#he would absolutely love edgar if he was a worm

[17-08-66]

The lost boys headcanons

• Dwayne when he was human was deathly allergic to eggs they still make him feel queasy so he tries to steer clear of them.

• David loves really cheap nasty sprinkles (you know the black and gold ones that you can pick up at the dollar store) on spaghetti Bolognese, the only reason he tried it in the first place was beacause of legally blond number one, and two dared him .

• Paul broke one of the handles on David's wheelchair once, knowing David would be pissed he glued it back together with boogers and chewed pineapple flavoured gum.

• Marko absolutely loves the b52s but of course he would never admit that and gets really angry and starts breaking stuff if the boys accuse him of liking them.

• Paul used to eat paint chips of the wall as a kid he liked the crunching sound they made, amazingly he managed to never get sick.

• Marko uses hair oil that smells really strongly of eucalyptus.

• David hates the smell of dirt, just hates it with a passion it's beacause when he was a child he was made to eat a lot of carrots to improve his eyesight and they were freshly picked from the garden still with worms on them and everything.

• Marko wet the bed until he was twelve and three months old.

• Dwayne knows how to ride a unicycle (don't ask me how he just does).

• Dwayne likes to wear G-strings.

• Paul got himself stuck in a rice crispys package for three hours once in the end Marko had to set it on fire which also set Paul's hair on fire so he had to dive into someone's frog pond, (you may ask how he got his head stuck in a CARDBOARD box and how he couldn't get himself out well that's Paul for you).

• Dwayne really loves the works of Edgar Allen poe one poem In particular really speaks out to him, 'a dream within a dream', he finds he can relate to it, beacause In short the poem means nothing in life is permanent and he has seen that to very much be the case having lived so long.

[omgsquee2001]

Anonymous Said: perhaps it's that enticing itch of wanting to ask, but I've been dying for a prompt revolving the playful turbulence between David and teenage vampire huntress (honestly can be g/n if your prefer) that gradually transpires into a sort love-hate relationship if possible (like lowkey being a literal cheeky bastard and be in her head for his amusement). call me a sucker for the rivals/frenemies turn lovers norm lol

I absolutely love this idea!! The reader is Gender Neutral. The reader is 17 years old.

~~~

~~~

It started out as the Frog Brothers asking you to mentor them when they found out you were a professional Vampire Hunter, to which you immediately turned down.

“Why the hell won’t you teach us?! We want to be Vampire Hunters! We fight for truth, justice, and the American way.” Edgar Frog said. You didn’t look impressed.

“Yeah, and that’s the main reason as to why I’m not going to mentor you. You guys look like you will kill anyone and anything that you think is undead. I’m not going to be responsible for turning two boys into murderers. Plus, being a Vampire Hunter means you know which Vampires are out to do harm, and which are just trying to live and not cause any trouble.”

They were the little spark that started all the trouble. He was the one who lit the fire. He and his buddies had invited you to their hideout.

You looked around in awe at the place where David and his boys stayed. This place screamed Vampires, but it was still pretty cool. David looked at you and smirked.

“Never thought I’d live to see the day that I managed to make a Hunter speechless.” David said. You looked at him, not in shock. You crossed your arms and made yourself comfortable on the couch. They were wary of you, not fully trusting that you wouldn’t attack them if given the chance. Despite his tense behavior, David still found if amusing to mess with you.

“What gave me away?” You asked, looking at David. David smirked.

“Please. I know a Hunter when I see one. Although, you do look a little young to be a Hunter. Are you sure you aren’t related to those Frog idiots?” David asked. You glared at him.

“Do I look like I would hang with them? I work alone.” You said. All of the sudden, the Frog Brothers appeared right in front of you.

“Mentor us! Or die, Blood Sucker!”

You glared at David.

“Get out of my damn head!”

As the weeks went on, you developed an unlikely friendship with the undead boys. However, your relationship with David, was more of a love/hate relationship.

You watched with a stoic face as the boys fed. One of the Surf Nazis crawled up to you, grasping your ankle with his hand.

“P-please! Help me!” He stammered. You sighed and rolled your eyes. You stepped out of his grip, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and tossing him to David. The vampire looked at you in slight shock.

“For me, oh, [Y/N], you shouldn’t have.” He said, faking gratitude. You rolled your eyes as David grabbed the Surf Nazi and bit into his head. You stepped back a ways, not wanting to get any blood on you.

“Oh please. I’m not giving him to you as a gift. Just get it over with.” You said.

One of the things David loved to do, was get inside your head and make you see things.

“David, I swear, if you make me see any more maggots or worms, I will stake your and not feel bad about it!” You shouted. You spent most of your time hanging out with the boys. David smirked, releasing his ability.

“You wouldn’t stake me, Kitten. You’d miss me too much.” He said. You glared at him.

“I’m starting to think that I’d enjoy the peace and quiet.”

Despite your love/hate relationship, you couldn’t help but find yourself falling for the undead blonde.

‘I hope David’s okay,’ you thought. You were sitting on the dock in the middle of day. The boys were bound to be sleeping, however, one newcomer, Michael, and his little brother Sam made you really nervous. You had seen Sam hanging around the Frog Brothers recently. You immediately shook your head. ‘No! I don’t care what happens to that arrogant jerk! He can die again for all I care!’ No matter how much you tried to convince yourself, you couldn’t deny the feelings.

The feelings finally came to light when you were facing off against Max, the Lost Boys’ sire. After the Frog Brothers had tried to kill David and the others, key word, tried, they were stopped by you when you offered something better than killing David. Killing Max. Max was the head Vampire. It occurred to you that, despite wanting to keep Max a secret, the boys really didn’t care what happened to him.

You were running out of breath. This Vampire was a lot stronger than you thought.

“Idiot, let us help!” David shouted, walking forward.

“No! You stay right there! Don’t move! This is my fight! Not yours!” You had personal reasons for killing Max. He had revealed that he was the Vampire responsible for your parents’ death when you were young. “He killed my parents. So I’m going to avenge them.” You growled, gripping the stake in your hand tighter. Max chuckled.

“You might as well just give up now, little Hunter. I’m much more powerful than you.” Max said. He growled and lunged at you. You quickly dodged the attack, surprising Max.

“You talk too much, old man.” You said.

“Use garlic!” Alan Frog shouted. You scoffed.

“Vampire lesson 101 boys, pay attention,” you said, getting ready for the final blow. “Garlic doesn’t do shit.” Max lunged at you again, managing to knock you down, onto your back. You yelled out in pain. Max let out a laugh as he angled his mouth towards your neck.

“[Y/N]!”

What surprised everyone the most was when Max’s lifeless body was pushed off of your very much alive one. You sat up, breathing hard. You let out an, “oof” as you were embraced in a hug. You blinked, shocked that David was hugging you.

“David?”

“I’m so happy you’re alive. I don’t know what I would do if you had died. I can’t live without you.” He whispered.

“What are you saying?” You asked. David scoffed.

