#i cannot choose between the two they're both awesome

[ghost-of-a-vulture]

While my mom was pregnant with me my dad decided he was going to get me a little mothra plush, and when my mom asked why not Godzilla he said it was because I was going to be a girl. He ended up getting me the Godzilla, because girls can have big radioactive monster friends too. I've decided that this is the funniest possible explanation for why I'm transgender

[monro3-rambles]

i'm in denki brainrot

Title: “Dye Another Day” Pairing: Denki Kaminari x Reader Genre: Fluffy chaos, humor, slice-of-life Word Count: ~1,100

“Okay,” you said, spinning dramatically on your heel, arms full of dye boxes, “you have to help me.”

Denki, lounging upside down on your bed with a snack bag balanced on his chest, blinked up at you with wide eyes and crumbs on his chin. “Is this life or death? ‘Cause I’m emotionally prepared for either.”

You held up two boxes like weapons.

“One is green and black. The other is fire-engine red. And I cannot—physically cannot—choose between them.”

He blinked again. “You woke me up from my nap... for a hair dye boss battle?”

“I’m spiraling, Kaminari.”

“Okay, okay, no need for last names. You know it’s serious when you full-name me.” He swung upright, chips flying. “Alright. Let’s assess the options.”

You shoved the boxes at him. He squinted at them like they were some kind of bomb-defusing manual.

“Option one: green and black. Gives off serious villain arc, slay-the-world vibes. Sexy, mysterious, definitely says ‘I can kill you with my eyeliner.’”

You nodded. “Exactly.”

“Option two: red. Hot. Bold. Dangerous. That’s main character energy. That says ‘I run into burning buildings and look good doing it.’”

Also valid.

“I hate that both of those sound correct.”

“You could always dye half and half?” he offered, shrugging. “Split down the middle. Cruella style.”

You gasped. “You genius, you absolute genius.”

He grinned, doing finger guns. “I contain multitudes.”

“But wait—what if it looks terrible?” you flopped dramatically next to him. “What if I fry my hair and end up looking like a sad parrot?”

“I mean, I love parrots,” he said thoughtfully. “They're smart. Colorful. Very loud. Just like you.”

“Excuse me—”

“Also, if it does go wrong,” he added, scooting closer and draping an arm around your shoulders, “I will personally love you through it. Even if your hair ends up radioactive slime green or tomato ketchup red. I will be there. With a hat. And snacks.”

You leaned your head against him. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And loyal.”

“And ridiculous.”

“But also hot,” he said, flipping his bangs like he had a shampoo commercial going.

You snorted. “Okay, fine. Help me dye it?”

Denki’s eyes lit up like you’d handed him a taser and free rein.

“Hell yes. I’ve been preparing my whole life for this. Wait—wait, lemme get my phone. We need a before-and-after TikTok.”

“…This is going to end badly, isn’t it?”

“Probably. But it’ll look awesome.”

An Hour Later…

There was dye on the floor. On the sink. On the cat (you didn’t even own a cat). You were pretty sure Denki had gotten some in his mouth somehow.

But your hair?

Flaming red on one side, sleek green-black on the other.

You stared at your reflection in stunned silence.

“…Oh my god.”

“It’s so cool,” Denki said from behind you, absolutely glowing with pride and possibly high on hair dye fumes. “You look like the final boss and the secret romance option in a video game.”

You turned, wide-eyed. “I love it.”

He pumped both fists in the air. “We win! We have won hair!”

You launched yourself at him in a hug. “You’re the best chaotic assistant a girl could ask for.”

“Glad to be of service,” he said, squeezing you tight. “Now, can I dye mine to match?”

“…No.”

“Too late, already ordering dye.”

[saveugoodmadam]

12 for the ask game?

I have honestly made so many good friends but there are two specifically I want to talk about (I literally cannot choose between them both because they're such awesome people)

@ethereal-bumble-bee was one of the first people I met when I joined Quotev and has always been there for me, I owe so much to her for talking to me, providing reassurance and being nice about my writing :D genuinely there are not words enough to thank you enough for being my friend

@crutchie-69 was someone I saw sometimes being reblogged by other people, I literally just knew him as the "cool Matthew Duckett person" until I got talking to her and now *gasp* here we are!! There is a list of weirdly specific similarities between us as a long as my arm and it's been really great for me to have someone to talk to about Matthew Duckett who is on the same bandwidth when it comes to the subject :D as we have said multiple times, we definitely need to find out a way to stage a "chance meeting" in the new year!

You've both been such wonderful friends and of course there are so many others, thank you to everyone I've met this year, no matter how much or how little we've talked, I wish you all the best in the new year!!!

[unlikelywrestlingfan]

Elle Goes to Shows: Chicago Heat Night 2

Notes under the cut! More spoilers for upcoming episodes in this one, so keep that in mind

Night 2:

When Tom Hannifan was doing his entrance, they started to play his normal music, then switched it to "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake 😂. A fan asked him why they did that after the show and he was like "I don't know, I guess they like me? I'm not in charge of the sound" XD

Champagne Singh was on both preshows, and we had an excellent time chanting "CHEAP CHAMPAGNE!"

