#Tw: infection

[hold-on-a-little-longer-whump]

screaming crying and sobbing over characters having hushed conversations over their injured/sick teammate.

Why are they whispering? Is there danger nearby? Do they want to avoid disturbing their teammate? Are they about to do something unpleasant but necessary for their teammate's survival - like setting a bone or flushing out an infected wound?

Or are they talking normally and the injured party just can't understand everything that's being said? Are they delirious with pain or fever? A head injury is affecting their hearing? Are they having difficulty staying conscious, and that one teammate keeps patting their face or shaking them, doing anything they can to keep them awake? Why are there so many hands on them? Why do they keep pushing on their stomach? Why does everyone sound so serious/nervous/angry/sad?

+ bonus points for manhandling their friend bc it's for their own good

[benisbeaaaaans]

The Discord Disease

(More below break)

As the name suggests, the Discord diease is derived from the entity of the same name, the Chaotic Chimera, Discord. The first signs of it occured when the statue of Discord disappeared from the Canterlot Gardens and started inside of Ponyville some many miles away. Ponies there that were later diagnosed began to lose the color in their coats, as well as exhibit behaviors that were “opposite” of their average behaviors. The first afflicted was Rainbow Dash, the assigned weather pony, refusing to do her job and behaving dismissivly of those she was reportedly close to, and her colorful appearance notably changing. This continued to spread via unknown means for some time until Twilight Sparkle, a scholar and student directly under Celestia, discovered anomolous particles inside some deceased subjects some time after the disease went unchecked.

Those afflicted will begin to experience behavioral shifts and sometimes flu like symptoms if exposed to the disease in large quantities. A pony can still be treated in this state. However, as they progress into stage 2, they will be more difficult to treat, as well as treat them without lasting damage remaining present.

Stage 2 progresses once the pony afflicted loses all color in their coat and mane, pigmentation turning completely white. In this stage, their bodies begin to rapidly decay, and within a week they will be visibly ill and their hair will begin falling out. Pegasai will fly irregularrly and aggitatedly, and unicorns will have sporatic bursts of destructive magic.

Stage 3 begins about 2 weeks after initial infection, where the pony’s torso will become bloated. They will be unable to move for 2-5 hours, depending on their natural resiliance, but will eventually burst, leaving their ribcages exposed, most likely destroying their internal organs, but not killing them, leaving them in an automotous state. This stage is particularily dangerous, as the afflicted pony will begin displaying more hostile behaviors, attacking other ponies, and attempting to either bite or wound them. Once they do this, they will no longer attack the pony, seemingly aware they have been afflicted.

As of right now, there is no known stage 4 of the disease.

[dino-boyo-agere]

I have an infection beneath my top surgery scar, a piece of stitching seems to have been eaten by the skin and is now causing infection.

I'll go to the clinic on Thursday (23.11.23) to get it removed, I'll make an update after!!

Look at this annoying little guy, causing me pain and discomfort.. How dare he be so cute & smol?!

And hat's what the area looks like:

!cw: swollen & red skin

It's hot to the touch and really tender, raising my left arm hurts and I'm really uncomfortable. :(

[whumpshots]

Whump ABC #9 - Infected Wound

Based on the results of this poll.

_

Caretaker furrows their brows as they look at whumpee who is struggling to keep in the soft pained noises that interrupt their shallow and hectic breathing. They are drenched in sweat, hands shaking at the pain they must be in.

"How are the injuries?", caretaker asks in their professional tone, trying to keep their worry at bay. It's been a few days since they rescued them, but they haven't gotten better - only worse. Caretaker assumes the worst, but whumpee tries to shake it off.

"Fine," they rasp as they rest their head back in the pillow, swallowing hard. Caretaker only hums and lifts the other's shirt, who is too weak to protest. They carefully undress the wound, already seeing what they feared - the wound is swollen, surrounded by reddened flesh.

"That doesn't look fine ..." Caretaker takes a closer look and is met with an unpleasant smell, the wound itself is not the worst thing he has seen, but definitely not the prettiest either. They look up to ask whumpee how high the pain is, but the words die in their throat as the other tenses up and screws their eyes shut with every little touch of caretaker.

"This got infected pretty badly, kid. Hang on, I'll give you something for the pain, but I need to take care of this, too. The antibiotics might do their work just fine, just hang in there, okay?" Whumpee manages a nod and bite back a grunt.

Just when they thought the worst was over ...

[lxrd-ren]

q!BBH Skin Theory Part 2

[icarus-suraki]

So who had this on their bingo card for this election year?

