17m
I might possibly have a bump on my muscle, as I only feel it when I touch it in a specific way. I have it on my right calf about 5 cms down. I think it might be in the same spot on my left calf as well but I feel it more on my right, my right is slightly skinnier, as it's my less dominant leg. I also had calf pain since March that went away for a couple weeks and recently has come back, it's on both calf but 80% of the time in my right. I had an x ray end of March on both legs that came back clear.
2 doctors said its probably soreness.
I can't stop thinking about sarcoma

17m
I might possibly have a bump on my muscle, as I only feel it when I touch it in a specific way. I have it on my right calf about 5 cms down. I think it might be in the same spot on my left calf as well but I feel it more on my right, my right is slightly skinnier, as it's my less dominant leg. I also had calf pain since March that went away for a couple weeks and recently has come back, it's on both calf but 80% of the time in my right. I had an x ray end of March on both legs that came back clear.
2 doctors said its probably soreness.
I can't stop thinking about sarcoma

Hey everyone,
I want to share my journey with you all, I hope those struggling read this.
At the age of 14 a week after my birthday, I experienced my first ACL rupture, at the time I didn’t really know what this meant, I remember my parents both looking devastated and I didn’t understand the gravity of what had just happened. Once the severity was explained to me I felt so much pain and disappointment and little did I know it was just the beginning of a series of challenges that would test my resilience to the core.
My first rehab was the hardest, I was uneducated, impatient and emotional, I was in highschool and all I wanted to do was play sports with my friends, run around at lunch time, and just be normal. But I couldn’t. Albeit surrounded by an amazing support team, it was still hard. And at that age my friends and classmates didn’t understand, i was taunted about “being soft” and to “not do your ACL again!” When doing meagre tasks, it was humiliating. But through all that I learnt a lot about myself, I taught myself dedication, perseverance and patience. And through a successful rehabilitation I was back to sport and normalities after 15 months post the injury. It was amazing, as huge weight lifted off my shoulder, I’ve never felt happier than playing my first game back from injury.
Fast forward to 17, I had faced numerous injuries between 14-17 such as a pneumothorax and some fractured ribs and a spinal fracture, although nothing a major as an ACL tear. I thought I was in the clear. Until I wasn’t. I found myself facing another ACL tear, along with injuries to my MCL and the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. It was devastating. I felt lost, all of my hard work was gone for nothing, such little time had passed since my last one, and mix that with COVID I felt as I had been cheated by life. I remember hearing the news from my doctor and taking it on the chin, as I felt I couldn’t show any emotion in public. But as soon as I was alone I lost it, I cried and cried. But I was determined to not let this define me. Once again I found myself not be able to participate in the sports I love, I was especially devastated as I was playing and training at a level that players are usually drafted from to my chosen sport, I thought I had my future planned out, I thought my sport was going to support my future. Furthermore I also went through the same taunting from my mates, although it wasn’t their fault as I never let them know that it actually got to me. Although through all this pain a spark of light pushed through, and I’d thought I’d found my calling. I’d decided I wanted to redirect from sport and become a Physiotherapist. I finished high school and got accepted into my dream course and finished my first year with a 6.0 GPA. After all the emotion, lonely times, countless hours rehabbing and feeling as if nobody understood the pain I was feeling I finally began to feel happy again. I finished my rehab again with 13 months away from full contact sport and began to play again, albeit a slower start than hoped I was just happy to be playing the sport I loved.
However, life had another curveball in store for me. At 19, this year, I endured my third ACL rupture, accompanied by a tear to my hamstring (semimembranosus) and the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus. At this point my Physio and I had a pretty close relationship so I called him to get the results, as soon as he told me I thanked him and hung up. It was after a uni class and I felt destroyed. Numb. Honestly a bit useless. Why am I so broken? What did I do to deserve any of this. I sat in my car for thirty minutes in silence, I didn’t know what to do, I was 19 old year who already needed three knee reconstructions. I had a million thoughts racing through my mind, I was worried about my future, what if I can’t run around with my kids because my knees Arnt the same? What if I’m 60 and need a wheelchair because my knees can’t keep up anymore. I was devasted to my core. After 30 minutes I built up the courage to call my beautiful girlfriend and tell her. She was also devastated and was emotional. I wanted to cry but I also wanted to be strong infront of her, as if it was all okay. But I was ruined and felt broken.
A few months now have passed, and I’m three weeks post op, and I’m tracking well, I’m full of knowledge and confidence in what I should be doing and feel strongly about this rehab process and once again have been learning a lot about myself during everything that’s happened.
The point of this post is that amidst all the physical and emotional turmoil, you may discover a silver lining about your struggles. For me these setbacks pushed me to explore new paths, leading me to pursue a career in physiotherapy, which honestly I find so amazing and I’m just fascinated by the human body. And through my own experiences, I found a passion for helping others overcome their own obstacles and reclaim their strength, in both a physical and mental capacity.
Some days I feel lost, emotional and broken. But other days I feel alive, passionate and blessed to be able to receive the opportunities and life that I have, and that’s what I grab onto with both hands and use to drive my life foward. I know firsthand how mentally draining the recovery process can be. It's not just about the physical pain, but also the constant battle with doubt and frustration. And for all of you going through rehabilitation now, whether it’s your first or third acl rehab, grab every little victory by the throat and tell yourself you’re doing amazing, because you are. Whether it’s taking your first steps without a crutch, lifting your leg for the first time, running or jumping again, no matter how little or big, it’s progress, and that’s all you can ask for. Progress.
So, to anyone out there who may be facing their own rehabilitation battles, I want to offer a message of hope. Yes, recovery is tough. Yes, it can feel like an uphill battle. But remember, you are not alone. You are stronger than you think, and you have the power to rise above any obstacle that comes your way.
Keep pushing, keep believing, and never underestimate your own resilience.
Keep persevering my friends, and we can all get through this together.
There’s a silver lining in everything
Thank you for letting me share my story

