Bottom gums swollen

Hi!
I recently bought this product and got a nasty itchy rash on my face and neck (on the area where I applied the product). This has now happened to me twice (first I wasn't sure if it was this product or not) and the second reaction came a lot quicker and my throat felt a bit swollen after the night.
I do have a diagnosed soy allergy, but it hasn't affected my eating for years. I have a sensitive skin but I have never had such a reaction. I use Cera Ve, Smuuti skin, Beauty of Joseon, Purito etc. and never got a reaction.
This is the INCI list:
Aqua, Dihydroxyacetone, Glycerin, Propanidiol, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Xanthan Gum, Panthenol, Lactic Acid.
I'm happy with any help!

Hi, I’m hoping this is the right place to get some advice (sorry for the post length!).
I’ve had recession on two of my bottom front teeth for some time (apparently due to orthodontic treatment when I was younger, combined with brushing too hard). The recession on one tooth has got quite severe, although I haven’t experienced any sensitivity / issues.
At my last routine dentist visit, I was advised to be referred to another dentist (who specialises in surgery) at the practice to look at treatment options. He advised the Chao Pinhole Technique, but said I’d also require a vestibuloplasty first to reduce tugging on the gums and ‘free up’ enough gum to pull up.
I did quite a bit of reading on the Chao Technique and have to admit that I was hesitant, especially as I saw several people suggest it is less likely to be successful on the bottom teeth and where the recession is advanced. However, I was eventually persuaded to go ahead.
I had the vestibuloplasty earlier this week – and am now really struggling / doubting if this was the right course of action.
Unfortunately, I experienced renewed / excessive bleeding later that night that wouldn’t stop, so ended up at the hospital Emergency Department.
I saw the surgeon again the next morning, who seemed concerned about the clotting and that the gum could reattach ‘too high’.
I’m struggling to eat, feeling very anxious, and absolutely dreading the thought of possibly needing to redo the procedure, and then go through it all again to have the pinhole surgery.
So… a couple of questions:

1. Has anyone experienced similar bleeding issues after a procedure / have any thoughts on what may have caused it? Both the hospital medics and the dentist were baffled – I have no medical issues that would explain it, and am not aware of doing anything that would have disturbed the wound (I was watching a documentary when I suddenly realised I had a mouthful of blood!)
   
2. What are people’s thoughts on the Chao technique? Would I be better off seeking a second opinion / looking at a gum graft instead?
   
3. Any general words of wisdom / encouragement on getting through this recovery period would also be very welcome!
   

So I was moshing at a show about two weeks ago when I took a nasty hit to the nose. Initially the hit was pretty painful, I felt a sort of rush of heat but also coolness shoot through my head and my nose hurt but I wasn't too concerned about it. Fast forward two weeks later, for most of this time my nose wasn't bothering me, it hurt but i assumed it was just bruised internally or something because it was very passive pain. Now in the last like day or two, I'm not sure what triggered it but my nose has started to hurt more. It's painful to the touch on the bottom and the area (bottom/tip of my nose) is lightly throbbing with pretty consistent pain but overall manageable pain. The tip of my nose is red and I think it might even be a bit swollen. I don't know what there even is to break or injure inside of a nose to be honest..

Hey guys, so I recently got bloodwork done. Everything came back negative and I had not hooked up with anyone for weeks. I hooked up with a guy the day after my results came in. Someone I’d been with before. They only wanted to service me. I did, however, perform oral and kissed him briefly for about 10 seconds combined. (I wasn’t really in the mood…). Anyway, a week later and I’ve swollen lymph nodes on both sides of my neck and my gums are bleeding excessively. I got tested for strep throat and it came back negative, although I will say last time I had it the test also came back negative so I don’t necessarily trust the reliability.
My throat is in so much pain. I want to cry. Are these symptoms typical of an std? I’ve never had one before and I’ll admit the thought of one scares me. I should have updated bloodwork in by tomorrow but want some opinions in the meantime.

I am a 20 year old female, around 5’6, Yesterday I was running and tripped, landing head first on pavement, I may have possibly blacked out for a couple seconds because the people standing around me looked blurry from the bottom. I had a huge bump on the top of my eyebrow, a bloody slit under the brow, and today my eye is completely swollen purple/red with small amounts of bruising showing where the bump was. I've felt so tired today (slept 16 hours) my arms are super shaky and im having really bad neck pain
Could this be a concussion? I haven't yet made an appointment with a dr, but going to the clinic tm

Hi all,
I’m awaiting my wisdom tooth removal surgery date. However, one of the teeth has just cut through ~4 days ago and my gums are extremely swollen as a result (they usually swell dramatically during new tooth growth.) Haven’t been drinking or smoking for months. Dentist says it’s just inflamed, not inflected.
It’s bad to the point I can’t chew properly. Have been taking ibuprofen, diligently doing salt water rinses, and constantly drinking iced water, but haven’t had proper relief yet.
Is there anything else I can do or take to help the swelling go down?

