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usagirln12003 · 22 days

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Emma: Hogwarts AU

Emma Weasley is a Pureblood witch that was born on the 22nd of August 1988 and started attending Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1999, being sorted into Gryffindor house.

She has an English Oak wand with a Phoenix Feather Core.

She has a Non-Corporeal Patronus.

Her favorite subject is Flying and her least favorite is History of Magic.

She was one of the Gryffindor Prefects of her year and later on Head-Girl.

Emma is an extremely optimistic, loud, and cheerful girl full of life, whose athletic abilities and extroverted nature contracts directly to Norman's weak physique and Ray's introverted nature. Like the rest of the orphans from the Grace Field Orphanage, she enjoys playing Quidditch. Emma plays the part as an elder sister figure among her younger ones, and always shows unlimited love and care for her fellow foster siblings. When she discovered Conny's corpse and the truth behind Grace Field and Isabella, Emma underwent an emotional change and decided to never cry again and stay steadfast with her beliefs and decisions. Following this event, Emma's desire to escape is fueled by her love for her family; refusing to leave anyone behind since she doesn't want her siblings to suffer the same fate as Conny, showing the compassion, selfless, and altruistic side of her. She is also shown to be very forgiving, as she doesn't think any less of Ray for being the “traitor”, still embraces him as a friend, and sympathizes with him. According to Krone, Emma always thinks of others before herself, so much that she dilutes her chances to save herself by refusing to leave any of her family behind. She is also shown to be impulsive, brave, determined, and dauntless, as she willingly puts herself in harm's way to protect her family and even strangers without any hesitation.

Despite being a perfect test-scorer and a very quick learner, Emma is noted to be silly and air-headed. Her goal of saving every orphan from Grace Field House was deemed as impossible, but she still believed she could achieve it, hence being called an airhead by Ray. Additionally, her overt optimism and cheerfulness lead her to sometimes make important decisions by herself, such as cutting off her ear during the escape even though she didn't even mention it in the plan. But she starts relying on her friends and family more after being told to, and comes to learn and pick up knowledge from them. Despite having a very idealistic mindset and somewhat of a naïve personality, Emma is extremely honest, has a very strong will, and refuses to give up no matter what obstacles she faces or how bleak the situation looks. She works hard and succeeds through sheer determination, to the point that Ray notes that defying the impossible is Emma's special trait.

Emma often keeps a high-spirited and kind demeanor, but she can become serious if the situation calls for it, especially when it comes to the lives of the other children. When she feels that she or her family are threatened, she isn't afraid to show her intimidating side. After finding out that Ray was a spy, she asked him if he moved up other children's shipping dates to figure out how to disable the trackers. He didn't answer, but she made it clear that she wouldn't tolerate it if he tried to sacrifice anyone else.

After escaping from Grace Field, Emma gradually takes up the role of a leader, and will do anything to protect her family. For example, she becomes determined to learn everything she can about magic, and she apparently has "the eyes of a killer" when facing dangerous situations, according to Leuvis. Emma does indeed call herself a huntress, but not in the same way as vampires. She also got Mister to help them out upon arriving at his house by threatening that if he didn't, she and Ray would just blow up it up, all while bearing a cheery smile.

However, Emma is also at times seen as being self-conscious and doubtful as to her position as the leader. Her greatest fear is making the wrong decisions and putting her family in danger and blames wrongdoings on herself. She also has trouble speaking her mind about how she truly feels and tends to bottle up her feelings. The only person she'll admit this to is Ray, however. Even after being encouraged to rely on other people, Emma will still bear her burdens alone and be selfless to a fault if it means that her family will be safe; she agrees on forgetting about herself, her family, and every event in her life so every cattle child could safely continue on in life after Hogwarts.

Emma is a peaceful person who prefers to talk things out rather than fighting, even when the other party is trying to kill her. Even though she despises most vampires and the fact that they kill humans, she is fond of Mujika and realizes that vampires have families and friends too, just like herself. Moreover, Emma is deeply uncomfortable with Norman's plan of committing genocide against the vampires, as she is an emphasizing, determined person who never takes shortcuts or the easy way. Instead, she opted to start working for the Ministry of Magic to give vampires (and werewolves) more rights, a task which was seen as impossible, very reckless, and dangerous to people around her, to avoid killing all the vampires.

#crossover hogwarts au #yakusoku no neverland #the promised neverland #emma tpn

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dyns33 · 4 years

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Dance with the vampires - Chapter 1

So, being a while but I’m doing a new series ! Yeah ! I don’t think it will be that long, three chapters I think, plus some addition, for now five.

Inspired by the movie The fearless vampires killers, and the musical Dance with the vampires, here’s a Vampire Michael story !

Tag (I almost forgot, sorry) : @matildaofoz @just-someone-who-likes-to-write @guiltyfiend @qardasngan

(Y/N) hadn't really thought about it when she decided to lie to Professor Arden to become his assistant. She only knew one thing, she really wanted to become his student, she wanted to learn to read, write, count, speak several foreign languages, be cultivated. This was normally impossible for her, since she was poor, but more important because she was a woman. Women had little or no education. They had to be born into a family with a very open mind, and show exceptional talents, for them to receive this privilege. (Y/N) hadn't had that chance, so she decided to force it. Orphan, alone, it was Miss Cordelia, one of the nurses from the orphanage who had been kind enough to teach her how to speak well, how to behave. It was she who had shown her everything she wanted to know now, but was forbidden to her as a woman. It was she who had told her about Professor Arden, one of London's best thinkers, and (Y/N) knew then that she must have him as a teacher.

It hadn't been difficult, as she was a hard worker, she was even smart enough to learn quickly, and she was as quiet as she was polite. Terribly quiet and polite. Professor Arden had quickly noticed this when she came to his office to ask him to take her as an apprentice. Except that she had told him her name was Alfred. A boy. Maybe he hadn't really paid attention to her appearance, maybe his vision was bad, but he had believed it, and he had accepted. Fortunately, because (Y/N) had cried while cutting her hair for the first time. Afterwards, it was easier. She quickly got used to the pants, to having to hide her chest, her period, everything feminine. Her teacher taught her a lot, on many different subjects, but there was one that seemed to obsess him more than the others. Bats. (Y/N) didn't understand why and she didn't care. This subject of study allowed her to accompany Professor Arden on many trips outside London, and not only in England, because he wanted to study all the existing species.

She had been afraid several times of being discovered during their travels, but the good professor preferred to take his baths alone, to change alone, to sleep alone, and outside of his teaching, even if he asked her to behave well because (Y/N) was his disciple and so what she was doing affected his reputation, he left her alone. After several years in his service, he still had no suspicions. Despite his bad temper and cold demeanour, he seemed to have become attached to her, or rather to Alfred, not really considering him as a son, but seeing him all the same as an excellent disciple, and someone in whom he could trust. While they were soon to leave for a frozen country, he decided to confide in her the real goal of his research, his greatest secret.

"Do you know my dear Alfred why bats fascinate me so much ?"

"They are wonderful creatures, Master, which do extraordinary things, like fly at night. However, I don't know why you prefer them to other animals, which also have amazing abilities."

"It's because I'm not really interested in bats Alfred. Not all of them. Only a few, very peculiar."

"Master ?"

"I… When I brought up this theory with some of my colleagues, they laughed, they thought I had gone crazy and I had to tell them I was kidding… But I'll tell you. You are a good disciple. So I know you will not laugh. "

"Never Master!"

"I don't yet have conclusive proof of their existence, that's what I'm looking for, but I'm sure of one thing, vampires do exist. We are looking for vampires Alfred."

(Y/N) didn't know what to say, but at least she didn't laugh. She didn't smile either, doing her best to remain perfectly stoic in front of the professor. Vampires. (Y/N) didn't believe in vampires at all. Like ghosts, ghouls or witches, they were legends. How could a scientist like Professor Arden believe this ? She wondered if he wasn't crazy, maybe his colleagues were right. But apart from that, he was still a good teacher, a smart man, and he allowed her to learn a lot of things, so if it could make him happy to chase after monsters that didn't exist, she didn't see why she would disapprove. He wasn't hurting anyone. So she continued to follow him all over Europe, until they arrived in a small village in the middle of the snow, where people spoke a language she did not understand. Fortunately, the owner of the inn where they were staying spoke English. His daughter too. Madison. A charming young woman, who seemed a bit mean at first, but hid a lot of fears and hurts behind her mask. (Y/N) realized this when he found her in the bathroom, crying. At first, she got angry, thinking that the professor's assistant was a voyeur and that he was going to laugh at her for her tears. But very quickly she noticed that (Y/N) didn't say anything, didn't try anything, even offering to bring her a towel to hide her nudity if she wanted to get out of the water.

"... You are nice. I won't tell my dad you saw me... But don't tell him I was here."

"Why ? You have the right to wash yourself. I should have knock."

"It's your bathroom." she sneered. "You couldn't have known that I would be there. I am not allowed to wash myself. I am not allowed to go out. I was in a boarding school for young girls for five years, it was wonderful, but I had to come back, and now I feel like a prisoner here. My father is starting to look for a fiancé for me. I don't want to marry, let alone a stranger... You understand ? "

"I understand. You could go."

"Go ? Where ? How ? I have no money, I don't know anyone. I'm trapped here. It's easy for a man to say that !"

"Sorry... sorry." said sincerely (Y/N), often forgetting that she was playing a role so that she could do whatever she wanted.

Madison felt she was sincere and forgave her. She even tried to kiss her, and seemed a little disappointed that 'Alfred' pushed her away. Disappointed, but not angry. She wasn't used to men resisting her, or not forcing her. It was nice, she felt safe and thanked him. For his part, Professor Arden was more interested in the odd decoration of the inn. It was true that there were a lot of crosses and garlic hanging on the walls and ceiling. But that was another culture, there could be thousands of logical explanations, before talking about vampires.

"Is there a castle near here ?" he asked the owner, who told him no. The professor didn't believe a word of it.

(Y/N) was also a little surprised, as there were often castles in such places, but maybe the man meant that there was no more lord and that the building was abandoned. It was quite possible. Her thoughts were interrupted by a woman who abruptly entered the inn, and then everyone stopped talking, turning to her. Small, dark hair, evil-looking, she walked towards the owner without saying anything and handed him a paper. Visibly scared, he went to look for several objects, candles, wood, food, which he brought on the woman's sleigh as quickly as possible. At the same time, Madison was coming downstairs and when she saw her, the woman had an indecipherable smile. As she left, the professor patted (Y/N) on the shoulder.

"Alfred, I want you to follow her."

"What ?"

"Don't argue ! You saw how they all looked at her. They're hiding something. Follow her, it's an order !"

Having never disobeyed her master, (Y/N) managed to discreetly follow the mysterious woman by hanging on to her sled. They travelled through the snowy hills for a long time, until they came to a castle. (Y/N) then preferred to turn around to warn the professor, who decided that they would go see what was happening there the next day.

"But... Professor, they might not be vampires." she allowed herself to say. "Maybe a lord who treats his people badly, and that's why they fear him, but..."

"You saw the garlic. The crosses. The fear. All the signs are there. Don't be a coward and pack our bags."

It bothered her a lot to bother people who hadn't asked for anything, but (Y/N) tried to reassure herself by thinking that the professor would quickly see that there was no vampire and they would leave without causing too much trouble. That was what she thought until Madison disappeared overnight. The young woman asked her nicely if she could use their bathroom, the only one in the inn and (Y/N) agreed. Then, as she finished packing Professor Arden's things into his suitcase, she heard strange noises, the water moving, as if Madison was struggling. She called her first, not wanting to see her naked again without her permission, then having no answer, she entered. There was no one left, the water was red and the roof window was open. It was the only other way out, but it was impossible to go through it without falling. Madison's father arrived then, he was looking for his daughter and seeing the scene, he screamed.

"No ! Countess, no, please, not my little girl ! Give her back !"

These screams woke the professor, who didn't seem really moved by Madison's kidnapping, seeing only other evidence.

"The Countess, eh ? She just brought her prey. Quick Alfred, we have to leave now if we want to surprise her !"

"And save Madison !"

"What ? Ah, yes, of course, if you want."

Before leaving, (Y/N) promised the owner that he would do everything to bring his daughter back alive, while Professor Arden only spoke of the wonderful discoveries they were to make. In the cold and at night, it was difficult to get to the castle, but it gave them an excellent excuse to strike, pretending to be lost and seeking refuge. It was the woman in black who opened the door, visibly annoyed to see them, but she let them enter all the same, to bring them into a huge living room, where another woman, tall, blonde, sublime, was standing by the fire. She didn't seem surprised.