[in-love-with-writing-whump]

Prompt

Whumpee gets injured out in the field. They come back, trying to play it off as no big deal, but Caretaker can tell something is off, so they send them to the medic.

Whumpee comes back to Caretaker, barely remembering what the medic said. They try to get some work done, but pass out at their desk. Caretaker brings them to bed, concerned.

When Whumpee wakes up freezing with chills and a fever, Caretaker promises to take care of them and has to get medic again.

[lancedoncrimsonwings]

Augusnippets Day 18

Path of Whumperless Whump + Comfort Prompt; "Infection" + "Singing" + "Feverish Caretaking" Part 3

Day 18 of @augusnippets August 2024 Whump writing challenge! (Augusnippets Masterlist)

Characters;

- POV/Caretaker: Gawain - The Green Knight

- Lancelot - The Weeping Monk

(Character Masterlist)

(Ao3 Link)

Wordcount; 752

TWs; feverish caretaking, infection, fever.

Continuation of Day 5 & Day 9

Gawain hummed softly as he tied off the last bandage across Lancelot's back, the source of his fever evident from the troublesome infection raging within several of the lashings there. For the last three days, Lancelot had lain here, battling, Gawain ever at his side.

The fever had yet to break, but Gawain knew it in his heart that it must soon; either Lancelot would succumb to this infection or he would defeat it, and the precipice of which would win out was fast approaching. Lancelot's body shuddered and quaked, the heat pouring off of him had long since caused Gawain to shed his tunic down to his undershirt and even then he still sweat profusely- though not nearly as much as Lancelot, who's drenched skin glinted in the candlelight.

"Come on, Ashman. Are you going to let a little fever beat you?"

Lancelot had fought far worse than this. And yet... Gawain couldn't help the fear that he'd been sick too long now, that it wasn't getting better. The lingering scent of sickness had grown more sinister as of the past day, now more akin to the scent of death, clinging to Lancelot like a malevolent cloud.

"I remember when Nimue was but a young girl," Gawain began, soaking the cloth again and perching on the bed next to him. "She had a fever for three days. 'Twas not long before I left Dewdenn, but I remember how she shook."

Lancelot trembled beneath his touch.

"Lenore would sing to Nimue, you know, as she slept," Gawain wiped Lancelot's brow, watching his heartbeat as it pounded furiously in his neck which alongside his ever laboured breathing had done naught but worsen over time.

"Told me that was a part of the healing, these songs. Lenore taught me them, though I suppose I've never had cause to try before..."

Gawain took a deep breath, willing the Fingers of Airimid to rise to the surface. They came willingly, swarming beneath his skin like they could feel what he was about to do. Carefully, Gawain splayed his hands over Lancelot's chest and shoulder, watching as a vine seemed to creep into Lancelot's skin, a golden leaf shimmering up over the Ashman's collarbone.

"Gang ût, nesso," The words were like invoking a distant memory as he closed his eyes and began to sing. "mid nigun nessiklînon..."

He could feel it like a steady drain of his own strength as the spell began to form. Undeterred, he sung;

"Gang ût, nesso, mid nigun nessiklînon,

Ût fana themo margę an that bên,

Fan themo bêne an that flêsg,

Ût fan themo flêsgke an thia hûd,

Ût fan thera hud an thesa strâla...

...Drohtin, uuerthe sô!"

Again did he sing the verses, over and over, until dawn had begun to break on what was now the start of the fourth day.

"Arawn uuerthe sô." Gawain whispered, falling silent, feeling the fingers of Airimid recede as they settled down once more beneath his skin. He opened his eyes to a wave of exhaustion that washed over him, quite remarkably tired now.

With a glance at Lancelot he could see those harsh lines of discomfort had faded away, his breathing was deep and calm, the vein still throbbed in his neck but his heartbeat had slowed too, strong and steady it beat.

It took Gawain a solid moment to realise what else had changed.

No longer did waves of heat radiate from the Ashman, like the rest of him, it had soothed.

His fever had finally broken.

"Thank Arawn..." Gawain whispered, half to himself, daring to try to stand from the bed now and finding his legs had turned to jelly as he quickly thumped back down into his chair.

"g-Gawain?"

Lancelot's voice was weary and hoarse, and his eyes were bloodshot as he blinked blearily up at him.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Gawain hummed, with an affectionate smile. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Lancelot grimaced, wiping his hand over his face and raising a wry eyebrow towards him.

"...no. No, I did not," came the fairly understandable reply.

