#did I write this instead of studying?

[drowninginthoughts27]

10/9 Pottery Word Count: 376

@jegulus-microfic

Before James and Regulus started dating James would bring Regulus little pieces of pottery that he had hand crafted in an attempt to woo him.

It started slowly. A small dish here and a cat sculpture there. But Regulus continued to accept them, James continued to make and gift them. By the time they had started dating Regulus had a shelf full of the trinkets. He wasn’t complaining though.

After they got together James began to give them just cause but also as anniversary gifts. Larger things like plates and mugs.

One day during one of their late night pillow talks Regulus asked James why he made so many different pieces of pottery if only to gift it to Regulus.

It took James a minute to respond but when he did he had said…

“I honestly don’t really know. I started making them in 6th year. I needed an outlet, something to do with my hands. To release all of my pent of energy. During that time I developed a massive crush on you, as I’m sure you are well aware. I guess I just wanted to give them to you. I have so much love to share and I’m not always the greatest with words so I chose to give things to you instead. As a way to show my love, express every ounce of love that I could, ya know?”

This answer had taken Regulus’ breath away. It was one of the most meaningful things someone had ever said to him. And it made the little trinkets James had gifted to him even more special. Something he didn’t know was humanly possible until then.

When James proposed he did so with a little ceramic box he had made to hold the ring.

And since then James had given Regulus a piece of pottery he had made on every one of their wedding anniversaries. He has yet to break this cycle.

This year it’s their 25th wedding anniversary and they’re 48 and 49 years old respectively.

Every year James’ anniversary pottery project gets more and more elaborate.

This year James gifts Regulus a vase. Intricately hand painted with stars and suns. Already holding a bouquet of pink roses. Regulus couldn’t ask for anything more perfect.

[smilerri]

many thoughts about epic: the musical...

i am once again in the middle of essay writing but plautus is boring and my friend introduced me to this album so u already know I binged the entire thing

(quick warning for spoilers of homer's odyssey? if that's necessary?? man idk whatever)

first thoughts naturally concerned odysseus. i have hated this man with a burning passion ever since I started studying classics - i think he is irredeemably selfish, a liar masquerading as a 'resourceful hero,' and basically just a twat all around. that being said, i respect that epic is not an exact replica. in fact, i like that about it!

readings of odysseus as a loving husband and father, and a man who cares deeply for his crew and fellow warriors is one i would love to see reflected in the source text (though i admit i have only read two different translations so far, so this is subject to change depending on translators choice!), if only because it would be so so refreshing. and epic does that extremely well! i find epic's odysseus to be far more likeable, insofar as he is fueled not by greed for glory (kleos for the nerds out there) but rather the desire to return to his wife and son. (I personally would argue that, while homer's odysseus is indeed fueled by a desire for homecoming (nostos), it is not for the sake of penelope and telemachus, but rather concern over the security of his status and position within the household (oikos))

i also very much enjoy that the love he holds for his family is not an inherently positive trait. in the aeneid, and often in myth, it is achilles' son, neoptolemus/pyrrhus who kills the son of hector and andromache, astyanax by throwing him from the walls of troy - less common, it is odysseus (which i did not know until i googled it just now oops). homer's odysseus does not reject the gods. he is beloved by some, hated by others - he receives their boons and curses as they come. he revels in the attention of the divine, no matter positive or negative, for it is proof of his kleos. epic's odysseus is so much more... human. he doesn't vie for glory that reaches the skies. if anything, he rues it. in the horse and the infant he supplicates himself to (who i assume is) zeus - which is such a loaded act i am genuinely struggling to think of how to articulate it, but boy am I gonna try my darndest.

