Monster and Mythology Monday - Vampires

 

こんにちは! Oi! Hello! I know it's not Monday anymore, but I was very tired on Monday, so I am starting this series now! 😋 For those who don't know, I am a huuuuge fan of everything vampire related. My love for vampirism started when I was small and grew even larger after reading Dracula when I was eighteen. After Dracula I found vampire themed manga, True Blood and even real life Vampirism (yes, it's a thing!) and I started an old blog series called Vampirism Monday, where I'd talk about vampire lore from all over the world, outfits with a vampy theme and more. But I also love many other monsters and, being a Pagan and Heathen, my love for mythology is very strong as well.

I figured October would be the perfect time to start talking about monsters! I hope you enjoy this very vampy post. 😄

Some of my favorite legends... 

From the Ancient Greek Lamia to the Romanian Moroi, there are vampire legends from every region. I really love Jiangshi and really want a ferret named that, since they hop! A Jiangshi is a Chinese hopping vampire (though Jiangshi may also be called a zombie.) They're a stiff corpse and wear official clothing from the Qing Dynasty, while hopping with their arms outstretched. 

Unlike many other vampires, the Jiangshi sucks out the life force also known as qi from their victims. Jiangshi have appeared in various games (including Overwatch, where I first heard about them because of Mei's costume), movies and more.

Mei-Ling Zhou in her Jiangshi costume on Overwatch

Jiangshi Aesthetics Washi Tape from Zetallis on Etsy

Another interesting legend is of the Baobhan sith of Scotland. These fairy women are said to be seductive, blood sucking beauties who instead of sharp, pointy fangs have incredibly sharp nails which they use to cut their victims. They can shapeshift into crows, ravens and wolves and they're said to be dressed in green.

Baobhan Sith Perfume Oil from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Than you have the Icelandic Draugr who can be a bit like dragons, preferring to greedily protect their treasures though this is after death, or ghosts. In fact, Draugr does mean ghost, but they have more in common with vampires. Draugr don't drink blood, or qi, but instead kill their victims and turn them into more Draugr. 

I know Draugr mainly from The Elder Scrolls Online and Skyrim! But I love Scandinavian lore, so I knew their original source too. 

Viking Dragur Skull Ring from West Wolf Renaissance on Etsy

The Draugr of Skyrim

Some general and vonderful vampy products...

Handmade Bloody Vampire Teeth Face Mask from Owned by Twins on Etsy

Dracula T-shirt from Litographs

Dracula Gift Box from Witch on Wheels on Etsy

Sterling Silver Bat Earrings from Dainty Shack on Etsy

Blood Drop Necklace from Untamed Rose on Etsy

Vampire Bite Necklace from Crafty Little Gnome on Etsy

Origami Bat Necklace from Lert Vi Zutte on Etsy

Finally... A book I recommend: Dracula! A live action TV show: True Blood! So good! An anime: Chibi Vampire! A song: Vampyre Erotica from Inkubus Sukkubus! An article: Three Real-Life Vampires talk

Tell me about your favorite vampire stuff! A book, show, song, product! Or of course, some of your favorite legends. I want to know!

Weekly Love List

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こんにちは! Oi! Hello! I know it's a bit early for a Weekly Love List but I just have so much that I want to share! 

1. Koji, Ástrid and I have been playing a LOT of Conan Exiles! We have our own RP-PvP server and everything! It's so much fun and the players we've gotten so far are GREAT. If you have the base game and Isle of Siptah, come join us! Our name is Forgotten Realms RP and we have Humans, Elves and Orcs. Koji made a whole magical college!

My High Elf, Vaella Elwynn

Kael'eth (Koji), Cynn (Ástrid) and Vaella's (me) tower

The Arcane Garden

I've also been playing a lot of Animal Crossing! In fact, that ties into Number 2 on my Weekly Love List this week...

2. My ACNH character is a Vampire for Halloween! I have a fancy dress for her, but I'm enjoying dressing her in regular clothing for now. Do you play ACNH? Let's be friends! SW-2735-7682-6305 <- my code. 

3. The AMAZING Lolita store that Ástrid found called The Angelic Forest and especially THIS dress. I loooove everything girl gang related, as you can tell by the name of my blog (a Sukeban is a girl gang leader.) 

4. The kawaii af store shikachan1 on Etsy! I first found shikachan1 because I was looking up washi tape and came across their super kawaii Japanese Dessert Washi Tape. 

But then I found SO MUCH MORE!

