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bizarre-blorbo-bracket · 6 months

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FINAL for real this time: Davis (Juror 8) from Twelve Angry Men vs the Bimodal Distribution from statistics

Propaganda under the cut, and it's REALLY worth it:

Davis (Juror 8) (these are all from the single submitter)

a quick lil list babes, and I apologise for all of this in advance:

He's from the fucking film 12 angry men. like, aside from letterbox bootlickers and middle school hass students NO ONE has watched this film let alone care about it, it was made in 1957, is shot almost exclusively in one room and the entire film is just middle aged white men yelling at each other over whether some not white poor kid should be sent to the electric chair. what the fuck.

Henry Fonda, the actor, was 52 years old at the time of filming

Henry Fonda is the father of Jane Fonda, the woman who would revolutionise the 80's with her home workouts and her blindingly neon leg warmers.

His name wasn't revealed until the very end of the film and even then it's just "Davis."

I could honestly give him a lil smooch

He's absolutely not girlypop but he's the ally-iest ally who's ever allied

He's categorised as a "Benevolent Leader" on the Heroes Wiki

instead of the overwhelming urge for me to coddle him like most all other blorbos, i would appreciate it switched

I have a photo of him inside my saxophone case and sometimes i forget he's in there, then he creeps into my saxophone bell and when I play it he shoots out like a ballistic missile

Dude, on ao3 there's more fanfiction about the real life 80's British punk band The Clash than the entire film of 12 angry men, let alone Davis (80 fics come up under the clash, while 10 come up for 12 angry men)

I have a counter, and I've watched 12 Angry men a total of 145 times. The figure is up on my wall in tallies. whenever the number goes up, I like to watch it in 5's so then I can put another full group of tallies on my wall.

I have incredibly detailed stories about how Davis would boogie down to ringo starr's solo career, and they're written within the margins of a book called Tobruk written by Peter Fitzsimons. The only reason I reread that book is to wonder at my elaborate works of fiction

My HASS teacher was the one to introduce me to 12 Angry Men as he played it for the entire class. He gave us a set of questions to complete on the film and a few Law based questions as a little treat, and he expected it to be handed in the next day. What he didn't expect was an 11 page monster of a response that included social commentary, 4 paragraphs dissecting the character of Davis alone, deeply discussed comparisons between the landscapes of politics and law in the 50's to the present, and basically an entire point-for-point summarisation of the film, completed with obscure quotes from Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Presley (Elvis). He presented the printed masterpiece in front of the entire class to shame me.

After class he explained how his favourite Juror would either be 6 or 5, because 6 seems like a big dumb teddybear and he just liked 5. I explained how I liked Davis because he didn't want to send a kid to die, then he told me how Davis would make a good cowboy (at this point in time I was unaware of Henry Fonda's role in Once Upon A Time in The West) and I proceeded to go home and write a 3 part orchestral composition that I could pretend would play as the soundtrack to Juror 8: A Cowboy's Tale or something like that

I had started to make an animation meme starring Davis but only gave up when photoshop literally deleted itself from my laptop

I didn't even hear that Juror 8's name was Davis when I first watched it in class, somehow I only heard it on my 6th rewatch but when I did I literally got so excited I literally got winded and cried a little bit, I had to take a panadol because I got so lightheaded

I have learned the musical motif that plays throughout the film on saxophone, clarinet, recorder, guitar, bass, ukulele, piano and trumpet

I have visions of him

One of Davis' 3 children HAS to be gay and nothing can convince me otherwise

honest to god I'd be a home wrecker if it came to him

I quote not only Davis but the film a lot, and sometimes in the dead silence of all my friends I go on about how the old man couldn't have possibly made it to the door in such a short amount of time to see the kid running down the stairs (because the old man has a limp, and Davis proved it my limping around the room, which I have to say was incredibly attractive of him)

He's literally an architect

I once had a dream where Davis was in my bass guitar case when I opened it, and i literally just picked him up and started picking him like a bass guitar until I tried to play a full chord and he bit the hand that was meant to be on the fretboard. I dropped him and he fell on his ass, and when I said "what the hell dude what was that for" he said bass chords are lowkey ugly to listen to, and since then i don't like playing bass chords because now they're lowkey ugly to listen to. before this ordeal, i enjoyed them, but alas

i once got my romantic partner to write me a davis x reader fanfiction as a birthday present

my parents believe that Davis is my first celebrity crush, and while they're actually wrong it's still actually so embarrassing they believe that because OH MY GOD it's literally JUROR 8 FROM 12 ANGRY MEN

I've attempted slam poetry about him

I've eaten a paper printed full a4 size photo of his hand

I would also not mind him to be literally my father, but given the rest of the things I've just said about him that's really weird and I recognise that

the Bimodal Distribution

First of all, it's a math concept. that is already pretty bizarre of a thing to be blorbo-ifying. Second of all, I don't know any calculus, and I don't consider myself a math person (because I hate arithmetic), but I really like this guy for some reason. I mean this graph clearly holds the secrets of the universe. don't you just want to l o o k at it . like you could solve everything in the world with that boy

#bimodal distribution #davis #juror 8 #12 angry men #final

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mirror-ralsei · 8 months

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THEORY: The Butterfly Effect

I'd like to thank VGFM for forming the basis of this theory with theirs, the excellent "The True Identity and Importance of "Everyman"". I highly recommend reading it!

---

A while ago, VGFM brought to my attention the presence of a butterfly motif in UTDR.

They noted the presence of butterflies in three specific places: Whimsun/Whimsalot's bullets, Reaper Bird/Everyman's bullets, and King's cape.

I'd like to expound on this by analyzing these usages, and also add another two instances of a butterfly motif that, all together, lead me to a conclusion about what butterflies in UTDR could mean.

1: Everyman's bullets

Probably the most memorable appearance of butterflies across Undertale and Deltarune. It's our pal Everyman!

In case it was possible to forget, here's a refresher: the amalgamate Reaper Bird in the True Lab features a guest star in their attacks. The strange, embryonic "Everyman" initially just stands there. Then their face is painfully eaten by butterflies, and they subsequently will go on the attack. Everyman has since cameoed in Deltarune a few times, but the butterflies have been conspicuously absent.

Still, this seems to be the character most obviously linked to butterflies so far.

As for what butterflies could mean here, there's only one really major thing to note: Everyman was not aggressive until the butterflies infested their face. In one of their attacks, the butterflies even seem to be "puppeting" a staggering Everyman, and are the ones actually inflicting damage by flying out of their head.

Does this mean the butterflies represent aggression? I'm not so sure. However, as we're about to see, they do seem to appear a lot in the context of antagonism.

2: King's Mantle

Another butterfly was visible in Deltarune Chapter 1, taking the shape of King's... cape?

At the time of VGFM's theory, we didn't have the Chapter 1 livestream, but Toby gave us this one for free: "Cool mantle, bro."

Setting aside the weighted term "mantle" for this theory (but rest assured, you're in good company thinking about the SkyMantle and ShadowMantle), I'd like to focus on the King himself.

Firstly: Many people refer to this character as the "Chaos King," likely due to the titular track that plays during his fight. But the character himself is only ever referred to as "(a) King." Let's squirrel this away for later.

Secondly: During said battle with King, during which he has his greyscale mantle, he is able to use a greyscale "tail" from his belly to attack us by slightly manipulating the UI.

King uses that grey belly tail to drag our box around the screen and into bullets in various ways, almost reminiscent of fighting Sans. As far as I can remember, (correct me if I'm wrong), he's one of the only DR characters who do this (ETA: @potabo pointed out Queen also has a UI-affecting attack, as does Spamton in a scrapped attack).

But after the King's mantle has flown away, we only see him using basic spade bullets. We never see the belly tail again.

Now, of course, this could just be gameplay/story dichotomy - we're in a cutscene, not in battle, so of course we don't see any grander attacks.

But it would be interesting if the mantle itself was what granted him the meta power to manipulate the UI. If true, then by extension, this might associate the butterfly motif with similar powers.

Remember what I said about "Chaos King" not being his real name? That begs the question: why is the track titled that?

3: CHAOS SABER

This one's a little sneaky.

We've all probably noticed by now that Asriel's battle is chock full of Deltarune references, and plot elements we weren't even aware of. There's plenty of theories and speculation out there about that.

But one of the elements flying under the radar is his attack "CHAOS SABER."

Not the Kris-like sword attack, or the unusual animations, or the Deltarune-like sparkles at the end... but the very sword sprites themselves.

Take a look again.

Yep - when put together, the two swords Asriel uses form a butterfly shape. (They're also reflections of each other...)

What do we know about this instance of the butterfly motif? Not much, really, aside from the use of swords to cut, the production of those Darkner-representing stars, and the title: "CHAOS SABER."

Uh-oh. Maybe we shouldn't speak too loudly of "chaos..."

4: Jevil's voiceline

Just a small one, but I think worth noting: Jevil, a character strongly associated with Chaos, has the voiceline "METAMORPHOSIS."

Yes, it's one of his references to those Line stickers. But face it: when you hear "metamorphosis," what's the first thing that comes to mind?

It may not directly spell out the word "butterfly." But fellow Line reference "I CAN DO ANYTHING" doesn't directly spell out "freedom," anyway, and that's an actual confirmed Jevil motif.

All I'm saying is, it's not out of the question that the "METAMORPHOSIS" line might tie into this ongoing butterfly motif.

5: Whimsun/Whimsalot's Bullets

You may have gone through this list wondering: where are Whimsun and Whimsalot? What profound meaning do they have? What fascinating secrets can we glean from their depiction of butterflies?

The answer is: I dunno lol.

Sorry, there was a reason I shunted them off to the end. Unfortunately, I just can't find anything that sorely sticks out! Whimsalot is one of the CORE enemies, sure, and those seem Deltarune-relevant in some way, but otherwise... I just don't know! If anyone has more profound insight to offer here, feel free to sound off - I'd love to hear your ideas. Personally, I'm gonna throw in the towel until we get another chapter.

CONCLUSION

You've probably noticed by now, but there seems to be a common thread throughout half of these instances.

Jevil, "Chaos King," "CHAOS SABER"...

In Undertale and Deltarune, butterflies may represent CHAOS.

And honestly, it makes more sense than you'd think.

The butterfly effect is pretty well-referenced in media: a single flap of a butterfly's wings, rippling out to eventually cause a hurricane somewhere else.

And what discipline, exactly, does the butterfly effect fall under? Chaos theory.

If this is the imagery Toby Fox is trying to invoke, I wonder if our actions won't "ripple out" in a great chain of cause-and-effect, either. After all, he did state some things "only appear random. All chaos is ordered."