"It is quite common for foreigners to get lost in our region. I will be delighted to welcome you. But I forget the conveniences. I am the Countess."

"Nice to meet you, Countess." the professor said, leaning slightly. "I'm the Professor Arden, and this is my assistant, Alfred."

"Professor Arthur Arden ? From London ?"

"Yes your grace. Have you... heard of me ?"

"Indeed, I really like your writings. Particularly those dealing with bats. Remarkable. I believe I have a copy in my library, if you had the kindness to dedicate it to me."

"It will be an honour Madam. I am..."

The professor jumped when he heard the door open, he didn't expect anyone else to be there, since the woman in black was still in the room, waiting to know what to do with them. (Y/N) thought for a moment that Madison was going to appear, but it was a young man. Unlike the Countess, he seemed surprised to see strangers. It wasn't good, she berated herself afterwards, for that, but for a few moments (Y/N) couldn't help but stare at him. She had never seen a man so handsome, with his blond curls which surrounded his angelic face, his shining blue eyes which looked at the Countess with curiosity, then the woman in black, the professor, and finally her. He smiled when their eyes met.

"This is my son, Michael." announced the Countess.

Michael walked over to greet the professor quickly, before taking (Y/N)'s hand, which he kept while welcoming her, his smile never leaving his face.

"It is truly a pleasure to meet you." he purred, his fingers brushing her palm. "I hope we will become dear friends."

"That would be wonderful." his mother said. "But it's late. You will discuss later. You are my guests, you can stay here as long as you want. Miss Mead will show you your rooms."

The woman in black, Miss Mead, sighed but obeyed, picking up their bags and bringing them to rooms, even though (Y/N) offered to help. This seemed to soften Michael, who followed them, choosing which rooms they would have. The professor entered his, and as she was about to follow him, Michael stopped her, still smiling, to lead her to the next door.

"Won't we sleep together ?" worried (Y/N). "I mean, the professor might need me, I'm his assistant."

"The rooms are interconnecting, mon chéri. I thought you would appreciate some privacy. This is the best room after mine and my mother's."

"Oh. Thank you, sir. But maybe then it would be better if the professor had..."

"No, no, Liebe. This is your room, I insist. Get some rest. And... please, call me Michael."

"But, it will be daylight soon." noted (Y/N), a little embarrassed.

"Indeed. My mother and I are night owls, and you've been travelling in the snow for hours with your professor. We'll see each other tomorrow night. I'm going to ask Miss Mead to light a fire in your fireplace. Unless... maybe I can help you warm up differently ?"

"A fire is perfect, thank you sir Michael."

"Sir Michael... So polite... Hm, but I like that. Sir Michael, yes. It's... scorching. Sleep well mon chéri."

She wasn't expecting it, it wasn't a normal behaviour, but Michael took her hand to kiss it, like a man would do with a woman lover, before leaving. As she closed the door, she didn't think for a second of vampires, although Professor Arden came in her room to do a monologue on what he thought he knew about the Countess and her son, not noticing at all that his assistant seemed troubled, touching her hand. No, (Y/N) was just wondering, totally frightened, if Michael had understood that she was a woman, even though she couldn't see how.

#american horror story apocalypse #the fearless vampire killers #dance with the vampires #tanz der vampire #michael langdon #michael langdon imagine #michael langdon fanfiction #michael langdon x reader

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carriagelamp · 4 years

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September Book Roundup, back-to-school edition aka The Season Of Red apparently?

Here is a selection of the books I’ve read this month. Summer is over, so the little bit of brain power I had managed to scrape together is quickly disintegrating, so enjoying the hodge podge of stories.

Binti

This was probably my favourite book that I read this month. It’s a novella I first heard about hear on tumblr and went to find a copy in my library. I have since bought the collected trilogy so I can read book two and three at my leisure because it was honestly just that friggin cool. This is exactly my flavour of scifi and I tend to be very very picky about the scifi I consume. It’s about a girl named Binti, a member of the Himba people (a real group of indigenous people from Namibia). They are a people well known for their mathematical and technical prowess, but due to their strong connection to their homeland and the earth they choose not to travel through space like so many other humans do. However, when Binti secures a position at Oomza University, the greatest university in the galaxy, she chooses to go against her family’s wishes and traditions in order to set out into space to attend. Everything is ruined though when her spaceship is attacked by a hostile alien race and everyone is killed but Binti, who must rely on all her intellect and abilities if she wants any chance at survival.

A seriously cool book with great world building – it really successfully introduces readers not only to the fictional scifi world and races of the novel but also to the culture and traditions of the Himba people. It’s a quick read, and feels like a cross between Dead Space and Tamora Pierce. Would totally recommend a read.

Fake Blood

A Canadian graphic novel. It was a goofy cute read. It’s about an awkward group of friends in middle school, and one boy with a crush on one of the girls in his class. Knowing her love for vampire stories, AJ decides, like any self-respecting middle schooler, to try to pretend he’s a vampire. Naturally nothing goes right and some things go wrong in unexpected ways. It’s funny and cute. Nothing amazing but it was a cozy evening read.

The Last Book On The Left

I’ve been listening to this podcast a lot since my friend recommended it to me and finally decided to read their book. For those that don’t know, The Last Podcast On The Left is a immaculately researched comedy podcast that’s hosted by Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks, and Henry Zebrowski, and explores the darker realms of human nature. Ghosts, paranormal, aliens, cults, and of course serial killers. In this book they collected several of their biggest name serial killer series, did some renewed research, and put together a book that is both informative, irreverent, gross, and very funny, complete with some really amazing illustrations by Tom Neely. A very cool read (and listen, if you decide to check out the podcast instead), I really love how they tell these stories without idolizing or romanticizing the people they talk about. Their humour always makes sure you know exactly how much of a pathetic loser these people are. Fantastic true crime, from someone who has never really felt the need to read about true crime before.

Midnight Sun

I won’t harp on this one, everyone is already going to firmly have their opinions here. I grew up on Twilight, I was reading them as they came out, and I still love them. Were they dumb? Oh my god yes. Did they have problems? Sure, they came out in 2005 it was part and parcel. Were they also a really fun for a thirteen year old to read? Absolutely, I don’t regret it. Sometimes teenage girls should just to get like things without being mocked.

Anyway, I am off my soapbox now (can you tell this is still a raw spot for me?) I unironically loved this book! Getting to see Edward’s perspective was really cool, and since he can read minds it essentially let you get the perspective of everyone else around him too. The Cullens family is a great set of characters so it was really cool to see more of them, and I was very impressed by how Stephenie Meyers took a YA romance she wrote in 2005 and was able to make it feel updated and more appropriate for a 2020 audience even though she couldn’t actually change any of the events themselves. So fans of Twilight, don’t be ashamed, go read Midnight Sun and have the shameless fun you deserve. Is there anymore appropriate book for the bizarre ass year that was 2020 than a return to this goofy nonsense?

The Paperbag Princess

(and Up, Up, Down, and Robert Munsch in general)

I’m back in schools so I’m back to reading children’s book! And honestly, and of you that don’t occasionally sit down and read a kids book out loud don’t know what you’re missing. Anyway, Robert Munsch is a Canadian author, and one of my all-time favourite children’s authors. It surprised me to learn he isn’t as well known in the States apparently? I don’t know if that’s changed or not, but he is a Canadian staple for a good reason, his books have ridiculous premises, are specifically written to be fun to read out loud, and have beautiful, involved, and hilarious illustrations. The Paperbag Princess is one of my absolute favourites, and as a kid it was one of the first stories I had ever read where a princess is the one saving the prince… and then telling the prince to piss off when it turns out he’s a jerk. Up, Up, Down is another favourite I reread this month, because it’s just hilarious funny and makes a fantastic read aloud with kids. Some other Robert Munsch I reread this month include: Mmm, Cookies, More Pies, Ribbon Rescue, Just One Goal, and Andrew’s Loose Tooth. You just cannot go wrong, for kids or adults.

Pit Pony

Another Canadian staple while I was growing up. If you’re a young adult know who went through the Canadian elementary school system, you probably had your entire heart ripped out and stepped on by this chapter book. It’s a historical fiction that looks at the economic hardship, debt slavery, child labour, and animal abuse that was tied to coal mining in the Maritimes. Finding a copy was harder than I would have expected give how pervasive it was a decade or so back, but reading it again was a pure shot of nostalgia.

Seeking Refuge

A graphic novel written by a German-born Canadian about a Jewish girl who flees Nazi-occupied Austria by way of Kindertransport to become a child refuge in England. It follows her as she is moved from host family to host family as the war continues to pick up and gradually makes it’s way to the United Kingdom as well. It’s very poignant and the pencil-sketch illustrations are an interesting change to a lot of the graphic novels that are out right now. This story is still aimed at a younger audience, so it never gets too brutal but it still is a hard hitting story, especially with everything else going on right now.

Silver Spoon #9/10

I know I’ve talked about these books before, but my library got some more since I last read them, so I’m continuing my way through the series. It’s about a teenaged boy who, after having a breakdown from the pressure he was feeling to study and succeeded, decided not to attend an academic, urban high school, but rather to apply for an agricultural high school so he could live in the dorms, far away from his parents. The series just gets more and more heartwarming as it continues. It’s all about failure and overcoming and how worth can be measured in different ways, and about family and understanding each other and coming together… but also about the realities of farming which aren’t always very nice, especially when it comes to finances and survival. It’s written by the mangaka behind Fullmetal Alchemist but I’ll be honest… I think I like this series more. It is honestly one of my all time favourite manga series, it just has so much heart.

Ruby Finds A Worry

aka Ruby’s Worry apparently? I can’t figure out why this has more than one title. I actually read it in French not English, so for me it was Le Souci de Calie. Regardless, this was a nice little picture book for talking about worries and anxieties with children… especially with the amount of Covid stress a lot of kids are dealing with. It explains in a really nice way how talking about anxieties are often the best way to make them more manageable, and how pretending nothing is wrong can just let it grow bigger and bigger. A good explanation for kids and possible a good reminder for adults.

War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery

I read this because the Mcelroy family wrote it so I figured Hey! Why not give it a go! And I’m glad I did. Their brand of humour was all over it, and it made the story a delight to read. I don’t follow all of Marvel’s weirdness, so I didn’t actually know most of the characters (Miles and Kate were actually the only two I was familiar with) but they do a great job of introducing the characters and making them all feel distinct and interesting. I absolutely adore the Dog of Gods (God of Dogs) who is a very very good boy. And Miles is absolutely always a delight so you can’t really lose. It’s a single book that I think is a part of a larger plotline that I have zero interest in. This book is a fine one to read though if you don’t mind jumping into the middle of the action and just getting swept along for the ride. Also Mcelroys!

Witcher Omnibus

Bleh. Absolutely not worth it. All the misogyny and Dumb Bullshit that I hate in the original books and from video games in general. Honestly, Witcher III did way better by its characters than most of these short stories. The only one worth reading in it is Curse Of Crows – that one was actually really enjoyable, probably because it was about Ciri and had an actual fucking woman on the writing team. (Seriously guys what were you thinking with Fox Children that’s literally just a story from Season of Storms but done worse. Fuck off.) If you like The Witcher, go read Curse of Crows and skip every other story in this book.

Billy Stuart: Les Zintrépides #1

Another French (Quebecois) book I read, though I believe you can get it in English as well (Billy Stuart and the Zintrepids). It’s a chapter book / graphic novel hybrid, and was honestly a fairly fun little read. It’s in a similar vein to Geronimo Stilton but done much better in my opinion. The humour was funnier, the characters felt less like caricatures, and while it still used stylized fonts it was also less intrusive and eye-strainy than the Stilton books. Also when the story suddenly pivots into the main adventure and mystery of the series? Fantastic. Was not expecting a hell-beast to appear part way through the story. Very interested in reading more.

Over all, it was cute and funny, and I can see it being a good next step when children have read their fill of the Stilton series and want something similar but possibly a bit more involved and coherent.

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 3 years

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The OTHER Members of Eve’s Coven

Me and @lilmissrantsypants couldn’t fit all the coven in as cameos in chapter 3, so here’s a rundown on the members who didn’t make an appearance. I added some of the stuff that inspired us into making the characters, My wife just went crazy with descriptions for her characters.

Aleister & Tantomile Deering: A pair of twins who were orphaned during WWII. They had to scrape by to survive, with Tantomile whoring herself out for drug money. They were turned when Aleister begged for help as his sister was overdosing. They were plagued by psychic visions as mortals, their powers awakening fully when they were turned. They are practically inseperable nowadays.

