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theparanormalperiodical · 5 years

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Scary Halloween Costumes: Your Guide To Realistic and Really Spooky Costumes (On A Budget)

“In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg for candy.

In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it”

Set your stop watches people - we’ve got 11 days to prepare for the most wonderful time of the year: Halloween.

And despite the cultural traditions echoing across the world, there is one phenomenon that dominates the rest.

Halloween costumes.

It’s the personalised touch Christmas loses out on, and it's the one day of the year we can awaken our inner child.

And no, I don’t mean the therapeutic kind where you get in touch with your real, raw self. I mean the inner child that wants to pull on a Pennywise cosplay and eat an unrealistic amount of processed crap.

Working out your halloween costume requires thought and consideration. And then giving up on creating a latex prosthetic and slapping on a pair of cat ears.

But at the Paranormal Periodical, we like to do things a bit different.

If you like things spooky and you’re a bit skint, pull up a chair - welcome to your complete guide to realistic halloween costume ideas!

Every year we see the classic costumes: a witch in a black hat; a vampire sporting a single drop of fake blood on the lip; and a zombie with a scrape of blood down one arm.

I’ve decided to shake shit up.

I’ve taken the most common costumes, and gone back to the roots of the creatures. Yep, I’m rewriting halloween, and putting scary back on the menu!

So, if you’re considering being a witch, vampire, zombie, or mermaid, here is your guide to the realistic costumes.

Let’s get spooky!

The Witch

It’s a classic.

It’s the go-to option for women, merely requiring a pointy hat you can grab from Claire’s, and the clothes from your goth phase when you were 14.

Add a smudge of black eyeshadow, practice a cackle, and boom.

You just got halloweened.

But actual witches from way-back-when weren’t so Instagram.

In fact, they were considered the worst kind of women: hag-like, old, ugly, disgusting women. If you can think up a trope for a stereotypically ugly woman - which isn’t necessarily true, I mean, people rock unibrows every damn day - then put it in your costume.

Back in the 1640s, witches were considered poor, crone-like women. That’s a moustache, wrinkles, hairy brows, squinted eyes, and crooked teeth.

Also, they had teats! No, that’s nothing to do with their actual nipples, you won’t have to do anything to your own.

Basically, a point of ID for a witch was a devil’s mark - that’s scars, pimples, birthmarks - anything which symbolised their pact with the devil. Or, they had extra nipples which their animal sidekicks would suckle from.

Speaking of scars, if a witch pricked her finger, and it didn't bleed, the subject was a witch fo sho. And if they placed their hands on a dead body that they had killed, the body would start to bleed.

The final trademark fashion statement comes from one of the witch tests: dunking.

Aside from being stripped to her scanties, the witch’s thumb was tied to her big toe and a rope was cinched around her waist. She was chucked into a body of water - if she floated, she was a witch! If she sunk, she would die!

Yeah, it’s not a good test.

So, how does all that shizz translate to a costume?

Here’s how:

For the signature makeup, go with a heavy brow, and dark, eyelined eyes to perfect the squint.

Then, fake scar it up. I’m talking dots of red on your hands, maybe draw a pink circle on your face for a nipple, and slash a lipstick scratch up your arm.

Or, ditch the red dots on your hands for literal red hands - just like the blood pouring out of your victim’s body. It could be fake blood, it could be red nails, it could even be patches of dark reddy-brown!

Whatever it is, finish the look with the iconic style of a witch:

Follow up with the fashion twist on a black pointy hat, tie a rope around your waist to give shape to the look, and tie some wool or string around your fingers.

That’s right; accessorise your way to authenticity.

The Vampire

This is the unisex approach to halloween.

Couple of drips of fake blood, maybe an Edward Cullen inspired quiff - anything can be a costume if its teamed up with the im-100-years-old-but-look-17-so-its-not-creepy smoulder.

But there’s a lot more to the vampire phenomenon that didn’t make it into Nosferatu, nor Twilight.

Vampires were popularised in the 19th century, so most of their style inspo was based on Victorian vibes. But in terms of their bodies and faces, there are some striking features you need to know about:

Vampires were often regarded as have bloated faces and bodies, and ruddy looking skin; these are the supposed effects of blood drinking.

And this blood was also believed to seep out of the mouth - and the nose. But fangs? They were rarely reported.

These features from past vampire sightings have been typically debunked via two explanations: the disease, Poryphoria, a group of diseases which cause blistering and itching in sunlight, and the past’s lack of knowledge regarding decomposition.

So, fancy reworking your Edward Cullen into something a little less up-to-date?

Here’s what you need to do:

Take your fangs and fake blood stash from last year, and do the classic drip from the lip look.

But this time, smear a little under your nose, too.

Speaking of facial features, it’s time to get ruddy - that means giving yourself a flushed look. So, grab some blush - reddy, pink tones, only - and go to town. I’d suggest a patchy look for the deathy vibes.

And make sure you leave your contouring kit in your make-up bag - aim for a bloated, round-faced look. Or, opt for loose clothes or something baby bump-esque to bloat out your half-dead body.

To finish the look, dab on some liquid latex and pull apart to give wrinkly, blistery skin in patches. You can even check out my tips for being a zombie to ensure you achieve the death you aim for!

The Zombie

In more recent years, this has become to go-to for quick costumes, thanks to show like The Walking Dead.

But it’s not the easy part of the look that I love, it’s this: a zombie is an inclusive halloween costume.

Anyone can do it.

You can pull out your FX make-up stash to show your skull’s skin peeling off and limb rotting, or simply pull a face and make a groaning noise.

You don’t even have to buy new clothes! Put on your usual get up, and stick your arms out like a Mummy.

#nailedit

But - if you’re asking me - achieving the realistic death look isn’t an expensive or difficult feat.

Zombies are supposed to be the undead; they’re infected and they’re decaying.

