#//be reflected on the muse directory shortly!!

[iinexorabile]

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO: INFO (Redux)

OVERVIEW

NAME: the count of monte cristo ALIAS(s): many. so damn many AGE: varies on verse. BIRTH: 1796 ORIGIN: france CLASS: avenger EYES: goldenrod HAIR: white HEIGHT: 6'½" (185cm) ALIGN: Chaotic Neutral ENNEAGRAM: 8w7 MBTI: ENTJ-A

STORY

From the life of a simple sailor, to the ungodly nightmare of being framed for a crime he did not commit, Edmond Dantes was torn away from the woman he loved and imprisoned with the hellish Chateau d'If for fourteen years. Many of those years were nothing but pure torment, both physically and mentally, but with a mind of steel, Edmond avoided falling into despair, and at some point, he would encounter a fellow prisoner by the name of Abbé Faria, who would come to be a mentor of sorts, and a father figure.

For seven years, Abbé Faria educated Edmond, teaching him everything he knew, from the various facets of scholarship, to swordsmanship, and in return, Edmond assisted Abbé in digging an escape tunnel out of Chateau d'If. Abbé Faria would die before the tunnels completion, but before his soul departed, Abbé revealed to Edmond the location of a great treasure– the treasure of Monte Cristo– which he would claim after his eventual escape from Chateau d'If.

With a near unparalleled intellect, a masterful skill for swordplay, riches beyond imagining, and a powerful relic being merged with his soul, Edmond assumed the moniker of ’the Count of Monte Cristo’ and, after a small quest to avenge Abbe Faria, he began a grand plot of revenge against those who had deceived him in the past. One by one, those responsible for Edmond’s imprisonment would be brought down, each of them meeting rather fitting ends at the hands of the man they had wronged.

When all was said and done, The Count came to feel regret and anguish for his blind pursuit of revenge, becoming reformed as a result, and later, he would leave France, departing to an unknown location, where he lived out the rest of his life in relative peace.

Alas, The Count that would later ascend to the Throne of Heroes would not harbor that aforementioned regret or anguish, nor would they be “reformed”– within their heart, vengeance and all of it’s dark, blood stained halls still called to them.

PERSONALITY

At the end of their story, Edmond Dantes renounced their vengeful, bitter ways, but this man is not that ’Edmond Dantes’, they are a different person, or rather, they are the manifestation of that mans vengeful ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ persona. A product of cruelty and betrayal,The Count is manipulative, cunning, prideful, sardonic, and prone to violence as well as bitterness, with a dark flair for the dramatic to boot.

The Count loathes the many evils present throughout the world, and loathes even more those who embody and/or perpetuate those evils to the detriment of humanity. The Count seeks to exterminate evil and it’s agents entirely, to wreak vengeance upon them on behalf of humanity for the many atrocities that plague the world and it’s innocent people. However, the stance The Count takes against those atrocities and the evils that fuel them does not make him a quote “good” person, as he sometimes becomes too zealous in pursuing their destruction, in which he occasionally commits the most extreme acts that no relatively “good" person would ever do. In particularly troublesome cases, The Count’s fervor for the vengeance he seeks will outright blind him to the truth of a matter, making his actions all the more deplorable.

The Count does not present or think of himself as a “good” person either, he thinks of himself as necessary evil or monster, as a destructive force of nature that can birth peace, justice, and tranquility from the ashes left in its wake– a necessary evil and destructive force that will one day have to be destroyed, too. That being said, despite some of his more negative actions and his personal views of himself, The Count’s heart is technically in the right place– he wants to see the good parts of humanity ultimately thrive and evildoers suffer for the trouble they have wrought on the world, he is just too bitter and violent for his own good.

The Count’s negative tendencies and/or qualities are not the whole of his being, though. For all of his moments of bitterness, and the violence he is oft prone too, The Count can be well-mannered, dutiful, charming and humorous (in his own way) depending on who he is interacting with, and beyond that, he does have a softer side locked deep inside him, a side that one can catch glimpses of if they somehow manage to grow close enough with him. Those who manage to bring this softer side of The Count out are undoubtedly important to him, even if he may claim otherwise at times, and for these individuals, he will cherish them deeply, and strive to safeguard them from harm.

PARAMETERS/SKILLS

STR: B END: A+ AGI: C MAG: B NP: A AVENGER: A WISDOM OF PREDICAMENT: A OBLIVION CORRECTION: B SELF REPLENISHMENT: C DETERMINATION OF STEEL: EX GOLDEN RULE: A+

SKILLS (in depth)

Avenger: Avengers are fueled by murderous hatred and rage, and their Avenger skill measures their ability to accumulate hatred within others, hatred which they can then leech off of and use to empower themselves. In The Count’s case, at a ranking of A, he is extremely proficient in leeching off the hatred and grudges he detects within and/or elicits from his opponents souls, making it far easier for him to translate those negative emotions into power, in the form of improved parameters.

