#omicron wave

[disasterhimbo]

I’m really sad I have to wait until [unknown date] to see The Boy and the Heron because it’s only being released in theaters and it’s not safe for me to go to the theater anymore :/

[thousandhandbrightskycannon]

Love when you see a piece of equipment in the the hospital with something scrawled on it in permanent marker like “this is PROPERTY of 6N!!! Do NOT remove from 6N!!!!!!!” And you’re just like well. I found this equipment on 2S. All the stern handwritten warnings mean nothing in the face of basic hospital thievery.

[milf--adjacent]

I hate that the average person is stupid and inattentive enough to be tricked by the media rebranding covid waves every 8 to 12 months. It was "waves" in 2020 and 2021 with each new variant getting a greek letter, then it was "surges" in 2022 with alphanumeric codes for each new variant, then it was "upticks" in 2023 and you were lucky if they posted what clade the current variants were in, and now in 2024 it's "bumps" with journalists misconstuing the name of a variant's spike protien mutation for the variant name and some covid minimizing doctors trying to claim "this is just descended from omicron" when the covid evoution chart looks like this

[a-roses-wondrous-rain]

Valentine’s Day special!!

Pairings (all x Reader) : Dottore, Pantalone, Baizhu, Arlecchino, Capitano, Scaramouche, Tartaglia, Columbina, Tighnari, Navia, Yae Miko

Mainly fluffy, no actual Dottore content sadly it’s all his segments, Baizhu uses a cane, Arlecchino calls you ‘My bunny,’ Capitano is called Thrain, a little bit of a graphic depiction of Capitano’s rotting, Scaramouche takes you hunting, no established relationship with Tighnari, Yae Miko is just called Miko, I understand that shrine maidens don’t usually have relationships but it’s for the sake of the plot

~ Dottore ~

Ah, Valentine’s Day. As excited as you were, you didn’t expect much from your spouse. He didn’t quite celebrate romantic occasions, and you were lucky to get a ‘happy anniversary’ out of him… and as you suspected, he was working the day of. But lucky for you, his clones adored you. Omicron walked up and grabbed your hand. You didn’t even have time to react, “hey- where are we going??” “The others and I have set up something for you, now come along.” You quietly huffed, but complied and kept up.

Omicron opened a door, and inside were six other segments, all chattering and holding different things. You could hear Webttore snap at Iota, “shut up, they’re c- hey..!” His face flushed, and he quieted down quickly. As your eyes fell on all of them, holding flowers and candies awkwardly, Omicron spoke up. “We know you enjoy this holiday, so we all got together to do this. Since, y’know, Prime would probably forget or would work through today…” All of the segments gave little mumbles of ‘that’s why.’ Epsilon walked up first, handing you a little container of candied ajilenakh nuts. “I had to dig out the old recipe for this one.” They looked good. Omega and Delta walked up, holding a tiny box of chocolates and a card respectively. They shoved each other, earning a giggle from you.

They all handed over their gifts, all some variation of embarrassed or flustered with having to actually try something romantic. But of course, it was to make you happy, so they did it with minimal complaint. By the end, you had boxes of candy and treats, balloons, a plushie bear holding a heart, cards, and one tooth that Webttore snuck into your palm. But now Upsilon, Iota and Delta grabbed you and hoisted you up, much to your confusion, before carrying you off to the big lab couch. They set you down, and all seven of the segments curled up around you in a big fluffy cuddle pile. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” Omega mumbled while nuzzling into your neck.

~ Pantalone ~

Peaceful day… it was Valentine’s Day, and you both got to spend a day in. Pantalone made you a small batch of dumplings, which you were both snacking on as you sat between his legs, watching TV. You leaned your head back against his shoulder, holding a half eaten dumpling with chopsticks [the open side up so that good soup wouldn’t spill]. Pantalone was scratching your scalp with one hand, snagging another dumpling from your plate with the other. You gave a mock offended gasp, “how could you take my dumplings? After I worked *so* hard to get a plate of the delicious ones you made?” He let out a playful scoff, “after I worked myself to the bone to make these for you?” “Yes! Because I’m a good spouse and deserve these.” He smiled and kissed your head before taking a bite of his dumpling.

The ads came on and you sighed, muting the TV so you didn’t have to hear the jingle that inevitably got stuck in your head. Pantalone played with your hair, scratching at the base of your scalp in a way that made you feel content. As the annoying ad was over and the next one started playing, the side table phone started ringing. It was a little humorous how it was in time with the cartoon one on TV. Pantalone waved his hand, “if someone’s dying or I’m being robbed, I’m sure they’ll call again.” The phone stopped, and you listened to see if his hypothesis was true. But sure enough, it couldn’t have been that important since there was no second call. “See?” He said with a knowing grin. You tilted your head up, “I suppose it wasn’t important after all.”

The show came back on, and you unmuted it. Pantalone snagged another dumpling, resting his chin on your head as the plot started back up. Today, you had only been interrupted by two people; a segment asking for more funds, and a housekeeper coming in to tidy up the living room [only to be politely redirected to another room]. Pantalone swallowed his bite, “as cliche as it sounds, I do believe the butler did it.” “Right? He’s been shady from the start; ‘I was busy cleaning the bathroom,’ ‘you didn’t see me? My apologies, I was outside having a smoke.’ It feels like he’s just begging to be caught!” Pantalone chuckled as you let out your thoughts on the show. He leaned down and kissed the top of your head. “Happy Valentine’s Day, love. I’m lucky to spend it with you.” Your cheeks went a bit pink, but you smiled and looked up at him. “Happy Valentine’s Day to you too. I love you…”

~ Baizhu ~

You figured you should initiate Valentine’s Day celebrations, knowing Baizhu usually preferred getting you gifts for White Day. So off to the market you go with Changsheng around your arm. “No, not that, Baizhu does not like lots of sweet things.” “Spicy and sweet chocolates? Are you trying to make him upset?” “No, don’t-“ You sighed, “Changsheng, I’ve been with him for a year, I know he occasionally dabbles in light sweet things, I will ask for your help if I need it.” Changsheng let out a little ‘hmph!’ before curling up your arm and around your neck, finally letting you get him a small container of dark chocolates, and gum, and a little baggie of macaroons [even though she can’t taste it, you’re sure she’ll like the coconut texture]. You walked down a bit, looking at cards. You were stuck between two before sighing. “…alright, does he like romantic or funny.” Changsheng finally quit being broody, looking between the two. “Hm… not hyper romantic, but something more sweet. Maybe even a bit lighthearted.” “Thank you…” You set the two cards down, sifting through for something more kind, just a little sappy.

Once you got back to the pharmacy, you bent down to Qiqi’s level, handing her a macaroon. “Here you go, sweetheart. It has coconut. It’s not like coconut milk, but it has coconut still in it!” She took it in her little hands and popped it in her mouth. Qiqi chewed for a bit before holding her hands out. “More…” You handed her the whole bag, hoping she won’t forget about them and let them mold again. You put the card on the counter, rushing to write out an actual message but trying to make it heartfelt. You finished and walked to the back after signing it. Changsheng slithered down your leg and across the floor before wrapping herself around Baizhu. He turned around, “ah! You’re back so soon?” You smiled and handed him the small bag you put everything in, “yes, back so soon. Happy Valentine’s Day, love.” You always adored the way the corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled…

He walked over to a nearby chair and set his cane against the desk next to him as he sat down, opening the bag. He pulled out one of the chocolates, “sweetheart, these are-“ “dark chocolate, the way you like. The gum is sugar free but the flavor lasts a while.” Oh, he always felt so giddy when you remembered the way he enjoyed his food, or his layout, or really anything. Baizhu pulled out the card, crossing his legs as he read through it. “You didn’t have to…” You sat at the seat you pulled up to the desk, “but I did. You always work so hard and deserve a day that I can get you treats and love on you even more.” Baizhu popped a chocolate in his mouth, savoring the darker flavor. “I’ll have to spoil you on White Day, you know~” “I’m sure you will, love.”

You two finally got a chance to chat, talking about anything besides work. It was nice and peaceful, and you both snacked on the treats you got. Qiqi ran in after a bit, “Doctor Bai, Doctor Bai, Reader got me… uhh… mini texture cakes…” Qiqi was always so cute when she tried remembering a word… “Macaroons?” “Uhm, yeah, Macaroons… they have a good feeling…” Baizhu looked over at you, “I see you got treats for Qiqi while out at the market today?” “Well of course! She only deserves them after being the best assistant ever~” You pinch Qiqi’s cheek like a loving parent, earning a whine from the little girl. Baizhu chuckled, “well, it seems she enjoyed them. Thank you, qīn’ài de.”

~ Arlecchino ~

Valentine’s Day has arrived. The children were swarming you with crude drawings of you, covered in red and pink hearts. “Happy Valentine’s Day Mx. Reader!” “Happy love day!” “No, no, it’s Valentine’s Day, dummy!” Arlecchino cleared her throat, and all of the children stepped back. Arlecchino towered over you, her beautiful black and red eyes staring into your soul. She grabbed your hand with her cursed one, “children, go prepare your lunches, you can give Reader your artworks later.” Most of the children gave a quick ‘yes, Father,’ type of answer before leaving, allowing Arlecchino her time with you. She held your cheek, thumb swiping over your face.

Arlecchino wordlessly pulled you to your shared bedroom. You thought ‘really, when the children are outside?’ But were quickly proven wrong when she dug through a drawer and pulled out a little box. She held it for a moment before handing it to you, “Happy Valentine’s Day. I understand that this is a sentimental holiday to most, so I enlisted Lyney and Lynette’s help with making jellies and chocolates.” It was a neat box. Not one of those heart shaped ones you buy and then toss, but an actual fancy one. The top slowly slid off, and inside were the aforementioned jellies and chocolates, a card, and a couple photos she snagged of you both.

She crossed her arms, glancing away as if this was a trivial matter. “It isn’t that important, you don’t need to-“ You didn’t even read the card before setting the box down and tightly hugging her. Arlecchino was stunned for a moment, before she rested her hands on your back. You planted a kiss on her cheek before squeezing and letting go, “I don’t even need to try the candies to know they’re good…” A hint of a smile graced Arlecchino’s face; her efforts did not go unnoticed. “I’m glad you at least enjoy the thought of it, my bunny.”