As for what this means for the affected characters, the one that jumps out the most as an example is Everyman. Again, in Reaper Bird's attack, the poor fellow appears to be engulfed by butterflies - so, metaphorically, by CHAOS. Only after this do they actually become aggressive. And interestingly, Toby Fox also remarks on how the Dark Fountain may have changed King's behavior.

After all, in terms of the greater plot, the most solid thing we know about the role of CHAOS is that it will apparently result when the Dark Fountains fill the sky, and cause the Roaring.

So, is "Chaos King" actually King altered by the CHAOS-causing presence of the fountain? How many more benign characters like Everyman have been spurred into aggression in this way? And how long before all this mounting CHAOS becomes a true Roaring?

It seems we'll have to keep an eye on the butterflies.

...Well, that's all I've got for today. Feel free to leave your essays about Whimsun being the most important Undertale character - once things ripple out enough, you might just be right.

(Screenshot credit: 1, 2, 3)

#deltarune theory #undertale theory #utdr theory #here's how morpho knight can still win!!!!!!!!111

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4ggravation · 3 months

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sumeru boys redesigns + notes

as you may know, i redesigned the sumeru boys a few weeks ago because, as much as i love them to bits, their designs are well. not that great in some areas. also because i wanted to draw them more often without the roadblock of their designs being so complicated. i've mainly been drawing my cyno and tighnari redesigns, but i did also do alhaitham and kaveh, so i thought that i'd show off these redesigns in one post, along with some notes on why i made certain decisions. hope you enjoy!

(pre-note: just so no one gets confused, i also renamed everyone when i did my redesigns, giving tighnari and alhaitham first names and cyno and kaveh last names.)

tighnari ❀

(renamed abdullah al-tighnari; tighnari was made his surname because that was the case for the real guy he was based on)

i went into this thinking "how can i make this design more appealing to me while still retaining what the original design meant?". since tighnari is one of my favorites in the game overall, i put a lot of pressure on myself to make a decent design.

a lot of tighnari's design inspiration comes from moroccan (specifically amazigh) culture, which i kept in my mind through most of the drawing. this inspiration shows in his bead necklace (i forget the name), his belt, and his earring, which i remade to mirror the shape of moroccan headpieces.

gave him some muscles because there's no way a guy with his job wouldn't have them. also a bottom-heavy fat distribution for self-indulgent purposes.

the design has less layers and lighter/flowier clothes because of tighnari's canon sensitivity to heat. if you're living in the rainforest (a famously humid biome), you probably wouldn't be wearing what canon tighnari does, heat sensitivity or not.

gave him some traits that are popular headcanons, such as the flower thigh tattoo, the sharp teeth, the scars, the claw-like nails (with the middle and ring nails filed down for No Reason), and the lichtenberg figure. also gave him tan skin and wavy hair because i Cannot deal with canon nari looking like that.

sturdy shoes! archery gloves! his vision on his belt! quality of life features that an actual forest ranger would have!

i will admit that the slit pants, the shorts, and the tights were all for self-indulgence reasons, but i think they go together well with the rest of the outfit too.

a braid in his hair for cynari marriage purposes. (i hc that in sumeru, marriages are consummated by braiding each other's hair)

kaveh ❂

(renamed kaveh laghmani; surname is of iranian origin, but i forgot the meaning)

another real quick note: if i change a character's pronouns in their rewrite, i'll be using those pronouns in their notes. here, kaveh goes by he/she pronouns (she just like me fr).

his canon design is actually my favorite of the sumeru boys, so this redesign was more of a simplification while still keeping the original color scheme and such.

from my research, kaveh's mainly inspired by persian/iranian culture. this is what i had in mind with her shirt and her jacket... shawl... thing. idk what to call it.

kept him a skinny twink; imo, her being a twink in canon fits pretty well.

emphasized the bird of paradise motif with the thing on her side looking like feathers. you will see this again with alhaitham.

made him brunet for more cohesion with the color palette, also because i don't like the whole blonde-fading-to-brown situation he has going on in his canon design.

flowers!!! also giving him a pretty headpiece bc this guy is flashy. also also keeping the feather, it's cunty and fun.

i wanted to make kaveh obviously gnc/genderqueer without going into full-on feminine outfit territory. you can tell she's not quite cis but it's not super in your face yk?

made his vision one of his earrings like yae miko because i forgot to give it a proper place in my concept drawings lmao

quality of life feature: actual artist gloves that aren't cut off. seriously, them being fingerless in the canon design completely negates the point of artist gloves.

removed his braids because of the aforementioned marriage headcanon.

alhaitham ⚘

(renamed amir al-haytham; i wanted to give him the most basic name possible, though i fought with myself a lot on whether to write it as al-haitham or al-haytham)

my god i despise his canon design. it's so... not him. my goal with a redesign was just to give him an outfit that made sense for his character because jesus his canon design is an atrocity.

alhaitham is mainly inspired by either saudi arabian or general west asian culture (like what's constant and such). i was mainly inspired by casual saudi arabian menswear when i was designing him.

hot take but i don't like alhaitham being buff in canon. i made him chubby/fat in my redesign mainly for self-indulgent reasons, but also because it makes more sense to me. also gave him facial hair because yes

kept his color scheme mostly the same, along with the eye motif. emphasized the eagle motif slightly with the feather hip piece (see: kaveh's redesign).

gave him a headscarf (not a hijab or anything like that, just a regular headscarf) because he felt like the type, plus i got the design idea for it and went "well i can't not include it now".

wanted to give him the vibes of an npc who was forced to be a main character

no he isn't wearing his vision anywhere, he doesn't carry it around in my rewrite.

quality of life features: more sensible, looser clothes that are easier to live in- really the whole design is meant to be a quality of life improvement first and foremost

cyno ⚡︎

(renamed cyno al-sahrawi; surname meaning is "of the sahara" or more generally, "of the desert")

like kaveh, i'm gonna be using he/they pronouns for cyno here because that's what i put in my rewrite.

in my opinion, cyno's design is relatively solid, but with a few glaring flaws that kinda ruin everything for me. i'll bring them up as these notes go on.

they're very obviously inspired by ancient egyptian culture, specifically anubis. like, it's very blatant. with my redesign, i wanted to keep those inspirations in mind while making the outfit less stereotypical and make more sense.

why does this man, who's said to fight a lot, not wear a shirt? why are you letting the place where most of your vital organs reside breathe freely? also, why does this guy not have scars?

simplified a bunch of patterns, especially below the belt and with his headpiece. also made their helmet(?) a darker, more saturated purple to attract your eyes' attention to it.

gave him eye of horus makeup for a little cultural nod

the black piece in the back was made to look like a tail to further the jackal thing.

curly hair that resembles lightning bolts <3

the shoes were inspired by traditional egyptian footwear, because if this guy is out in the desert all the time, i'm not letting him go without some kind of foot protection.

quality of life features: a bit of armor on his arm (partially for aesthetic purposes), less flowy bits on his helmet and hips to prevent distraction or getting caught on things, the aforementioned shoes

added braids for cynari purposes, because i'm me.

hope you enjoyed reading this! please keep in mind that this is all off the top of my head and doesn't even go into color theory, how the designs mirror each other, and other smaller things like that. i might make a part 2 someday going into those things, but who knows with my memory lmao

reblogs are heavily appreciated!

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binniesoob · 10 months

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The Name Chapter: Freefall Logo Analysis and Predictions

uh? who would have thought, not me 🥸

you guessed it, it's TXT LORE O'CLOCK! let's start with the new logo motion because there's already a bunch to unpack here 👀

we see the Star shining brightly behind the Temptation logo

the Temptation logo literally disintegrates and the original one, the "X", shows up below it: TXT are now free from Temptation, it's not making their brain foggy anymore, the fake fantasy they were in is dissolving. This was represented in the Farwell, Neverland poster as well (in a sec we'll go back to it)

the logo is FREE FALLING, exactly what TXT are doing: falling back down to earth from Neverland ...and it's not a nice fall, they literally shatter the ground 🥲 we saw some big damage made after a fall like this already 👀 it was in Ox1=Lovesong Japanese Ver. music video (see picture below)

finally, the logo takes its new form, and so does TXT: let's put some bandages (literally Beomgyu) over those scars and OH LOOK THE STAR AGAIN!! Looks like TXT are finally going to remember their true names and the promise they made as children 😎

we also have the color palette for this album: blu as the sky, white as the star, brown/beige as the ground... the same palette they used for the 0x1=Lovesong music video now that i see the picture close to eachother 😮

Now, should we dive into a few more details and predictions for this upcoming album? 👀

During the T:Terview video for TNC: Temptation (minute 12:45) Taehyun gave a spoiler about the next album...

so let's analyze them!

1) CONCEPT TRAILER

You can find my full analysis of it here !

RECAP: after what we saw in Sugar Rush Ride, TXT should leave Neverland/Magic Island because they're too grown up now to keep living in that fantasy. In the concept trailer it's when they jump out of the falling house, the fall back from their hideout in Neverland to the real world... BUT, they'll all have to fight eachother and their inner demons to accept the reality of things now, as we saw in Beomgyu's vision.

2) FAREWELL, NEVERLAND

1) this was my analysis of its poster:

Because of the symbolism of the butterfly and the seasons motif (see my summary for my explanation), since in Sugar Rush Ride it was summer in Neverland, i think that in the next album we are going to have autumn like in Blue Hour, or anyway colder weather.

*months later* And now, WHEN does the new album come out?? October 😌 the timeline is timelining.

HERE you can find my little analysis of the lyrics of Farewell, Neverland that i highly recommend reading :))

here's a little summary anyway:

🎶 Neverland, my love, goodbye now / And I'm free falling / Stars, sleep with comfort / 'Til I be calling 🎶

TXT accept that they have to leave Neverland and they fall back down to the real world. Yeonjun's says that "stars" can "sleep" comfortably until TXT are going to be "calling" them: this is of course a reference to the Star, that is still asleep and is going to wake up only when TXT sing the promise song.

In the concept trailer we saw that TXT are leaving Neverland at sunset, like they always do: Blue Hour is the time of the day when the border between the magical and the real world is tinner and they are able to travel between the two.

And what comes after sunset? Night, of course.

so now let's now take a look at...

3) FAREWELL CONCEPT PICS

First of all, it is night ✨ 👀

each one of them is holding a lantern like in this scene of Sugar Rush Ride:

I'm pretty sure the lantern references the Star, txt's guide/compass to move through life.

And let's not forget that to enter and exit Neverland in Peter Pan you need the "the second star on the right" and they're all holding the lantern with their right hand.

