M. de Villefort reçut la note suivante: «La personne que l’on appelle M. le comte de Monte-Cristo est connue particulièrement de Lord Wilmore, riche étranger, que l’on voit quelquefois à Paris et qui s’y trouve en ce moment; il est connu également de l’abbé Busoni, prêtre sicilien d’une grande réputation en Orient, où il a fait beaucoup de bonnes œuvres.» (p. 839)

just read an entire chapter in which le procureur du roi monsieur de villefort, who's freaking out because the count of monte-cristo somehow knows about his lovechild who he tried to bury alive in his in-laws' backyard twenty years ago, asks around for info about the count and is told that the people who know the most about him are l'abbé busoni and lord wilmore. you know. two of dantès's other personas. so then the rest of the chapter is just the cops interrogating these two guys (the same guy) to find out what they know about this other guy (also the same guy). and they ask the two guys (who are the same guy) the same questions, but the two guys (two-in-one guy) answer differently, and all of their answers are lies anyway because the guy they're being interrogated about (who again is the same guy) and in fact the two guys being interrogated as well (bogo guys) are all made up by the one real guy who's pretending to be all of them.

Ida Estelle Taylor (May 20, 1894 – April 15, 1958) was an American actress, singer, model, and animal rights activist. With "dark-brown, almost black hair and brown eyes," she was regarded as one of the most beautiful silent film stars of the 1920s.

After her stage debut in 1919, Taylor began appearing in small roles in World and Vitagraph films. She achieved her first notable success with While New York Sleeps (1920), in which she played three different roles, including a "vamp." She was a contract player of Fox Film Corporation and, later, Paramount Pictures, but for the majority of her career she freelanced. She became famous and was commended by critics for her portrayals of historical women in important films: Miriam in The Ten Commandments (1923), Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), and Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926).

Although she made a successful transition to sound films, she retired from film acting in 1932 and decided to focus entirely on her singing career. She was also active in animal welfare before her death from cancer in 1958. She was posthumously honored in 1960 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the motion pictures category.

Ida Estelle Taylor was born on May 20, 1894 in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father, Harry D. Taylor (born 1871), was born in Harrington, Delaware. Her mother, Ida LaBertha "Bertha" Barrett (November 29, 1874 – August 25, 1965), was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and later worked as a freelance makeup artist. The Taylors had another daughter, Helen (May 19, 1898 – December 22, 1990), who also became an actress. According to the 1900 census, the family lived in a rented house at 805 Washington Street in Wilmington. In 1903, Ida LaBertha was granted a divorce from Harry on the ground of nonsupport; the following year, she married a cooper named Fred T. Krech.[9] Ida LaBertha's third husband was Harry J. Boylan, a vaudevillian.

Taylor was raised by her maternal grandparents, Charles Christopher Barrett and Ida Lauber Barrett. Charles Barrett ran a piano store in Wilmington, and Taylor studied piano. Her childhood ambition was to become a stage actress, but her grandparents initially disapproved of her theatrical aspirations. When she was ten years old she sang the role of "Buttercup" in a benefit performance of the opera H.M.S. Pinafore in Wilmington. She attended high school but dropped out because she refused to apologize after a troublesome classmate caused her to spill ink from her inkwell on the floor. In 1911, she married bank cashier Kenneth M. Peacock. The couple remained together for five years until Taylor decided to become an actress. She soon found work as an artists' model, posing for Howard Pyle, Harvey Dunn, Leslie Thrasher, and other painters and illustrators.

In April 1918, Taylor moved to New York City to study acting at the Sargent Dramatic School. She worked as a hat model for a wholesale millinery store to earn money for her tuition and living expenses. At Sargent Dramatic School, she wrote and performed one-act plays, studied voice inflection and diction, and was noticed by a singing teacher named Mr. Samoiloff who thought her voice was suitable for opera. Samoiloff gave Taylor singing lessons on a contingent basis and, within several months, recommended her to theatrical manager Henry Wilson Savage for a part in the musical Lady Billy. She auditioned for Savage and he offered her work as an understudy to the actress who had the second role in the musical. At the same time, playwright George V. Hobart offered her a role as a "comedy vamp" in his play Come-On, Charlie, and Taylor, who had no experience in stage musicals, preferred the non-musical role and accepted Hobart's offer.

Taylor made her Broadway stage début in George V. Hobart's Come-On, Charlie, which opened on April 8, 1919 at 48th Street Theatre in New York City. The story was about a shoe clerk who has a dream in which he inherits one million dollars and must make another million within six months. It was not a great success and closed after sixteen weeks. Taylor, the only person in the play who wore red beads, was praised by a New York City critic who wrote, "The only point of interest in the show was the girl with the red beads." During the play's run, producer Adolph Klauber saw Taylor's performance and said to the play's leading actress Aimee Lee Dennis: "You know, I think Miss Taylor should go into motion pictures. That's where her greatest future lies. Her dark eyes would screen excellently." Dennis told Taylor what Klauber said, and Taylor began looking for work in films. With the help of J. Gordon Edwards, she got a small role in the film A Broadway Saint (1919). She was hired by the Vitagraph Company for a role with Corinne Griffith in The Tower of Jewels (1920), and also played William Farnum's leading lady in The Adventurer (1920) for the Fox Film Corporation.

One of Taylor's early successes was in 1920 in Fox's While New York Sleeps with Marc McDermott. Charles Brabin directed the film, and Taylor and McDermott play three sets of characters in different time periods. This film was lost for decades, but has been recently discovered and screened at a film festival in Los Angeles. Her next film for Fox, Blind Wives (1920), was based on Edward Knoblock's play My Lady's Dress and reteamed her with director Brabin and co-star McDermott. William Fox then sent her to Fox Film's Hollywood studios to play a supporting role in a Tom Mix film. Just before she boarded the train for Hollywood, Brabin gave her some advice: "Don't think of supporting Mix in that play. Don't play in program pictures. Never play anything but specials. Mr. Fox is about to put on Monte Cristo. You should play the part of Mercedes. Concentrate on that role and when you get to Los Angeles, see that you play it."

Taylor traveled with her mother, her canary bird, and her bull terrier, Winkle. She was excited about playing Mercedes and reread Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo on the train. When she arrived in Hollywood, she reported to Fox Studios and introduced herself to director Emmett J. Flynn, who gave her a copy of the script, but warned her that he already had another actress in mind for the role. Flynn offered her another part in the film, but she insisted on playing Mercedes and after much conversation was cast in the role. John Gilbert played Edmond Dantès in the film, which was eventually titled Monte Cristo (1922). Taylor later said that she, "saw then that he [Gilbert] had every requisite of a splendid actor." The New York Herald critic wrote, "Miss Taylor was as effective in the revenge section of the film as she was in the first or love part of the screened play. Here is a class of face that can stand a close-up without becoming a mere speechless automaton."

Fox also cast her as Gilda Fontaine, a "vamp", in the 1922 remake of the 1915 Fox production A Fool There Was, the film that made Theda Bara a star. Robert E. Sherwood of Life magazine gave it a mixed review and observed: "Times and movies have changed materially since then [1915]. The vamp gave way to the baby vamp some years back, and the latter has now been superseded by the flapper. It was therefore a questionable move on Mr. Fox's part to produce a revised version of A Fool There Was in this advanced age." She played a Russian princess in the film Bavu (1923), a Universal Pictures production with Wallace Beery as the villain and Forrest Stanley as her leading ma

One of her most memorable roles is that of Miriam, the sister of Moses (portrayed by Theodore Roberts), in the biblical prologue of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923), one of the most successful films of the silent era. Her performance in the DeMille film was considered a great acting achievement. Taylor's younger sister, Helen, was hired by Sid Grauman to play Miriam in the Egyptian Theatre's onstage prologue to the film.

Despite being ill with arthritis, she won the supporting role of Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), starring Mary Pickford. "I've since wondered if my long illness did not, in some measure at least, make for realism in registering the suffering of the unhappy and tormented Scotch queen," she told a reporter in 1926.