Power: Aleister and Tantomile have innate psychic abilities, activated by touching someone. Tantomile can see into a person’s past, while Aleister can see multiple outcomes the future could hold and then latch on to the most likely scenario. Their vampiric power is a twin link that allows them to experience the emotions the other one does, as well as keep them connected.

Inspiration: The psychic cat twins Tantomile and Coripocat from Cats

My wife came up with the basic concept and we workshopped them together from there; it’s a joint effort. She does Tantomile, I do Aleister.

Bartholomew Comstock: An overly aggressive puritan who was despised by his fellow townsfolk, he was banished from his New England home and forced to start a farm on his own. He nearly perished in the winter before Eve turned him. His hatred at being a disgusting, demonic creature such as a vampire is only ameliorated by his knowledge that Eve, having once been the angel Samael, ‘confirms’ his beliefs and allows him to eternally punish those he views as sinners.

Power: He believes his power gives him great strength against sinners, allowing him to inflict pain upon those who have done foul deeds. In truth, it is actually his own sins that give him strength, though his power does weaken as he exerts himself or runs low on blood (he cannot become unstoppably powerful).

Inspiration: The dad from The VVitch

Beatrix Cullen: Beatrix Cullen was a happy woman once, a skilled seamstress in the 1950s who simply loved the act of creation. She had an adoring boyfriend, and the two were set to be married, with Beatrix making a gorgeous wedding dress for her special day. But on that day, her groom never arrived, as he had been killed in a car accident on the way. Stricken by grief, Beatrix was easily convinced by Eve to join her coven, with the promise that perhaps her power could help her bring her husband back some day...

Power: Beatrix can imbue any object such as a sculpture or statue with life, essentially making golems without a magic scroll. Her most trusted golem is her mannequin, Manny, who often tries to steal her wedding dress. Her ultimate goal is to use her natural skills and her power to bring her husband back to life, stitching a Frankenstein monster of him and pieces of sleazy men who hit on her into a perfect flesh golem.

Inspirations: The bride from the Haunted Mansion, Kill Bill, Frankenstein, that one Tumblr post about 50s housewives fighting zombies with chainsaws, La Pascualita, Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh

Blanche Atterton: Daughter of Lady Drusilla Atterton, she grew up wanting nothing more than her mother’s love, though her mother was often far too preoccupied with “other things” (which she later learned was all of her plotting and planning to ensure her riches).When given the choice for vampirism, she excitedly vowed her loyalty to her mother and Eve. As she was only 15 at the time and children would not survive the turning, her mother waited until she turned 21 before turning her.Blanche does everything for her mother’s attention and love. She doesn’t hesitate to do her bidding in hopes of her mother praising her for it. She’s misguided, not evil, though her mother’s praise has given her a superiority complex and she’s a bit of a narcissist.

Power: Blanche’s power gives her a powerful, painful scream. Those within 5 feet of her screaming will suffer from temporary deafness for 5 minutes. Whether they fall deaf or not, bleeding from the ears is very common, especially among mortals.

Inspiration: Drizella from Cinerella

Dee Comporre: Giorgio Nero’s faithful, somewhat obsessed bodyguard. She quite obviously has a crush on him due to her hatred of any woman who so much as interacts with Giorgio, though Giorgio just sees her as being a bit overprotective. She has a shaved head, and paints her face to look like a skull.

Power: She can secrete and spit a powerful corrosive acid that can melt through even metal.

Inspirations: D’Compose from InHumanoids

Dorian Ferris: A serial killer known as “The Ferryman,” who always leaves coins over his victim’s eyes. As a mortal, he had far too many close calls, and was nearly caught several times, particularly during a bout in a town back in 1999. He tends to target wicked people such as domestic abusers, rapists, crooked cops, and so on, sending them down the River Styx ahead of time to make the world a better place. He willingly joined the coven to escape punishment. More than anything, he just wishes to live a quiet, peaceful life.

Power: Has luck manipulation, which can allow him to do everything from dodge attacks by near misses or turn his surroundings into a Final Destination movie for opponents. He tends to activate a particular mode based on the whims of a coin toss.

Inspirations: Jinx from Teen Titans, Final Destinatiin, Two-Face, Yoshikage Kira

Elizabeth Bathory: The Blood Countess herself. After evading death in the 1600s thanks to Eve, she became a loyal follower of the demon, and was recruited into the Order of the 1800s. Dracula and Rasputin managed to defeat her and supposedly kill her, but Bathory is notoriously hard to slay. True to her infamous reputation, she tends to “Feed” by bathing in the blood of her victims.

Power:Bathing in blood gives her an insane power boost; the longer she soaks, the stronger she gets. She can also absorb blood through her skin, though she can’t absorb the blood of supernatural beings this way.

Elvis Rey: Growing up near the border, Elvis always wanted to be like his hero, Elvis PResley. He obsessively watched the man’s performances and learned his every move. When the man died, he vowed he was going to become the greatest Elvis impersonator that ever lived. The 80s weren’t too kind to him, and drinking, gambling, and overeating left him looking like chubby later-years Elvis. With debt collectors crawling down his neck, he turned to Eve, and became a powerful vampire.

Power: He is capable of replicating any non-supernatural ability he sees. For example, if he watched a martial arts movie, he would be able to pull off those moves. Think the comic book character Taskmaster.

Inspirations: Elvis (Presley), Elvis (God Hand)

Giorgio Nero: Giorgio Nero was a member of Cosa Nostra who attempted to retire from this life due to his wife and child. However, his past would eventually catch up with him, and his child was nearly killed, which lead to Giorgio accepting an offer he had once rejected, but now couldn’t refuse: vampirism and joining with Eve’s coven. Despite everything, he is an honorable man who dearly loved his wife and adores and accepts his child.

Power: You know Magneto? Like from X-Men? Imagine that but instead of a Holocaust survivor it’s an Italian guy. Boom.

Inspirations: Magneto, Risotto Nero from Vento Aureo, Metlar from InHumanoids

James Wilson: James was born in 1812 as a slave. When he was 8, he was gifted to the man one of his master’s daughters married, along with 13 other slaves. As his former master’s name was Wilson, he took that as his surname. He worked as a stablehand until he became a farmer at age 12. After a rather brutal beating when he accidentally dropped a bag of freshly picked potatoes at age 25, James encountered Eve. She promised to help free him. She turned him into a vampire (1837). He lived on the run until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued and went into full effect in 1863. James used to speak in thick, Gullah speech, but over time, it has lessened as he acquired modern language.

Power: James’s power gives him the ability to summon and play with water. He can use it however he wishes: to drown someone, to create a small unnatural pool to swim in, or to cool someone off with a quick sprinkle. This comes from his silent love for water, though he wasn’t ever allowed to swim or play in it.

Inspiration: Splash Mountain

Juno Nero: The child of Giorgio Nero. They tend to wear long black coats, masks, and facial bandages to hide their face and body due to extreme anxiety. They are mute as well, and communicate via sign language. They are nonbinary.

Power: They can stretch their body like rubber (think Elastigirl, Rubber Band Man, Plastic Man, you get the idea).

Inspiration: Tendril from InHumanoids

Lady Drusilla Atterton: Born in 1852 in England as Drusilla Graham to a middle-class family. She grew up idolizing the wealthy and decided she would do whatever it took to become wealthy herself.Met Josiah Kipling, a 28 year old man, when she was 22. He fell madly in love with her. She was overjoyed as he was quite wealthy. They married in 1874 and had two daughters together (Katharine [1875] and Blanche [1877]). However, after 8 years of marriage (1882), Drusilla (now age 30) fell out of love with him and secretly laced his food with rat poison, ultimately killing him. As they had personal chefs, it was deemed to be the fault of the chef, who was arrested and charged with the crime. As his widow, she inherited a share of his wealth.Over the next 10 years (1882-1892), Drusilla married 8 other wealthy men from all over the country, all who mysteriously died less than a year later in what were deemed to be unfortunate accidents.

Donald Thompson, married in 1883, died in a carriage accident.

Maurice Parker, married in 1884, died of a laudanum overdose.

Timothy Edwards, married in 1886, died by drowning

Christopher Watson, married in 1887, died by falling out of a second story window

Nathaniel Harris, married in 1888, died of apparent suicide

Bernard Carter, married in 1890, died of a hunting accident

Percy Clarke, married in 1891, died after being attacked by a burglar

Timothy Atterton, married in 1892, died in bed (cause unknown)

She met Eve in 1892 shortly after marrying Timothy Atterton. Eve had heard of her reputation as the Cursed Widow (but knew full well her husbands’ deaths were her doing). As Eve was extremely weakened, Amon turned her. With Eve’s assistance, she killed her final husband by scaring him to death by introducing him to Eve. Drusilla vowed her loyalty.With the knowledge of how to turn another from Eve (as Amon refused to tell her how), Drusilla offered the gift of vampirism to each of her daughters. Katharine ( refused and cut herself off from her mother, instead choosing to live a full and honest life. Blanche, on the other hand, being so keen to be accepted and loved by her mother vowed her own loyalty to both her mother and Eve. When she turned 21, Drusilla turned her as well (as she was informed that youth would not survive the turning).

Power: Her power allows her to paralyze her target with a simple cold stare for a full 5 minutes.

Inspiration: Lady Tremaine from Cinderella

Lord Gordon Ruthven: A rich, aristocratic vampire who enjoyed luring in and preying on young women. He was part of the Order of the 19th century. He is currently a severed head, as his body was destroyed by the Silverwings.

Power: Can exude a charm aura that makes women more susceptible to his commands and desires, though it only works on women capable of being attracted to him (it would not work on lesbains, for instance).

Mabel Lockhart: A sickly young girl whose father made a deal with Eve to keep her from dying. Her dad is currently missing, and she is unsure if he’s even alive.

Power: She has the ability to absorb energy, such as steam energy, electrical energy, etc and gain boosts and power depending on what type she absorbs. For example, absorbing electrical energy would allow her to to shoot lightning. She can also absorb a person’s energy, but at most she can make them very lethargic and gets little else from absorbing that sort of energy.

Inspiration: Loosely based on the Pokemon Magearna

Maddox Hinton: Maddox was born in 1863 in a small town in England. He doesn’t talk much about his past, but he does boast about how he and his father were valued hypnotists in their small town. He was his father’s apprentice, learning how the art of hypnotism worked, though he wasn’t quite as successful as his father. This was what Eve used to convince him to turn to vampirism. It occurred when he was 25 and preparing to take over the family business.His power helped him convince his customers that they were actually under the effects of hypnotism. His father simply believed that taking over the business helped him tap into his true potential.

He continued this way until Eve demanded his help. He lied to his dad, telling him he was going to travel abroad and spread their business, causing his father to take over the business once again.Maddox served Eve for a few years before she told him she didn’t need his help anymore. It was likely this that irritated him so much that he eventually became loyal to Amon while under the very convincing facade he’s loyal to Eve.

The rest of his past is unknown. All he will often tell people is he traveled all over the world, performing great feats under fake names as “world-renown hypnotists”. Maddox is a wild card. He does things for the fun of it or for his own pleasure, often without any sympathy towards others.

Power: Maddox’s power allows him to take control of another (similarly to Gabby’s). However, he can take control of up to two people at once. Instead of physically puppeteering them, he simply suggests they do something and they do it.

Inspiration: Vex from Lost Girl

Margaret Derwin: Margaret was born in New York City in 1902. She grew up with a love for music, particularly singing. She had dreams of becoming a famous singer.When she was 18, she pursued these dreams. She got a job as a dancer at a speakeasy with hopes of, eventually, being able to become one of their singers in time. It was there that she met Elizabeth, one of the other dancers. They secretly fell in love (which answered Margaret’s confusion about why she wasn’t interested in men). Eventually, they decided to run away to California together. They made plans and prepared for this, but on the day it was to happen, Elizabeth never showed up. Margaret later discovered she had changed her mind and, instead, was going to marry a man she’d met at the speakeasy.Eve found Margaret heartbroken and wandering the streets looking for a new job after quitting at the speakeasy (as it was too difficult to continue working there when Elizabeth was still there). Eve easily wooed her to her side. Though, as Margaret had good intentions, Amon had eventually been able to convince her to assist him instead as he wanted to ensure Eve would stop preying on innocent people like herself.

Power: Margaret’s power involves her voice. Through singing, she can influence one’s emotions depending on her intentions (anger them, seduce them, calm them down, soothe them to sleep).