”Stop.”
I really needed the bathroom.
For fifty painstaking minutes, I had been staring at the clock on the wall, willing it to go faster, uncomfortably shifting side to side in my seat so much that I was starting to get weird looks.
2:52pm.
Eight minutes, I thought dizzily, squeezing my legs together.
Which was just two chunks of four minutes.
Four chunks of two minutes.
The pain started like normal stomach pain, the kind I could deal with.
I swallowed two Tylenol with lukewarm soda.
But this was different.
This kind of pain was contorting and twisting my gut so much, I had to keep leaning onto my left buttock for relief.
I must have done it so many times, I caught the attention of the guy sitting next to me. Roman Hemlock who was half asleep, dark blonde curls hanging in half lidded eyes, his chin leaning on his fist. He shot me a look. I couldn't tell if it was Are you okay? or Can you stop moving around so much?
From the single crease in his brow, the slight curl in his lip, I guessed the latter.
It's not like Roman was helping.
For half the class, he'd been tapping his foot on the floor, then his chair leg, and to complete the orchestra, his fingers joined in, tap, tap, tapping on the edge of his desk. I didn't know if it was a bored thing, an ADHD thing, or he was trying to keep himself awake. It was easy to tolerate without the pain, but with it, the boy’s incessant tapping was more akin to a dentist drill splitting my skull open. I already felt nauseous, the sad looking chicken nuggets I forced down at lunch making an unwelcome appearance at the back of my throat.
It was too fucking hot, the stuffy summer air glueing my hair to the back of my neck. The material of my shirt was making me cringe, sticky against my skin.
Tipping my head back, the lights were too bright. Every sound was too loud. Imogen Prairie, who was sitting behind me chewing her gum a little too loudly.
Kaz Samuels scribbling notes like a maniac.
I could hear every stroke of his pencil, every time he paused, looked up at the presentation, and continued writing.
When I leaned forward in my chair, I could smell exactly what Isabella Trinity had eaten for lunch, the stink hanging in the air.
It became a case of sucking in my stomach and taking slow, deep breaths.
I’d never had these kinds of stomach cramps before. But it didn't take me long to figure out what they were.
I was yet to start my period at the grand age of sixteen, which meant this was it.
After countless sessions with the doctor, and feeling like a social outcast among my group of friends who started their periods in middle school, it had finally happened. The cramps in my gut that felt like my torso was being ripped apart, was in fact me entering womanhood. When my breath started to quicken, my mouth watering, I raised my hand, biting my lip against a cry.
Fuck.
Something lurched in my gut, a wave of nausea crashing into me.
I was going to throw up.
“Mr Brighton.”
Roman spoke up before me, waving his arm. “Can I use the bathroom?”
The teacher’s answer was always the same. Which was why I had been crossing my legs for the entirety of the class, unable to focus on anything but my gut trying to twist itself inside out.
Mr Brighton leaned against the wall, his eyes glued to the PowerPoint awash in our faces. We had been staring at the exact same slide for maybe five minutes now, and our physics teacher was yet to speak, his gaze somewhere else.
Mr Brighton was my Dad’s age, a greying man in his early fifties who always wore the exact same suit with the exact same stain on his collar.
The man was about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Normally, I would drift off myself, lulled into slumber by the low drone of his voice.
But the pain ripping me apart was keeping me awake.
“Mr Brighton.” Roman said, louder. His voice snapped me out of it. “Can I use the bathroom?” He paused, exaggerating a loud sigh. ”Please?”
The teacher straightened up, folding his arms.
“Mr Hemlock, you know the rules. Why didn't you go before class?”
“I didn't need to go an hour ago, did I?”
“You will no longer need to go to the bathroom, Mr Hemlock.”
Roman made a snorting noise.
“What?”
The low murmur of my classmates collapsed into white noise.
Glancing at the clock, I was anticipating the school bell.
The sickness swimming in the pit of my belly was reaching dangerous territory.
2:52pm.
Something ice cold trickled down my spine.
It was 2:52 the last time I checked, and five minutes had surely passed.
This time, I waited a whole minute and counted the seconds under my breath. The clock still didn't move. The ticker was frozen halfway between three and four.
Slowly, the same realisation began to hit the twelve of us. The clock on the wall had stopped. But it wasn't the only thing that had stopped. The cool breeze drifting through the window was gone.
The sound of birds outside, and the cheer squad practising their routine.
Everything had stopped. Trying to ignore a sickly slither of panic twisting its way through me, I checked my phone under my desk. There was a text from my Mom lighting up my notifications. When I tried to swipe it open, nothing happened. My lock screen was frozen, stuck at 2:52pm.
With my hands growing clammy around my phone, I stared at the time, willing it to move, to flick to 2:53.
But nothing happened, the numbers stubbornly staying at 2:52.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roman’s voice brought me back to reality, though I was sure I'd dropped my phone. I heard it hit the floor with a sickening crack. Whatever he was saying, though, faded into dull murmur, when I turned toward the window.
Something was wrong outside.
The cheer squad were nowhere to be seen.
Being on the top floor gave us a front row seat to their practice sessions.
I stopped watching when their flyer did a death defying flip, almost breaking her neck. 2:52pm. I couldn't see the cheer squad. But I did see Jessie Carson mid-sprint across the track field, strawberry blonde curls suspended in a halo around her.
I could see exactly where she had frozen in place, her left foot hovering off of the ground, her right foot driving momentum. It wasn't just Jessie who had stopped. The dirt she was kicking into a cloud behind her was hovering, caught in mid-air.
Studying the faces around me, my mouth went dry.
Roman Hemlock, mid-argument with our physics teacher.
His eyes were wide, lips curved into what would have been a yell.
Fuck.
Was I the only one?
But then Roman blinked, and I realized the boy wasn't frozen. He was trying to think of a comeback. “What do you mean I won't need the bathroom anymore?”
“Mr Hemlock, please lower your voice.”
“Why? You can't dictate to me when I do and don't need the bathroom, dude!”
Moving onto the rest of my class, the others were still moving.
It was too quiet, though.
Yes, Roman was still tapping his foot.
Imogen was still chewing her gum.
Kaz was still scribbling notes like a psychopath.
But they were the only noise I could hear.
I wasn't the only one confused. The classroom had pricked with a sense of urgency. Kids were checking their phones, their gazes glued to the clock. Even Roman, who was still arguing, was starting to notice. I watched his gaze lazily roll to the clock on the wall.
I pretended not to see his cheeks visibly paling.
We had all come to the exact same terrifying conclusion.
2:52pm.
Time had come to a halt, and somehow, we had not.
“Is that clock broken?” Roman interrupted, leaning forward in his chair.
Kaz twisted around, settling the boy with an eye-roll.
“Check your phone, dumbass.”
“I broke my phone.”
Imogen threw her iPhone at him, narrowly missing hitting him in the face.
“Everything is frozen,” She said, her voice shuddering. “It's not just the clock.”
I waited for Roman’s response. For once, though, he was speechless.
“Well done, Imogen. That is correct.” Mr Brighton spoke up, tearing a piece of paper from a workbook and striding over to the door, glueing it over the glass window. When we started to protest, some of us were shouting, while others bursting into tears, he calmly took out his key and locked us in.
I should have been surprised that our teacher had spontaneously decided to take his entire class hostage, but the rumor mill had been churning.
According to Becca Jason, the guy’s wife divorced him and took his kids.
I could feel myself sinking into my chair, phantom bugs filling my mouth.
So, this guy had nothing to lose.
Taking his place in front of his desk, the man settled us with a patient smile.
“From now on, you will stay inside this room.” He said. “In case you haven't noticed, time is currently frozen at fifty two minutes past two. The thirteen of us are tucked into the twenty first second, and will be, for the foreseeable future.”
I could tell the others wanted to argue, but we couldn't deny that time had stopped. Kaz was staring down at his frozen phone, Imogen hyperventilating behind me, Roman glaring at the clock, chewing on a pencil. We wanted it to be a prank, a joke, some kind of glitch in the matrix that would fix itself.
But then a whole minute passed by. Followed by another. Kaz threw his phone on the floor, hissing in frustration. Imogen let out a wet sounding sob.
Roman’s pencil split in his mouth, slipping from his fingers. We couldn't pretend it wasn't happening or call our teacher out on his BS, because it was everywhere around us. The sudden absence of outdoor ambience, birdsong, planes flying overhead, and traffic outside the school gates. Everyone and everything had stopped, and we were the only ones left.
This was a nightmare, surely.
My physics class were some of the most boring and pretentious people in the school, and somehow the world had been reduced to the twelve of us inside our classroom. We were scared, of course we were. But reality had stopped making sense, crashing and burning in a single second. We had no choice but to listen to our teacher. “Now, before you freak out, it may not feel like it, but the twelve of you have also stopped.”
Mr Brighton held out his own hand, and placed it on his heart.
He was right.
I was so busy trying to understand what was happening, I had failed to realize my period cramps were gone.
“Do me a favor, and press your hand over your heart.”
“You mean like, in a culty way?” Imogen whispered.
“Obviously.” Roman grumbled, halfway out of his seat. He was hesitant, though, in case our teacher was armed. It only took one glance from our teacher, and he slumped back into his chair. “This crazy fucker clearly wants to play mind games with us.”
“No, I'm just asking you to feel for your heart.”
I felt for mine, and there was nothing, my stomach twisting.
Roman stabbed his fingers into his neck, feeling for a pulse.
He tried his wrist.
Then his heart.
Nothing.
“The twelve of you are currently in a state of stasis,” the teacher explained to us, “You are not alive, nor are you dead. Your bodily functions are also on pause, such as your heartbeat and your pulse. In this state there will be no need for food and water, or going to the bathroom.” His gaze found a ghastly looking Roman, who looked like he was going to faint. “Your minds, however, as you can see, are working as usual.”
“But why?” Imogen demanded in a shriek.
Mr Brighton’s lip curled. “I would rather not answer that question.”
“Because you're lonely.” Roman spoke up. He swung back on his chair, narrowed eyes glued to the teacher.
“Your wife and kids left you, so you're asserting power over a group of sixteen year olds. Which is kinda fucking pathetic.”
Mr Brighton’s expression darkened, and something slimy crept up my throat.