She played Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926), Warner Bros.' first feature-length film with synchronized Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack. The film also starred John Barrymore, Mary Astor and Warner Oland. Variety praised her characterization of Lucrezia: "The complete surprise is the performance of Estelle Taylor as Lucretia [sic] Borgia. Her Lucretia is a fine piece of work. She makes it sardonic in treatment, conveying precisely the woman Lucretia is presumed to have been."

She was to have co-starred in a film with Rudolph Valentino, but he died just before production was to begin. One of her last silent films was New York (1927), featuring Ricardo Cortez and Lois Wilson.

In 1928, she and husband Dempsey starred in a Broadway play titled The Big Fight, loosely based around Dempsey's boxing popularity, which ran for 31 performances at the Majestic Theatre.

She made a successful transition to sound films or "talkies." Her first sound film was the comical sketch Pusher in the Face (1929).

Notable sound films in which she appeared include Street Scene (1931), with Sylvia Sidney; the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning Cimarron (1931), with Richard Dix and Irene Dunne; and Call Her Savage (1932), with Clara Bow.

Taylor returned to films in 1944 with a small part in the Jean Renoir drama The Southerner (released in 1945), playing what journalist Erskine Johnson described as "a bar fly with a roving eye. There's a big brawl and she starts throwing beer bottles." Johnson was delighted with Taylor's reappearance in the film industry: "[Interviewing] Estelle was a pleasant surprise. The lady is as beautiful and as vivacious as ever, with the curves still in the right places." The Southerner was her last film.

Taylor married three times, but never had children. In 1911 at aged 17, she married a bank cashier named Kenneth Malcolm Peacock, the son of a prominent Wilmington businessman. They lived together for five years and then separated so she could pursue her acting career in New York. Taylor later claimed the marriage was annulled. In August 1924, the press mentioned Taylor's engagement to boxer and world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. In September, Peacock announced he would sue Taylor for divorce on the ground of desertion. He denied he would name Dempsey as co-respondent, saying "If she wants to marry Dempsey, it is all right with me." Taylor was granted a divorce from Peacock on January 9, 1925.

Taylor and Dempsey were married on February 7, 1925 at First Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California. They lived in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. Her marriage to Dempsey ended in divorce in 1931.

Her third husband was theatrical producer Paul Small. Of her last husband and their marriage, she said: "We have been friends and Paul has managed my stage career for five years, so it seemed logical that marriage should work out for us, but I'm afraid I'll have to say that the reason it has not worked out is incompatibility."

In her later years, Taylor devoted her free time to her pets and was known for her work as an animal rights activist. "Whenever the subject of compulsory rabies inoculation or vivisection came up," wrote the United Press, "Miss Taylor was always in the fore to lead the battle against the measure." She was the president and founder of the California Pet Owners' Protective League, an organization that focused on finding homes for pets to prevent them from going to local animal shelters. In 1953, Taylor was appointed to the Los Angeles City Animal Regulation Commission, which she served as vice president.

Taylor died of cancer at her home in Los Angeles on April 15, 1958, at the age of 63. The Los Angeles City Council adjourned that same day "out of respect to her memory." Ex-husband Jack Dempsey said, "I'm very sorry to hear of her death. I didn't know she was that ill. We hadn't seen each other for about 10 years. She was a wonderful person." Her funeral was held on April 17 in Pierce Bros. Hollywood Chapel. She was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, then known as Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery.

She was survived by her mother, Ida "Bertha" Barrett Boylan; her sister, Helen Taylor Clark; and a niece, Frances Iblings. She left an estate of more than $10,000, most of it to her family and $200 for the care and maintenance of her three dogs, which she left to her friend Ella Mae Abrams.

Taylor was known for her dark features and for the sensuality she brought to the films in which she appeared. Journalist Erskine Johnson considered her "the screen's No. 1 oomph girl of the 20s." For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Estelle Taylor was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1620 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Like Literature: The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

1. He could not do this, he whose past life was so short, whose present so melancholy, and whose future so doubtful. Nineteen years of light to reflect upon in eternal darkness. No distraction could come to his aid; his energetic spirit that would have exulted in thus revisiting the past was imprisoned like an eagle in a cage.

2. Dantès, as we have said, had retraced the marks in the rock and he had observed that they led to a small creek, hidden like the bath of some ancient nymph.

3. When Franz came to his senses, the objects around him seemed like an extension of his dream.

4. And yet the two young people had never declared their affection; they had grown together like two trees whose roots are mingled, whose branches intertwine, and whose perfume rises together to the heavens.

5. ‘All I can say,’ continued the countess, taking up the lorgnette, and directing it to the box in question, ‘is that the gentleman, whose history I am unable to furnish, seems to me as though he had just been dug up; he looks more like a corpse permitted by some friendly gravedigger to leave his tomb for a while, and revisit this earth of ours, than anything human. How ghastly pale he is!’

6. I have a passion for the occult sciences, they speak to the imagination like poetry (...)

7. When the count arrived, he had within reach his books and arms, his eyes rested upon his favourite pictures; his dogs, whose caresses he loved, welcomed him in the ante-chamber; the birds, whose songs delighted him, cheered him with their music; and the house, awakened from its long sleep, like Sleeping Beauty in the wood, lived, sang, and bloomed like the houses we have cherished in which, when we are forced to leave them, we leave a part of our souls.

8. A long silence succeeded this scene; the peach, like the grapes, was rolling on the ground.

9. As to Haydée, these terrible reminiscences seemed to have overpowered her for the moment, for she ceased speaking, her head leaning on her hand like a beautiful flower bowing beneath the violence of the storm, and her eyes, gazing on emptiness, indicated that she was mentally contemplating the green summit of the Pindus and the blue waters of the lake of Yanina which, like a magic mirror, seemed to reflect the sombre picture which she drew. Monte Cristo looked at her with an indescribable expression of interest and pity.

10. ‘Let all this be forgotten as a sorrowful dream,’ said Beauchamp; ‘let it vanish as the last sparks from the blackened paper, and disappear like the smoke from those silent ashes.’

11. ‘Yes, I need your aid; that is, I thought, like a madman, you could lend me your assistance in a case where God alone can help me.’

12. They will all disappear like the houses children build with cards, and which fall, one by one, under the breath of their builder, even if there are two hundred of them.

13. The crowd moved to and fro in those rooms like an ebb and flow of turquoises, rubies, emeralds, opals, and diamonds.

14. Valentine reposes within the walls of Paris, and to leave Paris is like losing her a second time.

15. I have no will, unless it be the will never to decide. I have been so overwhelmed by the many storms that have broken over my head, that I am become passive in the hands of the Almighty, like a sparrow in the talons of an eagle. I live, because it is not ordained for me to die.

16. Indeed, as we advance through life, the past fades faster the further we move away from it, like a landscape through which we travel. What is happening to me is what happens to people who have suffered some injury in a dream: they see and feel their injury but do not remember how they came by it.

17. (...) ‘you were made by God to float about the waves and rise above the flames. Thus it is that the poor sailor survives in the tale remembered by those who tell his story; his dreadful fate is narrated by the fireside and the listeners shudder at the moment when he plunges through space and sinks like a stone into the depths of the sea.

18. Do you still feel the same feverish impatience of grief which made you start like a wounded lion?

More Like Literature

Laying Hands: Chapter 9

Read on AO3

Things In Common

Althea was an Avenger. Well, an Avenger in training, as Tony had been quick to point out. She mulled over her circumstances as she made her way to her room for the night. Training, missions, saving the world; she struggled to imagine herself amongst the elite heroes she had come to share her life with. They didn’t expect her to fight, but from what Steve had told her, she would be expected to learn some self-defense and basic maneuvering at the very least. She didn’t have to actively participate in combat, but she couldn’t get in the others’ way, either.

Thor had, of course, immediately offered to take up Althea’s training, always eager for a good fight. The blood drained from her face as she considered the idea of squaring off against the god of thunder and all his might. Thankfully, he was dismissed out of hand, and ultimately Natasha was designated as her instructor. She was the more logical choice: though vastly more agile and skilled in combat, she was close to Althea’s size and could teach her how to make the most of her meager strength. More importantly, Nat didn’t possess superhuman strength or harness the power of lighting.