When the edged wind came to our village, it seemed like a typical Alaskan gust. One fitting for late December. Then, as the tall tide of frost lashed against the shore of our home, the sagging branches of the yellow cedar trees stopped bouncing. And I abandoned the idea of the breeze being a breeze at all.
Once others understood that, the time for running had passed.
The unholy wind reached the village’s main road, causing two moving cars to sharply and statically stop. The vehicles were frozen in place, much like the people within those metal graves. Onlookers, enjoying a brisk afternoon in the park, began to scream loved ones succumbed to that supernatural end. Imprisoned in a capsuled moment of time.
Those first few victims were the lucky ones. They’d been oblivious to the fate which awaited them. True terror was endured by those who beheld the raw power of the wind. Those unfortunate enough to see the end coming.
Regardless, the remaining townsfolk, burdened with the awareness of impending doom, futilely attempted to escape the approaching breeze. Those fleeing residents, far slower than the unnatural frost, were halted in haunting poses as the wind bit into them. Limbs were suspended in mid-air positions. Eyes were left wide and unblinking. Mouths were cursed to forever gape in horror.
“RUN!” Dad screamed, sprinting towards us from a nearby park bench.
My brother, my childhood friend, and I were sitting in a sandbox. Already engrossed in a fantasy world, I wondered whether my imagination had conjured the wind. I thought my mind had transcended to a higher plane. It was my way of processing the trauma.
However, I accepted the reality of the situation when my father shoehorned the three of us into his Volkswagen Golf. The icy jaws of the wind were nearly nipping at the rear of the vehicle as Dad twisted the key in the ignition, but the beat-up car rapidly lurched forwards. My father wrenched us away from the frost, seconds before it consumed us.
“Daddy, where are we going?” I tearfully asked.
“I don’t know, Jillian,” He weakly moaned, manoeuvring around fleeing cars and pedestrians.
“Are we picking up Mummy?” Alan asked.
Dad ignored my brother’s question. I was only eight years old at the time, but I knew that my mother wasn’t coming. I understood the significance of the tears in my father’s eyes.
For twenty-six years, I successfully managed to suppress that memory. Did such a good job, in fact, that I almost believed it had all been a dream. I started to believe that we had simply moved away from our hometown, and Mum had simply chosen to stay. Dad never convinced me otherwise. He never talked about what happened. Neither did my brother.
As for Leon, he moved to an orphanage in Anchorage. We wrote to each other for a couple of years, but his replies became less and less frequent. Eventually, he stopped responding entirely. I used to wonder why my father didn’t adopt my childhood friend, but I suppose that would have forced him to accept what happened. And, like me, he had no intention of doing that.
I thought we would run back to England, having failed to achieve the American Dream. But Dad kept us in Alaska. I assumed that he’d been driven by stubbornness. Or guilt, perhaps. We’d already fled our home. Perhaps fleeing across the pond would’ve been a step too far. Perhaps it would’ve felt like truly abandoning our mother. Whatever his reason for staying, Dad didn’t tell anyone the truth. He never went to the police. He never returned to look for Mum.
“Don’t look back, kids,” I remember him whispering as we fled the frost.
I followed that advice for the next couple of decades, only recalling the event for the briefest moments, from time to time. When Dad bought the first computer for our family in 2000, I Googled the name of our old town. I typed the word before realising I was even doing so. I was still young, of course, but I knew that nothing about our speedy departure had been normal. I wanted answers.
I’d expected to discover that my village had become a ghost town. That would have made sense. Alaska’s unforgiving climate breeds desolate places, born to be abandoned. However, the search results revealed nothing, so I told myself I’d imagined the village. I told myself we'd always lived in Anchorage.
As the years passed, I became comfortable with the notion that none of it had ever been real. Not even my mother. And that was why I did not expect to see a certain person again.
“Happy birthday, Jill.”
My jaw dropped when Leon Taylor appeared on my doorstep.
It might seem strange that I would recognise a man who was a child when I last saw him, but Leon always had distinctive features. I immediately identified the mole on his neck, just below his facial scruff, and those sorrowful eyes, shadowed by his unmistakable overgrown brows.
“Leon?” I gasped. “What are you doing here?”
The man smiled weakly. “Sorry, Jill. I should’ve done this the Millennial way. Y’know. Reconnected through Facebook.”
“No, it’s… I just never thought I’d see you again. Do you want to come inside?” I asked, motioning at the hallway.
Leon nodded, so I made a couple of coffees whilst my old friend seated himself in the living room. A boy who I’d almost forgotten. Almost entirely erased from existence, just like our old town. But I’d always known, just beneath the surface of my shallow memories, that it had all been real. The truth of my childhood was always within reach. As I brought the drinks into the lounge, hands trembling, I tried to dispel the thoughts flooding my mind. Thoughts of that awful day.
“How’s your dad? How’s Alan?” Leon asked, taking the cup of coffee.
I sighed. “Dad’s been unwell for a few years. He hasn’t been taking care of himself, and he’s getting old. As for Alan… Well, Alan’s the way he’s always been. Uptight, and distant, but–”
“– When was the last time you spoke to him?” Leon sharply interjected.
The question caught me off-guard. “Huh?”
“Your brother. When was the last time you spoke to him?” Leon asked.
My face drained. He knows, I thought. How on Earth does he know?
“Three years ago,” I answered.
My old friend nodded. “Did you fall out?”
I scoffed. “That’s an understatement. You remember what he was like when we were kids, don’t you?”
Leon shrugged. “He was two years older than us. We must’ve infuriated him.”
I nodded. “Sure. But I grew up, and he never did. We had a big argument, and we haven't spoken since.”
“Interesting,” He responded.
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re a man of few words these days, Leon.”
The man cleared his throat. “Your brother messaged me a week ago.”
My other eyebrow raised. “What?”
“It was a very strange message.”
“Did you reply?” I asked. “I thought you would’ve preferred to ignore it.”
He lowered his head in shame. “I’m sorry, Jillian. I replied to some of your letters…”
“Then you forgot about me,” I said. “It’s embarrassing that I didn’t get the hint.”
“It wasn’t embarrassing,” Leon sheepishly muttered. “I read all of them. Every last letter.”
“Oh, well, that’s great,” I laughed. “Nice to know that you cared.”
“Jillian, I…” Leon paused, lifting his head. “I was scared.”
“Scared of what?” I asked.
“Remembering that day,” He replied. “It’s why I told your dad I didn’t want to come and live with you.”
“It’s… What?” I asked.
Leon tilted his head. “You didn’t know? Did you really think he’d just dump me in that place? He might’ve changed, but your dad was never cold. Still, I refused. Living with you would’ve reminded me of what happened to my family.”
I didn't reply, so my old friend prodded the beast. “Aren’t we going to talk about–”
“– Why did my brother message you?” I interrupted, avoiding the topic.
Leon twitched his lips uncertainly, as if unwilling to part them.
“He told me that I had to see you…” Leon trailed off.
“Right,” I said. “Why?”
“Your brother said something insane, Jillian,” He said. “He claimed that Arnold Walker visited him in Fairbanks.”
My jaw fell. “I beg your pardon? Arnold Walker? My brother’s school friend?”
Leon nodded.
“He escaped? I didn't know others got out,” I whispered.
My old friend’s face was growing paler. “No, I... Your brother said something that seemed impossible. He said that Arnold did not arrive on his doorstep as a thirty-six-year-old man, but a ten-year-old child.”
My stomach dropped. The natural response would’ve been to discredit such an outlandish story, refuting it with a rational explanation. But Leon’s revelation served to do only one thing. It confirmed what I’d always known.
“A ten-year-old boy made it all the way from our hometown to Fairbanks?” I asked meekly.
Leon frowned. “That’s it? You’re not going to question it? I did. I messaged Alan repeatedly, but he never replied.”
“Not a nice feeling, is it?” I asked, sighing. “How did you want me to react, Leon? You were itching to talk about that day. Well, I’m not skirting around the subject now. Let’s talk about it. Okay? I know all of that horror really happened. I’d just never wanted anyone to confirm it.”
“Me neither,” Leon said. “I was trying to avoid your family for the rest of my life. Your brother ruined that.”
“Yeah. He tends to ruin things,” I replied. “So, that’s it? Alan wanted you to tell me about Arnold Walker?”
Leon shivered. “There’s more, but… Look, I know I should’ve messaged you about all of this first, but I thought about the way Alan avoided my questions. I didn’t want you to do the same. I assumed if I were to show up in person, then–”
“– I wouldn’t be able to run away,” I finished. “I understand, Leon. I just hate that my brother is still too childish to talk to me.”
“Funny. He called you childish too. Listening to you two bicker is nostalgic,” Leon smiled, before quickly adopting a solemn expression. “I’m trying to change the subject, but I need to rip off the band-aid. Alan said that Arnold took him to a car on the front lawn. There was a man in the driver’s seat, barely clinging to life, with a face mangled beyond recognition. Your brother said the man’s skin had been peeled from his face… And he was still, somehow, alive.”
I shuddered, vomit climbing my throat.
“Arnold told your brother that the man was Mr Johnson,” Leon whispered.
“The farmer? The one who ran the local grocery store?” I asked, shivering.
My friend nodded. “Yeah. Alan said he’d aged a little. Well, his hair was greyer than he remembered. The pair must’ve been on the road for hours, and your brother didn’t know how they knew where to find him. He had so many questions for them, but Mr Johnson died before the ambulance arrived. And whilst Alan talked to the paramedics, Arnold ran away. He’s missing.”
“Shit…” I whispered. “I’ll call my brother.”
“You might struggle,” Leon said. “Alan ended the message by saying that he was going back… home.”
I gawped. “No. He wouldn’t be that stupid.”
“Maybe not. You should try to contact him,” Leon said. “He hasn’t replied to my dozens of messages, but he might reply to you. Not sure he even has a signal, out there in the boonies, but you’re right. You should try.”
I spent an hour trying to contact my brother, in various ways, but he did not respond. Alan had vanished. And I knew, like it or not, that I had to return to our village too. I should’ve told Dad. Would've told him, had he not been one bad day away from a heart attack. In spite of the man he’d become, I loved him. I didn’t want to remind him of the place we’d fled.
One person should be spared the horror of remembering, I thought.
Leon and I, two strangers who’d spent formative years together, piled into my Kia, and we drove from Anchorage to a place that I’d long hoped had never really existed.
I was going to be horribly disappointed.
On a nondescript road that burrowed into the Alaskan wilderness, my throat started to twist and constrict. The outer edge of my vision shrank, and my head pulsated with a slowing rhythm as the world slipped away from me. I struggled to breathe as I came to terms with an awful fact.
I recognised that endless road.
“Jillian…” Leon whispered.
“Don’t,” I begged.
I didn’t want to hear it. I wasn’t ready. I’d known all along, of course, that our village existed. Even when extensive research had revealed nothing about the town. When I thought of the way the breeze consumed the town, erasing its residents, it made sense that it would erase the very place itself. After all, even I’d started to doubt its existence, and I’d lived there.
Accepting the unearthly nature of the event wasn’t as tough as you might imagine. If anything, I had fought hard to deny it. I wanted to ignore the existence of a paranormal force, though I had witnessed it with my own eyes. Even if there were some Alaskan breeze powerful enough to instantaneously freeze an entire town, we hadn’t witnessed that. We’d seen something else. We’d seen that glacial wind freeze the town. Not its people, but its tether to time.
After an hour of following the frosted landscape, we saw something familiar on the horizon. Leon’s face mirrored mine as our damned village appeared. A bulge of ruin and decay, growing as we neared it. And when we crossed the threshold into the desolate town, the reality of our quest finally dawned on me.
“Where is everybody?” Leon asked.
It might seem a moronic question to an outsider. Our old village was clearly an abandoned place. No rational person would expect anybody else to be there. Of course, I understood Leon. He had asked the same terrifying question that was circling the drain of my mind, refusing to flush away.
I thought back to that terrible day on which hundreds of people froze in time. Then I thought of Arnold Walker and Mr Johnson. The two residents who’d supposedly shown up at my brother’s door. One of them had looked no older than he’d been in 1998.
“Time resumed,” I finally mumbled.
“Yes, but where did everybody go?” My childhood friend asked.
I didn’t have an answer. Neither did my brother, and that was why he’d come here.
That’s not the real reason, I thought. He was hoping to find… her.
I rolled onto my old street, noting that the trees swayed in the wind and birds flew overhead. Signs that time was flowing. I wondered whether others had fled in the same fashion as Arnold and Mr Johnson. I even allowed my heart to soar a little as I considered that my mother might have freed herself. Might have found Dad in Anchorage. Might be wondering where Alan and I had gone.
However, I knew that not to be the case. Mum had not arrived at my door, and there had been no national news coverage about people emerging from a town that didn’t exist. There had only been an old, half-butchered man and a quiet boy. Both were gone. And I had questions about the nature of their escape from our hometown, given my brother’s ominous message to Leon.
Something was still dreadfully wrong with our village. Twenty-six years had not changed that. The people of the village had not disappeared into the sunset. Whatever had happened to them, I knew it wasn’t good. Possibly worse than what happened to Arnold Walker and Mr Johnson.
I pulled onto the driveway of my childhood home, gently trundling over cracked asphalt. Weeds squirmed through the wounds of the suburb, as nature sought to erase my childhood from existence. There was no need for that, of course. The wind of 1998, and whatever secrets it held, had already done a fine job of wiping my hometown from reality.
“Do you think he’s come here?” Leon asked as I turned off the engine.
“Yes. We both know who he wanted to find,” I said.
My childhood friend nodded, and we both sombrely climbed out of the vehicle.
The village was colder than I remembered. For a mid-afternoon day in late May, it was unseasonably chilly. Alaska, for the most part, is not the arctic hellscape that many people imagine. Not in all parts of the state, anyhow, and certainly not in late spring. The air also felt stale. It carried the stench of evil, and it seemed to be tinged with frost. As if that demonic breeze were still lingering in the air, nearly three decades later.
I knocked on the rotten front door, surprised that it did not break with a slight rap of my hand.
“Alan?” I yelled. “It’s Jillian.”
My brother did not respond, but I wasn’t concerned. If he had been there, and Mum hadn’t, then he wouldn’t have wanted to stay. I wanted to use that as an excuse to turn around and leave. I already assumed that my mother wouldn’t be there, but another part of me knew that my assumption was more of a wish. In a similar way, I had been secretly glad to find nobody in the town. There was only one person I hoped to find in my old village, and that was Alan.
I was terrified by the prospect of finding anything else.
“Jill…” Leon started softly. “Come on. We have to do it.”
“Do we?” I asked. “This was a mistake. We should turn around. We–”
“– I agree,” Leon sharply interjected. “But we have to find your brother. And when we do, we’ll convince him to come back with us. We’ll convince him to leave this place behind too.”
“Why did you come to see me, Leon?” I asked. “You could’ve ignored my brother’s message. You could’ve pretended none of this had ever happened. That’s what you did when you started ignoring my letters, isn’t it?”
“I deeply regretted that for years, Jill,” He said softly. “You were my best friend. You were… more than that. We were just kids, but I loved you. I’ve not made another connection like ours. Not even in my adult life.”
“I know,” I replied. “I loved you too, Leon. That’s why it hurt when you let our bond peter out. If you’d cut me off from the start, I would’ve understood. But it just felt like you’d stopped caring.”
“Never. I just lost the strength to bear that trauma,” He explained. “Every letter was a reminder, and I just… That’s why I came to your door. That’s why I didn’t ignore what your brother said. I didn’t want something to happen to him. You lost your mother. I didn’t want you to lose him too.”
“We all lost things,” I sniffled. “You lost… more than me. I just don’t understand why you’d come back. Why my brother would come back. I don’t even understand why I’ve come back.”
“We never really left this place, did we?” Leon asked. “Not in our minds. Even though it doesn’t exist in the eyes of the outside world, it never left us. Never let go. Arnold Walker and Mr Johnson lured Alan back. And he lured us back.”
“That’s an unsettling way of looking at it,” I timidly replied.
“It’s the only way I’ve been able to look at it,” He said. “Whatever claimed this place, it remembered us, and it made sure we remembered it. Not that it would be easy to forget… For years, I thought I’d lost my mind, but after talking to you and Alan, I’m not so sure. I find it hard to believe that we’d have experienced a shared delusion. No, it all really happened. And the memory replays in my mind every day. I’ll never get rid of it.”
“Dad seemed to do a good job of erasing this place from his mind,” I said.
I knew that wasn’t true, of course. He had never forgotten. That was made apparent by his deterioration. Alan and I had a close relationship with our father before we left that village. Afterwards, he changed. We all changed. Losing Mum had fractured the family, but there was more to it than that. I started to consider that Leon might be right. Perhaps the frost hadn’t ensnared the two of us, but it had certainly bitten us.
“Do you want me to do it?” Leon eventually asked.