The worst thing any of us could do was threaten him. He had taken kidnapping to a whole new level, and we were alone with this psychopath, trapped inside a second. I waited for the man to stride forward and attack the kid. But he didn't. Instead, the teacher leaned back on his desk. “Yes.” The man nodded.
“I suppose you could say I am.”
“But why us?!” Kaz hissed.
“Because you are children.” Mr Brighton responded casually.
He straightened up, taking slow, intimidating steps towards Roman’s desk. The rest of us leaned back. I tried to pull my desk with me, but it was glued to the floor. Frozen. Mr Brighton’s shoes went click-clack across the hardwood floor.
“You are right,” the man said in a murmur, “I am lonely. My wife and kids did leave me, and I have nobody left to control. I have nobody else to contort and use to my advantage.” Reaching Roman’s desk, he leaned in close until he was nose to nose with the kid.
“Congratulations, Mr Hemlock. You have just earned yourself detention.”
Roman stayed stubbornly still, but he was visibly afraid. I could see him very slowly backing away. Roman was all bark and no bite. He was a loud mouth, sure, but he was also the least confrontational person in the class.
“What?” He spluttered. “You trap us in a time loop or time trap, or whatever, and you still want to act like a teacher?”
“Stand up.” The teacher ordered.
“What if I don't?”
Mr Brighton’s expression didn't waver. “You said it yourself. I can and have trapped you inside a single second. What else do you think I'm capable of?”
Roman stood, kicking his chair out of the way.
“What are you planning on doing to me, old man?”
The teacher maintained his smile. “Stand up straight, and close your mouth.”
To my confusion, Roman Hemlock did all the above.
He straightened up, and closed his mouth.
“Do not fight me.” The teacher said calmly, “Do as you are told, and follow me.”
The boy did exactly as instructed.
His jaw slackened, that rebellious light in his eyes fizzling out.
I think that's when we all collectively agreed that going against this teacher and trying to escape was mental suicide.
“I will use Mr Hemlock as an example to all of you,” Mr Brighton said, turning to the rest of us. “If you break the rules or are derogatory in any way, you will be given detention.”
He grabbed the boy’s shoulders, forcing him to walk towards the supply closet. Roman moved like a robot, slightly off balance, his gaze glued to thin air, like he was tracking invisible butterflies.
"Your time in detention will depend on the severity of your rule-break.” He opened the door, gently pushing Roman inside, and following suit. When the door closed behind them, there was a pause, and I remembered how to breathe.
Kaz Samuels slowly got up from his desk, inching towards the closet.
“This guy is a certified nut.” He announced.
He turned towards us. “Whatever he's doing to Hemlock, we’re probably next.”
“He stopped time.” I spoke up, my own voice barely a croak. “He’s capable of anything.”
“But how did he stop time?” Kaz whistled, tipping his head back. The boy was slow, his fingers grasping each desk as he slid down the aisle. “He said he was lonely, right? But why take it out on us? What did we do to him?”
“Check his desk for a weapon!” Imogen whisper-shrieked.
Kaz nodded, striding over to the man's desk, his hands moving frantically, shoving paper on the floor. He took an uncertain seat on the man's chair. “There's nothing here,” he murmured, lifting stained coffee mugs and ancient textbooks. “It's just…test papers.” Kaz ducked from view, trying the drawers.
“He's a fan of Pokémon,” he said, “There's a tonne of Pokémon cards,” Kaz straightened up, running a hand through his hair. “No sign of a weapon, though.”
He picked up a ruler, waving it around. “This could work. If we plunge it in his eye.”
“Try his laptop!” Imogen was halfway out of her seat.
Kaz did, slamming the keys. “It's locked.”
“Look harder!” Ren Clarke threw a pencil at him.
“I am!”
After a minute of searching, Kaz grabbed a single piece of paper.
He held it up, and I squinted.
It was a list of our names, with several of them highlighted.
“Fuck.” Kaz dropped the list, his expression crumpling. The stubborn bravado facade transforming him into our sort of leader dissipated, hollowing him out into exactly what he was. Just a scared kid. Kaz’s hands were shaking.
“Mr Brighton’s got a hit list.” He whispered. “He's going to kill us.”
“How do you know that?” I found myself asking.
Kaz slowly dropped into a crouch, picking up the paper and holding it up.
“Look.” He pointed to a capitalised name at the top of the list highlighted in red.
ROMAN HEMLOCK.
There were six names highlighted in red, including mine.
CRISTA ADAMS.
As if on cue, Roman’s cry rang out from the supply closet, suddenly, freezing us all in place. Kaz jumped up, adapting the expression of a deer caught in headlights, eyes wide, almost unseeing.
He fell over himself to tidy up the desk, putting everything back where he had found it, sliding the list between a pile of test papers. Kaz took slow, stumbled steps back, his feverish gaze glued to the closet, before turning and making a break for it and diving into his seat.
“Brighton’s got a hit liiiist,” Kaz said, in a mocking sing-song, “And we’re all on it.”
What followed was deathly silence. I think we were expecting Roman to cry out again. But when he didn't, the class started to stir. Some kids started praying to a god they didn't believe in, while others were in varying states of denial, trying to call their parents with dead phones.
I wasn't sure what parts of me had stopped, but I was still alive, still felt like my lungs were deprived of oxygen, my chest aching. I'm not sure how long I sat there, trying to find my voice, a shriek trying and failing to rip through my mouth. Being kidnapped and held hostage is one thing, but being imprisoned inside a single, never ending second, was an existential hell worse than death. Slowly, I pressed my palm over my heart once again. Then I breathed into my cupped hands.
I was expecting it, but no longer being able to feel my own heartbeat and breath, was fear I didn't think was possible. The kind that glued me to my seat, hollowing me out completely until I was nothing, an empty shell with no heartbeat, no breath, no thoughts, except denial, followed by acceptance.
And finally, regret.
I regretted not hugging my mother goodbye before I left for school.
I regretted acting like a spoiled brat when my parents refused to drive me halfway across the country so I could attend Coachella.
I regretted stepping inside Mr Brighton’s fourth period physics class.
Mr Brighton reappeared, slamming the door behind him and locking the boy inside. Part of me flinched, while the rest of me remembered not to move a muscle. I was barely aware of time passing. Or it wasn't. Time had stopped, so now long had I been sitting there?
I could no longer measure the passage of time with hunger or thirst, and my body felt the same. I wasn't stiff or tired or achy. Looking out of the window, the sky was the exact same crystal blue, every cloud in the exact same place.
Jessie Carson was still frozen mid-run, strands of dark red hair caught around her.
“What's wrong with you guys?” Mr Brighton chuckled, and I twisted back to the front, a shiver writhing down my spine. “Why don't you give me a smile?”
The teacher returned to his desk, and I was already subconsciously sitting up straight in my seat, forcing my lips into a jaw-breaking grin, following Brighton’s instructions. In the corner of my eye, Imogen was sitting very still, forcing an award-winning cheesy smile, while Kaz grinned through gritted teeth.
“Mr Hemlock just earned himself two weeks inside the supply closet.” he said casually, perching himself on the edge of his desk. The man studied each of us, taking his time to rip every shred of us apart.
Mind, body, and soul.
I struggled to maintain my stupid smile, shoving my shaking hands in my lap.
“Would anyone like to join him, or are you going to follow the rules?”
The rest of us stayed silent. I don't think any of us breathed.
Our teacher nodded to Kaz, inclining his head.
“Samuels. Are you all right?”
Kaz’s smile faltered slightly. He shifted in his chair. I could see sweat trickling down his right temple. “Uh, yeah.” He swiped at his forehead, like he couldn't believe he was sweating. “Yeah, I'm good.”
The teacher’s eyes narrowed. He moved toward his desk, and we all held our breaths. Mr Brighton seemed to study his hit-list, lips curving into a frown.
His gaze flicked to the boy, and then the paper.
He knew, I thought dizzily.
Mr Brighton knew the kid had been rummaging through his desk. But this was all about control. The teacher was using fear to control us, to manipulate our thoughts without having to get physical. He could have called out the boy right then, but Brighton was settling with mental torture instead. He just wanted to make my classmate squirm.
Without a word, the man folded up the piece of paper and slipped it into his pocket. “Mr Samuels, you are sweating,” our physics teacher said, mocking a frown. “Are you feeling okay?”
Kaz hesitated, tapping his shoe in a rhythm.
Being one of the smartest kids in the room definitely gave him an advantage.
I could already see the cogs turning behind half lidded eyes. Kaz was weighing each scenario, sorting them into positives and negatives.
The positives of answering would mean he was one step towards being in the clear, but there were two negatives.
Brighton would question him if he had left his seat, and then demand how his hit-list had magically moved across the desk.
Talking back was surely a rule-break, as well as outright lying.
Opening his mouth would get him in trouble, either way, and Kaz knew that.
So, he just nodded, forcing an even bigger smile.
Brighton’s lips pricked, his gaze straying on Kaz. “Good!” He cleared his throat, turning to the class. Kaz slumped in his seat with a sharp breath, resting his head in his arms. If Mr Brighton noticed, he didn't say anything. “Ignore the sweating. It should stop, along with hunger and thirst.”
Our teacher seemed to be able to manipulate everything in his vicinity.
Time.
Minds.
And slowly… contorting us into his own.
In the single second we were trapped inside, I felt days go by in a dizzying whirlwind that was like being permanently high. When I stood up, I felt like I was floating.
When I sat down, hours could go by, even days, and I wouldn't even feel them. I did try and count the days, initially, scribbling them on a scrap piece of paper, but somewhere around the thirteenth or fourteenth day, I lost count. The world around us never changed, in permanent stasis, and maybe that was sending us a little crazy.
After a while of being stuck at our desks, Mr Brighton allowed us to wander the classroom, as long as we stayed away from the door. I lay on the floor for days, counting ceiling tiles.
Sometimes, Imogen would join me.
I couldn't sleep, but I could pretend to sleep, imagining a world that was back to normal. I didn't feel hungry, but my brain did like to remind me of food at the weirdest times. I was aware of weeks passing us by, and then months.
I never grew hungry or tired, and my bodily functions were none existent.
I couldn't remember what pain felt like, or the urge to go to the bathroom. Even the concept of eating and drinking became foreign to me. Putting something in your mouth and chewing to sustain yourself?
That sounded odd.
The only thing that was changing was our slowly unravelling metal state.
I don't know how it started. Weekends and Tuesdays blended together. On one particular SaturTuesday, I was hanging upside down from my desk, watching Kaz and Imogen doodle on the whiteboard.