There was a random table with nothing but a tablecloth and like a water bottle on it in front of us and two random dudes that I'd never seen on staff before sitting at it. So we were like okay someone's going through this. We figured it was for the Bully Ray vs. Black Taurus no dq, but it was actually PCO murdering those two guys before putting Singh through the table RIGHT IN FRONT OF US ALKDJALDKJA. It was SO COOL!! Singh was bleeding a bit afterwards and I couldn't tell if it was a blood capsule, a blading, or accidental blood, but I hope he's alright.

I could not choose between Kushi and Speedy so I chanted for both of them and then thankfully there was eventually a "both these guys" chant. Their match was AMAZING.

They played a "live video" of Bully Ray up on the tron telling PCO he wasn't going to be in Chicago, so I started a cheer because yay no Bully Ray! XD

Eric Young's entrance is INTENSE AF in person.

There was a post match attack by The Design against Eric Young, and the ref ended up outside the ring, kneeling in front of us, and I think it was Deaner yelling that she sucked, so I yelled back "SHE'S COOL, YOU SUCK" and she turned back to look at me and went, "Right?!"

Ace cannot even move around the turnbuckle normally.

Partway through their match, Bey was legal, and he brought one of the Good Hands to the ABC corner and told Ace to put his boot up on the turnbuckle so he could smash the guy's head into it. The ref was like NO and so Ace stood back and smiled and was like she said no! So Bey was like, "okay I'll put my boot up" and did and the ref was like AALDKJADLKJ. Ace was so SMUGLY I'm good boy I'll listen to the ref! Then, once Ace was tagged in, if I heard him correctly, Bey said "Babyface? BabyACE! Put that on a shirt!"

Apparently Ace's hair needed to be pulled both nights.

Sabin was so intense in his match, serious faced the whole time. I fell harder for him.

After the show, we lined up for the titanium stuff. Deonna was casually handing out one of the things (signed pictures of Moose) and I was like !!hi!! and she smiled and hi!! XD

Then they handed out pieces of different signed table pieces from events. I got one that I think is signed by Masha and Jordynne from the episode where they had a table spot before a ppv match.

My brother made it over to the meet n greet before it ended, sadly I did not. He got a picture with ABC and he makes them look short XD. He told me that they were super cool to him and that he told Ace I love him, which is A) very embarrassing, and B) a lie.

My brother and I have loved Matthew Rehwoldt since his Aiden English days back in NXT. He was hanging around chatting with some fans after they wrapped the post show, so my brother decided to go up to him and get a selfie. I hung back, because I was scared. Then, I heard my brother putting me over to Rehwoldt and I was like aldkjadlkjadlkas and wanted to punch his arm so I went over and said hi and shook his hand. My brother and I were like we loved the Vaudevillains and I was like Shakespeare!! And Rehwoldt was like Yes!! and I was like I did my thesis on Othello and he was like that's awesome!!!! And I mentioned that people are always like "what do you mean you study classic shakespeare and watch wrestling?" and how I'm like they're the same fucking thing!!! And he was like yes wrestling is the purest form of theater, it's theater in the round every day!!! and we fistbumped. SO GOOD.

I told the owner guy my favorite person I haven't met is Speedball, and he was like "okay talk to me the first day of Bound For Glory and I'll introduce you to him" and shook my hand and I'm like ALDKA LDSK WHAT WHY but also highly doubt he'll remember that he said that and assume he will look at me like I'm crazy if I mention it. Another woman standing near us was like Speedball is so nice I do commentary with his wife for Effy's Big Gay Brunch and I was like ALKDJALDKJALDK HI.

[autisticrustacean]

Tagged Unions as Enums is an awesome choice

(fair warning, I have no professional experience, I just want to talk about rust and you cannot stop me) So learning rust has fundamentally changed my perception of programming, and one of the cool concepts is a very strong type system, a u8 isn't an i8, even if their the same amount of bytes, and just because two different types both have a shared method I can't just write a function that takes either, very cool stuff.

but of course we do want to treat some data as multiple types sometimes, if a function returns a number or some sort of error it's nice to be able to actually return them, instead of reserving some sentinal value, like 0 or NaN or inf, or <int>::MAX, and returning a maybe null pointer is also a lame way to do this*.

so what are the options? to my knowledge, two ways are generally done, exceptions, which can be a nightmare, or tagged unions, but unions need a short explanation first, since their the primary component of a tagged union, a union is a like a struct, it has some fields, it can call them, BUT, the memory between all of them is shared, If i write it's u8 field as 255, and read it's i8 field, it will read as -1. but if you were to make a tuple with a 'tag' and a union, you could store what type to read it as, this is what tagged unions are, their just a tag and a union, the program reads the tag and treats the union as the corresponding type.

so why Enums, why not just make a new type with it's own keyword like Unions and Structs already** have in rust? because Enums are tags, and are already quite generalized, they aren't bound to any specific word length, and memory layout, by default they're not even guaranteed to be any specific value. and those are optimal properties of a tag in a tagged union because you want to have: the smallest size possible, any value that can be used to optimize case/match statements, and READABILITY, you don't want to return 'union with tag n' you want to return "Error" or "Ok" or "None" or "Point" or something similar! this is exactly what C-like Enums already provided, so choosing to make tagged unions use extremely similar syntax as Enums is an excellent choice in my opinion, because it is the perfect analogue for the tagged union's tag.