So, let’s go through some of the features of slowly rotting corpses:

A few minutes into death - aside from going cold, and going pale - cells begin to die and leak as they breakdown. Couple hours after the beginning of that process, things start to get shitty...

Yep, piss and poop just start leaking out ya body.

Then, your skin starts to sag, leaving it pale with red patches. Then, that skin shrinks, making your hair and nails appear as if they are growing.

Following this, your skin turns green as you begin to digest your organs. Then bugs, like maggots, take part in consuming your body.

It’s not long before you turn purple, lose hair, and slowly become a skeleton.

And there you have it.

#decayed

Question is, how can achieve this look?

Settle in folks, and let’s get dead.

(Oh, and I can assume you don’t want to be a skeleton with purple skin draping on your bones; so let’s cut to the early effects!)

To get your undead chic on, here’s what’s on your to-do list:

For ya face, make things red and patchy with a dab of red lipstick smudged around your visage. Oh, and don’t forget to moisturise and highlight - think less leaking cells, more dewy finish.

A few patches of grotesque green will further the final look. You could even put gel on the ends of your hair to make it seem wet, or longer, and define your fingernails with brown eyeshadows.

Yep, start contouring your nails - let’s start a #trend.

Ready to take things to the next level? Cut some gummy worms up, and latex ‘em to your face.

Et voila, ya ded.

The Mermaid

Our final option is the current Insta-fave.

Joining the ranks of the pastel-aesthetic is the glittery, highlighted-on-fleek mermaid.

But why be pretty, when you can be pretty damn realistic?

Fact is, nothing is more realistic - and scary - than climate change. So, it follows that any mermaid will probably be struggling in the plastic-filled hot tub that is the ocean.

It’s time to swap the dewy, contoured fish finish for an actual mermaid. Or, well, a dead one.

Typically, a dead human who had been left in the ocean would have several zombie-like characteristics that would be exacerbated by the sea water.

Your body breaks down much more slowly in water, and salt water - like sea water - would slow the decaying process even more so. A body left in the ocean for 2 weeks will look the same as one left in open air for a week!

So, that’s the red, patchy, dewy finish we already discussed with zombies.

And instead of the pruning you get in a bubble bath, imagine blistering, black skin. Plus, that skin also becomes swollen, and bleached, giving you the bloated, patchy glow that you don’t see in The Little Mermaid.

Oh, and don’t forget your body!

Thanks to accumulating gases, the abdomen swells from bloating.

Fun fact: this is what makes corpses turn upside down and rise with the torso and head at the water’s surface!

So, are you ready to get your mermaid on?

Swap your Ariel wig and beachy waves for patchy, red and green skin, and use latex to create blistered, wrinkled skin in patches.

Simply follow my tips for a go-to zombie look, and like, make it wetter.

Don’t forget to stuff a jumper down your shirt to puff out your abdomen - bonus points for farting out those gases filling out your torso.

Now, go get your fish on!

So: which supernatural being are you vibing with this All Hallows’ Eve?

And which of your past halloween costumes have you been most proud of?

(Mine was my Man-Spider costume from last year...)

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monomas-a-smug-bih · 6 years

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Fantasy Au~

FANtasY Au please!! Bakugou’s and readers first meeting, maybe in a cave or something??? I have a bad imagination lmao

•••

The calming rain pitter pattered against the cloth of your long coat. You shivered, pulling the jacket lined with many buttons by its triangular collar, hoping it’d shield you form the unfortunate weather. Little dots formed on the dark burgundy fabric. You sighed, the big brown witch hat sitting atop your semi dry head cutting into your vision again. You felt ridiculous with it, not one bit understanding how your friend Uraraka could rock such a thing. But she’d caught you leaving her and Izuku to go searching in the rain, and offered you her hat for protection. You were on your way to a pretty secluded village, having to walk through rocky hills and find your way around bothersome valleys. You searched for a certain flower, Uraraka had talked about it being the most efficient healing herb to ever exist. So, you’d come to find her some and maybe steal a few for yourself. You’d heard the merchants there carried the plant, not only that but it grew wild near the place too.

A sudden shot of thunder rumbled in the clouds above, scaring you out of your skin. The lightning striking down into the earth warned you it was time to get out of the open. You started to jog, that mountain up ahead was bound to have some sort of shelter, right? The continuos thunder taunted you and the gray clouds seemed to roll your way like they were chasing you. You kicked into a sprint, eventually making it to the huge rock. After a short time of searching, you’d finally found a place in it that dipped in, discovering some sort of cave. It looked dark and deep, maybe even easy to get lost in, but the monotonous pitter-patter of water only seemed to get louder and annoy you to no end.

You’d sighed in relief, stepping in and sinking down against the stone wall to sit and finally relax. You shed your soaked hat and coat off, the absence of the rain digging into your shoulders making you feel weightless. But soon enough, a sudden weight threw itself on top of your shoulders in its place, interrupting your short relief. You swore you’d heard something, no, maybe even someone. But it was so dark and lightless deeper into the cave, you didn’t dare go any further in. You didn’t want to stray away from the dimly lit part by the entrance. But then you heard it again. Some kind of shuffling, then, as you sat quieter, a restrained yet faint heavy pant reached your keen ears. You froze, unsure of what to do. You edged a little closer, feeling for the walls of the cave, which seemed to dip into a smooth turn you discovered. Your ears focused, trying to block out the drips hitting stone and find the source of this odd sound. You sat still and listened. A quiet yet pained groan reached your ears, this person’s breaths were uneven and worrying. Maybe someone was hurt? Maybe there was drop off they didn’t see and they’d gotten injured and lost in here? You slowly got closer to rounding the corner, tempted as ever to light the lantern in you pack, but decided against it just in case. But what if they were some criminal only tricking you? What if they were a threat? You thought against that too, assuming hopefully that if they wanted or could kill you, they would’ve probably done it already.