Nora: Nora’s memories are very faded. She knows she was born to a very poor family in Ireland. She knows she was sold as an indentured servant at age 13 in exchange for her tickets to America, board, and food. She knows she worked for that American family for 7 years. She knows she caught influenza and was promptly fired by the family for fear she’d infect them all. She knows she was near death, wandering the streets alone, when a massive black snake promised to save her. At the time, Nora believed it was just an illusion. She found out the next day, however, that it was not. She’d been saved by the gift of vampirism.Nora lived a long, long time as a homeless woman. She watched as America grew into a country of its own. She preyed on any she could find in order to survive. Eventually, she took residence in an abandoned house on a street. Over time, rumors spread that a ghost lived in the house on Blackwell Street. Her appearance and her power did much to add to this as well, as did the occasional mysterious deaths of those who wandered into the house hoping to catch a glimpse of the ghost.

Power: Nora’s power allows her to become visible or invisible on command. She can only switch from one to the other every 10 minutes. She often uses this to frighten mortals and uphold her identity as the Ghost of Blackwell Street.

Tony Sugar: Tony Sugar is the owner, spokesman, and iconic figure of the Lost Paradise Candy Company. With the help of Amon, he became one of the first successful Black candy makers in America. He’s very flamboyant, campy, and charismatic—essentially a black Willy Wonka. He is pansexual because, in his own words, “everyone deserves a little Sugar.” He is also an avid beekeeper.

Power: He has the power to “mellify” corpses, filling them with a honey-like substance and turning them into zombies.

Inspirations: Tony Todd’s Candyman, Ruby Rhod, the song “Sweet Bod,” the myth of the mellified man

Walter Sherman: Formerly a college professor and devoted family man from the dawn of the 20th century, Walter was a good man known for always thinking forward and being able to accept new changes in the world. However, when a freak accident claimed the life of his wife and child, he couldn’t handle it and attempted suicide before being saved by Amon. He’s mostly in the coven out of loyalty to Amon.

Power: He has the power of adaptability, allowing him to easily adapt to any situation. For example, using lightning against him would make him adapt lightning resistance.

Inspirations: The Carousel of Progress

Wayne Nicol: A formerly friendly clown who was forced to witness unspeakable horrors during WWII. He survived the horrors, but was left fundamentally disturbed by the nightmare he had lived through. He joined the coven hoping to find some sort of safety, but as it turned out, Eve had other plans.

Power: Has the power to control and manipulate a person’s fears to weaponize against them.

Inspirations: Scarecrow (Batman), Pennywise, Freddy Krueger, The Day the Clown Cried

#The vampirino story

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hms-chill · 4 years

Text

RWRB Study Guide, Chapter 8

Hi y’all! I’m going through Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue and defining/explaining references! Feel free to follow along, or block the tag #rwrbStudyGuide if you’re not interested!

James I (203): James I/VI (First of England, Sixth of Scotland) is known for both translating the Bible and being just... so, so incredibly gay. The book mentions that he promoted a dumb jock to gentleman of the bedchamber, but it leaves out that 13-year-old James would just make out with dudes in public, and that the dumb jock (George Villers) was James’s third serious adult relationship. His friends introduced him to George because his last boyfriend was bad for the kingdom.

George Eliot (205): Mary Anne Evans wrote under the pen name George Eliot to escape the stereotype that women could only write romances. She wrote seven novels, of which Middlemarch is the most famous, known for their realism and psychological insight.

Daniel Defoe (205): A pioneer of the English novel, Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe as well as a series of divisive political pamphlets and tracts.

Jonathan Swift (205): Irish political writer most famous for A Modest Proposal, a satirical piece that suggests cannibalism of infants as a more humane response to the British treatment of Ireland than letting them grow to starve in adulthood.

Dickens... “woman who languishes away in a crumbling mansion wearing her wedding gown” (205): Charles Dickens wrote stories concerned with the lower classes. This quote in particular refers to Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, who was left at the altar and refused to take off her wedding dress or even put away the food set out for the wedding.

Sense and Sensibility (205): This is probably Austen’s second most popular novel (after Pride and Prejudice); it follows the four Dashwood women in their move to a new home following the death of Mr. Dashwood. Like most of Austen’s novels, the opinionated narrator follows the women through a series of romantic mishaps, culminating in a happy ending.

Green American Money (206): Fun fact, British money is blue and orange and purple and all sorts of fun colors! It also all looks different, because (at least in Scotland) four banks are allowed to print pound notes, so there are four different designs all in circulation.

Sean Hannity (206): A conservative American political commentator.

Harvard rowing (206): Rowing is like... the bougiest of sports.

Pleiad (206): In Greek mythology, the pleiades were the daughters of the titan Atlas who became stars following his entrapment under the earth. They are remembered for their beauty and loyalty. Myths of the missing pleiad explain why only six of the seven stars are visible to the naked eye. According to some sources, the missing pleiad is Merope, who was shamed out of the sky for her relationship with a mortal.

Minute Maid Park (206): The baseball stadium associated with the Houston Astros baseball team; it seats just over 41,000.

Politico (207): An American political opinion news source.

Drop-kick Murphys (208): An American Celtic punk band. (listen here and here)

The Klan (209): The Ku Klux Klan, an incredibly racist organization that has been responsible for the lynching of thousands of people of color.

Kim Nam-June (210): Kim Nam-Joon, known as RM or Rap Monster, is the leader and rapper of the K-pop group BTS.

Milwaukee (211): The largest city in and main cultural center of Wisconsin, which is a “swing state”, meaning that it could go either way politically in a national election.

Seth Meyers (211): An American talk show host and comedian whose creatively titled show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, is liberal-leaning. He hosts celebrities and often chats about politics or the news.

Clear Crystal Quartz (211): Apparently the most “iconic” crystal, it is believed to be able to help with clarity and the achievement of goals.

Wimbledon (213): The oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious.

Royal Box (213): The royal box at Wimbledon is a section of the best seats, reserved for royalty and specially invited celebrity/politically powerful guests.

David Beckham (213): A former professional soccer player and current fashion icon known for being hot and wearing nice suits.

McQueen (214): Alexander McQueen was an openly gay British fashion designer who rose from a lower class background to become one of the most famous designers in the world. Though he died in 2010, his brand continues to be known for unconventional fashion shows and theatrical imagery.

Dashikis (215): A colorful, ornate piece of clothing somewhere between a shirt and a tunic originally from West Africa.

Orangery (218): A very large greenhouse or conservatory designed for growing orange trees.

Woman at her Toilet (218): This painting shows a woman in her bedroom putting on her socks with a little dog next to her; you can see it here.

Baroque bed* (218): Baroque art was designed to show off a monarch’s power; it is incredibly extravagant (Versailles is pretty much the iconic Baroque thing; you can see more about it here).

The Killers (219): An American rock band formed in the early 2000s and known for having donated over $1 million to charity (they did “Mr. Brightside”). (listen here and here). According to McQuinston’s twitter, the song Henry plays is “When You Were Young”, which you can listen to here.

Dred Scott (219): In the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford case, the US supreme court ruled that the constitution did not extend to or protect Black folks.

Nina Simone (219): An American singer/songwriter/political activist whose music spanned a variety of genres and whose activism focused largely on the civil rights movement and was largely influenced by her “friend” Lorraine Hansberry, a Black lesbian playwright. (You know Hozier’s “Nina Cried Power”? She’s Nina) (listen here and here)

Otis Redding (219): Considered one of the greatest singers in American pop music and was one of the foundational soul artists in the US. (listen here and here)

Brahms (219): A German composer known for sticking to more classical forms of music while his contemporaries often leaned toward more dramatic or opulent styles. (listen here and here)

Wagner** (219): A German composer who wrote both the music and the librettos for his operas; his works tend to be very complex, and he has been credited with beginning modern music. (listen here and here)

Romantic (219): Artistically, the Romantic movement was a direct response to industrialization that called for a return to and celebration of nature. Queerness was very much a part of this movement, as it was seen as a return to or celebration of one’s natural state (think Byron).

War of the Romantics (219): A music history term used to describe the split between conservative composers like Brahms who wanted to stick with the Baroque, opulent styles of the past century and radical progressive composers like Liszt, who favored newer styles that blended music with narrative and morals.

Liszt (219): A Hungarian composer known for a diverse body of work and his position as the leader of the radical progressive group in the War of the Romantics. (listen here and here)

Alexander Scriabin (219): Russian composer known for his atonal or dissonant music. (listen to the piece Henry mentions here)

Elton John’s “Your Song” (219): A song written before Elton John came out, but with his queerness in mind. In a 2013 interview, John referred to it as “a perfect song”, and that the lyrics (written by Bernie Taupin) got even better as he got older and sang it more. (listen here)

Consecrated (220): made holy.

DNC (221): The Democratic national conference, when members of the Democratic (liberal) party get together to prepare for a presidential race.

College Republicans of Vanderbilt University (221): Vanderbilt University is a private (and therefore more expensive) school in Nashville, Tennessee. Its location in the South and its price tag would both mark it as being more conservative.

Cage match (221): A type of wrestling match that takes place inside a steel cage; the most common way of winning is by escaping the cage, usually by climbing over the top.

Paul Ryan (222): A conservative retired politician and former Speaker of the House.

The Second Amendment (222): The second amendment grants Americans the right to bear arms (have guns).

Salon (222): An American news and opinion website with a politically liberal editorial stance.

Air Force One (222): the president’s plane

“My Canadian girlfriend” (223): A running joke that someone (often a high schooler) whose partner goes to another school or lives somewhere else is made up.

Five Guys (225): Five Guys Burger and Fries is a popular fast food burger chain across the US.

Vampire Weekend (225): An American indie rock band.

The general (226): the general election in November, when Americans would vote for their president

Plainclothes (226): out of uniform

The Beekman (226): A very fancy hotel in Lower Manhattan, near the Brooklyn Bridge.

NATO (233): the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries.

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*every time I read this, I flinch just a little bit. Baroque architecture is just... so much, and the concept of a Baroque bed when beds/bedrooms are supposed to be simple to help you rest... It’s just so much and I hate it with all of my being. I’m sorry if you like Baroque furniture, but especially for Henry, who dreams of a simple life where he can just write and be anonymous... It’s a big yikes.

** Literally no one asked, but his stuff is just... it’s so boring? Like I’m sure it’s great to fall asleep to or calm down to, but I tried to listen to it while I wrote this and I just couldn’t. Liszt is better, but he’s no Mozart. Also? Mozart wrote BOPS. ONLY. “The Birdcatcher’s Song” slaps and no one can change my mind on that.

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If there’s anything I missed or that you’d like more on, please let me know! And if you’d like to/are able, please consider buying me a ko-fi? I know not everyone can, and that’s fine, but these things take a lot of time/work and I’d really appreciate it!

—–-

Chapter 1 // Chapter 7 // Chapter 9

#rwrb study guide #English Major Brain™#English Major Brain™️#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb analysis #analysis #red white and royal blue analysis #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry fox mountchristen windsor x alex claremont diaz #alex claremont diaz #FirstPrince #june claremont diaz #bea fox mountchristen windsor #pez okonjo #nora holleran

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wat-the-cur · 4 years

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Recast the Lost Boys with B7 or vice versa!

(This response was written when I was tired and it is not as good as I would like. Nevertheless, I hope I managed to communicate my points clearly enough. I am now very fond of this AU.)

Let me tell you, this ask leaped up and fetched me a hefty kick to the jaw and I loved it. When I first read it, I was a little dumbfounded, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to realise this is actually a brilliant concept. Obviously, the B7 crew would not mesh at all with the intensely American 80s style of The Lost Boys. I think an older, more Hammer/Amicus vibe would be much more fitting for their version.

Max and the Lost Boys:

Max = Servalan. Imagine our gloriously wicked space queen as the head vampire in an isolated, English village. I think her greatest set back would be that, compared to Max, it would be pretty difficult not to be a little wary of her straight away. In Servalan’s case, her goal is not to find a father figure for her “boys”, rather a partner to assist her in managing her merry band of vampiric fools, as she begins to expand them into an army. Rather than running a video store, I like to think that she would instead sell wines and spirits. The Lost Boys universe requires that a mortal drinks a vampire’s blood in order to begin turning, as opposed to vice versa. The idea of Servalan being surrounded by bottles of red, therefore seems appropriate.

David = Travis I. At first, I was going to give the position of gang leader to Carnell and his honeyed tongue. Despite his beauty and charm, however, I cannot quite envision him in David’s place. He does not bare that edge of danger and possessiveness that is necessary for David. Travis I, however, absolutely does. Travis I is handsome and has a lovely voice, but he is also a born leader. It is evident that he takes slights on himself very much to heart, which is why he would be more likely than Carnell to personally take action against defection from the gang.