Training wouldn’t start for a few days, however, as Natasha was being sent to do some reconnaissance on a lead in South America. The spy, more than all the others, never seemed to take a day off.

That night, in the dark solitude of her room, Althea thought of how much had changed in the span of a single day. The sheer joy she felt at her new sense of belonging threatened to overwhelm her. For the first time since her childhood, she had a home and, she realized, a family. It was far from traditional, true, but her acceptance into the rag-tag group felt all the more meaningful for its strangeness.

She’d grown incredibly fond of them all, even Clint, whom she rarely saw. As exhaustion pulled her closer and closer to sleep, she considered them all in turn. Steve’s earnest and caring heart, Tony’s dedication to making light of any given situation, Bruce’s endearing countenance and impressive intellect, Natasha’s enigmatic nature, Thor’s contrasting open and boisterous demeanor; they each brought such different personalities and skills to the table in their joint effort to protect humanity.

As sleep overtook her, her thoughts turned to Loki, the outsider. He was cold and distant, but that only served to pique her interest. She recalled how different he had looked the few times she’d caught him with his guard down, how she had inexplicably wanted to reach out and brush his raven locks out of his eyes as he read. She was thinking about those same eyes, their blues and greens swimming with unknown depths, as she finally slipped into slumber.

The following morning Althea woke in good spirits. Her routine was simple and she readied herself quickly, pausing to regard herself in the mirror before she made for the door. The woman looking back at her was barely recognizable as the same broken, scared creature that had arrived here just a few weeks ago. Her skin was no longer sickly pale and practically transparent but radiated a healthy, pink glow. The sharp edges of her malnourished body had rounded significantly as a result of the unlimited access to food. Her cheeks were pleasantly plump now and the dark circles under her eyes were long gone. Even her hair shone with a new brilliance, the now even strands falling in loose waves down to her shoulders.

She found herself fiddling with a particularly disobedient piece as she attempted to force it into submission. No matter how she pulled or twisted, it seemed determined to flip out awkwardly. She struggled with it for a few moments longer before giving up, her huff of frustration blowing it out at an even more ridiculous angle. Althea wondered why the wayward piece of hair was affecting her at all. She’d never given much thought to her appearance before. Without another glance, she left the room.

Loki was waiting for her in the hallway, leaning against his door, the picture of boredom.

“I’ve finished.” He held out the borrowed copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. She took it from him, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

Althea examined the tome, noting its thickness. She knew Loki was a fast reader, having seen him in action, yet she was still surprised he’d managed to finish the book in the span of a single night.

“So? What did you think?”

“It has its merits,” he admitted, “Though I could teach Dantès a thing or two about true vengeance.” He offered her a diabolical grin.

“I’m sure you could.” She tucked the novel under her arm and began walking down the hall. To her surprise, Loki fell in step beside her.

“The escape was rather ingenious, I’ll give him that,” he continued.

“Don’t get any ideas.” Dantès’ escape involved sneaking out in a body bag, presumed to hold another prisoner. Althea shuddered to think how Loki might employ a similar plan.

“You needn’t worry. I have my own, far more sophisticated tricks. I don’t need to borrow from your fiction,” he boasted.

She looked at him dubiously. “Is that so?”

“My dear, you have no idea.”Althea stumbled slightly, caught off guard by the term of endearment he’d dropped so casually. Falling behind Loki’s long, confident stride, she felt herself blush, the uncomfortable heat rising in her cheeks. Absentmindedly she fingered the stubborn lock she’d been tried in vain to tame.

Loki pressed the ‘up’ button beside the elevator doors and turned around, taking in her frozen, frazzled demeanor. “Ah, so you are easy to fluster after all.” His wolfish smile radiated self-satisfaction. “Just another one of my many skills.” He tapped his lips with the tip of his slender finger and shot her a playful wink. “Silver tongue.”

Althea shook herself out of her stupor and joined in waiting for the elevator, shoulders tense with irritation. He was teasing her and she, who had never really experienced flirting, had allowed it to get the better of her. Silently, she cursed herself for falling for the trick so easily, payback on her mind. By the time the elevator arrived, she had an idea.

“What did you think you think of the way Dumas incorporated Napoleon into the story?”, she asked as nonchalantly as she could manage. “I thought the historical context really helped to lend the story a sense of realism.” She hoped Loki would think she was merely trying to hide her embarrassment by changing the subject.

“It was more of a distraction than anything,” he replied, playing along. The elevator doors slid open and he stepped into the lounge, Althea on his heels. “I’m not overly familiar with that period of Midgardian history.”

“Makes sense,” she said, shrugging. “So what? Do you prefer something less realistic, like Lord of the Rings? Something that totally immerses you in another, fantastical world?”

Loki turned to face her. “I’d hardly call Tolkien’s work ‘fantastical’. I suspect he merely had knowledge of the other realms. Dwarves and elves are well known amongst…” he trailed off as he noticed Althea’s lips curling into a smug, knowing smirk. “What?”, he spat, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Nothing, nothing. I just never knew that trilogy was published on Asgard,” she mused insincerely. “Was it a big seller? It’s quite popular on our backwards planet.”

Loki cocked his head, confused, before he realized his error.

“Is it? How… interesting,” he tried to backtrack. “I wonder how it arrived in Asgard,” he added weakly, the grimace on his face a clear indication he didn’t expect her to buy it.

Althea rolled her eyes at his poor performance. “Really? Just admit it, Loki. You lied.” She planted her hands on her hips proudly. “You lied, and I tricked you into slipping up.”

Loki’s eyes slipped shut and he sighed in defeat. “Fine,” he growled through clenched teeth. “I will admit my guard was lowered.” He turned and walked over to the bookcases and studied the spines with feigned interest. “I expected you to be just as transparent as the rest of your… teammates.” His back was to her, but from the way the last word fell from his lips, coated in disgust, Althea could tell he was sneering.

“So you know about that, huh?”

“Obviously,” came his deadpan response.

“I take it you don’t approve.”

“Would it matter?” He abandoned his examination and faced her again, his expression challenging.

Althea gave the question some consideration. “It wouldn’t change my mind if that’s what you’re asking, but I’d still like to know.”

“I don’t care what you do. If you want to waste your life running around playing hero with the rest of those imbeciles, be my guest,” he told her flippantly.

The urge to defend her new friends overtook her suddenly, her resolve not to let Loki get under her skin forgotten. Imbeciles? He had no right to insult them like that. They had freed her, taken her in, and welcomed her graciously. They’d all opened up to her and made her feel safe opening up in return. And when the time came, they’d given her a choice: to live her life safe and provided for or to join them and fight for the greater good.

“Why are you even here?”, she snapped. She pinned him with a hard look. “You never go out on, or help with, any missions. You barely bother to speak to anyone besides me and Thor, and even then you’re demeaning and rude. You’ve made it perfectly clear you don’t care about anything or anyone. I just don’t get it. Why are you here?”, she repeated the question for emphasis. Her outburst had come out harsher than she’d intended, but she refused to back down.

Loki didn’t answer immediately. Althea had admonished his behavior before but had quickly diffused the situation on her own. No such distraction came this time. She was determined to get an answer. Thrown off by her intensity, he decided to tell the truth.

“I was given a choice; be a prisoner here, with Thor and his so-called ‘friends', or on Asgard, with my poor excuse for a father. I chose the cell with more square footage.”

“Prisoner? You’re here against your will?”

Loki sighed in exasperation. “I thought you were clever enough to have worked that out on your own by now.”

Althea barely registered the compliment, too overwhelmed by this new revelation. “Why?”, she pressed.

It was a logical question, asked simply. The answer was infinitely more complicated. Loki knew his mistakes were innumerable. There was a time when it had all felt justified. He’d grown tired of living in Thor’s shadow, watching his thick-headed brother inch closer and closer to a throne he neither deserved nor was prepared to handle. Then Odin had revealed the truth of his parentage, and his jealousy had turned to righteous rage. The long years of his life spent treated as an outcast, as “other”, finally made sense. He had only been trying to prove himself, but his father would never see his actions as anything more than disobedience.