The exact amount of power The Count can gain from this varies, but it generally translates out to a temporary ++ or +++ modifier to his STR, END, and Noble Phantasms (excluding Wait and Hope). This skill also allows The Count to receive a healthy boost to mana regeneration every time he takes damage, and at a ranking of A, this boost is usually astounding.

Oblivion/Memory Correction: a Class Skill of the Avenger class.It represents the Avenger in question’s tenacity for holding grudges, and remembering the wrongs done to them, or others. The higher one’s ranking in this skill, the more critical damage they deal in battle. At A ranking, The Count deals great critical damage.

Self Replenishment - Mana: The final class skill for those of the Avenger class, it allows an Avenger to constantly generate magical energy until their hatred and vengeance is, in their minds, accomplished. The amount generated is usually minuscule, but at The Count’s ranking of C, this magical energy is enough to allow The Count to stay materialized without a master, and when balanced with a healthy helping of human souls, The Count could theoretically operate in a Holy Grail war on their own. With a master behind them, though, this extra magical energy still comes in handy.

Determination of Steel: A personal skill of The Count’s, it is the dynamism and mind of steel of the man who walked on the path of revenge throughout his entire life after breaking out of the Château d’If prison, which was even called the Hell on this Earth. This skill results in The Count being able to block out all instances of pain, allowing him to fight on unperturbed by grievous wounds and damage in general. It is, however, also a representation of his mental fortitude as well, possessing determination of unbreakable steel– as in, when The Count sets his sights on a goal, nothing, and no one, will dissuade him from pursuing it.

Even if the odds are against him 100 to 1, The Count will not be deterred. This skill does not guarantee The Count will succeed in the goals they pursue, but it greatly increases their chances of doing so (especially when his Wisdom of Predicaments skill bestows him with generous luck), and always leaves open the possibility of him succeeding no matter what the situation– which means that at times, he can defy destiny and fate themselves, just as he had in his story.

Golden Rule: A personal skill, this is the representation of the wealth The Count possessed in life. The Count’s wealth was said to have been “beyond imagining”, and indeed, just as Abbe Faria had told him, money never became a consequence for The Count after they received the Treasure’s they did on the Island of Monte Cristo. As a servant, The Count has access to this wealth, which can be a great boon to his master.

Wisdom of Predicaments: The last personal skill of The Count’s, it allows The Count to “ call upon Luck with a precedence in critical situations”.  It is the wisdom brought about by the abundant knowledge he received from Abbe Faria and his own natural intelligence. This skill, as you can imagine, comes in handy, seeing as The Count possesses no Luck parameter, though it goes beyond just helping The Count out in tight situations– thanks to the special combination of this skill and his Avenger class, this skill also allows The Count to use the Item Creation skill at (which is usually only reserved to the Caster Class) at Rank B.

The only caveat is that the Luck bestowed upon The Count from this skill can vary– usually he will pull the effects of Luck that are equivalent to a B ranking, and on very, very rare occasions, A+ ranking.

NOBLE PHANTASMS

Monte Cristo Mythologie | Anti-Unit ( C )

This is The Count of Monte Cristo’s way of life– acting as the incarnation of revenge– which has been sublimated into a Noble Phantasm through his manifestation as an Avenger. As he did not fit under any other sort of class, his body that manifested as Avenger was converted into a Noble Phantasm.

It allows Avenger a number of effects– immunity to poisons and mental interference, resistance to magical attacks, the ability to conceal and/or falsify his class and parameters in the eyes of others, the unleashing of pent up hatred and grudges in the minds and souls of his opponents upon speaking the noble phantasms true name– but the most notable ability it grants him are the flames of hatred.

By projecting his hatred into magical power, Avenger can generate a poisonous black flame that he can use to harm his foes, and protect himself. Whether it is launched at enemies from a distance or delivered to them in melee, this flame damages Avenger’s opponents directly, ignoring armours, magical resistances, and even magical barriers, shattering them with ease.

It is even possible for those subjected to this black flame to have their very souls burned away, even if they are immortal beings, as was the case with Michael Roa Valdamjong.

This Noble Phantasm is related to the Treasure of Monte Cristo, which housed fourteen artifacts, one of which was a Treasure of Darkness, a treasure that held the power to remake a person. This ’Treasure of Darkness’ was a legend (Divine Construct) hidden in the mountain of Christ that represented the despair of those without God, the flames of hell, and the void. It bestowed a power equal to that from the Age of Gods that forced a special Magic Circuit and Magic Crest into the user, forever joining the two, until death.