Dwayne = Carnell. Carnell would enjoy the vampiric life in his quiet, elegant way. He would spend the entire film in the background, swishing his cloak and dabbing the blood from his mouth with an embroidered handkerchief.

Paul = Ginka. I’m just putting him here, because I actually quite like him and at present I cannot think of anyone else to place in Paul’s spot. I’m also not about to put Jarvik in here.

Marko = Travis II. Marko is canonologically the most vicious of the Lost Boys. He is also implied to be rather close with David. I think that Travis II just fits in here, nicely.

Star + Laddie = Roj Blake and Cally. Both Blake and Cally are both defectors from flawed societies they once fitted into. Star and Laddie are half vampires who do not wish to become whole and bound to the lives of killers. Blake was subjected to mind control to ensure loyalty to the Federation, which caused serious mental damage. Cally is a telepath, cut off entirely from her people, leaving her lonely and vulnerable any telepath offering connection. Star and Laddie’s stories are not specified, but many believe that joined the Lost Boys due to feelings of loneliness and neglect, meaning they could have been emotionally compromised at the point of turning. Blake is a persuasive man, adept at getting people on his side. Cally is a soldier, but despises unfairness, she does not kill for selfish reasons. Star was the bait to lure Michael into the gang, with the intention of him being her first kill. She, however, cannot bring herself to kill him.

Emerson Family:

Lucy Emerson = Kerr Avon. A much less gentle and parental version of Lucy’s character, but we have established that Servalan is not on the hunt for a father figure. The reason I imagined that Servalan sold wine, instead of videos (quite besides the blood symbolism), is because Avon is a lover of life’s luxuries, which would likely lead him into Servalan’s shop. It is unlikely that he would be so besotted with Servalan, as Lucy was with Max, but the flame of attraction would undoubtedly be there. A skeptic, he would not believe in vampires, until he saw them with his own eyes. He is a distrustful and wilful man, so Servalan would really have to take drastic measures to ensure his turning. Speaking of drastic measures...

Michael Emerson = Del Tarrant. I defy anyone to argue with me on this. Tarrant in this case, could be Avon’s son, or perhaps his brother. The relation to be turned as a bargaining chip, to get hold of Avon. Tarrant may not be quite the fool that Michael is, but he is reckless and often too self assured, which would likely make tricking him into drinking Travis’ blood rather easy. Tarrant is also pretty righteous, so I do believe he would want to help get Blake and Cally out of the gang, as well as himself, without really needing to be particularly attached to either of them.

Sam Emerson = Vila Restal. The innocent. Vila may possibly be a little less gutsy that Sam, but that doesn’t mean he would try to get out of saving his family.

Edgar and Alan Frog = Dayna and Soolin (Maybe I could sneak Jenna in as a third hunter, just because I want her here). Dayna and Soolin work across from Servalan’s shop. They have noticed the mysterious goings on in the surrounding villages and their curiosity has gotten the best of them. Just imagine these two nabbing a poor, reluctant Vila into their monster hunting team. I adore the idea.

#asks #loathsome-aesthete #bunn1cula #the lost boys #Lost Boys #Blake's 7 #blakes 7

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winchcstcrlcgacys-blog · 5 years

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jensen ackles, he/him, bisexual. forget what you know about DEAN WINCHESTER, the ( canon ) one from SUPERNATURAL ! they’ve been a 40 y/o firefighter since arriving 2 weeks ago. you could call them the town ADRENALINE JUNKIE ; they’ve got a rep for being + HEROIC & + LOYAL yet – STUBBORN & - IMPULSIVE, but are associated with w/ [ empty beer bottles, colt m1911a1, greasy hands, cassette tapes ] they remember being surrounded by zombies in the graveyard with sam and cas.

Hey there. I’m James. He/him. 18+ and I’ll be playing your friendly neighborhood Dean Winchester. Everything you need to know is down below!

now, since supernatural has been running for an astounding 14 seasons, it’s difficult to go into detail about what dean has been through without providing you a novel to read. (however, if reading novels about characters is your thing, you can click here to have a detailed biography and personality rundown) with that said, i’ll try to summarize the key points best i can.

memories: let’s get started by addressing the plot of the group and what dean does/doesn’t remember since waking up on the island. dean woke up in the bunker where the winchester boys stay, which was the ideal environment to help him refresh his memories, considering he had access to a vast array of photographs, books, weaponry, etc. that provided the basics. at this point, he’s fully aware of who he is, who he knows in canon, and what they all do, but when it comes to specific events and the timeline itself, it’s fuzzy. because of this, dean isn’t fully equipped to handle what’s going on as effortlessly as he would by season 14. (this kind of stuff happens a lot) he’s still piecing the puzzle together and trying to remember just how to go by doing that.

now, without further ado, a character rundown:

name: dean winchester date of birth/age: january 24th, 1979, 40. species: currently human. (though he has been a ghost, vampire, and demon, just to name a few. again, it’s been 14 seasons. my boy’s been through some shit) occupation: hunter. (do-gooder, hero, protector of mankind, killer of ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves, anything evil, you name it, he’ll kill it. he even kills humans sometimes but they’re usually bad and we don’t talk about that) personality: confident, cool, and extremely loyal. charming and, at times, childish or immature. teasing his brother is one of his favorite pass-times. dean cultivates a bad-boy personality and makes sarcastic jokes at even the most morbid times, though he can be an intimidating presence to those who do not know him. underneath it all, though, he’s become hardened by life as a warrior. he has the tendency to be self-loathing and he is subconsciously afraid to get close to others in fear that being bonded to him will result in their untimely deaths (as it has various times before) he does his best to keep his emotions to himself. the only real weakness dean has is family. dean will protect his family at all costs. his longest and most intense commitment has been to his ‘67 chevy impala. he is a lover of classic rock music, food (don’t forget the pie), sex, and the occasional tv soap opera. (though he may not openly admit that)

biography keypoints:

after dean’s mom was killed by a demon when he was only 4 years old, his dad was hardly around, on a mission to avenge her. this left dean to fend for himself and raise his younger brother, sam.

the night their mom died, he rescued sam from the fire her burning body left, and since then, he has been committed to protecting his brother at all costs.

he’s known about monsters and has been a hunter as long as he can remember.

when dean was 26, his dad went radio silent for the first time, resulting in him traveling to stanford where sam had gone to college in hopes to recruit his brother to help him find their dad. this reunites dean with his brother and begins his journey.

when his dad dies, dean took it upon himself to continue on as a hunter, not only for the good of the human race, but because it’s the only life he has ever known.

eventually, when sam is killed, dean makes a deal with a crossroads demon who brings sam back in return, dean only has a year to live before he is taken to hell.

dean is rescued from hell by castiel because he is michael’s true vessel and therefore required for him to destroy lucifer in the apocalypse. dean does not say yes and does not get possessed.

when sam goes to hell with lucifer, he breaks away from hunting and tries to live a normal life. this lasts a year before he finds out sam is out of hell and goes back into hunting.

after castiel let the leviathans out of purgatory, dean assisted him in eventually slaying the leader, sucking both of them into purgatory, where he was stuck for a year before escaping.

he and sam discovered that the winchesters are legacies of an organization known as the men of letters. this meant that they found a home in a bunker created by this organization.

he took on the burden of the mark of cain in order to slay abaddon, knight of hell. when this happened, it made him more aggressive and violent than usual. when he died with the mark, he awoke as a demon.

sam cured him of this, and eventually of the mark, but doing so set free the darkness. dean had a strong bond with her due to previously having the mark which was dark in nature.

after god reunited with his sister, the darkness, he grants dean’s greatest wish by resurrecting his mother, mary.

when lucifer’s son, jack, was born, he originally wanted to kill him, thinking that he was dangerous and would cause destruction. however, as time went on, jack grew on him and he came to see him somewhat like a son.

in order to beat lucifer, dean eventually says yes to michael from an apocalyptic universe as long as michael lets him stay in control. he breaks this side of the deal, and uses dean with plans to destroy the world.

before appearing on the island, his main goal was to kill jack. this is because he has potentially lost his soul after killing michael, and accidentally killed dean’s mother, mary.

chuck (god) appeared again and gave dean a way to kill jack, which would also mean he dies himself. when it came to do it, however, he couldn't bring himself to do it. this angered chuck, who had been playing them the whole time, and then proceeded to kill jack and free spirits from hell with a threat of 'the end'.

the last thing dean remembers is the zombies closing in on him, sam, and cas in the graveyard, with jack's body on the ground next to them.

if there is any confusion, at any point, please feel free to ask questions. there’s no such thing as a stupid question. and don’t hesitate to message me to plot at any time! i’m excited to interact with everybody.

#'saving people. hunting things. the family business.' (about)#requiem:intro

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Stephen King: 10 Best Supernatural Villains

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Know the terror and madness of Stephen King's 10 greatest supernatural villains!

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The name Stephen King conjures up images of horrific creatures, monsters, places, and some of the most enduring villains in fiction. These are beings of unimaginable evil that test the limits of the protagonists' will to survive, and some of these villains have gone on to become almost as famous (or infamous) as the writer himself.

While many King villains are monsters of the human variety (serial killers, power hungry despots, nihilists, etc.), his most memorable are the supernatural ones who use their dark powers to twist the orderly world around them into chaos and pain.

Pennywise the Clown isn't the only monster you need to fear at night. King has created plenty of other horrific things that go bump in the night. Here are just a few of his best supernatural madmen and monsters...

10. Gage Creed and the Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary (1983)

“Don’t go beyond, no matter how much you feel you need to, Doctor. The barrier was not made to be broken. Remember this: there is more power here than you know. It is old and always restless. Remember.”

When Louis, Rachel, Eileen, and Gage Creed moved to Ludlow, Maine from Chicago, their cat Winston Churchill in tow, they wanted a peaceful new life in the more rural locale. What they got was a descent into death and madness almost unmatched in modern horror fiction. In the novel, the Creed cat is killed. Louis fears telling his daughter and buries the beloved pet at a nearby “Pet Sematary,” an old Micmac Indian burial ground. The cat returns home, much to Louis’ shock and delight, but it’s not the same friendly animal. It’s a listless, mean, half-alive creature that does not have a fondness for life.

Further Reading: Every Stephen King Film and TV Adaptation Currently in Development

When Gage is killed by a truck, overcome with despair, Louis buries his son in the Sematary. What comes back is a true horror of epic proportions. Gage is such a disturbing villain because he once existed as an object of purest affection. The once totally innocent soul is now corrupt and ridden with supernatural darkness. The Pet Sematary itself is rumored to once have been a burial place for cannibals, and the spirit of a Wendigo dwells in the soil.

Now, Gage is back with the most ancient of curses coursing where blood once flowed. Every father’s nightmare turned even darker. King felt the book was too dark even for him and shelved it until his wife, Tabitha, and his friend, the author Peter Straub, encouraged him to share his bleak vision of paternal loyalty with the world.

9. The Leatherheads

Under the Dome (2009)

“God turned out to be a bunch of bad little kids playing interstellar Xbox. Isn't that funny?”

Much more frightening than typical villains, the Leatherheads are an alien race responsible for the construction of the Dome that covers Chester’s Mill. They are in the same vein as H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horrors, beings much older and more powerful than humanity. The mere sight of them could drive a man mad. They are beings with the power of gods but no connection to or feelings for humanity. Just cold observers that exist on a different layer of reality.

The Leatherheads construct the Dome the same way a child makes an ant farm, out of a morbid curiosity to watch how lesser creatures exist. Their casual disregard for humanity makes them truly terrifying because, unlike some of King’s other antagonists, there is really no way to fight them.

The Leatherheads are mentioned in King’s chilling short story N., but it is in Under the Dome where readers get to experience the sheer paralytic terror that would occur if an alien species of ancient intelligence turned their attention towards our little backwater planet.

Read More: It Chapter Two Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

8. The Raggedy Man

Cell (2006)

“What Darwin was too polite to say, my friends, is that we came to rule the earth not because we were the smartest, or even the meanest, but because we have always been the craziest, most murderous motherfuckers in the jungle.”

Fans of The Walking Dead need to recognize. King does zombies too, and they are sphincter-tighteningly scary. In Cell, a pulse travels into cell phones all over the world. Anyone on their phone at the fateful moment is turned into a zombie. These villains are a different breed than the popular Romero clones, as the pulse also unlocks latent powers of the human mind like telepathy and levitation.