Halloween Washi Tape

Cat Sticker Sheet

Clothing Sticker Sheet

I could list even MORE but I won't. I definitely plan on placing an order in the future, especially because I've finally started my bullet journal!

5. This kawaii The Crescent Blossom Night Mochi pin! We actually named Mochi after the rabbit on the Moon making mochi! I also LOVE sakura. 

6. Lumichee's kawaii and refreshing shop on Etsy! I first came across Lumichee on Twitter and when I saw their absolutely adorable Mousemoth creation, I knew I would become a fan! So I checked out their store and they have so much kawaii stuff! 

Mousemoth Plush Keychain "Sweet Clover"

Persimmon the Opossum Plush

 Ahhhh, I love opossum so much!

Tiny Purple Bat Pin

Tiny Kitten Pin

7. Little Lovelies: Koji, Ástrid and all of our babies (of course! Forever!) ♥ my new Brazil shirt ♥ getting my Armodafinil refilled ♥ finally starting my bullet journal ♥ YouTube vids that get me in the mood TO journal ♥ Ástrid's love for musicals ♥ my glass bamboo ink pen ♥ charcoal soap ♥ and much much more!

What are you loving this week?

Hallotober Tag

Tag created by @Ofaglasgowgirl

こんにちは! Oi! Hello! Today I am bringing you a very fun and Halloween-y post. 🎃 I was tagged by Jordanne of The Life Of A Glasgow Girl to take part in her Hallotober Tag. I'm so excited! Thank you, Jordanne. 😁 Let's get started!

1. What's your favourite thing about October? My favorite thing about October is the magick in the air and celebrating the season with my little family. I love how everything is just more magickal, from the sound of Autumn leaves skittering in the breeze to the moon glowing in the sky while walking through the local corn maze. As for celebrating, I love all of the warm food and drink, seeing spooky cute decor for sale in the store and of course, horror movies on TV! Plus planning for Halloween and Samhain as a whole. 

2. Are you a big celebrator of Halloween? Yes! It's my favorite holiday after birthdays and anniversaries and Samhain is on the same day, which is my favorite sabbat. We decorate, dress up if possible and have lots of delicious foods! I also love all seeing Halloween events in my favorite MMOs and just Halloween being celebrated in entertainment in general. 

3. What's your favourite horror movie? Easily Ju-On! I love Asian horror movies because they're more about the story than hack and slash or shock. They feel more realistic and just scarier because of that. I firmly think poor Kayako deserved better. 😤

4. Would you rather a cosy night in watching horrors or a big night out in a costume? Definitely a cosy night in. ❤️ I love relaxing in the comfort of my own home and thinking of laying under a bunch of blankets with a warm cup of pumpkin spice coffee and my little family nearby while watching horrors is so perfect. 

5. Which has been your most favourite costume to date? I would say my Jack-o-Lantern costume. I've gotten SO many compliments on this and it's so fun to walk around in. I've had this costume since... 2008? 2009? In fact, this picture is very old, but the costume itself is still in perfect condition!

6. Bobbing for apples or pin the hat on the witch? Ahhhh, pin the hat on the Witch sounds like so much fun. I'll definitely be the champion of that! 

7. How do you celebrate Halloween? With LOTS of food! My favorite is a Jack-o-Lantern cheese ball. We also normally have a delicious rum drink. We give candy out to trick-or-treaters and often go all out in our outside decoration for them. It's so much fun! I'm not sure if that will be possible this year, though! 

8. What's your least favourite horror? I don't have any certain title in mind, but I dislike most hack and slash and horror that depends on jump scare tactics. 

9. Do you have a favourite trick or treating memory? I don't have any from growing up, so I'll go with one that happened while I was on the other end of trick-or-treating. Ástrid and I set up a huge haunted tent for the neighborhood and sat inside with all sorts of spooky decor and we had everyone coming in to tell us they loved what we did. One neighbor even brought us some warm homemade desserts because the weather was chilly!

10. What's your favourite thing about Halloween? I love scary and creepy cute stuff so it's the PERFECT time to see my interests on display in the store. I can go anywhere and find black cats, Witches, bats, rats, candy corn and all sorts of interesting stuff. I also love Samhain, the sabbat that falls on October 31st. It's a time where we remember those who've passed on, let go of the old and welcome the new. It's called the Witch's New Year. 

a beautiful Samhain (Halloween) Poster by KatherinLeee

11. Scary costume or Silly costume? SCARY! I love a good scary costume, though I am a fan of sexy costumes as well. I've thought of the perfect trio costume for Ástrid, Koji and I. Ástrid and I would each be Persephone, one of us being her Goddess of Spring side and the other her Goddess of the Underworld side and Koji would be Hades. 