As you popped a chocolate in your mouth, you could hear hushed giggling outside the door. You swallowed the sweet treat before quietly walking over and ripping open the door, making the small group of children listening in yell and laugh as they ran down the hall. Arlecchino sighed, hoping her sappy moment wasn’t overheard, but you couldn’t help but smile at the pitter-patter of small shoes down the hall. You pushed the box to the side, unbuttoning the overcoat Arlecchino wore before pulling her into bed. The poor thing couldn’t help but blush, “My bunny, the children can’t-“ “shh, they can go unsupervised for ten minutes. And plus, they’re mature enough to make good decisions. I want some time with my beautiful husband…”

~ Capitano ~

Thrain was a working man. So, that meant your romantic day started at the training grounds. He stood with his arms crossed, telling soldiers to run across the grounds, do the polearm techniques they were taught, and drop and do 20 pushups, all in two minutes. You held onto Thrain’s arm, your breath precipitating in the icy cold air as you watched his agents run back and forth.

As soon as the slower ones were done, he let out a dismissive grunt. “Good for today. Practice later. You’re all dismissed.” All the soldiers hurriedly grabbed their bags and equipment, rushing away. You pulled on Thrain’s arm, “soooo, dinner at that new Inazuman place tonight~?” Ah, even he couldn’t resist an amused huff. He turned to face you, putting a gloved hand on your cheek. “Yes, we will go at six tonight.” You smiled. He likely would wear a heavy coat with something somewhat fancy underneath, but you’d never see him in a suit. And that was fine, he looked more handsome in his choice clothes anyways.

You spent the afternoon getting ready; taking a shower, brushing your hair, picking a nice outfit, the whole shebang. You even consulted your dear friends Columbina and Signora for your choice in clothes. And Thrain? He looked fantastic; dressed in black clothes with accessories, long black hair loosely braided, and currently only holding his helmet. His face was rotted, with half of his teeth visible through his cheek and his nose almost completely gone. But you couldn’t help but grin like a lovesick puppy. You walked over, grabbed one of his hands, and stood on your toes to plant a kiss on his remaining cheek. “You look fantastic, dearest.”

He huffs and looks away, but you could see the little bit of pink between all the black and blue rot. You hold his hand, pulling him towards the door. “Come on, come on, before the restaurant is out of tables!” Thrain squeezes your hand and follows, grabbing the keys and locking the door as you both walk out [two tasks you completely forgot about].

~ Scaramouche ~

His idea of a ‘day out, completely unrelated to that dumb holiday you mortals celebrate.’ was to go out to hunt. In the freezing cold. At four in the morning. He sat in the makeshift spot in the tree, your breath showing next to him as you pointed out little movements down below. He pointed his rifle at a tall and imposing buck that was looking around, “cover your ears.” You didn’t hesitate, cupping your hands over your ears just as he shot the buck dead. The blood painted the beautiful white snow red, and it dropped. Scaramouche hopped out of the tree, halfheartedly ‘catching’ you once you jumped. He picked up the heavy buck with the strength of an unrealized god. “…you want any help with carrying that..?” “No.” That was classic Scaramouche; never accepting help.

You got the buck back to your warmed campsite, where you started to properly prep it. Scaramouche warmed up some milk over the fire for your both to make cocoa. You glanced at him before looking back to the corpse, “you looked cute while you were focusing and aiming…” His face flushed, and he quickly pulled up his hood. “I was not cute, nor have I ever been.” You set down the knife, “are you blushing? Are you, The Balladeer, Sixth Fatui Harbinger, *blushing?*” He went even redder, “absolutely not! It’s just the cold!” Although it was cold, you knew that wasn’t the reason. “Really. The cold. Not because I called you cute?” “…n-no…”

You couldn’t stop grinning, still prepping the buck. He mixed in the cocoa powder as you bagged up the meat with your portable vacuum sealer. He poured you both mugs, sitting down with a huff to blow off his cocoa. Even though he hated sweet things, this wasn’t too bad. You grabbed your cup and sat next to him, leaning your head against his. “Happy Valentine’s Day..?” “Hmph. You mortals and your useless romantic holidays…” You giggled and took a sip of your drink, knowing that you made him blush over your ‘useless romantic holiday.’

~ Tartaglia ~

Ajax took you back to Morepesok for this year’s Valentine’s Day, and you got bombarded by his siblings. “Mx. Ajax’s joyfriend!” “Hello Mx Ajax’s joyfriend!” “Did you bring us candies too?” Ajax smiled at his little brothers and sister talking to you like you were already apart of the family. They all pulled at your sleeves to try and get your to follow and play with them, but Ajax held your hand to keep you back. “Don’t worry, Reader will spend plenty of time with you three tomorrow. Now go tell mom and dad we’re back, and write a list of aaaaaaall you wanna do.” All three ran off, excited to put together a list of things they wanted to do with you. That bought you two some time. He scooped you up, kissing along your face. You went a little pink, but let him take you back to his room in the house.

He took off his boots, laying down with you still in his arms. “Aren’t they going to notice you and me missing?” “It’ll he fine,” he reassured. You let him curl around you, just wanting some downtime. You could hear the little pitter patter of feet going up and down the stairs, but Ajax just stayed put, content staying with you for the moment. You readjusted so you were laying with your head on his chest. Really, he just looked so beautiful… he cracked open an eye and let out a little hum when he saw you looking at him, “and what’re you looking at?” “Mm… you just look pretty is all.” He wasn’t quite expecting that and instantly flushed, “ah- a-are you sure??” You giggled at seeing how flustered he got, “I’m sure, I’m sure. You just look so nice…”

The next few days were filled with the children vying for your attention and lots of baking and going out with his family, with you making him instantly flustered with compliments in your time away from everyone. But how could you help yourself? It was Valentine’s Day, you felt even more affectionate than usual, and how could you resist teasing and complimenting someone as handsome as Ajax? Especially when he flushed and got all stuttery… it was a good holiday, and you’re glad you can spend Valentine’s Day together with him.

~ Columbina ~

Your sweet angel, who was just a little terrifying… Columbina’s beautiful pink eyes stared at you from the dark vent as you wrote out a card that was meant for her. “…bina..?” She didn’t respond, just opened the vent and gestured for you to come closer. You finished your card with love and held onto it as you stood up. It was a little bit of a tight fit since you weren’t as small as her, but it was dusty and warm. Columbina shuffled down the vents, her ribbons trailing behind her. “Ma columbe, where are we going?” “You’ll see…” she said in that silky voice, crawling a little faster. Turn after turn, you weren’t even sure what part of the palace you were in anymore, but it seemed like Columbina knew her way around.

Finally, she stopped. Peeking behind her, you could see that you both ended up in a decent sized closet with a giant nest made out of your stolen clothes, stowed away snacks, and dim lights. Columbina crawled out and curled up in the nest, patting the spot next to her for you to come to. You figured it was best to listen, so you handed her the card and sat next to her, to which she pulled you down to be a little spoon. You could hear chattering outside; sounded like a couple of guards, likely just walking outside. Her eyes closed into a relaxed state, and she held onto you tightly.

Really, an uneventful Valentine’s Day; just snuggling in Columbina’s secret hideout. But it was good, and you were spending time with the… eldritch angel you loved most. Her head wings rested against the sides of your head, and it felt fluffy and warm. “Mm… I love you, bina…” “I love you too, my dearest.”

~ Tighnari ~

You two were working in the kitchen together; Tighnari mixing the sugar into the melted butter and chocolate, and you preparing the molds for them to go in. Tighnari was mindlessly chattering about how the ingredients were gathered, and you making room in the freezer. “And the cacao pods were hand harvested by a nearby group, and we traded for them using perfectly ripe starshrooms. I have to say, whoever gets these chocolates will be one lucky person.” “…what..?” …what.” You stared as he stopped mixing. “…they’re for you?” He tilted his head, “what do you mean? I thought you were making this for Valentine’s Day?” You turned to face him, putting your hands together. “Nari, dearest, these are for you.” Tighnari looked confused. “But… I’m not your valentine?” You just looked so disappointed…

“Joonam, when I said ‘do you want to make chocolates on Valentine’s Day together,’ did you not interpret that as me asking you out??” “Obviously not??” You flushed a bit, but couldn’t help but giggle at the situation. “Really? It didn’t once cross your mind?” He went a little red, “well no! You didn’t… ah, never mind, we’re here now…” “sooo you’re saying you’d like to keep this little date going?” “…yes please…” You smiled as you took the bowl out of his flustered hands, pouring the chocolate in the molds. Once they were in the freezer, you dragged Tighnari to the couch and pulled him into your lap.

His ears were pinned back, but his tail was thumping against the couch. “Is there something you wanna tell me~?” “No…” He was so cute; the ever sassy Tighnari, actually flustered over being asked out for Valentine’s Day. How adorable. You pulled him closer, snuggling into his chest. The chocolates could wait until later, you just want to snuggle with him for now.

~ Navia ~

You two were on a picnic by the Weeping Willow of the Lake, which has miraculously grown back to health recently. You laid on the ground, kicking your legs as you snacked on a macaron. It tasted fantastic; truly Navia’s specialty. She had her hat off to the side, gazing out at the scenery as she grabbed another macaron. She looked so pretty; so put together, poised, polite, you could barely put it into words. While she was looking at the landscape, you couldn’t take your eyes off her. She pointed to a somewhat heart shaped tree in the distance, “look at that one! Hehe, it’s like it was meant to be~” You finally took your eyes off your beloved to look at the tree. “Ah, it’s like the forest knew we were coming!” You both got a giggle out of that one. You sat up and moved closer, sitting next to Navia and leaning your head on her shoulder.

Navia turned to look at you, that beautiful smile gracing her lips. She put an arm around you, leaning her head on yours. It was truly a calming moment. In the distance, you could see a little melusine run and dive into the water surrounding the Willow. “Seems like she had places to be,” you said with a laugh. “It appears so~ now, what would you say to finishing these macarons and heading out to go shopping together in the Court?” That sounded like a fantastic idea, so you turned and grabbed the few macarons that were left, handing two to Navia and taking that last one for yourself. She noticed the imbalance and waited for you to finish your macaron. “Here, take a bite and hold it,” she said while holding up another one. Of course, they tasted amazing, so you opened up and took a bite. She leaned in and bit the other half, and you both practically exploded into giggles at the little gesture.

