Application
Name: Hopie.
Livejournal: hopemedina as a personal journal; homicidaljuliet as Grell's account.
Contact: YIM/AIM . YIM is hopieluff. AIM is hopexmedina. I also have MSN (seraphim.demon@hotmail.co.uk) but I do not use it often enough.
Other Characters Played: None.
Canon: Kuroshitsuji.
Character: Grell Sutcliff.
Timeline: Following the Jack the Ripper arc in the manga/ any relevant episodes in the anime. Grell seems to have disappeared, although he is mentioned as having a mission pertaining to the Phantomhive estate.
Personality: Grell Sutcliff is memorable - which is the kindest word for it. His flamboyant personality, disregard of social Victorian norms and the general breakdown of the connections between sense and brain make for very interesting run-ins with the Shinigami, often resulting in attacks that, somehow, he manages to turn in on himself. Okay. So he needs a little fighting work. And a little ‘not attacking demons that can kill you’ work. And an overhaul of the whole ‘time and place’ thing. Grell has a lot of flaws, a thing that he both understands and simply ignores because, well, his flaws are perfect - at least to his. His flaws(such as an over the top clumsiness and misunderstanding of the concept of personal space) are the perfect seasonings to add to the romantic encounter he is hoping he will find soon. Victorian men love a damsel in distress.
Grell identifies as female, though he is biologically male; his mind is instantly turned to more feminine aspects, but with a difference. He is not the Juliet of the Victorian era, but the Sarah Woodruff, a woman whose deceptively-simple goal and beliefs span over-arching circles. He will not acknowledge that he is male - even if he were, it would be a sin for his to be so attracted to men as a man. Perhaps that’s why he identifies as a woman, to keep the rules of the Victorian society he lives in mostly intact. Although Grell does not really conform to them, the idea of what happens to men who are attracted to men is enough to keep his from toeing over the line.
As Angelina’s butler, he (unfortunately, Grell is forced to own up to his masculine genitalia when in a job predominantly done by men) is quiet and meek. He does not flirt, and the mere idea of sexual interest will turn him into a bumbling mess. Talent at his tasks is not something he possesses, which is why he was asked to move to the Phantomhive manor for a brief stay, to learn how to be a better butler. Unfortunately, this has only caused him ire among his peers, the Phantomhive servants, and his beloved obsession, Sebastian. Showing a rather unorthodox knowledge of culture othis than his own, Grell often threatened to commit suicide, and seemed delighted when he was stopped by others - and yes, Grell is fully aware that they don’t like him as a butler, and like him even less as a Shinigami. He is lonely, but much too comfortable (and vain) in his own skin to turn down his personality a touch and make an acceptable friend.
As a Shinigami, Grell lets his darker side pour forth. He is shown to be a highly-capable and cruel killer, often choosing the most inconvenient times to murder and leaving behind no trace. Although one could blame the murders’ viciousness on simple anger, it is not so for Grell - as with everything he does, he knows exactly what he’s doing, how hard to push, how much to cut. And he does it all with a smile, and a clear head. He enjoys his work, even if he breaks the rules more often than he follows them (and please don’t get him started on paper-work, or Grell will never shut up) and seeks the approval of his higher-up, William, and his fellow co-workers who, barring the ever-charming Ronald Knox, are probably holding a collection tin to get him transferred to another branch.
He has an obsession with red - and if at least one person realizes and understands his love for red, Grell will be happy. Red is a powerful colour. All the good things in the world are red. Red poppies in a spring-green field, red lips, anger and passion. When the red fades, there is nothing as beautiful left, and perhaps if he spreads red around in the form of passion (unwanted, but he can only do so much) and competition, maybe he will make some of his acquaintances a little happier. But not too happy. They’re not that close.
Grell is highly-intelligent, at least book-wise, with knowledge of theatre, arts and cultures other than British pass-times. Shakespeare is not the only weapon in his arsenal of literary dominance, and he often compares himself to the great heroines, casting his often-unwilling masculine friends into the romantic lead. His class act of idiocy is a ruse. Everything Grell does is done for a reason; including disobeying rules so he will be punished by William. Slightly sadomasochistic, needy, whiny, complacent and helpful almost to a fault, Grell is a complex person who prefers to hide behind a mask of simplicity - but given that the Shinigam i is as cunning as he is, that mask of simplicity could simply just be a prettied-up reality.