But when you finally turned the corner, you weren’t so sure. You froze for a second, the mysterious individual forced themselves up against the wall sluggishly and growled. They were huge, but they seemed truly injured, looking like they should’ve been more intimidating but were too exhausted to do so. Thanks to the darkness, all your eyes could see was a giant blob of jet black, slowly shifting they’re weight off the wall, you got ready and changed your stance immediately. But alas, your attacker let out one last ragged breath, crashing onto the cold stone with a loud defeated thump. You straightened out, starting to breath again. That was close. You slid your bag off of your shoulders, hastily whipping out and lighting your lantern with a small chant you’d heard Uraraka use once or twice. A small flame emerged, emitting light on the menacing rock walls and the crazy person that’d seemeingly passed out at your feet. You scanned the room curiously, also finding a couple arrows that’d been snapped like twigs littering the ground. A little fearful, you shined the light below you and crouched down. Scrapes and battle scars littered the mysterious man’s muscly shoulders and arms, his wild head of ashy blonde hair looked slightly bloody and a little matted. You cringed and prayed he wasn’t dead, you couldn’t help but feel guilty for finding him like this.

“H-hello...?” You whispered, not gaining any reaction at all. You spoke a little louder, hoping the rain was to blame for no response. “Sir?” You assumed it was safe enough after giving him a speedy jab with the toe if you’re boot, leaning down and grasping a very sparingly armoured shoulder to heave the shirtless dude onto his back. Your eyes widened. Along with more fresh cuts and small slashes, his chiseled torso harboured two blood gushing wounds. One small hole between just above the front of his shoulder, the other in a spot above his hip and by his rib cage. Your head whipped to beside him, finding wooden arrows and figuring he’d probably removed them himself. You gritted your teeth and tried not to let the sympathy swelling in your chest get to you.

Setting down the lantern, the bouncing flame also revealed his muscly calf holding the last item, some stubby looking a knife a thief would use. Bloody hell, what had this guy been doing? You rummaged through your patchy pack for anything, finding some forgotten old cloth and a wrap of some kind buried beneath many charms and a couple of weapons. No potions though. You tossed it aside frustrated and let out a groan. Your gentle eyes lay back onto his unconscious figure, you crawled over and hovered a hand over his bare chest. Above your fingertips hung layers of bead necklaces, most of them red or organey tones, few of them were turquoise. The collar of his crimson cape was full of soft fluffy fur, which sat crooked enough on his figure to encase some of his right arm, leaving the rest of him almost bare. He wore baggy earthy toned pants, along with brown and heavy looking boots, lined with the same silver fur as his cape, they looked warm. Your eyes moved back up his figure, a hand moved to his forehead, brushing back his wild blonde bangs to reveal a surprisingly peaceful and smooth face. With all these wounds and his get up, you’d expected some roughed up scar-faced brute, but his features were handsomely sharpened in all the right places, and his skin felt even softer than it looked. You had to admit, this dude was ripped, you thought of what kind of warrior or barbarian he could’ve been- no, could be. He’s not dead, not yet. Your throat tightened, at the realization -right? You pressed your palm to his chest hoping, then decided you’d have a better shot finding a pulse by his neck. And you found one, sighing in relief.

Ok, what’s next?

You managed with what little you had, soaking your cloth in the rain every now and then. Then firmly pressing it to his injuries, doing your best to clean him up. You planned to use some of the healing magic Uraraka had been trying to teach you, though you hadn’t really mastered much yet. With your level of experience, you’d probably be lucky to get rid of a scrape or two, prevent infection, nothing major you guessed. But to your surprise, you impressed yourself, glad to test out your new skills you stopped the bleeding and closed the two main issues on his torso. Ringing out your cloth, you got up and trotted back to your corner in the cave. You’d done as much a you could for now, your energy already drained from your few attempts at mending the holes and shallow slashes. But you pressed on anyways. Still no response from mystery man though, which was probably what made you so uneasy at the next step. Your narrowed eyes landed on the knife jabbed into his calf, you’d better get it over with before your energy depleted completely, and it wasn’t like you could just leave it there.

Why were you helping this possibly dangerous stranger again? Who knows, but the rain hadn’t stopped yet, and you couldn’t just leave him to die trapped in here like this. You threw your coat on and rolled up your sleeves, trying to stall on the action you’d have to take next. You took a deep breath, and kneeled down to his injured leg, gripping as gently as possible onto the handle of the knife in his leg. You gulped, staring at the menacing thing. What if it woke him up? What if he freaks out? Would he kill you? What if- sick of all these ridiculous questions sprouting into your mind, you adjusted your grip, squeezed your eyes shut, and gave it a strong swift yank upward. Opening your eyes, you examined the dagger in your hand. The handle was a dark rouge, the blade was stubby but had a terrible curve to it, if it had been straight you’d guessed it could’ve gone all the way through. Snapping out of it, you went to lean forward to put pressure onto the wound and get ready to heal it, but something restricted your movements. You couldn’t. Your lengthy coat seemed to hold you back for some reason. When you checked to see if you sat down on it, you spotted a desperate hand, clinging on with white knuckles. Your eyes widened, his hand was grabbing handfuls of your burgundy jacket. Your heart beated rapidly,

he was awake!

Nervous, excited, and petrified all at the same time, you looked for his face, finding he was facing away from you. You watched his body tense, the pounding rain seeming to quiet down for a second. Your body froze, scared someone as strong as him would tear you to shreds for doing something like yanking a damn knife out of his leg. But a subtly pained yet angry voice cut through your thoughts.

“The f-fuck are you waiting for... cover it up already!”

You snapped back to reality and reached for your wraps and cloth, dabbing it down until it was clean enough to rest your palm on. His body tensed again, your hand’s presence probably hurt on the raw flesh, you apologized quietly. Your eagerness to wrap it deflated though, the remaining ripped fabric of his pants were in the way. Sheepishly, you rolled it over his calf and started wrapping.