She finished her other macaron, and you packed up the blanket inside the basket. It was a relatively small basket and a thin blanket, so you could shove it into your backpack. You took Navia’s hand in yours and were about to walk off when she stopped you, “ah- wait, turn your head to the side.” You expected there to be crumbs she was going to wipe off, but you quickly flushed when she kissed your cheek and left a little lipstick mark on it. “And the other side now?” You looked like a giddy teenager as you turned your head again, allowing her to give you another kiss. You reached up and planted a kiss on her cheek, unfortunately lipstickless. You both kept walking, occasionally pointing out the beautiful scenery surrounding you. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Navia.” “Happy Valentine’s Day, my sweet.”

~ Yae Miko ~

Your teasing wife. Today, you woke up by yourself, with supposedly no one by your side. But as you sit up to go make the bed, you see her, in her cute little kitsune form, curled up under the blankets. You smile and scoop her up. Miko woke up, but yawned and curled up against you. You both ended up sleeping in a lot; about four hours past when you expected to wake up. But finally, Miko was back in her human form, and her pretty eyes started opening. You kissed her on the nose once you came to as well, “Happy Valentine’s Day, tsubasa.” Her nose twitched, “and I see you’re as lively as always?” You smiled and sat up, stretching your arms and back. “do I need an excuse? I just want to spoil you today; no work, no shrines, just you and I.” She sat up next to you, “I suppose I’ve earned myself a day off, hm?” “Yes, you have. Now let’s go, and I’ll make fried tofu for breakfast.” You could practically see her naturally droopy ears perk up, “oh? Well that’s an offer I can’t refuse.”

She got out of bed first, throwing on a very comfy outfit. You put on plain clothes too, planning to just spend the day in. You headed to the kitchen to fry tofu and make ramen to serve it with, meanwhile Miko just lounged on her chair nearby. “Ah, that smells so good~” You smiled as you flipped it, “I’m glad you think so.” You served it up, and Miko went through her entire bowl [even stealing some out of yours…] After she finished, she got up. You tried peeking over, but she held up a finger; “stay put, I have treats for you.” “Treats? For me?” You playfully grinned as she pulled out a little baggie of homemade sunsettia chews. She handed the bag over, along with a small note basically saying ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart.’ It was a lovely gesture. You opened the bag and popped one in your mouth.

She planted a kiss on top of your head, two of her tails running along your back as she moved to sit back down. “Thank you, Miko, they taste fantastic.” Miko smiled, “so it seems my efforts are appreciated after all. Now, what would you say to simply sitting and reading some light novels today?” “That sounds fantastic, dear.” She smiled, all [slightly sharp] teeth as she snagged a bit more of your tofu. You both finished up, then got up to go grab some good romantic books to go through together. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my kitsune.” “Happy Valentine’s Day, kobito.”

[scatter-snz]

Best Laid Plans - Epilogue

Details: 3k, M sneezes

Summary: A secret agent is going undercover for a few days, and his target has a sneeze fetish. At the conclusion of his mission, he can call it a success.

PART 4 - EPILOGUE

46k words total???? WHAT?? That’s a lot of rambling smutty nonsense to read, so A HUUUUUGE THANK YOU to everyone who liked, commented, reblogged, tagged, sent in asks, created art, and messaged me with love for this story 😭💞 It’s honestly helped build my confidence and brought me a lot of joy. This is my first time experiencing a community response like this to my OCs and I know I’ve said it many times but it really means a lot 🩷🩷 So thank you thank you thank you!!!

And without further ado, the epilogue! As always, these are original characters, all in their mid twenties to early thirties!

Warnings: None

---

It was Thursday afternoon, and Dr. Anita Voster planned to spend it basking beneath a cloudless sky. 

Pristine blue was the backdrop to bright sand, shimmering waves, and tall, tufted palms rustling in the wind. Below their balcony, tourists dotted the beach and waded through crystal clear water. The agency didn’t skimp when it came to accommodation, huh? Anita rarely got to travel, usually relegated to the astringent, corporate angles of her laboratory. What a breath of fresh air (literally) to be kicking back on a plushy lounge chair, mimosa in one hand and a pulp thriller novel in the other.

If this is how it always is, the intelligence sector really lives the high life, she thought with a smile. Lucky bastards.

Off to her right, Delta suddenly stood from his chair. “Maybe I should go check on him.”

“You could,” Anita replied, gaze never straying from her book, “but if he wakes up to you mother-henning him, he’s going to be pissed.”

“I know,” he sighed, and sat back down on the cushy seat to stare forlornly at the Omicron-shaped pile of blankets through the glass of the balcony doors. “I’m just concerned. He’s been sleeping for ages.”

“He had a long night.”

“He was still feverish when he went to bed.”

“And his fever was down this morning.”

The thermometer read 99°F / 37.2°C when they silently pointed the laser sight at Omicron’s forehead (the only part of him exposed from beneath the sheets) a few hours ago. Elevated, but technically within healthy parameters and much better than the night before. Anita suspected it was the last of the virus exiting his system. 

“I’ve never seen him like that,” Delta muttered, fiddling with his empty coffee mug. “His loss of composure with you on the phone was unexpected, but last night.. last night, he was just so..”

Delta struggled to articulate what Anita could have told him. She’d known Omicron since his first day at the agency, and had seen him through all kinds of illnesses and injuries. He was a notorious handful, but given time the man inevitably crumbled under his own pressure — what lay beneath his prickly defenses was soft, weepy, and sought comfort. It was pure kryptonite for the kind-hearted nurturers of the world. 

Unlucky for Omicron that he’d shown it to Delta, who would (in the most kind-hearted and nurturing way) never let him forget it.

“Well behaved?” Anita finally finished the sentence for him, aiming for tact. “I know what you mean.”

Delta sighed again and braced his elbows to his knees, cradling his head in his hands. “He’s going to give me grey hair.”

Anita sighed back. “He gives everyone grey hair, sir,” she said as she flipped another page of her book. “Still, he’s a professional. You can trust him to know his limits.”

From her periphery she saw Delta eye her dubiously and she couldn’t blame him; on this very assignment he’d neglected to admit to the unintended and compromising side effects of her virus. Well, she’d done what she could to defend his competence. Hopefully he could cobble together the rest of his reputation on his own.

As if summoned by their gossip, a familiar sound drifted to them from the crack in the balcony doors.

“-mmfzsh!”

Muffled by the sheets, but unmistakably the overplayed soundtrack of this mission: Omicron sneezing. If he was sneezing, then he was awake; if he was awake, then unless he was still feeling rotten, he’d be grumpy. Based on her previous experiences, the odds weren’t in their favor. Anita resigned herself to a difficult patient.

“-ehTZSHoo!”

A glance over her shoulder to the room found Omicron with his back to the balcony, bathrobe dipping off one bare shoulder, sitting on the edge of the bed. His head tilted in increments, accompanied by gasps they couldn’t hear, with a helpless, snarling expression they couldn’t see. Or maybe a twitchy smile, as he was prone to nowadays. They all waited as he teetered on the edge of a breath, taunt, before hurling himself over his knees.

“-DZSSCH!..” Wrenching, unrelieved, characteristically harsh for this cold. “..h-..hEH-...EH’BZSSH-!” 

He sniffled wildly, announcing another with an expectant HEH! before his breath whisked away from him uncommitted. Omicron groaned, one of his arms routing to his face. Anita suspected he was bullying his nose with the rough cuff of his bathrobe. The bed creaked as he stood up; both she and Delta quickly turned back around to occupy themselves with the balcony view as shuffling steps carried Omicron further into the room. The bathroom door shut behind him.

During the half hour he spent under steaming hot spray, Anita repeatedly reminded Delta not to immediately smother him and so of course the moment Omicron stepped out on the balcony, hair still damp and nose gleaming pink, the senior agent swooped down on him.

“Agent Omicron!” he crowed in greeting. Anita could see the split-second flash in Omicron’s eyes when he considered diving back into the hotel room to escape, but he was too slow. Delta clapped hands on his shoulders. “The man of the hour! Let me have a look at you. How are you feeling?”

Omicron squinted up at him, as if staring into the sun. “I’m fine, sir.”

To his credit, he did sound better. Congestion weighed down the resonance of his words without impacting his consonants, which indicated inflammation rather than mucus buildup. That boded well for her concerns about a secondary sinus infection. His voice was scratchy, but she put that down to his extracurriculars last night over any complications of his cold.

“Glad to hear it,” came Delta’s warm reply. He scrutinized his junior unabashedly as Omicron stood in an awkward parade rest, averting his eyes and shifting on his feet. “And glad to see it. You look much better than you did last night.”

Predictably, Omicron tensed at the reminder of last night. His jaw tightened. 

“I.. apologize for any unprofessional behavior on my part, sir,” he mumbled, stilted and formal. “I wasn’t.. that is, I didn’t expect the distraction to be so draining and I should have-”

“Omicron.” Delta squeezed his arms, smiling down into Omicron’s eyes with overflowing sympathy. “You have nothing to apologize for. In fact, I am very proud of you for leaning on Dr. Voster and I for support. I know vulnerability is difficult for you, so its significance does not escape me.”

Anita watched Omicron briefly preen from the praise, then get torpedoed by Delta’s ‘vulnerability’ comment. He flushed up to his ears, cheeks glowing as red as his nose when it wrinkled with a scowl. A beat too late he realized his expression and tried to rearrange it into something more appropriately grateful, but Delta only chuckled.

“Come,” he said, turning to nudge Omicron toward the glass-top table awash with a spread of confections and finger-foods they room-serviced earlier. “You can give me your debrief over lunch.”

Anita joined them at the table, treating herself to a helping of pasta salad as Omicron recounted the pertinent details of his reconnaissance last night. He spoke crisply, concisely, efficient and professional as he ever was. As she watched him, however, she noted the occasional glimpses of his lingering cold: breathing covertly through his mouth, clearing his throat occasionally, and most damning, the way he tucked his index finger beneath fluttering nostrils. He seemed to have regained his ability to stave off urges somewhat, which was a good sign. 

When Delta finished sharing the accomplishments of their crypto team and briefly left the table to update HQ on a secure line, Anita shuffled her chair closer to Omicron. He regarded her warily in his periphery.

“How’s your nose doing?”

Omicron sniffled at the reminder, but wasn’t immediately overtaken by that preceding, faraway look. Anita took this as a positive sign, and was further reassured to hear him say, “It still tickles, but not nearly as badly as before.”

She slipped her otoscope from the pocket of her slacks, to his glaring dismay. “Let me see.”

“No!” he squawked, shoulders up to his ears. “I’m eating. Leave me alone.”