Background: Nobody finds Grell; Grell finds you. Like a rather cartoonish shadow, Grell shows up out of nowhere to wreak fabulous havoc and chaos, and to steal snide looks at his beautiful, though icy, Sebastian, the obsession of his ageless mind since they first met at a training exercise in Earl Phantomhive’s manor. He was an aggravated teacher; Grell was his rather dumb-witted student. It was a romance to last the ages.
Only, not really. Sebastian didn’t show any interest in him then, but Grell fully acknowledges that, probably, tipping an entire table of food and plates onto the floor in front of said unwilling suitor does not make for a very good impression. Still, he lives in hope. Grell Sutcliff was introduced as Angelina Durless’ butler, a shy and unremarkable man who spent most of his time at the Phantomhive estate - which he had been sent to by his Lady to try and become more like Sebastian - either breaking things or trying to commit suicide. By the end of his visit, no doubt many of the servants were pleased to see him go and take his streak of bad luck with him, but Grell would show up again, though in a different form other than they were used to.
It was a dark and stormy night, as it always is in times of murder and great sad things. Raining too, unpleasant drops against the window. Sebastian and Ciel had been waiting outside for most of the night trying to locate the person they believed was Jack the Ripper, a man who had been at the heart of several murdered prostitutes. The door creaked open, and Grell Sutcliff wandered out, looking mildly shellshocked, bloodied, and begging nonsensically for mercy, claiming that he had done nothing.
However, that would change. Underneath the face of Sebastian’s flawless logic, Grell revealed his truer form, methodically changing in front of the Earl and the unimpressed butler from a mousy-haired, shy servant to a red-haired, statuesque beauty - had he not been soaked in blood and rather pleased with what he had done, he thinks now, perhaps he would have won over Sebastian then and there. As a Shinigami, his task was to act neutral and to kill the souls only marked on the list - when Sebastian pointed this out, Grell gave the true reason for teaming up with Angelina Durless: he ‘fell in love’ with her, by which he later amended to mean ‘captivated by her story and brought together by a mutual inability to carry children’. A fight broke out, with Grell using an illegally-modified Death Scythe to gain the upper hand, but was distracted from it by Angelina, who refused to kill Ciel on the basis that he was the child she could never have, and reminded him of her dead sister. Disappointed in her weakness and the semi-betrayal, Grell promptly kills her and takes her coat and is prepared to leave them both alone.
He is not allowed to, as Ciel orders Sebastian to attack again, leading to a much bigger battle which he believes he has one. Cutting anything with a death scythe belonging to a shinigami means that the injured will die, and the death play, a recap of the person’s life to help with the judgement, plays out. Sebastian’s death play is bland and uninteresting, which infuriates him. They begin to fight a second time, but this time, it is Grell that loses, after Sebastian uses his coat as a jamming mechanism and locks the blades of his chainsaw together, making it ineffectual. He is beaten severely, complaining all the while that Sebastian is not a true gentleman - you should never hit a lady in the face - but his plaintive complaints turn into terror when Sebastian grabs his own death scythe and prepares to kill him.
William T. Spears saves Grell from his own untimely end, simultaneously describing to him all the rules he has broke, and drags him away by the hair, where he serves out his punishment from behind the scenes.
Abilities/Additional Notes: Grell possesses enhanced agility, immunity to certain types of damage - such as from fire and/or explosions - and his trusty Death Scythe, a chainsaw. He is also shown to have a vague grasp of anatomy - though not much of biology - and skill with a knife. He may or may not know how to apply makeup. It is a strictly-covered-up secret.
Sample Journal Post: [as a diary entry, though it is recorded]
I decided to forgo the scourge of time that is paperwork and skip out early today - mind you, it wasn’t easy! After my last escape trick, William has been keeping a tight watch on me. [sigh] Unfortunately, he is too bloody - excuse my language [giggle] - stubborn to give into his true feelings... or perhaps he is carrying on with Ronald. Everyone likes a blond, do they not?
Whatever. I am much better than Ronald. I should slip him a love note. [sounds of hurried papers scuffling] Oh, drat! No more red ink... bah, black will have to do. Yet, it will not carry the full emotion of my love... red ink, at least, has a purpose and the colour of what I feel for him. [the slow sounds of a blade dragging across the table] How I do hate it when this happens... [a purr, obviously pleased, and the sound of dripping liquid]... but, ah, it will do for now.
Blood is much thicker than ink anyway.