*returning NaN might make sense in your usecase, and returning Null if your return type is either a pointer or nothing makes sense! since all the pointer types (that you actually use) are NonNull already, Option<&T> and Option<Box<T>> are identical as returning a possibly Null pointer in rust, but since it's a distinct type in rust you can't make the easy errors that a value randomly being null could make you do in other languages. **Unions require Unsafe and were stabilized *after* tagged unions in rust, but that's not really relevant to my actual point.

[cannedchippy]

crack-treated-seriously yap under cut

yes i know i forgot pipi's horn💔

lets start off with the non-fish stuff.

they're on the sun.

they all swim in one direction, so they cycle around the sun and cannot turn around.

that plant life down there is one of the only plant life on the sun. there's another batch on the other side though so yay!!!!.

except for Pipi... he goes the other direction for some reason

actually all non-fish / non sun creatures go the other direction

first off, the most eye-catching (probably); the fish with deer legs.

Gacha Hybrid Princess Kawaii Herobrine Fish (Kawa for short) is a love-child between Pipi and Tubaoshu. "how did they have children they don't even have reproductive organs" be more open minded(/nsrs,j) anyways she's the perfect girl of the sun and everyone loves her!!!!!!! she's polyam (cursh on both Emo Prince and Snout Man... she cant choose „@-@„) and actually has question mark gender but she's okay with she pronons and fem terms and also is originally a boy 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️ (antlers). but... what she and everyone else doesnt know is that she has a secret parent and Tubaoshu cheated...........

then the fish with hair.

Emo Prince is the love intrest of Kawa!!! they love eachother!!!! anyways he's super cold and tsundere ( ͡°- ͡°) and his relationship with Snout Man is TOXIC YAOI!!!!!!!! possevsive bitch

then the. whatever that big nose is between Kawa and Emo Prince.

SNOUT MAN. he has a crush on Kawa and Emo Prince!! but he's scared to ask out Kawa... why? cus a long time ago he was rejected by Emo Prince and now he thinks he's unworthy and he's also straight now so he lost his color :( Emo Prince is now the one getting one sided treatment instead, missed his chance to get the huzz bruh. Snout Man is a kind man with an ugly face.

then the yellow thing near the polycule fishes.

piss sausage fish. piss sausage

pipi.... why is he there? because the secret parent refused to pay child support and tubaoshu universe hopped. now he has to take care of this damned child.

then the-- IS THAT HYPERPIGMENTATION?!

then the giant red thing.

Period Blood Fish. big circle behind it is a human egg. shits through the back mouth. oh no... its... its moldy....? oh and its a lesbian and has a crush on the Rail Gun Fish!! motherly and kind, acts kind of like the cool aunt to Kawa. 💕

then the seahorse.

actually, that's the Sea DRAGON. he does not like being called a seahorse. he was tested on at earth to gaslight little children into believing in dragons. he was a failure though, so he's now on the sun.

then the starfish.

the only kinda regular thing here. its name is patterson rickbelle (PATterson RICKbelle) and is friends with the seadragon

also it helps the seadragon goon. blame @sunbeammmmmmmmmm for this not me

then the octopus thing.

the psychotic piss octopus. has piss on his head and blood on its tendrils. did it... did it kill someone? it's the villian? no matter. lets lick the piss on its head.

then the long fish with a hole.

the Rail Gun Fish! awesome lesbian woman with a secret crush on the Period Blood Fish. very snappy and often times violent, the second antagonist. though, its not like she and the Psychotic Pisstopus have a good relationship. infact, they want to kill eachother. however, Rail Gun Fish's intent seems more vengeful, in a way?

then the fish above the octopus.

uh. Piss Licking Fish. evolved two mouths to taste piss efficiently. originally red but turned orange after drinking too much piss. main food source is the Psychotic Pisstopus.

is that a penis...?

look at my absolutely beautiful school drawing

[siriuslystarbucks]

if Lily fell for Sirius, i think James would take it Badly™. But Sirius is half of his soul he cannot be resentful of him, it would feel too wrong. And after all, Evans has exellent taste goddamn it, between them two he'd choose Sirius too. XD Maybe it could get James to be more mature, even without polyamory. But i'm weak, i'm always for that option 😊 through I agree Sirius would aggravate Lily FAR less. James aggravates Sirius too but Sirius secretly loves it 😆

James: Wow, I can't believe Evans chose Sirius over me. Actually I can believe it, because Sirius is awesome. If I had to pick between Evans and Sirius, I would choose Sirius. Hell, if I were in her place and had to choose between me and Sirius, I would also choose Sirius. He's awesome. And I can't possibly be upset with Sirius over this. He didn't do anything, he was just being his usual wonderful self and Evans happened to notice and fell for him. You might say the same thing happened to me. I mean, one look at Sirius on the train and I knew I was in it for life. I can hardly blame someone else for doing the same. He just has this way about him...