Eventually you were done, but still itched to wrap his chest to cover those now semi-nasty wounds from the wooden arrows tossled onto the cool floor(along with the remaining scrapes and stuff). Your voice was meek,

“C...can you sit up?” You offered gently. His ash blonde locks russled like a spiky wild bush as his face turned to your form, observing your expression with narrowed and sharp rose red eyes. He glared, hesitantly pushing himself up onto his elbows sluggishly, bringing attention to his tribal looking sleeves. The man hissed trying to bend up the rest of the way. You grabbed his back to support him on reflex which earned you a weird look from barbarian. You pushed him up carefully, he scoffed.

“I’m not some damn infant, hands off!” You frowned in slight surprise, complying anyways. How rude.

‘A thank you would’ve been nice.’ you murmured, you gulped at the growl rumbling in his chest,

‘I. heard that.’ He aggressively muttered back. You sighed, grabbing your wrap once again. You looked up to meet burning ruby eyes.

“Some healer you are, who the hell even uses that shit anymore?” I mean, true. Typically people used potions or just tagged along with healers, much more efficient and generally easier... but you had neither a potion nor an official healer. This guy’s only been awake for minutes, and as beautiful as he was, truthfully he was getting on your nerves already.

“Who said I was a healer? I was just unlucky enough to get stuck in some cave with someone like you.” Oh he didn’t like that.

“HAH?! The hell’s that dumb hat for then?!” The grouchy blonde pointed accusedly at your good friend’s mage hat, forgotten on the floor beside your patchy ol’ bag.

“It’s a friend’s.” You deadpanned.

“What?!” You sighed, he sure was angry for being so tired only seconds ago. About to instruct him to lift his arms so you could wrap him up more, you catch him staring at you. You meet his fiery gaze, his ash blonde spikes of hair swished across his forehead enough to only partially reveal furrowed blonde brows.

“Who the hell are you, and what are you helping me for anyway?” You blinked, stumped for a second by the lantern’s pretty light dancing upon his cheeks.

“Y/n l/n, I...I know some healing magic and you looked like you needed help.” You said honestly. He sent you a perplexed look, and after some silence let out a huff. You casually placed a hand on his strong arm, guiding him to lift it enough for you to wrap him up. Through more curious and irritated crimson gazes, you managed to cover the arrow head wound tightly, wrapping over his shoulder and under his armpit a few times, then lower down by his waist for the second major wound. Seeing he didn’t continue and seemed content plainly watching you work, you interrupted by asking unsure, “And you are?” He frowned, making just communicating with you seem like such a chore through his tone and facial expressions.

“Bakugou Katsuki.” He practically spat. You furrowed your brows at his animalistic behaviour, ignoring it (mostly) and getting back to work. You glanced at him, his hard bored expression unwavering. Up until you placed a caring hand flat and pressed onto a place near his collar bone after brushing your fingers lightly across to find he problem. He barely winced but sent you another weird look about to retort, he almost looked flustered. You sighed, your eyes fluttering shut.

“Just, let me focus.” You took a deep breath, trying your best to remember all the times Uraraka had muttered speedily to heal you and Deku. You murmured intensely but quietly, a faint green glow appearing from your palm to your fingertips. Your eyes fluttered open, you lifted your hand, and suddenly you eyes really really wanted to shut again. Your tired eye lids felt heavy and the space you were in seemed to spin. You managed to look up to Bakugou, only for him to turn to a blur as you fell forward.

“The hell?” Bakugou questioned, your form had shrunk and fell limp into his chest. He placed a large palm onto your shoulder, lifting you a bit to see your face, only for your head to lull and hang forward at the movement. “Mage-Lady?!” He thought for a moment, blonde brows furrowed in annoyance. “Y/n?” No answer. He groaned, this was even more inconvient than before. As if his day couldn’t get any damn worse, those fucking bandit idiots had surprised him and given him a hard time, then it fucking rains, and now after finally waking up he had to deal with some unconscious woman?! The so-called female seemed to come back a little bit, grumbling in pain and pushing away the best she could with a weak hand pressed to his ribs as she held her forehead.

“Ugh... I’m sorry...I guess I... reallyyyoverdid-“ You slurred, fatigue seeming to finally take over. Turns out you weren’t used to healing that much. The confused blonde watched your bright e/c eyes start to flutter, threatening to shut again. You fell again, but caught yourself this time, or at least tried to. Your hand latching onto Bakugou’s right hip and the other landing on his chest to hopefully stabilize yourself. The barbarian was flustered to say the least, but he blamed his cheeks flushing on irritation instead, annoyed with the whole situation. The bothered explosion-user cupped your cheek, grabbing your chin sternly to protest face to face. He growled and bared his canines angrily.

“Oi! Don’t you dare-...eh?!” His heart sunk, your lashes finally blocking you out from the outside world, you’d slipped back into a deep sleep. Your face easing into his palm made him feel oddly soft, your plump lips parting just above his thumb. He’d wound up in a cave way too close to some random girl he’d just met. Yeah she seemed somewhat generous and thoughtful, not to mention easy to look at but according to the people of his old tribe this sort of thing was reserved for those gross married couples, which made him more than uncomfortable.

But on instinct and out of surprise the young man pressed his hand to the back of your head and the other to your waist to keep you close, shielding you in his arms at hearing a sudden commotion outside. Large splashes and even larger and stomps from outside echoed into the cave. A reptilian roar loud enough to be heard through the fierce gloomy rain reached his ears, Bakugou’s tensed body and grip on your form relaxing.