Sample RP: Grell was not having a good day, unless the definition of ‘having a good day’ had been magically changed around to mean breaking off one half of his designer, quite-expensive, custom-order shoes in a foul grate, nearly tripping down a flight of stairs thanks to Ronald and his hilariously over-wrought death scythe, and not to mention being thrown down the same flight of stairs for offering William a rather interesting (he’d though so, anyway) proposal while the Shinigami had taken his mid-morning unmentionables break.
His shoulder popped back into place with an annoying and all-too-similar pop; and though the pain that rushed up his side was in, no way, a laughing matter, a small kernel of lust built regardless in his belly. Well, William had at least noticed him this morning! More than could be said for Sebas-chan, and his young charge; Grell neglected to remember that he hadn’t been supposed to have been on the Phantomhive grounds in the first place - it had something to do with his being a death god and Ciel being an overwrought thirteen year old with a sugar fetish who did not understand that true love needed to sneak in a few looks of Sebastian bending over to prune the roses - and so, Sebastian not seeing him was probably a good thing, in the long run. A flight of stairs was something he could handle (more-or-less, he was sort of bloody and owie now) but Sebastian’s brand of tough love would undoubtedly be worse.
It was probably wrong that he wanted to witness and be a part of it, even if he knew that Sebastian had no interest in him. Sighing softly, Grell raked his fingers carefully through his mussed hair, using one of the framed mirrors on his desk to comb his hairstyle back into its supposed form. His eyes appeared hollow and bloodshot behind the lenses of custom red glasses, hints to the fact that the night had not gone so well. It wasn’t often that he had nightmares, but when he did, it was rather difficult to go back to sleep. And his house was so lonely, too. It would be best if there was somewhere living there with him... Grell chuckled, trying to imagine the distaste that would flicker across on William’s face if he asked him to move in. No friends to ask. Plus, it would be scandalous to let William move in. He was a man, where as Grell was a woman. Maybe a pet? A pet just needed feeding. Resolute in his need to get something to strive off the burgeoning loneliness, Grell reached down into the drawer on his desk - a drawer henceforth known as ‘The Black Hole’ to the rest of the office thanks to the miasma of things found secreted within it - and pulled out an old newspaper. Propping it open, he began to scan the ‘For Sale’ ads.
Livejournal: hopemedina as a personal journal; homicidaljuliet as Grell's account.
Contact: YIM/AIM . YIM is hopieluff. AIM is hopexmedina. I also have MSN (seraphim.demon@hotmail.co.uk) but I do not use it often enough.
Other Characters Played: None.
Canon: Kuroshitsuji.
Character: Grell Sutcliff.
Timeline: Following the Jack the Ripper arc in the manga/ any relevant episodes in the anime. Grell seems to have disappeared, although he is mentioned as having a mission pertaining to the Phantomhive estate.
Personality: Grell Sutcliff is memorable - which is the kindest word for it. His flamboyant personality, disregard of social Victorian norms and the general breakdown of the connections between sense and brain make for very interesting run-ins with the Shinigami, often resulting in attacks that, somehow, he manages to turn in on himself. Okay. So he needs a little fighting work. And a little ‘not attacking demons that can kill you’ work. And an overhaul of the whole ‘time and place’ thing. Grell has a lot of flaws, a thing that he both understands and simply ignores because, well, his flaws are perfect - at least to his. His flaws(such as an over the top clumsiness and misunderstanding of the concept of personal space) are the perfect seasonings to add to the romantic encounter he is hoping he will find soon. Victorian men love a damsel in distress.
Grell identifies as female, though he is biologically male; his mind is instantly turned to more feminine aspects, but with a difference. He is not the Juliet of the Victorian era, but the Sarah Woodruff, a woman whose deceptively-simple goal and beliefs span over-arching circles. He will not acknowledge that he is male - even if he were, it would be a sin for his to be so attracted to men as a man. Perhaps that’s why he identifies as a woman, to keep the rules of the Victorian society he lives in mostly intact. Although Grell does not really conform to them, the idea of what happens to men who are attracted to men is enough to keep his from toeing over the line.