The fact that the night approaching in time is showed through the solo pictures in this exact order is not casual either: we have Yeonjun (there's still some light), Kai, Soobin, Beomgyu and Taehyun (it's pitch black).

Yeonjun true name is "promise": he has to be the one to keep hope alive in the group and persevere to find the star. While Taehyun saw the dangers the future holds through the premonitions (in Eternally mv) so he's not very hopeful towards it.

This is also the exact same order as that of TXT fighting in the labyrinth in Beomgyu's vision in the TNC concept trailer (i explained in the storyline summary):

Taehyun is last one who's defeated (or surrenders) and from the Farewell concept pics that's not looking so good... another interesting detail is that Taehyun's boat is the only one flipped around:

Seems like he's not going to make it, or rather his youth is not going to: he's the one that's going to fully lose his youthful self and fully face adulthood. This was hinted by his object in the Nightmare concept pics: an hourglass. He's afraid of time passing and aging, most of all.

literally.

AND, all of this also explains why in 0x1=Lovesong Japanese Ver. he has wings and disappears at the end of the music video!

If you read my summary you already know, but my theory is that 0x1=Lovesong Japanese music video (click to watch) fits after Temptation and comes with the second part of The Name Chapter. We literally see them falling from the sky! and now that we know that the next TNC album is called Freefall looks like the dots are connecting! 😈

Finally, let's unpack this silly little image they gave us in January...

Since Temptation, being the name of the first album of The Name Chapter, is written in cursive, a very diffused theory was that the words written in the same fonts were the titles of the next two albums: Promise and Unmagic...

LOOKS LIKE THEY FOOLED US🤡

i had a feeling they were deceiving us with this one, it couldn't be this easy, they couldn't have gave away such a big anticipation... but hey, these silly little words still have some kind of importance ☝👀

— Loadstar means "a star that leads or guides, especially (used for) the north star". We just talked about the Star symbolised by the lantern being their guide 👀👍

— Promise is the name of the train that took TXT to Magic Island/Neverland in Sugar Rush Ride, but it's also Yeonjun’s true name, and it refers as well to the promise TXT made with eachother and the Star... and it looks like, in the next album, TXT are finally going to remember it... CAN I GET AN HALLELUJAH? 👼🏻

So these signs were a summary: on Neverland's Ground, TXT are under Temptation through the Sugar Rush Ride. Nowhere can they found their Loadstar, but they need to remember the Promise they made with her. This will lead them Down to Eart, to a world of Unmagic.

And that's all I have for now!!

Thank you so much for reading, let me know your thoughts and theories if you have them, i'd love that 😊♡

Until next TXT LORE O'CLOCK, byeee take care!

READ NEXT -> The Name Chapter: Freefall Concepts Analysis

Masterlist

#this was very fun to make i hope it's fun to read too :))#txt #tomorrow x together #the name chapter: temptation #the name chapter: freefall #the star seekers #txt lore #txt storyline #— txt lore

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pitroig · 1 year

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Mrs. Maisel: it’s ok that you’re not perfect.

I can only describe the latest episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as charming and intelligent. I believe it has perfectly encapsulated, in its pacing, scene selection, and motifs, the reasons why this series will remain embroidered in our minds like a heart in bright red thread. Additionally, I think it manages to explain the storytelling of this season and tie up the loose ends we have seen in Midge's character over the past 8 episodes, which have angered a part of the audience.

And I think that all the explanations lie in those four minutes of monologue that she steals from Gordon Brown's pettiness, and with it, steals the spotlight from all the men who have taken it from her until now.

- Is Midge a "bad mother"? Probably. Very likely, in fact. This last episode shows us a Midge so focused on her success and career that she doesn't scold her children even when they have clearly done something very wrong (pretending to be sick and insulting their elders is wrong no matter how you look at it). In the monologue itself, she anticipates that her children will end up in therapy complaining about her, as we know actually happens, and she accepts it as part of the evolution of parent-child relationships. But even more revealing is the fact that she pretends to forget her children's names and then remembers them, ah, when the monologue is already over. - Is Midge a worse character for being a "bad mother"? No! On the contrary! I think it makes perfect sense in terms of character development because from the very beginning, all Midge wants is to be the center of attention. Fame. In the Catskills, always winning awards and competing. At her own wedding, giving a monologue. Maybe she never wanted to be a mother; what she wanted was to be herself. But what she was raised for was to be a good wife. Only when she sheds that burden, only when Abe sees her exactly as she is, does she understand that it's the layers of convention that have been dimming her shine. Midge loves an audience. Years later, she has a free Tuesday, and we hope she uses that Tuesday to tie up one of the loose ends: Will she go see her children? Grandchildren? Her parents' grave? Joel's grave? No. She wants to work. She needs the adrenaline rush of the show. She needs to be the center of attention. And there are only two people in the world who understand that. One is Susie. The other, of course, is Lenny Bruce.

- Lenny Bruce. I don't want to spoil the devastating opening scene or ruin the smile of the last scene they share together, but I'll comment that in the monologue, Midge says that dates, boyfriends, lovers become cannon fodder for the comedic. She does it with her own ex-husband, right in front of him, and she will do it later with other ex-husbands. But she never does it with Lenny Bruce because Lenny Bruce, the one she doesn't want to see when he's no longer himself, is the guiding star of Midge, and she will never, ever dare to touch him for fear of breaking him.

- So, does she love Lenny or does she love Joel? I think she can't love Lenny because, in human terms, there isn't much he can offer Midge. Joel, on the other hand, despite his many faults and fragile male ego, is still the guy who cares about Midge, and above all, the guy who always sees Midge as a shining star, always the center of attention in his life. And in the end, that's what she has always wanted, right? I think it's okay for Midge Maisel to be selfish, to lose focus, and to be clumsy when it comes to handling her ambitions and her life. We're all doing the best we can, and chances are, we're messing up all the time. It wasn't about a woman. It isn’t a show about a woman who has it all. It is about a broken woman who has lost the only thing that gave her life a sense of purpose and identity. It was about someone marginalized by societal norms, ignored and living in the shadows of sticky-floored bars. And together, they found their reason for being in comedy—not in motherhood, marriage, or a desk job—but in following that path, they broke all the codes and rules.

No matter the cost.

*Please note that the term "bad mother" used here is loosely defined. I am referring to widely recognized social conventions regarding the expectations and stereotypes associated with motherhood.

#The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel #tmmm #mrs maisel #midge #lenny bruce #lenny x midge #lenny and midge #midge and joel #joel maisel

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laminacore · 3 days

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okok so if you have visited my blog at all ever you will probably know that i am very interested in district nine and i never really explained why, so here is my silly little analysis/explanation of my d9 interest.

so, to me, district nine was a missed opportunity (or, just a very silent representation) of a metaphor. i know that thg is allegorical, and the intricacies of the lore and world building don't necessarily all have to add up into one perfect picture. it isn't "underdeveloped" when there was no need to develop it in the first place. this is just a personal collection of thoughts.

in the hunger games, there is a recurrent motif of bread being a symbol of hope. its seen time and time again, the most common example being peeta burning bread on purpose to give to katniss when she is on the brink of starvation. other examples include when district eleven all banded together to buy katniss their specific district bread as a sign of thanks and, further on the "district bread" subject, sending the bread as a gift during the 75th games with secret codes and messages for rebellion.

bread is so deeply engrained (ha, see what i did there) into the hunger games' lore that the location is even called panem, stemming from 'panem et circenses', latin for bread and circuses. the phrase was coined by juneval, a roman poet, who used his poetry as satirical commentary on roman society. he is referring, in this passage, to the roman practice of giving free wheat to the citizens, and putting on circuses in order to distract them so leaders could gain more political power.

this very obviously and intentionally mirrors the tesserae system, with the wheat/grain only being "free" if you give up one slip of your name to be entered in the reaping. the "small" price to pay.

how does this link in with district nine, you may not ask?

district nine's whole thing is bread and grain. i at first thought that it was strange that they made a whole other district JUST for bread and grain when district eleven was right there.

the reason i came up with in my head for this, was that it is a (intentional or not) parallel to the society juvenal is referring to. panem is so focused on bread, so desperate to churn out more and more as gifts, as grain, as food for the capitol, that they needed a whole district just to manage the supply.

this doesn't make district nine special by any means, all of the canon tributes from district nine do not survive the blood bath in the games, and there are only two named characters (with names relating to bread/grain, i may add).

the metaphor in my mind is that the most irrelevant district is given the bread role, something that is meant to be special that they can use for propaganda. this is the wheat. this is the helpful and free distraction that attempts to brainwash them to forget about the capitol's crimes (the gaining of political power, in juneval's terms). this could be why, in the end, district nine never became part of the rebel plan. maybe they gave this role to district nine because of them being involved in a rebel plot previously (in tbosas, it mentions jabberjays being sent to districts 11 and 12, known for being rebellious, but also 9).

the bread and grain produced from the hands of district nine's workers is used to starve them. they can only get food if they work vigorously or sign up to end their life, but they are so focused on staying alive, on getting the free wheat that juneval refers to that they forget and are distracted by the circus, which is the game all along. starve them enough to keep working, make that their end goal, and use that as a distraction to gain political power.

it's a kind of morbid irony that the district that works so hard to provide bread, the soul focus of panem, is one of the most starving.

#have not proofread this so it may make no sense at all #thg meta #thg analysis #the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #district 9 #district nine thg #bel rants

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flowerwrites06 · 1 year

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lion and the fox vii — jjk

Plot: In a turbulent world of crime and intrigue, a fiery journalist makes an unlikely alliance with one of the country’s most notorious bosses. Pairing(s): Mafia Boss!Jungkook x Journalist!OC (Name: Belle) Rating: G | PG | M | R 18+ Type: Drabble | Oneshot | Two Parter | Series Word Count: Genre: Mafia AU | Vintage (1940′s vibes) AU Tags & Warnings: crime, violence, explicit sexual content, forced prostitution, mentions of racist/xenophobic implications and culture, mild scenes of harassment, some misogynistic behaviour, mentions of war, heavy mentions of drug use, infidelity. Authors Note: sorry for the wait, june honestly rushed by so quickly I didn’t even notice that it was already a month since the last update even though I tried to make sure the gaps weren’t so long anymore hahaha. I hope you enjoy! Disclaimer: Please note that while some historical research has been done for this story, the MAJORITY of it has been altered in some way with creative liberties to match the themes and motifs of the plot.