“I’m saying, I love you, idiot.”

~~~~

//I’m kind of proud of this one but not really. I hope this is what you wanted, Anon. I broke it up into bullet points to hopefully make it easier to read.//

[renatogpadilla]

FFVI as a D&D Campaign:

OK, so I've been watching "Critical Role" (Campaign 1, Episode 31, no spoilers!) a LOT lately and it got me thinking how FFVI (arguably the BEST "Final Fantasy" game out there) is essentialy that. The biggest moments could be atributted to CRAZY rolls! I can see each of the characters being played by one of the people at the table! * Marisha as Terra Branford: Would be phenomenal. Her mentality is kinda in-line with Keyleth's. The "Kill Their Own Emotions" moment in the boat shakes the table as a whole. And when it's time to run an orphanage and protect her kids from Humbaba, the emotion in her voice destroys everyone in the Party. The "Mama?" moment becomes the most fan-arted moment for her character until the final fight. Her Trance ability is agreed to be the coolest looking skill at the table. To say nothing of the way she'd react to the whole Slave Crown bussiness!

Matt: "She killed 50 imperial soldiers in a few minutes." Marisha, and the whole table: *S H A K I N G*

* Taliesin as Locke Cole: "Treasure Hunter!" every single time somebody calls him a thief or a rogue. The "Rachel" story would be absolutely heartbreaking with Taliesin's expressions. The solo-sneak through the town while meeting Celes would be one of the highlights of the Campaign... That and his frienship with Terra would only be accentuated by Taliesin's and Marisha's irl friendship. Not to mention him puking on the ship would serve as some comedic timing straight out of "Critical Role"! Also, "That bow looks good on you" LAUNCHES the ship to heights undreamt of.

* Sam as Edgar Figaro: I mean, COME ON! IT WRITES ITSELF! Besides, it would be enjoyable to see him use his -Artificer- Machinist abilities as creatively as he does! Can you IMAGINE him rolling high enough one day and then he just creates the Noiseblaster? And with that he pulls out the microphone every time he uses it and proceeds to shout some thing Scanlan would be proud of... Not to mention his friendship with Sabin would be amazing if played by Sam! "The little shrimp has become a mighty Lobster!" You can HEAR Sam Riegel's voice come out of that! And the two headed coin? Now THAT's a Scanlan! This without mentioning the violations of the Geneva Convention that the Bioblaster would certainly entail...

* Laura as Celes Chere: I mean, OBVIOUSLY. Meeting Locke in the dungeon? The apparent betrayal? THE OPERA HOUSE?! "I'm a former General, not some... Opera floozy!" TELL ME you don't hear Laura Bailey saying that! And then she rolls a Natural 20 on performance and EVERYONE looses their shit! Her Runic ability is the target of MANY close saves. Also, the way Locke and Celes' interactions happen, she'd be perfect opposite Taliesin. The chat on the bridge in Albrook? HEARTSTOPPING. The attempted suicide? You KNOW Matt would call the sesion there!

* Travis as Sabin Figaro: This one was obvious. Monk/Barb that gets mistaken for a bear, and acts like an absolute teddy bear around Terra? Yes. Gods above, YES. "You think a tiny thing like the end of the world was going to be enough to keep me down?" You heard Grog too, right? The moments would be worth MILLIONS. The Opera house and Travis going "Why is everyone singing?" and then getting more and more into it! Him holding up the house for Celes! "MISTER THOU"... But best of all, and probably the single most famous Sabin moment EVER, The Phantom Train:

Matt: The train tracks suddenly lurch to the side. Even after this long and hard-fought battle it seems *chukles* it seems this train isn't letting you get away with your lives. That brings us to you, Travis! Travis, on his 5000 IQ shit: I grapple the train.

Entire Table: ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?!?!

Matt: No way in hell are you gonna- You know what? Roll for it. *Picks up dice for the Train* Taliesin: He's dead. He's so fucking dea-

Travis: NATURAL 20.

Entire Table: *Silent disbelief, everyone looks at Matt*.

Matt: *Also in disbelief* ...Rolled a 1.

Entire Table: *Inintelligeble gasping and hyperventilating*

Travis: I'm going to use my last Blitz as Meteor Strike and suplex the Train!

Matt: *Looking at the sheet, knowing damn well what's about to happen* Go ahead and roll for damage...

Travis: *Rolls for damage*

Matt: *Braces for impact* How do you wanna do this?

Entire Table and the Internet: *EXPLODES*

The Fanart keeps coming, even YEARS after the Campaign is done...

* Liam as Setzer Gabbiani: Since he's LITERALY "Mister Steal Your Girl", I think Liam would be PERFECT. Just imagine him getting set up as this suave and smooth rougue who wanted to kidnap a beautiful singer and then gets Laura instead! (Which isn't entirely wrong...) IMAGINE his expresions and his dissapearing under the table laughing as the others barely climb aboard The Blackjack. THE ENTIRE PARTY giving him shit for a low roll on a Wisdom Check (the double-headed coin) and him segwaying that into joining the party, only to find out that he actually knew all along... Priceless. The total and undistilled heartbreak as his ship falls apart, him trying to reach out for Terra and everyone falling on different places. And then meeting Celes a year later and doing the whole Daryll story... Liam would be the one to steal the audience every time he takes the spotlight! Though he would be a little like Percy in the sense that he doesn't get much to do until his arc happens.

"Money, Money, Money!" every time he throws coins to attack, the loaded dice (in character, not at the table?) and the card throws would make him so stylish in a D&D setting I'll be surprised if somebody hasn't done it already.

* Ashley as Relm Arrowny: She takes forever to join because of her constantly being away for filming, but once she's here? HOO BOY, does the fun keep coming! Her paintings coming alive and helping them fight? Her giving Sam shit for Edgar's love life? "Fuddy-Duddy!" becoming A Thing? All of those moments would be hilarious... But probably her most notorious moment comes when they find her a year later, serving a posessed brush, telling her to paint, paint, paint under the Magic House... "Keep painting until I'm complete..." The party snaps her out of it before she finishes the greatest painting she's ever done, her Magnum Opus, and then the painting coming alive prematurely in order to force her to finish... To give her form. And then the Lakshmi boss fight happens... Matt: And with the last of her strength gone, the banshee-like apparition dissipates into mist, and before any of you can react, Relm's magic brush begins to glow, like it had when you first came in here. The glow slowly creeps off the hairs and darts! Off towards the mistified form of it's mistress, enveloping itself into a thicc layer on top of the mist, swirling around... and around and around.

Ashley: Oh god, now what?

Matt: The colors dissipate, and Lakshmi unleashes a terrible wail! *DM monster noises* As it is now joined with this colorful cloud... And it compresses, smaller and smaller... And more solid until it's not mist anymore.

Marisha: *Gets it* ¡WAIT A MINUTE!

Travis: *Exited* ¡OH SHIT, HOLD ON!

Matt: The fog dissipates... And the calm returns to Relm's senses. Ashley you are now holding an innert, ordinary paint brush. However! Floating in the air, you see a crystal with a small glowing core, the particular essence of Life embeded in the middle, Terra you *points at Marisha* feel this and recognize it instantly, as it falls to the ground, and bounces a couple times... A brand new shard of Magicite.

Party: *FERAL LOOTING*

"Lakshmi" becomes the most PAINFUL fanart to make, and it's ALWAYS the one that's valued the most among the fandom.

The rest of the Party (Strago, Umaro, Mog, Cyan, Gau and GoGo) can be the guests that come over every once in a while (I particualrly see Wil Wheaton as Strago Magus, Mary McGlynn as GoGo and Will Friedle as Clyde "Shadow" Arrowny) with Shadow coming and going with the excuse that "His contract is up" (and let's face it, after surviving/witnessing the Phantom Train? My contract would be up too...) and coming back whenever his schedule/the plot allows. Eventually, everyone comes together for one last session and the battle with God Kefka. Setting their affairs in order, the reveal of who Shadow really is during a lone chat with Strago shakes the Critters to their core. Everything makes sense! Why Interceptor went straight to Relm when they met... Why his nightmares kept showing a village of magic users, yet they never mention Shadow in Thamasa! The group is RATTLED and wether or not he survives at the end becomes a HEATED argument between everyone at the table. Only Strago knows the truth...

The sendoff on The Falcon with everyone saying goodbye and seeing what the World will bring next is regarded as one of the most emotional scenes in "Critical Role" history... But the most completely DESTRUCTIVE force in this entire cast is Matt Mercer as Kefka Palazzo:

The personality... the narrative... The absolute slime in his voice when he poisons Doma. When he kills Leo and brings forth the Light of Judgement. Matt definitely has his moments playing Ultros. He's fun! And Emperor Ghestal was more of a political "Darth Sidious" villain. But Kefka? OH, LORD. NOBODY was ready for Kefka. "Enjoy the barbicue!" gets memed to no end, while also sending a horrible shiver down people's spine whenever somebody brings it up. Truly, the villain to end all villains. I can see it happen so vividly... If anybody wants to talk about this more, PLEASE hit me up! This just feels too good! Until off course the party moves on to their next Campaign in the setting for "Final Fantasy 5" but that's a whole OTHER can of worms!

[roughrudesea]

Top 5 Shakespeare plays 😊

1. The Tempest

I love absolutely everything about this play. I love that it’s whimsical and fun and melancholy all at once. I adore every character--especially Ariel and Caliban. And of course Prospero is one of my favorite characters of all time (and definitely my favorite Shakespearean character): his chess-master manipulations conflict with (imo) a genuine love and warmth, which maybe he lost sight of in those twelve years on the island, and we slowly see that old heart thaw. I love how simultaneously awful and incredible Prospero is, and how his ruthless quest for revenge gets flipped at the last moment, by Ariel’s kindness. “Mine would sir, were I human” always makes me cry.

2. King Lear

This is @whereforebase‘s crowning achievement. I was a notorious Lear hater until this past year when our Shakespeare club did a Zoom performance of it that truly changed my life. (I am quite literally getting a King Lear tattoo in a few weeks!) This play is just. Wow. Completely devastating. I am particularly drawn to the fathers in this play: Gloucester and Lear’s parallel storylines of failing their children and then suffering the consequences of that failure--each learning his lesson, but far, far too late. This play has such a striking contrast of tenderness and brutality. The eye gouging--and then Edgar gently nursing his father; Lear screaming into the storm--and then being cared for by Kent, the Fool and Edgar; Lear savagely disowning Cordelia--only to be welcomed back into her arms in act four. GOSH I just love this play. 😭You win, @whereforebase. 

3. Macbeth

I secretly think Macbeth is in everyone’s top three somewhere. This play is just so satisfying. I love how tightly plotted it is, how quick and action-packed, and stuffed to the brim with unforgettable characters it is. Lady Macbeth is obviously iconic--and I personally love the downward spiral of Macbeth. The fact that Lear and Macbeth were written in the same year always blows my mind. They’re two of my favorites and yet they feel so different from each other. 

4. Richard II

This play just...completely devastates me. Richard is such a gorgeous and flawed character. He is a terrible king--he’s petty and vindictive and completely self-absorbed: all of that is true. What is also true is that he is a tender-hearted poet, a fragile and sensitive man, who is trying desperately to hold onto his crown. His 3.2 “For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground” monologue is my favorite speech in all of Shakespeare, and his 5.5 soliloquy is completely gorgeous: “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” This blog is also named after a Richard line: “Not all the water in the rough rude sea/Can wash the balm off from an anointed king.” 😌

5. Antony & Cleopatra

I only read A&C a couple months ago, but I quickly fell head over heels in love with it. I am completely obsessed with this luxurious, flawed, and heartfelt couple. Our titular characters are simultaneously so noble and also complete dumbasses. It’s just impossible to read/see this play and not fall in complete love with Cleopatra. She is so strong and gorgeous and petty and I love her. I am also particularly compelled by the contrast between this Antony and the Antony of Julius Caesar: I find this incredibly flawed and exhausted version so engaging. I love the way this play grapples with fame and exteriority, and I love the play’s humor! And most importantly, I love the joy of the worm.

[sirsharp-a]

I Thought you Knew Better Than That. ❜

Summary:  Paths change constantly in the depths of the forest.  Some change directions, others vanish entirely.  The trail used for the Heart’s Day Hike is a cursed piece of land...  excluding for the month of February.

Warnings:  N/A, it’s just fluffy wholesome goodness.  It’s also not very long!

    "Not scared, are you?"

    The light whap of her hand against his chest was met with a chuckle.  He knew as well as she did that there was nothing for them to fear.  They had grown together in this forest.  No matter how cosy they became in Huron, No-Man’s would always be their first home.

    "Why, do I look it?"   Her gait was playful, steps carrying her so lightly that it looked as if she was dancing on air.  The butterfly ornaments on her otherwise modest sun-dress caught the rays of light that filtered through the trees, their sapphire-shaded wings glimmering like jewels.   "I'm sure not bothered by the myths surrounding this place."

    "You don't believe in curses?"   He asked, his hand smothering hers as they meandered down the path.   "I thought you knew better than that."

    "Oh, I believe in curses,"   Grace retorted.  For a moment, her gaze looked accusatory.  He revelled in her judgement.  Her ire filled him with the same burning passion that her praise did.   "But you're the biggest one I know.  You kinda cancel it out."

    "Ouch."   It was punctuated by a laugh that wasn't very hurt at all.   "You hit hard for a woman that holds my hand with such insistence."

    If she was being honest, her head was still reeling somewhat at the idea of him asking her to do anything with him on this day.  She'd wholeheartedly expected him to go on with life as usual;  greet her in the morning with a warm cup of tea and a smile, but ultimately go on without missing a beat.  To know that he wanted to put effort into this stupid holiday made it feel a little less stupid.