As Angelina’s butler, he (unfortunately, Grell is forced to own up to his masculine genitalia when in a job predominantly done by men) is quiet and meek. He does not flirt, and the mere idea of sexual interest will turn him into a bumbling mess. Talent at his tasks is not something he possesses, which is why he was asked to move to the Phantomhive manor for a brief stay, to learn how to be a better butler. Unfortunately, this has only caused him ire among his peers, the Phantomhive servants, and his beloved obsession, Sebastian. Showing a rather unorthodox knowledge of culture othis than his own, Grell often threatened to commit suicide, and seemed delighted when he was stopped by others - and yes, Grell is fully aware that they don’t like him as a butler, and like him even less as a Shinigami. He is lonely, but much too comfortable (and vain) in his own skin to turn down his personality a touch and make an acceptable friend.
As a Shinigami, Grell lets his darker side pour forth. He is shown to be a highly-capable and cruel killer, often choosing the most inconvenient times to murder and leaving behind no trace. Although one could blame the murders’ viciousness on simple anger, it is not so for Grell - as with everything he does, he knows exactly what he’s doing, how hard to push, how much to cut. And he does it all with a smile, and a clear head. He enjoys his work, even if he breaks the rules more often than he follows them (and please don’t get him started on paper-work, or Grell will never shut up) and seeks the approval of his higher-up, William, and his fellow co-workers who, barring the ever-charming Ronald Knox, are probably holding a collection tin to get him transferred to another branch.
He has an obsession with red - and if at least one person realizes and understands his love for red, Grell will be happy. Red is a powerful colour. All the good things in the world are red. Red poppies in a spring-green field, red lips, anger and passion. When the red fades, there is nothing as beautiful left, and perhaps if he spreads red around in the form of passion (unwanted, but he can only do so much) and competition, maybe he will make some of his acquaintances a little happier. But not too happy. They’re not that close.
Grell is highly-intelligent, at least book-wise, with knowledge of theatre, arts and cultures other than British pass-times. Shakespeare is not the only weapon in his arsenal of literary dominance, and he often compares himself to the great heroines, casting his often-unwilling masculine friends into the romantic lead. His class act of idiocy is a ruse. Everything Grell does is done for a reason; including disobeying rules so he will be punished by William. Slightly sadomasochistic, needy, whiny, complacent and helpful almost to a fault, Grell is a complex person who prefers to hide behind a mask of simplicity - but given that the Shinigam i is as cunning as he is, that mask of simplicity could simply just be a prettied-up reality.
Background: Nobody finds Grell; Grell finds you. Like a rather cartoonish shadow, Grell shows up out of nowhere to wreak fabulous havoc and chaos, and to steal snide looks at his beautiful, though icy, Sebastian, the obsession of his ageless mind since they first met at a training exercise in Earl Phantomhive’s manor. He was an aggravated teacher; Grell was his rather dumb-witted student. It was a romance to last the ages.
Only, not really. Sebastian didn’t show any interest in him then, but Grell fully acknowledges that, probably, tipping an entire table of food and plates onto the floor in front of said unwilling suitor does not make for a very good impression. Still, he lives in hope. Grell Sutcliff was introduced as Angelina Durless’ butler, a shy and unremarkable man who spent most of his time at the Phantomhive estate - which he had been sent to by his Lady to try and become more like Sebastian - either breaking things or trying to commit suicide. By the end of his visit, no doubt many of the servants were pleased to see him go and take his streak of bad luck with him, but Grell would show up again, though in a different form other than they were used to.
It was a dark and stormy night, as it always is in times of murder and great sad things. Raining too, unpleasant drops against the window. Sebastian and Ciel had been waiting outside for most of the night trying to locate the person they believed was Jack the Ripper, a man who had been at the heart of several murdered prostitutes. The door creaked open, and Grell Sutcliff wandered out, looking mildly shellshocked, bloodied, and begging nonsensically for mercy, claiming that he had done nothing.
However, that would change. Underneath the face of Sebastian’s flawless logic, Grell revealed his truer form, methodically changing in front of the Earl and the unimpressed butler from a mousy-haired, shy servant to a red-haired, statuesque beauty - had he not been soaked in blood and rather pleased with what he had done, he thinks now, perhaps he would have won over Sebastian then and there. As a Shinigami, his task was to act neutral and to kill the souls only marked on the list - when Sebastian pointed this out, Grell gave the true reason for teaming up with Angelina Durless: he ‘fell in love’ with her, by which he later amended to mean ‘captivated by her story and brought together by a mutual inability to carry children’. A fight broke out, with Grell using an illegally-modified Death Scythe to gain the upper hand, but was distracted from it by Angelina, who refused to kill Ciel on the basis that he was the child she could never have, and reminded him of her dead sister. Disappointed in her weakness and the semi-betrayal, Grell promptly kills her and takes her coat and is prepared to leave them both alone.