“Come on, it’ll only take a second.” She moved toward him, and he leaned away. When she tried again, she met the same resistance. It was like trying to feed a child a spoonful of peas. “Seriously, O?”

Omicron snatched up his salad and stood, making his escape with a snide utterance, “I’ve had enough of you meddling with my nose, thanks so much- mmff!” 

He bumped chest first into an unmovable, smiling Delta standing sentry at the balcony threshold, holding the agency STU as he waited for the line to connect. Thus Omicron was summarily frog-marched back to the table, quietly fuming, and subjected to Anita’s ‘manhandling’ as he would put it.

 She coaxed him to lift his chin as she first checked his glands, then used her otoscope for a peek up his nose. What she saw didn’t surprise her. His membranes were swollen and rashed red with reactivity, the pure definition of irritation. She suspected he’d be recovering from his symptoms for the rest of the week. There was a faint, anxious voice at the back of her mind imploring her to keep an eye on him. Given the unpredictable results of the spray, he might face lingering side effects. A stone sunk in her stomach at the thought.

“Still inflamed,” she confirmed as she leaned away, “but that should reduce by the weekend. I’d like to give you another exam on Monday to make sure you’re over it.”

Omicron scrubbed a finger beneath his nose, lingering against his septum as his eyes narrowed. “You’re making too much of it.”

“Well, apparently I didn’t make enough of it at the start, so excuse me for being thorough.” 

Anita tried not to kick herself for not grounding Omicron after that first powerful sneezing spell the day after his infection. Omicron would get his commendation, Anita got valuable data for her continued bio studies, and neither of them would get more than a slap on the wrist for their carelessness. Still, as she watched Omicron blink in irritation and then in distraction, saw his nostrils flutter against the edge of his finger, heard his breath snag, Anita couldn’t help but feel responsible for it.

He caught her looking at him, sparing her a withering glare as his eyes rolled closed. Cutting his losses with the finger strategy, he instead snatched up a napkin off the table. The urge overwhelmed him before he could use it.

“hck’GIZSShu-!”

His eyelids raised to half-mast, lips still parted as his nostrils pulsed subtly with want of another. It was slow to come, and Anita could only imagine the havoc unfolding in the depths of Omicron’s irritated nose. He shut his eyes to concentrate, the fitful twitches of his nostrils growing more pronounced as he dragged in a watery snuffle to egg it on. His eyebrows pinched together, perhaps in response to what tickled him. Anita thought he might lose it again when suddenly his chest lifted-

“hHI’GZZSSHoo!” Omicron pitched forward into his napkin, tilting his head back after for another cutting gasp, “-hhhH!..KZSSHHOO!-uhghh..”

Omicron braced an elbow on the table’s edge as he massaged his nose through the fabric; an air of tired relief hung around him as he muddled through the clean-up. He blew himself dry, itched his nostrils into submission, and then slumped back in his chair. 

“.. Bless you,” Anita offered. 

Omicron took one look at her and scoffed. “Don’t tell mbe you actually feel guilty about this.”

Anita routed her attention to her meal, pushing food around on her plate. She hadn’t said it in so many words, between all the teasing barbs and their collective focus on the mission, but.. “I’m allowed.”

Silence fell between them, broken only by the distant sound of crashing waves. Soft wasn’t really their dynamic, not outside of specific circumstances, so it was a surprise to feel Omicron’s hand rest on top of her own. He stilled her fidgeting, her fork clattering onto her plate when she braved eye contact. He was as serious as he ever was, dark eyes looking brighter in the sunlight before he slanted her a smile. It was a rare expression for him; not entirely gentle but genuine, seldom worn unless he was faking it.

“I’d do it all again, just like this,” he told her. “No regrets.”

“If I’d given you the appropriate dose, you wouldn’t have suffered so much,” she replied quietly.

He snorted, the sound bottled up in his throat from the lingering congestion. His smile grew. “The dose was fine. I’b ndot sure I would’ve endticed Josaline without it. And trust mbe, the only ‘sufferi’g’ I experienced was Delta’s incessant blessings.”

Anita would never admit it because it just wasn’t their style, but his assurances did soothe that fretting voice inside her. Just a little bit. They shared in this soft moment, dragging it out until she felt the self-conscious twitch of Omicron’s fingers over hers and watched him avert his gaze.

Refusing to let him be the first to break the spell, Anita slipped her hand from beneath his own to raise her palm to his forehead, affecting a look of concern. “Are you sure you’re feeling better? You’re being so sweet.”

Omicron’s smile sharpened to a smirk before he dropped it entirely, leaning away from her touch and tucking back into his lunch. “Yes, mby mistake. You’re the worst doctor I’ve ever mbet and I’b suing for mbalpractice.”

“Sorry, what was that? Balpractice?”

Making fun of his stuffy voice was a little below the belt, and Omicron didn’t pull his punches either. He flicked his fork and nailed her in the cheek with a cherry tomato. It got salad dressing on her nice, airy blouse so she snatched up a bread roll with the intention of force feeding it to him when Delta swept back onto the balcony.

“I have great news!” he announced, clapping his hands together and smiling at the two of them. Anita rerouted the roll to her own mouth and ignored Omicron’s smugness. Delta continued, “Headquarters is so pleased with our progress that they’re giving us the rest of the week off. Our resort stay has been extended to the weekend!”

Anita hadn’t had a proper vacation in months, if not over a year, and they could do much worse than an all-star tropical resort. Before she let her excitement get away from her, she clarified, “All expenses paid?”

“Indeed!” chirped Delta.

Omicron was suspicious, as always, and raised an eyebrow over his salad. “.. That’s ndo smball expense. They’re really that happy about the case? It’s ndot like we caught the targets red-handed.”

“No, but we made significant strides for intelligence on this matter,” replied Delta, and then after a moment enduring Omicron’s stare, he sheepishly added, “and I did tell them you needed more time to recover.”

Omicron stood from the table, affronted. “I do ndot!”

Anita tugged him back down to his seat, hissing at him. “If it gets us paid time off at a resort, O, you absolutely do.”

“I’mb the picture of health!” he insisted, glaring between his team members. Anita watched his nostrils flare and he rushed his finger beneath them. He fixed his appeal on Delta, and belatedly remembered to watch his tone. “Sir, I implore you, please indform HQ I’mb ready for mby ndext assignmbent.”

“Omicron,” tutted Delta, hands on his hips. “You need rest. Not only to physically recover, but to take care of your spirit. Emotional wellbeing is just as important. There is more to life than your work. Take this opportunity to relax.”

“But, s-hhir-”

“I won’t repeat myself, agent.”

Caught between his ire and insubordination, Omicron struggled to find an opening. His nose thwarted him before he could achieve any real progress. Once again, his finger trick failed him and he was forced to jerk away from the table with a ticklish,

“-iihTSSHu!”

“Bless you,” said Delta.

Omicron fought to open his eyes, a wet glare just barely out of his reach, before flinching hard enough to rattle his chair. “-iyehDZZSSHoo!”

Delta winced. “Ooh, bless you.”

“hh-..hH’DSSsh!” 

“Bless you!”

“St-hh..” Omicron couldn’t open his eyes, and steadying his voice wasn’t working so well for him either. “Plhheease.. h-HEH!..ugh, please stop siHH!” He grimaced, tickled beyond speech, and trembled through another sneeze. “HIDZZSShoo!”

“Bless you, Omicron,” Delta said, oblivious and aching with sympathy. “I’m sure the sneezing will stop soon. Here, let me get you some tissues, one moment.”

Anita left the two of them to it, Omicron’s helpless sneezing and Delta’s effusive attempts to assist him fading to the background as she cracked open the resort guidebook to plan her vacation itinerary.

✨ THE END ✨

While it’s the end of this story, this isn’t the last you’ll see of these characters 💫 For anyone interested in reading some more stories that further explore this world, I’ll see you then!! 🥰

[tickytheclock]

Time to get my Faction out :D

[Wild Riders]

They are a faction of a rag-tag team of Toons. They basically travel around via the truck, Steel Stallion. They go around from settlement to settlement to do business such as selling weapons and augments as well as buying for supplies and material.

Members in the faction join via being picked up by the leader, Tinkerer. Most of them were found in tight situations like near death scenarios or even when they are at their low, some are pretty great customers of Tinkerer who just decided to hitch on.

This is their Truck, or more specifically, Tinkerer's.

Steel Stallion

Functions as a base, home, workshop, store and more. There are plenty of weapons, augments, armour, utility tools and supplies so take your time scouring through the stocks.

Operation Ichor by @slumbrr-r @operation-ichor

Relationship with other Organizations and Factions. ↓

Gardenview [Allies/Friendly]:

The Wild Riders have a very beneficial relationship with this organization, especially with those in the Forge. They supply and trade each other with mainly blueprints and materials.

The Merchant Order [Neutral]:

The Wild Riders are technically under this organization, plenty of reliable links and ties to be found there. Mainly just buying and selling goods there.

RUIN CORP [Allies/Neutral]:

Although the Wild Riders primarily go to them for...cleaning. The two benefit from each other a lot, specifically with Harmony.

Zodiac [Enemies]:

Although it's usually either kill on sight or sabotage on the sidelines, the Wild Riders have a primary goal—to make the members in there defected from the place as much as they can, whether it be through fear or convincing.

Plus it be funny if there was a revolution, watch the place crumble on itself.

Vinization [Allies/Neutral]:

Mutual connection for benefit, and a great place where the Wild Riders can get info on the Zodiac through the captured members. It also wouldn't hurt to do a bit of trading with the Retailers, helps both sides.

Hidden Sanctuary [Allies/Friendly]:

Like Gardenview, they provide each other with supplies and material, beneficial for the Builders and Defenders with materials, tools, weapons and augments and the Wild Riders with food supplies.

Overseas Commandment [Neutral/Friendly]:

These two factions don't really meet up often since they travel a lot one on land and the other on sea. But when they do, it's mostly some exchange in information and trading with materials.

The Caravan [Allies/Friendly]:

They most definitely share information as the Wild Riders would aid in giving and improving weapons and augments for better protection. These two factions travel with each other when they get the chance to, after all, there is a certain strength in numbers. Makes the trip a bit more safer.

Phoenix Coalition Organization [Allies/Neutral]:

They most certainly do have different ideals but they do have a certain goal, to protect others and stand united.

With the Defense Division, the Wild Riders will most certainly aid in their mission and especially with evacuation and waves.

At Site Omicron where the Engineering Department is, they mutually help in making even more ichor efficient and powerful tools, weapons, augments and armour.