The Raggedy Man is the leader of the zombies. He thinks, organizes, and commands. He has all the nihilistic hunger of a zombie, but he has planning skills and foresight which make him a truly frightening antagonist. His goal is to spread his people around the globe and take the planet for his horde. He sees humanity as a threat to his people and seeks to destroy them to protect his new race, which could make him literature’s first sympathetic zombie villain. He is often seen wearing a crimson Harvard hoodie giving the creature an atypical zombie air of intelligence and capability.

The name of Harvard’s sports teams by the way? The Harvard Crimson. Well played Mr. King, well played.

Read More: How It Chapter Two Differs from the Book

7. Kurt Barlow

‘Salems Lot (1975)

“That above all else. They did not look out their windows. No matter what noises or dreadful possibilities, no matter how awful the unknown, there was an even worse thing: to look the Gorgon in the face.”

King’s only foray into vampires (the classic ones, anyway), Barlow was the writer’s way of getting the whole mythos right the first time. ‘Salems Lot was King’s second published novel and his first of many novels centering on the idea of a preternatural creature releasing the beast inside of regular people. It was also his first small town novel, a setting King would return to many times over the decades.

Barlow’s story mirrors that of Dracula, from the shipment of his coffin and native soil from overseas to his arrival and reign of terror in a contemporary setting. He even has his own personal Renfield, Richard Straker, his own gothic mansion, his own legion of dark minions, and a twisted grip on the residents of ‘Salems Lot.

Further Reading: 10 Best Stephen King Horror Novels

Barlow was more of a catalyst, using embraced residents as pawns to tighten his grip on the town, but his very presence on the page was accompanied with a sense of urgency and dread.

In a 1995 BBC radio drama of ‘Salems Lot (that is well worth seeking out), Barlow is played by Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley, which automatically gives the vampire tons of villain cred.

6. George Stark

The Dark Half (1989)

“Cut him. Cut him while I stand here and watch. I want to see the blood flow. Don't make me tell you twice.”

Stephen King once wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and published some of his more experimental works like The Running Man, The Long Walk, and Thinner. His experience as somewhat existing as another person inspired King to write the Dark Half and inspired the creation of one of his most cold-blooded killers, George Stark.

In the novel, Thad Beaumont was a successful author who wrote violent crime novels under the pen name of George Stark. After revealing to the world he was actually Stark, Thad and his wife stage a mock funeral for the author to symbolically cut ties with the violent crime fiction Beaumont wanted to leave behind. This is where King brings the terror.

Further Reading: Stephen King's 10 Most Terrifying Human Villains

The novel started with a flashback that dealt with the removal of an eye from the brain of a young Thad. It was the eye of a twin that was conjoined in the womb to the writer, an incident Thad had all but forgotten about. It was actually the eye of George Stark, who later rises from the mock grave the Beaumonts planted him in to go on a killing spree that leaves even the most seasoned reader with PTSD.

Stark is the embodiment of the darkness in the hearts of all men. The most frightening part of the book is that, even though Beaumont is desperate to rid the world of Stark, part of him is attracted to the freedom evil gives Stark and the realization that the evil is a part of him.

5. Rose the Hat

Doctor Sleep (2013)

“She's the Queen Bitch of Castle Hell. If you mess with her, she'll eat you alive.”

Rose the Hat, an immortal energy vampire from the 18th century and the leader of a cult of killers known as the True Knot, is one of King's scariest villains to date. Manipulative, ethereal, beautiful, and hungry for the "steam" -- psychic energy -- that keeps her and her band alive, Rose will whatever it takes for her next meal, even if it means torturing little children and killing them.

In Doctor Sleep, the sequel to King's The Shining, Rose becomes obsessed with hunting down Abra Stone, a young girl with a powerful Shine, which puts her at the top of the True Knot's list of potential food sources. Rose hatches a plan to kidnap Abra, but the girl proves elusive, especially after she teams up with Dan Torrance, a survivor of the horrors of the Overlook Hotel with his own Shine. Together, along with some help from some friends and one surprise guest from the afterlife, Dan and Abra are able to fight back against Rose and the True Knot.

But the road to the end of the book is soaked in blood, as Rose claims victim after victim. She might not look like a monster but Rose is as monstrous as they come.

4. The Overlook Hotel

The Shining (1977)

“This inhuman place makes human monsters.”

If there is one thing King’s constant readers have learned after decades of nightmares is that places can be as evil as people, an idea that is personified in the Overlook Hotel, the setting of The Shining. On the surface, The Shining is a classic haunted house tale, but beneath the surface, it is so much more. It is a deep look into the fragility of fatherhood, the bond of trust between father and son. As Danny Torrance, the psychic child who journeys to a secluded Colorado hotel with his caretaker father and loving mother discovers when the father he trusted is transformed in a raging madman by the power within the Overlook.

Further Reading: How The Shining Examines the Immortality of Evil

The novel’s most riveting sections feature past accounts of other times that the Overlook weaved its dark magic, transforming good men into monsters. The walls of the Overlook can barely contain the rage within the heart of the hotel, and as The Shining plays out, readers discover just how corrupt the place is. Make no mistake, it may not have arms to swing an ax, or legs to chase down its victims, but the Overlook is a hungry sort of evil that demands to be fed. Just try staying at a Motel 6 after reading King’s classic. I dare you.

3. The Crimson King

Insomnia (1994), Black House (2001), The Dark Tower series

“I am the Eater of Worlds.”

The Crimson King is often mistaken for It, and it is not completely clear if they are the same monster, but the regality and level of reverence the King’s minions hold for him seem to suggest that he is different than the sewer-dwelling eater of children. This beast is the embodiment of evil in King’s shared fictional universe. He is first introduced in Insomnia, where he tries to kill a child prophesied to topple the rule of the King forever.

The King is later revealed as the monster behind the events of the novel Black House, and he is the overarching villain of the Dark Tower series, the monster responsible for trying to bring down the structure of reality.

Further Reading: A Reading Guide to the Stephen King Dark Tower Universe

Stephen King suggests that all his villains, supernatural or otherwise, are pawns of the Crimson King. The name itself carries some great metatextual flavor as, of course, Stephen King himself is the one truly responsible for the evil in his worlds. The half of the writer that creates and is responsible for these horrific monsters is also named King. Stephen King is the writer, father, husband, and Red Sox fan. The Crimson King is the dark overlord of the fictional universe and the monster maker.

2. Pennywise the Dancing Clown

It (1986)

"Float?" The clown’s grin widened. "Oh yes, indeed they do. They float! And there’s cotton candy..."George reached.The clown seized his arm.And George saw the clown’s face change.

Every twenty-seven years It rises to devour the children of Derry. It awoke when a homosexual couple was beaten by a gang of thugs in 1984 to again reign terror on the children of Derry. It was put to rest by the Losers Club, a group of misfit teens, in 1958 only to rise again, decades later. It killed the leader of the Losers’ (Bill Denbrough) little brother in one of the most hair-raising prologues in horror history.

It is another of King’s manipulator villains, as It controls the darker residents of Derry, such as bully Henry Bowers to do Its bidding. It is a cannibalistic clown that lives in the sewers, a leprous mummy, a giant spider, or a series of orange lights called the Dead Lights that drive people mad when gazed upon.

Unlike the similar creature, the Crimson King, It does not commit evil for glory or power. It devours because It hungers. The lives of innocents exist only to fill the void of It's being. And let’s face it, nothing, NOTHING is freakin’ scarier than a hungry clown in a sewer.

Read More: It Chapter Two Ending Explained

1. Randall Flagg

The Stand (1978) Eyes of the Dragon (1986) Hearts in Atlantis (1999) The Dark Tower series

“My life for you.”

Not so much a single villain, but the archetype of all villains, Randall Flagg is King’s greatest singular creation of evil. Flagg first appeared in The Stand, the Dark Man who gathers the worst of humanity to rebuild a new civilization in his own dark image. The Walkin’ Dude had a propensity for crucifying any whose beliefs ran contrary to his.

Flagg is the greatest of King’s manipulators, able to inspire loyalty in those with dark hearts, as seen by the Trashcan Man in The Stand and even Mother Carmody in The Mist. All they have to do is say “My life for you,” and mean it, and Flagg will be there to inspire their dark deeds.

He was revealed to be the main antagonist to Roland in the Dark Tower series and is the ever-present evil in all men. Flagg is walking the back roads of reality just waiting for a chance to whisper in humanity’s ear and stir up some good, old fashioned chaos.

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Marc Buxton

Nov 11, 2019

Stephen King

Horror Movies

from Books https://ift.tt/2ZWR727

#aion-rsa #Books

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illeity · 7 years

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Winter 2017 Anime Awards!

(From the ones I actually watched.)

Best Overall: 3-gatsu no Lion/ March Comes in like a Lion

Into the light.

With consistent quality during the second part despite a shift in focus, perfectly managed tone that never leads to excess sentimentality or overt levity, and a story that ebbs and flows with such grace that it melts metaphor and direct description like an impressionist painting, Chica Umino's March Comes in Like a Lion remains the top spot for two consecutive seasons for the simple reason that it tells a rich story of individuals and making meaning.

In the first part, it introduces shogi professional, sometimes student, and introvert Rei Kiriyama and the facets of his life, particularly his close ties with the Kawamoto siblings. At the beginning of Part 2, Rei hugs the youngest Kawamoto sibling, Momo, and says that he has personal and professional matters to deal. While he sees the Kawamoto family as comfort and healing, he understands that he can't come running to them each time. With a major tournament upcoming he stops visiting them and the narrative shifts to the lives of the Shogi players that he plays against. With their own dreams and regrets, he becomes an observer of their lives as he compares it against his own, not to pass judgement on his failings, but to see the possibilities there is to life and to recognize that in the end, there are no bad guys, just people driven by very different motivations and showing how they cope with the consequences of a lifetime of choices.

With another season later in the year and a two-part live action movie currently showing in Japan, the series deserves all the accolades it gets. And if you're ever in the market for something substantial, with a deep, beating heart, this is your anime.

Best Drama: Youjo Senki, The Saga of Tanya the Evil

What is a god to an non-believer?

Tanya von Degurechaff is the fiercest, deadliest, and most cunning soldier of the Empire (Not-Germany) as they wage the first World War (Until it becomes muddled when they introduce a Panzerkampfwagen IV.). She's also under thirteen years old and is hated by God, or a god.

Why is that?

The god sees Tanya has such little faith in him and has therefore cursed her: Should she die a death that is not natural, she will be taken off the wheel of reincarnation and sent to hell.

But why a kid? And why so much hatred for an individual?

While these questions are answered to an extent, the most important thing to consider is that these driving forces are what sets up Tanya as she is placed in conflict for most of the war as she struggles to survive. She puts in as many legal means as possible to leave the war, only to have her end up on the front lines anyway, whether by her own fault, or by divine intervention.

As she leaves a trail of bodies, her actions reverberate throughout the war as everyone slowly pushes down into a black hole, no matter who is winning. And as with the nature of war, there are no heroes, only murderers.

Best Comedy: Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!

"This anime is like every insane D&D story I have ever heard." -henlp

The second season of Konosuba! continues the adventures of Satou Kazuma as he is pulled from the real world into a fantasy world where RPG game mechanics exist in reality. He's accompanied by a Goddess who drinks too much and wastes her skill points on party tricks, a Wizard who knows only one spell (and collapses after every use), and a Crusader who can tank, but cannot hit any living thing with her sword (not out of principle, she just can't hit at all). Also, that Crusader is a masochist.

"Insane and crazy" is the proper descriptor for the way the series is plotted, as comedic plot points are introduced and escalated versions of those plot points are put to use later on. The characters are made aware that they are in the mess they are in because of the solution that resolved a previous conflict made ample fuel for another. "It gets worse" is another descriptor as they are battered by bad luck and only somehow manage to escape as even their most competent moments are displays of excellence borne out of their utter stupidity. It's a show that's shameless enough to throw everything at a wall to make you laugh, and most of the time, what they throw in, sticks.

Honorable Mention: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

The Lion falls in love with the Mouse.

Miss Kobayashi is a Systems Engineer who, after a night of drunken revelry, somehow saves the life of a dragon, Tohru. Still drunk, she invites the Dragon back to her apartment, and into her life.

Unlike Konosuba! which fills narrative space with ever increasing, crazy humor, Miss Kobayashi's strength is mixing in the fantastical elements with the mundane, to create the comedy or the heart-warming plots, something that Gabriel DropOut only marginally succeeded in doing.

All throughout are discussions on the comfort between partners and the lives of people from vastly different backgrounds. It's about love and growing into it, even though we've largely been on autopilot. It's about the surprise we get when we realize to what degree people can love us for.