“Fucking finally you stupid reptile!” He yelled out to the entrance of the cave. A crimson scaled mass appeared soon in front of the entrance, it’s humongous size forcing it to arch its long head down to squeeze into the somewhat roomy cave. The dragons horned head whipped to Bakugou with eager eyes, letting out another victorious roar at finally finding the explosive male. This caused a harsh gust of wind to fly through the cave, the rushing air running through his ashy hair and annoying Bakugou to no end. Before he could complain, he felt you twitch under his fingertips. You were trembling, shivering at how the new found chill seemed to eat away at your soft vulnerable skin. He huffed, thinking back to how dumbly you’d helped him without expecting anything in return, deciding to lean away from the wall to rip his furry collar cape from his back to place it onto you like a blanket. The seemingly friendly dragon’s voice rumbled at the sight of its owner, pacing over on all fours happily with its deadly clawed limbs clattering against the stone. Instead of harassing Bakugou with its usual insufferable nuzzles it stopped, surprised to spot a stranger in his arms. It walked over cautiously, rose red nostrils flared as it sniffed the sleeping girl. The horn on its nose poked at her head as it gave her a curious nudge, the dragon’s carmine wings nervously adjusted themselves. Bakugou exhaled irritated. “Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. She was just dumb enough to pass out on me...” He murmured, the anger melting away from his voice now that he was alone with only his familiar companion. He locked eyes fearlessly with the fiery-eyed dragon, reptile black slits seeming to thicken in relief, fangs showing themselves when it’s forked tongue lulled out of it jaws like an excited puppy. Bakugou scoffed at his excuse for a companion, securing you in his cape before shifting to carry you bridal-style, getting up to his feet and walking over closer to the beast. The dragon purred and walked a small graceful circle before laying on its side in front of him, looking to the boy with its tail straight instead of curled up expectantly. Bakugou huffed, brows furrowed, necklaces jingling as he got closer and plopped down cross-legged, placing you back snug to his chest sheepishly to ensure you got enough warmth to stay healthy, and that he wouldn’t need to pay you back in the future. He leaned casually back into the warm belly of the viciously sweet reptile, it’s thick tail lined with darker spikes curling around the two of you, it’s head lowering to rest near the end of its large scaly extension comfortably and protectively. The blonde sighed and looked down at your calm form, a little glad to see your shallow breaths had gone back to normal, before leaning his head back and shutting his eyes. His flame-breathing companion did the same, the air from its strong breath blowing out the dancing flame in the abandoned lantern nearby on the floor.

•••

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bakugou katsuki #bnha scenario #izuku midoriya #my hero academia #bnha imagines #mha #my hero acadamy #bakugou x reader #fantasy au #boku no hero fanfic

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kinkykinard · 7 years

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Z is for Zoonotic Disease (26/26)

Fandom: Star Trek (AOS/TOS). Pairing: Reader X Bones. Prompt: Fic 26 of 26 in the CMO’s Log – A to Z series. Z is for Zoonotic Disease. Click here for a listing of all the fics in this series! Word Count: 3032. Rating: Teen+. Author’s Note: The last fic in round 1 of this series! I’m pretty emotional right now. This is the first time I’ve ever managed to finish a writing project I’d started, and I’m honestly kind of floored. I never could have done it without the support and interest of all of you amazing people. Thank you for sticking with me and reading these! I hope you’ll stick around for round 2: A to Z 2.0, and for other fics I post in the future! Cheers!!! (As an aside: the medications mentioned in this one can be found here.)

CMO’s Log – A to Z – Z is for Zoonotic Disease Your vision is fuzzy around the edges and your hearing is vaguely muffled as you walk unsteadily over the threshold into med bay. You’ve been feeling unwell for days with an on-again, off-again high fever, cough, aches, and chills, and while you’d initially thought you’d had the flu, a visit to the med bay a couple of days earlier had revealed instead that it was pneumonia plaguing you. At that time, you’d been given an antibiotic and asked by Dr. M’Benga to follow up once a day for a quick assessment to see how you were progressing, and so as ordered, you’re shuffling into med bay for a daily check, feeling worse than ever. “Y/N,” Dr. M’Benga calls from several feet away as he sees you wander in. “Come over this way, let’s sit you down.” The tone of his voice suggests that you look as bad as you feel and you slowly make your way over to the bio bed he’s standing beside and allow him to help you up onto it. Lying back, blinking away the harsh overhead lighting, you relax as he begins an assessment. Your head aches so badly that its affecting your hearing, and even so near your head the whirring of the tricorder sounds like it’s coming from underwater. “You’re not responding to the antibiotic,” Dr. M’Benga explains as he holds a holoscanner over your chest, looking at the x-ray image there showing him patchy consolidation in your lungs. “We need to keep you here and isolated until we figure out exactly what kind of a bug you’ve got.”