Meanwhile at Site Thaumiel, the headquarters of the Science Department, they share data and research for more understanding and breakthroughs.

Sentinel and Wild Riders would certainly run into each other plenty of times, it's more of a competition of who does it first really and maybe form a joint operation.

The Wild Riders never truly interacted with the Diplomatic Relations Division, so just be prepared for sudden joint operations, but despite everything help is still help.

Mechanists [Neutral/Allies]:

These faction may not see things eye to eye but they certainly help each other when it's needed.

Sometimes they do come around each other via the Marauders Division in their expedition I'm which they would offer the members to hitch a ride to their destination and target.

With the Moongazer Division, its mainly exchange in material and tech, as well as maybe blueprints.

Masquerade Town [Neutral?]:

...if a single word got out to the Wild Riders that the town is nothing but Twisteds, there's going to be a massacre...

The Field [Tension/Enemies]:

...the ex-member of the Zodiacs in the Wild Riders have given intel of this organization...this place needs to be known but the risk is very much a lot.

Wild Riders mainly avoid this place because it is at risk with all the children in there...mayhaps the other factions can help.

The Greater Good [Tension/Enemies/Allies?]:

Unfortunately, they are enemies (albeit one sided) due to Wild Riders have both an ex-member of the Zodiac and partial Twisteds, maybe they could've been allies under different circumstances but this is not the case.

The Wild Riders take on a more defensive approach to the faction of The Greater Good, often fleeing, their intentions are good but their ways are flawed. But they WILL reluctantly help each other and call it truce when it comes to threats like the Zodiac, Twisteds and especially waves.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Something to look out for this summer. Mask up.

[ricisidro]

The current rise in COVID-19 cases is linked to new Covid variants related to the Omicron JN.1 strain, i.e., LF.7 and NB.1.8.

These variants are targeted by the latest COVID-19 vaccines available in Singapore, but not in some countries including the Philippines.

https://www.news18.com/world/covid-19-cases-in-hong-kong-singapore-how-are-authorities-dealing-with-this-sudden-wave-9343820.html

[sugarushwriting]

frat boy heeseung part two who can’t get you off his mind. he left you…somewhat disappointed after the hookup so you may or may not go after the muncher of the group

NSFW

part two of 👇🏽

kinda long, but didn’t want to make a part three, but i might make a part three anyway. not necessarily a happy or sad ending, just how the reader (you) recovers and how your crush came about.

please reblog, share, comment!

do not repost as your own or translate!!

not proof read

₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ ₊˚⊹♡

one week. seven days. it’s been that long since heeseung had you in bed and you…didn’t praise him like he thought you would. like other girls usually do. he can’t believe you just said, “thank you,” to him and walked out. didn’t ask for his number or beg him for another time.

sunghoon, jay, and jake could tell sometime was up with their frat brother. he was always cranky after sex which means, he wasn’t satisfied.

heeseung hasn’t been properly satisfied since the chi omicron party.

because of you.

you on the other hand was doing just fine. attending classes, hanging out with your “adoptive” brother ni-ki, hanging out with your roomie and studying.

since you were a criminal justice major, you didn’t have many classes with the boys. you had one class with jungwon, but that’s because that specific class was mixed with anyone second year and above.

you had always known you had an english class with jake and sunghoon, followed by a history class with jay and heeseung. you don’t know if the boys knew it, but now you definitely were hyper aware ever since the chi omicron party.

thankfully none of the guys brought up the night, which made you wonder if heeseung even told them he hooked up with you.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

“it’s a friday night and we’re here at the library instead of a party.” heeseung groaned, throwing his pencil down on his notebook.

“you don’t have to be here you know.” jake’s aussie accent spoke. “we booked this room for studying for midterms. you joined us because you’re not happy with getting laid lately.”

heeseung’s head whipped up with a scowl on his face. he huffed, and the other guys chuckled.

jake and sunghoon reserved a study room in the library due to midterms in a few days and needing to study for a chemistry exam.

it was true, but heeseung couldn’t argue. in the meantime he thought he might as well try and study even though his brain was clouded.

“it’ll teach you to focus on your studies, not a girls body anatomy.” sunghoon laughed.

unbeknown, you were at the library as well, on the same floor. you met with choi yeonjun, to work on a midterm project together for a class for your criminal justice major requirements.

jake was the first to notice you. “hey, it’s eunjin!” he smiled widely, like a puppy. sunghoon and heeseung’s heads whipped up, seeing you standing near their study room door, talking with yeonjun.

“wonder how she knows yeonjun?” sunghoon asked in no one particular. heeseung’s jaw clenched.

jake went to the study door and instead of opening it to say your name, he frantically waved in front of the door.

yeonjun noticed with a laugh, and pointed, “i think jake sim is trying to get your attention.”

you turned your head to see jake with a big smile on his face as he waved. you waved back, then held up a finger indicating ‘give me a minute.’

“how you know the chi omicron boys?” yeonjun asked, eyebrow raised.

“mainly because of ni-ki.” you answered. “he’s a close family friend, and ended up joining the fraternity.”

“well one day, i hope you stop by tau chi tau (TXT) for one of our parties.”

“i didn’t know you were in a frat?” you laughed.

“that’s surprising because everyone says i give off frat boy vibes, whatever that means.”

you bid goodbyes with yeonjun, planning to meet up again before the project’s due date of thursday next week.

when you entered the study room, you weren’t expecting to see heeseung. like the lee heeseung in a study room? rather than in some girl’s bed?

“hi jake. sunghoon. heeseung.” you greeted all the men.

“have a seat sweets!” jake smiled enthusiastically and pulled out the seat next to him.

“what were you doing with choi yeonjun.” heeseung asked never looking up from his notebook.

“he’s in one of my classes. we have a project together to complete.” you answered, not noticing the slight tone difference in heeseung. “he also invited me to one of his frat parities.”

“naur way!” jake said shaking his head. “tau chi tau parties suck!”

“how did you know he was in tau chi tau?” you questioned.

sunghoon answered, “heeseung is friends with beomgyu who’s in that frat.”

you looked up at heeseung who was now staring at you. “seems like you fraternize with many fraternity boys.” you joked.

jake added, “he’s also friends with jeongin in sigma kappa zeta (SKZ).”

quickly changing the subject, you ask, “what are you boys doing here?”

“sunghoon and i are studying for a chem midterm next week. we don’t know about heeseung. he’s been acting like a lost puppy.”

“shut up.” heeseung hissed to jake. “i need to pass a class for my scholarship requirements.” which wasn’t a total lie for him.

“are you good with anything science related?” jake asked from beside you.

you laughed. “absolutely not! english and math are my go to subjects.”

“it’s usually english and history, and math and science that are paired for people. math and english are completely different? one is abstract the other is not.” sunghoon said.

you shrugged. “history is boring, math is simple for me once i get a hand of it, and i rather write a paper than give a presentation.”

“aren’t you in a history class with jay?” jake asked. he got a snack out of his backpack.

“yeah, societal issues in history with jay and heeseung.” you pointed. “what are y’all majors? ni-ki is still undecided.”

“pre-med.” jake answered and your eyes nearly popped out of your head.

“pre-med?” you repeated.

“i love science and math.” jake shrugged with a shy smile.

“well i know who to come to when i need help in those types of classes.” you laughed.

“anytime sweets, i am here to help!”

you looked at sunghoon for his answer, “health sciences. hoping to go to graduate school for physical therapy.”

you nodded then looked at heeseung, “business administration.” he answered flatly. you noticed he seemed annoyed by your presence.

“well on that note, i will leave y’all be.” you stated and stood up reaching for your backpack.

“what about you?” heeseung asked.

jake added, “you mentioned criminal justice, what do you wanna do with that?”

“forensic interviewing or go to law school. i am really good at reading people.”

“and what have you read from us?” jake asks with a smile.

you smile back, “i will leave that for me to know only.”

suddenly, each boy was aching to find out what you thought of them.

“it’s getting late, do you want us to walk you to your dorm?”

“i should be okay, it’s just a little past 10 pm.”

“it’s still late, and on a friday. creeps could be lurking. let us walk you to your dorm.” jake insisted and he and the boys started packing up their things.

“i hate to make you all end your studying early, but thank you.”

“you should zip up, it’s kind of chilly outside.” heeseung stated.

you looked down to your outfit. uggs, black sweats, a black crop top (that barely showed your belly) and a black adidas jacket. instead of arguing, you just zipped up your jacket, and heeseung got a smile on his face.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

“oh heeseung baby, you feel so good.”

the girl underneath heeseung moaned. heeseung’s brows furrowed in concentration. he ended up shushing her with the excuse was so that no one heard her (even though he’s never cared about that before).

truth is, it wasn’t the voice he wanted to hear. either they were too loud, to quiet, too pitchy, or too breathy, so he would end up just telling them to be quiet all together.

“oh, im gonna—!” before she could finish her sentence, heeseung placed his hand over the girl’s mouth, and soon both she and him finished, quietly.

when he got up to throw the condom away, the girl stayed in bed—well, it was her bed—and smirked at him.

heeseung quickly got dressed. “so, can we do this again sometime?” the blonde asked, biting her lip.

“nope.” heeseung quickly replied, and gathered his things to leave the girl’s dorm. not bothered to stay and hear her release a list of profanities.

he got to the house he shared with the 3 other guys, and jake was the first to bombard him. “party starts at eight be there before ten!”

jay was in the kitchen cooking up greased food he knew the guys would need before the night of drinking.

“be sure you eat a lot!” jay scolded. “i’ll be sure ni-ki eats a lot too before drinking. i’ve already scolded at him for skipping meals, and he laughed saying i was sounding like eunjin.”

heeseung froze at the sound of your name, and jay continued on, “ni-ki even made the joke to say i was his father and eunjin was his mother.”

“that’s not a compliment.” heeseung stated to look a jay, but jay smirked.