Best Cute Girl Anime: Demi-chan wa Kataritai, Interview with Monster Girls

Science, Folklore, and Free Hugs

Almost all Cute Girl Anime narratives occur within a casting closed system, that is, primary and secondary characters are all girls and they play off their antics onto each other and whatever conflict they find themselves in. So this is a very special case where the Primary female characters shine in their characterization with the aid of a Primary male character, Takahashi Tetsuo, Biology teacher, Demi-Human Researcher, and member of the pantheon of the "Greatest Teachers in Fiction".

So for the girls, we have Takanashi Hikari, vampire, Machi Kyouko, dullahan, Elsa, Kusakabi Yuki, a snow woman, and Satou Sakie, succubus and Math teacher.

The daily motions of these monster girls is already interesting enough, but a subtle beauty comes from the setting and the way the plot is crafted with a keen eye for science and human foibles.

The world-building is present but hardly emphasized, and shows how the world accommodates the Demi-Humans and their special needs. Vampires get blood packs subsidized by the government, Succubi get visits from Demi-Human agencies to check up on how well they're adjusting to their environment, and the rest are treated not so much because they're demi-humans, but how they are as people. Kusakabe Yuki, for instance, is seen as cold by a few of her peers, but never attribute her nature as a snow woman to be the cause.

The science part is interesting, because several chapters detail efforts by Takahashi trying to explain the physiology of the Demi-Humans, drawing on folklore for insight and the scientific method to explain "how" they function, without asking "why". In Magical Realism, whys have never been the point anyway.

And so we have a Cute Girl anime that stands above and beyond what is generally expected of the genre. By having the willingness to introduce other characters in the mix, we experience something a bit more different in how humor is constructed and how conflict is resolved. True to its efforts to ground itself through science, the warmth comes off even more genuine and realistic.

Best Sci-Fi/ Fantasy: Little Witch Academia

Better than Harry Potter.

What started off as a crowd-funded film about a young girl aspring to become a great witch, has turned into a full-blown series as it should have from the start. It carries with it all the trademarks of Trigger: Stark and clean character design, slick animation, and a wild ride of a story. Whereas previous works were about killer clothes and literal shared experiences, this one is a straight-forward romp into the realm of fantasy.

Except, while the premise is straight-forward, the execution has all the majesty and scope of an epic tightly-knit inside the trappings of what is essentially a coming-of-age, high school story. Add a pinch of the ever classic industry versus magic trope, excellent characters and well-realized relationships, and you have something that only ever appears plain and overdone.

Best Girl: Tsukinose Vignette April from Gabriel DropOut

No good or evil, only kawaii.

I have reached the conclusion that in the world of Gabriel DropOut, the one reason neither Heaven nor Hell have made any greater stride against the other is not because of balance, but rather because both are equally inept.

That being said, Tsukinose Vignette April, a demon from Hell, is the worst kind of inept but the also the best kind of character to be best girl: Kind, disciplined, being the one person responsible enough to go over to Gabriel's home to wake her up for school, scared of horror movies, and just... angelic. Compound her difficulty with being the only straight man in a comedy quartet gives her the patience of a saint.

Some people, like Gabriel, could never grasp the responsibility of being a divine being. For Vignette, she was just unlucky enough to not have been born to a role she's a natural in: that of a normal human being.

Best OP: "Shadow and Truth" by ONE III NOTES from ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept.

"It's never really what it seems."

In the latest of slice-of-life/ food/ mystery anime is ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept, where Otus tries to do his job as inspector in what is ostensibly a Fascist state that is under rumors of a coup.

Of course, the general goal of any good OP is to draw the viewer into the show and communicate what they'll come to expect from it. And for a show with such style and class it's masterful to pick a song that blends hip-hop and jazz as the vocalists rap about the hazy nature of truth as people play games with relationships and politics into each other.

The striking visuals complement the song nicely, with shots of the various characters shifting in and out of blur and limiting visuals to white, black, and one more color for every scene to evoke a unique feel for every single character and teasing the role they'll play in the show.

Best ED: "Los! Los! Los!" by Aoi Yūki from Youjo Senki, Saga of Tanya the Evil

Bedenke, dass du sterben musst.

An ode to madness and bloodlust, Los! Los! Los! (German for "Come on! Come on! Come on!") is a war speech in song form with very simple visuals: Shots of Tanya's face in various states of anger/ madness, a battlefield, and a few illustrations by the Light Novel's artist, Neichiru. How and when they're shown is where the song melds and gains greater power.

The angry/ mad face and the battlefield are shown and interchange with each other to follow the beat of the song during the chorus, which are commands in German to attack, take cover, or stand in attention.

Neichiru's illustrations take over during the verses, which celebrates war, the joys of taking away life, and surrendering your own life to your country, which the song sees as a great achievement, good enough to reach heaven for by building dead bodies one atop another.

Listening to the full song is recommended , as it expands on the nihilism even further, calling for those who advocate peace as weaklings and calling for ceaseless violence and depravity akin more to Heaven rather than Hell.

For its dark and horrifying thesis (sung with the voice of a young girl), the song would not be out of place in a battlefield setting where you know there is no way out, so you might as well go and fight and relish every drop of blood spilled, whether your own, or your opponents.

#March Comes in Like a Lion #youjo senki #konosuba #miss kobayashi's dragon maid #demi-chan wa kataritai #acca 13-ku kansatsu-ka #gabriel dropout #little witch academia #anime awards

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swipestream · 6 years

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New Release Roundup, 7 July 2018: Science Fiction

A time traveler defies Fate to keep his family safe, a battered fleet leads invaders on a wild goose chase through unexplored space, and a delivery man unearths a conspiracy from before the rise of man in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction.

Alliance Insurgent (Alliance Trilogy #3) – Michael Wallace

Captain Jess Tolvern of HMS Blackbeard led a Royal Navy expedition across long-dormant space lanes toward Old Earth when an alien fleet ambushed her battle cruiser. The aliens are Adjudicators, an ancient race whose ethos is to judge other species and reduce their survivors to a stone age existence.

Tolvern sent a desperate message back to headquarters. By the time she returned home, the aliens already invaded Alliance territory with a powerful fleet of star fortresses and accompanying dragoon ships, trapping and laying siege to the allied fleet. A desperate defense wins a short respite, but victory turns to chaos when the Adjudicators awaken an ancient star leviathan and send it against the allied fleet. Falling back to friendly territory ahead of this terrifying weapon, Jess Tolvern and the allied command muster the combined forces of the Alliance planets to finally defeat the Adjudicators and push across the inner frontier to reestablish contact with the remaining civilizations of Old Earth.

Black Dawn (Blood on the Stars #8) – Jay Allan

War is coming, darker and more terrible than any that have come before.

The Hegemony is coming to impose its brutal system of genetic supremacy on the Confederation and the other nations on the Rim, to make its elite Masters the unchallenged rulers of all human habitation in the galaxy.

The White Fleet had been an expression of optimism, a grand expedition to explore the vast reaches of the long-dead empire. Tasked to uncover the secrets of the devastating Cataclysm and to seek and recover the advanced ancient technology that humanity had once possessed, it found something else instead.

A new enemy. A vast domain, one with advanced technology, massive fleets, and a genetically-ordered society and hierarchy it intends to impose on all humanity everywhere. The Hegemony is like nothing Tyler Barron and his comrades have ever encountered…but the veteran admiral must find a way to fight the far superior enemy, to rally the Confederation’s forces, and those of the other Rim nations, for what may well be the final war.

Cryptic Commands – Steve Rzasa

Watch your back…

Vincent Chen makes sure his comms ferry satellites don’t harbor malfunctions. He’d prefer they didn’t hide people inside, too.

The woman left comatose aboard one he recovers is on a vital mission. She must stop criminals from stealing classified secrets and selling them to the highest bidder. But those criminals know she’s on the run, and Vincent is caught up in the chase.

Determined they stay silent, she’s left him only one choice: to seek help from his fellow comms jockeys, in hopes they can fend off a raid and keep the data safe. When their plans fall apart, Vincent must rely on others when he’d rather be on his own…

And trusting anyone is dangerous.

Discovery (First Colony #5) – Ken Lozito

Exploring New Earth should be a thrilling undertaking. Instead, the more the colonists learn about the planet, the more alarmed they become. Alien ruins hint at a species who fought great wars among themselves and disappeared centuries ago.

When Connor Gates discovers a hidden bunker, he finds something he never expected. Everything the colonists have learned about New Earth’s previous inhabitants is wrong. Connor must race to unravel the mystery. The colonists must face the possibility that they are not alone and that New Earth was never theirs for the taking.

Earth Unrelenting (Forgotten Earth #2) – M. R. Forbes

A fugitive captured. A hero forsaken.

A secret revealed.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Three days. That’s what they promised. But on Earth the danger is unrelenting, and promises are hard to keep.

Now Sheriff Duke is the one on the run, chased by an unexpected enemy eager to finish what they started. An enemy with an agenda that begins with killing him but ends with something worse.

Much, much worse.

Once the secret is out, the universe will never be the same…

Mech Wars (Mech Wars omnibus) – Scott Bartlett

Humanity is tired of losing. Enter the mech.

Jake Price has always dreamed of joining the Darkstream military, like his father before him. When he’s told his gaming scores are good enough to qualify him for a brand new training program, designed to find recruits talented enough to pilot humanity’s first mechs, he can hardly believe it.

He’s right to be doubtful. There are hundreds of other recruits competing for the same eight jobs, and they’re all as skilled as he is. Worse, the training instructor is an unhinged chief with a particular dislike for Jake.

But Jake refuses to give up, refuses to wash out. Because humanity is facing its greatest threat yet. If someone doesn’t step up, it could all be over for the human species.

Quantum Synapse – Russell Blake

A plan to enslave humanity begins with a conspiracy from the dawn of time.

Only one man can stop the unthinkable from happening.

Veritas Grey is a down-on-his-luck delivery worker in a dystopian future, until an accident turns his world upside down.

Hunted by a powerful cabal, Veritas and a young woman with a murky past must beat impossible odds if humanity is to continue to exist. Can they untangle a centuries-old secret in time to survive? Will Veritas embrace a forgotten past that could destroy him and those he loves? Can a conspiracy that dates to Mesopotamia be thwarted before the world’s enslaved?

In order to do so, Veritas must navigate a treacherous maze of secret societies, forbidden knowledge, quantum theory, and ancient technologies, and decipher a mystery at the root of mankind’s existence.

The Song of Earth (Children of Earthrise #5) – Daniel Arenson

Earth burns.

After generations in exile, we returned to our long-lost planet. Scarred. Haunted. Survivors. We–the last humans–are finally home.

But our enemies still crave our blood.

Seven alien species unite. Seven fleets bombard our planet. Seven armies invade our beautiful world. They have one goal: To kill us all.

We refuse to lose Earth again. We will resist. We will fight for every hill, every valley, every stone and blade of grass. We will defend our planet. At any cost.

Together, we will raise our voices. We will sing the song of Earth. We will tell the enemy: Earth is ours!

The Warp Clock (In Times Like These #4) – Nathan Van Coops

To Save Her Future, He Can’t Have One.

Ben Travers is facing an impossible choice. When a girl arrives from his future claiming to be family, she brings nothing but bad news. Ben has two possible fates, and no matter which he chooses, he has to die.

In a desperate bid to alter his future, Ben must seek a mysterious device that the Quickly family would rather keep hidden. He’ll confront a rogue faction of temporal fugitives—his only ally a girl he never knew existed.

Adventure. Family. Time Travel. For Ben Travers, it’s all going to collide.

Weaver (Four Horsemen Tales #2) – Kacey Ezell and Mark Wandrey

A Tortantula and a Flatar. The most enigmatic teaming in the mercenary guild, it’s also a perfect pairing, where one’s strengths cover the other’s weakness. Raised together from birth, their lives are a brutal series of tests. From the moment they’re thrust together, they are forced to kill their own kind just to survive. No excuses, no mercy, no room for failure. Succeed…or die.

Azah isn’t like most other female Tortantula; she’s much smaller and made fun of constantly. No one expects her to survive, much less succeed, but she’s still given a chance and assigned a Flatar: Sadek. The two quickly bond and find they complement each other. Against all odds, they survive the breeding dome and join the ranks of their races’ mercenaries.

But Azah begins to exhibit some extremely odd abilities, and everything changes. When Sadek uncovers a plan to manipulate the Tortantula breeding program, he’s unable to determine what their goals are…only that they have plans for Azah. Powerless to stop their shadowy machinations, the two know one thing: they want to stay together ‘Zha Oort’—until the ending.