Belle woke up in the estate, on Jungkook’s soft bed where the sunlight bled gold the right way. When the events of yesterday flurried through her mind, her head both squeezed and thrummed with excitement. She sat up on the bed as her hair flailed in disarray in all directions. Fingers gripped at the sheets.

She’d done it. The very thing she spent months desperately trying to avoid, keeping these feelings dangling on a thread with no foundation. Belle now had only solidified it, becoming so vulnerable with Jungkook that she may as well have given him the knife to stab her with.

Belle got off the bed, her core still sore but warm and comforted. She stopped to see a crème polka dot dress ready for her to wear. Letting out a sigh, she grabbed the dress and wore it. Her yellow dress already needed a washing anyway. At least that was the excuse she gave herself.

Making her trek down to the courtyard, she saw Jungkook already eating his breakfast. Chicken porridge and black coffee. Jungkook’s eyes lit up with a smile as he noticed her standing at the corridor. He gestured to the empty seat at the table.

Belle hesitated, the sun blinding her eyes for a moment before walking to the table. It was wise to go back to work and forget this ever happened. Yet she was here, sitting at the breakfast table just as Gaia did and sharing breakfast with the man she had sworn to destroy.

“Did you sleep well?” Jungkook asked.

“I did. And it seems you went out shopping.” Belle gestured to her dress. Servants brought a fresh bowl of steaming chicken porridge for her, providing her with milk and sugar for her coffee.

“That’s one of the many.”

Belle stopped mid-way her first bite, hazel eyes widened. “Many?”

Jungkook smirked, the dark strand of his hair hovered over his right eye. “If you’re going to be coming with me to Namjoon, you’ll need to get the appropriate dress.”

“Are you saying I don’t look presentable?” Belle narrowed her gaze before finally taking a warm bite of the porridge. Her stomach groaned at the touch of a warming comfort food so early in the morning. Normally, her and Hoseok would just grab coffee and get lunch hours later. She hoped her stomach wouldn’t get used to this rare luxury.

“On the contrary, if things should go awry, I want them to know you’re important and not someone they can kill without a second thought.” Jungkook’s voice turned soft as if it was just the two of them in the courtyard and not four servants waiting for any order that may sound out.

The risk in being invited to this gang meeting was just as great as the privilege. Belle knew who Namjoon was and that he wouldn’t resort to senseless violence but Jungkook wasn’t a friend. He was a Korean boss who got into cohorts with the Japanese to survive. Something people like Namjoon despised. This could end with just as much blood as it could success.

After breakfast with Belle’s stomach satisfied and heavy, Jungkook escorted her to the living room. An array of dresses and jewellery splayed out ranging in vibrance against the dark wood of the walls and floors. Some of these fabrics were so lush and experience for post-war that she felt ashamed just being around it.

“You got silk dresses?” Belle asked. Silk was one of the hardest materials to find in regular stores nowadays. Her grandmother apparently used to own two silk dresses for nightly occasions but donated them for the war.

Jungkook placed his hand on the rack with the nonchalance of someone who could burn all these dresses and happily buy more. “Figured you might want to try them at least.”

Silk dresses were for wives. Distinguished Queens of the gang. Not. . .whatever Belle was. It was odd. No, terrible. This. . .being taken care of, tended to and cared for. Belle indulged in it like a fool, took a step forward and brushed her fingers across the fabrics. The silks she’d barely touched before. How they felt like water brushing across her hands. Then her hand stopped on the deep blue velvet.

Her mother and grandmother had a tattered velvet dress similar to it. They shared it for years but sold it to make ends meet when Belle was still struggling in her career.

Heart aching, Belle took the blue velvet dress out of the rack. She placed it over her body. It may still fit her mother if she wished to wear something new. “This one.”

Jungkook smiled, walking over to one of the glass coffee tables. His hand hovered over a small velvet box. When he opened it, there was a string of small pearls glistening like the surface of the ocean. Unlike the rack, he held onto this gently, the beads brushing over his reddened knuckles. “You could try on the dress with this.”

“I’ve only just showered, you’re already stripping me back down?” Belle grinned.

Jungkook smirked. “Leave us.”

The two servants who stood like ghosts at the doors, quickly pulled them shut. The creaking wood echoed through the walls.

Belle chuckled, watching Jungkook sit on the brown couch with the pearls dangling on his fingers. Placing the velvet blue dress back onto the front of the rack, she began to unbutton her new polka dotted dress. A cotton white slip revealed as the dress slid down her legs.

Jungkook’s eyes glazed over her body, eyes dark with hunger.

She should’ve been frustrated or angry. Belle was a doll for him gawk at, everything about this should’ve angered her beyond measure. If it was any other man, she’d scratch their eyes out but his gaze was different. He didn’t demand for her. He was waiting for her to come to him, until she wanted to come to him. And she did so badly.

Belle slipped on the velvet dress, the softest luxurious thing she had on so far. Unlike the glimmering dress from their mission, she felt more comfortable. A little too comfortable in fancy clothes. She buttoned up the dress and walked over to him. “Good?”

“I liked that outfit in the middle,” he smirked.

Belle chuckled and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. “Focus. The necklace.” She lifted her hair to expose her neck.

Jungkook abided by her words, making sure to brush his knuckles against her skin. Goosebumps forming on her arms as he clasped the necklace. As soon as it was fixed, Jungkook stole the chance for a kiss on the length of Belle’s neck. He sucked on the sensitive parts of her skin until it ached. Fingers dug through the thick velvet, already making dents on her swell.

Belle hummed, gently pushing him away as he started to bite. “No marks.”

Jungkook groaned in disappointment, pressing their bodies close until her own core pressed against his hardening bulge. “Why not?”

“I have to go to work soon and it’s going to be hard to cover.” Belle tapped his bottom lip.

“You don’t have to go to work today.” Jungkook tightened in his grip, a voice that almost sounded pleading.

Belle playfully slapped his chest, making him chuckle. “Am I supposed to stay with you and try on dresses?” she asked.

“Or you could just stay with me a while longer,” Jungkook said softly. His hand brushing up and down her back as his nose nudged against her jawline.

Belle felt herself melt into his embrace. “You shouldn’t treat me like this.”

Jungkook stopped his ministrations for a moment and stared up at her. “Why not?”

This is temporary. This can’t be what you want it to be. What I want it to be. Belle traced her finger down his cheek. “You’ll need to have a political marriage again soon. Need to save some of that wooing for your next wife.”

Jungkook’s face softened as he leaned back on the couch. “What if I am using the wooing for my next wife?”

Belle’s heart squeezed. “Now you’re being stupid.” She slid out of his grasp and stood back on her feet.

“I’m just being honest.”

Belle walked over to the full length mirror, a stranger staring back at her. A reflection of herself if she softened to Jungkook, became the very figure of fear and regalia by his side. Pearls on her neck, fancy dresses and remnants of beloved kisses on her skin. It was beautiful. But it was also tarnished.

Jungkook walked over to her, standing behind her as a looming figure. His gentle hands moving around her waist, pulling her close to his heat until she could drown in it. “This can be your home too, Belle. Nothing to worry about, nothing to stress over. Every little joy will be given to you. All you need to do is ask.” He whispered it into her ear like it was a spell to lure her in. Perhaps it was.

Belle kept a light-hearted smile, resting back on his shoulder. “You’ve been married since you were fifteen. It’s good to take a break and explore your options.” She turned around and wrapped his arms around his neck. “Maybe this time she won’t be tied up.”

Jungkook chuckled. “I kind of enjoyed that part actually.”

Belle smiled and kissed his cheek. “Focus on Namjoon first.” Then worry about these disgusting feelings later.

Blood washed and stained the white porcelain of the hotel sink. Taehyung let out a shaky sigh as he scrubbed an entire layer of his skin, wanting to be rid of the memory. He stared at himself in the mirror, the darkness under his eyes and tremble of his bottom lip.

Why did Angel still want to run away with him? If Taehyung held onto Seokjin’s influence a while longer, it would’ve been her blood on his hands. The blood he would never have washed off even if he scrubbed down to the bone. He would never have to do that any longer. Never again.

Taehyung sighed and walked back into his room. His heart jumped seeing a figure standing right near his weaponry. “You’re off commission, aren’t you?”

Jimin stared back at him, a tightened expression on his face. The spy grew desperate to please his master again. He was the reflection of what Taehyung could’ve been if Angel hadn’t come to him. “You do understand what you’ve done by letting that girl live, Taehyung.”

Taehyung tightened his jaw. “Seokjin wanted to kill an innocent woman.”

“The man you just killed now could’ve been innocent. It’s not our duty to question those things.” Jimin’s voice was whispered and raspy as if drinking water wasn’t even a priority anymore. The skin under his eyes turned sallow from the glowing pale he used to adorn like a prize of being Seokjin’s favourites.

Taehyung walked over to his bed and sat. Leaving his back to Jimin, testing his limits of what the spy could do for a small sliver of approval. “If Seokjin ordered you to kill Gaia Takahashi, would you?”

A flicker of something else flashed across Jimin’s face. Finally, some humanity. The part of him that wasn’t a pet peeked through in softness and a hint of sorrow. “I don’t have anything outside of this place. No long lost love returned.”

Taehyung stayed silent. It was a privilege to find someone you lost years ago. Many people in the underworld lived their whole lives never seeing their old family again. Or if they did see them again, the family wanted nothing to do with them for they were too broken to be squeezed back into normalcy.

“Just tell me what you know and I’ll leave you be,” Jimin said almost defeated. “I just want something.”

Taehyung swallowed thickly, looking down at his socks. Hesitating as much as he could. He couldn’t tell him anything to do with the teahouses. All they must’ve known is that Taehyung wanted to keep Angel safe and run away. So he’ll just have to take it from there. “Yeou Pa have someone new on the inside. I don’t know who they are but the girl told me they protected her from being grabbed and somehow they can arrange our freedom.” When his expression turned to Jimin, he had a look of knowing on his face. “You know them?”

“Gaia told me Jungkook had two journalists in his estate.” Jimin furrowed his brows, digging his hands into his pockets. “Hansuke’s articles on the prostitution ring bust.” His brows softened. “They must’ve used my blown cover and the divorce to confuse the pipeline. So we’d never investigate them.”

Taehyung began to understand why Angel trusted this journalist so much. “Distract them with fireworks while you poison their tea.”

Jimin narrowed his gaze. “You’re relying on the person who ruined my life.”

“Your life isn’t ruined. You have your information, go place it at your master’s feet.” Taehyung waved his hand.

“He took you out of poverty and pain.”

Ah, the very words Seokjin used to get Taehyung out of the mess. But they weren’t completely true. Yes, Seokjin saved him from being culled by Japanese attackers but his life still had happiness before Holangi Pa. It was that happiness Taehyung was fighting to protect. “He turned me into a killer. That is not a life, Jimin, that’s being a tool.”

