good time to catch up. The new academic year starts soon and not all your classmates may be as conscientious as you.

A reminder of the symptoms – one of which is associated with a new strain.

Covid symptoms haven’t changed much since the start of the pandemic — sore throat, congestion, fatigue, fever and cough remain the most common, said Dr. Paul Sax, the clinical director of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Some people may also experience gastrointestinal symptoms, and there are reports that the XBB.1.16 strain can cause pink eye. These generic symptoms mean it can be “extremely difficult to tell one virus from another,” Dr. Sax said. The easiest way to know if you have Covid or just a summer cold is to take a rapid test.

Not everybody with pink eye has the COVID XBB.1.16 strain, but it's a heads up if you also have any of the more classic symptoms.

Diseases don't go away just because people get bored with them. Hopefully there will soon be a yearly COVID shot just as there is a yearly flu shot.

If you need it, the CDC vaccine site is still available.

Find COVID‑19 Vaccines

[kp777]

No paywall.

[pandemic-info]

In general, the coronavirus “remains a major threat,” the WHO said in an update, although the international public health emergency was declared May 5 to be officially over. “WHO continues to urge Member States to maintain, not dismantle, their established COVID-19 infrastructure. It is crucial to sustain surveillance and reporting, variant tracking, early clinical care provision,” it added. People are less likely to become hospitalized or die of covid-19 as they develop immunity because of prior infections and vaccination, but experts caution that elderly people and the severely immunocompromised are at elevated risk because their bodies have a tougher time fighting off the virus. Long covid, which can range from several weeks of mild symptoms to months of debilitation, continues to pose risk to otherwise healthy and vaccinated people. There is insufficient research on the best treatments. Studies have shown that 5 to 10 percent of people infected with coronavirus developed long covid symptoms, which have become less common with omicron variants. A Washington Post analysis of 5 million patients conducted in collaboration with research partners found that older adults and people with preexisting conditions including obesity and lung disease were more likely to report symptoms of long covid.

What to know about the new covid subvariant EG.5, nicknamed ‘Eris’ - The Washington Post

[bukimevieningi]

Rusijoje nustatyta 17 užsikrėtimo nauju koronaviruso EG.5 (Eris) atvejų

PSO teigia, kad “Eris” nekelia ypatingos grėsmės. „Remiantis turimais įrodymais, EG.5 keliama grėsmė visuomenės sveikatai pasauliniu lygiu įvertinta kaip maža“, – teigė agentūra ir pridūrė, kad rizika panašu į kitus cirkuliuojančius dominančius variantus. Rusijos specialistai nustatė 17 užsikrėtimo nauju koronaviruso variantu EG.5 arba „eris“ atvejų nuo balandžio iki rugpjūčio. Apie tai buvo…

[boos-gh0st]

I have a friend who played ISAT recently and they finished in thirty-six loops.

Thirty-six.

36.

I have

No idea how

They completed the entire game in 36 loops

They got bad touch, they got sus, they got 2/3 go throughs after friend quests, they got so many of the side quests if not almost all and they finished in THIRTY. SIX. LOOPS.

I have no idea how often they died to sadnesses or anything, assuming none.

I don’t even know how the hell they did that in general because you would assume the entire game is more than thirty-six loops, yet they did that and MORE in less?

They didn’t get the loop dagger scene though. Because siffrin didn’t get to that point before they went into act five (or whatever the cutoff for getting that scene is)

Because they didn’t reach the qualifications for it

And each time they died they went back to Dormont and spoke to loop, so they ran through the entire house ever loop

And completed the game

IN THIRTY-SIX LOOPS.

They didn’t even have memory of self on.

I’m so confused

I’m so intrigued

I’m so awestruck

I’m so impressed

I’m so C O N F U S E D

I am considering tagging insertdisc5 but I don’t want to bother them with my intrigue on how this happened

Cause it is just genuinely intriguing

how…how did you get through in such few loops…and get so much completion…

THIRTY SIX

Anyway

It’s 04:58 good night

Maybe

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

MDZS Notes + Analysis — Chapter Two: “Reincarnation”

Three main things stood out to me when rereading this chapter: the theme of status, our intro to WWX, and the information we’re given about his state after death.