the act of supplication and guest-friendship (xenia) is a very key theme within the odyssey, and to a point in the iliad also - essentially, if a traveller were to arrive at your doorstep, you were obliged to let them in and provide food, drink, and lodgings to that traveller, no questions asked. in return (because reciprocity is VERY important in homer especially), the guest would provide entertainment, tales of their travels, etc, and would be respectful of their host. the patron of these travellers was zeus. any violation of these terms, on part of the guest or host, would be met with divine scorn. for odysseus to supplicate himself to zeus is therefore meta as hell, but I would instead bring attention to the echoing lyric "hes bringing you down to your knees." 'he,' assumedly, is astyanax. his father, hector, is dead; as is his grandfather, priam, and all of priam's other sons. at this point, one could assume that it is astyanax who is ruling troy, who is now the host of the city that odysseus, a traveller from another land, has entered and ransacked. zeus' 'prophecy' of astyanax growing old and seeking revenge (reciprocity! homeric greece had a 'revenge culture' - essentially 'an eye for an eye' as well as 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours,' though not always so clear-cut), therefore, would be odysseus' punishment for violating the terms of xenia.

supplication, however, is not limited to guest-friendship alone. for example, in odyssey 22, when odysseus slaughters the suitors occupying his home (is that spoilers?), their priest leodes supplicates himself at odysseus' feet, begging to be spared. odysseus takes his head from his neck in an instant. odysseus' kneeling before astyanax, therefore, is no simple act between a guest and his host - perhaps he is begging the infant for mercy, for forgiveness, or perhaps he is positioning himself for punishment; in killing astyanax, odysseus accepts his own death. perhaps this means his fate (which, in case of homeric epic, refers to the time and manner of one's death), or perhaps it is a part of him that has died. in just a man, odysseus asks "when does a man become a monster?" his killing astyanax prevents the boy from ever becoming a man, and spares him from a life fueled only by revenge and the need to regain his glorious birthright, and it turns him into a monster. just as he says he would, he trades in the world where he is 'just a man' for a world where he is a cruel beast, all for sake of his family.

(quick detour but i really like how odysseus' focus is primarily on penelope rather than telemachus. [insert deadbeat dad joke here], but in reality, he doesn't even know the boy. penelope he chose to marry and fall in love with - it's no question that he loves telemachus, but after ten years, it is only natural that he would miss his beautiful, tricky wife with more fervour than the child he never had the chance to love. it shows he is imperfect, even illogical - the son is the father's entire legacy. just as odysseus is 'son of laertes', so will telemachus be 'son of odysseus', the protector of his immortal heroic legacy. yet it is penelope whom odysseus yearns for.)

(another detour but "i'm just a man" is such a juicy lyric, because the entire message of homer's odyssey is that odysseus is not any man - he is a man that the muses deem worthy to inspire great poets to compose epic poems that persist through thousands of years and a million different voices - a hero. but epic's odysseus is not that hero. he is a man, trying to go home, craving comfort and the warmth of the hearth. these 'flaws' humanise him more than homer's odysseus could ever imagine.)

skipping over to polyphemus, odysseus violates xenia once again by killing polyphemus' sheep, albeit unwittingly. homer makes this violation very obvious - odysseus and crew eat polyphemus' cheese and wine while polyphemus tends to his sheep, knowing that the cave is obviously inhabited, and they even wait for polyphemus to return to ask for more. it is worth noting as well that, at this point, odysseus and crew are still jubilant about their victory, and unlike in epic, these 'detours' are purposeful, specifically so that odysseus can scope out the islands for anything of interest he can snatch and add to his spoils of war, adding to his kleos by means of physical wealth (timē) - which makes odysseus' offer of treasure to appease polyphemus all the more baffling in epic. this odysseus is a leader who prioritises the lives of his men over his own kleos, which makes the final lines - "you shall be the final man to die" // "what?" // "watch out!" - all the more heartbreaking. he wants to protect his men, so that they too may return to their families back on ithaca; the prospect of watching them die before his eyes after he already witnessed so many lose their lives in battle must be so utterly terrifying.

polyphemus is so excellently creepy as well! i loved him in the odyssey - this was where I really started to dislike odysseus, actually. he's a cyclops, obviously inhuman, yet he rears sheep and makes cheese and wine and weaves wicker baskets to keep them in, trying to play at humanity. i really did sympathise with him from the first time I read it. epic's polyphemus is similar, so very calm in his anger yet ruthless all the same, and demonstrates great restraint in comparison to his counterpart in the odyssey, who gets filthy drunk after mashing six men dead and allows odysseus+co. to fashion a stake with which to blind him. much of the violence against polyphemus, as well as the violation of xenia in homer's odyssey is 'excused' by the fact that polyphemus is a 'barbarian', to whom concepts of civilised people do not belong.