Everything changed when he fell off the bridge and into the Mad Titan’s grasp. His actions were no longer justified. He hadn’t been fueled by jealousy or rage or the desire to prove himself. No, fear had been the driving force, turning his eyes towards Earth even as it blinded him to his better judgment.

He couldn’t simply lay out his crimes without trying to explain his reasoning, and as much as he inexplicably wanted to trust this mortal, he doubted she would understand.

Althea watched the internal debate as it raged behind his eyes, her quickly fading. What he had done, she couldn’t venture to guess, but it was clear he felt conflicted over whatever landed him in his current situation. After a few moments without a word from Loki, she tried another approach.

“Do you deserve it?”, she asked, now calm.

Loki snapped out of his racing thoughts. For the first time, Althea saw vulnerability on his pained face.

“Yes.” His voice was quiet, devoid of his usual jesting tone.

“Are you going to hurt me? Should I be afraid?”

If anyone else had asked that question he would have answered “yes” without hesitation. He was a god, after all; it was only right that these weak mortals should fear him. But there was something different about this one. It wasn’t her uncanny ability, as interesting as it was. It was just… her. She was patient yet persistent, innocent yet witty. Even now, rather than judgment or disgust her face showed only kind patience as she awaited his answer. It was an expression he wasn’t used to seeing directed his way. She was good; not in the exhausting, self-righteous way in which Steve Rogers was “good”, but in an easy, natural way that seemed to challenge those around her to see the world as she did. It was a challenge Loki found himself wanting to face.

He met her unwavering gaze. “No.”

She recalled what Thor had said of Loki. “Under it all, my brother has a good heart. I have seen it, and I believe the others will see it also, in time.” She hadn’t known what Thor had been talking about when he’d referenced Loki’s mistakes. Now it was all beginning to make sense. She decided to keep her promise to Thor and reserve judgment for the time being.

“I’m going to choose not to read into how long it took you to answer that question,” she quipped. And just like that, the tension of the moment was broken.

Loki blinked, caught off guard once again by Althea’s ability to shake off the weightiest of situations. He hummed in acknowledgment but turned back to the bookcase. Once again he made a show of looking through the titles, absorbing none of them. In the end, he plucked a book off the shelf at random. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. Confident his mask of indifference was solidly back in place, he faced her once more.

“You gave me a book about a falsely imprisoned man,” he stated thoughtfully.

Althea merely shrugged. “Yeah. Strange coincidence in retrospect.” The irony was not lost on her.

“In my experience, there is no such thing as coincidence,” Loki countered.

“I picked it up because it reminded me of my own situation. I had no idea we had so much in common.”

“We are nothing alike,” he hissed, his voice full of derision. Only Loki knew said derision was directed at himself.

Ida Estelle Taylor (May 20, 1894 – April 15, 1958) was an American actress, singer, model, and animal rights activist. With "dark-brown, almost black hair and brown eyes," she was regarded as one of the most beautiful silent film stars of the 1920s.

After her stage debut in 1919, Taylor began appearing in small roles in World and Vitagraph films. She achieved her first notable success with While New York Sleeps (1920), in which she played three different roles, including a "vamp." She was a contract player of Fox Film Corporation and, later, Paramount Pictures, but for the most part of her career she freelanced. She became famous and was commended by critics for her portrayals of historical women in important films: Miriam in The Ten Commandments (1923), Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), and Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926).

Although she made a successful transition to sound films, she retired from film acting in 1932 and decided to focus entirely on her singing career. She was also active in animal welfare before her death from cancer in 1958. She was posthumously honored in 1960 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the motion pictures category.

Ida Estelle Taylor was born on May 20, 1894 in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father, Harry D. Taylor (born 1871), was born in Harrington, Delaware.[8] Her mother, Ida LaBertha "Bertha" Barrett (November 29, 1874 – August 25, 1965), was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and later worked as a freelance makeup artist. The Taylors had another daughter, Helen (May 19, 1898 – December 22, 1990), who also became an actress. According to the 1900 census, the family lived in a rented house at 805 Washington Street in Wilmington In 1903, Ida LaBertha was granted a divorce from Harry on the ground of nonsupport; the following year, she married a cooper named Fred T. Krech. Ida LaBertha's third husband was Harry J. Boylan, a vaudevillian.

Taylor was raised by her maternal grandparents, Charles Christopher Barrett and Ida Lauber Barrett. Charles Barrett ran a piano store in Wilmington, and Taylor studied piano. Her childhood ambition was to become a stage actress, but her grandparents initially disapproved of her theatrical aspirations. When she was ten years old she sang the role of "Buttercup" in a benefit performance of the opera H.M.S. Pinafore in Wilmington. She attended high school[6] but dropped out because she refused to apologize after a troublesome classmate caused her to spill ink from her inkwell on the floor. In 1911, she married bank cashier Kenneth M. Peacock. The couple remained together for five years until Taylor decided to become an actress. She soon found work as an artists' model, posing for Howard Pyle, Harvey Dunn, Leslie Thrasher, and other painters and illustrators.

In April 1918, Taylor moved to New York City to study acting at the Sargent Dramatic School. She worked as a hat model for a wholesale millinery store to earn money for her tuition and living expenses. At Sargent Dramatic School, she wrote and performed one-act plays, studied voice inflection and diction, and was noticed by a singing teacher named Mr. Samoiloff who thought her voice was suitable for opera. Samoiloff gave Taylor singing lessons on a contingent basis and, within several months, recommended her to theatrical manager Henry Wilson Savage for a part in the musical Lady Billy. She auditioned for Savage and he offered her work as an understudy to the actress who had the second role in the musical. At the same time, playwright George V. Hobart offered her a role as a "comedy vamp" in his play Come-On, Charlie, and Taylor, who had no experience in stage musicals, preferred the non-musical role and accepted Hobart's offer.

Taylor made her Broadway stage début in George V. Hobart's Come-On, Charlie, which opened on April 8, 1919 at 48th Street Theatre in New York City. The story was about a shoe clerk who has a dream in which he inherits one million dollars and must make another million within six months. It was not a great success and closed after sixteen weeks. Taylor, the only person in the play who wore red beads, was praised by a New York City critic who wrote, "The only point of interest in the show was the girl with the red beads." During the play's run, producer Adolph Klauber saw Taylor's performance and said to the play's leading actress Aimee Lee Dennis: "You know, I think Miss Taylor should go into motion pictures. That's where her greatest future lies. Her dark eyes would screen excellently." Dennis told Taylor what Klauber said, and Taylor began looking for work in films. With the help of J. Gordon Edwards, she got a small role in the film A Broadway Saint (1919).nShe was hired by the Vitagraph Company for a role with Corinne Griffith in The Tower of Jewels (1920), and also played William Farnum's leading lady in The Adventurer (1920) for the Fox Film Corporation.

One of Taylor's early successes was in 1920 in Fox's While New York Sleeps with Marc McDermott. Charles Brabin directed the film, and Taylor and McDermott play three sets of characters in different time periods. This film was lost for decades, but has been recently discovered and screened at a film festival in Los Angeles. Her next film for Fox, Blind Wives (1920), was based on Edward Knoblock's play My Lady's Dress and reteamed her with director Brabin and co-star McDermott. William Fox then sent her to Fox Film's Hollywood studios to play a supporting role in a Tom Mix film. Just before she boarded the train for Hollywood, Brabin gave her some advice: "Don't think of supporting Mix in that play. Don't play in program pictures. Never play anything but specials. Mr. Fox is about to put on Monte Cristo. You should play the part of Mercedes. Concentrate on that role and when you get to Los Angeles, see that you play it."

Taylor traveled with her mother, her canary bird, and her bull terrier, Winkle. She was excited about playing Mercedes and reread Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo on the train. When she arrived in Hollywood, she reported to the Fox studios and introduced herself to director Emmett J. Flynn, who gave her a copy of the script but warned her that he already had another actress in mind for the role. Flynn offered her another part in the film, but she insisted on playing Mercedes and after much conversation was cast in the role. John Gilbert played Edmond Dantès in the film, which was eventually titled Monte Cristo (1922). Taylor later said that she "saw then that he [Gilbert] had every requisite of a splendid actor." The New York Herald critic wrote "Miss Taylor was as effective in the revenge section of the film as she was in the first or love part of the screened play. Here is a class of face that can stand a close-up without becoming a mere speechless automaton."