    She had learned fairly quickly that Edgar was a filthy romantic when he'd woken her with breakfast and flowers.  She'd caught glimpses of it during dates prior to them getting together, but it had always been in the back of her mind that it was as likely for theatrics as it was to portray himself as loving and worthy of her body.  It had been a game, a chess match full of wit and charm, and only when he’d wormed his way into her heart had it blossomed into more.  Now that they were in a relationship, having been intimate hundreds of times and still finding his interest solely on her, she was absolutely certain that it had nothing to do with grandiosity.  He truly did just like to spoil those that he came to love.

    "It's an old tale,"   she said, ducking beneath a paper heart decoration that a huro had draped over a low-hanging branch.  The trees were littered with them, the walkway clearly marked with lanterns attached to ropes.  It was clear that the festival had taken some time to prepare.  "Is it even true?"

    Edgar thought about it for a moment.  He thought about it hard.  He considered the improbability of a path being cursed at any other time except the month of 'love’.  Then he recalled that the No-Man's was full of improbability--  of paths that disappeared at different times of the year, of weather so unpredictable and crass that it made the land all but uninhabitable, that God himself dwelled in the belly of the undergrowth--  and he felt fitfully humbled.

    "I don't know,"   he replied, smiling an enigmatic sort of smile.   "But there is one thing I've learned in this life, and that is to never piss off the Universe*, nor the occult."

    They both knew that he wasn't referring strictly to witchcraft or Huron's particular brand of 'Satanism';  that the occult was more an entity than it was a concept, writhing and dark yet inviting nonetheless, like a bottomless cave that one felt an inexplicable urge to dive headfirst into.  Its incomprehensible depth was precisely what enticed wanderers into giving chase--  into running into worlds not meant to house them.  Dark caverns;  empty holes in the ground;  bodies wedged in damp, sad walls of dirt and death.

    The sound of soft music being played on lutes was carried by the wind, the nostalgic smell of freshly baked cookies and cakes floating gently alongside them.  Edgar really couldn’t place this holiday.  It felt strange, shrouded in a mystique that seldom others did.  He’d say that the only one that confused him half as much was the signature Hallowed Eve celebrations.  Why are we messing with the dead, exactly?

    The trail would end soon.  The path would meld into nothingness by the end of the month--  not that anybody but he, Grace and Murr knew that.  Nobody knew about the strange properties that formed this land for they were  ( rightfully )  afraid of it.  They knew not of how many animals hadn’t been seen for they dwelled in the bowels of the dark, or of the monsters that roamed the paths like people did the streets.  Its quiet existence was somewhat symbolic to the lye.  It reminded him a lot of where he came from, and of the life he was now trying to lead in spite of it.

    Being nameless doesn’t suit me.  I was born to be somebody.

    “This was nice,”   Grace keened softly, curling close enough to snuggle into his arm as they walked.  Neither of them were much for public displays, but being relatively alone on a walk through the woods that had birthed them felt intimate enough a place to engage in something innocent.   “I didn’t think you’d bother.”

    “Why wouldn’t I?”   he asked, his long coat picked up by the wind.  The smell of pastries was getting closer.  Freshly baked bread called his name.   “You’re my mate now.  We should put time aside for each other like this.”

    “Mm, such a gentleman,”   she cooed, only half serious.  She knew better than to press him on the topic.  Not to be confused with coy, Edgar was one for privacy;  he didn’t much care for his personal affairs being splashed on a proverbial front page, even if said page had been made by her.  This side of him was for her perusal, and her perusal only.   “You can make good on that by buying me something sweet!”

     He made a strangled sort of sound, a terse scoff mixed with a laugh.   “Grace!”

    A boisterous laugh left the woman as she let go of his arm in favour of dashing ahead, towards whatever smelled so good.  From the golden stretch of hair to the blue of her dress, she glowed in his vision, the emerald glint of the forest dimming in comparison.  Foolishly in love  -  and more than a little bit awestruck  -  the Alpha sped up, following her towards the stalls at the end of the trail.

[blissfulparker]

Borrowed scarfs and apple tea→fratboy!Tom

Parings→fratboy!tom x reader

Summary→after a semester of flirting and teasing, one apple cider tea on a windy autumn day changes it all.

Warnings→ fluff

A/n→ this is late but its better than not posting it at all, this was requested as a concept by an anon and I loved it and made it into a fic. Hope you enjoy! Also I couldn’t add a read more link since I’m on mobile so I’m sorry!!!

At the beginning of the semester, no one would think that playboy, party-going, fratboy tom holland would calm all his activities for some transfer girl who studied literature.

Shakespeare, Edgar Allen poe, staying in to study, being kicked out of the library at closing time, wearing soft plaid skirts and sweaters in the autumn time. That’s who tom was falling for.

It started out simple, tom noticed you in his literature class when couldn’t understand anything. Tom was always bad at reading and always hated it, swearing whatever he had to do in life wouldn’t revolve around reading and writing. The irony, tom loved to act, he loved the be on stage and perform and become different character every day.

One day, Tom was in the library struggling to understand just about everything when he built up the confidence to talk to you. He walked over and asked for some help which you gladly gave him and the two of you studied until you got kicked out of the library.

It became little moments with tom like this that were special. Meeting tom in the library with coffee, tom jogging up to your dorm with pizza and books to study, borrowing his clothes when you got cold or him staying in your dorm for the night because his was simply ‘too far’.

The boys called him whipped, absolutely whipped. In fact, they were confused as to why it was You. Not some girl with half a shirt and smeared makeup ready to fuck, not some girl who’s jumping at every single party idea, not a girl who’s attached to tom as if he’s her life support. Just something simple this time was perfect.

Now it was a cold windy afternoon. You stayed the night at Toms place by accident since you studied until 2am. You curled up on Toms hard bed with soft blankets and tom laid opposite side and cuddled up with his own blanket. His lips would leave soft snores and you smile every time he’d try to cuddle into you and he’d wake up apologizing for holding you.

“I’m missing something I swear.” You opened your backpack and looked around his room. Thigh high boots, soft plaid mini skirt, simple cream sweater and you had a scarf but now it was gone.

“Are you sure?” He looks around and you sigh knowing if you keep looking you’ll be late.

“Yeah, it’s fine. It was just my scarf. I’ll see you later.” You pick up your bag and he stops you real quick.

“No, no, just wear mine. Here.” He wraps the thick black scarf around your neck. No, it doesn’t match your outfit but it’s adorable that he’s trying.

“Thanks. This is cute.” You feel the fuzzy and slightly scratchy material.

“My mum made it.” He says shyly and you smile at how innocent he is. “I’ll pick you up from class? So we can work on—“

“Your lines for your play, of course.” You smile before he grabs your hand just to touch it before he goes. “I’ll see you soon, Holland.” You smile trying not to be awkward. The boy of the schools dream was melting in the palm of your hand.

That was this morning. Now tom leaned against a cold light pole with a bagel, yogurt and an apple cider tea. Tom remembered on the first of September you smiled about the cider tea from the small cafe you would study at. Always have promising to take tom there and make him try it, so he hunted it down and picked up your favorites.

“Hey you!” You adjust your bag as you wrap your arms around him. You caught him slightly off guard and he somewhat jumped.

“Hey, How was it?” He asked as the two of you started walking.

“It was okay, I have an exam next week and thank god she told us today because I would’ve never been prepared.” You sigh and then look down at his hand. “What’s that?”

“These are for you.” He hands you the tea and the bagel. Your heart melts as he went out of his way to get you breakfast since you didn’t have time this morning.

“How’d you remember I like apple cider tea?” You asked and he shrugged as if it was nothing when in reality he listened to every single thing you tell him and wishes to give you every single thing you want.

“I think you mentioned it a while back.” He sniffles with how cold it is. You take a sip, the warm drink filling your body with bliss and tom watches as it does. How your shoulders shrug up and how your eyes shut to take in the moment.

“So, my dorm or yours?” You asked and he snaps out of his trance. He almost forgot the whole reason why he came to pick you up was because of his lines for the play he’s doing. “I think my roommate is out so if you want—“ you start and he shakes his head.

“My place is closer. All the boys have class or are just out.” He nods and you put the bagel in your bag as you walk with him. Your hand gently grazes his as you want to hold it but remind yourself that it’s not time yet, tom isn’t wanting anything serious and you have to remind yourself that.

There was something different about tom today. Something completely different. This morning when you woke up, in his bed, book stiff under your arm, his back to you as he let out soft snores, that was different. Maybe it was when he gave you his scarf, he had a few, some designer even because you knew he had money. No, he didn’t give you a Ralph Lauren scarf or any other pricey one to borrow. He gave you one that his mum made for him and it was a little small so he’s probably had the thing for years. Or maybe now, when he remembered your favorite autumn drink and went out of his way to go get it.

You two were changing. Almost like how the leaves changed on the trees. You were nervous, you weren’t supposed to end up with guys like him. Guys like him liked girls who were ready for everything. Ready for a party and a good time. Not girls who studied until they passed out on their books and certainly not girls who spent most of her days reading and writing for fun.

“Tom?” You stop and he turns around to stop too. No one was around, just you and him and the leaves falling from the oak trees.

“What is it?” He asks walking closer. He has a furrowed brow look because of your sudden stop.

“Why me?” You think aloud and he tilts his head with a few curls falling to the side.

“W-What are you talking about?” He comes closer and you look down at your shoes.

“I mean, the scarf, the tea, the bagel, the sleepovers, the study dates, you inviting me to your plays. I mean, maybe I’m reading this all wrong but I think you’ve got the wrong girl.” You step back and he places his hand on your arm.

“What do you mean ‘I’ve got the wrong girl’?” He asks and you look up.

“I’m not popular. I’m not a party animal, I’m not a sorority chick, I’m not staying up til 5am every Friday night I just...I don’t understand.” You felt stupid for saying anything, maybe you shouldn’t have said anything and now you might’ve just ruined one of your only friendships at this school.

“I don’t understand I thought you liked us hanging out? Do you think I expect that from you?” He steps forward and you feel your heart racing.

You read it wrong, maybe he was never flirting and this was just his personality, maybe he was just being nice and you fell for him and took every little nice thing he did as a sign.

“I do, I do, I love haning out with you I just...I feel like we’re something more and maybe I’m just reading into everything too much.” You shake your head and he looks away and tries to think of the right way to word everything.

“Maybe you’re not.” He taps his foot anxiously. He looks down at the both of your shoes to avoid eye contact.

“What?” You asked and he rocked back and forth on his heels.

“I mean...do you think I’m running around getting stuff for other people?” He jokes a little and you think about it. All the things he was doing for you he wasn’t doing for other people. Or was he?

“I mean—“ you start and he shakes his head.

“I’m not, I promise.” He looks up with a lopsided smile and reaches to touch the scarf he gave you this morning. “I think you should keep this.” He touches the black itchy material.

“Didn’t you say your mum—“ you start and he shakes his head.

“She makes one every single year, I have at least ten.” He speaks and you smile at how sweet that is. “What if we tried us out?” He asked and you gave him a head tilt.

“What do you mean?” You ask and he bites his lower lip.

“I mean like took our friendship to the next level and we ya know...started dating.” He was nervous, you made the party hard fratboy nervous.

“Are you doing this to get the math homework answers?” You tease and he rolls his eyes.

“I’m serious. If you’re not ready I under—“ He starts and you cut him off with a kiss on the cheek. You move your coffee into the hand with the bag and hold onto his.

“Don’t break my heart, Holland.” You tell him and he holds your hand tighter. He was going to try his best to not hurt you, or hurt himself but he knew that you were going to be the best thing that’s happened to him while he’s been at this college.

“I promise I won’t.”

Perm taglist: @lynnbeaan @actorsdamn @your-daily-dose-of-fangirl @ironspiderguy @mdgrdians @dreamymeliorism @roaringgoodshow @built4broadway @strugglinggryffindorkid @1mychalia1 @grace-sully @didanyonesaybuckybarnes @embrace-themagic ic @thebonanamuffin @thellamalord @flowerchild8341 @cade-james @random-stupid-stuffs @joyfulspider @sad-broken-crayon @mylinkmyrules s @carry-on-ms-believer @queenmissfit @skeletalwolfcat @gingerpeachyy @condy-wants-a-cookie @dennythepooh @zon-chan @fandom-fangirl07 @gabriels-gumdrop @whatam3ss @jamaicaa-blakee @thetributethatvolunteered @o-brienwrites @smexylemony @spn-worm @fucking-reddie @stranger-marvel @darlingtholland @sylvirstars @supernatural-strangethings-1980 @pvnk-bivch @spideyyypeter er @lubrielx x @authorpocketcow @swoozi224 @abunchofmaraudersfluff @redridingthroughthehood @sammyskyler2000 @usuallyweepingnacho @tom-hollands-eyelash @capandbuck @delicately-written @emmyfignewton @spidcr-man @laramitk @captianbuckyy @kira-marieee @hazthosterfield @emilyle23 @tomshufflepuff @freakofnature444 @keepingupwiththehollands s @ballarinaphan @1-800-chosen-Jacobs @screamsss-in-fangirl @peachy-parkers @stevieboyharrington n @peterunderoos96 @ximaginx @vlogsquad-wannabe @im-sorry-it’s-a-secrect-blog @ohh-Anna @im-a-smol-sweet-potato @shawnftjacob ob @iloveyou3000morgan

[berrynarrybanana]

Character Tag

I was tagged by the sweetest babe out there @narrymccartney​! If you haven’t checked out her work you absolutely should! The Assistant is my jam! 

I am doing this tag from Beatrice’s perspective, my ofc in my fic honeybee!

1. How do you display affection? What’s your love language?

I display affection through my words and my actions. Things like making Harry breakfast, writing him a little love note, or showing up with lunch as a surprise are how I express my love. My love language tends to focus more on Quality Time and Acts of Service. If I know Harry is super busy or just extremely tired, I will gladly run a few errands for him so that he can relax. 

2. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My pride. I absolutely hate asking anyone for help, even H. Asking for help makes me feel weak and it really shouldn’t because asking for help is a good thing! It bothers me that sometimes I will actively push him away just so that I can complete a task or work through something on my own. I know it means a lot to him when I let him help because his love language is definitely acts of service and giving gifts. 

3. What’s your ideal Saturday morning?

Oh the blushing I am doing right now.....Ideal Saturday Morning for me is to wake up in a foreign city, curled into H while the rain is beating against the window outside. We have an intimate rendezvous with a lot of giggles and fumbling under the covers. We slip out of bed and drag our duvet and pillows into the living room and set them up on the couch while the coffee is brewing. Harry’s arm is around my shoulder and I’m leaning into his side, looking at the food delivery app because we are far too lazy to make breakfast. We spend all morning eating and kissing and playing board games and watching tv and just talking. (p.s I beat him at scrabble everytime!)

4.What is your drink of choice? Nonalcoholic? Alcoholic?

Non-Alcoholic: Coffee. I live for coffee. As a matter of fact it isn’t even noon and I’m on cup three!

Alcoholic: Before Harry, I was a Jack and Coke girl. Now I am an ‘anything with tequila’ in it girl because I have to be. 

5. How competitive are you?

Umm....(glances around the room to see if Harry is in) not that competitive.

*somewhere else in the apartment, Harry can be heard saying* “That is a bloody lie and ya know it! Most competitive person I have ever met in my entire life” 

*Sheepish smile and shrug of the shoulders*

6. When did you last have sex? Feel free to describe if you feel comfortable.

Beatrice: Five minutes before this. 

Harry: *stumbles into room with cheeky grin* Are you gonna describe it?

Beatrice: *giggles, looks back at harry and then back at interviewer with wide eyes and a grin* It was really good sex.

Harry: Yeah it was *smug grin*

Beatrice: You know this is my questionnaire, squid. Can I have my five minutes to shine? 

Harry: I suppose..... *dramatic huff*’

7. What is your idea of a perfect date? 

Well my first real date was with Harry and it was my favorite date to this day. We spent an entire night driving around, drinking strawberry milkshakes and listening to music. We ended up hanging out on the beach until the sun came up and then we um....well, we went back to his and some PG-13 things occurred before we fell asleep.

8. What is your most treasured possession?

He’s not necessarily a possession, but Harry.....and my favorite coffee mug with edgar allen poe on it (it has matching socks!)...and my book collection....and my squid ring with Harry’s birthstone! 

9. Would you ever get a tattoo? Do you have any?

I have my honeybee tattoo on my arm and a flower on my ankle (it’s the flower of my birth month and it was my first tattoo. I have a list of tattoo’s I really want to get but I just haven’t found the time. 

10. Do you believe in love at first sight? Have you experienced it?

I didn’t believe in love at first sight before Harry and I still don’t....kind of? I wasn’t in love with Harry the moment I laid eyes on him, but it only took him a few hours to worm his way into my heart and I have truly loved him ever since. 

A/n: That was kind of fun and I would love to answer anymore questions in Honeybee’s or H’s perspective! I feel like it’s a good way to get to know her!

 I tag:

@bfharry​ (I would love to read about any of your characters, but I’m intrigued about your Poly!fic Y/N) 

@stellarboystyles​ *cough couch* bartender!H :)

@harry-is-my-medicine​: I would love to see what Y/N from Want You would say! 

There are so many people I want to tag but I am far too shy to reach out and ask. 

Also if you were tagged and don’t want to/don’t feel like doing this that’s totally okay! If anyone else I didn’t tag wants to do this, I encourage you to give it a try! It was a lot of fun! Tag me in it if you do it because I would love to read! 

[thetygre]

30 Day Monster Challenge 2 - Day #19: Favorite Minions/Henchmen

1.      Minions (Overlord [Video Game])

There is only one creature we call ‘Minion’ in this house, and it is the Minions from Overlord. (The game, not the anime.) The Minions are the perfect… well, minions. They’re design is mostly goofy, but there’s also something kind of horrible to them; they’re like somebody threw an imp, a spider monkey, and a goblin in a sack and didn’t open it up again until the screaming stopped. Those buggy yellow eyes, the hunched backs, the crooked tails, the shrill voices; this is what pops into my head when I think of what an evil minion is supposed to be like. They are utterly and totally devout to their master; they have one purpose in life, and that is to serve you. They think absolutely nothing of throwing themselves into a forge just to upgrade your weapons or taking on a monster just because you tell them to.

Watching them swarm over a cyclops like a nest of army ants is always fun, but that hivemind mentality shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of individual. The Minions are kind of precursors to the uruks from Shadow of Mordor; the longer they live and the more fights they survive, the more unique they become. They’re given names and titles, and they start gathering weapons and armor. It’s never made clear what exactly the Minions are in Overlord, but the implication isn’t that an Overlord chooses them; they choose the Overlord. Without the Minions, and Overlord is just some spooky adventurer in a suit of armor. The Minions make the man, and the fact that you need them as much as they need you is a pretty interesting power dynamic.

2.      X-49 (Samurai Jack)

Just… do I really have to say anything? It was one of the best episodes in Samurai Jack, one of the best animated series of all time. And the music and the writing and the cinematography and oh god it’s all coming back at once

3.      Igor (Young Frankenstein)

There never was an Igor in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; he’s a fabricated character at least partially concocted from Edgar Allan Poe’s Hop-Frog that somehow wormed himself into horror mythology. And honestly, thank goodness for that or we wouldn’t have had Marty Feldman’s fantastic performance for Young Frankenstein. Feldman looks like he was born for the role; his exophthalmos was a problem he dealt with his entire life, but Igor is just one example of how he incorporated his condition into his comedy personas. Igor is a good comedic counterpart to Gene Wilder’s Frankenstein in a classic double-act kind of way. Where Wilder’s Frankenstein is driven to escape his destiny or conform to it, Feldman’s Igor is committed to his role from the beginning, with no real perspective on it in the grand scheme of things. Igor undercuts Frankenstein’s deliberate melodrama to remind the audience that it’s all a joke.

4.      Kobolds (Dungeons and Dragons)

Kobolds are one of the greatest success stories in tabletop roleplaying monsters. Kobolds have been in Dungeons and Dragons since the beginning, but they spent 1st and 2nd edition as basically another kind of goblin. Outside a few rare exceptions, kobolds were just an adventurer’s in-between step as they transitioned from clearing out rats in cellars to goblins in caves. For 3rd edition, the designers felt they needed to give kobolds something; a hook, a feature, a raison d’etre. So the design team though, “What if the littlest monsters had dreams about being the biggest? What if kobolds thought they were dragons?” The rest is history; kobolds became dragon minions, cultists who firmly believe that they are descended from the great wyrms they worship. Inside ever little kobold beats the heart of a mighty dragon, and their pluck and determination pushes them to reach for heights most humanoid races never even dream of. Kobolds are not only great examples of how to make a monster interesting from a game design perspective, but also of how endearing characters can be when you give them goals.

5.      Pleiades (Overlord [Anime])

It always bothers me when evil overlords leave their castle staff of their minions list. A great villain should have their power displayed in everything around them, from their captains to their cooks. That’s why Ainz Ooal Gown’s Pleiades are so great; the castle maids for an evil fortress, each on is an individual fighter with her own superpowers. Following organization rules, each of the maids is also a monster; werewolves, shapeshifting oozes, a sentient swarm of insects, etc. And that’s the kind of creativity and attention to detail I love to see in an evil overlord’s forces. Look at where there isn’t a superpowered minion, and say, “No, this will not do. More evil.”

6.      Hunchbacks (Castlevania)

I remember that my mind was blown when I finally realized the ‘fleamen’ from Castlevania were supposed to be hunchbacked Igors. While I was kind of disappointed that bizarre insect men hybrids, I am still happy that Castlevania didn’t neglect a favorite horror trope. Castlevania actually has a pretty unique staff; undead maids, zombie butchers, a plague doctor groundskeeper, and skeleton butlers. But it wasn’t until the Lords of Shadow games that the hunchbacks started being explored. One of the good things about Lords of Shadow was the implication that Castlevania itself is alive; the castle has always existed, and can’t even really be fully pulled through to our world. When the castle needs repairs, though, someone to repair it and expand it, it summons the hunchbacks out of nowhere. The hunchbacks are tied to the castle; they’re like cells in its body. They might know more about Castlevania itself than even Dracula, but they aren’t letting on. Their only job is to serve their master, whoever or whatever it might be.

7.      Maleficent’s Goblins (Sleeping Beauty)

Maleficent’s goblins are little bundles of medieval monstrosity with enough character to be charming. They’re like the Minions, where I honestly can’t imagine them existing without a master. It wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out they were just demons conjured up by Maleficent from her firepit. The odds and ends of medieval armor and weaponry on top of their gargoyle aesthetic makes me think of very early Tolkien, like the first covers for The Hobbit and Return of the King. These little guys were the forerunners to orcs, uruk-hai, parademons, and every other evil monster army. Sometimes I still wish we could go back to minions like these.

8.      Lurch (Addams Family)

The quintessential creepy butler. I feel like Lurch parallels Marty Feldman’s Igor in some pretty interesting ways. They’re both essentially half a joke, part of a comedy routine that requires someone else to land the punchline. The difference is that while Igor undermined Frankenstein to lighten the mood, Luch is deadly serious to contrast the Addams’ playfulness. Lurch wasn’t just a straight-man; he was a brick wall that you could throw anything off of. To be honest, I always kind of wondered what exactly Lurch was; I never really thought of him as human. My favorite theories are either that he was a flesh golem (since he was clearly based off Karloff’s Frankenstein), a homunculus grown for the family and passed down through generations, or just some really tall guy in a suit.

9.      Dwergi (Van Helsing)

The Dwergi in Van Helsing have an unnecessarily cool design for what amounts to being Dracula’s grunts. The goggles, spines, and full leather outfits make me think of aliens or something that would be working for Clive Barker’s Cenobites. I can’t help but think of the ‘jawas’ that were through the gate in Phantasm. But I think that I love the Dwergi most as concepts for evil dwarves; ‘dwergi’ most likely derives from ‘dvergar’, a German word for dwarf. There are even evil dwarves in Dungeons and Dragons named duergar and derro. And that connections opens up so many possibilities for me. Imagine a dwarven sub-race mutated to be classical Igor characters, or adventurers encountering derro dressed all in mad scientist gear underground. The Dwergi have hidden depths when you know where to look.

10.   Stormtroopers (Star Wars)

Out of the standard henchmen armies, Stormtroopers are still my favorite. Stormtroopers are up there with Red Shirts in terms of incompetence and mortality rates. Every now and then some random Stormtrooper manages to stand out and look like a badass, but even they usually have a lifespan of however long until the heroes arrive. I’ve heard some people argue that the humanizing elements of Stormtroopers, the way they talk about their day or are just trying to do a job, makes the very Nazi-coded Empire too sympathetic. But I would argue the opposite; the human aspects of the Stormtroopers make it clear how actually farcical the whole Empire is. The Stormtroopers aren’t some elite kill-force, they’re bumbling idiots. Whatever brutal efficiency they’re ascribed usually happens off-screen, and it quickly gets drowned out by the chorus of Wilhelm screams heard while trooper after trooper dies ridiculously. The Stormtroopers make it clear how fascism doesn’t raise the individual up but uses them as a disposable resource. The Stormtroopers as human characters make the Empire look inept, not empowered.

[derangedsilence]

Shuu Sakamaki

Permissions

Shipping?  Yes.  Singleship per verse with limited verses.  Please note - as stated on the rules page, orientation is typically listed as what the muses think they are.  Please note that sleeping with someone =/= shipping here.

Duplicates? Multiple ‘Yuis’?  What about character that aren’t on the dedicated castmates list?  Yes.  You can thrust Shuu at Shuu.  There’s also no issue with duplicates of canon, crossover, etc. characters that Shuu is already interacting with.  You want it, you got it.   To prevent destroying the validity of duplicate muses, I will sometimes think of things as ‘A Kanato did this’ instead of ‘Kanato did this’, which is a very subtle difference but prevents another muse from having to deal with the blame of an event they were not responsible for.  This will only be differentiated as necessary within writing.  I repeat: all duplicate muses will be treated with respect, not as ‘fakes’.  Any Sakamaki brother is a brother of his, regardless of how many Kanatos there are (for example).  We’re just going to, uh, slide past that as often as possible (and occasionally make jokes).

Multiple Shuus will be treated as though they’d somehow wandered into one’s world or the other via some enchanted, strange object or doorway in the Sakamaki household.  This allows them to interact, but prevents the concept that one is a ‘true’ Subaru over the other.  You have been warned.

Fighting?  A-Okay.  I’ve done a lot of fighting roleplay but it was in the past and I’m way more interested in the storytelling of it.  It’s better that we discuss the end result beforehand for smoother sailing, but we can improv it as well.  I do this from a storytelling perspective.

Harming? A-Okay!  Just be aware that this muse may harm or kill yours in turn!

Killing? A-Okay!  Please be aware, however, that should the need or desire to continue the verse arise, the death scene will be considered a what-if.  In addition, it is very difficult to kill this muse due to the pureblood resurrection abilities.

Can we send shippy memes / etc.? Sure, we can still explore what-ifs, drabbles and oneshot threads, but the main focus will be on the storyline here!