You groan at his words, wanting nothing more than your own warm, comfortable bed away from all the white and chrome, the background noise, and the antiseptic smell. His hand lands on your shoulder and squeezes gently. “I’m going to have Nurse Chapel move you into a private room and help you into a gown,” he offers. “I want to have Dr. McCoy come to see you as well. His expertise might help me to get you feeling better sooner, if that’s alright with you.” Your heart begins to beat a frantic allegro in your chest at the CMO’s mention. You’ve been seeing one another on and off for a while, but haven’t exchanged any deep, meaningful sentiments. Still, you’re involved enough that you chose Dr. M’Benga over him in order to avoid awkwardness and impropriety. You know, however, that if Dr. M’Benga is seeking the other doctor’s counsel on your case, things must be bad, and while you really don’t want things to be uncomfortable, you’d also like to get better as soon as possible, and so you agree with a single nod. Things happen quickly after that. Dr. M’Benga disappears from your bedside and is replaced with a softly smiling Christine Chapel. She’s gentle with you as she half-leads, half-carries you over to an isolation room off the main wing of the med bay. She murmurs soft reassurances as you’re changed into a thin, light patient gown and settled into bed with only a single blanket for warmth – we don’t want to feed that fever, dear. The head of the bed is propped up so you can breathe more easily and before you know it, a soft knock sounds against the door panel and Dr. M’Benga is striding into the room, closely followed by Dr. McCoy. “Y/N,” the CMO says softly, approaching your bedside, his eyes quickly taking in the numbers displayed on the bio bed’s readout. “I wish you’d told me you were sick.” “Didn’t want to worry you,” you mumble, the fever making clear speech a challenge. “S’not that bad.” His low grumble is nearly inaudible but his expression is clearly unimpressed. You watch him through half-lidded eyes as he repeats the scan Dr. M’Benga had done earlier, his features marring with concern. “Administer an albuterol neb, then keep her on two litres of oxygen,” he orders Christine. “Start a course of genericillin, and give her numinol tetramidaphin q four hours.” “Wouldn’t you rather use a tryptophan-lysine distillate?” Dr. M’Benga asks. “The corophizine hasn’t even touched the infection.” The CMO shakes his head, setting the holoscanner aside. “We’ll save the big guns for when we need them,” he replies. “Genericillin will be fine until a culture proves otherwise. I’ve got this, Doctor; please, leave me with my patient.” You can’t help but tune out more of their discussion as Christine steps into your line of sight and applies an oxygen mask to your face. There is medication mixed in with the oxygen – you know just by the taste of it as it hits your tongue – and you’re glad to see that breathing is becoming easier by the moment. She’s gentle as she places an IV in your arm and injects the medications Dr. McCoy has ordered. She’s done quickly and leaving you alone with him – it seems he’s finally convinced Dr. M’Benga to leave the two of you be, too. As the door slides shut on Christine’s exit, Leonard approaches your bed and perches on the edge of it, reaching out to cup your cheek with his large, warm palm. Your eyes drift closed and you sigh, the mask on your face fogging with your breath. “Next time you get sick, you leave it to me to decide how bad it is,” he admonishes softly. “You’re lucky you came in when you did today.” “Am I gonna live, doc?” You ask jokingly, your voice hoarse. “You’ll be fine,” Leonard assures you. “But we need to figure out what’s making you sick so we can treat you with the right antibiotics. Do you think you’re up for answering some questions?” You nod, watching the doctor as he reaches to remove the mask from your face, replacing it instead with a much more comfortable and manageable nasal cannula. Its soft prongs tickle a bit as they’re seated into place, but you barely notice them after a few moments. What you notice instead are Leonard’s warm, gentle hands coming to rest on your neck, his fingertips prodding, feeling how swollen your lymph nodes are, how hot your feverish skin is. “Tell me everything you’ve been experiencing since this started,” the CMO instructs. He steps away from your bedside for a moment, returning with a stethoscope. He offers you a hand to help you sit up a bit and immediately begins his exam, not wanting you to be sitting up for too long. You consider his query as he asks you to take the occasional deep breath, resisting the urge to cough. “It started off with a fever and aches four days ago,” you begin as Leonard finishes up and helps you settle back against the bed. “I came in and saw Dr. M’Benga and he gave me an antibiotic to take. Since then, my fever has come and gone. I’ve had a constant headache and a bad cough, too.” The doctor makes a noncommittal noise and works efficiently, keeping you covered nearly to the waist with the blanket while simultaneously pulling your gown up so he can press on your abdomen. His expression becomes even more concerned when he glances down as he thoroughly but carefully palpates your stomach but you’re distracted from the look by a sharp jolt of pain as his hand prods at the left side of your abdomen. “When did you get this rash?” He asks, pulling his hand away and gesturing to your midsection. You gasp as you glance down and notice a very dark and angry-looking red rash around your navel and off to either side. “It wasn’t there this morning,” you reply. “I didn’t see it when I got dressed a few hours ago.” Leonard makes another noise of consideration and pulls your gown down, tucking it back in under the blanket and pulling out a tricorder. He scans you quickly, pausing over your chest and abdomen briefly before reading through the results. The decrease in white blood cells and platelets and the increase in liver enzymes in your bloodstream worries him. “I think this is more than garden variety pneumonia,” he explains. “I’m going to look through your file and talk to Dr. M’Benga. I’ll send Christine in to get some samples for analysis and I’ll be back to see you in a bit. In the meantime, try to get some rest.” You sigh and nod once again, turning your gaze away from the CMO and to the ceiling. You’ll never admit it, but his concern and the lack of the toldja-so attitude he always gets whenever you’ve neglected your health are worrying you. You haven’t given his observational skills enough credit, though, you realize a moment later as his hand lands on your shoulder and squeezes reassuringly. “I’ll get you sorted out, kid,” he promises. “We’ve slept together and you’re still calling me kid?” You huff. “Gee, thanks, doc.” Leonard chuckles softly and brushes a stray strand of hair back behind your ear. “Sick to death and you’ve still got an attitude,” the doctor ribs good-naturedly. “Yeah, you’re going to be just fine.” He leans in and presses a gentle kiss to your forehead before taking his leave. It doesn’t take you long to drift off to sleep and aside from Christine coming in to check on you and get the samples Leonard had mentioned, the next few hours pass uneventfully. You doze off and on in between