I don't think I've written it before, but I really like the idea of Sirius dating James and Lily both, without Lily and James dating each other at all. They both fall head over heels for Sirius. Each other? Eh, they could do without.

Sirius isn't really aware of any of this happening at first, he thinks he's just hanging out with James like always and oh, okay, they're kissing now, he's cool with that. He agrees to help Lily out with her homework when she asks, which he doesn't realize turns into study sessions, and uh she's sitting on his lap now?

He wasn't really paying enough attention while James and Lily were negotiating this between themselves, but they thought it was obvious what was going on

[mags0607]

This is my Survey from a reading Fest that I participated in. WIZARD HEARTS for the Game of Drarry.i had so much fun reading a ton of new fics for this, and this survey has some wonderful stories recced in it.❤️

1. What was the first fic you read for the game/fest? Why did you choose it?

The fist fic i read was for the fake dating trope, because it is one of my favorites. The fic was Failed Application of Thought by RuArcher. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16624730 I loved every second of it.

2. What was the last fic you read for the game/fest? How did it feel reading 52+ fics?

The very last official Fic that I read for the fest was from the smut suit for Ace. It was Lost Boys by Dahlia_Rose_83 https://archiveofourown.org/works/10759788 and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was a perfect Fic to end on. I’m not going to lie, I breathed a sigh of relief when I submitted that last comment. I did the smut suit and tried to do all the “go squid” submissions as well, so reading over 70 fanfictions in about 4 months was a bit daunting. I did love that it made me branch out and discover great stories and authors that I had never heard of before.

3.What's a fic you think is a hidden gem and deserves more hype?

I thoroughly enjoyed Loose Ends by justkeeptrekkin https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662668 is a gem, and an awesome Fic featuring the Room of Requirement.

4.What was your strategy for choosing fic/tropes for your reading list? Was there a fic/trope you found you simply couldn’t resist?

I really didn't have much of a strategy at first, except i tried to go for the longest fic possible. Then I just started reading them in order by suit for the most part. I left the smut suit till last, which probably wasn't the smartest decision on my part since some were hard to find after a while.

5.Was there a trope that you’ve read a lot of previously that you found uniquely presented?

I have read quite a few First Time fics, but one i read during the fest was such a unique take on the trope. It was called Lost Boys, by Dahlia_Rose_83 and it was so unique from the very first paragraph. (i'm not giving anything away, but go read it.) https://archiveofourown.org/works/10759788

6.What's a line from a fic that you can't stop thinking about?

The Destiny You Sold by tryslora https://archiveofourown.org/works/5203025 was a fantastic read, and I cannot gush enough about how fantastic it was. This bit right here was just simply perfect.

“When this is done,” Draco whispers. “When it’s done, I’ll still be here, and you will come back to me. Because Luna is right: this is where we’ve always been heading. No matter what you did that bonded us, no matter what I unknit, there will always be a thread between us, drawing us back together. And I want that, Harry. I want you. I just want to be absolutely certain that you want me too.”

7.What's a moment in a fic that genuinely got you to tear up?

I don't want to spoil it, but A Lick and A Promise by tackytiger https://archiveofourown.org/works/21599401 was simply beautiful. Harry and Draco are both fantastic, and this one just punched me in all the feels. Since i don't want to give away what made me cry, i will give you one of my favorite lines.

“Harry supposes they've already seen the absolute worst of each other, over years of taunts and fights and crushed bones and the careless slice of magic through skin and vein and tendon. They've seen the worst of each other, and yet they're still able to understand the very best of each other too, the way no one else seems to. And isn't that a funny one?”

8.Was there a trope you’ve never read or heard of before? What did you think?

I had never read a deaging fic before. Everyone recommends Away Childish Things by lettered https://archiveofourown.org/works/16052816 but i just had never sat down to read it. Let me tell you, I WAS BLOWN AWAY. It was hands down one of the most well-written and beautiful fics i have ever had the privilege of reading. If you have not, sit down and do it NOW!

9.Which trope did you read that pleasantly surprised you?

I am not super into Vampire fics in general, so i typically don't search them out. But, gracerene is one of my favorite writers, and when i saw she wrote Palace of Eternity https://archiveofourown.org/works/19900939, I immediately sat down to read it. It was a fantastic fic, and I absolutely loved every second of it.

10.Is there a fic that made you laugh out loud?