Kaz had a plan to escape, but after a while, his ‘plan’ to distract the teacher, had gone nowhere. After passing notes between us, the twelve of us had decided that we needed a weapon.
That was maybe a month ago. I wasn't sure what mind games our teacher was playing, but Kaz Samuels, who we were counting on to be our brains, was slowly falling under his spell. Their game had been going on for three days. The two of them were having a competition to see who could draw the craziest thing.
Mr Brighton was at his desk as usual, marking papers.
Imogen was drawing a weird looking ‘skateboard’ when the doors to the storage closet flew open.
Roman Hemlock appeared, and to my surprise, wasn't a hollow eyed shell.
He held up his hand in a wave, his lips forming a small smile.
“Yo.”
Roman’s reappearance was enough to snap us out of it. Kaz and Imogen stopped arguing, the rest of the class going silent. I sat up, blinking rapidly.
I was sure our collective consensus was that Roman Hemlock was dead.
Mr Brighton lifted his head and gave the boy a civil nod. “Mr Hemlock will be rejoining us,” he said, his gaze going back to marking papers. “Please make him feel comfortable. I'm sure he's very excited to be able to talk to you again.”
Instead of going to his desk, the boy immediately joined the others, snatching the marker off of a baffled looking Kaz, and drawing an overly artistic sketch of a penis. I wasn't sure what confused me more. The fact that Roman Hemlock had some serious artistic skills, or that he seemed suspiciously fine for someone who had been locked in the storage closet for two weeks with no social interaction.
With my last few lingering brain cells still clinging on, I studied the boy.
There were no signs of bruises or scratches.
His eyes seemed normal, not diluted or half lidded.
Unable to stop myself, I jumped off of my desk and joined the others, where Kaz was already interrogating the guy.
“WHAT–”
Imogen nudged him, and he lowered his voice, leaning against the wall. “What did he do to you?”
Roman shrugged, rolling his eyes. “Relax, dude. He didn't do anything to me.”
“Then what was that yell?” Imogen hissed.
The boy cocked his head. “Yell?”
“You yelled out,” Kaz folded his arms, narrowing his eyes. He was already suspecting one of us had been compromised– or worse, brainwashed into compliance. Kaz stepped closer, backing Roman into the desk. “You cried out when you first went in there,” he murmured, “So, what was that?”
Something in Roman’s eyes darkened. “Oh,” He said, his lip curling. “That.”
Kaz’s expression softened. He rested his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Yeah,” He whispered. “What did he do to you?”
Imogen shoved Kaz out of the way, shooting the boy a glare.
“You don't have to tell us, you know.” She said in a small voice. “If it's too traumatising, or he did something you don't want to talk about–”
Roman cut her off with a laugh, and suddenly, all eyes were on him.
The remaining nine of us were eagerly awaiting an explanation.
“Are you fucking serious?”
When Kaz didn't respond, Roman gathered us in a kind of hustle, the four of us grouped together. I felt like I was on the football field. Still, though, if the guy’s goal was to look as suspicious as possible, he was doing a great job.
Roman studied each of us, one eyebrow cocked. When Mr Brighton glanced up from his work, Roman shot him a grin, lowering his voice to a hiss.
“You seriously think our fifty year old physics teacher has been abusing me in the storage closet?
“Then why did you cry out?” Kaz demanded. “Did he hit you?”
Roman stuck out his bottom lip. “I'm pretty sure he didn't hit me.”
“So, you cried out for no reason.”
“Why are you covering for him?” Imogen poked his forehead. “Are you lobotomised?”
Roman wafted her hand away. “Stop prodding me, and no, I'm 100% good.” He backed away from us, like we were observers, and he was the zoo attraction.
“I won't be, if you keep treating me like I'm senile.”
“Okay, fine,” Kaz sighed. “Just answer one.”
“Shoot.”
“When you first went in there, you made an unmistakable sound of distress–”
“Not this again,” Roman groaned. “Of course I yelled! I was shoved into a pitch black storage closet on my own! What, did you expect me to stay silent?”
Kaz didn't look convinced, Imogen nervously sucking her teeth.
The boy leaned back, resting his head against the wall. His eyes flickered shut.
“Stop looking at me like that, there's nothing to tell you,” he murmured, “Brighton didn't do shit to me. I was just freaked out.” Prying one eye open, he fixed us with a glare. “I am so sorry for reacting like a human. Next time, I'll make sure to attack him and pin him to the ground.”
It's not like we believed him. I don't think Roman believed himself.
Something significant had changed in him. He was no longer argumentative, like half of his personality had been torn away. Roman set a precedent. Because once he was following instructions and walking around with a dazed smile, others began to follow. I can't remember how much time had passed since I thought about escaping.
Days and weeks and months had collapsed into fleeting seconds I only noticed when I wasn't playing games.
I wasn't aware of my own lack of sanity until I found myself, on a random SaturWednesday. I was laughing, gathered with the others on the floor, around a Monopoly board. The game had been going on for almost a week.
Reality hit me when I was laughing so hard I tipped back.
I can't remember why I was laughing. I think Imogen told a bad joke.
“Hand it over.” Roman, who was the King of Monopoly, held out his hand, demanding my last 250 bucks. I remember noticing his smile, my foggy brain trying to find hints that he was in some kind of trance, or being controlled by Brighton. But no. His smile was real.
Genuine.
To my shock and confusion, so was mine.
I wasn't in a trance or any type of mind manipulation. I was completely conscious.
Was this… Stockholm syndrome? I thought dizzily.
Was I enjoying this?
My thoughts were like cotton candy, disconnected and wrong, and they barely felt like my own. My gaze found Imogen and Kaz, the two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder, enveloped in the game.
They looked exactly the same, their hair, clothes, everything about them staying stagnant. It was them themselves who had drastically changed. I had never seen them look so carefree. Imogen was a hotheaded cheerleader, and Kaz was the smart kid who gave himself nosebleeds from overworking himself. But now, they were laughing, nudging each other, caught up in an inside joke. Blinking slowly, my gaze strayed on them.
Sure, it could be manipulation. It could be brainwashing. But it could also be real.
Kaz caught my eye, raising a brow.
“You good, Christa?”
Again, my smile felt real. Like I was having fun.
“Good. It's your turn.”
I picked up the dice, throwing them across the board.
Two sixes.
“I can already see her landing on one of my hotels.” Roman murmured. He sat up, resting his chin on his knees. “As the clear winner, I have a proposition.”
Ignoring him, I moved my piece– immediately landing on Park Place.
“I'll give you 500,” Roman announced, “If you give up New York avenue.”
“That's all I've got!”
Imogen nudged me. “Don't do it. If you give him New York Avenue, he only needs one more.”
“One thousand.” Roman waved the notes in my face.
“My final offer.”
When I reached for the cash, he held it back.
“New York Avenue, he said, with a grin.
“And your pride.”
Reluctantly, I handed my only property over.
Kaz threw the dice and moved his piece, and I half remembered we had an escape plan. “Community chest.” Kaz picked up a card. “Go straight to jail.”*
Roman spluttered. “That's karma,” he said, “For stealing from the bank.”
“You were stealing too!”
We had a plan.
We had…. a plan.
After discussing it in detail, Imogen and I were going to try and get onto Brighton’s laptop. It wasn't a perfect way to escape, but it was coherent.
So, what happened?
We were going to get out, so what… what was this?
Kaz’s earlier words hit me from months ago.
“Mr Brighton *is the thing keeping us here,”* he explained. “If we kill him, I'm like, 98% sure we’ll go back to normal.”
“Okay, and what if he dies and we’re *stuck?”* Imogen whisper-shrieked.
“I said 98% for a reason. Yes, there's a small chance his power will die with him. But there's a bigger chance that its effects will die when he does.”
Ren nodded slowly. “Right, and where exactly did you learn this information?”
“You'll feel a lot better if I don't answer that.”
“Okay.” Ren gritted his teeth. “So, we just need to find a weapon, right?”
“And don't tell Hemlock,” Kaz rolled his eyes. “I don't care what he says, that boy definitely had his mind fucked with. Hemlock is a liability. If we tell Roman, he tells Brighton, and we’re screwed.” Kaz nodded to me, then the others. “Keep your mouths shut.”
Presently, I wasn't sure the boy wanted to escape.
Slowly, I rolled my eyes over to Mr Brighton, who had joined us to play.
He was happily marking papers, taking part when he could.
It felt…right.
Not like we had been forced or manipulated, but more like he belonged. Part of me wanted to question why I felt like this, but I found that I didn't care. I didn't care that we were essentially dead, in a never ending stasis and stuck inside fifty two minutes past two. I stopped thinking about the outside world a long time ago.
I couldn't even remember my Mom’s face.
I made my decision, dazedly watching Imogen throw a chance card at Roman.
He flung one back, threatening to tip the board.
I wanted to stay.
In the corner of my eye, however, someone was still awake.
Ren, who had been sitting next to me, kept moving, further and further away. I didn't notice until he was inching towards our teacher, a box cutter clenched between his fist. There must have been a point when we found a box cutter, when we made it our weapon of choice.
But somewhere along the way, I think we just… lost the longing to want to escape.
I didn't see the exact moment the boy stabbed the blade into the man's neck, plunging it through his flesh, but I did feel a sudden jolt, like time itself was starting to falter and tremble.
Mr Brighton dropped to the ground, and I found my gaze flashing to the frozen clock.
Which was moving, suddenly.
Slowly creeping towards 2:53pm.
Something sticky ran underneath me, warm and wet.
Blood.
Blood that was running.
Roman’s half lidded eyes found mine, and he blinked, dropping the dice.
Like he'd been asleep for a long time.
2:53pm.
We were free.
The cool spring breeze grazing my cheeks was back. I could feel my own heartbeat, sticky sweat on my forehead.
And outside, Jessie Carson let out a gut-churning scream.
For a disorienting moment, I don't think any of us believed we were free.
Roman twisted around, his gaze on the doorway.
The piece of paper the teacher had stuck to the glass slipped away.
But Roman’s gaze was glued to the door, his cheeks paling.
His lips parted into a silent cry.
Following his eyes, I glimpsed a shadow.
A shadow that was frozen at 2:52pm.
2:53pm.
“Fuck.” Roman whispered, stumbling to his feet.
He turned to the rest of us, his eyes wild.
“Get DOWN!”
I dropped onto my knees, crawling under a desk, the classroom exploding around me.
2:54.
Blood splattered the walls, and I was crawling in it, stained in my friends.
2:55.
I grabbed Mr Brighton's hand, squeezing for dear life.
Roman joined me, his trembling fingers feeling for a pulse.
A gunshot rang in my ears, rattling my skull.
When Roman went limp next to me, I wrapped my arms around my teacher.
“Mr Brighton, say Stop.”
He was so cold…
“Mr Brighton! Take us back!”
Footsteps coming towards me.
2:56.