(very quick detour but polyphemus' first admonishment of odysseus - "you killed my sheep" up to "take from you like you took from me" - makes such heartbreaking parallels to astyanax's murder and the sack of troy. it almost provides a visualisation of the guilt that odysseus must still be battling. i would have loved to have been in his brain when he heard polyphemus say that.)

the mercy odysseus shows polyphemus is particularly interesting - homer's odysseus leaves him alive and tells him his name purely so that his name will spread and his kleos will grow. but epic's odysseus, despite his conviction to kill in survive and to avenge is fallen comrades in remember them, spares him. in part, this is to assure them an escape, so that the cyclops' giant body does not block their exit - but athena's interruption makes clear that this is not all. she criticises him, remarks "he is still a threat until he's dead." no doubt this calls back to zeus' warnings about astyanax, hence his refusal (or inability?) to commit to slaughter. for a homeric greek hero to allow a foe to live on after his allies had been slaughtered is a grave failure of reciprocity, casting shame on both the hero and their enemy. homer's odysseus escapes this with his reputation intact, since as a result polyphemus curses him to face poseidon's wrath - as I mentioned, for a hero, even negative attention from the gods is a good thing as it proves that their reputation/glory is known all over, even in olympus. but, as we have established, epic's odysseus cares not for kleos. the decision to tell polyphemus his name is entirely impulsive and irrational, grieving his comrades, hence athena's outrage.

the relationship between athena and odysseus is founded entirely on the principles they share, described in warrior of the mind (if anyone can lmk whereabouts this song fits in the timeline I will be so grateful, I'm stupid unfortunately :/). they value wisdom, reason, and rationality over brute strength and bloodlust. epic's athena becomes odysseus' patron goddess with the goal to "make a greater tomorrow" and "change the world" - aspirations that are entirely foreign to any homeric god. gods in homer do not care about the wellbeing of humans unless they are directly related to them, and they certainly don't care about the wellness of humanity as a whole. humans are toys and tools of the gods. the amount that athena cares for odysseus, even in the odyssey, is unusual, demonstrative of how much she cares for him, yet epic makes their comradery more obvious, even going as far as to (tentatively) call them friends. my goodbye frames athena's anger as disappointment at an experiment failed - calling back to warrior of the mind, where she claims to have "designed" him - but odysseus' replies to her makes clear that it is far more personal. perhaps, to her, odysseus acting so irrationally is even a betrayal; odysseus is abandoning the principles of reason they both once held and thus is forsaking all that they once shared and that she, as the goddess of wisdom, stands for.

ive always considered athena to be a very interesting goddess. she is a patron of both war, which in homer is only carried out by men, and weaving, the traditional work of women within the household - her very nature is a contradiction of masculine and feminine. although it is ares who is considered the 'black sheep' of the olympians for his brutality in war, epic's portrayal of athena through odysseus' lens paints her as lonely and ostracised - "since you claim you're so much wiser // why's your life spent all alone? // you're alone." It is clear that odysseus here does not view her as his patron at all, rather as a friend - and to that she takes offence, because she is a goddess, eternal and all-powerful. she does not need friendship or comradery; those are mortal concerns alone. personally, I see epic's athena as incredibly insecure. she cuts odysseus off because she cannot bare that a mortal has been able to read her so clearly, to see all the ugly parts of herself that she keeps hidden to retain the facade of the perfect goddess. she knows the paradox within herself - warrior and woman, immortal and alone - and rues that odysseus was able to see it as well. the cruellest part, the most ironic, is that his being able to figure out the true, imperfect nature of a god shows that he has not abandoned the path of the warrior of the mind. in fact, his wisdom extends beyond mortality into the realm of the divine. but athena is blinded by her anger and insecurity, and she says her goodbyes. she disappears from there, only to appear again to try to warn odysseus of his crew opening the bag of winds given to him by aeolus in keep your friends close, once again demonstrating her care for him, despite her anger.