I wanted to be courageous enough to open the door, but I wasn’t. I nodded meekly and stepped aside, allowing my childhood friend the nightmarish task of facing whatever lay within my old home. He pushed the door handle down, expecting the house to be unlocked, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Shall we try the back?” I asked.
Leon backed up. I quickly realised what he was planning to do, and I opened my mouth to utter a protest. My hulking friend had charged before I spoke a single word, however, and he hurled his body into the door. It quivered in its frame, but did not give.
“Leon!” I cried. “What are you doing?”
“Well, I don’t suppose you have the key?” He panted, massaging his shoulder.
I held up my hands. “Look, let’s just…”
My friend rushed forwards again, and the result was the same. This time, however, Leon released a groan of pain, clutching his arm a little more tightly.
“You’re going to hurt yourself,” I said. “Let’s take it in turns to kick the door. That'll work better, and it won’t cripple either of us.”
Leon nodded, and the two of us firmly booted the door near the handle. The wood quaked, and it only took a few attacks for the door to splinter around the lock. The frame splayed inwards, and the metal mechanism fell loose.
“Whoops… That worked a little too well,” Leon laughed.
He led the way into my childhood home, which looked, unlike the street outside, the same as I remembered. The same as it had looked on the day I’d left. There were no shoes left by the door. No muddy prints on the carpet. No indication whatsoever that my brother had visited our old home, which I’d gathered when the front door had been locked. But this was not a relief. I knew, in my gut, that Alan would’ve gone there first.
He never made it home.
Leon shivered. “This place feels cold…”
“Frozen,” I corrected. “Frozen in time.”
“Is it safe for us to be here?” He asked. “What if we end up like the others?”
“It’s a bit late to ask that now,” I replied. “The breeze passed long ago. This just seems to be the horror it left behind.”
Leon accepted my suggestion, then he wandered over to the staircase. My friend took one step before halting in place. For a haunting moment, I believed that he had been frozen in time too. I believed that I’d been wrong, and the frost had come for us. But I quickly realised that my friend was still moving. Still twitching. He was frozen by fear, not a supernatural gale.
“There’s someone in the bathroom…” Leon wheezed.
With physical dread in every inch of my body, I joined my friend and looked up. Artificial light spilled beneath the bathroom door onto the dark landing.
“There might not be anyone in there,” I shakily said.
“Jillian, this is an abandoned town. There is no electricity. Your house is still frozen in time, and it froze with the bathroom light left on. Somebody must have been–”
“– Don’t say it,” I pleaded, upper lip trembling.
“Do you want me to lead the way?” He asked.
I didn’t. I wanted to run, but I knew I would never forgive myself for doing so. Leon was right, of course. I hadn’t allowed him to finish his sentence, but it was clear that he was going to mention somebody in particular. Somebody whose face flooded my mind as we ascended the staircase, one tentative step at a time. Somebody whose name started to tickle my lips as Leon grasped the handle to the door.
It wasn’t locked.
“Mum?” I moaned as Leon inched it open.
My ageless mother was inside.
I’m sure I would’ve screamed at whatever we found, but I was not prepared for the state of the statue before me. Mum was standing at the sink, hands cupped below a stream of tap water suspended in time. As I had always feared, the frost caught her. It was horrifying enough to be frozen in time for twenty-six years, whilst the rest of the world continued, but that wasn’t why I screamed. I’d braced myself for that possibility. I’d spent my entire adult life coming to terms with it.
I screamed because I wasn’t prepared to see her face.
Mum was smiling. Not a wholesome smile. It was a taut grin that etched an unnerving crescent shape across her cheeks. There was nothing unnatural about the grin, but it looked painful. And it appeared as if cataracts had taken the entirety of her pupils.
“Mum?” I asked weakly. “Do you hear me?”
There was no reply. I peered around the side of her face, and I immediately regretted it. Though she was frozen in time, she did not look unaware. I felt her sightless eyes boring into my face, and I quickly jumped backwards.
“Let’s go and find your brother,” Leon fearfully said.
As I nodded, backing towards the doorway, I locked my gaze onto my mother’s profile. My heart pounded as I started to close the bathroom door. I was trying to ignore the idea that had wormed into my mind. The possibility that, behind the glassy cataract, a pupil might still exist. Lying dormant. Watching me from a face that no longer seemed to belong to my mother.
After I shut the door, Leon and I took a few moments to control our breathing. With a slight tremble, my friend finally walked over to the light switch and raised a hand, but I caught his wrist.
“What are you doing?” He frowned.
“Leave the light on,” I whispered. “I… don’t like the idea of leaving her in the dark.”
My friend’s expression softened, and he nodded, seeming to understand my explanation. Seeming to empathise. But I was lying. I wasn’t worried about leaving my mother in the dark. I was worried about the thing behind that smiling face.
“Alan didn’t come here,” I said. “Did he really come back?”
“You read the message, Jillian,” Leon replied.
“I know, but…” I sighed. “I know.”
“He might not have come to the house,” My friend suggested.
“This is the first place he would’ve visited,” I said. “If Mum weren’t here, he wouldn’t have returned.”
“Well, let’s look around,” Leon urged. “You never know. We might find something else. Something to help your mother, perhaps.”
“You saw her face,” I whispered. “She looked far past help.”
“Don’t say that, Jillian!” Leon shouted, eyes watering.
You idiot, I thought.
I was so self-centred. So focused on finding my brother and my mother. I hadn’t thought about Leon’s parents. His brother, Carl. People we’d left behind when my father saved us. I remembered Leon sobbing as he begged my father to turn around.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “We need to find your family too.”
Leon viciously shook his head. “Only if we find an answer, Jill. Only if we find a way to save them.”
My friend entered my childhood bedroom, and I followed him. I imagine that visiting one’s childhood home is a strange experience for anyone, but strangeness morphs into horror when that home is trapped in a moment of time. I felt physically unwell when I saw the glass of water on the bedside table, fresh as it had been on the day that my dad took us to the park. Life had continued for me, but the town was still trapped in that dreadful, inexplicable day.
“Jillian,” Leon said calmly. “There are people outside.”
He was standing in front of my bedroom window, and when I joined him, eyeing the road below, I saw them. A man and a woman who seemed to be in their mid-forties. The man wore ill-fitting clothes. A chequered shirt two sizes too small, and a pair of torn jeans. The woman, on the other hand, wore a pristine, shapely dress with a floral pattern. She looked oddly familiar, though her eyes were jittery and unfocused. It was the man who’d locked his eyes onto our house.
“I… vaguely recognise her,” Leon said.
I nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know her name, but I remember her. She looks a tad older, perhaps. I don’t know the man though.”
“You stay here,” Leon said, reaching inside his coat. “Don’t come out.”
“What are you holding?” I frowned, noting his shiftiness.
“Just…” Leon concealed his hand within the thick, wintry coat. “Are you going to stay in here?”
My eyes grew as I spotted a glint of metal. “You don’t… No, Leon. Please. Don’t tell me you have what I think you have.”
“We had no idea what we were going to find here,” The man protested.
I scoffed. “Leon Taylor? Carrying a gun? The boy who berated me for killing me a spider.”
Before he replied, there came the sound of the front door swinging open. And when we spun our heads back to the bedroom window, we saw that the man and woman were no longer on the street. I realised they were inside.
“Hello?” Called a man from downstairs. “We mean you no harm.”
“I have a weapon,” Leon yelled, slipping the pistol out of a hidden holster.
“Don’t shoot… It’s Bernie Bradley…” The man shouted weakly.
My mouth gaped. Bernie Bradley was in my brother’s school year. I remembered him. And as I recalled the face of the man I’d seen on the street, I didn’t find it hard to believe it had been the face of that same boy, twenty-six years into the future.
“What do you want?” I yelled.
“To help you,” He replied. “Before they come.”
“Who?” Leon asked.
“I’ll tell you if you put that weapon away,” Bernie said.
“I don’t trust you enough for that,” My friend growled.
“Are you Leon Taylor?” The man asked.
“Why?” Leon responded.
“Sydney Manley pushed you off the swing set, and you called her a fat cow,” Bernie said. “She ran home in tears.”
It wasn’t enough. In a place like that, which defied all laws of rationality, it wasn’t enough for Bernie Bradley to know that. But Leon and I needed it to be enough because we were hopelessly alone. Hopelessly afraid. And hopelessly desperate.
My friend re-holstered his weapon, and we walked onto the landing. Bernie and the woman were midway up the stairs. The man’s hands were raised, but the woman barely seemed aware of where they were. Barely seemed aware of herself.
“Leon Taylor and Jillian Maynard. Is that right?” Bernie asked.
“How did you recognise us?” I asked.
“You were the only ones who escaped,” He replied. “The Maynards and Leon Taylor.”
“The only ones?” Leon asked incredulously.
Bernie nodded. “Others tried, but the frost got them.”
“So, why aren’t you…” I started, unable to finish.
“Mind if we sit down before I answer that?” He asked.
I looked at Leon, and my friend begrudgingly nodded. We all headed to the living room and sat down. Once we did, Bernie Bradley told us an incredible story, and the woman beside him simply rocked on the sofa, face painted with a disturbing smile.
Bernie had been a ten-year-old boy, sitting at his bedroom desk, when the chill swept through his room. He told us that he remembered nothing but a black void. He might’ve been there for an eternity, or it might’ve been less than a moment.
When he woke from that dark slumber, still a ten-year-old boy sitting in the desk chair, Bernie looked out of the bedroom window. He was overcome by the horrible feeling that time had been lost, but he didn’t know how much. And when he saw residents frozen in the street, he realised that something awful had happened. Bernie found his own paused parents in the kitchen, and they were completely unresponsive to his pleas.
The lonely, frightened boy ran through the town, calling for help. Nobody answered. After a long day of searching, he returned to his house in tears. For a week, Bernie lived on cans of food from the cupboards. And then he heard shouting from the street.
“Hello? Is anybody there?” A man called.
Bernie ran outside to find Mr Johnson. The farmer had just woken from ‘a darkness’ to find the town full of statues. Bernie told Mr Johnson that he’d been alone for a week, but he had no idea how long he’d been frozen before that. The boy wanted to leave, but the farmer said they had to save as many people as possible. They had a duty to do so. After all, neither the farmer nor the boy knew what might happen to them if they were to run. The frost might return.
Anyway, Mr Johnson took Bernie under his wing. The crops in his field, thankfully, had unfrozen, as had his entire farmhouse. Mr Johnson fed Bernie, and the two of them survived. A week later, they found Elizabeth Coulter, the local headteacher, wandering through the town. Over the course of the following year, a dozen more unfrozen souls were saved and brought back to Mr Johnson’s farm.
But things changed as time passed. The newer thawed souls were unhinged. The longer a person had been trapped in that black stasis, the less human they became. They were still intelligible, but they spoke only of the voice in the void. A voice that they missed in the land of the living. They were irritable, but Mr Johnson cared for them, all the same. Eventually, they fled.
This only worsened as the years went by. After a decade, Bernie’s mother and father unfroze. However, his dad ran, and his mum only remained because she was lost and confused. She would rant and rave about the Speaker. The one that would make everything better. The one that would make them all eternal.
It was during the year of 2018 that things crossed a terrifying line. Mr Johnson had decided that newcomers were not welcome. It was a decision of necessity, not cruelty. The recently unfrozen folk had become more than unintelligible. They had become dangerous.
“Hark! The Speaker calls!” Walter Frankton screamed.
The middle-aged man, who had once been a police officer, was standing outside Mr Johnson’s farmhouse. When the community of sane people emerged, they screeched at the sight of Walter holding a charred body above his head. Nobody identified the burnt corpse, but Mr Johnson wasted no time in drawing his rifle and giving Mr Frankton ten seconds to flee.
Bernie explained that Walter laughed demonically, before disappearing into the night. Over the coming years, bodies were found in the street. Followers of the Speaker would relentlessly pursue Mr Johnson’s community, so the sane folk kept distant from the people of the Speaker. Few of Mr Johnson’s followers understood why they stayed, yet nobody felt able to leave. Something was keeping them there.
A couple of weeks before Leon and I arrived, however, Bernie said that Mr Johnson finally announced his plan to leave. There were murmurs of uncertainty. Everybody wanted to escape, of course, but fear had always stopped them. Still, they trusted Mr Johnson. If anybody had the power to safely lead them away from the place controlling their minds, it had to be the brave farmer. Packing and preparations began.
However, some days later, Bernie Bradley happened to look out of an upstairs window and notice Mr Johnson. The old man was wandering aimlessly onto the driveway, stumbling like a drunken man towards his vehicle. Bernie said there was a small child standing beside the car. The young boy led Mr Johnson to the driver’s door with a smile, and the two of them fled.
Things disintegrated after that. When a Molotov cocktail found its way through a window, the community dispersed. The sane folk fled in different directions, and Bernie was left alone with his mother.
“We’ve been running for days,” Bernie explained. “I keep finding the bodies of people from my community. Charred corpses in the street. I tried to leave this town, but it wouldn’t let me. The farther I drove, the sharper the pang in my heart. I knew I'd die if I were to keep going.”
“How did you find us?” Leon asked.
“I heard you,” Bernie replied. “Hard to miss the sound of an engine in a dead place like this. I had a hunch that it might be you.”
“You must've heard my brother then?” I asked hopefully.
Bernie frowned. “Alan's here? That might explain the raucous a few days ago… I don’t know what I heard. Noise. Lots of it... You won't find him, Jill. You have to run whilst it still lets you. The frost might be gone, but… something lingers.”
“The Speaker?” Leon asked.
Bernie nodded. “I was fortunate enough to never hear it. Or never remember hearing it. I don't know what it said to them. My mother won't tell me.”
Bernie looked at the woman next to him. The one who appeared to be the same age as him, though I realised he was still a decade younger. The horror of our town had aged him beyond his years.
“It will be so glorious…” Bernie’s mother giggled, eyes bearing faint pupils behind mild cataracts.
“You’re lucky that they didn’t see you arrive,” Bernie said. “Otherwise, you’d be dead already. But they’ll come. Sooner or later. And you need to listen to me if you want a safe way out of here. Okay? We need to distract them. Keep them off your backs.”
I shook my head. “I need to find my brother. I know he came to this town. I thought I'd find him in our home, but–”
“– Walter wanted him,” Bernie’s mother hissed.
The woman stopped rocking. Stopped smiling. And her head snapped to face me with such eerie speed that I thought it might entirely disconnect from her neck. Bernie quivered, seemingly just as horrified by his mother’s words as the rest of us.
“Mother…?” He asked.
“Walter wanted him. Walter wanted him. Walter wanted him!” The woman laughed, taunting me.
“What does she mean?” I sobbed. “Does Walter Frankton have my brother?”
Bernie’s face whitened. “If he does, your brother's either been flayed or charred.”
“Christ, Bernie,” Leon replied.
I sniffled. “I won’t leave until I know.”
“He’s already dead,” Bernie bluntly said.
“We don’t know that!” I cried.
I thought the others were sitting in stunned silence because I’d spoken so assertively. However, as I calmed my breathing, and the throbbing sensation in my ears quietened, I heard it too. The sound of laughing voices. Bernie’s mother strained to smile broadly. She looked as pained as my mother, but grateful for the privilege of the discomfort.
“You don't want to see this. We'll head through the back. Do not look at the street...” Bernie hoarsely pleaded as I rose.
But I was already running to the door.
I flung it open and started to run down the path, with Leon and Bernie in tow. Then, my eyes met the mob spilling beyond the end of the street. The crowd easily numbered a hundred people, and each face wore a terrible smile. Eyes glassy, yet all-seeing.
There was a man shuffling from the crowd towards me, like a terrified toddler taking its first steps. I tried to blot his face from my mind. I didn’t want to see it, though it was too late for that. I’d seen everything the moment I faced the crowd. Eventually, I fell to my knees and howled as I embraced the truth.
The shuffling man, who had been flayed alive, was my brother.
Alan reached towards me with an outstretched hand, weakly shouting something, before toppling forwards. He was reduced to a motionless heap on the road.
“Jill!” Leon cried again, rushing to me. “We have to go!”
I continued to wail as the gleeful crowd surged forwards. I resisted Leon, but he easily hauled my limp body to the car and bundled me into the back.
“He needs help...” I blubbered.
“He’s gone, Jill,” Leon whispered.
“What about your family?” I asked.
“They’re all gone...” He sniffled, stepping on the accelerator.
Staring through the rear-view window, I watched the crowd approach my old home. Bernie stood on the front porch, and his mother had her hands on his shoulders. The man did not run. As we pulled off the driveway, it almost seemed as if he, too, finally had a smile on his face. The mob swarmed Bernie, and I heard a brief cry of agony. It may have been ecstatic or fearful. It may have been both.
After we crossed the border, no chill pierced us. We were free to leave. But I know Leon and I belong to that town. I have always suspected that the wind grazed its teeth against my skin when I was a child. It grazed all of us. For, even now, I still feel that link. That urge to return to the salivating mob with a smile on my face.
When I returned home to find that my father was missing, I knew he felt it too.