Can we know Yui has Cordelia’s heart, is possibly turning into a vampire, is surrounded by vampires, etc. and reference this to Shuu? On a case-by-case basis.  It should be discovered organically if it’s not something your character would be able to know already.  There’s plenty of situations where this would make sense.

Can we know about Shuu’s past before interacting?  No, not unless you have genuine reasons for it like being one of his brothers.

Can we have characters comment on the events of the timeline? Yes, if they “catch sight of”, “overhear a rumor”, “a familiar saw X”, or any other sensible reason, then characters can be aware of and comment on events.  I wholly encourage characters participate in Shuu’s life!  Please tell the story with me!

Can we rescue Yui Komori from the Sakamaki household? Unlikely.  At best, if you succeed in the first place, it’s entirely likely that they will find you, they will take Yui back, and they will kill one or both of you for this.  Or the Mukamis might take advantage of the situation!  Obviously, the exception here is the Mukamis, who are entirely expected to attempt this from time to time.

Can we reference interactions we’ve had with your Kanato, etc. to Shuu?  I mean...sure?  If you want?  I’m fine with using my muses for plot and timeline advancements for myself and those I interact with (within limits) but I’d also prefer to not be my Ayato’s Kanato and vice versa, so this would probably be limited.  You can still act like what’s happened has happened, though.

Biography / Stats

FULL NAME. Shuu Sakamaki ALIAS. Shuu-san (Yui), Dull Guy (Ayato), Neet (Yuma), Good-for-Nothing (Reiji) AGE. Appears 19-20 || Actually significantly older BIRTHDAY. October 18  GENDER & PRONOUNS. Male, he/him ORIENTATION. Heterosexual...? SPECIES. Vampire OCCUPATION. High school student of the night school known as Ryoutei Academy. 3rd year in HDB, 1st year of the college branch if assuming time has passed. RESIDENCE. Sakamaki residence, Japan

HAIR. Blond EYES. Blue BUILD. Fit HEIGHT. 5'11'' (180cm) TATTOOS. None PIERCINGS. A black stud on each ear, easily missed since he has his earphones in. ADDITIONAL MARKINGS.   Typically wears an mp3-player on his neck. OTHER. Left-handed

ZODIAC. Libra  ALIGNMENT. Neutral Tired  POSITIVE TRAITS.  creative, contemplative, calm NEGATIVE TRAITS. apathetic, lazy, fickle

BIRTH PLACE. Japan NATIONALITY. Japanese PARENTS. Karlheinz (Alive?), Beatrix (Dead) SIBLINGS. Sibling: Reiji (younger).  Paternal Half-siblings: Subaru and the triplets (Ayato, Kanato, Laito) EXTENDED FAMILY. Karlheinz's other wives, Christa and Cordelia. Richter (Uncle). EDUCATION. High school (likely several times over) SPECIES. Vampire NOTABLE SKILLS. musical (piano, violin)   LANGUAGES. Japanese, English FAVORITE FOOD. None

PUREBLOOD. Inhuman strength, increased speed, vision, hearing, and smell. Fast healing & healing saliva. TELEPORTATION. Can teleport instantaneously. FLYING. He can fly on a full moon. SWORDSMANSHIP. A OTHER. Very good at being used as a boxing pear when not motivated to fight.  Great at fighting polar bears. WEAKNESSES. Truly holy objects weaken him, but not by much.  Also, afraid of fire. DISLIKES.   Food that’s too sweet, worms, having to get involved and do things 

Appearance

[*Credit: Appearance section pulled directly from the Dialovers Wiki.]

Shuu is a handsome young man with slightly curled blond hair as well as light, ocean blue eyes which he inherited from his mother.  He has black studs on both of his ears.  He is always seen with his MP3 player attached to a wire which is wrapped around his neck and with the earphones always in his ears.

In HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL, he usually wears a light blue sweater over a dark blue shirt with dark pants.

In MORE, BLOOD, he wears a blue dress shirt with a white shirt underneath and brown pants.

His school uniform consists of the black school jacket draped over his shoulders and a beige sweater with a slightly unbuttoned white dress shirt.  He wears it with the black uniform pants and brown dress shoes.

Personality

Generally the epitome of a lazy panda that barely has the interest or energy to chew on the bamboo it’s holding.

Ever since events in his childhood, Shuu is apathetic and disengaged from life and those around him.  He neither wants to gain any interest in anything nor take any responsibility in looking after his five younger brothers and their home.  Though they tend to quiet, listen and obey when he does speak up, he will complain about having to deal with their problems.  

There is one great love in Shuu’s life: music.  And adult Drama CDs, sometimes.  But mostly music.  He’s always listening to it even when he takes a bath!  His preference is classical music.

Shuu has so little motivation that he does almost nothing, often needing to be persuaded and cajoled into actions that are necessary for him.  Seeking attention out with him despite his lack of interest in participating in the world around him will often be met with perversion and lazy harrassment.  

A man who gets too attached who would prefer not to feel any of it in the first place.

History

CHILDHOOD. Heavily restricted and controlled, Shuu was suffocated by the expectations placed upon him.  He ran away from home and met a human boy, Edgar, with whom he became friends.  Able to run between the demon and human worlds via underground passages, Shuu ran off to play with Edgar frequently.  Reiji, Shuu’s younger brother, destroyed Edgar’s village in a fire in the hopes of killing two birds with one stone: impressing his mother and removing Shuu’s happiness.  Edgar died.

Shuu blamed himself for Edgar’s death and came to fear fire.  With continued jabs from Reiji on his uselessness and pressure to become the Sakamaki heir from his mother, Shuu withdrew further and further into himself until he would do nothing unless pushed to by Reiji.

NEAR CURRENT.  Karlheinz manipulated circumstances to keep tossing experimental sacrificial brides at his children.  None could endure the blood loss, physical and emotional torment.  The sacrificial brides were too fragile and the Sakamakis broke their toys.  

CURRENT. A single sacrificial bride is surviving and enduring: Yui Komori.  Whichever brother obtains her will become the Sakamaki heir.  Without directly entering into a “relationship” with any of the Sakamakis, she endures her stay there.

Verses

Brief summaries of the verses for Shuu along with potential links for those less familiar with Diabolik Lovers but still want to interact with him.  For the sake of keeping things clean, encouraging community-wide and cooperative storytelling in roleplay, and not letting things get too crazy, verses will be limited.  More may be made over time as needed.

Summaries:

| DL Anime | DL More Blood Anime | Haunted Dark Bridal | More Blood | (Coming Soon)

VERSE - HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

*This verse will be typically be the default, 'main verse'. In this, it is assumed that Yui Komori is staying at the Sakamaki household with some version of the first game having taken place. If the second game is included, it's with the idea that Yui stayed with the Sakamakis. Whether Shuu or one of his brothers winds up obtaining the Sacrificial Bride, Shuu’s life continues.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; SHUU; HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

VERSE - MORE BLOOD

If for some reason it's absolutely necessary to differentiate between the verse above and a verse where More Blood has certainly occured, but Yui did not (at least initially) stay with the Sakamakis and instead is currently living with the Mukamis or was, until recently, still living with the Mukamis.  Rivalry abounds and attempts to procure Yui are likely.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; SHUU; MORE BLOOD

VERSE - MISC.

Posts that could take place in the Sakamaki or Mukami verses but involve duplicates (whether Yui or others) in the same scene in a manner that would be hard to pass off as typical flow for those verses.  Also includes nearly ANY time fellow characters are staying at the mansion, otherwise we’d end up with verses of 20+ additional characters hanging out in the Sakamaki villa.  

Verse Details | Tag:#V; SHUU; MISC

SITUATIONAL VERSE TAGS

#V; SHUU; UNIVERSAL

Posts that can easily be assumed to have occured in either the Sakamaki or Mukami verses, typically answering asks, etc. that aren’t directly related to events unique to their timelines.

#V; SHUU; WHAT IFS & #V; SHUU; ONESHOTS

Likely reserved for one-off threads exploring a “what if”, a romantic meme that would otherwise be inappropriate, etc.  If a meme doesn’t quite fit with one of the existing timelines, it’ll get one of these.

Trivia

Had to repeat his third year of high school.

When you can’t faintly hear music coming from his earphones, he’s probably listening to really inappropriate Drama CDs.

Had a dog, once.

Tags

THREAD / WRITING TAG: #echoes in the halls; shuu

HEADCANONS:  #hc; dialovers; shuu

IMAGES: #itt // shuu sakamaki

MUSIC:  #music; dialovers; shuu

[gabtohealpolarlegend]

Edgar Allan Poe’s Genealogy II

You may remember that I had, previously, written a post about Edgar Allan Poe’s genealogy, as put forth by his ex-fiancee, Sarah Helen Whitman. In it, there was some mention of one of his ancestors saving a noblewoman who had been accused of witchcraft. I happened to have run across an entire chapter about it in an old book called, Irish Witchcraft and Demonology, by St. John D. Seymour. Sir Arnold le Poer, is Poe's relative. The other le Poer's in this tale? One would guess that they were, but it is never really stated directly and it is only suggested that John le Poer "probably" was related to Arnold. Here is the chapter in it’s entirety.

CHAPTER II

A.D. 1324

Dame Alice Kyteler, the Sorceress of Kilkenny

The history of the proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler and her confederates on account of their dealings in unhallowed arts is to be found in a MS. in the British Museum, and has been edited amongst the publications of the Camden Society by Thomas Wright, who considers it to be a contemporary narrative. Good modern accounts of it are given in the same learned antiquary’s “Narratives of Witchcraft and Sorcery” in Transactions of the Ossory Archæological Society, vol. i., and in the Rev. Dr. Carrigan’s History of the Diocese of Ossory, vol. i.

Dame Alice Kyteler (such apparently being her maiden name), the facile princeps of Irish witches, was a member of a good Anglo-Norman family that had been settled in the city of Kilkenny for many years. The coffin-shaped tombstone of one of her ancestors, Jose de Keteller, who died in 128—, is preserved at S. Mary’s church; the inscription is in Norman-French and the lettering is Lombardic. The lady in question must have been far removed from the popular conception of a witch as an old woman of striking ugliness, or else her powers of attraction were very remarkable, for she had succeeded in leading four husbands to the altar. She had been married, first, to William Outlawe of Kilkenny, banker; secondly, to Adam le Blund of Callan; thirdly, to Richard de Valle—all of whom she was supposed to have got rid of by poison; and fourthly, to Sir John le Poer, whom it was said she deprived of his natural senses by philtres and incantations.

The Bishop of Ossory at this period was Richard de Ledrede, a Franciscan friar, and an Englishman by birth. He soon learnt that things were not as they should be, for when making a visitation of his diocese early in 1324 he found by an Inquisition, in which were five knights and numerous nobles, that there was in the city a band of heretical sorcerers, at the head of whom was Dame Alice. The following charges were laid against them.

1. They had denied the faith of Christ absolutely for a year or a month, according as the object they desired to gain through sorcery was of greater or less importance. During all that period they believed in none of the doctrines of the Church; they did not adore the Body of Christ, nor enter a sacred building to hear mass, nor make use of consecrated bread or holy water.

2. They offered in sacrifice to demons living animals, which they dismembered, and then distributed at cross-roads to a certain evil spirit of low rank, named the Son of Art.

3. They sought by their sorcery advice and responses from demons.

4. In their nightly meetings they blasphemously imitated the power of the Church by fulminating sentence of excommunication, with lighted candles, even against their own husbands, from the sole of their foot to the crown of their head, naming each part expressly, and then concluded by extinguishing the candles and by crying Fi! Fi! Fi! Amen.

5. In order to arouse feelings of love or hatred, or to inflict death or disease on the bodies of the faithful, they made use of powders, unguents, ointments, and candles of fat, which were compounded as follows. They took the entrails of cocks sacrificed to demons, certain horrible worms, various unspecified herbs, dead men’s nails, the hair, brains, and shreds of the cerements of boys who were buried unbaptized, with other abominations, all of which they cooked, with various incantations, over a fire of oak-logs in a vessel made out of the skull of a decapitated thief.

6. The children of Dame Alice’s four husbands accused her before the Bishop of having killed their fathers by sorcery, and of having brought on them such stolidity of their senses that they bequeathed all their wealth to her and her favourite son, William Outlawe, to the impoverishment of the other children. They also stated that her present husband, Sir John le Poer, had been reduced to such a condition by sorcery and the use of powders that he had become terribly emaciated, his nails had dropped off, and there was no hair left on his body. No doubt he would have died had he not been warned by a maid-servant of what was happening, in consequence of which he had forcibly possessed himself of his wife’s keys, and had opened some chests in which he found a sackful of horrible and detestable things which he transmitted to the bishop by the hands of two priests.

7. The said dame had a certain demon, an incubus, named Son of Art, or Robin son of Art, who had carnal knowledge of her, and from whom she admitted that she had received all her wealth. This incubus made its appearance under various forms, sometimes as a cat, or as a hairy black dog, or in the likeness of a negro (Æthiops), accompanied by two others who were larger and taller than he, and of whom one carried an iron rod.

According to another source the sacrifice to the evil spirit is said to have consisted of nine red cocks, and nine peacocks’ eyes. Dame Alice was also accused of having “swept the streets of Kilkenny betweene compleine and twilight, raking all the filth towards the doores of hir sonne William Outlawe, murmuring secretly with hir selfe these words:

“To the house of William my sonne Hie all the wealth of Kilkennie towne.”

On ascertaining the above the Bishop wrote to the Chancellor of Ireland, Roger Outlawe, who was also Prior of the Preceptory of Kilmainham, for the arrest of these persons. Upon this William Outlawe formed a strong party to oppose the Bishop’s demands, amongst which were the Chancellor, his near relative, and Sir Arnold le Poer, the Seneschal of Kilkenny, who was probably akin to Dame Alice’s fourth husband. The Chancellor in reply wrote to the Bishop stating that a warrant for arrest could not be obtained until a public process of excommunication had been in force for forty days, while Sir Arnold also wrote requesting him to withdraw the case, or else to ignore it. Finding such obstacles placed in his way the Bishop took the matter into his own hands, and cited the Dame, who was then in her son’s house in Kilkenny, to appear before him. As might be expected, she ignored the citation, and fled immediately.