…Well, four things, but the other one will get its own post.

The theme of status is immediately introduced* with ‘MXY’’s treatment and the backstory of MXY and his mother, yet again showing just how well MDZS’s ideas are integrated into the text and how well it’s paced! You’re introduced to every important theme so, so early on. Two screenshots are analysed below:

(See: entitlement of the upper classes towards the lower classes, and how this can exist even between members of the ‘same family’; and arguably the idea of debts between a richer family and someone who was 'taken in'. There are a surprising amount of parallels between MXY and WWX, but I'll make my own post about that)

(See: once again, differences in status between members of the same family, and also the worse, and disposable, treatment of one daughter because she was "the daughter of a servant". Now, why does that phrase sound familiar...?)

Also, MXY's mother was sixteen when she attracted JGS's attention... if you somehow needed even more material to hate the guy...

We also get introduced to WWX’s personality(!), which immediately disproves the rumours from last chapter on how he'd cast the world into ruin:

(That's one of the first questions he asks after waking up – I love how he's so concerned about this! It shows us two important things, too: 1) Morality is important to WWX, and 2) Doing immoral things seems to be out of the ordinary for him. Both of these stand in direct contrast to the picture of WWX we were painted earlier!)

(Same thing here, along with showing us some of the (healthy!) pride WWX has – he wouldn't be offended at this if wasn't something he held as important within himself)

(I use this quote again, but here it's once again proving that the vengeful, evil WWX who'd sink the cultivation world into "nothing but chaos and despair" at the first chance he got... very much does not exist.)

(And finally, it's explicitly confirmed here that he's not the type to take exessive revenge and take pleasure in it... at least at this point in time, because. MXY definitely had reason to think this considering Sunshot!WWX, if everyone had been working from the truth. But importantly that isn't who he is now, and isn't who the WWX villified by the cultivation world was – imo that's including Nightless City, we'll get to that when I reach it. But note that actions during the Sunshot campaign aren't even mentioned in the prologue, because, shock, they actually helped the cultivation world win the war! Though that doesn't mean they weren't part of rumours + the WWX hatred mill later.)

Then some non-morality related things:

This is just really funny to me, with how the makeup being badly applied (:o) is enough of an issue to merit a thought – WWX I love you.

And then this way of thinking comes back a few times esp during the earlier chapters, enough to be noted I think.

Confirmation on WWX's status after he died – it's not anything new to point out, but this chapter does give us rare insights into what state he was in during the post-death, pre-rebirth period.

So, he was somewhat conscious, enough to be aware of what he was(n't) doing – seeking vengeance, haunting the living – and was seemingly in control of those actions. However, he was specifically a "wandering ghost" – his soul didn't pass onto the afterlife or "return back to Earth"** like the body-offering spell's caster's would. He was conscious that a long time had passed as well, and this long period of downtime where he could accept + deal with what happened in his first life is what likely allowed him to be so well-adjusted the second time round – even taking into account the remarkably good way he tends to deal with things in general (cue the "forgetting the wound when the pain fades" quote, it summarises WWX's mindset really well)***.

Also, as for resisting the summons from the prologue – I'm wondering how much was due to WWX's experience with resentful energy + general capability (if that affects it..?) allowing him to consciously refuse, how much was due to WWX not being the type to hold onto resentment (so possibly spells targeting ghosts, full of this resentful energy, wouldn't be as affected?), and how much was due to the relative lack of knowledge about how ghosts/resentful energy works compared to WWX. Or, if it was something else. Either way, achieving the impossible, that's WWX for you :D

It is interesting that he hasn't heard a voice in ages despite wandering, too – do ghosts just not hear the same way, or did he deliberately avoid areas with people? I could see both, the second being more likely, especially considering how many people wanted to summon him back for... less than stellar purposes.

Misc:

Poor Mo Xuanyu....