I don't understand how to cope with my GERD. I can eat whatever throughout the day - just had coffee and pizza and layed down for a sweet nap, no reflux, feeling just fine. But deep in the night, every night, I wake up with sore throat.
Tried taking Pantoprazol (20mg) before dinner, seemed to have helped, but yesterday's stress test did not pass - took the pill at 7:30 pm, had plenty of trigger food right after that, and woke up at 5-6 AM with sore throat again. The only difference was it used to be 2-4 AM without the pill.
I'm starting to think it's the empty stomach after having a large meal that's causing the worst of GERD for me. Could it be so? Anyone with similar symptoms?
Also, bonus question: how do I get rid of anxiety taking Pantoprazol long term? Everyone says it's not safe to, you need to try and make the lifestyle changes to cure GERD but it's unrealistic to live eating just buckwheat and sleep sitting and still get occasional reflux at night. Is taking Pantoprazol long term really that bad? Especially as minimal dose as 20 mg. I'm only 26 y.o. so I'm thinking about lifetime ahead of me taking it and it kinda scares me what might go wrong after many years on it.

I smoked my first cigarette a few days ago since then I’ve had 2 more and I just have questions. The day after smoking I woke up with a sore throat that came from nowhere so I’m wondering if it’s related to smoking. Also I’ve noticed at night I’ll wake up on and off super confused as to what’s happening like it almost feels like I’m on a dissociative it’s that weird. Is any of this nicotine related?

Hey y'all, I'm getting my tonsils and adenoids out on the 6/5/24 at around 10am. They are HUGE (touching my uvula when I talk or lie down) and have been causing me lots of random, long lasting sore throats. I've dealt with huge bouts of near debilitating health anxiety during my teenage years up to now (as I'm thinking that many people also lurking on this subreddit have) and I wanted to document my recovery process and leave behind a comprehensive post for anybody who's worried or trying to prepare for the surgery. I'll be editing this post day by day to try and keep myself occupied while I recover- monitoring my weight, pain levels, bleeding, any other weird stuff that happens. I'll try and start with Day -1 with a list of things I've done to prepare so far and how I'm planning to set up my recovery space. Also, I'll try and link a picture of my tonsils in comments if you're curious.
Day -1: Pain 0/10, Stress 6/10
I'm a college student, so I'm living in my mom's house for around 2 weeks while I recover- everyone said to get a caregiver for the first few days and she wants to be holding me accountable for drinking and getting enough protein/electrolytes. My nurse told me to drink a ton of water during the 3 days leading up to surgery so I've been chugging water and Gatorade for the last few days. A list of things I bought and set up in my room:

• Some wisdom teeth gel ice wraps that go above my head and around my chin
• A little humidifier thing that I'm planning to leave on or near my nightstand
• A ton of pillows to keep my head propped up in bed (although I heard a wedge pillow would work better, apparently keeping yourself upright speeds up recovery process and helps prevent bleeding)
• A tower fan because my room turns into a rainforest when the humidifier is running
• Like a million bags of ice
• All my electronics and books so I can keep entertained and do my classwork
• Some watermelon/bubble gum, kid's toothpaste and a tiny toothbrush, vegan protein powder and premade protein shakes, blue Gatorades (I don't want any red dye in my foods so I can be 100% sure I'm bleeding if I see any red), Pedialyte popsicles, bunch of bananas/strawberries and Ninja blender, ice crusheslushy maker, lots of italian ice, chicken and bone broth, bunch of mac and cheese things for later during my recovery, oat milk, Mott's cup applesauce, aloe water, a handful of Ensures, honey, a floral berry tea.
• Liquid acetaminophen and ibuprofen (brief ibuprofen side note- my ENT said it MAY increase risk of bleeding, but oftentimes the doctors will consider the risk of dehydration due to pain limiting water intake as being greater than the risk of bleeding due to ibuprofen intake and just give patients ibuprofen anyways)
• I'm on SSRIs for anxiety and apparently you can't crush those so I had to call my physician and go through a compounding pharmacy to make it into a liquid. Pretty pricy but I definitely don't want to deal with SSRI withdrawal and surgery recovery at the same time.

Today I'm basically trying to eat anything that I won't be able to for around a week and a half after midnight. I've been trying to eat spicy and crunchy foods for the last few days and I'm worried I'll miss them a lot for the first week but I definitely don't want to eat them sooner than I should.
I'll try and edit this post whenever I can with more details. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll be happy to respond!! Wishing everyone good luck :)

Hello everyone, this is going to be a long one so please bare with me as I need some help and I feel as if I am going crazy. This has all been depressing for me and I am scared that I am not going to get better, I am so young and I hate being in pain. Although, I know i should not put this into the universe, the thought of this being life long makes me sad.**
In December of 2023, I began having very bad pain while urinating, discharge....I suspected a UTI. However, I tested positive for Chlamydia(even though my partner at the time said he was negative.). I got treated, retested and everything came back negative. However, I was still experiencing burning while peeing, vaginal discharge, and etc. I went to the gyno for the first time, around the middle of January and explained my symptoms to her. She said that she saw some yeast while doing the exam and treated me for such. I got tested for the regular STI's and did a vaginal swab. The medicine she gave me did not help much and all my results came back negative. Going into February, my friend passed and I went into a dark place. I stopped caring for my health and I didn't revisit the gyno(although experiencing pain while urinating, itching, discharge; etc) up until March. March comes around, I am still struggling with everything and I visit the Gyno again with the same symptoms. She tested me for Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma and gave me cream to deal with the itching. My results come back and I was in fact positive for Mycoplasma. I am not sure what medicine she put me on, but I remember it was a 7 day antibiotic.
I took it, felt a little better, but a week later the same symptoms started to return. At the end of March/beginning of April, I had a burning sensation while peeing, I began having sharp pain in my pelvis, hip/leg pain, on and off discharge(somedays it would be brownish, next it would be a very clear heavy discharge), and lower back pain. I returned to same gyno and she thought it was a UTI. She took a urine sample and did a swab(however, i don't believe she retested me for mycoplasma). She gave me a three day antibiotic and it worked. The pain while peeing went away and the cramping subsided. However, the results came back and everything came back negative. But, in my urine my white and red blood cells were high. She told me to go to my PCP because she believed it wasn't a gyno related issue anymore. By that time I was experiencing very bad pain in my chest and back. I ended up going to the ER because I believed I had a kidney issue. I did a CAT Scan, but everything came back fine. The doctor told me it was a muscoskeltal issue and prescribed naproxen to me. Also, it came back that I had a yeast infection. I explained the cramping and such to the doctor and she said I did have a UTI, the test just didn't detect it. I asked her if the cramping was due to the muscoskeltal issue and she said it could be... I went home, took Fluconazole(singular) and began using the Naproxen.
I am a college student and I dorm, so I constantly have to travel back and forth to attend these doctor appointments. I return back to school and my pain subsides in my chest area, but the naproxen did not help the cramping. I still was having pain while peeing. I return back home to see my PCP, and she did a vaginal exam and said she saw yeast again. She told me the cramping was just due to my period(just no). She prescribed Fluconazole and a insertion for the yeast infection. I told her to run every test she can and the only thing that came up was a little bacteria in my urine(she told me this 7 days after I went to her). I told her I am still having pain while urinating and so she gave me a 7 day medication(take two a day), I forget the name. I was taking both that medicine she gave me and the naproxen, but, I ended up stop taking the naproxen because I experienced really bad stomach problems one day and I believed that it cause my period to be almost late(6 days, my period is usually on time and comes between the 14th and 16th).
At this point I stop going to my PCP because of her response to what I am telling her. I make an appointment with a different gyno to address it. BY THIS TIME, I am having pain in my pelvis, abdomen, and lower back(moreso on my left side), and my hip. I am not peeing frequently, there is no discharge or very little, BUT when I PEE IT BURNS. I make an appointment. Before seeing my gyno, I do an ultrasound( my belly and vaginal) and everything is fine. I tell her all these symptoms, she swabs me for everything(including mycoplasma but those results were inconclusive because I was on my period, so i have to retake it), I ask her if it's possible if I have PID, she says I would be in more pain. She refers me to a urologist and gastroenterologist(my abdominal pain was concerning to her). I go to my urologist first(May 29th), she tells me that she believes that due to all the antibiotics I have been taking since December my urethra and stomach have not had time to heal(which I totally agree). She does a vaginal exam(looks fine). She brings up pelvic floor issues and does a fast exam on me, but it doesn't seem abnormal. However, she said its still a possibility. She basically tells me that she thinks I need to stay off antibiotics, use cranberry pills, and visiting the GI is a good idea. She also gave me a lubricant to apply down there just to see if it eases the pain. I have an call with her in two weeks to update her.
Two days after, I visit my GI. I do have constipation, burping, and such. He basically said I don't know what it is but, he prescribed me Pantoprazole to take before breakfast and suggested I use miralax. I also have a follow up call with him.
My results came back from my gyno that I have BV, she told me that it usually goes away on its own, but she will send an antibiotic just in case. Which worries me because of what the urologist said. I am still experiencing pain when I pee, pelvic pain, abdominal pain, pain on my left side, buttotcks pain, and lower back pain as of right now, the pain isn't excruciating, but its there. Sometimes it feels like stabbing in my back or my pelvic like just hurts. I do have some pain in my actual vaginal hole and sometimes it just hurts, kinda like I’m in my period, but I’m not. Also, when I sneeze my pelvic area hurtsss. It feels sore. I’m assuming it’s a pelvic floor issue but I’m not sure. I am going to ask my gyno to refer me to a urogynecologist to look into pelvic floor issues, but I am tired. I need some help, please. Also, how do you test for PID?