Foiled in this, he cited her son William for heresy. Upon this Sir Arnold came with William to the Priory of Kells, where De Ledrede was holding a visitation, and besought him not to proceed further in the matter. Finding entreaty useless he had recourse to threats, which he speedily put into execution. As the Bishop was going forth on the following day to continue his visitation he was met on the confines of the town of Kells by Stephen le Poer, bailiff of the cantred of Overk, and a posse of armed men, by whom he was arrested under orders from Sir Arnold, and lodged the same day in Kilkenny jail. This naturally caused tremendous excitement in the city. The place became ipso facto subject to an interdict; the Bishop desired the Sacrament, and it was brought to him in solemn procession by the Dean and Chapter. All the clergy, both secular and religious, flocked from every side to the prison to offer their consolation to the captive, and their feelings were roused to the highest pitch by the preaching of a Dominican, who took as his text, Blessed are they which are persecuted, &c. Seeing this, William Outlawe nervously informed Sir Arnold of it, who thereupon decided to keep the Bishop in closer restraint, but subsequently changed his mind, and allowed him to have companions with him day and night, and also granted free admission to all his friends and servants.

After De Ledrede had been detained in prison for seventeen days, and Sir Arnold having thereby attained his end, viz. that the day on which William Outlawe was cited to appear should in the meantime pass by, he sent by the hands of his uncle the Bishop of Leighlin (Miler le Poer), and the sheriff of Kilkenny a mandate to the constable of the prison to liberate the Bishop. The latter refused to sneak out like a released felon, but assumed his pontificals, and, accompanied by all the clergy and a throng of people, made his way solemnly to S. Canice’s Cathedral, where he gave thanks to God. With a pertinacity we cannot but admire he again cited William Outlawe by public proclamation to appear before him, but before the day arrived the Bishop was himself cited to answer in Dublin for having placed an interdict on his diocese. He excused himself from attending on the plea that the road thither passed through the lands of Sir Arnold, and that in consequence his life would be in danger.

De Ledrede had been arrested by Le Poer’s orders in Lent, in the year 1324. On Monday following the octave of Easter the Seneschal held his court in Kilkenny, to which entrance was denied the Bishop; but the latter, fully robed, and carrying the Sacrament in a golden vase, made his way into the court-room, and “ascending the tribunal, and reverently elevating the Body of Christ, sought from the Seneschal, Justiciary, and Bailiffs that a hearing should be granted to him.” The scene between the two was extraordinary; it is too lengthy to insert, and does not bear to be condensed—suffice it to say that the Seneschal alluded to the Bishop as “that vile, rustic, interloping monk (trutannus), with his dirt (hordys) which he is carrying in his hands,” and refused to hear his arguments, or to afford him any assistance.

Though we have lost sight for a while of Dame Alice, yet she seems to have been eagerly watching the trend of events, for now we find her having the Bishop summoned to Dublin to answer for having excommunicated her, uncited, unadmonished, and unconvicted of the crime of sorcery. He attended accordingly, and found the King’s and the Archbishop’s courts against him to a man, but the upshot of the matter was that the Bishop won the day; Sir Arnold was humbled, and sought his pardon for the wrongs he had done him. This was granted, and in the presence of the council and the assembled prelates they mutually gave each other the kiss of peace.

Affairs having come to such a satisfactory conclusion the Bishop had leisure to turn his attention to the business that had unavoidably been laid aside for some little time. He directed letters patent, praying the Chancellor to seize the said Alice Kyteler, and also directed the Vicar-General of the Archbishop of Dublin to cite her to respond on a certain day in Kilkenny before the Bishop. But the bird escaped again out of the hand of the fowler. Dame Alice fled a second time, on this occasion from Dublin, where she had been living, and (it is said) made her way to England, where she spent the remainder of her days unmolested. Several of her confederates were subsequently arrested, some of them being apparently in a very humble condition of life, and were committed to prison. Their names were: Robert of Bristol, a clerk, John Galrussyn, Ellen Galrussyn, Syssok Galrussyn, William Payn de Boly, Petronilla of Meath, her daughter Sarah, Alice the wife of Henry Faber, Annota Lange, and Eva de Brownestown. When the Bishop arrived in Kilkenny from Dublin he went direct to the prison, and interviewed the unfortunates mentioned above. They all immediately confessed to the charges laid against them, and even went to the length of admitting other crimes of which no mention had been made; but, according to them, Dame Alice was the mother and mistress of them all. Upon this the Bishop wrote letters on the 6th of June to the Chancellor, and to the Treasurer, Walter de Islep, requesting them to order the Sheriff to attach the bodies of these people and put them in safe keeping. But a warrant was refused, owing to the fact that William Outlawe was a relation of the one and a close friend of the other; so at length the Bishop obtained it through the Justiciary, who also consented to deal with the case when he came to Kilkenny.

Before his arrival the Bishop summoned William Outlawe to answer in S. Mary’s Church. The latter appeared before him, accompanied by a band of men armed to the teeth; but in no way overawed by this show of force, De Ledrede formally accused him of heresy, of favouring, receiving, and defending heretics, as well as of usury, perjury, adultery, clericide, and excommunications—in all thirty-four items were brought forward against him, and he was permitted to respond on the arrival of the Justiciary. When the latter reached Kilkenny, accompanied by the Chancellor, the Treasurer, and the King’s Council, the Bishop in their presence recited the charges against Dame Alice, and with the common consent of the lawyers present declared her to be a sorceress, magician, and heretic, and demanded that she should be handed over to the secular arm and have her goods and chattels confiscated as well. Judging from Friar Clyn’s note this took place on the 2nd of July. On the same day the Bishop caused a great fire to be lit in the middle of the town in which he burnt the sackful of magical stock-in-trade, consisting of powders, ointments, human nails, hair, herbs, worms, and other abominations, which the reader will remember he had received from Sir John le Poer at an early stage in the proceedings.

Further trouble arose with William Outlawe, who was backed by the Chancellor and Treasurer, but the Bishop finally succeeded in beating him, and compelled him to submit on his bended knees. By way of penance he was ordered to hear at least three masses every day for the space of a year, to feed a certain number of poor people, and to cover with lead the chancel of S. Canice’s Cathedral from the belfry eastward, as well as the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin. He thankfully agreed to do this, but subsequently refused to fulfil his obligations, and was thereupon cast into prison.

What was the fate of Dame Alice’s accomplices, whose names we have given above, is not specifically recorded, except in one particular instance. One of them, Petronilla of Meath, was made the scapegoat for her mistress. The Bishop had her flogged six times, and under the repeated application of this form of torture she made the required confession of magical practices. She admitted the denial of her faith and the sacrificing to Robert, son of Art, and as well that she had caused certain women of her acquaintance to appear as if they had goats’ horns. She also confessed that at the suggestion of Dame Alice she had frequently consulted demons and received responses from them, and that she had acted as a “medium” (mediatrix) between her and the said Robert. She declared that although she herself was mistress of the Black Art, yet she was as nothing in comparison with the Dame from whom she had learnt all her knowledge, and that there was no one in the world more skilful than she. She also stated that William Outlawe deserved death as much as she, for he was privy to their sorceries, and for a year and a day had worn the devil’s girdle[6] round his body. When rifling Dame Alice’s house there was found “a wafer of sacramental bread, having the devil’s name stamped thereon instead of Jesus Christ, and a pipe of ointment wherewith she greased a staffe, upon which she ambled and galloped through thicke and thin, when and in what manner she listed.” Petronilla was accordingly condemned to be burnt alive, and the execution of this sentence took place with all due solemnity in Kilkenny on 3rd November 1324, which according to Clyn fell on a Sunday. This was the first instance of the punishment of death by fire being inflicted in Ireland for heresy.

Whether or not Petronilla’s fellow-prisoners were punished is not clear, but the words of the anonymous narrator show us that the burning of that unfortunate wretch was rather the beginning than the end of persecution—that in fact numerous other suspected persons were followed up, some of whom shared her terrible fate, while to others milder forms of punishment were meted out, no doubt in proportion to their guilt. He says: “With regard to the other heretics and sorcerers who belonged to the pestilential society of Robin, son of Art, the order of law being preserved, some of them were publicly burnt to death; others, confessing their crimes in the presence of all the people, in an upper garment, are marked back and front with a cross after they had abjured their heresy, as is the custom; others were solemnly whipped through the town and the market-place; others were banished from the city and diocese; others who evaded the jurisdiction of the Church were excommunicated; while others again fled in fear and were never heard of after. And thus, by the authority of Holy Mother Church, and by the special grace of God, that most foul brood was scattered and destroyed.”

Sir Arnold le Poer, who had taken such a prominent part in the affair, was next attacked. The Bishop accused him of heresy, had him excommunicated, and committed prisoner to Dublin Castle. His innocency was believed in by most people, and Roger Outlawe, Prior of Kilmainham, who also figures in our story, and who was appointed Justiciary of Ireland in 1328, showed him some kindness, and treated him with humanity. This so enraged the Bishop that he actually accused the Justiciary of heresy. A select committee of clerics vindicated the orthodoxy of the latter, upon which he prepared a sumptuous banquet for his defenders. Le Poer died in prison the same year, 1331, before the matter was finally settled, and as he was under ban of excommunication his body lay unburied for a long period.

But ultimately the tables were turned with a vengeance. De Ledrede was himself accused of heresy by his Metropolitan, Alexander de Bicknor, upon which he appealed to the Holy See, and set out in person for Avignon. He endured a long exile from his diocese, suffered much hardship, and had his temporalities seized by the Crown as well. In 1339 he recovered the royal favour, but ten years later further accusations were brought to the king against him, in consequence of which the temporalities were a second time taken up, and other severe measures were threatened. However, by 1356 the storm had blown over; he terminated a lengthy and disturbed episcopate in 1360, and was buried in the chancel of S. Canice’s on the north side of the high altar. A recumbent effigy under an ogee-headed canopy is supposed to mark the last resting-place of this turbulent prelate.

In the foregoing pages we have only given the barest outline of the story, except that the portions relative to the practice of sorcery have been fully dealt with as pertinent to the purpose of this book, as well as on account of the importance of the case in the annals of Irish witchcraft. The story of Dame Alice Kyteler and Bishop de Ledrede occupies forty pages of the Camden Society’s publications, while additional illustrative matter can be obtained from external sources; indeed, if all the scattered material were gathered together and carefully sifted it would be sufficient to make a short but interesting biography of that prelate, and would throw considerable light on the relations between Church and State in Ireland in the fourteenth century. With regard to the tale it is difficult to know what view should be taken of it. Possibly Dame Alice and her associates actually tried to practise magical arts, and if so, considering the period at which it occurred, we certainly cannot blame the Bishop for taking the steps he did. On the other hand, to judge from the analogy of Continental witchcraft, it is to be feared that De Ledrede was to some extent swayed by such baser motives as greed of gain and desire for revenge. He also seems to have been tyrannical, overbearing, and dictatorial; according to him the attitude adopted by the Church should never be questioned by the State, but this view was not shared by his opponents. Though our sympathies do not lie altogether with him, yet to give him his due it must be said that he was as ready to be persecuted as to persecute; he did not hesitate to face an opposition which consisted of some of the highest in the land, nor did fear of attack or imprisonment (which he actually suffered) avail to turn him aside from following the course he had mapped out for himself.

It should be noticed that the appointment of De Ledrede to the See of Ossory almost synchronised with the elevation of John XXII to the Papacy. The attitude of that Pope towards magical arts was no uncertain one. He believed himself to be surrounded by enemies who were ever making attempts on his life by modelling images of him in wax, to be subsequently thrust through with pins and melted, no doubt; or by sending him a devil enclosed in a ring, or in various other ways. Consequently in several Bulls he anathematised sorcerers, denounced their ill-deeds, excited the inquisitors against them, and so gave ecclesiastical authorisation to the reality of the belief in magical forces. Indeed, the general expressions used in the Bull Super illius specula might be applied to the actions of Dame Alice and her party. He says of certain persons that “they sacrifice to demons and adore them, making or causing to be made images, rings, &c., with which they draw the evil spirits by their magical art, obtain responses from them, and demand their help in performing their evil designs.”

Heresy and sorcery were now identified, and the punishment for the former was the same as that for the latter, viz. burning at the stake and confiscation of property. The attitude of this Pontiff evidently found a sympathiser in Bishop de Ledrede, who deemed it necessary to follow the example set by the Head of the Church, with what results we have already shown: thus we find in Ireland a ripple of the wave that swept over Europe at this period.