--

*Well, reinforced – in the prologue, one of the things said about WWX is that "if not for the YunmengJiang clan’s adopting and teaching him, he would have been a hobo living on the streets", which is among the insults people throw. So of course, class-affecting-perception is tied to WWX from the very beginnning! But this is the first time it's actually explored, not a throwaway line.

**Though that may be what's literally happening to WWX's soul here – it is wandering around Earth – I don't think that's what this line refers to. There's a very good meta on how different translations handled that line, I really recommend it (tysm @/mxtxfanatic for finding it)!

***It would be very interesting to read a fic where it felt like no time had passed for him since his death, actually! Though the extremely stressful circumstances are gone, it would still be interesting to see a WWX for whom the Siege, Nightless City, Qiongqi Path etc are pretty recent – but only in fic territory, since I'm so, so glad we got the WWX we did in canon. Also, I'd love to see a fic maybe exploring some of his time as a ghost...?

[vazetti]

[charcarts]

dudunsparce segment charm mockup but you have a 1:5 chance of pulling a 3 segment🍡

reblogs appreciated!

[corstella]

Commissions open for the summer ☀️

I can do fanart, OCs, DND and furry art!

Link to my Kofi here

[inafieldofdaisies]

Character Inspiration | Mercedes "Mercy" Sibley | ♡

— Know that I'm coming to get you, 'cause game recognizes game. By the way, what's her name?

@socially-awkward-skeleton @aceghosts @imogenkol @cassietrn @purplehairsecretlair

@shellibisshe @direwombat @theelderhazelnut @raresvtm @josephseedismyfather

@josephslittledeputy @strangefable @captastra @derelictheretic

@trench-rot @simplegenius042 @voidika @g0dspeeed @carlosoliveiraa

@simonxriley @justasmolbard @cloudofbutterflies92 @thesingularityseries @la-grosse-patate

@harmonyowl @dumbassdep @finding-comfort-in-rain @icecutioner @wrathfulrook

@rhettsabbott @neonshrike @killyourrdarlingss @katsigian

[prince-liest]

Current writing priorities, should they manage to stay the same for any reasonable length of time, in no particular order:

666 #7: genderfuckery + Vox finally realizing his dreams of getting fucked

666 #8: drunken antics + electrostim, finally

I put Alastor and Lucifer's post-finale traumas into a box and shake it violently

Al and Mimzy's final convo in I Love Her, I Love Her Not

[bluestempigeons]

Sooty laid a fucking monster of an egg again. Looking like she's gonna be a one-egger old lady! Hasn't had a two egg clutch for about half a year now

[smallidarityfan]

Kirie's Endercup MCC live reaction:

Love how Jimmy kept taking the mick on Joel when he killed him in survival games LMAO

^ Was reblogging my live updates but now im gonna edit it in 1 post here they were tho

JOEL JOINED THE LINEUP NEXT TO JIM... 🥹🥹🥹

PILLAGER TRIO (sorry gem) GEMPEARL i meant

IM AN IDIOT ITS EMPIRES IM SO SORRY 😭😭

THEY ACED GRID RUNNERS OHHH MY GOSH...

Love how Jimmy keeps noting down Joel's rank after every game... and commended his improvement since the first half of the game........... hey guys............

And Lime Llamas second?!?!! RIVALRY....... piglinmynose x sniffermyfeet rematch........ GOSH

PURPLE PANDAS WIN!!! YIPPEE!!! That matched the end theme yk!! purple!!!!

No End Update LOL

[eg-tmnt]

[solipseismic]

THE THING IS the star wars shows are almost all unequivocally Bad* but there are JUST ENOUGH exceptions** that sometimes when u see a new show coming out*** you go WELL perhaps there is hope after all. and maybe it looks cool**** :) and someone else may be thinking well sol isn't it easy for you since you are a star wars fan? and the truth of the matter is that NO. it is because i am a star wars fan that i know just how bad star wars is. and my love for star wars has a direct correlation to how much i hate its shows***** so u see actually it is very difficult for me

[eg515]

it might have taken four and a half seasons to hear Brian Kinney say "I love you", but boy was it worth it!