I’m sorry if this is a silly question but me and my family is visiting Thailand this December, what’s your recommendation about the flu vaccine ? I know nothing can cure the flu but how’s the medicine down there against a cold, fever and sore throat (if it’s not the flu) I remember many years ago when I was in Thailand I got a sore throat, got 6 pills from a doctor woke up the next day like a brand new man, was crazy, now that I got my daughter with me (13 years old) I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to get the flu vaccine or if there’s any good meds against virus that’s not the flu, probably a really stupid question but I take any advice I can get since it was almost 16 years ago i visited Thailand, will get the hepatitis A-B of course. Appreciate it !

((This takes place during the events of Cel’s return post.))

Teagan nudges Cel, his grin widening slightly as he notices a familiar face. “I think I found him.” He points in the direction of his brother, though he was slightly concerned about what he was set out to do. Not rolling his eyes is something he fails at though, Teagan wasn’t thrilled at the idea of Seth showing off, but if it could possibly help Cel get settled in he wouldn’t intervene. “We should go see what he’s up to, or would you prefer going by yourself to check up on him?” He had nothing against his brother, but if word got out that he was a witness to Seth’s idiocy Chiron might have a word with him, again.
Hopefully this reunion would be a happy one, Cel seemed nervous. He didn’t look ecstatic when Teagan mentioned his name, which didn’t seem like a good sign. It’s not his job to be matchmaker, this is one of those times where he wished that Oliver decided to appear out of thin air.
To be quite honest, Cel heard naught a word that Teagan said. As Seth panned into view Cel experienced his own form of tunnel vision. His thoughts clouded with memories of Seth’s whimsical smile and mischievous laugh. His hair was black again. Cel was supposed to help him dye it… but he left before they’d ever had the chance. A pang of guilt shot itself into Cel’s chest like an arrow. All of the longing he’d pushed out of his mind while he was away came crashing into him like an angry boar in a Greek myth. He really missed Seth.
“Y-Yeah, I think I’m gonna talk to him alone. Thanks, Teag. I’ll catch you around,” Cel looked at Teagan with an excited, albeit still nervous, look in his eyes. The bags Cel was carrying were dropped to the ground and left behind as Cel broke out into a run toward the arena. The clothes were inconsequential. One thing was important, and he was stalking toward the arena like a stoic saber-wielding soldier. Although he was the cutest one Cel had ever seen.
As Cel broke his way into the arena he was smiling like a madman. Well, he was slightly mad to think this reunion would be easy given the way he left. Cel imagined this moment nearly every night before he went to bed. They’d see each other and Cel would scoop Seth into the biggest hug imaginable. They’d embrace, cry a little bit, kiss a little more, and everything would be right in the world. Cel would apologize for leaving so abruptly. Seth would apologize for not being there when Cel needed him most. Everything… would be okay.
“Seth!” Cel cried out at the top of his lungs. His voice boomed through the arena. Some demigods that had been training turned to look at him with an annoyed expression. Who cares. All that mattered was one black haired, green eyes, trickster-thief son of Hermes….```

…Who, to Cel’s abject horror, was being electrocuted; he had entered just in time to witness a savage, crackling bolt of lightning strike his boyfriend square in the chest and light his silhouette up like a demigod-shaped Christmas tree. The air, thick with the scent of ozone and fried camper, heated uncomfortably with the sudden power surge. For a few agonizing seconds he remained enveloped in the lethal aura. Miraculously, Seth stood tall and mostly unfazed instead of keeling over. Clothes singed and bronze armaments buzzing with the current recently passing through them, he rolled his shoulders as if shrugging off a sore spot and not recovering from an attack that should have landed him an express trip to the medical cabin. In just a few moments an all out brawl had been initiated within the Arena. His eyes glowed an eerie golden yellow, and beads of perspiration had already begun to form. The stress of him taking the resisted assault head on was causing a burst of adrenaline to course through his body. He nodded in approval to his opponent, the one responsible for the display of lightning. “Excellent.”
Booker fanned his hand to dispel the accumulated heat, watching the residual sparks of his bolt dance across Seth’s armor with a mixture of satisfaction and curiosity.
“Well, well, well, color me impressed!” The copper-haired boy’s applause echoed in the arena, empty besides the three demigods. “You weren’t kidding about this whole power stealing thing.” He glanced over at Gwen, a roguish grin spreading across his freckled face. “You wanna give your dash thing a try as a warm-up, before we get the show on the road?”
While Booker was talking, Seth’s other opponent was focused on her fist. “Shut up, I’m trying to concentrate.” She snapped, trying to keep her breathing in a steady rhythm. Yellow sparks flickered fitfully around one fist, igniting and dying just as quickly. Then after a few moments something seemed to click, and lighting began dancing along her forearm.
The girl grinned, then turned her attention to Seth. “I’ll try not to hit you too hard.” She said, as she rushed forward to slam her charged fist into the son of Hermes.
Seth bounced a step and a half back as the children of Zeus took their turns testing the limits of his electrical resistance, courtesy of Gwen. Sporting lighter armor devoid of any metals to free up his movement, he cautiously studied her approach before deciding how best to defend. The purpose of this pre-arranged exercise could only be achieved if he equipped himself with their own ability to withstand The demonstrative two-on-one had captured the attention of a collection of other campers, who had now gathered to see how a single fighter from Cabin Eleven could possibly hold his own against the Big Three tag team.
Raising his buckler to intercept her, he felt the satisfying clang of a fist against the round plate of Celestial Bronze, accompanied by the exhilaration of yet another burst of lightning passing through him. Seth shuddered and grit his teeth as his muscles tensed and coiled involuntarily at the foreign sensation. “Now defend!” he barked, bringing his blade arm up level with the shield and thrusting directly for Gwen’s upper body.
Gwen smirked defiantly at Seth’s order. “Nah.”
Instead of putting up any kind of defense, the girl’s body fuzzed into a streak of lightning. As Seth’s blade passed through the air where Gwen had been, she appeared to his left. Her fist was raised for another blow, but lightning no longer danced on it. She halted her strike.
“Damnit! Booker, tag in. I can’t figure out how to keep this up.” She said, as she took a step back, once again focusing on her fist, trying to charge it once again.
“Well, I can’t either,” the son of Zeus whined in jest. In the meantime, Booker could keep Seth entertained with the spear at his side. But perhaps there was something else he could show off here.
Booker immediately went still, muttering something under his breath. He felt his exhale merge with the nearby breeze, and the air seemed to respond, picking up in acknowledgment of his invocation.
The Ventus that spiraled into the arena took the form of a horse. Though its body was a swirling mass of dark clouds and mist, Booker was slightly disappointed to see its mane was not crackling with electricity this time. The mare pawed the ground with a spirited kick, sending a swirl of dust into the air.
“Oh, I didn’t realize it would be you again,” the son of Zeus rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as the creature’s stormy eyes bored into him. There must not be a lot of storm spirits in the area– this one had not taken kindly to Booker's last summon to get a ride to breakfast.
“Uh, can you unleash your elemental fury upon this guy?” he asked the horse, pointing at Seth, whose calm demeanor had morphed to a moderately concerned one. This was all more embarrassing than he had intended. “Please?”
The Ventus whinnied in exasperation before charging at the son of Hermes, its form twisting and expanding into a miniature cyclone.
At the same time, Gwen finally got her lightning to comply. After fitfully flickering around her fist for a few moments, the golden sparks began to dance up and down her arm once again.
The girl let out a triumphant laugh, rushing back in and locking Seth between the oncoming Ventus in front, and a charged fist from behind. She quickly closed the distance and slammed her fist into his back. As the impact landed, the lighting surged from her fist into Seth. Though with the brief contact, it wasn’t enough to even feel through his stolen resistance.
Seth was too busy piecing together how Gwen could have phased through a sword and regaining his senses to notice stormy death galloping towards him until it was too late. The two-pronged assault (three if you count both hooves) slammed into him at roughly the same time for an effectively coordinated flank. A shout of alarm and a raising of his shield were all he could manage before an explosion of dust and light scattered the body of the son of Hermes across the arena grounds, bouncing and colliding painfully with the terrain. It took several seconds for him to come to a complete stop, lying dazed on his back as the electricity exited his body via his soles and the golden glow in his eyes subsided. The swift punishment elicited an audible series of sympathetic winces from the gathered crowd, waiting with bated breath to see if Seth was rightfully dead.
To their surprise or disappointment, a noticeably singed-but-not-dead Seth sat up with a groan just a few seconds later, propping himself up by leaning on his arms behind him. A grimace of pain spread across his features as the full effect of what he had endured finally set in. “Timeout,” he called, massaging one of several areas that was sure to develop a bruise in the future. Why did he smell burning hair? “Timeout, timeout times a billion. I lost the resistance, I need a sec. Phew. Yup, that.. That was excellent. Um. Thank you. I did not know you could summon horses and teleport. Could someone help me up? I can’t feel my feet.”
.
Now, if a certain child of Eros wished to speak with him, this was going to be his best shot.
—--------------- —---------------
((Big thanks to charmingclementine and Murky-future for helping me in my first collab post in literal years. I think I’m going to stick to storymodes, but this was still a ton of fun and I hope you two had fun too.))
((This is technically a closed RP between Cel and Seth. However, if you like you can leave a comment at the designated area for spectators just confirming your character is present, for reasons I’ll explain below.))

Hey everyone, I'm about four years out from retirement from the military and am looking at making sure I've logged all the things I've ignored the last 17 years. Daily work can be a struggle sometimes but I'm pushing through to finish out my last few years. Over the past two years, I've been making sure to get things logged in my medical records (and marked as diagnosed) that I've been struggling with. I know this isn't going to be official in any way but can someone give me an idea of what kind of disability percentage I'd be receiving?
Torn meniscus in right knee with occasional locking and weekly pain with normal movements
Shortened tendon in left leg resulting in knee pain from walking/standing more than 30 minutes at a time
Lower back pain caused by standing for more than 30 minutes
Left shoulder joint pain during normal range of motion
Right shoulder joint pain with constant muscle strains
Neck tightness and pain, near constant
Chest tightness/minor pain sometimes and shortness of breath from previous COVID-19 encounter. The encounter resulted in viral myocarditis (essentially viral-induced minor heart attack)
Headaches multiple times weekly with migraines 2-3 times monthly
Chronic sinusitis
Sleep apnea with related insomnia

On Friday I went to my divorce lawyer and signed everything to officially file. I thought I might be sad, but I walked out of that 20 minute meeting feeling powerful af and more hopeful than ever.
Saturday night I played two games of roller derby back to back and had so much fun. That powerful and care-free feeling was with me all night. My older son got to watch me play for the first time ever and I was so happy. Sunday I was sore and tired, but had a great day with my small guys and got to skate again, coaching practice.
And in a few days I'm going on a little vacation with my boyfriend, a man who has been super patient and supportive throughout everything. No matter how slow I needed to take things, how mad, sad, or crazy I've been, he's been accepting of me as I am from the beginning of our very unexpected relationship.
Some days are still hard. And I know I'll still have some tough ones ahead. But those days used to lay me out for at least a week. And the hard days now are more recently dwindling into a hard few hours. I am hopeful for the future again and not as scared to have that hope anymore.
My lawyer thinks we will likely get our court date and everything finalized by the end of July. I am absolutely thrilled to see an end to this chapter and continue on in a way I never thought was possible.

I (27f) have had an inhaler since childhood for exercise-induced asthma. I've recently tried to get into running & noticed that my upper back muscles, like between my shoulder blades, get really tight/cramp when I'm running & it happens in sync with my asthma symptoms. I initially thought it was just a new-to-running/bad-form thing, but I brought it up to my physical therapist & when she eval'd my running for she didn't think it was related to form. I've also asked a number of friends who are runners & they've never had this issue even as beginners so now i'm assuming it must be related to asthma?
Anyone familiar with this? any tips? I take 2 puffs of my abuteral inhaler about 20 minutes before my runs. It helps but the symptoms are definitely still there. Also aware things should get a little better as I build endurance, it's just hard to build endurance when you can't breathe so sometimes it feels like i'm running just to torture myself lol.
thanks for any advice

((This takes place during the events of Cel’s return post.))