Yes! So I read the crackfic!trope and the fic i read was funny and entertaining. It was Ten Points for Gryfindor by VivacissimoVoce And it featured Auror Harry that was growing antlers and had to go to Healer Draco! It was hilarious and I died at all the puns. https://archiveofourown.org/works/2436389

11.What is your favourite trope and why?

Fake dating/meddling friends. Hands down! I will read anything featuring this trope, and they are so often intertwined. The one I read for the fest was so so good! It was called Dating for Dads in Denial by aibidil https://archiveofourown.org/works/11979036 and it was totally worth the read. It's also a kid fic, and the kids definitely steal the show in the best way!

12.Which tropes did you skip? Would you be willing to share why? If you didn’t skip a trope, was there one that gave you pause?

I read every single trope that you guys dished out. I vowed to push myself out of my comfort zone with this, and i'm so happy that I did. I did pause for a moment at the darkfic!trope, but in the end, i even liked that one. The fic i read was Railway Lands by maelipstick https://archiveofourown.org/works/133294, and i probably would not have read it without the fest, but I'm so glad I did.

13.Did you read multiple fics by the same author? What tropes? Wax poetic about the author a bit, eh!

So i discovered quite a few new authors during this fest, but one that i just have to mention is Andithiel. She was on my team, and before this, i had never read her stuff. She is amazing. I think I read three of her fics for the fest. My favorite was I’ll Never Be Your Chosen One https://archiveofourown.org/works/20774483. It was angsty and beautiful. I read it for the HateSex Trope and it was fantastic.

14.Who's an author you think deserves more hype?

Gracerene is fantastic and deserves all the love in the world. I know she is pretty well known, but I just think she deserves the whole world and writes the most beautiful fics.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracerene/pseuds/gracerene

15.Which suit did you have the most fun reading? Why?

CLUBS hands down was my favorite. I think it was because I read so many fest fics for it, and fest fics always bring out the best creativity from some wonderful authors.

16.Did a fic send you off on a tangent reading or researching anything? Which one was it and what was your off the path adventure?

I tend to just flit around to different tropes and stories, so I honestly didn’t go off on a tangent for any one trope. I do want to read every Fic on the thrice Fic list, that I haven’t read yet! That’s my goal.

17.Did you rec any fics to your friends during the game/fest? Which ones?

I have a few fics that I recommend to anyone that will listen. Two memorable ones that i recommended to other readers were Ligabus Filium by Tessa Crowley https://archiveofourown.org/works/11972160 and Five Weddings and a Potions Accident by Lauren3210https://archiveofourown.org/works/8452648. One fic that i read for the first time during this fest and couldn't say enough good things about was The Promise of Summer by Omi_ohmy https://archiveofourown.org/works/21921442/chapters/52322524

18.Do you have any feedback for the mods of the game/fest? Would you be interested in playing again if the opportunity arose? Share more info about your experience.

I absolutely loved doing this fest. I don't write very often, so i don't always get to participate in the fandom as much as i would like. I loved being included as a reader, and i loved that this fest made me more aware of the comments i make on fics. The author feedback was so encouraging, and it was nice to know my words made a difference, i also loved the sense of community that came with being in a team. This made me read stories i never would have found otherwise, and I loved it. Please do this again!

[barb-aricyawp]

How the hell am I supposed to pick between caning and car batteries, damn it? I'll have to let you choose, and let's go with uhh Steve, this time? -S (love these, they're awesome)

I won’t make you choose. If you’d like to read Steve just being caned, it’s here. This is continuation of that fill, but you can read this alone.

(for torture tuesday)

trigger warnings: electrocution, humiliation

They magnicuff him to a metal chair that’s bolted to the floor. Never a good start. Especially when Rumlow drags the car batteries into the cell.

Car batteries. Batteries. As in two of them. Steve’s eyes flick up to Rumlow, then settle on the dual batteries. He flexes his hands against the magnicuffs and accepts his fate.

“Not yet,” Rumlow says, noticing Steve bracing himself. He rests the wires over Steve’s wrists without applying the clamps. “Hold these for me?”

Steve’s eyes drift to the ceiling. “Yeah. Sure thing.”

Rumlow moves behind Steve to fetch something and returns with the bamboo cane. Steve groans at the sight of it, remembering the line of of welts Rumlow raised over his back and buttocks last week.

“You gonna count this time?”

Steve glances over to the twin car batteries. They lance fear through his gut. 

He swallows the lump of pride in his throat and nods. “Might as well. What am I counting to?”

Rumlow trails the bamboo rod over the back of Steve’s hand, following the line of the car battery’s wire. “Five should do it.”Making dead eye contact, Steve turns over his hands. He uncurls his fingers invitingly. “Five it is.”Rumlow canes the center of his palm. The moment Steve gets out a number, he’s already reeling back the rod for the next strike. By the time Rumlow strikes Steve five times, the meat of his palm is tender and pink.So Rumlow applies the car battery clamp to his sore palm, between the tendons of his thumb and index finger. The pressure alone is a raw pain in the cradle of nerves there.Rumlow applies the same attention to Steve’s other hand, and then the bottoms of his bare feet. Steve wasn’t braced for the unique sting of the bamboo finding the the sensitive arch of his foot. That smarts more than he expected.But nothing, nothing could prepare him for what happens when Rumlow turns the car batteries on.He’s attached one battery to Steve’s feet and the other to his hands, so that he can alternate the electricity between these limbs. Steve’s arms seize with the aftershocks while fresh pain ravages Steve’s calves and thighs. They switch so his hands are alight while his thighs twitch. The soreness of the caning becomes a muted, almost pleasant memory. 