-WORLD:
Setting post-apocalypse. Nuclear war devastated the entire world, destroying all major cities and plunging the world into chaos and anarchy. Everything became an inhospitable wasteland, a dry and infertile land. Most of the world is radioactive and toxic, most of it is low radiation, there are parts (like craters and lakes) where radiation is extremely high called death zones. Most of humanity was extinguished by war and bombing, some mutated, others took refuge in shelters for hundreds of years until they ran out of resources and were forced out by the failure of the ventilation, water purification and electricity systems of the shelters. Now there are small nomadic groups, wandering loners, looting gangs, scavengers and factions of all kinds. The wilderness is in total chaos with no law and order, much danger. Mutated flora and fauna, ruthless lunatics, no one has morals, everyone survives or plunges into madness and sadism.
More details. All that is left is desert and ruined cities, remnants of civilisation long forgotten. All technology is extremely valuable and scarce, most use rustic weapons and tools to save bullets and guns. General low radiation has little effect on people other than physical wear and tear, high radiation is deadly and brutal and there are known ways to enter the death zones. Factions vary from idealists seeking to rebuild civilisation with hope and brutal sadistic hedonists who love this lawless world and spend their days terrorising wasteland and its inhabitants (savages and barbarians), and also groups who only join together to survive without a long term plan. One of the biggest problems is food and lack of drinking water. There are only rumours and legends of fertile and peaceful lands but they are all false hopes. The story takes place on America. so they all speak english, the currency is either trade or they use food, water and bullets, some trade with their bodies, offering their "services" (mostly healthy people since most are scarred or deformed by radiation to different degrees, from light rashes to melting flesh), people more physically attractive are more valuable as treasure and as a currency. Another really valuable asset is cars and gasoline. Despite all the different types of characters and factions that exist, they all share one characteristic, a grey morality (in some cases more noble, in others absolute degenerates with no ethics or morals).
-MUTANTS:
Now onto the juicy part. The mutants. For now I came up with only three main classes, of course they are all different and varied but they can be classified in one of these three groups. Let's go one by one, building them up.
----GOBLINS:
First, the Goblins. Mutated humans, with messy DNA, including parts of rat, pig and so on, but mostly human. Named for their similarity to the fantasy race. Nasty little humanoid creatures, completely disgusting, full of warts and bumps, long noses and crooked yellow teeth. About the size of an 8 year old child, but with the appearance described above. They have below average intelligence, can communicate with each other and with humans and other mutants, but are not capable of complex societies or goals beyond survival, they are only interested in procreating and eating. They are capable of eating anything thanks to their powerful digestive systems, but prefer meat, especially human meat for its tenderness, although it is not uncommon to see them eating their own excrement (not because it has nutritional value, but simply for the fact that they are constantly hungry). Goblins are always male, there is no such thing as a female goblin. For this reason, their mutations allow them to breed with female humans. A goblin pregnancy lasts between a week and a month (depending on the goblin's virility) and mothers usually give birth to a litter of 4 to 6 goblins, goblin dna is so strong that all offsprings between human and goblin are always pure goblins. In very rare cases a human woman can become pregnant with a human when bred by goblins, one in every 100 pregnancies on average. This causes goblins to capture humans as food, keeping females as bredingstock and livestock, turning them into baby factories until they become barren and are used as horses (ridden or beasts of burden) or eaten.
Goblins treat humans as animals. They live in disorganised societies of around 500 members, they have no hierarchy or any kind of government, they live freely and there are no disputes between them, they share food and breeding mates as a free use society, bonding over these acts. When ambushing, attacking or raiding enemies they have great coordination and teamwork, on their own they are extremely weak but together they are a serious threat. They are usually rough and aggresive but prefer their victims to surrender over forcing them, for this reason any humans who surrender and cooperate are not unnecessarily harmed, but they have no problem hurting or killing anyone who resists.
To further expand on goblins. Goblins eat their own excrement mainly because they like to chew on something, but also in goblin societies it is valued that the breath is stinky (a mixture of everything they eat) a goblin with horrible breath means a goblin that eats a lot, hence a healthy and strong goblin. Goblins kill any creature they find when hunting, forming large piles of carcasses and carcasses inside their caves, they don't care if it spoils as it doesn't affect them at all, although they prefer fresh meat. The only creature they don't kill when hunting are human females, in fact when in their raids they accidentally kill one that goblin is banished as a traitor (since their most valuable resource is their breedingstock since it keeps the horde with more members). Despite their roughness they take care of their breedingstock, keeping them on farms, so that they last as long as they can and have as many children as possible, although once the females become infertile they are treated as just another beast, abused as beasts of burden or just butchered to eat them. Female humans are fed a slop, a filthy mixture of goblin excrement and meat of all kinds crushed and mashed, when a goblin breeds a female human it alters their genetic material so that their digestive systems are goblin-like, though the taste is still dreadful and horrifying to them. Goblins do not need nurturing or care from their mothers, they are completely disconnected from them, no relationship, they just see their mother as cattle. Human female breast milk is one of the goblins' favourite thing, they love the taste and texture of it, for this reason the captured females are constantly lactating and milked. Goblins on their own are weak due to their inferiority in intelligence and strength. Though they are immune to radiation and disease, a goblin bite carries hundreds of infections and diseases, sometimes goblins threaten their captured breeding stock with biting them to keep them controlled.
Well, to expand some more on goblins. When they breed a human female they inject hormones along with their genetic code that makes them lactate constantly as well as increasing their fertility. It is a hormone so powerful that the captured female needs to be constantly milked or their breasts swell indefinitely with milk which hurts them. Goblins brand their breeding stock with burning irons to mark them as the breeders of the horde. Goblins sometimes give some of their breeding stock nicknames to remember them and further dominate them (these nicknames are based on traits of the female. "Squealer" to one that constantly screams and cries. "Big Tits" to one that produces a lot of milk. "Pig" to one that eats a lot of slop. And so on, you get the idea). The goblins are well are that their bites are deadly to other creatures. The captured females' mental health usually ends one of these ways: most of them break and accept their new life and fate, surrendering to the goblins with loss; very few of them resist until the very end, showing defiance as they are being used, goblins are particularly rough with these ones; or they just lose their mind and become like animals, some even get to the point where they love their goblins masters and are happy to serve them, desperate to be bred and give birth to many goblins.
---ORCS:
The orcs. These types of mutants are called orcs due to their similarity to the fantasy race. They are humans mutated by radiation and bombs, their genetic material is a mixture of absolutely everything, a broth of characteristics and traits of hundreds of species, with the human gene being predominant. Therefore, they are also called super mutants. They are huge humanoid creatures, over 2.5 meters tall, broad shoulders and strong backs, excessive musculature and a burly and firm build. They usually have reddish to greenish skin and some have horns. They are thick-boned and have fangs and claws on their huge hands. They are the apex predator of wasteland, creatures of immense strength, stamina and agility, able to lift cars over their heads with ease, run long distances in a matter of seconds without tiring, and with a tough, rough skin that prevents bullets from penetrating past that layer. They are unrivalled and almost invincible against any other creature. They have below average intelligence, though they are smarter and more complex than goblins, and can communicate with each other and with humans and other mutants. They are savage, brutish, aggressive and violent, living in barbaric tribes of no more than 5 members, led by the largest, strongest, meanest and with the highest virility. Their camps are rustic, with tents and prehistoric structures, they usually decorate their bodies and their camps with bones and skins of all kinds of creatures. They are voracious and brutal, constantly fighting among themselves for control and kills and fighting with other tribes for food and territory. They are ruthless and merciless, finding tremendous pleasure in fighting and killing, living to conquer, eat and reproduce, slaughtering whoever they find. They worship radiation as a supreme deity, and believe that they are the ultimate life form worthy of rule over this world, thanking the bombs for giving them this power.
They are immune to radiation and disease. The leader is called a Warchief or Shaman and is considered a direct messenger of the will of the sadistic deity that is radiation. Orcs detest old world technology and destroy as much as they can find, this is because they consider it pathetic and an excuse for the weak to use against the strong, they use their bodies or crude and rustic weapons to fight (sledgehammers, hammers, and so on). They can be deceived anc tricked by smells since that is their most powerful sense, usually fall for baits with dead bodies. Their only weakness and way to actually defeat them is laser guns, this technology can burn through their skin and flesh, making it invaluable when facing the mighty orc threat. All tribes are similar in attitude, seeking conquest and pleasure. Shamans besides being the strongest orc of the tribe can grow in size up to twice their original size (this is due to the radiation in them being more intense), they are also more intelligent than the rest which also makes them more barbaric and savage. Orcs see absolutely all creatures on the planet as weak and inferior. When an orc gets older and weaker he is executed by the tribe to prevent him from having weak offspring like him, then he is buchered and eaten, his bones are thrown into a radioactive lake as a sacrifice to the deity of radiation. Although some manage to escape this fate and become solitary wanderers, they eventually lose their aggressiveness and retreat to isolate themselves in the death zones.
A bit more into Orcs. They are always male, there is no such thing as a female orc. Their genetic makeup is so powerful and their genetic material so varied and messy that they can breed absolutely anything, any race, any gender, anything, even each other (although this is extremely rare as an orc would rather die than mother another orc's offspring. An orc sees being bred as the ultimate form of defeat). Their sperm is so powerful and radioactive that it alters the body of the creature being bred by them, the most notorious changes being that it feminises the males, transforming them into females after several sessions, and causes whatever is being bred to get broader hips, swollen breasts, fatter bottoms, and so on. This transformation, which makes them more appealing to orcs, is known as ascension. The sperm is also a potent aphrodisiac that completely takes over the body of the one being bred, making then suffer extreme pleasure and high sensitivity for a while. Despite being able to breed anything, orcs prefer human females because their bodies are the tightest and most attractive, and because they give birth to stronger orcs. Pregnancies always give birth to a pure orc thanks to the powerful orc DNA. The gestation period is one month and is brutal on the mother, agonising and heavy. Orcs hunt for food and for breeding mates. Orcs, unlike goblins, are possessive of their breeding mates; when an orc claims one, he owns it and does not share it. Orcs eat whatever they capture and don't breed (either because they don't like them or because they are weak and their bodies would not support pregnancy) although some are kept as toys for stress relief.
-BEASTS:
---PIGS:
Let's start with the pigs. A horrible combination of pig, bull and human, intensified by radiation. They are mostly pigs, but they are larger than a bull, being huge and massive, and have human-like intelligence with below average intelligence. They are robust and powerful beasts, tough and strong, almost no one hunts them because they are formidable enemies, they have coarse and tough skin. They are also hideous and disgusting beasts, constantly covered in dirt and filth. They roam solitary, seeking food and companionship. They often interact with other pigs but do not form relationships or stay together for long. They are capable of eating anything because of their evolved digestive systems that require them to eat absurd amounts of food, although they prefer sweet snacks. They are aggressive towards any creature that is not another pig, attacking and tearing them apart, often eating them. They are not hunters because they do not go around looking for prey but they do not waste the opportunity to attack other creatures. They are immune to radiation and disease, they tend to roam the world and often gather in radioactive lakes to drink water and socialise.
More onto the Rad-Boars, the mutant pigs. They are practically invulnerable, and have no clear weakness, other than their beast-like behaviour, most choose to avoid them as, although killing one would mean a lot of food, their flesh is radioactive and they are almost impossible to defeat. Sometimes the orcs engage in combat against the pigs, always ending in a draw with both parties exhausted and barely damaged, it is more of a recreational activity for the orcs rather than a hunt, the pigs treat the orcs like all other creatures. Rad-Boars are cooperative and friendly with others of their kind, grooming each other and sharing experiences, they enjoy each other's company for a time before parting ways. Radioactive lake water does not affect them at all, as their radiation is so high that they simply absorb the radiation (the beast mutant types are the most radioactive of all, they are practically immortal as well). Pigs have their flesh constantly being melted and devoured by radiation but at the same time being regenerated by their powers, being in constant balance, this contributes to their disgusting and creepy appearance, with flesh falling off in chunks and skin sweating like sweat. Their genetic code was from all types of pigs and bulls but only the strongest genes were left to ensure their evolution. There are different sizes for the Rad-Boars, all huge and imposing. Although they can only emit pig and bull noises, they are capable of communicating with each other and of certain displays of intelligence, operating tools or solving puzzles.
So, more onto these pigs. Rad-boars can only be males, there are no female pigs. Most humans are terrified of pigs and they act accordingly, humans running away in fear and the boars chasing them aggressively, seeking to kill them. Pigs are aggressive creatures to all non-pigs, but there is a way to calm them down and tame them. If instead of panicking you keep a calm head you can try to communicate with them. The best way to calm a Rad-Boar is to appeal to its need for companionship and breeding. The woman should undress completely and approach the pig carefully, then she has to become seductive and sexy, grinding herself on him and complimenting him (calling him a stud, appeal to his virility, tell them they need him, they have an urge to be their mate). If they succeed, the pig won't attack them and instead will breed them, getting closer to them. The pigs are so radioactive that they cannot have offspring, the act of breeding is purely sexual and pleasurable, as well as a form of bond with a human female. The result of the breeding between a human female and a Rad-Boar is that the female will swell her belly as if she were heavily pregnant (at least 10 kilos of liquid inside her) and then expel all that slop, a glowing green goo, down her birth canal, giving birth to that slime. Then both the human and the pig would eat that slop, it is really sweet and tastes very good. The pig would be relaxed now and the human can escape. The act of breeding with a Rad-Boar, his sexual and bodily fluids as well as that goo, are extremely addictive for a human, making it a powerful drug for humans, the danger of the taming strategy is growing addicted to it quickly.
It's a dark and mature story. Onto more pigs. The addiction is brutal, in a couple of weeks of withdrawal it makes the human desperately need another dose, there is no cure and it only gets worse with time and more consumption of this drug, entering a loop that is doomed. Most humans either kill themselves or crave the sensation so much that they crawl back to the pig and beg for more. After a couple breeding sessions and when the addiction worsened the pig claims the human female as its mate, she accepts this as she is already addicted to him and his fluids. The pig then makes a nosehook, a collar and a leash with his own fur, leather, flesh and skin, and puts them onto his human, starting a relationship of dominance and control, between similar to marriage and a pet/owner dynamic. The pig mark his human mate by covering her on his filth so the other pigs know she is with him. The slop they eat after breeding makes the human immune to radiation and capable of eating anything, so they can travel together and drink from the lake. Over time the human accepts this position of submission and obedience to the pig, becoming his breeding mate and companion, living and travelling together. Some settlemens manage to get pigs as warhorses and vehicles by luring them with females and offering them to the pig as breeding mates so he cooperates, effectively making stables with these pigs and female sacrifices.
---Wolves:
A mutation, combination of dog, wolf, bear and human. Predominantly wolf and dog, but the size of a bear with the appearance of a grizzly wolf, with the intelligence of a human with below average intelligence (like rad-boars). They have the power, size and strength of a grizzly bear with the speed, agility and ferocity of a wolf, along the resilience and will of a hunt or guard dog. The best of each specie combined in an apex predator. Like wolves, they live in packs of several members, they work together and cooperate when hunting or fighting, while they are lead by an alpha and have a social structure and hierarchy similar to that of wolves, with all that implies. They travel the wasteland looking for good hunting spots as well as a place to establish a base (usually not deep caves on forests), once they settled they rarely leave too far and don't migrate unless food becomes really scarce. They are carnivorous but can eat other things to survive if they get too hungry. They are highly territorial and aggressive, violent and ruthless, very protective of their packs and their bases. They don't even get along with other wolves of different packs, easily recognising the members of each pack by their unique and characterstic smell. They have long and shiny fur, varying from white to black. Their behaviour is very similar to wolves and dogs.
To add more details. The warhounds are formidable beasts. They don't get too much weakness but can be intimidated sometimes if they consider the prey or foe too much of a hassle or not an immediate threat. They ignore rad-boars because they won't attack something if they consider or fear a member of the pack could get hurt or killed, they evaluate the possible outcomes of an encounter and won't fight a hard battle or one that could mean casualties for the pack. Packs have designated roles, from trackers who track down prey, to chasers who chase down wounded prey if they try to escape, there are the distracters, the main attackers, the secondary attackers, the rearguard (wolf cubs and very old), and the alpha who coordinates the attacks and hunts and decides if they should continue or retreat. The alpha is always the smartest and strongest warhound, the pack respects him but may challenge his position in a fight. The warhounds mark their territory by peeing on trees and zones to delimit the territory, as well as scratching and biting pieces of nature (wood, stone, walls, and so on). There is only one breed of warhounds, with individuals barely varying on size. Warhounds communicate mainly with scent, but also have a clear body language that is easy to identify, and can communicate primitively with growls, barks and howls (the latter being the most commonly used). The best way for a human to communicate with a warhound is to keep calm, don't show themselves as a threat and use clear body language.
A bit more details. The warhounds are always male, there are no female wolves/dogs. For this reason, they evolved to be able to breed human females. They are proud beasts that do not interact with members outside the pack, so they do not capture or force human females (even though they are their only way to breed and ensure the pack's prosperity). Therefore, as soon as they see a human, male or female, they attack to kill and eat. A human female can avoid this, she has to keep calm and not attack the warhounds, instead she has to communicate with them on their level, with clear body language. She has to get on all fours and adopt a wolf mating position as well as whimper and bark, this lets the wolves know that she does not want to hurt them and that she is looking to join their pack as a breeder and that she is interested in becoming a wolf and learning about them. The pack would then send a scout (a tracker) to check her out, they sniff each other out and lick each other faces to establish trust. If the scout approves she leads the human female into the pack, if not the pack just leaves her unharmed. This process makes breeders and mothers in a pack rare, with a ratio of one human female to every 5 warhounds on a pack. A pack is normally around 30 wolves, so an optimal pack would have at least 5 or 6 breeders, with the most efficient packs having up to 10 human females enlisted. The pregnancy is similar to those of wolves, a gestation period of two to three months and a birth of a litter with 3 to 5 cubs. This makes it so wolves compete for breeding mates, ranging from physical attributes of the warhound to the preference of the human female, or course the alpha always has a breeding mate secured. The offspring are always pure warhounds and never humans or a mix.
To further expand. Human females join warhound packs for various reasons, some are frightened when assaulted by wolves and take this strategy to survive, others are more willing, seeking protection in the wasteland, or even purpose or belonging in a world that lost it all, and others have no other way to survive and choose this life in order to eat something. Anyway, once a human female joins a pack of warhounds, the wolves teach them about their culture and society, showing them their bases, their usual routes, teaching them body language and verbal communication (within a few months, most human females know how to communicate with wolves better than how to communicate with humans, knowing the meaning of each growl, bark, howl, whimper and movement or gesture). Once the human female learns how to integrate onto the pack is time for her to breed, this process can take up to two months where the wolves compete for her attention, wrestling each other (without serious injuries) and courting her with flirtatious demonstrations of affection or breeding prowess (virility, size, confidence, assertiveness, and other desirable traits on a breeding partner). Of course, this whole process of competition is skipped when the alpha claims his breeding mate, but he still has to woo the human female so she willingly takes him, though she is in no position to refuse him and choose some other wolf. Until the human female is bred she has to pull her own weight in the pack, taking a special role on the hunting expeditions, the distractors, they lure prey with their helpless and vulnerable aspect so the pack can jump on the prey, they can also act as secondary attackers if the pack is lacking numbers. They also are the primary attackers when ambushing a human, they have to act innocent to make the human foe lower their guard and then strike mercilessly, surprisingly by the time they are active on hunting expeditions human females prefer and value more warhounds than humans.
Once the human female is pregnant with a litter of wolf cubs she goes from breeder to mother, staying on the rear when hunting or staying at the base along the cubs and the guard wolves. She takes a nurturing position, having to take care of the cubs along the other pregnant human females, they all share this responsibility and the babies are considered of the whole pack instead of an individual wolf, a collective society. Once a human female gives birth to her first pack her motherly instincts go intense and she feels profound love and devotion for any cub, really accepting and cherishing her role and purpose as a mother for the pack, she feeds them and teaches them everything they need to know to become good warhounds and productive members of the pack. To welcome a human female into the pack, all the warhounds pee on her to get her marked with the scent of the pack. The further a human female lives on a wolf pack the more she adapts and becomes like them on behaviour, loyalty and mentality.