“mhm, i’m not so sure about that. if i was his father, she was his mother, just means she and i made love—,”

“i’m taking a shower.” heeseung cut off jay and walked to his room. at this rate he knows for a fact the guys know he hooked up with you. how? sunoo. sunoo was gossip central, and you happened to be friends with him. heeseung over heard sunoo gossiping to jay about that night. wouldn’t take jay long to tell jake and sunghoon. thankfully keeping ni-ki and maybe even jungwon out of the gossip.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

exactly at 10, heeseung arrived to the party house a few houses down, going straight to the alcohol, then scanning the room for you. no luck, until 11 rolled around and you showed up in a short blue jean skirt and a white sheer top. he wanted to be between your legs, and have you screaming that he was the best fuck you ever had. he had something to prove to you (to himself).

he just didn’t do seconds. but this time he might.

around 11:30, you had loosened up with a drink, mingling with lara and her friends, and also occasionally speaking with ni-ki, jungwon, and sunoo. they brought their fourth roommate, kai, who was also a part of tau chi tau. you greeted jake and jay. the only two regular boys you hadn’t seen was sunghoon and heeseung.

lara had convinced you to go for the muncher of the group, aka jake. she convinced you he would be the best boy to be between your legs. you were apprehensive, because although jake was handsome and a good guy, you wondered how you both would interact afterwards. plus, you didn’t want the guys to think you were looking to sleep with each of them (although you definitely wouldn’t mind).

heeseung watched you interact with jake and jay with ease, laughing at their jokes, jay being the one to make you drinks.

“can you just fuck her again, bro? tired of you sulking!” sunghoon groaned.

heeseung looked to his left. “you know i don’t do seconds.”

“then stop pondering over her man! get over it, you didn’t go down on her! so what! i heard she’s planning to go after jake.”

heeseung’s neck nearly snapped to sunghoon hearing those words. he looked confused.

sunghoon sighed, “of course sunoo blabbed to jay and then jay blabbed to me. apparently eunjin is upset you didn’t go down on her, basically thinking you were looking for a quick fuck. although she is aware of your reputation she thought you’d at least return the favor. her roomie lara is trying to convince her to go after jake, since he’s known as the muncher of the group.” sunghoon explained. sunghoon drowned the rest of his drink, and frowned now that it was empty. he was gonna need another drink to deal with heeseung and his drama around you.

heeseung looked over to you, as you looked a little too comfy next to jake. jake had his arm around your shoulder, as you leaned into his touch. when you looked up to jake with those innocent eyes of yours, heeseung seethed.

at least heeseung knows he’s a whore. all he could think is how you played him. was you just looking to fuck all his frat brothers? did you even actually have a crush on him?

hours went by, and soon you needed to pee. this time you had more drinks than last time, and went upstairs to the bathroom. your heart raced, remembering the last time what happened when you left the bathroom.

this time when you opened the door, you saw him before you ran into him. heeseung towered over you, leaning in the bathroom door frame, eyes locked on you.

“excuse me,” you said, and tried to go around him but he blocked your exit. he leaned down to get nose to nose with you, one hand on the door knob, the other on the counter. “excuse you!”

heeseung smirked. you could definitely smell the alcohol on his breath, and you did notice he was drinking more than usual tonight. “don’t think i don’t know what you’re up to. i see right through you. pretending to have a crush on me, to get me to fuck you, just so you have an in with my frat brothers.” heeseung added, “or maybe you’re just using my brothers to make me jealous. too bad pretty, i don’t get jealous. and i never fuck the same girl twice. you’re nothing special to make me change that.”

you gasped, holding your tongue because you were not ready to fight tonight, especially with a man.

“if i wanted to fuck your frat brothers i wouldn’t have went to you first.” you sniped, and crossed your arms. “im sure your other brothers could at least make me come with their tongue.” you tsked, and heeseung gave a deep chuckle. oh he was seeing red, especially when you added, “maybe i should go ask jake.”

“you’re just a whore and trust me, none of the other guys would touch you”

you scoffed, blinking slowly to keep the tears at bay. how could you have ever had a crush on him? he may not remember but you do.

“move.” you stated and went to grab your phone which somehow ended up under his hand. you snatched it, and pushed past him easily, heeseung stumbling into the bathroom.

you dashed down the stairs finding lara, and without any words exchanged she knew sometime was wrong. she had been talking to jay in the corner, and when she got closer to soothe your shoulders, you leaned into her with heavy breaths trying not to cry at a frat party because of lee heeseung.

“what happened?” she asked when y’all pulled away and wiped your tears. jay had moved to your other side, to basically block anyone from seeing your crying face.

after you told both her and jay what happened, jay clenched his jaw and lara was ready to fight.

“can we just go back to the dorm?” you sniffled.

“sweets, why do you wanna leave so early!” jake had overheard you and he and sunghoon came up and saw the state of your face.

“what did the asshole do.” sunghoon mumbled.

you didn’t have time to answer, when heeseung sauntered into the kitchen with a smirk and a laugh. “oh and there she goes!” he stated loudly, “pretty, i already told you, my frat brothers wouldn’t fuck you, even if you were the last female on earth!”

the boys realized—heeseung was extremely drunk, but that didn’t excuse his behavior.

“i would and i would do it now.” jake taunted.

jay and sunghoon wanted to smack both of the guys. it wasn’t the time.

“it’s time for you to go home.” jay said to his older frat brother.

heeseung shook his head, nearly losing his balance, “mhm, no i don’t think so.”

“lee heeseung you’re going to regret your words!” lara said, not going to allow him to speak down on you.

and that he would regret his words. cause although he was drunk, spewing out hate, the one tiny bit of his rational brain also wanted to kick his ass. he didn’t want to talk down on you. he just wanted to rile you up and hopes you would say the words “make me” and he would fuck you again to prove himself. but of course, the conversation in his head didn’t turn out as planned and he ruined it for himself.

before heeseung could speak once again, he crouched over and threw up all he had on the floor.

time to go.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

the next afternoon, you were still angry at the words heeseung said to you.

even worse, you lost your damn student id. when you and lara got back to the dorm, you couldn’t find it in your usual spot that was in the back of your phone card holder. your regular id and cash was there, but not your student id. you had to rely on lara to let you in the dorms, and use your regular card for food.

the last time you saw it was at the party. so you lost it sometime between then and walking back home.

no more frat parties for the rest of the year.

lara agreed and yall made a pact to just enjoy a girls night every time there was a party at chi omicron or any other fraternity.

you had no time to think about it, as you agreed to meet yeonjun at a coffee shop on campus to discuss the final details on your midterm project.

meanwhile heeseung thought he was on the verge of death when he woke up at 4 pm the next day. when he creeped down the stairs of his shared house, ni-ki was playing video games with jake. heeseung greeted them, not even noticing both boys gave him side eyes and ignored his greeting. he walked into the kitchen to see jay already starting on dinner, sunoo, jungwon and sunghoon chatting at the dinting room table. but they all went quiet when heeseung arrived.

“i am never drinking again!” heeseung joked, his voice cracking. “i don’t even remember the night.”

all the guys stayed quiet. eventually jake and ni-ki came to the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, and heeseung has never seen ni-ki so angry.

“you good?” heeseung asked with a raised brow as he took a sip out of his cup of water.

ni-ki shook his head. “you better be glad the other boys are here cause i’d beat your ass talking to my sister like that. she may not be blood related, but i have known her long enough.” ni-ki spat.

he turned around grabbing the basketball on the chair in the living room, jake following him out.

heeseung turned to look at the other guys. “wha—what did i do to make him so angry?”

sunoo smiled, ready to see heeseung get his ass handed to him by jay and sunghoon. although jungwon was younger, he was also very levelheaded and kept the older ones in check when needed.

sunghoon and jay recalled to heeseung the entire night. heeseung’s heart dropped hearing the words he said to you in front of the guys. he wanted to punch himself for the words he told you by the bathroom as you had told jay and lara.

“you better make it right you asshat.”

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

the entire week of midterms seemed to go both by in a blur and slowly. at the beginning of the week you were nervous about your class with heeseung. he did try to catch your attention, multiple times but you ignored him. in class, in the coffee shop, in line at subway. you continued to ignore him, rightfully so, but when you would greet sunghoon or jay in front of him, it made him realize he really did fuck up.

thursday you finished your midterms, and yeonjun invited you to his fraternity party tau chi tau the next night, however you told him you and lara sworn off parties for the rest of the year.

friday night came and you and lara were comfy in the common area of your dorm, ready to watch a movie.

instead of chi omicron hosting, the boys went to tau chi tau. heeseung was babysat by his friends and sunghoon the entire night, but he hadn’t touched a drink since arriving. his eyes were glued to the door in hopes to see you. but you never walked in. then he remembered he had one thing you needed.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

you woke up the next morning, quite early for a saturday.

your phone read 7:57 am, and you were shocked to see a text from an unknown number that had texted you at 12:03 am.

unknown: i have your student id

you immediately sat up in bed to reply.

you: who is this?

unknown: sorry, it’s heeseung.

you gulped. could this be a trick? heeseung isn’t the one to be known to text girls, especially first. so may be he really did have your id. or he could be lying? your thoughts were answered with the next message.

unknown: imagine

he sent a picture of your id. he actually had it.

unknown: you can stop by the house to pick it up. i’ll be home

you: why can’t we meet somewhere?

unknown: don’t wanna leave my house

you: i’ll be there around 10

you wasted no time going to lara’s room and shoving your phone in her face. “i bet he took it at the party! that asshole is just now telling you?”

yes heeseung took it from your phone card holder at the party. specifically when he corned you in the bathroom. he had sneakily took it knowing he would use it later. it’s just—he forgot about it until last night. he had rummaged through his night stand looking for some tissues when his hand landed on the id card. when he saw it, his sticky hand forgetten, he realized this could be his way to talk to you.

he didn’t last long at the party, opting to go home way early. when he texted you around midnight, he was hoping to have you reply instantly, but you didn’t. either you ignored unknown numbers or you were asleep. either way, he was happy to see you reply this morning to come over to grab it.

like you said, you knocked on the door at 10:02 am and was greeted by an excited jake.

“eunjin! we’ve missed you sweets!” jake pulled you into a tight hug. jake invited you in, and you waved to jay and sunghoon who were on the couch in the living room.

“what brings you by? is ni-ki supposed to meet you here?” jay asked.

you shook your head, “no i’m actually here—,”

“she’s here for me.” heeseung snuck down the stairs. “your id is upstairs.”

you crossed your arms. “and you couldn’t bring it down, why?”

heeseung ignored you knowing you would follow. and you did.

“okay, this might turn into a screaming match either for the good or the bad. regardless i don’t want to be here.”

sunghoon sat up and grabbed his jacket draped over the couch. jake and jay agreed.

from upstairs you heard the front door open and close, and sighed internally knowing the boys must’ve left. “why did you wait this long to tell me you had my id?”

“i honestly forgot, until last night.” he said as he opened his night stand.