Then, Rumlow turns on both batteries at once.

Steve loses control of his body in these moments. Each and every muscle shudders and convulses under the electricity. For a few, incomprehensible minutes, Steve honestly believes his body cannot handle it. That he’ll be blown apart by the electricity.

Somehow, through all this, he can hear Rumlow speaking to him: “Count to five, Cap,” he says. “Count to five and this is over.”Steve’s teeth rattle in his skull. The magnicuffs are burning into his wrists and ankles. He can smell the char of his own skin. Still, somehow he manages to grit out the numbers.When he gets to a chattering, wailing, “Five!” Rumlow is true to his word. He shuts off the electricity, and Steve blacks out cold.

[zombiiesque]

Nocturne Alchemy Halloween 2019 - Part One

Originally published 10/8/2019

Hey y'all, and happy Halloween month! October is, bar none, my favorite time of the year, even though it's a little ridiculously hot here in Florida. It took me forever to decide what I wanted, but I finally picked up some treats from Nocturne Alchemy's Halloween 2019 release, and I want to share my thoughts on those, and maybe cover briefly what I have that appears in the Resurgence section, as well. So let's dive right in, shall we?

What did I wind up choosing? A pretty good selection, having tested everything, I don't think there's a single one that isn't going to work! I picked out Pirate's Rum for Jody, but I haven't tested it on him yet, so we'll skip that for now. The rest of what I got was Blood, Blood Queen, Blackout, Vampire Bourbon Patchouli Bat, and The Mummy Returns - as it turns out, I have an aged bottle of that, so I'm probably going to swap my new bottle. They sent me Mummy's Spirit as a prize from a contest I won on the business page on Facebook, and the free sample was the brand new PC scent, Halloween 2020. That's a pretty exciting set!

Blood – Kashmir (Studio Limited), Pipe Tobacco accord, Caramel Oudh (NA Studio), Black Patchouli leaves, Palo Santo essential oil, Italian Bergamot, Italian Pine resin, Frankincense Resin, Myrrh wood and Bastet’s Musk. Oh, this is intense. It's almost a little scary, and these are notes that are right in my wheelhouse. That was my first thought when I put this on my skin - but then it warms and melds, and ooooof - it's captivating. Apply this lightly - a little goes a very long way. Right away, I get the palo santo, and then it sort of melts into this caramel oudh and tobacco. I love NA's tobacco, and I don't have much of it, so I really, really wanted this one. I'm getting almost a leather feel at first, but that stage doesn't last very long. If I sniff really hard, I can pick out the pine, Kashmir (a deep red musk), patchouli, and resins while it's still wet. Once it starts drying though, as I mentioned before, it really all melds together. It's got a slightly unisex feel, and I really want to try this one on my fiance, I think it would be amazing on a man. But he is going to have to share it, if he likes it - I love this entirely too much to give it up. Oh my gosh, it's so dark and sexy, I can't stop huffing my wrists. This is an inky fall night, the moon up high and bright in the sky. There's a chill in the air, but a huff of smoke from someone's pipe - and there's a bonfire in the distance. You're wrapped up nice and warm though. And holy bats do you smell amazing. It lasts quite a while, too. I got a solid 10+ hours out of it. I kept catching whiffs of it that had me trying to figure out what it was before I remembered what I was wearing. Yeah, love this one.

Blackout – NA Chypre accord (labdanum, oakmoss, lavender, patchouli and neroli), Jasmine Absolute, NA Oudh, Bastet Amber Absolute, Mandarin, Clove and Amber accord. Blackout is a stunner of a chypre. This is darkly gothic, and it feels almost....dangerous. Hah! I love it. Chypres are an interesting group for me, most of the time I love them, but sometimes there's a floral that can turn up a little weird on my skin? That's definitely not happening here. If you took a look at the notes and were worried about the jasmine, mandarin, or clove - I spent a full two days with Blackout, and I'm just not able to truly pick them out. When I first put it on, while wet, there's a slight hint of a spicy floral, but it just melts into something deeper and darker so quickly, I can't get a handle on what the florals would be. This is just so smooth and sophisticated. If Blackout was a True Blood character, it would be Eric. Hah! I'm not sure if I could pick out my favorite between this, Blood, and Blood Queen, as I love them all - they're wildly different - but I think if I were pressured, it would be Blackout. The oakmoss is perfection here, I find it to be the most noticeable note in the chypre accord. Since that's a particular favorite of mine from NA, I'm happy to see it star here. This is so starkly beautiful. There's almost a coldness here, but it's drawing me in - it's very appealing. I think that Blood and Blood Queen are very warm scents, but Blackout is just .... chilly.