"How are you feeling?" Gawain grabbed his own waterskin from the side, passing it over to the Ashman, who was attempting to sit up, Gawain aided him with a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"Ugh... Like I pissed off Goliath... and he stomped all over me." Lancelot replied, accepting the water with a grateful smile. He took a deep swig, throat bobbing as he swallowed.

"So, better, then?"

Lancelot chuckled lightly.

"A little."

I sorta ran out of time to edit this one down any further, whoops. What started off this morning as a 75 word idea spiralled quickly...

The song Gawain sings is called "Nesso" by Heilung;

The lyrics are taken from the words of an ancient healing spell from early Medieval Europe that was preserved by the clerics of the Church in a passage called "Contra Vermes" from the 9th Century! The spell itself was originally to draw sickness from a horse, but works well enough for this. Translation as follows;

"Go out worm, with your nine little ones, out from the marrow to the bone, from the bone to the flesh, out from the flesh to the skin, out from the skin (in)to this arrow, Lord make it so" and I added "Arawn make it so" after the Fey Deity Arawn. Thought I'd throw in a little nod back to Gawain and Nimue's relationship in the book and a few moments from the series into this one! Thanks for reading, onto the next!.

[tobiaswexley]

@ivyemerscn

[avatar-of-the-corruption]

(tw: pus mention, Splinters, infected wounds)

current mood: think about festering splinters...🩶🩶🩶🩶

[freewillacquired]

Headcanons: Nemesis' Care of His Head and Mouth

{out of mutations} As I'm sure you've noticed, Nemesis has some pretty big teeth. In fact, his teeth and his oversized gums take up half his face. His lack of lips and the way his skin is drawn back away from his mouth make for some unfortunate oral issues, as does his diet. This combined with the medical issues associated with the retinal implant sewn into his head make his life pretty miserable sometimes. It is important to him to keep his mouth healthy, since the last thing he needs is rotting teeth or pain from other problems with his gums on top of everything else. Below the cut are some fun facts absolutely nobody asked for about Nemesis' head- and mouth-care routines and why they are so important for him to maintain.

Nemmy has constant pain in his head from the retinal implant and Umbrella's shoddy stapling job that tugs on the constantly bacterially-infected skin over his right eye. There's a never-ending battle between bacteria and the T-virus going on underneath that stapled skin. The pressure inside the pocket around his eye and the implant is pretty intense due to a buildup of pus. Sometimes it ruptures and drains, and that's super gross. Nemesis... tries not to think about that.

[Side note: In threads, if Nemesis is willing to give up the benefits the retinal implant provides him, he can regain his normal right eye function by removing the staples and the implant, cleaning out the bacterial infection, and letting the virus finally fully heal the resulting hole in his head. His eye is still there underneath all the mess, and its milky, diseased state rights itself, courtesy of virally-conferred healing abilities, once the surrounding infection is cleared. Going through this gross and painful surgery will leave Nemesis with two functioning, blue eyes, however Nemmy can't perform it on himself. Hats off to @realprojectalice for having the only muse so far who has tackled this absolutely disgusting task, haha!]

The way his skin is always ripping and re-mending itself around those staples is excruciating, and although the T-virus keeps the bacterial infection in check, it never fully seems to eradicate it. Every now and then, he finds a tube of antibiotic ointment and tries to address the infection, but he can't ever get it inside the wound where it needs to be (he's much too squeamish to actually open the staples himself). Also, the further out from the start of the apocalypse he gets, the more expired and ineffective the antibiotics he finds tend to be.

There are a number of things Nemesis does to keep his mouth healthy so it doesn't contribute to all the pain in his head. Nemmy brushes his teeth daily with toothbrushes and toothpaste he's found in abandoned convenience stores. He goes through a lot of toothpaste, since it takes a decent amount to clean his huge teeth with each brushing.

He's self-conscious about his breath, which can get pretty rank, considering what he eats. Despite being an animal-loving vegetarian before mutating, Nemmy now is forced to eat meat in order to appease the virus. He can eat as much other food as he wants (as most who follow this blog know by now... Nemmy's favorite food is chocolate chip cookies, because that was Matt's favorite, heh), but nothing seems to nourish him as well as meat, which he finds disgusting. Nevertheless, he eats it to survive. He's raided frozen stores of it, chowed down on rats and birds, and even resorted to eating canned cat and dog food if it contains meat rather than ever harm a person. It gross and demeaning, but again, he has to do it to survive.