“what made you remember?”

heeseung swallowed. “it just randomly came to me.”

“when did you take it?”

“when i cornered you in the bathroom.” he signed and hung his head low. he turned to you, id in hand and word vomited apologies for his words, his actions, all of it.

“are you done?” you asked and he nodded. “can i have my id so i can go?”

he couldn’t let you leave still mad at him. “please let me make it up to you.”

“heeseung—,”

“please eunjin.” heeseung begged and stepped closer to you. your heart raced and he could notice it. his right hand came to your face, your cheek in his palm as his thumb traced your bottom lip. “what i should’ve said that night instead was i could make you come better than any of the other guys. especially jake.”

“prove it then.” you mumbled and those were the words heeseung wanted to hear from you.

heeseung turned you so you were sat on the edge of his bed. “i’m taking my time with you like the first time i should have.”

he grabbed your belongings placing it on his nightstand, before coming back to stand in front of you. at first you thought he was just gonna have you suck him off again, but he kneeled in front of you, spreading your legs.

“fuck i wish you had on a skirt.” heeseung groaned hating the extra layer of clothing. from his kneeled spot on the floor, he reached up to unbutton your jeans and easily slid them along with your underwear down your legs. you balanced yourself on your forearms, and heeseung stared right into your eyes as he pulled the clothing off of your bottom half.

he took his time kissing up your legs, your thighs, nibbling on the flesh. his lips soon attached themselves to the part you most craved.

he first licked between your lips, with a groan from himself before he latched on using his tongue, lips and teeth. he ate you out like it was his last. he should’ve done this the first night he got with you.

you fell on your back, arching, one hand reaching to grab onto his head, the other hand grabbing on his sheets. he bit your clit, and mumbled, “let me hear you.”

his tongue lapped up everything you had to offer, his nose hitting perfectly against your clit.

your low moans and hair pulling is what encouraged him further. his hands gripped your thighs, more than likely leaving a hand mark, burying himself deeper in between your legs if possible.

you cried out when he added two of his fingers, and they easily hit the spot most important inside of you. “fuck!” you moaned out, trying to move but with heeseung’s grip on one of your thighs you didn’t get far, and his mouth just followed where you moved.

with his fingers rocking in and out, his lips sucking on your clit, your walls clamped down around his fingers as you felt your orgasm coming. your breathing picked up, and your grip moved from his head to the sheets, gripping harshly, a list of profanities leaving your mouth.

“that’s right pretty, im making you come on my tongue.” heeseung sighed into your pussy. “come for me pretty.”

it didn’t take long for you to come on his tongue and fingers after he bit once more on your clit. he was a fucking biter. you came hard, daring to shut your legs, but heeseung kept them open, watching your face as you came down from your high.

when you caught your breathing, you looked up at him, he stood up, licking his lips. “im not done with you.” he groaned and quickly took off his shirt. he hovered over you on the bed, your toes close to the edge. he straddled you, both his legs covered in grey sweats on either side of your own legs. he pinched one of your nipples through your shirt, then grabbed both your boobs in his hands.

“you’re gonna be bare for me this time, pretty.” he lifted your shirt off of you, then his hand went behind your back to unclip your bra with ease, and tossed that over his shoulder as well.

“when i’m done with you, my tongue and cock will be the only one you think about.”

his lips attached to your lips for a quick, messy make out session, as his fingers went back down to lazily play with your pussy. you were still soaked from him and your orgasm. his lips moved from yours, to the sensitive spot behind your ear, down your neck, to your collarbone, licking down your chest, stomach, and leaving a kiss on your hip.

heeseung being skilled as he is, he had already taken off pants, boxers, and had a condom ready in his hand. he got back down on his knees to give you a few licks while he easily put on the condom. he wanted you to come for a second time on his tongue, and you were damn close to it. when his tongue curved upward, his fingers gripping both nipples, and his nose buried against your clit, you came for the second time. “my goodness!” you yelled out gripping the sheets.

heeseung quickly kissed your stomach and then hovered over you, aligning with your entrance. “i don’t want you quiet.”

you nodded and whimpered when his tip rubbed against your clit, and he slowly inched into you. once he was all the way in, his thrust began, slow and steady. but he wasn’t happy with the lack of noise coming from you, so he began to pick up the pace and the moans started flowing out .

“that’s it pretty, i’m making you feel good again.” heeseung said with a smirk.

with ease, he flipped you over, ass up, head in the sheets, both his palms landed a smack to each ass cheek, but you wasn’t expecting him to literally bite one of those said ass cheeks.

you yelped, heeseung chuckled as he pulled you by the hips closer to him. he entered you from behind and was mad at himself he didn’t do this as well from the start. backshots, with your ass? he licked his lips, gripping your waist harder as he continued his assault while fucking you.

you couldn’t even make proper words at the moment with how good heeseung felt.

“that’s right pretty, i make you go dumb on my cock, huh?” you hummed in response. heeseung used his right hand to grip your chin and jaw as he leaned down, so his chest was to your back.

his harder thrusts did not falter. “no one, and i mean no one can make your pussy clamp as tightly as it is now, got it? i’m the only one who can make you feel this way. i am the only one who gets to fuck you, to feast on you, to hear those pretty moans of yours. no one else. that includes my fraternity brothers. you want your pussy ate? you come to me. want your pussy fucked? you come to me. want your ass fucked? you. come. to. me.”

he enunciated each of the words in the last sentence with hard thrusts. you were too lost in the feeling to even reply, but heeseung didn’t like that. he sat up and slapped your ass, hard, then bit the other cheek. “ahh!” you yelled, “yes hee, you’re the only one allowed to make me feel this way, i promise.” you moaned out, in between breaths.

he pulled out, just as you were about to come for the third time. you literally whined, and heeseung deeply laughed, “don’t worry, you’ll come.”

he laid on his back and pulled you on top. “ride me.”

you nodded tiredlessly, but aligned yourself and just sat all the way down. “fuck i was expecting you to ease into it.”

heeseung’s hands planted themselves on your waist helping you bounce on his dick. you soon leaned forward, so you were chest to chest, and your clit hit his body perfectly. you sloppily started to ride and move, heeseung helping. his hands gripped every where he could, your butt, thighs, back, neck.

your walls gripped together, your breathing shallowed and heeseung knew you were close to your third. he wanted to look you in the eyes while you came, so without disturbing the thrusts, he changed positions, you on your back once again. with your legs wrapped around his waist, the endless hard thrusts continued, his finger rubbing circles on your clit. if even possible, you gripped him harder, your nails scraping his back, for sure to leave marks.

“that’s right pretty, mark me. mark me as yours. you’ll have my teeth marks embedded in your ass, your thighs. fuck im about to mark you up.”

for some reason, that was all it took, to have you come for the third time of the night. your body literally shook, and heeseung soon came as well in condom, buried deep in you. he groaned into your neck, riding out both of your highs with slow thrusts.

as you took deep breaths to catch up, heeseung peppered your neck, chest, and stomach with kisses, licks, making sure to give you a bite with more licks and kisses. heeseung really just wanted you to cockwarm him for a while, and when you made no move to get up, he stayed buried inside of you, but moved so he was on his back, and you were sort of on top of him, your leg over his lower half.

after a while you mentioned you had to pee. reluctantly he pulled out, and when you rolled over to get up from the bed, you had to grip the nightstand.

your legs were actually numb. “shit.” you mumbled.

heeseung looked over at you. “you okay?”

“yeah, fine.” you reached for his shirt as it was the closest thing to you on the floor. you pulled it on shakily, and when you went to take a step towards his ensuite, your legs barely moved, as you bit your lip to hide your groan.

the bed on the other side moved, and heeseung came to stand in front of you moments later. at least he put on his sweats.

“you look great in my shirt by the way.” he said and helped you towards the bathroom.

“im sure i also told you, you weren’t gonna be able to think of anyone else’s tongue or cock but mine. and i think i exceeded that.”

₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ ₊˚⊹♡

[darkmaga-returns]

“The anti-vaxxers appear to be right. Somebody who did not get vaccinated got a little Omicron or maybe even a worse one, but recovered—now you’ve got natural immunity and no vaccination in you. Can we all agree that was the winning path?”

He continued, “The smartest, happiest people are the ones who didn’t get the vaccination and are still alive… The anti-vaxxers clearly are the winners at this point. And I think it’ll probably stay that way.”

Adams, known for his sharp wit and analytical mind, admitted that his own “fancy analytics” led him astray, while those who relied on simple distrust of authority came out ahead.

Turbo Cancers and the Cost of Compliance

Adams’ diagnosis aligns with a growing wave of “turbo cancers”—aggressive, fast-growing malignancies linked to mRNA vaccines. Health experts, including independent researchers like Mike Adams (no relation) of Brighteon Broadcast News, have long warned that the shots could trigger catastrophic immune suppression, spike protein toxicity, and DNA damage.

Mike Adams, who has extensively covered vaccine injuries, called Scott’s video “courageous” but tragic. “This is not the way we wanted to be right,” he said. “People who took the jabs are now dying from turbo cancers. That’s not a victory—it’s a preventable tragedy.”

[renthony]

Just curious. How bad has Biden been at controlling COVID-19 in your view?

First: I already responded to a similar question you left on this post.

Second: Biden has been atrocious for COVID-19 safety and management. COVID-19 is still killing people, and our president has done a horribly insufficient job in mitigating that. "Better than the Republicans" is not the same thing as "good" or "effective." Biden's abysmal reaction to COVID-19 is part of why I'm so thrilled that the Uncommitted campaign for the Democratic primary has achieved some success. That particular campaign is focused on ceasefire in Palestine, but the People's CDC explained in a statement how Palestine is also very much a public health issue. We need to scare the bastard and actually do some of that "pushing him left" that people claimed they'd do after getting him elected. Though it seems to me like a lot of people just settled for, "okay, we got rid of Trump, we don't have to worry anymore."

Third: While I'm at it, people have to do more than vote. You have got to get involved. You have got to do more than participate in the presidential election once every four years. Join a union (may I recommend the IWW?), follow the guidance of The People's CDC, volunteer for your local Food Not Bombs, get involved in a tenants union like the Autonomous Tenants Union Network, read Riot Medicine, get trained in first aid and get involved in a street medic group, read up on your local politics and get involved on the small-scale, do something in addition to voting in the presidential election. Even if you're limited in how much you can personally participate, find the people who are talking about these issues and signal boost them, and share the information with others who may be more able to participate more. If you can tell people to go vote in the presidential election, you can also tell them to go do other things, too.