Attendre, Espérer: Wait, and Hope | Anti-Unit (B)

An unbelievable recovery Noble Phantasm that is capable of bringing Avenger or an ally back from the clutches of death (completely healing them), while also conferring it’s targets with a temporary boost to their parameters, skills, and noble phantasms. The boost itself gives its targets respective skills, parameters, and noble phantasms an increase of one rank, which lasts for roughly one hour.

It is the ray of brilliant, shining hope amid the darkness of one who has fallen into tragedy, despair, and regret, being activated when Avenger speaks the words: “Wait, and Hope.”

Enfer Château d'If (Hell Château d'If): Tyger, Burning Bright | Anti-Army/Anti-Unit (A)

The steeled, unworldly mental power of Edmond Dantès, cultivated while imprisoned within the Château d'If, sublimated into a Noble Phantasm. With this noble phantasm, The Count is able to perform super high speed thinking, which he can also reflect upon his body, allowing him to achieve feats of agility/speed that are immense even by servant standards– this however, is only a passive effect of the noble phantasm.

When the words, “I don’t need any mercy– My path goes beyond love and hate! Enfer Château d'If! are chanted, this noble phantasm’s true potential is activated, making The Count’s movements become so fast that he is able to escape from the prisons of time and space themselves– though any prison, abstract or not, would likely be unable to hold him.

While acting outside of time and space, time appears to effectively freeze for anyone but The Count, and as he moves at incomprehensible speeds, many “afterimages” of The Count will appear, those of which can and will harm his targets as they attack along with him simultaneously. After The Count’s (and his afterimages) initial black-flame laden strikes are dealt, he will levitate into the air and unleash a mighty blast of black flames upon his targets– the blast would do great damage on its own, but with all of The Count’s afterimages copying this attack, the combined blast is immense, and will likely kill anything it hits (if said targets weren't already wiped out by The Count’s initial attacks).

After The Count’s final blast hits his target(s), the speed of his actions return to their usual levels, and for everyone else, time ‘resumes’– though his targets likely drop dead at this point, if they weren't already reduced to ashes. Even if a target somehow isn’t outright killed by The Count’s time-bending, black flame ridden onslaught, their bodies will most likely suffer grave damage, and if they are a servant, it’s highly unlikely that their spirit core isn’t irreparably damaged in some way.

All noble-phantasms can be thought of as ‘trump cards’ in some sense, but Enfer Chateau d'If is truly an embodiment of such a thing, with their being few who can withstand it.

[tcm]

Pioneering Black Actors of Hollywood By Susan King

Clarence Muse and Rex Ingram by Susan King Thirty years ago, the legendary Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier reflected on the Black performers who paved the way for him in the Los Angeles Times: “The guys who were forerunners to me, like Canada Lee, Rex Ingram, Clarence Muse and women like Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers and Juanita Moore, they were terribly boxed in. They were maids and stable people and butlers, principally. But they, in some way, prepared the ground for me.”

Poitier prepared the ground for such contemporary Black actors and directors currently in competition during the 2021 awards season such as Regina King and Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami), Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods), the late Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) and Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah).

But it is imperative to remember the veterans from the 1930s-1960s who tried to break out of stereotypes and maintain dignity at a time when Hollywood wanted to “box” them in.

Clarence Muse 

Muse appeared in countless Hollywood films often uncredited. And as Donald Bogle points out in his book Hollywood Black, Muse spoke his mind to directors if he felt he was being pushed around or when his characters were stereotypes. Bogle stated, “At another time when Muse questioned the actions of his character in director King Vidor’s 1935 Old South feature SO RED THE ROSE, Vidor recalled that Muse was quite vocal in expressing his concerns. A change was made. Vidor could not recall exactly what the issue was, but he never forgot Muse’s objection.”

The 1932 pre-Code crime drama Night World screened at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival to a standing-room only crowd. The film stars Lew Ayres, Boris Karloff and Muse as the doorman at a club owned by Karloff. The audience was surprised that such a stereotypical role was anything but thanks to Muse’s poignant performance. Instead of being forced to be the comic relief, Muse’s Washington is a man worried about his wife’s surgery at a local hospital. Though his boss doesn’t treat him as an equal—after all it is 1932—Karloff’s Happy shows general concern toward Washington.

Muse, said Bogle, “also worked in race movies, where he realized there was still a real chance for significant roles and narratives.” One such was BROKEN STRINGS (’40), which he also co-wrote. It’s certainly not a great film, but Muse gives a solid turn as a famed Black violinist who wants his young son to follow in his footsteps. But the son wants to play swing with his violin.