Spring 2023: started getting new patches of eczema that I self diagnosed as dyhidrotic eczema. They responded to topical steroids.
summer 2023 I noticed swelling of left submandibular node. When I was practicing for 2k swim I would occasionally feel it click/move when I would move my head out of the water to breathe. At first painless. Now painful. Does not go down between illnesses. Swells for very minor disruptions of my face like zits, mosquito bite on my forehead, sore gum.
Oct 23 - right knee starts hurting a lot, pain persists currently. Allergies had also been under good control but itch begins at this point. Mainly itchy deep in neck, cannot scratch itch. Also very bad in nasal passages, ears, palms, sometimes feet. No visible rash. On Singulair, Zyrtec, xyzal, & ketotifen eye drops.
Nov 23 - caught RSV from 2yo, was very sick for 2-3 weeks
1 URI in dec.
Jan 11 - noro virus that brought me to ED, needed potassium repleted, watery diarrhea for 20 days, lost 10lbs
Jan 26-Feb 2. URI maybe COVID? Cov test neg.
Feb 13 - saleidentitis x7 days : left chin node very sore for weeks after this. Could not eat for a week, visibly clogged duct underneath tongue.
March - new red patches on hands start to form. Triamcinolone not helping. Itch in neck and through upper body, now head becoming really bad.
March 3rd - new uri lasts 4 days
March 19th - new uri lasts 3-4 days
April 18th - TSH triples from last check to 2.98, dose of Levo has been the same since 2018
April 22nd - new uri lasts 3-4 days
May 4th new uri starts, cold sore forms and doesn’t respond to valtrex
May 18th- wake up with bone aches and congestion, feel sick all weekend. (Possibly start of mono?)
May 20th- cold sore forms, doesn’t respond to valtrex.
May 25 - swollen neck nodes, positive mono spot, IgE 349, diffuse joint pain. Lost 10lbs since 4/18 unintentionally. No appetite.
Labs as of now: ANA positive with speckled pattern 1:320 ENA negative SLE labs all negative CBC relatively normal, and lymph’s 3.7 wbc 11 IgE 349 Regular IgM and IgG normal, EBV specific IgG and IgM pending