Now, with all of that out of the way, here are some links related to Biden's abysmal COVID-19 response:

During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised immediate $2K stimulus checks. Instead, he delivered $1,400. Sources: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Velena Jones for NBC Bay Area: "‘Too expensive': Bay Area residents shocked over new COVID vaccine prices"

Reuters: "COVID vaccine manufacturers set list price between $120-$130 per dose"

Joseph Choi for The Hill: "Free COVID-19 test program to be suspended for now"

Disability activist Alice Wong writing for TeenVogue: "Covid Isn't Going Anywhere. Masking Up Could Save My Life," and the follow-up article, "COVID and the 2024 Election: What Biden and Democrats Owe High-Risk People."

Laura Weiss writing for The New Republic: "Democrats Can't Keep Ignoring Covid in 2024."

David Cohen and Adam Cancryn for Politico: "Biden on '60 Minutes': 'The Pandemic is Over.'"

Alex Skopic for Current Affairs: "COVID-19 is Still a Threat. So is Biden’s CDC."

Adam Cancryn for Politico: "Biden Appears to be Over Covid Protocols."

Paul Thornton for the Los Angeles Times: "Covid Still Rages, and the Biden Administration Isn't Helping."

Eric J. Topol for the Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. is facing the biggest COVID wave since Omicron. Why are we still playing make-believe?"

We should have free, universal testing. We should have free, universal vaccination. We should have free, universal treatment. We should have financial assistance for those of us who can't work outside the home. We should have mandated work-from-home for any job that can be done remotely. We should be emptying prisons and paying attention to the way disease and abuse proliferate inside their walls. We should have COVID-19 safety PSAs and government support for universal masking. We should have free distribution of N95s. We should have mandated masking in medical settings and public spaces. We should have a higher minimum wage. We should have healthcare reforms. We should have strong worker protections. We should have improved infrastructure. We should have a president who gives a single flying fuck about how many of us are dying.

And we have none of it.

But we sure seem to have money to keep dropping bombs, arming cops, terrorizing the vulnerable, and imprisoning innocent people to use for slave labor.

[pandemic-info]

I'm seeing information about the Novavax being formulated for the previous variant and the Moderna and Pfizer being for a more recent one. Is this true and if so, why are so many people trying to get the Novavax?

Hi, glad you asked! Here's a few posts on this:

Graphic (albeit from Novavax, no 3rd-party trials) showing broad neutralization:

Another, thread explaining the above. Particularly:

"Ultimately as the antigenic distance is very close for all major circulating variants, all vaccine options should be very good, and provide good protection against infection and severe disease (even when compared with infection-acquired/natural immunity)."

One more, from NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/08/22/nx-s1-5082372/updated-covid-vaccines-fda-approved

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna ... now target the KP.2 variant ... The Novavax vaccine, which is based on an older technology, targets an earlier strain of the virus called JN.1. As many of us know by now, the virus continues evolving to better evade our immune defense, which means regularly updating the vaccines to keep up with the latest strain. It turns out the KP.2 and JN.1 variants have already been overtaken by newer variants. Because those are also descendants of omicron, the hope is that the new vaccines are close enough matches that they can still boost immunity and protect people in the coming months – ideally reducing the chances of a big winter wave. “The vaccine is not intended to be perfect. It’s not going to absolutely prevent COVID-19," Dr. Peter Marks from the FDA told NPR in an interview. "But if we can prevent people from getting serious cases that end up in emergency rooms, hospitals or worse — dead — that’s what we’re trying to do with these vaccines.”

There's a couple of other points I do not have sources for right now; if anyone would like to reblog and add some or correct this, please do!:

I've read that in the past, for example, flu vaccine efficacy was not necessarily dampened when the vax targeted a "parent". They are in the same lineage, so efficacy should be good.

Analogy (albeit imperfect): using a net vs a spear.

Of course, without more data, we don't know. I would wager that people who choose Novavax nowadays may also be informed on #Layered Protection and prioritize physical barriers (N95 masking) as the first line of defense, with vaccine as secondary bonus, since any of them have a non-negligible % of breakthroughs at this point.

It was different in 2021 when they were first released and showed high efficacy; ~3% breakthrough, if that. Now, I would not in any case rely on Pfizer or Moderna alone, so there's not much of a reason to suffer their ill effects for days.

But bodies are all different. Some people tolerate them well. Some have no other choice. As always, get the one you can, that works for you!

[askvectorprime]

What are the universal streams of Earthspark and Transformers One? With the Shrouding preventing the TransTech from plotting the multiverse, it falls on us fans to do so instead. That brings up a couple of questions. What exactly is the exact, precise definition of a universal cluster which we can use to checklist all future media to determine whether it’s a new cluster or not? You previously designated Cyberverse as Khathos cluster. All three use evergreen. Are they the same cluster?

Dear Continuity Codifier,

As you note, the actions of my brother Nexus have greatly limited the Transcendent Technomorphs' ability to map the universe. Since the Shroud fell, Axiom Nexus had only been able to concretely identify four new "pillar realities"; while consensus has labelled one of the four as Primax 623.14 Gamma, the other three—temporarily classified as 818.27 Alpha, 1122.11 Alpha, and 924.20 Delta—have yet to be conclusively named. As you say, stream 818.27 Alpha has tentatively been classified as part of the Khathos cluster; however, there are still many who argue it belongs as part of the Primax or Uniend clusters. Universe 1122.11 Alpha has been similarly argued to be part of the Primax, Uniend or Khathos clusters; among those who consider it to be part of its own cluster, proposed names include Gaius, Pentis, Ninmah, Onogo, and Dheghom. As for stream 924.20 Delta—well, it was detected so recently that there is nowhere near consensus on its placement or classification, with some scientists proposing it to be part of the Tyran cluster thanks to their near-identical levels of Lorenz-Ω electromagnetic force.

Of course, as I've mentioned before, the academic discourse surrounding universal streams is far from settled. In fact, in the aftermath of the Shroud, a significant corpus has come to believe that the terminology of "universal clusters", while once useful, has become redundant now that there are barely a Prime's dozen reality streams to keep track of. Some have proposed adopting the "spacetime" system of Cloud World to more precisely pinpoint spatio-temporal coordinates within these realities, while others have suggested entirely new systems that would "lump" universes together more broadly—though, of course, each of these approaches introduces its own difficulties that make me doubt that the current paradigm will be abandoned any time soon. The universal stream system may not be perfect, but it is functional, and I have my doubts that any replacement would have benefits outweighing the difficulties in completely overhauling the system from the ground up.

Ah, but I digress. You wanted to know how universal clusters are determined? Well, as I have illustrated, that is a complex and highly subjective process. Generally, TransTech scientists will log a reality stream's most fundamental traits—ranging from macro-scale aspects such as a high level of WY-att interference waves, to micro-scale details like the presence or absence of the AllSpark—and compare them to other, similar realities, grouping them by their most common shared traits. Thus, a reality in which the Mini-Cons were central to the Cybertronians' war, the power of Primus manifests through Cyber Keys, and the planet Xerxes is at least five parsecs off-course from impact with the Omicron Rift might be classed as part of the Aurex Cluster, and so on. These heuristics might strike you as rather arbitrary, and indeed there are one or two outspoken researchers to have come out of Axiom Nexus’ organic population, who are increasingly vocal in their criticism of the TransTechs’ classification system for its cybercentric framing of reality.

Ultimately, I think you are correct: it is up to you, not we Transformers, to determine how to categorize the multiverse in the way you find most useful. Surely you would be better served by a taxonomy that reflects more human-relevant concerns—perhaps distinguishing realities by whether or not the Federation of Western Europe was founded, or the number of Earth's moons?

[duckdotcom]

The road breaks out into potholes, then gravel, as you leave the nearest town behind, cruising to the dulcet tones of the Backstreet Boys on 102.5.

The wind slips in your open window. The sky bleeds into dusk, and you hear the radio crackle into static with each passing mile. It fades in and out, almost like the ocean waves against a ship at sea. Your headlights cut through a night as expansive as the open ocean, darkness that stretches on and on ahead.

Then quiet.

You glance at your console. Fiddle with the knob.

Nothing.

It's not until you slowly pass through the unlit skeleton of what might have been a town once, might now be looming crags hungry for a doomed vessel, calling to dash you upon their peaks of rotting wood and shattered, yellowed glass, that you hear it. Static.

Nothing special, but the sound somehow seems to fill the space like a blanket of heavy fog. You turn your brights on and speed up just a little, urgency and caution gripping your spine in equal measure.

The radio murmurs in a hushed, frantic whisper. You turn the dial in hopes of music to break the atmosphere. Even a late-night talk show. Anything.

The static remains unchanged, but your awareness, lulled and guided by the act of driving, begins to pair it with the rumble of the road, the rattle of your keys, your breathing, your heartbeat throbbing in your ears. Somehow it all flows together, frequencies complementing each other just so. Faint. Whispering. Chanting. Like your whole body is an antenna, your brain deciphers every stimulus, every minute input, and it rises from the depths of fog like the voice of a siren: music, from all around you. The static crumbling out of your car speakers becomes a key that unlocks all once hidden deep within the noise.

Don't touch that dial; you're now listening to Omicron Mystery Hour: The Only Radio Show.

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according to biobot, covid in the US is almot evenly split between four variants: two XBB variants that are targeted by the 2023 vaccine, which are waning in prevalence, probably because they were targeted, and two (eg5 "eris" and hv1) which account for more than half of current infections. if you haven't taken the vaccine, you are vulnerable to all four prevalent variants, instead of just two. again, the northeast and midwest are currently hit harder than the south or the west, which is comparable to previous years, since winter starts sooner up here. about twelve counties having an omicron-sized wave (which, to be clear, omicron did that everywhere simultaneously, a similar number of counties have had high numbers at least once this year without spreading to national prevalence)

[tzifron]

We don’t typically associate hot weather with viral illnesses, but COVID has thwarted that in recent years. This summer seems to be no exception: Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that COVID test positivity rates and emergency room visits are steadily rising, especially along both coasts.

The culprit: the FLiRT variants. This family of variants, which evolved from omicron, took off in the spring. Now, they account for over 50% of infections.

According to Dr. Robert H. Hopkins, Jr., the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, this year’s summer wave got an early start ― and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. “I suspect it’s going to increase,” Hopkins told HuffPost. “It seems like we’re seeing more and more states showing increased levels of activity.”