But Fate is calling, and Fate doesn’t care what anyone wants.

Winter Overrun (Lost Time #4) – Damien Boyes

Finsbury Gage is terrified of what’s inside him.

He’s been dead more than once, and haunted now by the memories of lives he never lived. All he wants to do is hide—from a world he doesn’t belong to and the person he doesn’t recognize—until he’s forced from his self-imposed exile by a threat the police can’t handle and a request he can’t refuse.

A girl has gone missing. Arrived in the big city from the Preserves and immediately disappeared. Her brother’s come looking for her, and while a lifetime on a farm hasn’t prepared him to navigate the dangerous Reszo underworld, he’s not about to let that or anything else stop him from finding his sister.

Finsbury will be drawn into a hunt for a killer no one believes in. Someone who doesn’t just kill—he steals the thoughts of his victims and makes them part of himself.

Finsbury Gage is about to meet Winter, and neither of them will ever be the same.

The World Armada (Superluminary #3) – John C. Wright

Although the Lords of Creation survived the awesome onslaught of the world-killing space vampires, there is nowhere in the lifeless galaxy that they can hope to hide their planets and people forever. How can they hope to destroy what is already dead?

The vampiric necroforms are a massive empire of anti-life, terrible beyond all imagining, ruling a vast network of dead stars and planets they have drained of all life. Aeneas, the Emperor of Man, realizes that if the human race is going to survive, he is going to have to find a way to re-seed the entire galaxy with life while burning down the interstellar undead empire with the precious light it cannot bear. And not only does Aeneas have to do the impossible, he is going to have to do it while keeping a wary eye out for the ruthless betrayer at his back.

SUPERLUMINARY is the latest and most brilliant creation of science fiction grandmaster John C. Wright, the Dragon-award winning author of THE UNWITHERING REALM, THE GOLDEN AGE, MOTH & COBWEB, and AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND. THE WORLD ARMADA is the third and final book in the trilogy.

New Release Roundup, 7 July 2018: Science Fiction published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Psycho Analysis: Yoshikage Kira

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

“You can call me Yoshikage Kira. I'm currently 33 years old. Not that you'd care, but I reside in northeast Morioh's villa district. Also, I've yet to marry. In order to make a living, I work for Kame Yu department stores. After a long day's work, I return home no later than 8 PM. I don't like smoking, but do enjoy the occasional drink. I'm always in bed by 11 PM, and I make it a point to get no less than 8 hours of sleep each night. Before bed, I drink a warm glass of milk. It's always coupled with 20 minutes of stretching to decompress from the long workday. Sweet dreams are the usual result of this. I then awake as refreshed and recharged as a newborn child, ready to take on the day's challenges. And after my last checkup, I was given a clean bill of health. For as long as I could remember, I've done everything in my power to live a productive life that allows me to pursue a lasting inner peace. This may be a foreign concept, but I choose not to concern myself with winning or losing, life's troubles, or enemies who bring sleepless nights. That is how I cope with this backwards life we find ourselves living. It's what brings me happiness in a world fraught with hardship and misery. Of course, if I were ever to engage in combat, I would win the battle without question.”

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is an absolute wealth of fantastic villains, some of the absolute best fiction has to offer. Villains like Dio and Funny Valentine and Diavolo and Pucci have become iconic among fans for their crazy personalities, quotable lines, powerful stands, unique designs, and overall character. But one villain stands out as perhaps the greatest creation of Hirohiko Araki, the villain of what is arguably the best part of the franchise: Yoshikage Kira of Diamond is Unbreakable.

Kira is the remorseless serial Killer who has been living in plain sight in Morioh for years, killing women and taking their hands to be his “girlfriends.” He miraculously was never caught despite being active for over a decade, due to a combination of sheer luck and his incredibly dangerous Stand Killer Queen. The utterly terrifying part is that for the most part he seems like an absolutely normal, average guy who otherwise wouldn’t stand out too much in a crowd (well, by JoJo standards anyway, he does dress a bit too colorfully to fit in to a crowd in the real world). This is also what makes him so great as a JoJo villain: even among the others, he stands out. Kind of ironic, all things considered.

Actor: The dub chose to grace Kira with the voice of D.C. Douglas, who you may know as Albert Wesker or Legion. To say that his voice work is perfect would be an understatement; he truly sells Kira as a normal guy while at the same time leaving an air of uncomfortable dread around every word Kira says. And when Kira snaps… brrrrr. Douglas really outdid himself here.

Motivation/Goals: Yoshikage Kira simply wishes to live a quiet life, free from the worries that the common man has. He just wants to live and brutally obliterate women until the end of his days, never being caught or facing justice. This is the gist of his character when first introduced, but of course, things change when Josuke and the gang get on his tail; he then goes out of his way to escape them by stealing the identity and life of a man named Kosaku Kawajiri, and when even that fails due to Kawajiri’s son catching on to him he gains a new ability so he can simply obliterate them all. The long and short of it though is that Kira is very much your typical serial killer pushed too far, though with his abilities, Kira is a lot more than “typical.”

Personality: Kira’s personality when compared to other villains like DIO is actually very subdued. For the most part, he is very calm, collected, and doesn’t really ham it up to any great extent. But when he does, it’s usually extremely terrifying; just look at the scene where he invades the couple’s apartment and kills them if you need evidence of how utterly terrifying Kira can be when he raises his voice

All that being said, once Kira gets Bites the Dust all bets are off. He becomes a lot hammier, though none of it feels like a betrayal of his character; it more feels like after all his desperate attempts to escape and all the fear of being caught, he is finally winning. And then when he starts to lose… it does sort of bring back memories of DIO after drinking Joseph’s blood, with how unhinged and even maniacal he starts to become.

Final Fate: Kira has the honor of dying twice within the span of a single episode. First comes when he is pushed into the path of an oncoming ambulance, which accidentally backs up over his head, killing him. Kira’s spirit ends up on Reimi’s street, and together with Arnold she succeeds in making Kira turn around and face the hands of the wicked spirits that live there, who proceed to tear him and Killer Queen apart and drag them to oblivion.

Both deaths are fitting and have a sense of irony to them. An ambulance reverses over him and tears off his face, just as he did to Kosaku Kawajiri; there’s also the fact that his face being mangled by the wheels of the ambulance technically gives Kira the anonymity he so craved. Then of course there is the fact that Kira is dragged off by the object of his desires, torn apart and brought to a place where he will never again experience a quiet day.

Best Scene: For Kira in his original appearance, it’s almost definitely his brutal murder of Shigechi. When he’s Kosaku Kawajiri, the final activation of Bites the Dust and his final fate really take the cake.

Best Quote: You know there is only one quote that could possibly go here. The single most famous thing Kira ever said. And while the dub unfortunately had to censor the line because there are some words you just can’t say on TV, the line still managed to be as epic as promised even if it did have a bit of unintentional hilarity to it:

“When I was a young boy, I remember discovering Leonardo da Vinci's enigmatic Mona Lisa while leafing through a tome of the master's works. It was my first time laying eyes on her! The beauty before me, well, it aroused something in me... it gave me a rock hard cock!”

The “cock” was bleeped out in the broadcast. I just love how this drops all the pretense and subtlety of the manga’s translation, it’s really beautiful and really showcases just how desperate and unhinged Kira has become.

Final Thoughts & Score: As has been noted and alluded to, there is a hilarious irony to Kira. By being a JoJo villain who does his best to appear as average and mundane as possible, he stands out compared to his garish, posing, flexing, hammy peers in the series. Of course, this really does just help make him all the more intriguing and unique… which, if he were real, would just frustrate him all the more.

Frankly this is the easiest 10/10 I have ever given to a villain. I hardly even have to think about it. Kira is just my absolute favorite villain subjectively speaking, and even objectively he’s just a fantastic character who fits the story so well. The ultimate enemy of a man who can fix anything is a man who can blow up everything, it’s pure brilliance, like a shining diamond perhaps. Then there’s his design, which just oozes cool, as well as Killer Queen’s design and myriad powers, which are likewise insanely awesome. Is it any surprise that he’s my go-to inspiration for when I design serial killer OCs?

There’s also just how he contrasts with the part as a whole. Diamond is Unbreakable is very relaxed and laid-back, plot wise. Compared to the previous three stories, which were all about fabulous muscle-bound vampires trying to take over the world, this is just a simple story about a gang of teens trying to find a killer and protect their town. There’s a lot of wacky situations and side characters, and overall the tone manages to stay fun and lighthearted… until Kira steps on the scene. Kira’s every appearance brings in a lot of dark, terrifying, and truly gruesome moments, and even with some of the levity provided such as his rambling about the erection he got from the Mona Lisa he still manages to be incredibly creepy and unnerving until his dying breath.

Kira is just an utterly fantastic villain with cool powers, a great voice actor, and two really fun playable appearances in All-Star Battle (Kawajiri’s Great Heat Attack is one of my favorites, it’s so funny). And while it’s obviously sad but still expected such a fantastic villain has to die, we can all take solace in knowing that some day in the distant future we will see him again (sort of) in Part 8. Still, it’s doubtful it will fill the hole Kira has exploded in the hearts of JoJo fans everywhere.

#Psycho Analysis #Jojo's bizarre adventure #diamond is unbreakable #kira #yoshikage kira #kosaku kawajiri

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Stephen King: 10 Best Supernatural Villains

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Know the terror and madness of Stephen King's 10 greatest supernatural villains!

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10. Gage Creed and the Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary (1983)

Further Reading: Every Stephen King Film and TV Adaptation Currently in Development

9. The Leatherheads

Under the Dome (2009)

“God turned out to be a bunch of bad little kids playing interstellar Xbox. Isn't that funny?”

Read More: It Chapter Two Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

8. The Overlook Hotel

The Shining (1977)

“This inhuman place makes human monsters.”

Further Reading: How The Shining Examines the Immortality of Evil

7. The Raggedy Man

Cell (2006)

The name of Harvard’s sports teams by the way? The Harvard Crimson. Well played Mr. King, well played.

Read More: How It Chapter Two Differs from the Book

6. Kurt Barlow

‘Salems Lot (1975)

Further Reading: 10 Best Stephen King Horror Novels

Barlow was more of a catalyst, using embraced residents as pawns to tighten his grip on the town, but his very presence on the page was accompanied with a sense of urgency and dread.

In a 1995 BBC radio drama of ‘Salems Lot (that is well worth seeking out), Barlow is played by Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley, which automatically gives the vampire tons of villain cred.

5. George Stark

The Dark Half (1989)

“Cut him. Cut him while I stand here and watch. I want to see the blood flow. Don't make me tell you twice.”

Further Reading: Stephen King's 10 Most Terrifying Human Villains

4. Blaine the Mono

The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands (1991)

“Choo-Choo, thought Jake, and shuddered.”

You will never look at Thomas the Tank Engine the same way again. Blaine is a sentient train in the Dark Tower series, a machine driven insane by underuse. Blaine once housed a powerful computer mind, but the network has since broken down, making the train deranged, cruel, and suicidal.

Roland and his ka-tet need the train to travel out of the Wasteland so Roland can finish his quest for the Dark Tower. They board Blaine. They are horrified when they find Blaine has gone completely insane. The train forces them into a game of riddles. The situation gets worse, as the ka-tet realizes Blaine will kill himself by derailing at great speed with them aboard.

A crazy, sentient, thundering locomotive with a face is scary enough, but couple that with the fact that the train suffers from crippling mental health issues, and you have one of the most unique monsters in literature. There is a second voice inside Blaine, Little Blaine, who begs the ka-tet to help him, adding even another layer to the tragic nightmare that is Blaine.

So essentially, Blaine is Gollum if Gollum was a runaway train: a riddle loving, murderous, schizophrenic machine who has been ruined by pain and emptiness.

Read More: It Chapter Two and the Horror of Anti-Gay Bigotry

3. The Crimson King

Insomnia (1994), Black House (2001), The Dark Tower series

“I am the Eater of Worlds.”

Further Reading: A Reading Guide to the Stephen King Dark Tower Universe

2. Pennywise the Dancing Clown

It (1986)

"Float?" The clown’s grin widened. "Oh yes, indeed they do. They float! And there’s cotton candy..."George reached.The clown seized his arm.And George saw the clown’s face change.

Read More: It Chapter Two Ending Explained

1. Randall Flagg

The Stand (1978) Eyes of the Dragon (1986) Hearts in Atlantis (1999) The Dark Tower series

“My life for you.”

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Marc Buxton

Sep 12, 2019

Stephen King

Horror Movies

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