Saturday

[clevermanka]

The Zhubai Nation meltdown continues. Thread of Guardian. I never had a glasses kink before this man.

Fanart: Dip! More mermaid au. Two sides.

I've come to an annoying standstill on Redemption. Part of it is I'm too tired, yes, but also I'm having trouble with envisioning the next bit of the story. If someone would like to email with me (or chat or zoom or whatever) about how you think Dixingren's very-new school system could look, please let me know. I want it to be a good, thoughtfully-designed school system (and can share as many or few details as desired depending on your concern for spoilers). Hit me up, please, it would help a lot.

Had a wonderful time with my friends. We talked for hours! They want to come back on a different day to watch Sarazanmai! And then they left and I looked at Twitter and found out about the Delta variant that's apparently contagious to even vaccinated people. How I missed this news until now I'm not sure but god fucking damn it, y'all. I'm gonna have to wear a mask all day at work? And being paranoid anyway? And also not having people over again?

I'm seriously ready to cry.

Comments

[frith_in_thorns]

So I'm on my phone right now and writing purely from memory, but please don't panic too much (yourself, personally) about Delta. Yes, there's a higher chance of vaccine escape, but the double vaccines are still providing very good protection against it (higher than the chance that the flu vaccine protects you against the flu) and they continue to do *really* well against the chance of developing severe illness. The worry is much more on a sociatal level as its a lot more infectious so people who haven't been vaccinated or only had one dose are catching it very fast. If you're not following ryda_wrong on here I'd highly recommend her, she provides good summaries of the scientific evidence to date regularly. (My amazing Public Health friend on FB who writes the best info posts ever is currently taking a bit of a stress break or I'd rec her too, but she's who I trust for my most definitive easily-digested info.)

[frith_in_thorns]

Like, indoor masking around a mix of people is still a good idea, but it's really nothing like your risk level before you were vaccinated. So be careful, but you don't need to be paranoid.

[clevermanka]

Thank you so much for this. It's incredibly reassuring.

Do you think there's any point to keeping a mask at my desk and putting it on only when someone comes into the office? (which only happens maybe once an hour right now, since it's summer and hardly anyone is around)

[frith_in_thorns]

What's your ventilation situation like? Assuming you've got either mechanical ventilation or can open a window, that's probably what I'd be doing, and leave the mask on an additional 5 min or so after they'd gone to allow for a bit of air circulation.

[clevermanka]

We have building-wide HVAC (for which the AC works a little too well, tbh) and there's a wall of open-able windows behind me. I'll pick up another box of disposable masks before I head into work tomorrow. 👍

[frith_in_thorns]

Also it's rydra_wong, of course I typo'd there and can't edit because I replied to the comment!

[clevermanka]

Thank you! I'm checking out her entries right now.

[nnozomi]

I could have a lot of ideas about the new Dixing school system, depending on the context (who's survived, who's in charge of Dixing in general and the school system in particular etc.); some I've already put into a fic but I would be delighted to schmooze about Dixing schooling, feel free to message me etc. as needed.

[clevermanka]

Bless you! I'll do that once I've had my morning tea.

[goss]

the Delta variant that's apparently contagious to even vaccinated people

Oh noooooooo. /o\ /o\ /o\

[clevermanka]

I feel like it's never going to end and this is just Life Now. 😩

[seascribble]

We will eventually get to the other side. It just...might not be soon. I am glad you got to have a nice day.

[clevermanka]

I just really really really hope "not soon" isn't another full year of distance and isolation after this brief respite. Because yes, today was so nice and I'm loathe to give up more like it.

[seascribble]

We have a pretty good balance going up here. It's not perfect, but it's better. I think if people can get their shit together, we can see that become more widespread.

[clevermanka]

Are you still wearing your mask whenever and wherever you go out? I'm still wearing one everyplace but the office.

[seascribble]

Yeah. So NS has strict masking rules and a robust public health system of tracking and testing and limits/distancing on indoor gatherings. Masks are required basically everywhere except if you're gathering (less than 10) in a private residence or sitting at a table eating in a restaurant. We have quarantine requirements for entering the province. And we just came out of a super strict lockdown because our cases had skyrocketed, but now we're back down to <100. So, like, it's not GOOD but it's not awful.

[clevermanka]

What's it like to live in a country with (sensible) rules and people who follow them?

[seascribble]

I mean, our worst outbreaks have been caused by people not following the rules and flouting it on social media. And we just had a days long blockade of the New Brunswick border to protest...the border not being opened? And last year white fishermen were burning Mi'kmaq lobster boats and pounds to stop them exercising their fishing rights while the RCMP watched. So...I really can't say. It's not New Zealand up in here.

[clevermanka]

I feel like it's better than down here where we've got entire counties who refuse to mask, but maybe that's my narrow perception.

[seascribble]

No, that's true. We definitely came through a lot better and are more community and science minded, on the whole. But no where is perfect (except, hopefully, New Zealand).

[tinny]

oooh, beautiful Guardian thread! <3<3<3

I hate it when the writing muse is stymied by plot concerns. /o\ I hope you found someone who wants to discuss school systems with you, because I know *nothing* about how a good school system would look. All I know is it should be neither like yours nor ours. /o\

the Delta variant that's apparently contagious to even vaccinated people

Yes, it is, but only about 40% (or less, depending on the vaccine), and then the rate of hospitalization is greatly reduced (like to about 10% of your previous risk). So it's *not that bad*!

If you're interested in more details, rydra_wong has great and detailed and non-sensational information on everything:

https://rydra-wong.dreamwidth.org/tag/covid-19

[clevermanka]

Thank you for the link and reassuring words. And yes, someone already emailed me!

[naye]

I see other people have already shared the good news about Delta being worse but vaccines still being great, and just: yay vaccines! \o/

And YAY FRIENDS! That's awesome about them wanting to come back and watch Sarazanmai!

[clevermanka]

Yay vaccines indeed, and I'm so glad you're in progress on that front as well.

We talked for four hours! And yay! I'm pretty sure they're gonna love Sarazanmai. I'll report back when it happens.

[khellekson]

Glasses!Kink!Yes!Yes!Yes!

Argh re. the Delta variant! I was just enjoying being vaccinated and thinking about the freedom of going maskless, like everyone here is, but now... nope.

[clevermanka]

Same. I'm gonna pick up some more N95 masks this weekend.

[kimboo_york]

I see you've already had ppl offer to help but always feel free to reach out to me for stuff like this! We can email or zoom or whatever. 💕

[clevermanka]

I would love to hear what you have to say about it! The more input the better! It's not going to be a huge part of the story but I want it to feel real, you know?

When I'm a little more coherent and less worn out by new job stuff I'll ping you. And if I forget, please remind me!

[kimboo_york]

Will do! Always down to chat about writing!!!