Jimin raised his chin, pursing his lips together. “So be it.” He stomped out of the room to be the weapon Seokjin needs him to be.

Tanaka Hansuke arrested for prostitution solicitation. The headlines choked every corner of the street. Belle stared at it many times to ensure whether it was a dream or not. She never had any ill will towards her old boss but a dark part of her was almost relieved. As if the light grip on her neck was released, one she hadn’t realized existed.

Jungkook’s connections with the police managed to solidify the chances of Hansuke’s demise. Although Belle opted to wear her own white blouse and brown skirt as if somehow that was going to help her disconnect from who she was becoming outside of this building.

Belle traced her fingers over her typewriter, an unfinished article taunting her. From the distance, she saw Hoseok pacing through the glass window. Hoseok was Hansuke’s next in line as the editor but the man took it in silence. They figured it would be respectful to have less celebration with the way Hansuke ‘stepped down’.

Even then, Belle still saw congratulation letters and bouquets cluttering the desk. The expression on his face turned sad as he reluctantly sat on the chair.

Belle got up from her chair and entered the room. “Mr. Jung?”

Hoseok stared at her, mouth open wide. “Please don’t.”

Smiling, she closed the door behind her. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t earn any of this,” Hoseok said in a whisper, eyes screaming panic. Sweat formed at the edge of his hairline and his tie already loosened early in the afternoon.

“Of course you did.” Belle walked over to the table. She stopped near the bouquet of petunias with a card that had a lipstick stain perched on it.

“You of all people shouldn’t indulge my ego.”

Belle gripped at the edge of his work table. “You supported me through all this. That matters.”

“I knew Hansuke was problematic and we did a good thing. But, Belle, this. . .we’re in too deep.” Hoseok took out his handkerchief and patted his hairline.

Belle felt herself unravelling at the seams at those words. Hoseok meant they were too involved with Yeou Pa, which could be construed as crime by association. But the words gripped her at a deeper level. One that hurt her. She liked it. She liked the reflection she saw in the mirror of someone lovely and cared for, hidden by the troubles and atrocities of the world.

Hoseok took her sudden silence with suspicion. “You okay?”

“Jungkook asked me to go with him to the meeting with Kim Namjoon.” Belle let the words spill without a break.

Shock spread across Hoseok’s face. “That’s. . .outsiders aren’t supposed to go to those meetings.” He leaned in again, whispering to her as if someone could hear through the door. “You didn’t go to the meeting with Takahashi. Why now? Why all of a sudden?”

Belle’s chest rose and fell, staring at him. She let go of the table, folding her arms unable to form the words because they were so stupid. I let myself go. I let him dig deep into parts of me that shouldn’t have been touched especially not by him. Yet she could say nothing.

But Hoseok’s expression softened, using his years of knowing Belle to put the pieces together. “Oh. Was it—it wasn’t forced?”

Belle shook her head. “No. It wasn’t even for information.” She shrugged, chuckling sadly. “I just wanted him.” It was only now, in the building where she began her whole mission that she realised how bad it had become. How close and intimate she’d become to this whole world. “Hoseok, I’m losing grip. Today I melted over some fucking pearls, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Hoseok stammered, lifting to his feet and walking around the table towards her. “Listen. There’s nothing wrong with you.” He rubbed her arms up and down. “People get attached during these missions. It happens. Look at me.” He cupped her cheeks as Belle tried to stare down in shame. “You’re not a lesser person for it.”

Belle had done many things, woken up in the worst of beds to get things for her articles. Anything to help those who needed it but this was her own desire. Instead of pretending she was off somewhere else while a stinking club owner kissed her neck, Belle wanted to relish in every brush from Jungkook, every slight touch. She wanted it all. “Are you sure?”

“I’m the last person to think any less of you.” Hoseok chuckled. “You’re the reason why I have this job now.”

Belle smiled and rested her head on his chest. Everything else seemed unravelled but it was Hoseok’s comfort that always brought her back to the ground, sturdy and firm. “You’re good for me too. More than you know.”

“We’re not gonna get out of this for a while, are we?” Hoseok looked down at her.

Belle nodded, taking a deep breath. “It seems so.”

But I will get us out. I will. I will.

Jungkook, Belle and Rosyne made their way to one of Namjoon’s estates. A painfully traditional Korean structure thickly layered with guards. Jungkook heard stories of Japanese attackers getting brutally murdered at these doorsteps for attempting to destroy the architecture. Each old piece of wood was kept to its condition, better than some temples in the city.

Alliances were a tricky business especially if marriage wasn’t involved. That’s why Yoongi was kept far away just in case something did happen to Jungkook in the fray.

They walked through the entrance into the main courtyard. A open-aired living room was lit with painted lanterns with a makgeolli set gleaming in porcelain. Kim Namjoon already sat the table, facing them as they arrived with a loose hanbok. His smile was filled with both mockery and a faint kindness.

“Never thought you’d come into my humble abode.” Namjoon gestured to his luxurious estate. “Though I suppose things must’ve gotten desperate.”

Jungkook withheld the groan under his breath to which Belle responded by squeezing his fingers briefly. As he glanced at the woman, she gave him a warning look. Everything was monitored. He had to keep his pride in check. He did need help. A lot of it. “Seokjin has created quite the stir in the country.” Jungkook sat across from him while Belle and Rosyne on either side.

“The man always had a gripe with the way things are.” Namjoon gestured and two of his servants poured makgeolli for them.

“That’s all well and good but he’s taking a few too many shots to my empire.” Jungkook immediately took a sip to ease some of his body.

“Generational feuds break most empires.” Namjoon’s voice ran deep, thrumming through the air like a booming drum amongst the silence of his house. “So you’ve come down to the lower gangs for some help after your viper gave up.” He smirked.

Jungkook licked the inside of his cheek, forcing himself to take breaks between sipping the alcohol. But the urge to chug it was strong. “You know I’ve always paid respect to fellow Korean gangs.”

“Yes, but marrying a Japanese ally can create some sour reputations.” Namjoon squinted his nose. “Seokjin suffered the same when he jumped for his wife.”

Jungkook glanced at Belle for a split second. The presence of her calmed him slightly. “I won’t lie to you, Namjoon. I have come for help but I will not ask for it for free. So name your price.”

Namjoon smiled, eyes flickered over to Belle. “You’re a new face.” He leaned in like a slithering snake.

Jungkook knew that Namjoon wasn’t a slimy man and his goal was purely to annoy him. He knew that. Yet anger still boiled fresh like Namjoon was some horny prick out to get Belle and not a cunning boss who wants to pick at his weaknesses. “Stay focused, Kim.” He tried to keep his patience as best as he could.

But Namjoon laughed regardless. “I’m assuming then she’s off limits.” He gestured with a smile so pleased that it earned a punch. “But my price is more of a personal variety.”

Jungkook’s anger passed then as Namjoon’s tone turned serious. A hardened expression that forced even him to listen closely. “What is it?”

“Seokjin isn’t the loyal husband he makes himself out to be,” Namjoon explained. “He’s been fornicating with multiple Korean women in order to ensure a Korean lineage whilst posing for a Japanese with his wife, Akira.” A grimace formed on his face. “Many of those women were promised good lives and titles in exchange but Seokjin keeps them hidden. As someone who wants to be proud of being the sole Korean leader, he’s been upsetting a lot of innocent people. One in particular that came to me with a child. Her and Seokjins’ child.”

There had to be something. Every single boss alive had something as their ultimate weakness. For months, Jungkook thought that breaking Seokjin would feel like chipping away at steel with a toothpick but here it was. “He’s trying to get best of both worlds.”

“Which always ends in disaster.” Namjoon pursed her lips.

“Do you have some connection with this woman?”

“The very reason we try to stay strong in the underground is so everyone else out there can be safe.” Namjoon’s tone infused kindness. “I want us to have our country back. But I do not want Seokjin sitting on that chair.” He shook his head. “So. . .my help for his head.”

Jungkook smiled, finally feeling an agreement with the man. They were getting close. Seokjin was at his downfall. “That I can happily arrange.”

Seokjin was always most affectionate during the afternoons after he’s had his tea. They would share some cakes at the floor table and then his fingers reached under her sleeve. A quiet sign that he wished to take things to the bedroom. Most of their days were quiet together but not without love. Akira enjoyed the comfort of it all.

Having Seokjin’s weight in between her legs, thrusting inside her while her robe bunched at her waist. The rain pattered outside in their lovely gardens. Cool air made her nipples stand before Seokjin reached out to kiss them. The way he gave pleasure was slow and deep, forming remnants of him days later.

Akira left marks on his shoulder as the smell of fresh rain and arousal suffused the air. It was when Seokjin grabbed onto her wrists and placed them atop her head that she knew he drew close. Everything was familiar yet sweet and lovely. Akira opened her legs more allowing him to move faster until her walls felt the ache.

With a shaking moan, Seokjin pulsed inside her. Warm liquid filling her womb and making her dizzy. Seokjin let go of her wrists and relaxed atop her body. Akira pressed kisses across his jawline.

Seokjin lifted himself up, cupping her cheek. “I do enjoy our teatimes.”

Akira laughed. “Maybe I should just place a tea set for décor next time.”

Seokjin chuckled, kissing her forehead before climbing off her.

The cold air was unwelcomed but Akira quickly wrapped herself with her wrinkled robe. Just as the belt fastened, the door burst open.

“Jimin, my boy.” Seokjin tied his own robe with ease walking to the tea area. “What’s the matter?”

“Sir, it’s—your indentures. . .from the teahouses. They’re being bought off by the thousands.” Jimin shook his head, sweat glistening off his dark hair and his chest pulsating from lack of deep breathing. “The birds have suspected Kim Namjoon on the move. He’s making an alliance with Yeou Pa.”

Seokjin stayed silent, leaving Akira to only watch the movements and twitches of his back. He was stressed. The tightness of his shoulders showed her so. “Hansuke arrested and now Kim Namjoon, of all people, makes his major move. That is quite strange.” His voice was mellow and airy.

“If I may, sir? You said that there may be a third party interrupting operations.” Jimin spoke the words in a hurry. “I found two senior journalists in Saja Ilbo. One of them was promoted to editor. Jung Hoseok and his secretary, Arabella Sol.”

Akira perked up slightly. “She climbed quite high up. Impressive.” She spoke mostly to herself but it seemed capture Seokjin’s attention.