Teagan nudges Cel, his grin widening slightly as he notices a familiar face. “I think I found him.” He points in the direction of his brother, though he was slightly concerned about what he was set out to do. Not rolling his eyes is something he fails at though, Teagan wasn’t thrilled at the idea of Seth showing off, but if it could possibly help Cel get settled in he wouldn’t intervene. “We should go see what he’s up to, or would you prefer going by yourself to check up on him?” He had nothing against his brother, but if word got out that he was a witness to Seth’s idiocy Chiron might have a word with him, again.
Hopefully this reunion would be a happy one, Cel seemed nervous. He didn’t look ecstatic when Teagan mentioned his name, which didn’t seem like a good sign. It’s not his job to be matchmaker, this is one of those times where he wished that Oliver decided to appear out of thin air.
To be quite honest, Cel heard naught a word that Teagan said. As Seth panned into view Cel experienced his own form of tunnel vision. His thoughts clouded with memories of Seth’s whimsical smile and mischievous laugh. His hair was black again. Cel was supposed to help him dye it… but he left before they’d ever had the chance. A pang of guilt shot itself into Cel’s chest like an arrow. All of the longing he’d pushed out of his mind while he was away came crashing into him like an angry boar in a Greek myth. He really missed Seth.
“Y-Yeah, I think I’m gonna talk to him alone. Thanks, Teag. I’ll catch you around,” Cel looked at Teagan with an excited, albeit still nervous, look in his eyes. The bags Cel was carrying were dropped to the ground and left behind as Cel broke out into a run toward the arena. The clothes were inconsequential. One thing was important, and he was stalking toward the arena like a stoic saber-wielding soldier. Although he was the cutest one Cel had ever seen.
As Cel broke his way into the arena he was smiling like a madman. Well, he was slightly mad to think this reunion would be easy given the way he left. Cel imagined this moment nearly every night before he went to bed. They’d see each other and Cel would scoop Seth into the biggest hug imaginable. They’d embrace, cry a little bit, kiss a little more, and everything would be right in the world. Cel would apologize for leaving so abruptly. Seth would apologize for not being there when Cel needed him most. Everything… would be okay.
“Seth!” Cel cried out at the top of his lungs. His voice boomed through the arena. Some demigods that had been training turned to look at him with an annoyed expression. Who cares. All that mattered was one black haired, green eyes, trickster-thief son of Hermes….```

…Who, to Cel’s abject horror, was being electrocuted; he had entered just in time to witness a savage, crackling bolt of lightning strike his boyfriend square in the chest and light his silhouette up like a demigod-shaped Christmas tree. The air, thick with the scent of ozone and fried camper, heated uncomfortably with the sudden power surge. For a few agonizing seconds he remained enveloped in the lethal aura. Miraculously, Seth stood tall and mostly unfazed instead of keeling over. Clothes singed and bronze armaments buzzing with the current recently passing through them, he rolled his shoulders as if shrugging off a sore spot and not recovering from an attack that should have landed him an express trip to the medical cabin. In just a few moments an all out brawl had been initiated within the Arena. His eyes glowed an eerie golden yellow, and beads of perspiration had already begun to form. The stress of him taking the resisted assault head on was causing a burst of adrenaline to course through his body. He nodded in approval to his opponent, the one responsible for the display of lightning. “Excellent.”
Booker fanned his hand to dispel the accumulated heat, watching the residual sparks of his bolt dance across Seth’s armor with a mixture of satisfaction and curiosity.
“Well, well, well, color me impressed!” The copper-haired boy’s applause echoed in the arena, empty besides the three demigods. “You weren’t kidding about this whole power stealing thing.” He glanced over at Gwen, a roguish grin spreading across his freckled face. “You wanna give your dash thing a try as a warm-up, before we get the show on the road?”
While Booker was talking, Seth’s other opponent was focused on her fist. “Shut up, I’m trying to concentrate.” She snapped, trying to keep her breathing in a steady rhythm. Yellow sparks flickered fitfully around one fist, igniting and dying just as quickly. Then after a few moments something seemed to click, and lighting began dancing along her forearm.
The girl grinned, then turned her attention to Seth. “I’ll try not to hit you too hard.” She said, as she rushed forward to slam her charged fist into the son of Hermes.
Seth bounced a step and a half back as the children of Zeus took their turns testing the limits of his electrical resistance, courtesy of Gwen. Sporting lighter armor devoid of any metals to free up his movement, he cautiously studied her approach before deciding how best to defend. The purpose of this pre-arranged exercise could only be achieved if he equipped himself with their own ability to withstand The demonstrative two-on-one had captured the attention of a collection of other campers, who had now gathered to see how a single fighter from Cabin Eleven could possibly hold his own against the Big Three tag team.
Raising his buckler to intercept her, he felt the satisfying clang of a fist against the round plate of Celestial Bronze, accompanied by the exhilaration of yet another burst of lightning passing through him. Seth shuddered and grit his teeth as his muscles tensed and coiled involuntarily at the foreign sensation. “Now defend!” he barked, bringing his blade arm up level with the shield and thrusting directly for Gwen’s upper body.
Gwen smirked defiantly at Seth’s order. “Nah.”
Instead of putting up any kind of defense, the girl’s body fuzzed into a streak of lightning. As Seth’s blade passed through the air where Gwen had been, she appeared to his left. Her fist was raised for another blow, but lightning no longer danced on it. She halted her strike.
“Damnit! Booker, tag in. I can’t figure out how to keep this up.” She said, as she took a step back, once again focusing on her fist, trying to charge it once again.
“Well, I can’t either,” the son of Zeus whined in jest. In the meantime, Booker could keep Seth entertained with the spear at his side. But perhaps there was something else he could show off here.
Booker immediately went still, muttering something under his breath. He felt his exhale merge with the nearby breeze, and the air seemed to respond, picking up in acknowledgment of his invocation.
The Ventus that spiraled into the arena took the form of a horse. Though its body was a swirling mass of dark clouds and mist, Booker was slightly disappointed to see its mane was not crackling with electricity this time. The mare pawed the ground with a spirited kick, sending a swirl of dust into the air.
“Oh, I didn’t realize it would be you again,” the son of Zeus rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as the creature’s stormy eyes bored into him. There must not be a lot of storm spirits in the area– this one had not taken kindly to Booker's last summon to get a ride to breakfast.
“Uh, can you unleash your elemental fury upon this guy?” he asked the horse, pointing at Seth, whose calm demeanor had morphed to a moderately concerned one. This was all more embarrassing than he had intended. “Please?”
The Ventus whinnied in exasperation before charging at the son of Hermes, its form twisting and expanding into a miniature cyclone.
At the same time, Gwen finally got her lightning to comply. After fitfully flickering around her fist for a few moments, the golden sparks began to dance up and down her arm once again.
The girl let out a triumphant laugh, rushing back in and locking Seth between the oncoming Ventus in front, and a charged fist from behind. She quickly closed the distance and slammed her fist into his back. As the impact landed, the lighting surged from her fist into Seth. Though with the brief contact, it wasn’t enough to even feel through his stolen resistance.
Seth was too busy piecing together how Gwen could have phased through a sword and regaining his senses to notice stormy death galloping towards him until it was too late. The two-pronged assault (three if you count both hooves) slammed into him at roughly the same time for an effectively coordinated flank. A shout of alarm and a raising of his shield were all he could manage before an explosion of dust and light scattered the body of the son of Hermes across the arena grounds, bouncing and colliding painfully with the terrain. It took several seconds for him to come to a complete stop, lying dazed on his back as the electricity exited his body via his soles and the golden glow in his eyes subsided. The swift punishment elicited an audible series of sympathetic winces from the gathered crowd, waiting with bated breath to see if Seth was rightfully dead.
To their surprise or disappointment, a noticeably singed-but-not-dead Seth sat up with a groan just a few seconds later, propping himself up by leaning on his arms behind him. A grimace of pain spread across his features as the full effect of what he had endured finally set in. “Timeout,” he called, massaging one of several areas that was sure to develop a bruise in the future. Why did he smell burning hair? “Timeout, timeout times a billion. I lost the resistance, I need a sec. Phew. Yup, that.. That was excellent. Um. Thank you. I did not know you could summon horses and teleport. Could someone help me up? I can’t feel my feet.”
.
Now, if a certain child of Eros wished to speak with him, this was going to be his best shot.
—--------------- —---------------
((Big thanks to charmingclementine and Murky-future for helping me in my first collab post in literal years. I think I’m going to stick to storymodes, but this was still a ton of fun and I hope you two had fun too.))
((This is technically a closed RP between Cel and Seth. However, if you like you can leave a comment at the designated area for spectators just confirming your character is present, for reasons I’ll explain below.))