Fox also cast her as Gilda Fontaine, a "vamp", in the 1922 remake of the 1915 Fox production A Fool There Was, the film that made Theda Bara a star. Robert E. Sherwood of Life magazine gave it a mixed review and observed: "Times and movies have changed materially since then [1915]. The vamp gave way to the baby vamp some years back, and the latter has now been superseded by the flapper. It was therefore a questionable move on Mr. Fox's part to produce a revised version of A Fool There Was in this advanced age." She played a Russian princess in the film Bavu (1923), a Universal Pictures production with Wallace Beery as the villain and Forrest Stanley as her leading man.

One of her most memorable roles is that of Miriam, the sister of Moses (portrayed by Theodore Roberts), in the biblical prologue of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923), one of the most successful films of the silent era. Her performance in the DeMille film was considered a great acting achievement. Taylor's younger sister, Helen, was hired by Sid Grauman to play Miriam in the Egyptian Theatre's onstage prologue to the film.

Despite being ill with arthritis, she won the supporting role of Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), starring Mary Pickford. "I've since wondered if my long illness did not, in some measure at least, make for realism in registering the suffering of the unhappy and tormented Scotch queen," she told a reporter in 1926.

She played Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926), Warner Bros.' first feature-length film with synchronized Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack. The film also starred John Barrymore, Mary Astor and Warner Oland. Variety praised her characterization of Lucrezia: "The complete surprise is the performance of Estelle Taylor as Lucretia [sic] Borgia. Her Lucretia is a fine piece of work. She makes it sardonic in treatment, conveying precisely the woman Lucretia is presumed to have been."

She was to have co-starred in a film with Rudolph Valentino, but he died just before production was to begin. One of her last silent films was New York (1927), featuring Ricardo Cortez and Lois Wilson.

In 1928, she and husband Dempsey starred in a Broadway play titled The Big Fight, loosely based around Dempsey's boxing popularity, which ran for 31 performances at the Majestic Theatre.

She made a successful transition to sound films or "talkies." Her first sound film was the comical sketch Pusher in the Face (1929).

Notable sound films in which she appeared include Street Scene (1931), with Sylvia Sidney; the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning Cimarron (1931), with Richard Dix and Irene Dunne; and Call Her Savage (1932), with Clara Bow.

Taylor returned to films in 1944 with a small part in the Jean Renoir drama The Southerner (released in 1945), playing what journalist Erskine Johnson described as "a bar fly with a roving eye. There's a big brawl and she starts throwing beer bottles." Johnson was delighted with Taylor's reappearance in the film industry: "[Interviewing] Estelle was a pleasant surprise. The lady is as beautiful and as vivacious as ever, with the curves still in the right places." The Southerner was her last film.

Taylor married three times, but never had children. In 1911 at aged 17, she married a bank cashier named Kenneth Malcolm Peacock, the son of a prominent Wilmington businessman. They lived together for five years and then separated so she could pursue her acting career in New York. Taylor later claimed the marriage was annulled. In August 1924, the press mentioned Taylor's engagement to boxer and world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey.[36] In September, Peacock announced he would sue Taylor for divorce on the ground of desertion. He denied he would name Dempsey as co-respondent, saying "If she wants to marry Dempsey, it is all right with me." Taylor was granted a divorce from Peacock on January 9, 1925.

Taylor and Dempsey were married on February 7, 1925 at First Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California. They lived in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. Her marriage to Dempsey ended in divorce in 1931.

Her third husband was theatrical producer Paul Small. Of her last husband and their marriage, she said: "We have been friends and Paul has managed my stage career for five years, so it seemed logical that marriage should work out for us, but I'm afraid I'll have to say that the reason it has not worked out is incompatibility."

In her later years, Taylor devoted her free time to her pets and was known for her work as an animal rights activist. "Whenever the subject of compulsory rabies inoculation or vivisection came up," wrote the United Press, "Miss Taylor was always in the fore to lead the battle against the measure." She was the president and founder of the California Pet Owners' Protective League, an organization that focused on finding homes for pets to prevent them from going to local animal shelters. In 1953, Taylor was appointed to the Los Angeles City Animal Regulation Commission, which she served as vice president.

Taylor died of cancer at her home in Los Angeles on April 15, 1958, at the age of 63. The Los Angeles City Council adjourned that same day "out of respect to her memory." Ex-husband Jack Dempsey said, "I'm very sorry to hear of her death. I didn't know she was that ill. We hadn't seen each other for about 10 years. She was a wonderful person." Her funeral was held on April 17 in Pierce Bros. Hollywood Chapel. She was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, then known as Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery.

She was survived by her mother, Ida "Bertha" Barrett Boylan; her sister, Helen Taylor Clark; and a niece, Frances Iblings. She left an estate of more than $10,000, most of it to her family and $200 for the care and maintenance of her three dogs, which she left to friend Ella Mae Abrams.

Taylor was known for her dark features and for the sensuality she brought to the films in which she appeared. Journalist Erskine Johnson considered her "the screen's No. 1 oomph girl of the 20s." For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Estelle Taylor was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1620 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

MISC.

Name. Armin Beilschmidt. Nicknames.  Birthday. 7th June ( Gemini ) Nationality. Irish &&. French. Languages. French &&. English. Gender. Cis male. Sexuality. Asexual biromantic. Status. Single. Occupation. Student &&. IT intern. Speciality. Beta-tester &&. coding. Hobbies. Gaming &&. cosplaying.

BACKGROUND.

 PRESENT.

Over the passing decade, Armin grew up close to his dad and ended up sharing a bunch of interests of his: coding, hacking, developing his own programs, etc. His father even recommended him to the company he’s working in as computer security expert for which Armin is grateful and ended up as intern to learn how things work and potentially work there.

Besides that, the ravenette took an interest in videogames, comics and manga. Although he doesn’t leave much the house unless he goes to another friend’s house or, well, school or his part-time job ( to this day, he fears bees and spiders ).

 EARLY LIFE.

Born and raised in Northern Ireland, County Tyrone to an excited couple for having two children and a proud older brother waiting to teach and protect them. However, life was only peaceful for five years of his life before an accident took place which costed the life of his biological parents—and because all of them were minors with no relatives alive either, they were sent to adoption.

Ethan was adopted right away leaving Alexander and Armin to themselves for a year alone waiting until a couple that had been married for some good ten years ( Arnaud and Victoria ) chose to adopt them.

While it wasn’t hard for Alexy to open up and express himself, toys that he could want or thoughts that crossed his mind—it was the entire opposite for Armin: to speak more than a sentence or even ask what he wished for.

VERSES.

Main verse. TAG.  「 001  ／ Armin ;  ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ᴍᴀᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇ. . | 」

Highschool student, 17 years old.     Alongiside Alexy, they both find themselves a little puzzled at this pink and straight-up from a shojo manga of sorts school—although Armin isn’t about to complain but rather crack jokes about the typical cliche   ( which only deepened upon further inspection ).

   Still, much like in the previous institutions they both had attended thus far, Armin sticks to his game console and avoids leaving the interior of the school, the whole bees and insect fear never quite leaving him. Plus, social events are not his thing—that’s more of his twin’s thing.

MCLUL verse. TAG.  「 002  ／   」

College student, 23 years old.     Tba.

Infamous second son verse. TAG.  「 003 ／ Armin  ;  you want 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 and I want 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢 」

Runaway, 20 years old.     The traumatic event that took place during his childhood was   the trigger; however, it didn’t manifest itself right away - given Armin played quite often with a gameboy, at nights whenever he’d wake up from a nightmare at the orphanage, he’d see his ‘imaginary friend’ which was Link but, soon enough, Armin realized     it wasn’t just that,  given Alexy could see it as well and warned him not to do that in public or a place where others could see it too.