“You’re not wrong, my love.” Seokjin gazed back at Jimin who looked like a small boy desperate for his father’s approval. “Get some information on both Mr. Jung and Miss Sol.”

Jimin bowed. “Of course, Master.”

Seokjin patted his cheek causing Jimin’s eyes to light up with pride. “Good work, Jimin.”

Akira felt a mix of pity and joy for the man but said nothing. This was how Seokjin handled his birds and tigers. This was how she would let him. “It appears we are going to lose money, my love.”

Seokjin rested on the bed with a deep sigh. “It appears we are.”

Akira shifted closer to him, hands caressing the edge of his shoulders, loosening some of the tension. “The Takahashi’s are free. Perhaps I can put in a good word.” She rested her cheek against his chest.

Seokjin raised a brow and lifted his head to face her. “Cavorting with Jungkook’s ex-wife? A bit cruel, isn’t it?”

Akira smiled. “Work must be done.”

Seokjin grinned, tenderly brushing the top of her head. “What would I do without you?”

Akira moved her head and kissed him. “You’ll never be without me.”

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#jungkook #bts fanfic #jungkook fanfic #bts fanfiction #jungkook fanfiction #mafia jungkook #mafia bts #bts mafia fic #bts imagines #jungkook imagines #mafia jungkook imagines #bts angst #bts smut #jungkook angst #jungkook smut

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dragonologist-phd · 3 months

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Piper + TV Tropes

I gave in and made a TV Tropes page for Piper! I maybe had a little too much fun with this, kudos to anyone who actually reads this whole thing!

Awesome But Impractical: Piper’s signature armor makes for a very cool image and is characteristically beautiful…and also should probably not ever be worn into any actual battle. Even Piper admits it’s mostly for show.

Beautiful Singing Voice: As expected of a bard!

Becoming the Mask: At the start of her arc, Piper has stumbled into the Crusades and is treating her new leadership role as an act that she’s faking at. By the end of her arc, she’s fully stepped into the role and is much more comfortable with her position.

Befriending the Enemy: A natural result of Piper’s preference for settling issues through words rather than combat. Whether it comes from an earnest desire to become friends or is simply the more convenient option can be up for debate.

Butterfly of Transformation: Being an Azata, butterflies are one of Piper’s recurring motifs. Their significance in her aesthetic becomes more prominent as she embraces her Azata powers, a process which involves undertaking acts of altruism and courage which she would have originally avoided.

Con Artist: One of the ways in which Piper made her living before the Crusades. She still has shades of this, especially when encouraged by Woljif.

Cowardly Lion: Piper self-describes herself as cowardly and selfish, and she actively avoids confrontations whenever she can. Still, when push comes to shove and she sees people in danger, she does (usually) end up trying to help.

Distracted By Luxury: The gifts and financial security handed out by Eliyen keep Piper from seeing her true colors for longer than she likes to admit.

Dragon Rider: Piper becomes this, once Aivi grows enough.

Everything’s Better With Rainbows: The Azata motto!

Flower Motif: Another trademark of the Azata, with Elysium blooms appearing where Piper uses her powers. Forget-me-nots, lavender, and irises are also significant motifs for Piper.

Friend to All Living Things: Subverted. Piper’s Azata powers cause her to attract adorable woodland critters to her side…much to her dismay, as she’s not any more of an animal person than she was before, and she’d really prefer the rabbits and bluebirds stay outdoors.

Girl Of My Dreams: Arueshalae initially appears to Piper as a voice in her dreams.

Green Thumb: Of the magical variety- one of Piper’s most prominent Azata powers is the ability to bring growth back to places made corrupted and barren by the Worldwound.

Gold Digger: According to Eliyen’s side of the story, all the conflict between her and Piper was due to Piper only caring about her riches.

Guile Hero: Piper’s greatest strength is easily her charisma, as she relies greatly upon persuasion and diplomacy to meet her needs and maneuver solutions to problems that she can’t meet head-on.

Hidden Depths: At first glance, Piper is often dismissed as being shallow and frivolous, and even those who like her tend to see her as very lighthearted and flighty. Once people get to know her, however, she’s shown to be quite thoughtful and deliberate, and far more perceptive than people realize.

Hope Bringer: The reason Piper is given the title of Knight-Commander. Her powers give the Crusades an advantage they haven’t had in ages, and this combined with her ability to heal Worldwound corruption quickly leads people to rally around her. This is emphasized even further by her songs and speeches, which are very often geared toward providing hope and inspiration.

I Have Many Names: “Piper” is really just the latest in a long line of aliases she’s used in different cities throughout Mendev. If she were to list every name she’s ever gone by, we’d be here all day.

I Just Want to Be Loved: Part of the reason Piper enjoys performing so much is due to the rush of admiration she earns from her audience; ultimately, however, she really does long to be sincerely loved by someone who sees her as she really is.

Just Like Robin Hood: Piper had fantasies of being a Robin Hood type once, though it didn’t quite work out and she now claims to view the whole idea as idealistic and naïve.

Like Mother Like Daughter: Piper and her mother are both performers searching for their audience, hoping to find their fortune; both are somewhat flighty and have complicated relationships with commitment; both leave their family and home behind on impulse. Piper is aware of the similarities, though she doesn’t like to dwell on it.

Like Brother and Sister: With Woljif. They even call each other “Little Brother” and “Little Sister” in a joking callback to thiefling customs.

Magic Flutist: Piper’s specialty, though as a bard she has an array of Magic Music related talents.

Manipulative Bastard: She has shades of this, and in a Companion AU can be pushed further into the role if the Commander is unsupportive of her or encourages her more selfish tendencies.

Meaningful Name: Piper is a talented flutist with a talent for charming people. The meaning behind the name is no accident, seeing as she chose it herself.

Mysterious Past: She has a long and storied past, and if asked about it is just as likely to make up lies as she is to say something truthful.

Mystical White Hair: Self-explanatory, though among tieflings the color is not so uncommon.

Proud Beauty: Piper’s quite aware of how attractive she is to others, and isn’t shy about flaunting it.

Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Free Crusaders are a perfect example of this, and Piper is willing to accept any additional misfits who want to join.

Replacement Goldfish: How Piper believes Areelu views her. Whether she’s correct in this assessment is up to interpretation.

Serenade Your Lover: Piper’s go-to move when wooing someone she’s interested in. Arueshalae gets more than a few songs dedicated to her.

Shipper on Deck: Aivu is a very enthusiastic supporter of Arueshalae and Piper. Desna also qualifies as this, though she’s a bit more subtle.

Statuesque Stunner: Piper’s naturally tall, and she has horns, and she likes to wear heels.

Street Smart: Self-explanatory, and goes hand-in-hand with her Con Artist and Guile Hero tendencies.

The Charmer: Piper’s no stranger to winning people over with her charms, and definitely has a reputation as a flirt.

The Circus Runaway: The first time Piper ever left home was to join a traveling carnival with the aim of learning from their resident bard. She’s played many different roles since then, but she still remembers that time fondly.

The Power of Acting: She didn’t get a deception skill that high for nothing!

Tomboy and Girly Girl: Piper and Seelah. One is a dependable, action-oriented warrior who likes to tackle problems directly; the other is a flighty, dress-wearing bard who depends on her wit and her charms. Despite their differences, they become friends almost immediately.

Vitriolic Best Buds: With Daeran. They start off genuinely disliking one another, and though their relationship improves with time they never do stop snipping at each other.

Wandering Minstrel: Piper’s career, for lack of a better word, before joining the Crusades.

Weak But Skilled: Piper has many talents relating to diplomacy and magic, but combat is not one of her strong suits. She does get better after multiclassing as a rogue, but she’s still far from a physical powerhouse.

Will They Won’t They: With Galfrey, for a short while. (They don’t).

#tv tropes #ch: piper #I have such a love hate relationship with tv tropes #but it is very addictive #pwotr #octropes

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sincerelyandyourstruly · 2 months

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#boyyuri

on xiaoven & yearning

—

so as we all know, "yuri is when there’s themes and motifs and yaoi is when there’s two blokes who do fuck all. if you reblog this you love trans people." (tumblr user dyggot, 2023.); that "yaoi is about entanglement and yuri is about yearning." (tags by tumblr user thyminesquared, 2023, screenshot and archived on this post.)

as should be clear from these definitions, this essay is not going to concern itself with whether a pairing counts as "yaoi" or "yuri" on the sole basis of the genders of the characters involved. although i understand the deeply gendered connotations of both of these terms, to ME, yuri is about the distance between one’s self and others around them (maybe people, maybe dreams and ideals), and the deeply-rooted desires that grow in that gap as a result.

as a post made to tumblr, put in the xiaoven tag, everyone reading this knows the basic lore surrounding their characters and world: that venti is the anemo archon, god of wind and freedom; that xiao is the last yaksha, who wields the power of anemo in battle to protect his homeland of liyue; that Visions are considered to be representations of a person's dearest wish, crystallized into physical form. but let's run over the basics again real fast, just to keep this piece from having external dependencies to understand, yeah?

venti is a wind sprite from mondstadt who ascended to godhood at the end of a rebellion against the at-the-time god of storms keeping his people in a cage made of windstorm thousands of years ago, and he chose his ideal of freedom to honor the bard who led said rebellion and died at the end of the final battle, but whether the nameless bard even got to see the clear skies he fought so hard to live under is currently up to interpretation. either way, venti took on the nameless bard's appearance so that his nation's people would never forget the true hero who won their freedom, but because thousands of years have passed the people have kind of forgotten by now anyway, and venti probably has a lot of identity issues about it!

also he's a bard who plays music in exchange for wine because singing to pass on the memories of heroes past and then drinking to numb the grief of people's forgetting is how he Copes™.

AND ALSO he will occasionally sleep for hundreds of years at a time.