Does anyone else have an experience with a prolonged healing time?
I had my two upper wisdom teeth out almost three weeks ago now, and I am mostly pain free now but it still hurts when food gets stuck and when I smile or laugh too hard. It’s like my gums are just very sensitive.
I’ve previously had out a lower wisdom tooth and the molar beside it on the bottom left side and I was healed and pain free within the week!
Maybe its just different for everyone but was just curious as to see if anyone else is dealing with this.

my mouth has been paining slightly for a few days now. The gum above my wisdom tooth has definitely swollen a bit, not able to chew from right side because of the pain. I think i will have to get it removed? I am very scared of the pain and ive heard how the surgeries can also impact your facial structure. What to do? Please tell me your experience and recommend a dentist too if you know any along with their price. Please help a brother out.

Hi! On Tuesday (3 days ago) I brought my cat Schmidt (4yrs, male, neutered,4kg, British Short Hair mix, Germany)to the vet, because he was coughing and retching after being outside (He’s a frequent outside cat). It looked like he might have some gras or something stuck somewhere, so they put him under light anesthesia to have a look around. They didn’t find anything in his throat or nostrils, instead they noticed his upper left canine was chipped. It must have happened recently as it was quite fresh, maybe one or two days ago, I hadn’t noticed it yet. The neck of the tooth was fully exposed, so that could cause infections down the line, meaning the tooth had to be extracted sooner or later. I decided to do it now, because he was already under anaesthetic and I wanted to reduce stress of any kind. The surgery went well according to the vet and I got to take him home that day.
Since then he’s getting some pain medicine once a day for four days (tomorrow is the last day), other than that he’s allowed to go outside and live his best life, which he is definitely doing apart from getting his lip stuck on his lower fang now and then. Now, maybe I’m just hyper-aware because I don’t want to miss any infection, but he does seem to have bad breath, which he never had before. I think it just smells like his wet food but I just never noticed it before, maybe once or twice. I also noticed him drooling just the tiniest bit while sleeping today, but never before and never again since, just a small drop coming from his mouth. His face/lip doesn’t seem swollen or discoloured at all, I haven’t had a chance to look at his gums yet, mostly because I’m scared of hurting him if I try to open his mouth.
The vet didn’t think a follow-up examination would be necessary, because an infection would be very unlikely and since it’s his upper tooth, no food should be able to fall into the wound. With the weekend coming up, I don’t have the chance to call my vet to ask about it, I’m also wondering if some bad breath for the first few days is a normal side effect while the wound is healing. What do you guys think? Thanks so much in advance!