the amount that odysseus cares for his crew is demonstrated time and again throughout the album, yet in the end, he still slowly loses their trust. aeolus' winds are the first sign. his crew betrays his orders upon the first whisper on the wind that he might be keeping treasure from them. the next sign, in puppeteer, is eurylochus' confession upon arrival to aeaea (circe's island), which odysseus brushes off, much as he brushed off eurylochus' concerns in luck runs out. then, in a matter of moments, 600 men are reduced to forty by the wrath of poseidon - which in itself is a significant change. while odysseus in epic is explicitly blamed for failing to kill polyphemus, homer's odysseus takes no responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of his men. it happens when they arrive at telepylos, which, unbeknownst to them, is home to the laestrygonians, a race of cannibalistic giants. odysseus, apparently sensing something off (who tf does he think he is, spiderman?), allows his entire fleet to enter the bay of telepylos while his ship alone remains outside - and when those ships are attacked and trapped, he alone takes his single ship and escapes, allowing twelve ships of men to be ripped apart and eaten by cannibals. an act which he shows no remorse for.

in my interpretation of homer's odyssey, it is this slowly slipping trust that eventually leads to his men ignoring his warnings and feasting on the cows of helios which leads to the deaths of all his remaining crew, including eurylochus and polites (spoilers? idk). so, once epic: the musical catches up to book 12 of the odyssey you WILL be seeing me again I hope ur excited.

there is definitely more i could say here, especially about the circe saga bcs ohhh my god I love circe and I love this circe especially (a female character with actual motive other than being a victim? homer could never) but unfortunately I'm running out of steam and I do in fact have 3 essays due this month (help) so I will probably return to this later !! hopefully its readable bcs I'm not going back to edit any of this ;)

[danidoesathing]

hey remember that one horror fic i mentioned i was doing like a month or two ago. yeah finished it

[novelconcepts]

Had this screencap living on my phone for art purposes, and I just lost like twenty minutes staring at their hands. These are some of the gayest hands in human history. An entire Pride month could be dedicated to these hands. Put this shot in the MoMA, dude.

[theriverbeyond]

something re: the Gideon -> Kiriona evolution that is perhaps not the most important (esp on the scale of other things) but that i keep feeling fairly fixated on is that Gideon hated the Lyctor Aesthetic (”like Silas Oktakisseron threw up in the glitter drawer”) and she is so valid for that but now she’s dressed like “the military wing of disco”. and on a personal level i think her new look is incredibly sexy BUT i cannot help but fixate on how this is now the third outfit she has worn that is not really something she would have chosen for herself (cavalier skull paint, harrow’s body, military disco). and she only gets three outfits in the whole series anyway!! 

something something abt being butch and How We Dress being so related to Who We Are, and having that choice taken away is always some sort of thing. something something abt body autonomy and how she continues to have none despite her proclamations otherwise. she says ”nobody locks me up anywhere” but Kiriona Gaia is arguably locked up everywhere she goes, on account of her body having the fun feature of being able to be turned off by someone else. Gideon started her escape attempts at age four. four!!!!! something something abt how the one thing she has always fought for is her own freedom, and everything she has done and everything she has been through since then has only served to render her more and more under others’ control. on the Ninth she had an ankle cuff and at Canaan House she had the cavalier’s sword and as a prince the leash and collar is her own dead body, which is once again (as always) dressed by someone else. 

[baura-bear]

I made a slide show presentation with a run down of the UKsies cast for anyone trying to familiarize themself or for anyone trying to help out a friend!!! I have a slide for every member (hopefully I didn’t forget anyone lol!) but this is a great source if you’re trying to memorize names and faces! I even have a fun little game at the end! This was super fun to make!!!! 

[princess-of-purple-prose]

HIII writing prompt “monster” and 7? 💕

Giggling the teensiest bit, I love you <3 No, really, I love you, because 7 was, amusingly, the wildcard number, so randomly picking landed me on TIM STOKER, and I don’t think I’ve ever written in his pov before but this CONSUMED ME?? I haven’t written this much in one go in weeks, forget this fast?? This also, uh, turned into full-out jontim, which was a complete accident because this was SUPPOSED to be a meditation on him mid-Research era. Aha. Enjoy!!!!