Meanwhile, xiao is an immortal/"illuminated beast" from liyue whose true form is technically that of a bird, but he goes around in the form of a hot emo boy, ostensibly because he needs hands to don his mask, hold his spear, and do his dance to conquer the remnants of evil gods, the act of which literally taints his soul with their sins— his karmic debts.

anyway he was enslaved by an evil god in his youth because said evil god (probably) knew his True Name and because we're going by fairy rules this means he was forced to commit atrocities (namely eating people's dreams) against his will until the god of contracts geo archon zhongli killed his previous master, gave him a new name, and contractually tasked him with the job of subduing the demonic remnants of other defeated gods, which he has since proceeded to unflinchingly, unwaveringly, and unquestioningly obey for the last few thousand years. however, despite his unfathomable obedience and devotion to his duty, his Vision (his life's greatest desire) is that of anemo (of freedom).

also a few hundred years ago when he was about to succumb to the weight of his karmic debts, xiao's life was saved by the sound of someone (venti) playing the flute in the marsh where he'd been working, and so now his dream, the deepest wish he holds closest to his heart, is to someday "wear the mask and dance — not to conquer demons, but to the tune of that flute amid a sea of flowers." (xiao's character card, genshin impact, 2021)

…can you guys believe that the dihua flute moment was like all we xv shippers had to hold onto for like two years?! that, and xiao's extremely yearnful voiceline abt venti that's just like, "venti? is that what he goes by these days? his tunes are… nevermind." but the point of this recap i hope has become clear by this point: that the relationship btwn xiao and venti seen through these few snippets alone is just rife with potent yuri energy.

like, to elaborate on the opening of thie essay, yuri is specifically about the uncrossable distance between two people who are already sitting right next to each other, so close that only a single thread of wind could even hope to weave its way between them— although, as evidenced by the fact that such a thread of wind could weave its way between them, they are still shy of truly touching— and the painful yearnings of being unable to close that gap… even though you both exist so close to one another, so similar in both place and time, you are the only thing stopping yourself from reaching across that seemingly infinite distance.

as a result, i think that unlike yaoi, yuri— thematically speaking— tends to have a greater mutuality to it: whereas i understand being in a yaoi to be more about acting on one's impulses towards one another and passing along cycles of power, i believe that an important aspect of being in a yuri is the constant fear and anxiety of violating an unspoken boundary because you're afraid that you aren't actually on the same page about those.

deep down inside, you know that you're not supposed to want all the things you've built for yourself in all those private daydreams and self-indulgent fantasies you've created about yourself with the other person, because you know you're not supposed to have drawn your boundaries the way you have, such that the other person would be let in on the most intimate parts of your identity (if they were willing to see all that is ugly sleeping underneath your skin.)

as mentioned in the paragraph summarizing his lore, xiao's youth was marked by the fact that his very autonomy was continuously violated in service of forcing him to violate others' boundaries, crushing their hopes and devouring their very dreams. his deep cultural ties to liyue as the land of contracts means that he carries within him a keen sense of obligation as inseverable as the need to breathe; thus, saddled with guilt and believing himself to be incapable of gentility, he has come to view himself as nothing more than a weapon for others to use.

in signing his contract with the geo archon, xiao went from a situation where his agency was continuously denied and his boundaries intimately violated to one where he relinquished his agency and had his boundaries delineated for him by his new lord.

he has no desires of his own; immortals aren't so worldly. (if that were true, he wouldn't have a Vision.) he is not an active subject in his own life; anything he does is the effect of someone else's will. (if that were true, he would have stopped protecting liyue the moment that he learned his lord abdicated his rule.) he does not let anyone near him; it is inevitable that his karmic debts will force his hand against them. (if that were true, he wouldn't have been saved by the sound of venti's flute playing nearby.)

don't you see? he places himself in a subservient role to everyone around him, rigidly obeys every ritual of propriety, because he is afraid that by asserting agency over a situation, he will end up violating other people's boundaries again. except that this time, the responsibility for doing so would fall squarely on his own shoulders.

during the main quest arc for liyue, zhongli literally fakes his own death as an archon so that he can finally retire and be free from his own contractual obligation to the nation. this gives us reason to believe that xiao's contract with the geo archon has thus been rendered void, meaning he no longer has any obligation to continue his endless suffering for the sake of liyue— yet he does so anyway.

i think a lot of fans tend to view this as xiao needlessly chaining himself down to his duty, something that's often framed in fanworks as something rather tragic in venti's eyes. however, as the god of freedom, venti feels very strongly about giving other the freedom to make their own decisions, even if he himself may disagree with them or wish they had chosen differently. others' autonomy is deeply important to venti, perhaps even so far as to call it sacred: to order anything from anyone would be a violation for the boundaries venti has set for himself as an archon.

and because we're all familiar with genshin impact lore, what i have to say next should go without saying, we are all so familiar with it: the element of a person's Vision will be directly related to the kind of ideal they strive to meet and uphold, and as such, can generally tell you a lot about a person's desires.

xiao wields an anemo Vision— the only known anemo wielder in liyue until the arrival of xianyun, presumably because that is how deeply ingrained the binding sense of obligation is in its culture— and wears it visibly on his person at all times. it would be ridiculous not to believe that venti knows, and intimately so, just how xiao desires.

and i think that a lot of fans can fail to consider the idea that to xiao, his duty of protection is a choice he made of his own volition when he was first set free, and is, in all likelihood, one he continues to make in canon. yes, this choice comes with a great many obligations restraining him in various ways— but do our choices truly mean anything if they are not bound by obligation? this is something venti would obviously understand and respect as lines drawn in the sand by xiao himself, and he would never dare even suggest they be crossed.

it's clear from the various scraps of in-game lore that xiao craves proximity to and knowledge about his savior in the marsh. yet, he refuses to go out of his way to attain these things and will even deny ownership of these desires altogether because in a sense, they are blasphemy: venti, although not his archon, is still a god.

might seeking venti out over zhongli not be considered a sign of detracting, or perhaps even failing faith in the unwavering sureity of the geo archon? or even if it turns out that's not so— who is xiao to ask anything of venti? the god of freedom must surely be a flighty little thing, following his every capricious whim. to ask him to stay would be akin to tying him down, no?

clearly, there is no need for xiao to call out for him. if venti wants to be with him, he will simply be there.

(and if he doesn't, then he won't.)

((after all, it is the duty of the servant to wait on the master's call.))

it's easy to imagine that these two immortals might end up in a sort of song and dance of propriety for a while, that at fight might be genuine, but eventually just becomes habit and custom. they both want, in some way, for xiao to lay down his duty, to be free of the strict hierarchy of master & servant or god & disciple. but for venti to say it so plainly would feel like he's trying to convert xiao to his ideals— a discomfort that would more than likely only be compounded by how seriously xiao takes the word of god(s), and how expressly venti hates being treated like anything but an equal— and so he would hesitate on his feelings; whereas for xiao to speak of his desires so plainly, it would feel like a betrayal of his duty— that which he chose to shoulder as his first act of free will.

you see it, right? the gap between these two characters, whose lives will otherwise touch and cross over and over through their long, immortal lives, and the mutual desires they can both plainly and painfully read in one another, yet never individually act upon due to their already-established senses of propriety, tradition, and boundaries?

these are the basic yuriisms of xiaoven genshinimpact.

#xiaoven #long post #only reason i put part of this post under a cut is bc it's 2111 words so in the interest of being polite i put 1356 of them under the cut #anyway happy birthday to xiao my son my melancholy yearnful boy c':#adapting this essay to the context of tumblr was more work than i anticipated #but i think it pairs nicely w/my xv moon/moon essay from a while back c:#i've actually been sitting on this one for a few months now; this entire chunk got cut from my submission to yaoizine vol 3 (yurizine)#and if you haven't had your brain chemistry altered by the yaoizines published by tshirt. what are you doing. go read them

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kellyvela · 1 year

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You are getting a lot of winter rose related anons because rhaelyas have decided to gatekeep winter roses from characters unrelated to Rhaegar/Lyanna and Jon Snow. Someone tell them winter roses grow in the glass gardens of winterfell so people are not 'stealing' when they headcanon Sansa, Arya, Catelyn and all the other Starks with those flowers

The question is, is Sansa really unrelated to Rhaegar/Lyanna, and hence to Jon??? Obviously certain shippers will scream that Sansa has nothing to do with Rhaegar/Lyanna and the blue winter roses, but they are wrong, big time!

I already said that the blue winter roses grow in Winterfell's Glass Gardens, so any woman of House Stark has probably been given at least one of those blue roses in her lifetime. I also said that the first Stark girl associated with a blue winter rose was the one from the legend of Bael the Bard and The Rose of Winterfell. See here.

Bael the Bard and The Rose of Winterfell are obviously a proto version of Rhaegar/Lyanna.

The tale of Rhaegar/Lyanna has their own features that differ from Bael the Bard and The Rose of Winterfell. For example, it happened during a tourney, the Great Tourney at Harrenhal. And who is the ASOIAF character most associated with tourneys??? The obvious answer is Sansa Stark.

Sansa was the unofficial Queen of Love and Beauty of the Hand's tourney in honor of her father at King's Landing, where Loras Tyrell, wearing an armor of blue sapphires forget me nots, gave Sansa a red rose. Fact that is a clear allusion to Rhaegar Targaryen, wearing an armor of red rubies and crowning Lyanna with blue winter roses during the Great Tourney at Harrenhal. And what did Sansa's younger sister say about attending this tourney??? She called the event stupid . . . .

Sansa also saved Dontos Hollard's life during the Tourney in honor of King's Joffrey 13th name day. Fact that is a clear allusion to Lyanna saving Howland Reed from the abuse of three squires during the Great Tourney at Harrenhal.

And right now Sansa/Alayne is forever organizing a tourney at The Gates of the Moon in the Vale of Arryn. Alayne Stone is the daughter of the Lord Protector of the Eyrie and the Vale, who is also the Lord of Harrenhal. Fact that is a clear allusion to the Lord of Harrenhal organizing the Great Tourney at Harrenhal in honor of his daughter.

And last but no least, Sansa is profoundly associated with the Tourney at Ashford Meadow, event that take place during the first tale of Dunk and Egg: The Hedge Knight. The five champions's surnames at the end of the first day of competition are: Lannister, Baratheon, Tyrell, Hardyng and Targaryen. Four out of five of those surnames match with the surnames of every Sansa's suitors so far: Joffrey Baratheon, Tyrion Lannister, Willas Tyrell and Harrold Hardyng . . . . Other tourney contestants and melee fighters mentioned in this tale, also match with men in Sansa's arc, there's a Ser Donnel of Duskendale and the Lords Arryn and Royce . . . .

The Tourney at Ashford Meadow was organized by Lord Ashford in honor of his daughter's 13th name day. Among other allusions to Sansa's arc.

Anywas, back to the blue winter rose, the rose motif is strongly related to Sansa Stark. As every girl of House Stark she is obviously associated to the blue winter roses that grow in Winterfell's Glass Gardens. She was befriended by the Tyrells, whose sigil is a golden rose, Loras Tyrell gave her a red rose during the Hand's Tourney, Marillion told her that he was composing a song for her called the Roadside Rose.

But we also have the so many times mentioned beauty and the beast motif in Sansa's arc. The ancient tale, in its many versions, usually starts with a especial rose.