Blood Queen – Wild Black Currant, Cemetery Musk, Santalum White (Studio Limited), Kashmir (Studio Limited), Black Musk, Blood Wine accord, Black Violet and Lilac essence. Blood Queen is just so purple and wild! I had a hard time choosing what I was going to order to go along with Blackout and Vampire Bourbon Patchouli Bat. I finally settled on Blood, but I kinda was looking hard at Skeletonic, as I adore woody scents - I might have to go back for it, but the notes for Blood Queen just kept pulling me in. This is definitely a me scent, and so I plopped it in my cart and didn't look back. I think I expected the Kashmir, which is a deep, sexy, rich red musk, to kind of be the star here. And it's here, don't get me wrong. Kashmir and Black Musk are not musks that will ever be described as shy, but though I get both of them, they're playing so well with the other notes - like a dance. It's mesmerizing. On my skin, the wine and Cemetery Musk play supporting roles. There's a sweetness and fullness that they add to Blood Queen. Primarily, though, this perfume is a fruity floral musk - and a stunner. This is a come hither, slinky, sultry, masterpiece. Not shy, even a little bit. The blackcurrant is juicy and sweet - it's a good counter for the dark florals of violet and lilac. I usually avoid florals, but I really like how they play darkly with the musks and fruit. If Blackout is Eric, I'm calling Blood Queen Pam. *wink* It lasts forever on my skin, too. A solid 8 to 10 hours!

Mummy’s Spirit – Green Matcha Tea, Violet, Egyptian Blue Chamomile Essential Oil, Egyptian Papyrus essential oil, Egyptian Musk and Egyptian Red Musk and NA Limestone Amber. This was the bottle that I won in a contest NA had on their business page, and they picked out for me. I actually was kind of drooling over the description of it already, because I do love that papyrus note, and their green teas. Naturally, I love this one. It's bright and fresh and crisp, and the green tea is gorgeous here. It's been so, so hot here in Florida - we're missing fall by a long shot. This is a great transitional scent - I can definitely see wearing it as it gets colder, but I wore it a few days in a row when it was over 90 degrees and it was lovely then, also. This is a lighter scent - it needed a couple of applications throughout the day, but I suspect the more it ages, it will get a little more longevity, because I've noticed that's a pattern with scents that start out lighter from NA. Just worth mentioning it as something to be aware of, in terms of a review. For me, I don't mind reapplying - I usually take scent with me wherever I go. But I'll be looking forward to see how this one is going to play out with age, as I already love it. It's quite different from the others that I chose myself, but it's definitely something I'll be reaching for often. I don't get a lot of the violet, so it must be a background note. The chamomile lends a light herbal tone, adding to the overall "green" feel of Mummy's Spirit. I don't get a lot of the violet, but I think on my skin it adds a softly sweet contrast against the green, herbal feel of the tea and chamomile.

Vampire Bourbon Patchouli Bat – Golden and Black Patchouli essential oils slow-drip blended into our Bourbon Vanille Absolute, Sugared Vanilla pods with hints of Oak and Hinoki wood. This one was my first choice - I knew absolutely I was going to get it. And it was an instant win, right out of the mailbox. This is warm and cozy, but at the same time, dead sexy and darkly slinky. The slightly boozy vanilla against the patchouli is perfectly balanced - and I am totally getting the oak and hinoki wood, so that's really awesome, I was hoping I'd be able to smell that in the mix! I feel like the woods really help keep that balance here, because the Bourbon Vanille is quite a rich note, along with the sugared vanilla. The long drydown on this is an almost spicy, plush, slightly narcotic vanilla, balanced with a dark, resinous, herbal patchouli. This isn't your hippie grandma's patchouli scent, by a long shot. This is elegant and polished. It would be a great date night scent - but at the same time, it's cozy and inviting, and I'd wear this to go stomping in the fall leaves in a sweater and jean jacket. I'd also wear it to dinner with my guy. If you were even thinking about Vampire Bourbon Patchouli Bat, do yourself a favor - go pick it up. Yesterday. Word in the fan run Facebook group, the House of NA Tent, is super positive - I think it's the fan favorite of NAlloween 2019.

You know what? I've been thinking about it. I think Blood would be Alcide. *wink*

Edit: At the risk of repeating myself, I'm going to throw a blanket statement out for all of these - I cannot wait to see what they're going to be like with some aging. I accidentally bought a bottle of The Mummy Returns, and I already had one from last year. The fresh bottle is truly a gorgeous scent, but that aged bottle? Wow. So just bear that in mind, my impressions are from bottles I've only had about a week. It's going to be fun to revisit them next Halloween!

Okay, that's going to wrap it up for today. I'm going to go ahead and do a second half, and cover Halloween 2020 (YESSSS) and the Resurgence that I have, including my beautifully aged bottle of The Mummy Returns. The Resurgence reviews are posted here, if you would like to take a look! Thanks for joining me, y'all!