“—and that,” Jon declares, “is why it’s so vital to continue establishing Hope Spots, not just in spots ripe for ecotourism, but across the world.” He takes what must be his first breath in ten full minutes, and it’s only then that he seems to register Tim and Sasha’s twin gleeful expressions. His own expression goes a little funny. “Tim, Sasha, please tell me you weren’t—”

Sasha is already stabbing at her phone, fumbling a little before she actually hits the right button. “Twelve minutes and forty-six seconds! A new record!”

“The man’s a monster!” Tim toasts Jon with a whoop, and Jon—there’s really no other word for it: he fully pouts at Tim, wrinkling his nose so primly it makes Tim want to bear-hug him right then and there. He sublimates the urge by being even more over-the-top, trying to see if he can make Jon’s nose scrunch up even more. “Attenborough who! I want all my documentaries voiced by this man!” Opposite him, Sasha dissolves into tiny giggles, sweet and delicate as a spray of mayflowers.

“Sasha missed the ‘stop’ button about five times, you can’t call that—” Jon snorts, but his cheeks have turned the rich cherry of his desk back at Research, so he can’t be that mad about their subpar timekeeping of his latest incredibly disorganized, incredibly endearing overview of the last documentary he watched.

“Jonnnnnn, take the win!” Tim cries, and he gives in and slings an arm around Jon’s shoulder like it belongs there. God, the man’s teeny, they need to make sure he gets some carbs in him. On that note— “Take some chips, too, you’re built like a bird!”

“And you’re built like,” Jon grumps, “a—a—” He scowls and takes a chip, presumably only to cover the fact that he’s too drunk to come up with a simile. Contrary little bastard, he is. “Get off me, you arse.”

Tim makes a complaining sound even as he immediately pulls away—only for Jon to jolt and then practically butt up into Tim’s hovering arm, far more housecat than bird. Tim freezes, not putting any pressure against Jon even though they’re skin-to-cardigan again.

“Jon…?”

Oh, there it is, there’s that wrinkled nose. Tim loses his breath, a little bit. “I didn’t mean it,” Jon says, scowling even harder than he’d been before and refusing to look Tim’s way. “It’s—It’s cold in here, alright?”

As a matter of fact, it is a comfortable degree of stifling in here, and Jon is in a cardigan that’s more than enough to ward off the mild autumnal chill and drunk besides. Jon seems well aware of this, or maybe not aware at all, because as Tim settles tentatively against him again, he grabs for his long-forgotten glass and downs the rest of it. Tim gives Sasha a wide-eyed look, only for her—traitor! Disloyal turncoat!— to smirk back, propping her chin up with a hand and arching her perfect eyebrows at him.

“Oh, shut up,” he snips, cheeks warming, just as Jon sets down his now-empty glass. Jon turns to him curiously, having entirely missed the exchange, and Tim turns his brightest beam on him and coos, “Not you, you’re a delight and I’m glad you’re sitting next to me and not”—he aims another scowl her way, and Sasha sticks her tongue out at him—“Sasha over there, because she gives me a hard enough time without you there to egg her on worse.”

Sasha smirks harder. Tim wishes he could kick her under the table without Jon noticing.

“I’m perfectly capable of siding with her even while sitting practically on top of you,” Jon sniffs, drier than anyone should be capable of being with that quantity of liquor in them, and Tim gapes in outrage even as delight fills him up to the tips of his ears to match Jon’s still-red cheeks.

“That’s what I like to hear, Jon!” Sasha cheers, raising her own empty glass to him. Jon quirks a wicked little grin and does the same.

Tim emits a high-pitched squawk of disbelief. “With friends like you, who needs enemies?” He sags dramatically against Jon, relishing in his little grumble of annoyance as he gets crushed. “What’s a guy to do?”

“Buy us more drinks?” Sasha suggests innocently to the tune of Jon’s sniggering, and Tim groans theatrically even as he flags down the waiter for another round. Monsters, the both of them! he laments to himself. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

[disenchanted-youth]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: ลางสังหรณ์ | The Sign (TV 2023) Rating: Explicit Relationships: Phaya Chadayu Kamonwipak/Tharn Wansa Raksil Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, this is just shameless smut, Morning After, phaya is whipped, and tharn is trying not to be but failing miserably, there really is nothing else to tag

Summary:

“Awake?” Phaya asked, his face and neck glistening with sweat, a wide smile on his face. “I went out for a run,” he added, catching Tharn's frown, “I wanted to be back before you woke up, didn't want you to think I ran out on you.”