   A decade has passed with many changes, the younger twin no longer invoked said videogame character  ( not as often, at least )  but rather craved to possess certain   traits   or   habilities   for himself     which he did, sucessfully. Although always when left alone or when the blue-haired was around to supervise, keeping everything in check.

   However, this came to a stop when Armin saw the news: people like him were a threat and should be stopped, locked up; if proved to be a genuine danger to society, then killed without a second thought, as if their lives did not matter and were crushed like mere insects. Isolating himself in fear he might hurt his family, Armin’s   anxiety   and   paranoia drove his thoughts wild, borderline a panic attack to which he decided to escape from the house. Intrusive thoughts taking over, clouding his mind from any rational thought, telling him that he could harm his family. Without a single word, he left.

   Armin became a traveler, a gamer who ocasionally smoked drugs to ease his alarming stress and anxiety levels which could blur his judgement again and cause him to make poor decisions - and, sometimes, he was a trief ‘cause, a guy gotta eat, right ?

Fourth wall breaking  or Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse TAG. 「 004 ／ Armin ; my 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 is a bit different 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 . . | 」

Tba.     Much like Gwenpool, Armin was sucked into the comic he was reading by some unbeknown magic to him—although, to make matters much worse than it already was, it had to be in the middle of the entire world glitching thus causing him to land in   the movie   rather than Ultimate Spider-man universe known as Earth-1610.

   Stuck in the movie and watching the world glitch though this   didn’t   happen to him at all ( worrying him even more because he had no money and, therefore, no means to survive ), Armin decided to steal the blonde’s idea and pretty much became Novapool—a college dropout since there’s no hope for him to return who is a part-timer in a comic / geek store and full-time mercenary.

Persona 5 verse. TAG. 「 P5 ／ Armin  ;  𝔐𝔞𝔎𝔢𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔣𝔱 𝔍𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔢 」

Highschool student, 17 years old.    It wasn’t particulary strange for Armin to land in an entire different country to continue his studies alongside his brother; however, for him and his group of friends to tag all along? Mrs.Shermansky surely wanted Sweet Amorris to have an impeccable name if accepting an exchange student program was an idea that fixated in her mind.

   Still, assisting to Shujin academy school proved to be a good experience the first three weeks, the fourth one started in a peculiar manner when   the Phantom Thieves   first made an appearence.

   From that point onwards, as time passed by, many things started to happen which irked Armin off. If he previously had difficulty fitting in or attempting to interact with other students outside his circle, the atmosphere surrounding   certain students   made him back away completely. That was until Iris was affected.

   Alongside Lynn, they both were investigating who kept harassing their classmate and friend to the point she would have bags under her eyes and her body would be trembling, too weak to even properly walk and constantly trip—this caused Armin to steal her phone when Lynn took her away. Deducing her password correctly as he was on the run due Charlotte catching him and calling the police on him—she wasn't working alone on   torturing   someone as innocent as the redhead.

   Although this escaping of his had made the ravenette end up trapped in the metaverse alongside   the Phantom Thieves  whom were confronting Kaneshiro in his own palace. Terrified of such place and creatures, Armin dodged most attacks albeit he still got hit yet stood up quickly and ran as fast as his legs allowed him before stumbling paths with them: upon hearing what disgusting words left that monster’s lips, a voice started resonating inside his head.

   I am thou, thou art I, it was a man’s voice that was driving him insane. Armin dropped to his knees and held his head but he had to bear the pain that was blinding him, tears formed in the corner of his eyes yet he clenched his jaw, perhaps God will give you justice, but you can make your own until the time arrives.

   His persona awakens upon hearing the injustice many students have to go through, thinking about how Charlotte was part of all of this, going as far as to push Iris beyond her limits, how she dragged many other students into that hole with no return—the power of Monte Cristo made him stood his ground and raise up; accepting the contract, the blue-eyed codename is Dantès.

Danganronpa verse TAG. 「 ᴅᴀɴɢᴀɴʀᴏɴᴘᴀ ／ Armin ; 𝘎𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩. . . | 」

Reserve Course student, 17 years old.  Based on UTDP.   Previously enrolled in Sweet Amorris, that was soon to change after getting involved in a situation two years ago: hacking the devices of his friend, then the school system and soon the police to track the individual harassing her. However, he had been sloppy in his work since he hadn’t thought of the consequences due to his blood boiling.    Much to his surprise, aside from spending a few nights locked and under the supervision of the police, he didn’t get a punishment since there weren’t charges towards him. That and... they received a request from a prestigious school, that alone made Armin freak out because what’s with that, his case didn’t even make it to the news because of his father’s influence.  What was their deal?  Nevertheless, he joined and uh, everyone here as an oddball     luckily, Alexy was there to keep him sane.

Eldarya / Fantasy verse TAG. 「／  」

Tba.

TAGS.

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／   𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫┊ aceplaycr 」

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／ INQUIRY」

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／ MUSINGS 」

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／ VISAGE 」

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／ MANNERISMS 」

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／ INTROSPECTION」

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／ ROMANCE 」

「 Armin Beilschmidt ／ CRACK 」

RELATIONSHIPS.

「 ❝ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃʳᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ˡᵃʷᶠᵘˡ ᵍᵒᵒᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ⁿᵉᵘᵗʳᵃˡ ❞ / ᴀʀᴍɪɴ + ᴋᴇɴᴛɪɴ 」; 

✘ · Armven ♡（ ❝ ᴴᵒʷ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ʸᵒᵘ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵐʸ ʷʰᵒˡᵉ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ? ❞ ）

✘ ·  ♡（   ）

👏 BA 👏 SA 👏 RA or if not that then the fate series ( or both if you want idk go nuts )