bouts of coughing, and you finally rouse to the sounds of frantic orders being exchanged elsewhere in the med bay – the product of an accident down in engineering. Shifting around, you slowly sit up, shivering as a cold draft licks at your back where your gown has parted a bit. The shiver leads to a paroxysm of coughs, and suddenly hurried footsteps are approaching your bedside as the monitors begin to sound an alarm. A warm hand lands on your back and you’re sure it’s Leonard’s, even though you’re coughing so hard your eyes are screwed tightly shut. The hand rubs gentle circles into your skin, warming it where the draft had left a chill, and he murmurs reassurances as the hacking passes. “Take deep breaths in through your nose for me, sugar,” Leonard instructs you. “We need to get your oxygen levels up.” It’s a struggle at first as every inhalation tickles at your throat and makes you want to cough again, but eventually your breathing grows easier and the monitors quiet down, signalling your stabilization. You glance up at Leonard wearily as you collapse back against the raised head of your bed and you’re grateful when he reaches for a cloth and begins to gently sponge at your feverish forehead. “Do you know what’s wrong with me yet?” You ask. Leonard shakes his head. “You’ve only been out a couple of hours,” he replies. “It’ll take a little longer than that to get a comprehensive analysis back. I just need you to sit tight and let us take care of you in the meantime.” You nod, resigned to your fate, and shut your eyes. Your lips quirk up in a small smile as you recall your last away mission two weeks ago. For once things had gone smoothly, and you’d had plenty of time to visit a number of Hanon IV’s protected wildlife refuges to observe the xenofauna there. Many of them had been remarkably unique, but many more still were very similar to Terran animals, and you feel at home as you picture a flock of starlings dancing around, a murmuration passing overhead as you’d collected some samples for analysis. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” He asks, having caught sight of your expression. “Birds,” you reply softly. “Birds?” He queries further. “Back on Hanon IV,” you explain, licking your dry, cracked lips, sipping gratefully from a cup of ice water Leonard offers you when he sees how parched you are. “There were birds everywhere. It reminded me of Earth, of home. Their evolutionary history and adaptations were remarkably similar to those of Terran birds, and I can’t wait to get back to my lab to keep working on my samples.” “Have you found anything interesting so far?” Leonard asks, attentive though his eyes are taking in the numbers on the bio bed again, ensuring your condition is stable. “Nothing earth shattering,” you reply, taking in a slow, deep, shaky breath, rejoicing when it doesn’t lead to more coughing. “Some of the feathers we collected show signs of poor health in certain individuals, which could indicate parasitism or infection, but nothing you wouldn’t expect with a large population of birds.” You close you eyes as Leonard reaches up and gently strokes your hair, his touch soothing you. You think back on those samples you’ve just mentioned and you suck in a breath as something dawns on you, this time eliciting a paroxysm of coughs. Leonard soothes you through them, and once you’ve caught your breath, you look up at him, having had an epiphany. “I need to contact the ornithology lab on Hanon IV,” you say. “I have an idea. It’s crazy, maybe, but worth a shot.” Leonard stares you down with a trademark quirk of his eyebrow. “There are some diseases that can be transmitted between humans and animals, right?” You ask. Leonard nods. “Sure,” he replies. “Zoonotic illnesses – lyme disease, tularemia, you name it. Why? What are you thinking?” “Psittacosis,” you offer. “It can be passed between humans and animals, it would explain some of the signs of illness I’ve found in my samples, and it shows up as pneumonia in people, doesn’t it?” Leonard’s eyebrows furrow in contemplation for a few moments and you can practically hear the gears turning as he takes your symptoms and history of exposure into consideration. “It does,’ he replies eventually. “And while I can’t pretend to be an expert on it, I think it might explain some of my other findings, too.” His hand leaves your hair where it’s been stroking the stands for the last several minutes as he straightens up and you follow him with your gaze; you’re not getting up any time soon. “There’s no need for you to go to the trouble of contacting the lab; I’m going to have the lab here test for the Chlamydophila psittaci antigen in your samples,” Leonard explains. “I’ll be back the moment I know anything. If you’re right, which I’m reasonably sure you are, the antibiotic we’ve switched you to should do the trick.” You nod in understanding as he speaks and return the smile he shoots you before turning to leave you once again. With him gone, you let your eyes drift closed and you listen to the steady beep of the overhead monitor, one for every one of your heartbeats. It’s a rhythmic, hypnotic sort of metronome and it quickly lulls you off to sleep. This time, you don’t even twitch when Christine comes in to give you another round of medication, nor do you hear Leonard’s footsteps return to your bedside. Your awakening this time is much more gentle, though you’re confused for a moment at the feeling of a warm weight on your shoulder. Blinking through the waking fog of a fading dream, you focus on the form at your bedside and allow yourself to feel reassured by his touch even before you realize it’s Leonard. “Hey there, sleepyhead,” he says softly, squeezing your shoulder gently. “How’s my little genius feeling?” “Your little genius?” You croak, your voice still thick with sleep and strained from all the coughing. “Your diagnosis was right on the money, sugar,” Leonard explains. “And the good news is that psittacosis isn’t very contagious, so once we’ve got you stabilized a little better and your fever’s broken, you can spend the rest of your recovery in your quarters.” You’re elated to hear it, but something about his words catches your attention. “If it’s not very contagious, how did I get it?” You ask. Leonard laughs softly. “Not very doesn’t mean not at all,” he reasons. “And it’s easier to catch from wildlife than it is to catch from another person. You probably inhaled some aerosolized droppings that contained the bacteria at the sanctuary.” You wrinkle your nose in disgust at the thought, earning yourself another good-natured chuckle from the doctor. “However it happened, it doesn’t matter now,” Leonard assures you. “All you need to worry about now is resting, breathing, and getting better.” You smile tiredly and nod, patting the bed beside you. “With the Federation’s best doctor here to take care of me, I know I’ll make a full recovery,” you say confidently. You shift over as he moves to join you on the bed and snuggle into his chest as he lays down at your side. The metronomic beeping of your heart monitor is quickly replaced in your ear by the sound of Leonard’s heartbeat at your cheek and you sigh in contentment as you almost immediately find yourself being pulled back into the slumber you’d been awakened from a short while before.