---

The morning after they have some fun again before leaving for work.

[liesonthefloordramatically]

tired of having a gender at work; I don't want my colleagues to perceive me anymore

[pierog]

after a bath, a play with her trainer’s child, and a kiss on the nose, laika was sent up to orbit in sputnik 2.

"Laika was quiet and charming ... I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live." -Vladimir Yazdovsky, medical scientist

her satellite transmitted for 7 days on the frequencies 20.005 MHz and 40.010 MHz. enclosed is the recording of Laika’s heartbeat before passing away from overheating. 

did she die for her country, for the progress of humanity and space exploration? some say she did. it made no difference to little Laika, floating in the great expanse of space above, peering down through the satellite’s single window, built just for her; the shaggiest, lonesomest, goodest girl in the world.

“Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We shouldn't have done it ... We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog.”  -Oleg Gazenko, leading scientist, and Laika’s trainer

[tinemilk]

Respect the source material

Over the years there have been many adaptations of books, comics, video games, and much more. There are many adaptations that are good or decent, however, there are many that disregard the original material.

When it comes to adapting something that already exists in a different form of media than film or TV, is that there are expectations. Expectations of a dream cast, the set, music, storyline, you get my drift. Of course, it is impossible to meet everyone's expectations of the above, yet there is one expectation that is not impossible to meet and that is to follow the source material. So many movies and TV shows forget to follow the source material, there was a reason it got popular in the first place. It became popular because people liked the original material. (Even if it wasn’t major popular, if it has original material that is what should be what is strived after.)

Many adaptations get rewrites that completely crash with the original material and such rewrites most of the time lead to it being a bad adaptation, or at least a disconnected adaptation. Adaptations are not the writers' or showrunners' own story being brought to life, it is someone else's, and that should be respected. Because if it isn’t respected it comes off as "we just wanted an already established fan base to get money from, but we don’t care for the material you are fans of. So, sucks to be you." Which is, to be honest very off-putting and sad. Because they take away the joy by dismissing the core fans. Yes, a show or movie should be made so that everyone can understand the plot and more without being die-hard fans, but that is very much possible without disrespecting the material. Also, it is always going to be the established fan base that is going to do the unpaid and sometimes unnoticed promoting of the adaptation. So, adapting a movie or show that is as close to the original material as possible is just being decent.

There are of course allowed liberties if they do not change the story or character into something/someone new. Everyone understands that a word-by-word adaptation is impossible. But striving to have a very close adaptation should be the goal.

I think most people agree that The Last of Us is a very good and close adaptation. It has taken liberties but kept close to what the material. (I haven't played the game, just watched reviews on YouTube and talked with others about it.) (I just know more about F&B and hotd, okay so I can actually talk about it.)

House of the Dragon is a show that has done the opposite, it has taken too many liberties. While it is decent, but a rush show on its own. It is very far from the book. While I know that the book is written by an unreliable narrator, there are still many changes from what is reliable. There are many examples of how many liberties the showrunners have taken. Timeline, character relationships, changed entire events, characters have been altered, costumes have been lacking, and so on.  These changes take the show more and more away from the original material and end up at "yeah we just wanted an established fan base". There is such a difference that one has to clarify if it is the book or show canon, and when that happens you know it failed to bring the source material to life.

Fire and Blood even has lots of room for liberties since it is written by an unreliable narrator. They had every chance to show how Rhaenyra is slandered by history and men for the simple fact of being a woman (who liked being a woman), and how victims are not always the perfect victim. They had the chance to create a TV show that focuses on power intrigues and relationships between characters. They had a chance to show how war changes people even if they live in a violent society. Love stories of both romantic and platonic feelings. HEALTHY FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS! RHAENYRA AND LAENA. What I am trying to say is the possibilities for liberties that make the original story more were there, but they did not take them. Because they disregarded the material.