More importantly, Nemesis has to eat meat to keep his sanity. After attempting to simply not eat meat during the first few weeks after escaping the crater that is the former Raccoon City, Nemesis noticed something horrifying about himself. If he denies his body and the virus the meat it craves, he starts to lose his grip on his own free will. It's almost like the virus takes over and forces him to hunt for meat. He's not undead, he's a living creature (arguably, still a person), but the virus still craves fresh DNA to drive its own evolution, so this is where the craving comes from. It was frightening to him, the way he felt like he wanted to attack and tear apart every living thing he saw, so from then on, Nemesis knew he had to eat meat on his own terms, rather than let the virus decide for him.

I covered some of this in another headcanon post I wrote back in the day about his diet here, if you want more detail on his eating habits!

Since his diet contains a lot of meat, it's always getting stuck between his teeth. Left to rot, that meat can really start to stink. Nemmy is a little embarrassed about that, and so he flosses as often as he can. He doesn't always have floss, and it takes a lot of floss to get through a single flossing, since his teeth tends to shred it, but he tries.

If a tooth turns black, hurts a lot, or becomes loose, Nemmy will just yank it out. That might seem painful, and it is, and it might also seem a bit extreme, but this actually is very helpful to him. The virus grants him fast-healing abilities, and Nemesis can regenerate lost body parts very quickly. If he yanks out an offending and diseased tooth, it will grow back within the hour and be good as new.

Now on to his gums... They're large, and they're exposed to air. The problem with this is two-fold. Firstly, gums are very soft, vulnerable tissues, so having them exposed means they could get cut up when he eats or bites things. There isn't much he can do about that, honestly, except try to be careful with them. But secondly, having them exposed to air means they constantly will dry out, crack, and bleed, which is painful. Even with his fast-healing abilities, this still hurts and is pretty damn annoying. Gums are meant to be contained within a moist mouth, but Nemesis doesn't have that luxury.

To combat this issue, in addition to staying adequately hydrated by drinking water, Nemmy carries around a jug of cooking oil with him wherever he goes. He prefers sunflower or coconut as far as taste, but olive is also good. Rubbing that on his gums at least once a day keeps them nice and moist and prevents all the problems associated with them drying out.

That's about all I can think of at the moment, but I'll add to this as I think of more! As always, if you want to read more about my interpretation of Nemesis, you can visit his directory. =)

[sand-box-castle]

[CW: injuries, infection]

I sigh and wince as I unwrap the bandage from my leg. I don't think it's supposed to hurt this much. "Dad, can you take a look at this?" Aside from watching what I'm doing, I try to avoid looking too much at the injury. I'd gotten on the bad end of a scuffle with Almil when Clm had come across us having a meeting. He'd shot a blast of magic at my leg, and that had shredded through my pants completely, leaving a bloody mess behind. Salil had helped me bandage it to try to avoid grabbing Dad and Mom's attention. That's clearly working so well right now.

Footsteps come down the hall in time with the throbbing pain from my calf. "What happened this time?"

I try to hide my grimace as he steps into my room. "I had a bad run-in underside." I don't think it should feel like my leg is burning.

Dad kneels next to my chair, and picks up my foot, tilting it so he can get a better view. He's silent for a moment too long before he looks at me again. "Astin, what happened?" His voice is as serious as the one night I saw mom stumble inside, blood pouring down her face. Then, he'd asked her what had happened, and then guided her upstairs immediately. She didn't come down for several days.

"I got caught in crossfire when I was talking to one of my informants," I say. That should be vague enough he can't figure out what happened.

"Was it a spell, or straight magic that hit you?" He sets my leg down, and runs a hand over his chin. "This looks badly infected."

I grimace. "It was straight magic. I tried cleaning it out the best I could. It's been like this for a couple days now."

Dad's head snaps up. "Days? When did this happen exactly?"

"Three days ago." I can feel I'm shrinking in on myself. "I didn't think it would get this bad."

Dad grabs the roll of bandages on the bed and starts rewrapping my leg. "We're going to Stlyl's immediately. He'll be able to see if he can heal this."

A wave of panic crashes down. "We can't."

"You don't get a choice in this." Dad's voice is rough. "This is not looking good. Grab a change of clothes just in case, and something to keep your mind occupied." He stands. "You have five minutes."

[moonaspect]

LEONA. @rahorak

𝕿he mender was quick to get to work. She stood by the bed and looked over the wound, first with her eyes alone, then she reached down to touch Diana’s sides and knelt by her to get a closer look. Reaching into her bag, she began taking out an array of crystals which were promptly placed upon the night stand closest to Diana.    “    Keep these by her side at all times until she is healed.    ”    She said, looking at Leona in particular. Leona nodded in return, there was a sense of urgentness in the way she rushed to Diana’s side and sat on the bed next to her.