[moons-of-firdaws]

1) How's your quarantine going?

I'd say, pretty damn good. For one, I finally got to watch the animes I've been holding off (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Akame ga kill, Castlevania —if you consider than an anime, I don't— also in my boredom I discovered Koe no Katachi aka A silent voice *sob*) Also the one TV series I've been holding off, Good Omens. All of them were AWESOME— though I cannot hide the fact that I was rather disappointed by Akame ga kill, I expected more tbh. Also contrary to my beliefs, my family actually can get along. We've been having a blast. Oh, also I've been watching hour long yt videos that talk about shows (read: analyse) there was one analysing Azula's (Avatar the last airbender) personality, I loved it.

2) Anything you do when you're bored?

Well, watch anime for one. Read fanfiction, scroll through pinterest for awesome fanart and, when all else fails, engage in mostly philosophical debate with my dad, historic with my mom (often relating back to Babylon) and "intellectual" with both (Often results in a shouting match between me and my dad, while my mom makes an escape.)

3) What's your favourite song?

Well, there's "high hopes" by panic in the disco, that will always hold a special place in my heart, but currently "if I killed someone for you" and "Must have been the wind" by Alec Benjamin.

4) Are you watching any series right now? Which ones?

Well, right now? Not really. My friend watched no game no life recently, and I think I might watch it. If you have any suggestions please shoot me them xD both my ask box and inbox are open.

5) What's your biggest inspiration?

Seeing as I'm on severe writers block, and have been for months, nothing. But if this is about my incorrect quotes in my tumblr, then I owe that to time spent in the toilet, and half-asleep ramblings of my brain.

6) What's your favourite vine?

I won't hesitate bitch, and, I'm a bad bitch you can't kill me. An honorable mention: Two bros chillin in a hot tub 5 feet apart cause they're not gay.

7) Do you prefer rainy or sunny days?

Both. I love sunny days where I can look up at the sky, and the sun would drag against my skin an lull me to sleep. I love rainy days where I can put on music and dance under the rain. I also love how beautiful lightening is.

8) If you had to choose one movie to watch forever, which would it be?

Howl's moving castle most probably. Maybe spirited away or Charlie and the chocolate factory. Onwards is a strong candidate. Matilda is a strong candidate too. The summary is, I won't be able to fucking choose.

9) What's the first thing you're gonna do when the quarantine's over?

Probably take my exams, it's not like I have a choice.

10) Random fact about yourself.

I find the sound of thunder soothing.

I don't have anybody to tag xD Please send my series/anime suggestions !!

Tag Game!

I was tagged by @muffins-puffins to answer this questions so here I go! (@mimi-cee-hq tagged me too, but it’s the same questions lmao). Thank you so much for the tag 💖

1. How are you? Hope you’re doing fine!

I’m goood, thanks 🥺❤️. Maybe a bit bored ksjfjdjs, but I hope you’re doing well too!

2. Tea or coffee?

Both! But I think I’m more of a tea person.

3. The best thing you ever had during this quarantine.

Video chatting and playing games with my friends!

4. Do you prefer a slow-burn relationship or on the spot?

Slow-burnnnn. In my opinion, to fall in love with someone you’ve got to know them for a long time. If you don’t really know that person, the relationship won’t really work.

5.Being who you are, who would you want to have a friendship with any Haikyuu characters?

Uhhhh... I think I would get along with Bokuto, Noya, Makki or maybe Akaashi!

6. What motivates you?

Seeing my own progress over the years motivates me a lot. Also I think music is a real motivation for me.

7. What’s your ideal workspace?

I usually work better in my room, listening to some music. But I really love drawing at the beach omg

8. What is the best moment in your life?

Both the Guns N Roses and the One Direction concert 🥺❤️

9. If you’re given the chance to rewind the time, when would it be and why?

For sure it would be when I was 16. I had an amazing time, so much fun with the group of friends I had, I enjoyed high school, I played volleyball too... I even did cosplay! It was the time when I was most into anime, and I miss so much than fun and the feelings of that time 🥺

10. What’s your guilty pleasure? (It can be anything!)

I think it could be dancing! I’m not really good at it (i’m very clumsy lmao), but I love it! And not many people know about that oops 👀

And here are the 10 questions for you!

1. How’s your quarantine going?

2. Anything you do when you’re bored?

3. What’s your favourite song?

4. Are you watching any series right now? Which ones?

5. What’s your biggest inspiration?

6. Favourite vine

7. Do you prefer rainy or sunny days?

8. If you had to choose only one movie to watch forever, which would it be?

9. What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when the quarantine’s over?

10. Random fact about yourself!

I’m tagging @anonanonymousanon @moonsky-no-im-bi @kenmamazing @haikoo @cosmic-goddess-leo @pibklion @trashking-thrashking @bokurroo @kalebara

You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to! Be careful and stay safe, please! 💖