RESPECT THE FUCKING MATERIAL. THERE IS A REASON PEOPLE LIKED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

this is about showrunners and actors who think that the og material isnt that important

[shiemori-writes]

Hello! I see that the request are open so, Ace, Deuce, Jack and Azul x gender neutral! Reader, separately, headcanons, where the reader plays the pocky game, and when they are about to kiss, the reader intentionally break the pocky as a little prank. Don’t worry, in the end the boys get a little picky on their cheek.

Thank you!

—POCKY KISSES!

You decide to tease the boys with the pocky challenge, how will it go?

characs: jack and azul

contains: sfw, fluffish crack, gender neutral reader

notes: hello! gardener since I already wrote for ace and deuce in my other pocky works, I decided to just write for Jack and Azul, hope thats ok!

♡︎JACK HOWL♡︎

Jack doesnt really know what the pocky game was to be honest, and he'll communicate as such, but he's open to trying it out.

You explain the rules to him and he tries (keyword:tries) to keep himself as composed as possible and has to constantly try to keep his tail from wagging

He agrees with little to no complaint and accepts your "challenge" he likes seeing you all awestruck after all. Not that he'd ever say that outloud.

Jack decided to take initiative and grab a pocky stick, plopping one into his mouth stiffly as he waits for your response, giggling you simply bit the end of the pocky gently and hummed happily, enjoying both the flavor and jacks expression hehehe

Deciding to be bold, you leaned closer and closer, seemingly trying to get a peck from him to tease him

Jack merely froze, his tail going stiff and eyes wide as he anticipated the kisd until-

chomp!

"Hehe~ looks like I win jack :D"

...Oh

Oh.

Dear sevens end him now

Trying to keep any sense of composure both for his sake and yours he awkwardly coughed and nodded, hesitantly praising you for your win, albeit with a badly hidden disappointed tone

Taking notice of this, you chuckled quietly as you leaned in for a sweet peck on the cheek, satisfied with the game.

Jack really couldnt conceal his grin that day

♡︎AZUL ASHENGROTTO♡︎

Ah, the worldly known bussiness man Azul Ashengrotto, to what does he owe the favo- oh,— uh prefect!

Dropping the scheme he was about to play upon realizing it was just you, he merely waved at you as his gaze landed on the treat you were currently holding.

"Oh? Are you trying out a new treat prefect?" He raised his brow "Or perhaps we could sell those, Its quite popular, I've heard, for whatever reason." He replied, grinning at the possibilities he could—

before he can continue with hid inner-bussiness-monolouge you decided to interrupt his train of thought by saying you wanted to play the pocky game... With him... Ok ok, cool, the pocky game hm, yes He supposes he can sp- THE POCKY GAME?!?

Now Azul wasnt a stranger to this game that landdwellers seem to love, he's been aquinted with the Cater Diamond after all, so of course he knew. But dear sevens orefect were you hearing yourself?!

Trying to keep his voice from shaking, he covered his red face with a cough, agreeing in a formal matter as if it was a bussiness proposal (i love this dork sm)

As he motioned you over to the VIP section for.. privacy-

(he didnt want the tweels to tease him with this)

He let you grab a single stick as you beckoned him over, his hands clammy he decided to step closer, taking a bite at the pocky as he shakily took a breath. Keep calm azul, keep calm- PREFECT WHAT ARE YOU((-*WKCJWICBE

YOU WERE LEANING IN CLOSER OH LORD HE'S SEEN FILMS WHAT IS HE GONNA DO- oK cALM DOWN ASHENGROTTO. YOU GOT THIS. BE SUAVE AND COOL SUAVE AND—

CHOMP!!

.....

.....

....What?! Did he hype himself up for nothing!? He- he read the signs wrong he-

"Hehehe! I win zuzu~" you coyly announced, proud at his flustered state.

Deciding to apologize you kissed his cheek gently as he looked at you in bewilderment. Stuterring out a quiet "not fair" response as he pouted at you.

Congrats! Now comfort your sad pouty octopus

[eyreemusings]

Riddle Rosehearts, if he is to be a romantic trope, is first love.

Not the fluffy kind. Not the first time touches and sweet clumsy kisses and sappy promises of love everlasting.