Just want to share my experience. My crooked teeth make my jaw assymetrical. But last week I finally found the perfect jaw position where I could sing easier and effortlessly.
However, it costed me so much pain because the gum back there got ripped and swollen. I thought I'd need a surgery or something.
I couldn't even open my mouth large enough for a spoon to enter. It was so painful.
But I treated it with lemon water and slowly it healed in a few days.
Today I started screaming again and it feels better. Like I didn't need to try hard. And of course I can open my mouth fully now.
I don't think that my scream is good or anything, it's just acceptable and comfortable enough for me.

21F, no medical conditions, 155lbs, 5’3”, 100mg Zoloft daily. No dental work (other than a few extractions as a child, maybe a few cavities filled before I was even 10 years old). Does it look like there’s an abscess here? Picture is from yesterday. Aspen Dental didn’t find anything, but my friend in the industry says he sees an abscess. The left side of my face hurts and I’m so so scared of an infection spreading. There’s a painful lump high up in the gum— you can’t see the gum from just lifting the lip up, but if you push higher up, you can feel it. You can also feel it if you press down around the outer bottom corneside of the right nostril. It is a hard lump, not soft or squishy, no puss. When I push on it, it feels like a deep bruise and causes pain in the top right canine— but not excruciating. Sometimes, if I drink something (usually when I have my aligners in), I have searing pain in that canine, but it quickly subsides. Even if it’s room temperature water. Yesterday, they blew air on it and it sent pain up through my face.
I have had this lump for months but it has not really worried me or caused me issues. I thought it was just things moving around or something being pushed against a facial nerve due to invisible aligners, which I am on week 18/21 of (but have not worn since yesterday). There is no matching lump or pain on the left side in the same location.
The last few days, there has been pain in this area. Sinus pain, and pain almost like when you have a migraine. It’s been dull, and it comes and goes. It’s mostly in the sinus area, but sometimes I get twinges of pain in my jaw, by my ear, or at the back of my head— which I’m hoping and praying is just nerve pain.
I’m a hypochondriac and an absolutely beyond petrified of an infection, one that’s spreading and could cause sepsis and kill me. I have an appointment on Tuesday with a new dentist to check it out, but what if it spreads fast? I woke up with a little sore throat today. Could be unrelated, but what if it’s not?
I could really really use some reassurance that I’m not going to die, or get sepsis, or end up in the hospital.
https://imgur.com/a/ICL7Ni8

I am on Adderall XR, and it has been life changing. However, the cottonmouth and swollen tongue are baaaaaad. To the point that I’m considering going off of the meds bc I’m so uncomfortable. I’ve read about and tried the gums, mouthwashes, small sips of water, etc, but it doesn’t really help. So, my question is has this side effect subsided for anyone? How long did it take? Is there another med that doesn’t cause this problem? Thank you.

Hi, I'm a female, on my twenties, normal weight and currently not taking medication. I don't know for how long this is here but there's a hard like bone lump on the bottom gum the link with more images. I'm seeing pictures of tori and this looks like it's closest to the tooth than the images I seen. Does this look like tori? I don't know for how long it's here. Is this an emergency? Is it safe to wait weeks for an appointment? Any ideas?
https://imgur.com/a/czfeGal

Hi, I'm a female, on my twenties, normal weight and currently not taking medication. I don't know for how long this is here but there's a hard like bone lump on the bottom gum the link with more images. I'm seeing pictures of tori and this looks like it's closest to the tooth than the images I seen. Does this look like tori? I don't know for how long it's here. Is this an emergency? Is it safe to wait weeks for an appointment? Any ideas?
https://imgur.com/a/czfeGal

It tastes like chewing/bubble gum. Yes, very sweet (still?) The color was uniform dull-pink from the top to nearly-the-bottom, where the last 9mm at the bottom had darker ube-violet color.
Exp date 02 / 2023 (as nearly visible on the pics below), opened May 2024, 1 yr 3 months past the expiration date

Hi all,
I just need some help with pain and inflammation management as it’s really getting me down and is emotionally exhausting. I can deal with some pain but just the constant middle grade pain from parts of my mouth is super not easy to deal with. I’m having the most pain in my gums (they’re starting to go down except for one spot where my tongue sits as well as where my bottom teeth come up behind my top. Super painful) and in the some of the softer but most elastic areas (where ur cheeks meet the back of ur teeth, lips and parts of the soft pallet). I’m currently on a Tylenol/dual relief (ibuprofen and acetaminophen combo) pairing to pain and it gets rid of most of the sore throat but I’m still having a lot of gum pain. I’ve also been sucking on ice for the swelling and it’s helped in some places and done very little in others. Luckily I have no tooth pain. Looking online has been a bit of a mess and I don’t want to bother the urgent care I went to because I know they are often under staffed.
Thanks for any help!
EDIT; I’m also a certified baby. I’m a 22M and I’ve been having pain for about 5 days, I know I still have time left on this but if I can manage most of the pain it’ll make this much easier.