Muse, who was a graduate of Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, also co-wrote the Louis Armstrong standard “Sleepy Time Down South.” In the 1920s, he worked at two Harlem theater companies, Lincoln Players and Lafayette Players, and 23 years later he became the first African American Broadway director with Run Little Chillun. He continued to act, appearing in Poitier’s directorial debut BUCK AND THE PREACHER (’72), CAR WASH (’76) and THE BLACK STALLION (’79) and was elected to the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973. He died one day before his 90th birthday in 1979.

Rex Ingram 

Tall and imposing, Ingram had a great presence on the big screen and a rich melliferous voice. No wonder his best-known role was as the gigantic Genie in the bottle in Alexander Korda’s lavish production of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (’40). Born in 1895, he began his film career in movies such as Cecil B. DeMille’s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (’23). Ingram also has the distinction of playing God in THE GREEN PASTURES (’36) and Lucifer Jr. both on Broadway in 1940 and in the 1943 film adaptation of the musical CABIN IN THE SKY.

Ingram also brought a real humanity to his role as the slave Jim in MGM’s disappointing THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (’39), starring a miscast Mickey Rooney, who was way too old at 19 to play the part. Ingram, though, breaks your heart when he talks to Huck about how his dream is to earn enough money to buy his freedom so he could join his wife and child living in a free state. And when he runs away, Ingram explains to Huck why he had to flee the widow Douglas: “If one of them slave traders got me, I never would get to that free state. I would never see my wife, or little Joey.”

He also is superb in Frank Borzage’s noir MOONRISE (’48) as Mose Johnson, the friend of the murderer’s son Danny (Dane Clark), who lives in a shack in the wilderness with his coonhounds. Noble and thoughtful, Mose is the film’s conscience and helps guide Danny to do the right thing after he kills a bully (Lloyd Bridges) in self-defense.

Ingram was one of the busiest Black actors at the time and at one point even served on the Board of the Screen Actors Guild. But the same year MOONRISE was released, he was arrested and pleaded guilty for transporting an underage girl from Kansas to New York. He served a prison sentence and for a long time his career was derailed. He even lost his home. Though his film career was never the same upon his release, he worked in TV and on the Broadway stage, appearing in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and died in 1969 at 73 shortly after doing a guest shot on NBC’s The Bill Cosby Show.

Ernest Anderson 

Anderson never achieved the notoriety of Muse and Ingram, but the actor gave an extraordinary performance in the Bette Davis-Olivia de Havilland melodrama IN THIS OUR LIFE (’42) directed by John Huston. Born in 1915, Anderson earned his BA at Northwestern University in drama and speech. He was recommended for his role in the movie by Davis, who saw the young man working at the commissary on the Warner Bros.’ lot.

Anderson plays Parry, the son of the Davis-de Havilland family’s maid who aspires to be a lawyer. Davis’ spoiled rotten Stanley Timberlake gets drunk, and while driving she kills someone in a hit-and-run accident. Stanley throws Parry under the bus telling authorities he was the one driving the car.

Initially, the script depicted Parry in much more stereotypical terms, but Anderson went to Huston and discussed why he wanted to play the character with dignity and intelligence. Huston agreed. And for 1942, it’s rather shocking to see a studio film look at racism as in the scene where Parry tells de Havilland’s Roy why he wants to be an attorney:

“Well, you see, it’s like this, Miss Roy: a white boy, he can take most any kind of job and improve himself. Well, like in this store! Maybe he can get to be a clerk or a manager. But a colored boy, he can’t do that. He can keep a job, or he can lose a job. But he can’t get any higher up. So, he’s got a figure out something he can do that no one can take away. And that’s why I want to be a lawyer.”

Needless to say, such monologues were cut when the movie was shown in the South. Despite strong reviews for his performance, Anderson never got another role with so much substance. But he continued working through the 1970s and died in 2011 at the age of 95.

[serenity-hqs]

꒰  .*˚ ༘  ┈  incoming transmission from the admod team !

Hi all, the admin team has an important announcement regarding reservations for muses that have just been released from our masterlist.

To avoid any muse hogging, people reserving a muse to keep their spot after removal for inactivity, and to be fair to all potential applicants and current members, we will no longer allow anonymous reservations for newly freed muses until 48 hours after their removal date has passed. During this 48 hour window after a muse is posted as free to play, all reservations must be made off anonymous to be valid and honored. However, if you wish to apply for a newly available muse without any reservation during this 48 hour window, you are able to do so as normal so long as you have not been removed for inactivity for the muse. This is because as per our rules since opening, all muns who have been removed for inactivity must wait 48 hours after removal to reapply, no exceptions.

Thank you for your understanding, and if you have any questions regarding this or something else within our directory, please feel free to reach out to the admin team. The rules will edited shortly to reflect this change. Additionally, we hope you all have a wonderful day! ♡