He is the hurting kind.

Realizing that the wild lurches of the gut, the erratic beating of the heart, and face slightly flushed is love only when he witnessed his beloved go through the same thing. Not to him, but to another.

For most, a realization of a first love sends fits of joy and giddiness to the heart as flowers fall from the sky.

For him, he felt that, too, for a brief moment. yet waves of sorrow, regret, and pain flooded him harshly as he realized he loves and he lost long before he actually tried.

[aggressiveguitarnoises]

i have media studies exam (although mock so its fine) that i didnt study for so im gonna force myself to practice by applying barthes narrative theory to season 1 hannibal (vaguely tbh cuz its the whole seasom but ok)

hermeneutic codes(how do u even pronounce this omfg) :

enigma codes, they are def crucial to this show as each episode raises more and more unanswered questions as the audience continues watching the show, questions like who is commiting the crimes, is will ok, does he know how fucked up his clocks are, is crawford fucking stupid, is abigail ok, what the hell is hannibal doing, why are they using cat guts for strings, are the dogs gonna live oh my god please can the dogs be okay for once

usually done by leaving cliffhangers for each episode

it drives the audience forward and interests them so they continue watching the show to find out the answers to their questions

its also a convention to use hermeneutic codes for horror crime shows like hannibal

Proairetic codes:

action codes, the actions done to drive the narrative forward, previous events drive other events into action. ngl this one is fucking stupid to apply i dont get if i ever apply it correctly

in hannibal, proairetic codes tie a lot with hermeneutic codes as the actions of the characters raise questions for the audience questioning their choices and makes the audience wonder what will happen next. the action creates tension and makes the audience wonder how the created problem(if there is one) will be resolved. for example when hannibal lecter called abigails father to inform him that "they know" and that fbi is on the way. this drives the narrative forward as then the audience wonders how the characters will react and wonder how the actions will affect the story. this action ended up with abigail becoming an orphan and their suspect dead, creating a few side plots and introducing new characters. this constant tension created by each action drives the narrative forward and engages the audience to continue watching the show

semantic codes:

connotations, things associated with something, the deeper level meaning of a symbol. this one is hard yet so easy cuz theres literally SO many of them

they basically give insight into the plot and characters, building personalities and maybe even starting the deep questions the audience will have

for example, for hannibal, hes quite sophisticated, the semantic codes for that would be how he wears suits all the time, his overall style and his acquired taste. those things connote sophistication, wealth and even control and power (especially the suit and his high respected position as a psychiatrist)

but another thing that can be derived from things like how hes always careful, always has a cloth that doesn't leave any fabric fibres, how he doesn't use anything digital, only physical things like journals to leave no traces, the fact that hes literally eating his evidence lmao, his knowledge and experience of human anatomy and mind connote that hes a careful, experienced, ambitious man and prob(definitely) is a serial killer

symbolic codes:

it has such an easy concept that its literally confusing to understand. its basically symbols, binaries, a thematic/structural device, but it's basically about themes and contrary signs specifically, which is ig why its kind of difficult to understand since its specifically binary symbols

some symbolic codes in hannibal would be life vs death, clearly a reoccurring theme with all of the crimes happening, good vs bad, murderers and their victims, health? both physical and mental? stability? work vs personal life? idk its so hard to pin point it even tho its so easy and common idk

a better example woukd be the bad vs good binary used in star wars with ghe colours of light sabers

Cultural codes:

literally cultural and social conventions, knowledge that comes from the outside world of the text, specific connotations used

example, FBI for crimes and america, religion and faith, the whole fbi units especially medical, even Christmas is a cultural code as its a celebrated event of certain social and cultural and religious conventions

bruv i cant think of any more examples even tho i know theres so many

hope yall enjoyed my silly analysis of hannibal as my media studies application practice if u read it all xx

[newtness532]

my study sessions consist of 60% singing along to songs, 15% of staring at the wall, 15% looking up random things or getting up to do unrelated stuff and maybe 10% actually studying and then i have the audacity to wonder why it takes me so long to finish anything

[hexjulia]

ugh reading a book of poetry based on really liking a single poem and then the rest is just sort of mid navelgazing with extra space is really depressing for some reason