It is very probable, too, that there were many underlying local causes of which we can know little or nothing; the discontent and anger of the disinherited children at the loss of the wealth of which Dame Alice had bereft them by her exercise of “undue influence” over her husbands, family quarrels, private hatreds, and possibly national jealousy helped to bring about one of the strangest series of events in the chequered history of Ireland.

[flauntpage]

Tactical Guide to Aldo Vs. Stephens

Jose Aldo versus Jeremy Stephens is a match up that was unthinkable two years ago. Stephens has always been a gatekeeper, almost the perfect embodiment of the term. He is dangerous enough that even the best fighters in the world must prove their ability to adapt and fight to a gameplan to get by him, but his tactical and technical flaws are reliable enough that he has never managed to mount a successful run at a title shot. Stephens has almost always been within the top ten of his division, never the top five. For years there have been hints of a smarter, slicker Stephens peeking through in occasional performances such as against Renan Barao, but then a disciplined all-rounder like Renato Moicano will come along and show up just the same flaws. Yet this year, for one reason or another, all the parts seem to be coming together. The planets have aligned for Stephens and he has managed three of the most impressive performances of his lengthy UFC career, battering Gilbert Melendez, Dooho Choi and Josh Emmett back-to-back.

Meanwhile Jose Aldo, who had previously only faced the absolute cream of the crop, is no longer above slumming it with the rest of the top ten. After a catastrophic error in judgement and running straight onto Conor McGregor’s fist, Aldo looked like his old self against Frankie Edgar to reclaim his featherweight crown. Unfortunately the brilliant Max Holloway turned up and handed Aldo two devastating beatings back-to-back.

Speculation abounds over Aldo and what remains inside him after the heartbreak of Holloway and McGregor: embers or ashes? Stephens is trying to overcome his reputation as a man of interesting spurts and more of a test that needs to be passed than a true title contender. There hasn’t been a featherweight who can beat Stephens without being in top condition and willing to swallow their pride and concede his power on the feet. It’s a fascinating match up so let us jump in on the details.

The Constants of Jeremy Stephens

One of Stephens’s main problems is his strange punching form. Everything is a home run swing or a very obvious nothing punch to “hide” that swing. The load up on Stephens’s blows is considerable and the “cool down” seems just as significant as he drops his hands and leaves his chin up in the air after a strike. Take for instance the fight against Josh Emmett, wherein Stephens stepped in to swing a gut-wrenching right, then stood completely static with his hands by his sides and totally out of position for the short counter hook that dropped him.

But most of the time Stephens isn’t using nice circular blows like the wide right and the left hook, he’s throwing what we call "loopy straights": punches that fly like a straight but slightly arced, rather than cutting across the body with a whirl of the hips. These are the punches that allow straights to come back up the center. Renato Moicano was able to thread the needle dozens of times in his fight with Stephens.

Moreover Stephens’s right hand is often the haymaker that Bas Rutten often preaches against. A straight-ish blow that comes across the body and can be easily defused with a drop-away or a retreat. Time and time again Stephens seemed to have Moicano along the fence and still fall short on his punches somehow.

Watching Stephens bout with Josh Emmett, his big shot came on the counter—something he is quite good at but doesn’t do enough—yet was a straight arm swing that only just caught Emmett on the extreme end. Jack Dempsey famously cautioned that a fighter should throw the swing in the slop bucket, but used them himself in his wilder fights. The difference between a hook and a swing is the bend in the arm; a swing is easily stopped by anything put in the path of it and is easily ducked. Where swings can catch fighters out is that they can come in from the side—as a hook will—but from the extent of the opponent’s reach.

You won’t see form like this taught in a boxing class.

All of Stephen’s flaws in the mechanics would be fine if he didn’t have so much trouble with his feet. He is either moving or he is swinging, he cannot do both effectively and spends most of a fight sprinting, planting his feet to swing, and then leaning out desperately to try and reach his opponent.

What Remains of Aldo

For many fans this fight comes down to one question: “Is Jose Aldo shot?” That is a fair thing to ask, but if Aldo’s skill set looks as sharp as ever there are quirks that just might not match up well with Stephens. For a start, fighters like Moicano and Emmett (though he lost) have shown very recently that Stephens struggles to catch up with fighters even once he’s got them by the fence. On the on hand that sounds great because Aldo cut lovely angles against Frankie Edgar and Chan Sung Jung to sneak out the side door. Except Moicano and Emmett were abandoning their stance to side skip and glide. Aldo is very much a traditionalist and will do most of his angling out from within his stance—hence his love of the pivot.

This pivoting around the lead leg is very susceptible to the right low kick: Frankie Edgar threw a dozen during this exact scenario over two fights and never missed one, and you can bet that Stephens kicks a lot harder. But furthermore this is the kind of slick cutesy move that Stephens’s straight-armed clothesline might just smash right through, cracking Aldo with a wrist bone over the back of the head where a nice straight right would have missed.

Something else which Max Holloway demonstrated beautifully is that Aldo likes to work at his own pace. Similar to Yoel Romero, he is tremendous explosive and works on a hair trigger, but he will then behave lackadaisically and measure himself for a period after a spectacular flurry. This is made more severe by the fact that Aldo doesn’t move his head as a boxer will—always in motion—but reacts to punches and slips from a dead stop. This allowed Max Holloway to keep Aldo making big motions to get away from small feints and work up the pace with less effort on his end. This habit of standing like a statue and then attempting to use slick head movement was also exploited in Michael Chandler by Eddie Alvarez in their jab-heavy second fight.

But Aldo has been in for plenty of long fights and never tired out as he did against Holloway. One of the reasons is that even if his opponent drove up the pace, he would grab clinches and catch breathers. Holloway went in prepared for this and each time had his head posted underneath Aldo’s, wormed his arms free, and immediately smacked Aldo with a left hook or elbow on the break to keep him working.

If there is one thing that consistently impresses in Jeremy Stephens’s fights, it is that he can keep walking down opponents and throwing as hard as he is able to, without slowing down considerably. Where he used to have Dan Henderson-esque tunnel vision and give up easy takedowns and clinches as he swung wildly, he has been great in recent years at pummeling through and shucking off clinches as soon as his opponents grab them. Stephens might get boxed up on the way there, but tying him up long enough to take breathers could be beyond the abilities of Aldo.

Of course the upshot of not being the main event, nor the title holder, is that the fight is only three rounds. That’s only three rounds that Aldo needs to jab and move, and Stephens will either need to connect on a big swing or actually fight smart to make the most of that time. Aldo’s jab has always been solid, it even gave trouble to Holloway, who perhaps has the best jab in the sport right now. While Stephens’s feet have looked much smoother since after the Barao fight, he is still guilty of simply following his opponents around the Octagon. There is none of that Matt Brown style brilliance: using a round kick or a long hook just to keep the opponent in place and then follow up with flurries of hurting blows. It’s a march around the cage with a swing or two every five seconds and no real sustained pressure aside from the pace and the knowledge that after you circle out he will run over to try again.

For Aldo, the jab should be used to break Stephens’s flurries and hurt him. Before pressing in along the fence, Stephens will always show an unconvincing fake double jab, or a right straight which he steps into a southpaw stance to make a jab, then the big swing will come. Hammering him with a jab as he is performing this shuffle to close the distance, and then ducking out or circling off worked perfectly for Moicano and others. If Stephens hasn’t fixed it, why not simply do what has been shown to work time and time again?

If Stephens could use the wide right to the body as he showed against Emmett to cut the cage and actually continue boxing after it, rather than stand still for a counter, he could be wilting men inside two rounds. The wide right is the power-punching ring-cutter’s best friend and the fact that he hasn’t been using it effectively already is very strange. There seems to be some concern between fans and pundits over the idea of Stephens kicking with Aldo. Stephens’s stumpy but powerful low kick has been something of a revolution in his last three fights but Aldo is known as a tremendous low kicker because of his wickedly fast thigh-pounders in WEC and his early UFC career. The truth is, of course, that having a great low kick doesn’t make you invulnerable to low kicks yourself and the utility of the low kick as a range closer, a way of slowing the opponent down, and a means of stopping the opponent’s movement in the current exchange, makes it seem like Stephens would be losing out on a heap of benefits if he didn’t throw it with frequency in this fight.

Renan Barao had a great right low kick just like his teammate Jose Aldo, and Stephens kicked with him with no trouble at all. Hell, Jose Aldo has barely thrown a low kick since he fought Ricardo Lamas anyway, the former champion is in love with his slip-and-rip counter boxing and that sort of head movement actually makes a fighter more vulnerable to low kicks as he anchors himself to the mat in order to move the weight of his noggin around.

That especially low kick that Stephens uses is great because even if the opponent raises his leg to check, he is taking a kick on the low part of the shin or ankle, rather than the top of the shin and knee—where those gnarly injuries happen. Most importantly, if Aldo is picking his foot up to check, he isn’t moving.

Stephens’s own jab is quick and stinging, but he will often eat his opponent’s when he commits to it because he carries his right hand down by his chest. Aldo could exploit this by jabbing with Stephens or jabbing into a dip and coming up with the left hook. Rather than pursue Aldo around the ring and throw jabs at him, it might be more productive for Stephens to simply try to crowd Aldo and play catch-and-pitch with counter punches. Against Choi and Emmett, Stephens’s best blows came as he covered and swung back. It nicely addresses the problem of his feet not being quick enough to carry him in for his strikes because as soon as he feels Aldo’s fist against his forearms or head, he will know he is close enough to swing back.

There is something very pleasing about Stephens’s current career resurgence and the idea of him finally reaching the potential that his physical ability promises. Unfortunately in his last two big wins, we only really got confirmation that yes, he still hits hard. The usual problems were still there. While Aldo could genuinely be shot, and Stephens could win this fight without improving any of the stuff that has been letting him down for years, it seems more likely that Stephens will have to do something special against a fighter of Aldo’s quality. For Aldo, this is a strange fight: it will likely decide whether fans write him off and push him to the mid-card in their minds the way they have with Renan Barao.

Aldo and Stephens are set to clash tomorrow night amid a card full of great match ups like Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier and Alexander Hernandez vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier. If anything interesting happens, get back here Monday and we’ll discuss it at length.

Tactical Guide to Aldo Vs. Stephens published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[jm-fraser]

David Lynch - Part 1: Eraserhead

10/10

Eraserhead is one of the strangest, most confident and best debut films in the history of cinema. I would liken it to Nirvana’s first album ‘Bleach’ because both of these pieces show their respective artists in a pure state of unhinged creativity, while later on in their careers they will evolve and refine their styles more, it will never be as raw as it was in the beginning. 

For a film as ambiguous and at times confusing as Eraserhead, it does actually have a fairly simple plot: a man is invited to meet his girlfriends parents for the first time, where at he learns that his girlfriend is pregnant and the baby was born very prematurely and is horribly deformed as a result. While that does sound like a fairly standard story the way it is told is anything but. The film is set in a dystopian industrial world, where everything is bleak, on top of this, the film is pure surrealism, nothing makes sense, we will go from the mother’s animal-like actions to minuscule chickens which haemorrhage blood, to a woman with chipmunk cheeks living in a radiator. This is what makes Eraserhead genius, it manages to convey a simple story, about personal aspects of Lynch’s life and his fears and paranoias, and make it absolutely engrossing through the use of his cinematic style, which is completely unique and memorable.

The first time I heard about this film was after I had watched The Shining for the 2nd or 3rd time. I was reading up on the production of that film when I read that to get the cast in the right mood for the film, Stanley Kubrick had the cast watch: Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist and Eraserhead. Now The Shining is one of my favorite films, but back then I was terrified of horror movies, and just reading the synopsis for Eraserhead scared me, so I just decided that I would just wait a couple years (maybe until I was 40) to watch it. The next year I started to learn more and more about film, and with it filmmakers, eventually I found my way to David Lynch and back to Eraserhead, so I swallowed my fear, watched the film and had no idea what was going on, I didn't know if I loved or hated it and it wasn't until the 3rd viewing that I would say I understood most of the film (at least what can be understood). But this really was one of my gateways to loving Lynch’s work and even though I feel he rarely reached these heights again in his career every one of his films, even Dune, is at least interesting, and as Edgar Wright said, the only bad films are the boring ones.

To end the review I’m just going to give my theory of what the film is about: When Lynch was making this film he recently had a child with his new wife, and this is what the entire film was based around; the paranoia of parenthood. The him meeting the parents is a motif for the fear of meeting your partners parents for the first time, the deformed child plays into the fear of babies, the girl in the radiator represents heaven and Henrys ideal woman, the man in the centre of the world represents God and I don't really know what the worms mean, they could be the idea of depression or death or even life, I'm not sure. 