12. What's your favourite Halloween candy? Twixxxx! Whenever I see Twix in the candy bowl, I pick them out. >.> I'm also really addicted to candy corn.

13. Ghost decorations or skeleton decorations? Oh, definitely ghosts. I do love skellies, but ghosts are so cute. Well, spooky or cute! Whether it's Boosheen or a haunted mirror. 

The totally kawaii Limited Edition Boosheen Light-Up Plush

Wheeee, that was fun! Thank you again, Jordanne! Now I need to tag 13 other bloggers to do this (I know some people feel pressure about this, so please don't. If I tag you but it's not your thing, feel free to skip and just know I want you to celebrate a happy Hallotober! Also, I don't know 13 bloggers to do this, so I'll just list who I think would enjoy!) The only other rule is that I delete question 13 and add my own, soooo... I tag:

1. Michelle of MooeyAndFriends

2. Alisha-Valerie of Alisha Valerie

3. Michelle of A Geek Girl's Guide

4. Meg of A Geeky Gal

5. Angela Louise of Weird Louise

6. Cate of Cateaclysmic

7. Michelle of Daisybutter 

8. Eleanor of mxrshmallowqueen

9. Sarah of Raiin Monkey

10. Lizzie of Hello Lizzie Bee

And the Qs:

1. What's your favourite thing about October? 

2. Are you a big celebrator of Halloween? 

3. What's your favourite horror movie?

4. Would you rather a cosy night in watching horrors or a big night out in a costume?

5. Which has been your most favourite costume to date? 

6. Bobbing for apples or pin the hat on the witch? 

7. How do you celebrate Halloween? 

8. What's your least favourite horror? 

9. Do you have a favourite trick or treating memory? 

10. What's your favourite thing about Halloween? 

11. Scary costume or Silly costume? 

12. What's your favourite Halloween candy? 

13. Who is your favourite black cat, real or fictional?

HAVE FUN and HAPPY HALLOTOBER!

Weekly Love List

こんにちは! Oi! Hello! It's time for my first Weekly Love List. I even made a fancy new banner for these posts. 😁 What do you think?

I'm enjoying a cup of cinnamon dolce coffee while I write this, while Koji is playing Mount & Blade II (which I also want) and Ástrid is listening to musicals; all of our babies are either napping or just lounging around relaxed. It's a peaceful Saturday. ❤️

Here's what I'm loving... 

1. Lucile's Kitchen on Etsy! The piece that originally caught my eye was the Fall illustration from this beautiful 4 Seasons wall art set. I love illustrated food so much and Lucile's Kitchen has soooo much art to choose from. I've been getting ready to make a lot of Brazilian food lately, so I looked up Brazil on Lucile's Kitchen and found this delicious looking Feijoada recipe print. Japanese food is some of my favorite food, and I love Miso and Ramen, so these prints are a must have too. What is your favorite food?    

2. Kness' kawaii ceramic animals! I absolutely adore the White Bunny Sitting one, but they're all so kawaii. I wonder if Kness will ever make a ratty?! I love rats so much.

3. It's sold out right now but this Pusheen Character Purse! I am a big fan of everything Pusheen related and I really need a new purse, so this is perfect! 

4. Michelle Dao Art on Etsy! I'm finally starting my bullet journal, so I need a lot of STICKERS and while looking for Sailor Moon stickers (because Sailor Moon is wonderful) I came across Michelle Dao Art and ahhhh, so many kawaii stickers to choose from. From Sailor Moon to Japanese food to Fall stickers to so much more!

5. Yummy Gudetama Peach Gummies Lip Balm! Gudetama is so kawaii and I love lip balm and will need lots, especially in Autumn and Winter and especialllly when I start my Accutane. Plus, peach gummies are so delicious! 

6. Little Lovelies! Ástrid, Koji and our babies ♥ Pumpkin Macaroni & Cheese (this sounds DELICIOUS to me... What do you think?!) ♥ Eevee-themed coffee ♥ planning on watching our first scary movie of the season, 0.0MHz ♥ burning incense ♥ finding new subscription boxes ♥ finding new bloggers ♥ and so much more!

What are you loving this week, friends? 😁