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justsarahsvlogs · 7 years

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Hello!

I just got a new tattoo! I’ve always been into tattoos, forever having henna and fake ones when I was younger. I thought it would be nice to go through my 5 tattoos with you today and tell you the stories behind them!

1st February 2015

On this day I got my first ever tattoo. I’d been planning it for weeks and had to wait ages to have it done because they were so booked up but it was worth it!

I got my best friend to design it out of loads of different mandala’s that I really liked and came up with this design. I fell in love immediately and even got her to practise drawing it on me to see what it looked like. It’s just on the inside of my forearm and I’m not going to lie but yes it did hurt! All tattoos hurt! It hurt especially more closest to my elbow crease. This tattoo took about 2 hours to complete and cost £100 which I think is a great price for the amount of detail that has gone into it.

Mandala tattoos have a lot of different meanings, to different people. For me, it was to help with my anxiety as a way of calming and relaxation. I’d been going through a tough time with my anxiety but I’d gotten through and come out stronger so I wanted to get this tattoo as a reminder, that if I ever felt that way again I could look down and remind myself that I’ve already gotten through it once before so I can do it again!

4th July 2015

I got this tattoo whilst I was working abroad in a place called Alcudia in Majorca. I worked there for 3 months and had a lot of ups and downs. I got this tattoo towards the beginning of my time out there. It was something that I’d always wanted to get but it took a while for me to find someone to do it who understood English. I was a bit cautious obviously because you have to be make sure wherever you’re getting your tattoo at is clean and sterile, to stop you getting any infections. But I was able to check this place out and I believed that it was spotless and that made me less nervous. But it cost me €40!! That was the minimum price for any tattoo over there, but I was working so I had the money.

My friend out there at the time got the same tattoo near her shoulder too so it always reminds me of her. I like it because when I look at it, it reminds me of my time abroad and the fact that it isn’t a perfect love heart reminds of the fact that it wasn’t the perfect time away but I enjoyed it anyway.

8th April 2016

It was quite a while then until I got another one, but I’d spent ages planning and booking it. I got my best friend to draw the design again and she came up with this beautiful one. It’s kind of a mandala lotus flower, and lotus flowers are these beautiful flowers that blossom in mud and murky waters so it’s like something beautiful coming from something that isn’t. I thought of it as overcoming my anxiety, a representation that you can get through it, and something good will come from it.

This tattoo really hurt. It was right on my spine and it sent vibrations all through my body. It only cost about £60 though and took about 40-50 minutes to complete, I don’t think I could’ve sat any longer at the time. I loved it loads, although when it healed you can see that the ink hadn’t developed properly on my skin, leaving it patchy and faded.

7th May 2016

This isn’t my tattoo but I thought I’d add it in anyways. My arm is on the right and my mums is on the left. I was quite surprised when she told me she wanted a tattoo, although she’d always supported my decisions to get one. She got a heart to match mine and then a tiny planet that represents my brother. I just think wrist tattoos are really cute, especially when they mean something to you.

15th August 2016

My next tattoo was quite a spontaneous one. For two weeks last summer I had my friend from America, Jake, over to stay with me whilst I showed him some of the best things England could offer! I loved the whole two weeks and on the last day I’d booked Jake in to get a tattoo of a ‘+’ on his forearm so when we went to get it I decided to get the same one, on the other side of my wrist. And it only cost me £10! This picture describes the meaning perfectly, because it does remind you to stay positive, and will always remind me of Jake!

27th June 2017

And finally comes one of the most exciting tattoos ever! I mean how beautiful is this tattoo! I have such a love for wolves, they’re stunning and extremely intelligent creatures, and if I could have one as a pet I so would! (Wolf dog anyone?)

At first I wanted half of the wolf’s face to be a mandala pattern but along with the flowers at the bottom I decided that it would just be too fussy so just got the normal wolf’s head.

I didn’t want to go back to the same place I used to go so I found another tattooist instead. She is called Chloe Harper and works for a tattoo studio called New-Identity Tattoo-Studio. The studio is about 2 hours away from my house which is a long way for a tattoo but between me and my friend we were having 4 tattoos between us. If you look at Chloe’s Instagram here you will understand why I chose her!

So I got my boyfriend to drive us there and my wolf was going to be first. I was so nervous because I’d never gotten a tattoo with such size before and also thought it would hurt a lot on my thigh. Chloe made me feel super comfortable but about 20 minutes into the flowers at the bottom I had a panic attack and had to lie still for a while, waiting for it to pass. This was the first time I’d ever gotten dizzy or panicky whilst having a tattoo but it’s quite regular if you haven’t eaten much or drank much. Chloe put me at ease and didn’t rush me to start again. I stayed lying down for the tattoo so I didn’t have to watch it and that made me feel a lot better. About 3 hours later and my thigh was finished. It was so worth the pain when I looked at how beautiful and detailed it was.

Then we had a dinner break and I was back on the table for my second, which was a cover up of my back.

This is a before shot and as you can see it’s very faded, even though it’d been just under a year, and some places hadn’t taken to my skin. So I just got Chloe to go over the existing tattoo (which hurt like hell, a few tears made an appearance) but it looks so much better now and she’s added a few other lovely details.

So overall I was so happy with both of my tattoos, my friend had one on her arm which is beautiful too and then also a cover up. Altogether we were in the studio for 9 hours with Chloe and she didn’t complain once! And for both tattoos we only paid £180 for them both each!! Which is an amazing price. I just want to thank the whole studio for making us feel welcome and putting up with my meltdown that I had! If you want to go check them out I’ll link their FaceBook link here.

See you soon!

Stay Happy, Sarah

Check out my new blog post- My Tattoo Stories! Follow for more posts! Hello! I just got a new tattoo! I've always been into tattoos, forever having henna and fake ones when I was younger.

#back tattoo #first tattoo #flowers #just sarah&039;s average blog #lotus flower #lotus flower tattoo #love heart #love heart tattoo #mandala #mandala tattoo #my tattoos #planet tattoo #tattoo #tattoo story #tattoos #thigh tattoo #wolf #wolf tattoo #wrist tattoo

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