Give me a Series & I’ll tell you… || @jigendaishi || No longer accepting

Sengoku Basara

❤ Favorite Male: Katsuie, of course ! Otherwise, wouldn’t I roleplay another character instead? XD No, but, I really do like Katsuie’s character a lot. ^^ He has a lot of depth to him, and he’s very human. Sure, he has his cute, sad, “woe-is-me” moments, but then he also does things that are very selfish. And as far as rp goes, there’s a lot of room for development with him ! Even the creators have mentioned that he has a lot of possibilities for his future. XD Sakon is a close second, though.❤ Favorite Female: Kyogoku Maria. I just love how she doesn’t care at all about what other people think of her, and how she just does whatever she wants. I still laugh about Cat Wagon and her almost-marriage with Naotora whenever either gets mentioned. XD I might’ve mentioned this once or twice before, but I used to roleplay her in addition to Katsuie a couple years ago ! She kind of lacks the same depth and possibilities for development that Katsuie has, though, so even with headcanons and stuff to help make her deeper, it eventually became too difficult for me to roleplay her. ^^;❤ Favorite Pairing: Oh gosh —– where do I even begin with this question ? XD Well, you probably already know that I love Katsuie x Sakon, so I’ll try to talk about some pairings that maybe you don’t know that I like ! I don’t really talk about this first one much because most people in the Basara fandom don’t like it, but…I like Katsuie x Masamune, probably a lot in part due to both Katsuie’s drama route and Masamune’s drama route. I think that Katsuie has the potential to learn a lot from Masamune whether it’s through a romantic or platonic relationship, and I think that Masamune could benefit from interacting with someone who’s more outwardly calm than most of the other Date soldiers. Ieyasu x Motochika is also one of my favorites, thanks to a certain route in SB3. It was just so nice to see the Shikoku misunderstanding get cleared up early, and then to watch the two of them sail around and have fun adventures with each other for the rest of the route. ^^ And, although it might seem surprising given the muse whom I play, Oichi x Nagamasa is another favorite of mine ! I really enjoy how the two of them share a mutual love for each other, even if Nagamasa has trouble expressing it sometimes. XD There’s also a fair bit of depth to their relationship, too, if you look closely —– not only does Nagamasa have trouble expressing his feelings for Oichi, he also has to juggle his relationship with Oichi with his work as a lord / hero of justice, and it strains his relationship with her, somewhat. On Oichi’s side, you can see a darker aspect of her personality when she’s around him —– she ties him up in one route in SB4 so that he doesn’t have to risk dying in battle, she murders people / shows a willingness to murder people for his sake in both SB2 and SB4, and she goes mad with grief whenever he dies.❤ Least Favorite Character: Shimazu Yoshihiro. I understand that he’s somewhat important in that he’s Honda Tadakatsu’s rival and the only Shimazu clan person included in the games, but his personality just seems kind of bland to me. ^^; But I think that it’s not so much because of his character, though, as it is about the fact that he keeps getting included in new games when other, more interesting characters such as Nohime, Ranmaru, and Itsuki have gotten dropped. ;u; I’d rather seem any of them get included in Yoshihiro’s place.❤ Who’s most like me: You know, I thought about this a lot…but in the end, I’d say that I’m most like Katsuie. I’m quiet and tend to watch things from the sidelines, and I’ll admit that I can be selfish and envious of other people at times. XD Also, I’ve gone through some rough stuff in the past that’s somewhat similar to what Katsuie went through, so I guess that I connect to him on that level as well. ^^; But I’m also a bit like Oichi, in that I tend to be kind of shy.❤ Most attractive: For the women, I find Maria and Oichi to be the most attractive. For the men, I find Sakon and Yukimura the most attractive (with an honorable mention for Hanbei).❤ Three more characters that I like: When I first decided that I wanted to roleplay a Sengoku Basara character, I considered roleplaying Kanbe because I could (and still can) really connect to that underdog part of him that always struggles against a world that seems to have it in for him. XD Hideaki was also another character I considered roleplaying. I’ve always liked him, even if he is annoying at times, because he kind of resembles how a non-samurai would react to war around them, I think ? I know that if I was suddenly dropped into the Sengoku period, I’d probably freak out as much as he does. XD I also like Wabisuke and Sabisuke / Sen no Rikyuu, even if their routes are really vague and convoluted in some areas, because it’s kind of interesting to see a Jekyll-and-Hyde-type character in the Sengoku Basara series. It’s interesting how the two of them clash as far as personality goes —– Wabisuke just wants to live a peaceful life and brew his tea, yet Sabisuke wants to cause trouble. XD And the relationship between the two of them is interesting, too —– it’s cool to see how, despite how troublesome Sabisuke can be at times, the reason why he came into existence was to protect Wabisuke and keep him from having to commit any atrocities himself.

Fate series

❤ Favorite Male: Mephistopheles. Maybe that’s just because I had him in my support setup for a long time before I finally switched him out with Halloween!Elisabeth, but I really like him ! It’s always fun to listen to his over-the-top reactions to everything, especially when you select his Noble Phantasm. XD❤ Favorite Female: Nero / Red Saber without a doubt. ^^ I really like that outward confidence and selfishness of hers ! But it’s also cool to see how she has a weaker and more insecure side, as well, and it’s cool to see how those two sides of her interact. She has strengths but also a ton of flaws, which makes her a pretty deep and interesting character, in my opinion. Also, it’s fun to see her in all of the pretty outfits that she gets in Fate/Extra, Fate/Extra CCC, and Fate/Extella ! ^^❤ Favorite Pairing: Shirou x Rin ? Or maybe Shirou x Sakura ? I’m not really sure what sorts of pairings actually exist in this series, since it seems like (at least in F/GO and Fate/Extra) a good number of the Servants have been developed so that they gain feelings towards the protagonist once you reach the highest bond levels / get towards the end of the story. ^^;❤ Least Favorite Character: Edward Teach. In the story for the Third Singularity in F/GO, at least, he’s just…disgusting. In many ways that I don’t really wish to repeat here. ^^; Artemis is a close second. She’s kind of annoying and abusive, and sometimes I find myself sympathizing with Orion because of how she acts ? Which is pretty bad because he’s mean and abusive, too. ^^; Also, from what little I remember of the Greek legends, Artemis was a pretty serious goddess who was devoted to hunting and her followers and didn’t really care about men too much, so to see her portrayed how she is in F/GO is a bit jarring. ^^;❤ Who’s most like me: Mash, I guess ? Both of us are hard workers and kind of quiet, but we can both make snappy comebacks at times. XD❤ Most attractive: For the women, I find Nero and Kiyohime to be the most attractive. For the men, I find Edmond Dantès and Gilgamesh to be the most attractive. And for nonbinary characters, I find Enkidu and Chevalier d’Eon to be the most attractive.❤ Three more characters that I like: Oda Nobunaga is another character that I like ! And the Gudaguda Honnoji event has made me like her even more. XD It’s just fun to see a character who’s so free-spirited and self-confident, even if it causes trouble for others around them. I also like Jeanne Alter. Even though she technically isn’t another side of Ruler Jeanne (she’s the Jeanne that Bluebeard wanted to see, or something like that?), it’s cool to see her just not care about being a saint or self-sacrificing or anything, and actually want to get revenge for what people did to her. ^^ Arcueid is technically from Tsukihime, but she shows up in a route of Fate/Extra, so I’m going to include her here anyways. XD It’s just so cool that she’s really OP since she’s the strongest True Ancestor, and yet she also has a carefree personality and has sort of mundane hobbies like going to the movies and stuff. Granted, the fact that she has a personality at all is due to what Shiki did, but…still. Arcueid is a pretty cool character ! And it’s also interesting to see how different Arcueid’s perspective on things can be (compared to normal humans or Shiki), since she’s an immortal and isn’t human. ^^

Ida Estelle Taylor (May 20, 1894 – April 15, 1958) was an American actress, singer, model, and animal rights activist. With "dark-brown, almost black hair and brown eyes," she was regarded as one of the most beautiful silent film stars of the 1920s.

After her stage debut in 1919, Taylor began appearing in small roles in World and Vitagraph films. She achieved her first notable success with While New York Sleeps (1920), in which she played three different roles, including a "vamp." She was a contract player of Fox Film Corporation and, later, Paramount Pictures, but for the most part of her career she freelanced. She became famous and was commended by critics for her portrayals of historical women in important films: Miriam in The Ten Commandments (1923), Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), and Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926).

Although she made a successful transition to sound films, she retired from film acting in 1932 and decided to focus entirely on her singing career. She was also active in animal welfare before her death from cancer in 1958. She was posthumously honored in 1960 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the motion pictures category.

Ida Estelle Taylor was born on May 20, 1894 in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father, Harry D. Taylor (born 1871), was born in Harrington, Delaware.[8] Her mother, Ida LaBertha "Bertha" Barrett (November 29, 1874 – August 25, 1965), was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and later worked as a freelance makeup artist. The Taylors had another daughter, Helen (May 19, 1898 – December 22, 1990), who also became an actress. According to the 1900 census, the family lived in a rented house at 805 Washington Street in Wilmington In 1903, Ida LaBertha was granted a divorce from Harry on the ground of nonsupport; the following year, she married a cooper named Fred T. Krech. Ida LaBertha's third husband was Harry J. Boylan, a vaudevillian.

Taylor was raised by her maternal grandparents, Charles Christopher Barrett and Ida Lauber Barrett. Charles Barrett ran a piano store in Wilmington, and Taylor studied piano. Her childhood ambition was to become a stage actress, but her grandparents initially disapproved of her theatrical aspirations. When she was ten years old she sang the role of "Buttercup" in a benefit performance of the opera H.M.S. Pinafore in Wilmington. She attended high school[6] but dropped out because she refused to apologize after a troublesome classmate caused her to spill ink from her inkwell on the floor. In 1911, she married bank cashier Kenneth M. Peacock. The couple remained together for five years until Taylor decided to become an actress. She soon found work as an artists' model, posing for Howard Pyle, Harvey Dunn, Leslie Thrasher, and other painters and illustrators.