He is not allowed to, as Ciel orders Sebastian to attack again, leading to a much bigger battle which he believes he has one. Cutting anything with a death scythe belonging to a shinigami means that the injured will die, and the death play, a recap of the person’s life to help with the judgement, plays out. Sebastian’s death play is bland and uninteresting, which infuriates him. They begin to fight a second time, but this time, it is Grell that loses, after Sebastian uses his coat as a jamming mechanism and locks the blades of his chainsaw together, making it ineffectual. He is beaten severely, complaining all the while that Sebastian is not a true gentleman - you should never hit a lady in the face - but his plaintive complaints turn into terror when Sebastian grabs his own death scythe and prepares to kill him.
William T. Spears saves Grell from his own untimely end, simultaneously describing to him all the rules he has broke, and drags him away by the hair, where he serves out his punishment from behind the scenes.
Abilities/Additional Notes: Grell possesses enhanced agility, immunity to certain types of damage - such as from fire and/or explosions - and his trusty Death Scythe, a chainsaw. He is also shown to have a vague grasp of anatomy - though not much of biology - and skill with a knife. He may or may not know how to apply makeup. It is a strictly-covered-up secret.
Sample Journal Post: [as a diary entry, though it is recorded]
I decided to forgo the scourge of time that is paperwork and skip out early today - mind you, it wasn’t easy! After my last escape trick, William has been keeping a tight watch on me. [sigh] Unfortunately, he is too bloody - excuse my language [giggle] - stubborn to give into his true feelings... or perhaps he is carrying on with Ronald. Everyone likes a blond, do they not?
Whatever. I am much better than Ronald. I should slip him a love note. [sounds of hurried papers scuffling] Oh, drat! No more red ink... bah, black will have to do. Yet, it will not carry the full emotion of my love... red ink, at least, has a purpose and the colour of what I feel for him. [the slow sounds of a blade dragging across the table] How I do hate it when this happens... [a purr, obviously pleased, and the sound of dripping liquid]... but, ah, it will do for now.
Blood is much thicker than ink anyway.
Sample RP: Grell was not having a good day, unless the definition of ‘having a good day’ had been magically changed around to mean breaking off one half of his designer, quite-expensive, custom-order shoes in a foul grate, nearly tripping down a flight of stairs thanks to Ronald and his hilariously over-wrought death scythe, and not to mention being thrown down the same flight of stairs for offering William a rather interesting (he’d though so, anyway) proposal while the Shinigami had taken his mid-morning unmentionables break.
His shoulder popped back into place with an annoying and all-too-similar pop; and though the pain that rushed up his side was in, no way, a laughing matter, a small kernel of lust built regardless in his belly. Well, William had at least noticed him this morning! More than could be said for Sebas-chan, and his young charge; Grell neglected to remember that he hadn’t been supposed to have been on the Phantomhive grounds in the first place - it had something to do with his being a death god and Ciel being an overwrought thirteen year old with a sugar fetish who did not understand that true love needed to sneak in a few looks of Sebastian bending over to prune the roses - and so, Sebastian not seeing him was probably a good thing, in the long run. A flight of stairs was something he could handle (more-or-less, he was sort of bloody and owie now) but Sebastian’s brand of tough love would undoubtedly be worse.
It was probably wrong that he wanted to witness and be a part of it, even if he knew that Sebastian had no interest in him. Sighing softly, Grell raked his fingers carefully through his mussed hair, using one of the framed mirrors on his desk to comb his hairstyle back into its supposed form. His eyes appeared hollow and bloodshot behind the lenses of custom red glasses, hints to the fact that the night had not gone so well. It wasn’t often that he had nightmares, but when he did, it was rather difficult to go back to sleep. And his house was so lonely, too. It would be best if there was somewhere living there with him... Grell chuckled, trying to imagine the distaste that would flicker across on William’s face if he asked him to move in. No friends to ask. Plus, it would be scandalous to let William move in. He was a man, where as Grell was a woman. Maybe a pet? A pet just needed feeding. Resolute in his need to get something to strive off the burgeoning loneliness, Grell reached down into the drawer on his desk - a drawer henceforth known as ‘The Black Hole’ to the rest of the office thanks to the miasma of things found secreted within it - and pulled out an old newspaper. Propping it open, he began to scan the ‘For Sale’ ads.