okay this is kinda a long one lol, tbh idrk why im putting this out here, i don't actually wanna share it, i think this provides an impression of me that probably doesn't actually match up with how i would seem if any of y'all met me in person. i guess im hoping that hearing other people's feelings on this might provide more clarity about my feelings surrounding this whole ordeal.
some disclaimers beforehand:
no, i don't want to be a third with you and your partner. yes, this is real. as weird as it sounds after reading this, me and my husband, have no interest in an open relationship. no, im not promoting an onlyfans and i have no interest in getting one no, i wont send pics to you lol
im 22f, ill go by nichole. my hubby, we'll call him daniel is 22m, and my friend, let's say marco is 28m.
back in january my husband and i started discussing me being more free with my body. being topless in europe, stuff like that. nothing too crazy. i met marco at work, super super sweet and nerdy. we started hitting it off. my husband and i mutually decided that we'd be down for marco to see my boobs. not to initiate a three way or anything, but to be vulnerable. i wanted to be sexual, but sensual. that probably doesn't make any sense but that's the best i can explain it lol.
i was wearing a button up shirt and spandex that night. sitting next to marco on the couch that night, (hubby was there too) i asked marco if he'd be ok with me unbuttoning my shirt and he was nervous but also excited and said yes. so i did, i was nervous at first, but tbh it was really fun, spiritual and liberating. so we spent the night drinking wine, listening to music and talking, i just happened to have my boobs out. i think we all loved it, and the most scandalous thing that happened that night was i hugged him good night topless.
similar things happened for the next few times we hung out, i guess it got incrementally wilder. instead of having just my shirt undone, id have it all the way off. id walk around the apartment in nothing but my underwear.
my husband and i would talk about how interesting and new this all was, and we mutually agreed that we'd like to see what it was like for me to have my boobs/nipples stroked/kissed by marco, but obviously this was a pretty big step. i was hesitant because obviously it's my body, and my husband didn't push me, which i appreciated. i think it also felt like a really big deal because i know y'all are gonna be skeptical of this, but sex or anything under the belt with marco was completely off limits for all of us, so this was gonna be the farthest that we would go.
the same type of stuff continued, me being topless around marco and my husband, not doing anything more until a few weeks ago. my husband was going overseas for a week, and knew id be seeing marco while he was gone. he asked if there was gonna be more that happened since he was gonna be away. i was genuinely honest with him, and said that it wasn't impossible, but that i highly highly highly doubted anything would. i thought i might not even be topless without my husband around. idk, i guess i was just feeling a little weird, can't really put my finger on why.
the first night hubby was away, marco and i hung out. this sounds more questionable than it was, so here's some more context. we were together until like 2:00 am, and he spent the night. however we were in a group of friends the whole time, and we work at a restaurant that doesn't close until midnight so this type of thing isn't unusual. and marco had previously been spending the night in our spare bedroom, he was just there so that he didn't have to drive an hour and a half to get home. we didn't even spend any time together at the apartment that night, and he had left for work by the time i woke up i texted my husband about all of this, literally didn't matter at all, just giving as much detail as possible i guess.
a few nights later, i planned on cooking for marco. in hindsight it's kinda clear that this is the night something was gonna happen. not sexually, but i was telling my husband that i was gonna give marco a massage since he'd been working so much, and that there was a decent chance we'd fall asleep on the sofa together or something. dinner was really nice. we had some good conversations.
at about 10:30 pm, we started watching a movie, and we planned on falling asleep on the sofa together. btw i was texting my husband little updates of everything that im writing here, i think it was like 3:00 am where he was, and he was jetlagged so he was in and out of sleep, so sometimes he'd respond, sometimes he wouldn't. he was genuinely really happy i was having a nice time which was sweet.
marco did offer to let me sleep in bed with him, my room was really close to some construction that always wakes me up. i think he was genuine, but also just liked the idea of sleeping in the same bed with me lol, and i politely declined.
he was gently kissing my hairline during the movie, and had his hand on my knee under the covers. i was fully clothed at this point.
after the movie i gave him a really good massage, and then we decided to put on another movie to fall asleep to, and i decided to take my shirt off, but i kept my shorts on.
we were cuddling on the sofa, both of us shirtless, and he touched my breast. i asked him "did you mean to touch my boob?" and he kinda acted like he didn't realize he'd done it, maybe he was asleep and his hand slipped, but then we kept cuddling and i brought his hands back on my breasts and he started rubbing my nipple and stroking my boob with his thumbs, and it felt really good.
i felt bad and texted my husband, he was totally good. i felt bad because i was really in the moment with marco, so i texted my husband like an hour after this happened. i really wanted to sleep with marco, literally just sleep in the same bed, no sex lol, but it didn't feel right, so i didn't.
but i really liked watching him love on my boobs. i was just watching his technique, i think he was looking at it too. watching the way the candles flickered on my bare boobs, which were pressed against his chest, watching the way the light reflected as he cast a shadow over my nipple with his fingers. and after he was done touching them, i said "what do u think? and he said "you've got really nice nipples." and i blushed and said thank you.
my husband asked if i was turned on. it was weird, i wasn't like dtf or anything, but physically i could feel my vagina stimulated. but im like 99% sure marco was hard.
sooooo that happened lol. and then marco said the next night he was gonna take me out to dinner. work that day was crazy, knowing that this guy i didn't even know a few months ago had been so intimate with me the night before. we went out for dinner which was really fun. i was feeling pretty good and confident after the previous night. usually i wait for a little bit and settle in before taking my top off but i was comfortable having my boobs out as soon as we came in the door. we had dessert, watched the office and we were just hanging out. it was only 10:30 but we were exhausted. since i was feeling so comfortable, i texted my husband that i was gonna sleep topless in the same bed with marco. he was surprised but supportive.
at 2:30 am i woke up to him kissing my neck and breasts. i really liked it and rolled on top of him, putting my tits in his face to let him know he could keep going. i know i shouldn't have been, but i was surprised at how hard he was (i could feel him against my thigh) at this point i snuck i texted my husband after this asking if it was okay, i rly wanted to keep going but i wasn't going to without his go ahead. he was understandably surprised, and had a lot of questions. i told him i needed a yes or no because I needed to get back to marco. he told me that i was good to go ahead, as long as I told him everything afterwards. i was excited and happy that i could go ahead, and used the time in the bathroom as an opportunity to take my shorts off (i wasn't completely naked, i was still in a thong) and i crawled back into bed with marco.
i straddled him, and i rolled over and put my boobs in his face. he was kissing them while he was running his hands up my butt, my hips, my back, we did that on and off for about 30 minutes, me back on my back/him stroking my breasts. then i'd roll over and he'd start kissing them. and we had our legs up on one another we were kissing each others necks. i felt his erection on my leg as he pressed up against me, and then against my ass as we were spooning and getting ready to sleep. i subconsciously started throwing it back at him, so we were kinda dry humping for a min. idk if he got any pleasure from it, i kinda think he might have since his dick was basically between my ass cheeks but idk, i didn't get any pleasure from it lol. so we spooned and fell asleep, and then the next morning, we woke up, and we were cuddling. we must have readjusted in the middle of the night because i woke up to his face buried in my cleavage, gently kissing me. he was running his thumb up & down my nipples all morning while i lay on my back. he was stealing kisses on my neck & on my head and cheek, all the while the morning sun, with its dark orange tint peeping through the bedroom. we were all tangled up in the sheets. it was so romantic and i felt so close to him.
my husband was understandably shocked by all this, but we had some really good talks about it. i know he and marco talked too. we all decided to do it again once my husband got back so he could see what it was actually like. so about a week later marco came over for dinner and cooked for us (sidenote, it was absolutely incredible haha) it was def a different vibe with my husband around. i was nervous so stuff went a little slower than it had before. i think marco was nervous too, so i pulled his hand onto my breast again. at that point, im not quite sure why, id be really interested to know but he really seemed to have a fire underneath him. he was pinching my nipples, rubbing them, massaging my boobs, really feeling me up. he grabbed my waist and pulled me onto his lap. he gently pulled my hair to pull my head back and was kissing my neck. for some reason, im not exactly sure why, my husband had been very focused on whether or not marco had been sucking on my nipples, or just kissing them. i told my hubby that he'd kinda been like french kissing them, so that's what i was expecting to happen this time too, so i was surprised when marco really started sucking my tits. it was passionate and felt really good so i was really moaning. i tried to not moan as much because i thought that might hurt my husband's feelings but i couldn't help it. he just kept going and i was moaning out his name for like an hour.
at that point my husband went into our bedroom. i spent a couple more minutes of quality time with marco, letting his hands and mouth explore me and then went in to talk to my husband. he was conflicted. on one hand he said it was really interesting to see such passion, and he liked how sweet marco was to me, not pushing any of my boundaries, not forcing himself between my legs even though I think a lot of guys would expect sex at this point, but of course on the other hand it was really hard for him to see me, as his wife with someone else like that.
after that night, i decided to pull back from being this intimate with marco. im so lucky that we've just been able to go back to being friends, and there really hasn't been any weirdness. marco and i hangout regularly, me and my husband are good, and him and marco get along really well.
any opinions/thoughts/reactions/advice is more than welcome lol

okay this is kinda a long one lol, tbh idrk why im putting this out here, i don't actually wanna share it, i think this provides an impression of me that probably doesn't actually match up with how i would seem if any of y'all met me in person. i guess im hoping that hearing other people's feelings on this might provide more clarity about my feelings surrounding this whole ordeal.
some disclaimers beforehand:
no, i don't want to be a third with you and your partner. yes, this is real. as weird as it sounds after reading this, me and my husband, have no interest in an open relationship. no, im not promoting an onlyfans and i have no interest in getting one no, i wont send pics to you lol
im 22f, ill go by nichole. my hubby, we'll call him daniel is 22m, and my friend, let's say marco is 28m.
back in january my husband and i started discussing me being more free with my body. being topless in europe, stuff like that. nothing too crazy. i met marco at work, super super sweet and nerdy. we started hitting it off. my husband and i mutually decided that we'd be down for marco to see my boobs. not to initiate a three way or anything, but to be vulnerable. i wanted to be sexual, but sensual. that probably doesn't make any sense but that's the best i can explain it lol.
i was wearing a button up shirt and spandex that night. sitting next to marco on the couch that night, (hubby was there too) i asked marco if he'd be ok with me unbuttoning my shirt and he was nervous but also excited and said yes. so i did, i was nervous at first, but tbh it was really fun, spiritual and liberating. so we spent the night drinking wine, listening to music and talking, i just happened to have my boobs out. i think we all loved it, and the most scandalous thing that happened that night was i hugged him good night topless.
similar things happened for the next few times we hung out, i guess it got incrementally wilder. instead of having just my shirt undone, id have it all the way off. id walk around the apartment in nothing but my underwear.
my husband and i would talk about how interesting and new this all was, and we mutually agreed that we'd like to see what it was like for me to have my boobs/nipples stroked/kissed by marco, but obviously this was a pretty big step. i was hesitant because obviously it's my body, and my husband didn't push me, which i appreciated. i think it also felt like a really big deal because i know y'all are gonna be skeptical of this, but sex or anything under the belt with marco was completely off limits for all of us, so this was gonna be the farthest that we would go.
the same type of stuff continued, me being topless around marco and my husband, not doing anything more until a few weeks ago. my husband was going overseas for a week, and knew id be seeing marco while he was gone. he asked if there was gonna be more that happened since he was gonna be away. i was genuinely honest with him, and said that it wasn't impossible, but that i highly highly highly doubted anything would. i thought i might not even be topless without my husband around. idk, i guess i was just feeling a little weird, can't really put my finger on why.
the first night hubby was away, marco and i hung out. this sounds more questionable than it was, so here's some more context. we were together until like 2:00 am, and he spent the night. however we were in a group of friends the whole time, and we work at a restaurant that doesn't close until midnight so this type of thing isn't unusual. and marco had previously been spending the night in our spare bedroom, he was just there so that he didn't have to drive an hour and a half to get home. we didn't even spend any time together at the apartment that night, and he had left for work by the time i woke up i texted my husband about all of this, literally didn't matter at all, just giving as much detail as possible i guess.
a few nights later, i planned on cooking for marco. in hindsight it's kinda clear that this is the night something was gonna happen. not sexually, but i was telling my husband that i was gonna give marco a massage since he'd been working so much, and that there was a decent chance we'd fall asleep on the sofa together or something. dinner was really nice. we had some good conversations.
at about 10:30 pm, we started watching a movie, and we planned on falling asleep on the sofa together. btw i was texting my husband little updates of everything that im writing here, i think it was like 3:00 am where he was, and he was jetlagged so he was in and out of sleep, so sometimes he'd respond, sometimes he wouldn't. he was genuinely really happy i was having a nice time which was sweet.
marco did offer to let me sleep in bed with him, my room was really close to some construction that always wakes me up. i think he was genuine, but also just liked the idea of sleeping in the same bed with me lol, and i politely declined.
he was gently kissing my hairline during the movie, and had his hand on my knee under the covers. i was fully clothed at this point.
after the movie i gave him a really good massage, and then we decided to put on another movie to fall asleep to, and i decided to take my shirt off, but i kept my shorts on.
we were cuddling on the sofa, both of us shirtless, and he touched my breast. i asked him "did you mean to touch my boob?" and he kinda acted like he didn't realize he'd done it, maybe he was asleep and his hand slipped, but then we kept cuddling and i brought his hands back on my breasts and he started rubbing my nipple and stroking my boob with his thumbs, and it felt really good.
i felt bad and texted my husband, he was totally good. i felt bad because i was really in the moment with marco, so i texted my husband like an hour after this happened. i really wanted to sleep with marco, literally just sleep in the same bed, no sex lol, but it didn't feel right, so i didn't.
but i really liked watching him love on my boobs. i was just watching his technique, i think he was looking at it too. watching the way the candles flickered on my bare boobs, which were pressed against his chest, watching the way the light reflected as he cast a shadow over my nipple with his fingers. and after he was done touching them, i said "what do u think? and he said "you've got really nice nipples." and i blushed and said thank you.
my husband asked if i was turned on. it was weird, i wasn't like dtf or anything, but physically i could feel my vagina stimulated. but im like 99% sure marco was hard.
sooooo that happened lol. and then marco said the next night he was gonna take me out to dinner. work that day was crazy, knowing that this guy i didn't even know a few months ago had been so intimate with me the night before. we went out for dinner which was really fun. i was feeling pretty good and confident after the previous night. usually i wait for a little bit and settle in before taking my top off but i was comfortable having my boobs out as soon as we came in the door. we had dessert, watched the office and we were just hanging out. it was only 10:30 but we were exhausted. since i was feeling so comfortable, i texted my husband that i was gonna sleep topless in the same bed with marco. he was surprised but supportive.
at 2:30 am i woke up to him kissing my neck and breasts. i really liked it and rolled on top of him, putting my tits in his face to let him know he could keep going. i know i shouldn't have been, but i was surprised at how hard he was (i could feel him against my thigh) at this point i snuck i texted my husband after this asking if it was okay, i rly wanted to keep going but i wasn't going to without his go ahead. he was understandably surprised, and had a lot of questions. i told him i needed a yes or no because I needed to get back to marco. he told me that i was good to go ahead, as long as I told him everything afterwards. i was excited and happy that i could go ahead, and used the time in the bathroom as an opportunity to take my shorts off (i wasn't completely naked, i was still in a thong) and i crawled back into bed with marco.
i straddled him, and i rolled over and put my boobs in his face. he was kissing them while he was running his hands up my butt, my hips, my back, we did that on and off for about 30 minutes, me back on my back/him stroking my breasts. then i'd roll over and he'd start kissing them. and we had our legs up on one another we were kissing each others necks. i felt his erection on my leg as he pressed up against me, and then against my ass as we were spooning and getting ready to sleep. i subconsciously started throwing it back at him, so we were kinda dry humping for a min. idk if he got any pleasure from it, i kinda think he might have since his dick was basically between my ass cheeks but idk, i didn't get any pleasure from it lol. so we spooned and fell asleep, and then the next morning, we woke up, and we were cuddling. we must have readjusted in the middle of the night because i woke up to his face buried in my cleavage, gently kissing me. he was running his thumb up & down my nipples all morning while i lay on my back. he was stealing kisses on my neck & on my head and cheek, all the while the morning sun, with its dark orange tint peeping through the bedroom. we were all tangled up in the sheets. it was so romantic and i felt so close to him.
my husband was understandably shocked by all this, but we had some really good talks about it. i know he and marco talked too. we all decided to do it again once my husband got back so he could see what it was actually like. so about a week later marco came over for dinner and cooked for us (sidenote, it was absolutely incredible haha) it was def a different vibe with my husband around. i was nervous so stuff went a little slower than it had before. i think marco was nervous too, so i pulled his hand onto my breast again. at that point, im not quite sure why, id be really interested to know but he really seemed to have a fire underneath him. he was pinching my nipples, rubbing them, massaging my boobs, really feeling me up. he grabbed my waist and pulled me onto his lap. he gently pulled my hair to pull my head back and was kissing my neck. for some reason, im not exactly sure why, my husband had been very focused on whether or not marco had been sucking on my nipples, or just kissing them. i told my hubby that he'd kinda been like french kissing them, so that's what i was expecting to happen this time too, so i was surprised when marco really started sucking my tits. it was passionate and felt really good so i was really moaning. i tried to not moan as much because i thought that might hurt my husband's feelings but i couldn't help it. he just kept going and i was moaning out his name for like an hour.
at that point my husband went into our bedroom. i spent a couple more minutes of quality time with marco, letting his hands and mouth explore me and then went in to talk to my husband. he was conflicted. on one hand he said it was really interesting to see such passion, and he liked how sweet marco was to me, not pushing any of my boundaries, not forcing himself between my legs even though I think a lot of guys would expect sex at this point, but of course on the other hand it was really hard for him to see me, as his wife with someone else like that.
after that night, i decided to pull back from being this intimate with marco. im so lucky that we've just been able to go back to being friends, and there really hasn't been any weirdness. marco and i hangout regularly, me and my husband are good, and him and marco get along really well.
so please tell me, aiw?