In April 1918, Taylor moved to New York City to study acting at the Sargent Dramatic School. She worked as a hat model for a wholesale millinery store to earn money for her tuition and living expenses. At Sargent Dramatic School, she wrote and performed one-act plays, studied voice inflection and diction, and was noticed by a singing teacher named Mr. Samoiloff who thought her voice was suitable for opera. Samoiloff gave Taylor singing lessons on a contingent basis and, within several months, recommended her to theatrical manager Henry Wilson Savage for a part in the musical Lady Billy. She auditioned for Savage and he offered her work as an understudy to the actress who had the second role in the musical. At the same time, playwright George V. Hobart offered her a role as a "comedy vamp" in his play Come-On, Charlie, and Taylor, who had no experience in stage musicals, preferred the non-musical role and accepted Hobart's offer.

Taylor made her Broadway stage début in George V. Hobart's Come-On, Charlie, which opened on April 8, 1919 at 48th Street Theatre in New York City. The story was about a shoe clerk who has a dream in which he inherits one million dollars and must make another million within six months. It was not a great success and closed after sixteen weeks. Taylor, the only person in the play who wore red beads, was praised by a New York City critic who wrote, "The only point of interest in the show was the girl with the red beads." During the play's run, producer Adolph Klauber saw Taylor's performance and said to the play's leading actress Aimee Lee Dennis: "You know, I think Miss Taylor should go into motion pictures. That's where her greatest future lies. Her dark eyes would screen excellently." Dennis told Taylor what Klauber said, and Taylor began looking for work in films. With the help of J. Gordon Edwards, she got a small role in the film A Broadway Saint (1919).nShe was hired by the Vitagraph Company for a role with Corinne Griffith in The Tower of Jewels (1920), and also played William Farnum's leading lady in The Adventurer (1920) for the Fox Film Corporation.

One of Taylor's early successes was in 1920 in Fox's While New York Sleeps with Marc McDermott. Charles Brabin directed the film, and Taylor and McDermott play three sets of characters in different time periods. This film was lost for decades, but has been recently discovered and screened at a film festival in Los Angeles. Her next film for Fox, Blind Wives (1920), was based on Edward Knoblock's play My Lady's Dress and reteamed her with director Brabin and co-star McDermott. William Fox then sent her to Fox Film's Hollywood studios to play a supporting role in a Tom Mix film. Just before she boarded the train for Hollywood, Brabin gave her some advice: "Don't think of supporting Mix in that play. Don't play in program pictures. Never play anything but specials. Mr. Fox is about to put on Monte Cristo. You should play the part of Mercedes. Concentrate on that role and when you get to Los Angeles, see that you play it."

Taylor traveled with her mother, her canary bird, and her bull terrier, Winkle. She was excited about playing Mercedes and reread Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo on the train. When she arrived in Hollywood, she reported to the Fox studios and introduced herself to director Emmett J. Flynn, who gave her a copy of the script but warned her that he already had another actress in mind for the role. Flynn offered her another part in the film, but she insisted on playing Mercedes and after much conversation was cast in the role. John Gilbert played Edmond Dantès in the film, which was eventually titled Monte Cristo (1922). Taylor later said that she "saw then that he [Gilbert] had every requisite of a splendid actor." The New York Herald critic wrote "Miss Taylor was as effective in the revenge section of the film as she was in the first or love part of the screened play. Here is a class of face that can stand a close-up without becoming a mere speechless automaton."

Fox also cast her as Gilda Fontaine, a "vamp", in the 1922 remake of the 1915 Fox production A Fool There Was, the film that made Theda Bara a star. Robert E. Sherwood of Life magazine gave it a mixed review and observed: "Times and movies have changed materially since then [1915]. The vamp gave way to the baby vamp some years back, and the latter has now been superseded by the flapper. It was therefore a questionable move on Mr. Fox's part to produce a revised version of A Fool There Was in this advanced age." She played a Russian princess in the film Bavu (1923), a Universal Pictures production with Wallace Beery as the villain and Forrest Stanley as her leading man.

One of her most memorable roles is that of Miriam, the sister of Moses (portrayed by Theodore Roberts), in the biblical prologue of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923), one of the most successful films of the silent era. Her performance in the DeMille film was considered a great acting achievement. Taylor's younger sister, Helen, was hired by Sid Grauman to play Miriam in the Egyptian Theatre's onstage prologue to the film.

Despite being ill with arthritis, she won the supporting role of Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), starring Mary Pickford. "I've since wondered if my long illness did not, in some measure at least, make for realism in registering the suffering of the unhappy and tormented Scotch queen," she told a reporter in 1926.

She played Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926), Warner Bros.' first feature-length film with synchronized Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack. The film also starred John Barrymore, Mary Astor and Warner Oland. Variety praised her characterization of Lucrezia: "The complete surprise is the performance of Estelle Taylor as Lucretia [sic] Borgia. Her Lucretia is a fine piece of work. She makes it sardonic in treatment, conveying precisely the woman Lucretia is presumed to have been."

She was to have co-starred in a film with Rudolph Valentino, but he died just before production was to begin. One of her last silent films was New York (1927), featuring Ricardo Cortez and Lois Wilson.

In 1928, she and husband Dempsey starred in a Broadway play titled The Big Fight, loosely based around Dempsey's boxing popularity, which ran for 31 performances at the Majestic Theatre.

She made a successful transition to sound films or "talkies." Her first sound film was the comical sketch Pusher in the Face (1929).

Notable sound films in which she appeared include Street Scene (1931), with Sylvia Sidney; the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning Cimarron (1931), with Richard Dix and Irene Dunne; and Call Her Savage (1932), with Clara Bow.

Taylor returned to films in 1944 with a small part in the Jean Renoir drama The Southerner (released in 1945), playing what journalist Erskine Johnson described as "a bar fly with a roving eye. There's a big brawl and she starts throwing beer bottles." Johnson was delighted with Taylor's reappearance in the film industry: "[Interviewing] Estelle was a pleasant surprise. The lady is as beautiful and as vivacious as ever, with the curves still in the right places." The Southerner was her last film.

Taylor married three times, but never had children. In 1911 at aged 17, she married a bank cashier named Kenneth Malcolm Peacock, the son of a prominent Wilmington businessman. They lived together for five years and then separated so she could pursue her acting career in New York. Taylor later claimed the marriage was annulled. In August 1924, the press mentioned Taylor's engagement to boxer and world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey.[36] In September, Peacock announced he would sue Taylor for divorce on the ground of desertion. He denied he would name Dempsey as co-respondent, saying "If she wants to marry Dempsey, it is all right with me." Taylor was granted a divorce from Peacock on January 9, 1925.

Taylor and Dempsey were married on February 7, 1925 at First Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California. They lived in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. Her marriage to Dempsey ended in divorce in 1931.

Her third husband was theatrical producer Paul Small. Of her last husband and their marriage, she said: "We have been friends and Paul has managed my stage career for five years, so it seemed logical that marriage should work out for us, but I'm afraid I'll have to say that the reason it has not worked out is incompatibility."

In her later years, Taylor devoted her free time to her pets and was known for her work as an animal rights activist. "Whenever the subject of compulsory rabies inoculation or vivisection came up," wrote the United Press, "Miss Taylor was always in the fore to lead the battle against the measure." She was the president and founder of the California Pet Owners' Protective League, an organization that focused on finding homes for pets to prevent them from going to local animal shelters. In 1953, Taylor was appointed to the Los Angeles City Animal Regulation Commission, which she served as vice president.

Taylor died of cancer at her home in Los Angeles on April 15, 1958, at the age of 63. The Los Angeles City Council adjourned that same day "out of respect to her memory." Ex-husband Jack Dempsey said, "I'm very sorry to hear of her death. I didn't know she was that ill. We hadn't seen each other for about 10 years. She was a wonderful person." Her funeral was held on April 17 in Pierce Bros. Hollywood Chapel. She was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, then known as Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery.

She was survived by her mother, Ida "Bertha" Barrett Boylan; her sister, Helen Taylor Clark; and a niece, Frances Iblings. She left an estate of more than $10,000, most of it to her family and $200 for the care and maintenance of her three dogs, which she left to friend Ella Mae Abrams.

Taylor was known for her dark features and for the sensuality she brought to the films in which she appeared. Journalist Erskine Johnson considered her "the screen's No. 1 oomph girl of the 20s." For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Estelle Taylor was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1620 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.