Obviously most readers want for Sansa to be the beauty for their fave beast, like cujo, Tyrion and Baelish. But none of those men are cursed princes, that have skinchanging abilities, live in a magical castle with magical companions and with a strong relation with a special rose . . . . You know who has all those requirements checked??? Yeah, Lyannas's baby boy.

Thanks for your message :)

#anon asks #sansa stark #blue winter roses

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bizarre-blorbo-bracket · 6 months

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FINAL: Davis (Juror 8) from Twelve Angry Men vs the Bimodal Distribution from statistics

Propaganda under the cut, and it's REALLY worth it:

Davis (Juror 8) (these are all from the single submitter)

a quick lil list babes, and I apologise for all of this in advance:

Henry Fonda, the actor, was 52 years old at the time of filming

Henry Fonda is the father of Jane Fonda, the woman who would revolutionise the 80's with her home workouts and her blindingly neon leg warmers.

His name wasn't revealed until the very end of the film and even then it's just "Davis."

I could honestly give him a lil smooch

He's absolutely not girlypop but he's the ally-iest ally who's ever allied

He's categorised as a "Benevolent Leader" on the Heroes Wiki

instead of the overwhelming urge for me to coddle him like most all other blorbos, i would appreciate it switched

I have a photo of him inside my saxophone case and sometimes i forget he's in there, then he creeps into my saxophone bell and when I play it he shoots out like a ballistic missile

I had started to make an animation meme starring Davis but only gave up when photoshop literally deleted itself from my laptop

I have learned the musical motif that plays throughout the film on saxophone, clarinet, recorder, guitar, bass, ukulele, piano and trumpet

I have visions of him

One of Davis' 3 children HAS to be gay and nothing can convince me otherwise

honest to god I'd be a home wrecker if it came to him

He's literally an architect

i once got my romantic partner to write me a davis x reader fanfiction as a birthday present

I've attempted slam poetry about him

I've eaten a paper printed full a4 size photo of his hand

I would also not mind him to be literally my father, but given the rest of the things I've just said about him that's really weird and I recognise that

the Bimodal Distribution

#davis #juror 8 #12 angry men #bimodal distribution

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jessamine-rose · 1 year

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꒰Disjecta Membra - Author’s Note꒱

Read Disjecta Membra here!! ヽ(´∀｀)

Read Chess Piece here!! ヾ(๑╹◡╹)ﾉ"

Aaahhh thank you to everyone who read my recent fics!! Mere words cannot describe my joy whenever I receive your sweet comments. Cheers to more readers rotting over enjoying the Jester’s twisted story (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

To my old followers, y’all know the drill. In this post, I’ll discuss my characterization of Yandere! Pierro and his darling, my creative process, and bonus content from the rough drafts. Now let’s go behind the scenes~

“Cursed with your divine burden and lost hope for the future, you have accepted a melancholy life of solitude. By some stroke of fate, however, you encounter a kindred spirit who will save you from the depths of your sorrow.” (AO3 Summary)

꒰ Introduction ꒱

♡ For starters, I want to say a big thank you to @frogchiro and @seakicker!! Aside from giving me the brainrot which caused all of this, Kin shared some notes on her characterization of Pierro. And Juju inspired this whole fic with her amazing Pierro x Fertility Goddess AU!! I’d also like to credit @mirdance’s glorious fic Innamorati for aiding my character study and speech analysis of Pierro~

♡ Originally, the Jester’s story was going to be a short post and not my regular longfic + side story. But after getting too many ideas and developing Savior! Darling’s character….…rip my word count. The idea of Pierro subduing a fallen goddess was too powerful u_u

♡ As always, you can thank @diodellet for another amazing peer review. She’s been a big help since my first Harbinger fic, and I appreciate all that she’s done for me. Without her, my Genshin works wouldn’t be the way they are now (´∀｀)♡

꒰ Characters ꒱

♡ It’s official. Pierro is the most difficult Harbinger I’ve ever written for. Forget his dialogue, I died balancing his “hot and cold” attitude. I headcanon Pierro to be a possessive, controlling yandere deeply influenced by his trauma. His main strength is his intelligence, as shown by how he strategically orchestrates and manipulates events to his advantage.

♡ Among the Harbingers I’ve written for, Pierro is the least outwardly affectionate. He has strict expectations for his darling, such as her full loyalty and education, and will always prioritize the Tsaritsa/ Fatui over her. That doesn’t negate his soft spot for his darling—he simply has greater responsibilities as the Jester.

♡ Savior is my kindest and oldest darling. She’s a foil to Pierro in the sense that her grief left her with self-hatred, survivor's guilt, and a passive attitude. I gave her a veil for the mystery/ bride vibes + it fits in with the Fatui’s mask aesthetic. Her intellect and divine powers make her a formidable darling, and I enjoyed writing the scenes where she challenges Pierro >:3

♡ My thought process for making Savior the God of Mist was, “clouds/ mist can obscure one’s vision.” Her character references the Greek goddess Achlys simply cuz I’m a slut for mythology and symbolism. While she can create regular harmless mist, she can secretly claim “territories” via special mist made from her blood—an allusion to her self-sacrificial nature. I personally imagine her to be around 4,000-5,000 years old.

♡ Additional notes on Savior’s powers!!

♡ My own name and appearance for Savior

♡ And how could I forget my babygirl Oizys?? Like Savior’s other friends, he is named after a mythological deity. I wanted to make him similar to his namesake/ different from Pierro, hence their comparisons and his emotional, outspoken personality. He’s very close to Savior, as they are each other’s last surviving friend. In his final moments, all he wanted was to go home to her ;-;

♡ My appearance + doodles of Oizys

꒰ Literary Motifs ꒱

♡ Godhood/ Power – hahaha so for Pierro, I wanted to highlight the power imbalance between him and his darling. Before he became a Harbinger, he relied on the pity/ mercy of Savior. But after?? He views Savior as someone beneath him and wants her submission + praise. This desire also applies to their bedroom activities~

♡ Grief — as mentioned earlier, Pierro and Savior are foils to each other. Both of them have lost everything to traumatic events and thus find it difficult to move on. But while Savior succumbed to her grief, Pierro actively stepped up to seek justice and “improve” the world.

꒰ Chapter Titles ꒱

♡ Latin quotes – I thought they would give a nice dramatic touch to Disjecta Membra since it’s about Pierro and a fallen god. I purposely started the fic with i. memento mori and ended it with ix. memento vivere to compliment the full-circle ending and Savior’s character arc. Scroll down for the translations!!

♡ Chess pieces – at that point, I was just tired of spending so much time picking/ googling section dividers. I used chess pieces in order of rank since it is a recurring theme in their story. Beyond that, idk sh*t about the game -.-

Disjecta Membra - “scattered fragments”/ “surviving fragments of ancient poetry, manuscripts, and literary or cultural objects”

i. memento mori - “remember you must die”

ii. mea culpa - “through my fault”

iii. damnatio memoriae - “condemnation of memory”

iv. oderint dum metuant - “let them hate so long as they fear”

v. nitimur in vetitum, semper cupimusque negata - “we strive after what is forbidden, and always desire what is denied”

vi. amor et melle et felle est fecundissimus - “love is rich with both honey and venom”

vii. dulce est desipere in loco - “it is delightful to play the fool occasionally”

viii. flectere si nequeo superos, acheronta movebo - “if I cannot bend the heavens, then I shall move the powers of hell”

ix. memento vivere - “remember to live”

꒰ Deleted Scenes ꒱

Goodbye/ Blessing Kiss

♡ Originally, Savior could bless people with fortune through her kisses. That idea was an excuse for her to kiss Pierro’s forehead before he left + for Pierro to request her kisses. I think their first kiss scene turned out much better <3

Conversation with Zhongli

♡ Sooo Savior personally knows Zhongli!! While they are nothing more than acquaintances, they can relate to each other as old gods who outlived their friends. Similar with Pierro and the Tsaritsa, Savior admires Zhongli but feels pathetic compared to him. I originally planned to write their conversation but decided that it was enough to just mention it.

Savior’s Cold Hands

♡ In Chess Piece, Pierro prefers Snezhnaya’s climate due to his experience with Celestia’s sea of flames. Originally, he compares the latter to Savior’s low body temperature as a mist deity. It was going to be one of Savior’s insecurities since she can’t provide comforting warmth for humans……an inhuman trait which is perfect for Pierro.

꒰ My Favorite Scenes ꒱

“I shall overthrow the gods of the Old World, starting with you.”

♡ Catch me simping as I finally wrote Pierro’s glow-up and their reversed power imbalance. Yes, it was necessary for him to kabedon Savior and bring her to her knees. Yes, he secretly enjoyed that moment. I can’t say that my mind was pure when I wrote that scene =w=

You kneel on the floor, hands clasped together. “O, Lord Pierro, I humbly thank you for saving an undeserving creature such as myself! Had it not been for your benevolence, I would have been doomed to a life of sorrow. Your greatness is unparalleled. You have brought glory to Snezhnaya. The Tsaritsa—”

“That is enough.”

♡ Congratulations, Savior, for getting on Pierro’s nerves!! I greatly enjoyed writing this quote and the overall scene. One thing which sets Savior apart from the other darlings is her ability/ willingness to challenge her yandere, from irritating Pierro to strategically claiming her prison to semi-successfully escaping. It makes for an engaging dynamic between two smart immortals.

“Jester, I come bearing a report on our latest Archon Residue experiment.”

♡ Forget Pierro, Dottore steals the spotlight in iii. bishop. I didn’t originally plan for him to show up in another Harbinger’s fic, but he is simply that powerful. After 16.5k words of Pierro, it was very refreshing to reunite with Dottore’s chaotic energy. Since my Yandere! Harbinger fics are in the same universe, I referenced Dottore’s darling for funsies (๑･̑◡･̑๑)

꒰ Pierro x Savior Playlist ꒱

With a couple as angsty as Pierro and Savior, the 3rd and 4th songs were necessary. At least we end with an uplifting song ^o^

♡ Si Deus Me Relinquit – Kuroshitsuji OST

♡ Envy Baby by Kanaria ft. GUMI

♡ Gehenna by wotaku ft. Hatsune Miku

♡ Kyu-kurarin by Iyowa ft. KAFU

♡ Dear Answer by TRUE

♡

And that’s it!! Once again, thank you so much for reading Disjecta Membra + Chess Piece. I didn’t expect so much love for Pierro and Savior, and I truly value all of your messages. Pls don’t hesitate to share your feedback with me, and may more readers catch Pierro brainrot ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪

#pierro #pierro x reader #yandere pierro x reader #yandere pierro #yandere fatui harbingers #fatui x reader #genshin x reader #yandere genshin #tw: yandere #fem reader #jessamine-writing

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