okay this is kinda a long one lol, tbh idrk why im putting this out here, i don't actually wanna share it, i think this provides an impression of me that probably doesn't actually match up with how i would seem if any of y'all met me in person. i guess im hoping that hearing other people's feelings on this might provide more clarity about my feelings surrounding this whole ordeal.
some disclaimers beforehand:
no, i don't want to be a third with you and your partner. yes, this is real. as weird as it sounds after reading this, me and my husband, have no interest in an open relationship. no, im not promoting an onlyfans and i have no interest in getting one no, i wont send pics to you lol
im 22f, ill go by nichole. my hubby, we'll call him daniel is 22m, and my friend, let's say marco is 28m.
back in january my husband and i started discussing me being more free with my body. being topless in europe, stuff like that. nothing too crazy. i met marco at work, super super sweet and nerdy. we started hitting it off. my husband and i mutually decided that we'd be down for marco to see my boobs. not to initiate a three way or anything, but to be vulnerable. i wanted to be sexual, but sensual. that probably doesn't make any sense but that's the best i can explain it lol.
i was wearing a button up shirt and spandex that night. sitting next to marco on the couch that night, (hubby was there too) i asked marco if he'd be ok with me unbuttoning my shirt and he was nervous but also excited and said yes. so i did, i was nervous at first, but tbh it was really fun, spiritual and liberating. so we spent the night drinking wine, listening to music and talking, i just happened to have my boobs out. i think we all loved it, and the most scandalous thing that happened that night was i hugged him good night topless.
similar things happened for the next few times we hung out, i guess it got incrementally wilder. instead of having just my shirt undone, id have it all the way off. id walk around the apartment in nothing but my underwear.
my husband and i would talk about how interesting and new this all was, and we mutually agreed that we'd like to see what it was like for me to have my boobs/nipples stroked/kissed by marco, but obviously this was a pretty big step. i was hesitant because obviously it's my body, and my husband didn't push me, which i appreciated. i think it also felt like a really big deal because i know y'all are gonna be skeptical of this, but sex or anything under the belt with marco was completely off limits for all of us, so this was gonna be the farthest that we would go.
the same type of stuff continued, me being topless around marco and my husband, not doing anything more until a few weeks ago. my husband was going overseas for a week, and knew id be seeing marco while he was gone. he asked if there was gonna be more that happened since he was gonna be away. i was genuinely honest with him, and said that it wasn't impossible, but that i highly highly highly doubted anything would. i thought i might not even be topless without my husband around. idk, i guess i was just feeling a little weird, can't really put my finger on why.
the first night hubby was away, marco and i hung out. this sounds more questionable than it was, so here's some more context. we were together until like 2:00 am, and he spent the night. however we were in a group of friends the whole time, and we work at a restaurant that doesn't close until midnight so this type of thing isn't unusual. and marco had previously been spending the night in our spare bedroom, he was just there so that he didn't have to drive an hour and a half to get home. we didn't even spend any time together at the apartment that night, and he had left for work by the time i woke up i texted my husband about all of this, literally didn't matter at all, just giving as much detail as possible i guess.
a few nights later, i planned on cooking for marco. in hindsight it's kinda clear that this is the night something was gonna happen. not sexually, but i was telling my husband that i was gonna give marco a massage since he'd been working so much, and that there was a decent chance we'd fall asleep on the sofa together or something. dinner was really nice. we had some good conversations.
at about 10:30 pm, we started watching a movie, and we planned on falling asleep on the sofa together. btw i was texting my husband little updates of everything that im writing here, i think it was like 3:00 am where he was, and he was jetlagged so he was in and out of sleep, so sometimes he'd respond, sometimes he wouldn't. he was genuinely really happy i was having a nice time which was sweet.
marco did offer to let me sleep in bed with him, my room was really close to some construction that always wakes me up. i think he was genuine, but also just liked the idea of sleeping in the same bed with me lol, and i politely declined.
he was gently kissing my hairline during the movie, and had his hand on my knee under the covers. i was fully clothed at this point.
after the movie i gave him a really good massage, and then we decided to put on another movie to fall asleep to, and i decided to take my shirt off, but i kept my shorts on.
we were cuddling on the sofa, both of us shirtless, and he touched my breast. i asked him "did you mean to touch my boob?" and he kinda acted like he didn't realize he'd done it, maybe he was asleep and his hand slipped, but then we kept cuddling and i brought his hands back on my breasts and he started rubbing my nipple and stroking my boob with his thumbs, and it felt really good.
i felt bad and texted my husband, he was totally good. i felt bad because i was really in the moment with marco, so i texted my husband like an hour after this happened. i really wanted to sleep with marco, literally just sleep in the same bed, no sex lol, but it didn't feel right, so i didn't.
but i really liked watching him love on my boobs. i was just watching his technique, i think he was looking at it too. watching the way the candles flickered on my bare boobs, which were pressed against his chest, watching the way the light reflected as he cast a shadow over my nipple with his fingers. and after he was done touching them, i said "what do u think? and he said "you've got really nice nipples." and i blushed and said thank you.
my husband asked if i was turned on. it was weird, i wasn't like dtf or anything, but physically i could feel my vagina stimulated. but im like 99% sure marco was hard.
sooooo that happened lol. and then marco said the next night he was gonna take me out to dinner. work that day was crazy, knowing that this guy i didn't even know a few months ago had been so intimate with me the night before. we went out for dinner which was really fun. i was feeling pretty good and confident after the previous night. usually i wait for a little bit and settle in before taking my top off but i was comfortable having my boobs out as soon as we came in the door. we had dessert, watched the office and we were just hanging out. it was only 10:30 but we were exhausted. since i was feeling so comfortable, i texted my husband that i was gonna sleep topless in the same bed with marco. he was surprised but supportive.
at 2:30 am i woke up to him kissing my neck and breasts. i really liked it and rolled on top of him, putting my tits in his face to let him know he could keep going. i know i shouldn't have been, but i was surprised at how hard he was (i could feel him against my thigh) at this point i snuck i texted my husband after this asking if it was okay, i rly wanted to keep going but i wasn't going to without his go ahead. he was understandably surprised, and had a lot of questions. i told him i needed a yes or no because I needed to get back to marco. he told me that i was good to go ahead, as long as I told him everything afterwards. i was excited and happy that i could go ahead, and used the time in the bathroom as an opportunity to take my shorts off (i wasn't completely naked, i was still in a thong) and i crawled back into bed with marco.
i straddled him, and i rolled over and put my boobs in his face. he was kissing them while he was running his hands up my butt, my hips, my back, we did that on and off for about 30 minutes, me back on my back/him stroking my breasts. then i'd roll over and he'd start kissing them. and we had our legs up on one another we were kissing each others necks. i felt his erection on my leg as he pressed up against me, and then against my ass as we were spooning and getting ready to sleep. i subconsciously started throwing it back at him, so we were kinda dry humping for a min. idk if he got any pleasure from it, i kinda think he might have since his dick was basically between my ass cheeks but idk, i didn't get any pleasure from it lol. so we spooned and fell asleep, and then the next morning, we woke up, and we were cuddling. we must have readjusted in the middle of the night because i woke up to his face buried in my cleavage, gently kissing me. he was running his thumb up & down my nipples all morning while i lay on my back. he was stealing kisses on my neck & on my head and cheek, all the while the morning sun, with its dark orange tint peeping through the bedroom. we were all tangled up in the sheets. it was so romantic and i felt so close to him.
my husband was understandably shocked by all this, but we had some really good talks about it. i know he and marco talked too. we all decided to do it again once my husband got back so he could see what it was actually like. so about a week later marco came over for dinner and cooked for us (sidenote, it was absolutely incredible haha) it was def a different vibe with my husband around. i was nervous so stuff went a little slower than it had before. i think marco was nervous too, so i pulled his hand onto my breast again. at that point, im not quite sure why, id be really interested to know but he really seemed to have a fire underneath him. he was pinching my nipples, rubbing them, massaging my boobs, really feeling me up. he grabbed my waist and pulled me onto his lap. he gently pulled my hair to pull my head back and was kissing my neck. for some reason, im not exactly sure why, my husband had been very focused on whether or not marco had been sucking on my nipples, or just kissing them. i told my hubby that he'd kinda been like french kissing them, so that's what i was expecting to happen this time too, so i was surprised when marco really started sucking my tits. it was passionate and felt really good so i was really moaning. i tried to not moan as much because i thought that might hurt my husband's feelings but i couldn't help it. he just kept going and i was moaning out his name for like an hour.
at that point my husband went into our bedroom. i spent a couple more minutes of quality time with marco, letting his hands and mouth explore me and then went in to talk to my husband. he was conflicted. on one hand he said it was really interesting to see such passion, and he liked how sweet marco was to me, not pushing any of my boundaries, not forcing himself between my legs even though I think a lot of guys would expect sex at this point, but of course on the other hand it was really hard for him to see me, as his wife with someone else like that.
after that night, i decided to pull back from being this intimate with marco. im so lucky that we've just been able to go back to being friends, and there really hasn't been any weirdness. marco and i hangout regularly, me and my husband are good, and him and marco get along really well.
so please tell me, aitah?

hello there! I have done a bit of an oopsie and wanted to check if it would be better to get it professionally checked or if im fine treating it myself.
story for those that are interested: I am somewhat physically weak, both from losing the genetic lottery and from a lack of consistent exercise. I do yoga, but my immune system throws a fit if I do too much activity. anyways, I was throwing away food scraps in a ceramic bowl, and I spun around quickly to walk back out of the pantry, and my arm did not go with me. whoops. i finished cleaning the kitchen with it like that too.
actual injury now: last night, my shoulder blade pulled out of place, popped sharply 3 times, and then snapped back. it was more surprising at the moment than painful, and I took a muscle relaxer immediately, so it was okay for a while if very sore. i woke up this morning after a very rough night of sleep and it burns. i had to take my rimegepant for the migraine i also woke up with (thanks, body) and ive been instructed not to take tylenol or asprin if ive taken that, so i cant take any, but ive been alternating heating and icing it. its still sore, and burning more than anything else, which is odd to me.
the background info im supposed to give with this post: 19F, 5'4", 140lbs, occurred last night. I have an unknown mild immune disorder, myoclonus, scoliosis, and chronic intractable migraines. i took cyclobenziprine for the initial injury.
thank you for your time, hope you have a better day than I am right now :)

19M
Height-6feet
Weight-85kg
Currently no medications but previously migraine medicines
No smoking/drinking
I have this very weird disease from past 1-2 year. I have consulted to many doctors. But everyone says different diseases and medications but none medications help.
Please let me know this disease bame if you know
Symptoms- 1.Nausea(only from right side of throat)
2.heavy chest (only right)
3.difficulty in breathing(only from night nostril)
4.skin feels lumpy around abdomen area(this is also in right abdomen and back only)
5.eyes feel like some parasite is eating them from inner side(both eyes)

1. Sometimes pain in right side of brain.

7.after bathing this condition get worse.
Please 🙏 🙏 give me some solution. I am very frustrated due to this.🙏🙏