I love this film, but its not for everybody, if your looking for a straight horror film you will be disappointed, and even if you don't go into this with an open mind, you will not like it. Id still suggest watching it, because there really isn’t anything else like it but just be prepared for something that isn’t your regular movie and you might come away with something special.

David Lynch films ranked:

https://letterboxd.com/joshua_fraser/list/david-lynch-ranked/

[whimsicalrealist]

22, 37, 71, 86, 104, 113, 144, 148 -number ask (150)

22. Where would you like to travel? Anywhere outside of the US would be awesome, but specifically I would love to go to Ireland, Germany, Japan and maybe Australia. If I was restrained to my home-country, though, I want to go to the Harry Potter park at Universal Studios, Coney Island, Ocean City MD and back to Idaho to visit my friends.

37. What do you say during awkward silences? Isn’t it ‘silence’ that makes it an awkward silence, though? But joking aside, I either try to bring up another topic to move the conversation forward or just make nonsensical noises.

71. Craving something? What? I have a craving in my soul for something but nothing so far has really helps, so I don’t really know how to answer this. On a less deep note, I’m totally craving sushi and some hot green tea.

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? I wish I could be chill like Crush, but I feel like I can relate a lot to Dory. Bruce is also awesome.

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? A few people, actually. My great-grandpa who always bought me puzzles and always had one in his apartment for us to work on together and took me swimming at his retirement center. My grandpas who were each good men and loving in their own ways. My brother who was gone before he even had the chance to be and whom I never got to grow up with or even meet. Friends that I met growing up when we moved around a lot: I sometimes wonder if any of them remember me, too.

113. What was your childhood nickname? I never really had one from friends growing up because I moved around so much, so I guess I’d go with the ones my mom called me: Worm (because I wiggled around so much before I was born) and Pumpkin (my first Halloween costume). Later in life in middle/high-school, some of my friends used my various RP characters to refer to me: Fu (short for Fukaji, my stereotypical neko girl OC), Colette (Tales of Symphonia), Axel (Kingdom Hearts), and Kyo (Fruits Basket). In college and for a while afterward, I was often called V/Vee because of my World of Warcraft main, Voudka, which is also why the word ‘vodka’ always looks misspelled to me now.

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? For me, this is really just a question of dark or milk chocolate because I don’t consider white chocolate to be actual chocolate, anyway. And I absolutely love dark chocolate, hands down.

148. What’s your favourite quote? A toss up between “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” (Robert Frost) and “All that we see and seem is but a dream within a dream.” (Edgar Allen Poe).

[flauntpage]

Tactical Guide to Aldo Vs. Stephens

Jose Aldo versus Jeremy Stephens is a match up that was unthinkable two years ago. Stephens has always been a gatekeeper, almost the perfect embodiment of the term. He is dangerous enough that even the best fighters in the world must prove their ability to adapt and fight to a gameplan to get by him, but his tactical and technical flaws are reliable enough that he has never managed to mount a successful run at a title shot. Stephens has almost always been within the top ten of his division, never the top five. For years there have been hints of a smarter, slicker Stephens peeking through in occasional performances such as against Renan Barao, but then a disciplined all-rounder like Renato Moicano will come along and show up just the same flaws. Yet this year, for one reason or another, all the parts seem to be coming together. The planets have aligned for Stephens and he has managed three of the most impressive performances of his lengthy UFC career, battering Gilbert Melendez, Dooho Choi and Josh Emmett back-to-back.

Meanwhile Jose Aldo, who had previously only faced the absolute cream of the crop, is no longer above slumming it with the rest of the top ten. After a catastrophic error in judgement and running straight onto Conor McGregor’s fist, Aldo looked like his old self against Frankie Edgar to reclaim his featherweight crown. Unfortunately the brilliant Max Holloway turned up and handed Aldo two devastating beatings back-to-back.

Speculation abounds over Aldo and what remains inside him after the heartbreak of Holloway and McGregor: embers or ashes? Stephens is trying to overcome his reputation as a man of interesting spurts and more of a test that needs to be passed than a true title contender. There hasn’t been a featherweight who can beat Stephens without being in top condition and willing to swallow their pride and concede his power on the feet. It’s a fascinating match up so let us jump in on the details.

The Constants of Jeremy Stephens

One of Stephens’s main problems is his strange punching form. Everything is a home run swing or a very obvious nothing punch to “hide” that swing. The load up on Stephens’s blows is considerable and the “cool down” seems just as significant as he drops his hands and leaves his chin up in the air after a strike. Take for instance the fight against Josh Emmett, wherein Stephens stepped in to swing a gut-wrenching right, then stood completely static with his hands by his sides and totally out of position for the short counter hook that dropped him.

But most of the time Stephens isn’t using nice circular blows like the wide right and the left hook, he’s throwing what we call "loopy straights": punches that fly like a straight but slightly arced, rather than cutting across the body with a whirl of the hips. These are the punches that allow straights to come back up the center. Renato Moicano was able to thread the needle dozens of times in his fight with Stephens.

Moreover Stephens’s right hand is often the haymaker that Bas Rutten often preaches against. A straight-ish blow that comes across the body and can be easily defused with a drop-away or a retreat. Time and time again Stephens seemed to have Moicano along the fence and still fall short on his punches somehow.

Watching Stephens bout with Josh Emmett, his big shot came on the counter—something he is quite good at but doesn’t do enough—yet was a straight arm swing that only just caught Emmett on the extreme end. Jack Dempsey famously cautioned that a fighter should throw the swing in the slop bucket, but used them himself in his wilder fights. The difference between a hook and a swing is the bend in the arm; a swing is easily stopped by anything put in the path of it and is easily ducked. Where swings can catch fighters out is that they can come in from the side—as a hook will—but from the extent of the opponent’s reach.

You won’t see form like this taught in a boxing class.

All of Stephen’s flaws in the mechanics would be fine if he didn’t have so much trouble with his feet. He is either moving or he is swinging, he cannot do both effectively and spends most of a fight sprinting, planting his feet to swing, and then leaning out desperately to try and reach his opponent.

What Remains of Aldo

For many fans this fight comes down to one question: “Is Jose Aldo shot?” That is a fair thing to ask, but if Aldo’s skill set looks as sharp as ever there are quirks that just might not match up well with Stephens. For a start, fighters like Moicano and Emmett (though he lost) have shown very recently that Stephens struggles to catch up with fighters even once he’s got them by the fence. On the on hand that sounds great because Aldo cut lovely angles against Frankie Edgar and Chan Sung Jung to sneak out the side door. Except Moicano and Emmett were abandoning their stance to side skip and glide. Aldo is very much a traditionalist and will do most of his angling out from within his stance—hence his love of the pivot.

This pivoting around the lead leg is very susceptible to the right low kick: Frankie Edgar threw a dozen during this exact scenario over two fights and never missed one, and you can bet that Stephens kicks a lot harder. But furthermore this is the kind of slick cutesy move that Stephens’s straight-armed clothesline might just smash right through, cracking Aldo with a wrist bone over the back of the head where a nice straight right would have missed.

Something else which Max Holloway demonstrated beautifully is that Aldo likes to work at his own pace. Similar to Yoel Romero, he is tremendous explosive and works on a hair trigger, but he will then behave lackadaisically and measure himself for a period after a spectacular flurry. This is made more severe by the fact that Aldo doesn’t move his head as a boxer will—always in motion—but reacts to punches and slips from a dead stop. This allowed Max Holloway to keep Aldo making big motions to get away from small feints and work up the pace with less effort on his end. This habit of standing like a statue and then attempting to use slick head movement was also exploited in Michael Chandler by Eddie Alvarez in their jab-heavy second fight.

But Aldo has been in for plenty of long fights and never tired out as he did against Holloway. One of the reasons is that even if his opponent drove up the pace, he would grab clinches and catch breathers. Holloway went in prepared for this and each time had his head posted underneath Aldo’s, wormed his arms free, and immediately smacked Aldo with a left hook or elbow on the break to keep him working.

If there is one thing that consistently impresses in Jeremy Stephens’s fights, it is that he can keep walking down opponents and throwing as hard as he is able to, without slowing down considerably. Where he used to have Dan Henderson-esque tunnel vision and give up easy takedowns and clinches as he swung wildly, he has been great in recent years at pummeling through and shucking off clinches as soon as his opponents grab them. Stephens might get boxed up on the way there, but tying him up long enough to take breathers could be beyond the abilities of Aldo.

Of course the upshot of not being the main event, nor the title holder, is that the fight is only three rounds. That’s only three rounds that Aldo needs to jab and move, and Stephens will either need to connect on a big swing or actually fight smart to make the most of that time. Aldo’s jab has always been solid, it even gave trouble to Holloway, who perhaps has the best jab in the sport right now. While Stephens’s feet have looked much smoother since after the Barao fight, he is still guilty of simply following his opponents around the Octagon. There is none of that Matt Brown style brilliance: using a round kick or a long hook just to keep the opponent in place and then follow up with flurries of hurting blows. It’s a march around the cage with a swing or two every five seconds and no real sustained pressure aside from the pace and the knowledge that after you circle out he will run over to try again.

For Aldo, the jab should be used to break Stephens’s flurries and hurt him. Before pressing in along the fence, Stephens will always show an unconvincing fake double jab, or a right straight which he steps into a southpaw stance to make a jab, then the big swing will come. Hammering him with a jab as he is performing this shuffle to close the distance, and then ducking out or circling off worked perfectly for Moicano and others. If Stephens hasn’t fixed it, why not simply do what has been shown to work time and time again?

If Stephens could use the wide right to the body as he showed against Emmett to cut the cage and actually continue boxing after it, rather than stand still for a counter, he could be wilting men inside two rounds. The wide right is the power-punching ring-cutter’s best friend and the fact that he hasn’t been using it effectively already is very strange. There seems to be some concern between fans and pundits over the idea of Stephens kicking with Aldo. Stephens’s stumpy but powerful low kick has been something of a revolution in his last three fights but Aldo is known as a tremendous low kicker because of his wickedly fast thigh-pounders in WEC and his early UFC career. The truth is, of course, that having a great low kick doesn’t make you invulnerable to low kicks yourself and the utility of the low kick as a range closer, a way of slowing the opponent down, and a means of stopping the opponent’s movement in the current exchange, makes it seem like Stephens would be losing out on a heap of benefits if he didn’t throw it with frequency in this fight.

Renan Barao had a great right low kick just like his teammate Jose Aldo, and Stephens kicked with him with no trouble at all. Hell, Jose Aldo has barely thrown a low kick since he fought Ricardo Lamas anyway, the former champion is in love with his slip-and-rip counter boxing and that sort of head movement actually makes a fighter more vulnerable to low kicks as he anchors himself to the mat in order to move the weight of his noggin around.

That especially low kick that Stephens uses is great because even if the opponent raises his leg to check, he is taking a kick on the low part of the shin or ankle, rather than the top of the shin and knee—where those gnarly injuries happen. Most importantly, if Aldo is picking his foot up to check, he isn’t moving.

Stephens’s own jab is quick and stinging, but he will often eat his opponent’s when he commits to it because he carries his right hand down by his chest. Aldo could exploit this by jabbing with Stephens or jabbing into a dip and coming up with the left hook. Rather than pursue Aldo around the ring and throw jabs at him, it might be more productive for Stephens to simply try to crowd Aldo and play catch-and-pitch with counter punches. Against Choi and Emmett, Stephens’s best blows came as he covered and swung back. It nicely addresses the problem of his feet not being quick enough to carry him in for his strikes because as soon as he feels Aldo’s fist against his forearms or head, he will know he is close enough to swing back.

There is something very pleasing about Stephens’s current career resurgence and the idea of him finally reaching the potential that his physical ability promises. Unfortunately in his last two big wins, we only really got confirmation that yes, he still hits hard. The usual problems were still there. While Aldo could genuinely be shot, and Stephens could win this fight without improving any of the stuff that has been letting him down for years, it seems more likely that Stephens will have to do something special against a fighter of Aldo’s quality. For Aldo, this is a strange fight: it will likely decide whether fans write him off and push him to the mid-card in their minds the way they have with Renan Barao.

Aldo and Stephens are set to clash tomorrow night amid a card full of great match ups like Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier and Alexander Hernandez vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier. If anything interesting happens, get back here Monday and we’ll discuss it at length.

Tactical Guide to Aldo Vs. Stephens published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/