“    If there is anything I can do to help…    ”    Leona started, then trailed off as she looked down at her beloved. The look in Diana’s eyes was enough to make the Solari Commander reach for her hand instantly to take it between her own. She held it like that and brought it to her lips, kissing Diana’s knuckles softly. The medic sucked her teeth, pausing only for a brief moment to look at them.    “    What you’re doing now should help, but I will need you to keep her steady as I disinfect this.    ”

Leona nodded towards the mender, then looked back at Diana.    “    It’ll be okay, my Nightlight. Amira here has healed me many a time in the past.    ”    Amira seemed to take that as her cue to begin, using a salve that smelled awful on the edges of the wound where the skin had begun to change color. Her hands were swift and precise. Once she had covered the afflicted area, she began chanting under her breath as her hands hovered in the air above the wound. As she did, the crystals began to glow.

Leona, who had held Diana’s hand in one of hers while using her free arm to hold her down as the pain of having her wound handled was sure to make her jerk or otherwise move, heaved in a sigh. She knew that those crystals would ease the pain as well as mend Diana. She hoped that this would be over soon. Amira side eyed the pair as she worked, and couldn’t help but smile a little. She was happy for her Commander. Happy she’d found someone who seemed to love her the way Diana did.

As Amira finished up her business, she too sighed.    “    The pain should continue to ebb away from now on, but I will return on the morrow to check up on her and recharge those crystals. For now, let her rest.    ”

Only once she saw Leona in midst her haze, did she begin to calm down. It was perhaps clear to anyone in the room that the Solari was also quite frightened, despite the trust she had in the healer. After all, that was no mere slashing wound, even less one done by steel blade alone. Still, perhaps due to fever, or the fact she was barely conscious at all, just knowing Leona was there made her think she’d get through whatever was happening. Yet there didn’t seem to be much time to racionalize any of what was being spoken to her, as she was met by the sharp feel of the healing salve touching the irritated skin. She exhaled sharply through her nose, pursing her lips. It was more due to the surprise of the sudden touch more than anything, and she’d soon see that pain was nothing like the one soon to come... Burning... searing, even... As if her stomach had been impaled by the red, hot, sun. As the light flashed from the crystals, so did Diana’s eyes, a reaction to the sharp pain perhaps. She tried to contain her reaction, clenching her jaw for as long as she could, but soon what was left of her strength begin to wane. The Lunari finally let a pained scream slip from her lips, and once she could no longer scream, quiet sobs demonstrated her agony. Thankfully, after the intense pain, all of it seemed to very slowly start to cease, and only the sound of her shallow yet strained breath remained. For what felt like hours until the mender left, Diana kept staring at her beloved through half-lidded eyes, her expression a mix of exhaustion and shame. ❝ I’m... I’m sorry... ❞  she swallowed dry between each pause, trying to stop more tears from falling, yet to no avail,  ❝ I thought... It’d go away like the other times... Are- Are they okay...? Do you know...? ❞  If she had missed something and the ones she tried to protect were also injured, she’d never forgive herself...

Path To Eternity || @sunszenith.

The anticipation gnawed at her for what felt like eternity. Being there on the other side of the Mountain, tending to her people’s needs as well as trying to rebuild their religion, all while knowing her counterpart was not that far away, trying to do the same thing. But that sundown it’d change, and she was more nervous than ever.

She had hoped her letter had arrived safely to Leona, and nobody with ill intentions had their hands on it instead, that was the last encounter she needed then. But she was waiting on the mentioned place regardless, the base of the mountain, just by the path leading towards Shurima. Diana had her signature armor then, one that Leona perhaps hadn’t seen since their ascension.

She looked around the fields. She vaguely remembered that side, and she could feel her heart beating faster. She thought the anxious feeling would have been at its worse once she talked about such event to the other Lunari, but to her surprise, their words, while not unanimously excited, had been supportive enough.

It was when a familiar shade of gold appeared in the horizon that her subtle trance would be broken. Clashing silver eyes would turn to them then; and suddenly, a shaky exhale had left her.

[rwyvernarts]

At the birth of worlds and at the end of days, the Original One watches all the same.

[lxrd-ren]

q!BBH Skin Theory Part 1

[cracklewink]

Harmony Syndrome Part 5/5

The last chapter of my mlp infection AU! Thank you to everyone who followed along. Some final thoughts on my twitter @cracklewink if anyone's interested : )