#johan-the-unknown

[pngjamie]

Will different specimens have different drone counterparts? Doll being in the place of, say, specimen 6, for example.

in other words, yes :)

Previous Next Beginning

[mikurulucky]

Johan and Peewit are both neurodivergent, you can't change my mind. ^_^

[pigs-in-art]

Credited to Johan 'Mari' Henri ten Kate

[theartifxce]

"Shit!" Few things make the hair on his neck twitch, and after some consideration Kenzo is well versed in accepting his fate. Except when in the hands of an absolute monster. He holds a scalpel, the only weapon at his disposal in an otherwise empty, dimly lit office. "I-I guess old habits die hard." 👀

A smile had formed upon hearing the other break out of decorum; an ugly twisted little thing pulled at the edges of his rose colored lips. He took his sweet time walking down the empty hall, the slow tapping of his shoes leaving behind a haunting  while following closely behind the vulnerable doctor. With his hands tied behind his back and his shoulders pronounced in his veneered poise; Johan paused at the open doorway and turned when he finally spotted the other, barely - in a poorly lit office space.

Johan's snake-like eyes contradicted the gentleness of his demeanor. His contorted shadow stretched along the only source of light on the floor painted his being in a more candid way. He stopped after only taking a few steps into the room, not wanting to corner the already frightened man before him. He took a moment to consider the room, reading the golden nameplate on the desk as “Kenzo Tenma” and he smiled amusingly.

“Hello, Dr Tenma.” The words slithered off of his tongue in a gracious manner. Then he locked eyes with his, reveling in the clear apprehension and confusion pooling in his autumn hues. “Why do you look as though you’ve seen a ghost Dr?” He teased, a light chuckle humming at the back of his throat. He closed his eyes and unfolded his hands from behind his back - as a way to relieve the other that there was nothing being concealed about him; not a weapon or a trick up his sleeve.

“Are you really that surprised to see me?” He allowed his words to linger in the air before continuing, “ - Given you’re the one who brought me to life once again?” He mocked - a slight tinge in his tone blundered his usual restricted speech. Finally, he reopened his eyes and stared, focusing now on the scalpel in his hand. He was quite entertained by his weapon of choice. It was ironic but also very fitting. If the kindhearted Doctor would choose to end his life now out of all the more suitable moments the call for his death was necessary, Johan would simply let him do it. 

 It was only then did he raise his arms up to depict there was no need for such hostility. “ Please rest assured Dr, I am only here to talk with you.” As if he would trust his mechanical, half baked smile for anything human. But given the circumstance, did he truly have any other choice? “Of course, if you’d rather take my life with that scalpel in your hand, you’re more than welcome to do that as well.”

He offered him a way out - the only other way out.

@dernarrleid

[random-brushstrokes]

Pierre Louis Alexandre "Petterson" (1844-1905)

(Unknown Artist, Georg Hansen, Gunnar Börjeson, Ida von Schulzenheim, Martin Aronson-Liljegral, Matilda Hanström Berendt, Nils Larsson, Ingeborg Westfelt-Eggertz, Karin Bergöö Larsson, Emerik Stenberg, John Simpson, Caleb Althin)

Pierre Louis Alexandre is mainly known as a model at the Art Academy during the latter part of the 19th century. Artists who depicted him include Anders Zorn, Karin Bergöö (Larsson), Johan Krouthén and Oscar Björck. Pierre Louis Alexandre (1844-1905) was born in French Guiana and came to Stockholm in 1863, probably as a stowaway on an American ship with pork in the cargo. Here he made a living as a stevedore worker, but has mainly become known as a model at the Art Academy. In the archive sources, he appears with the swedish surnames Petterson and Alexandersson respectively.

Some characters steal your attention right away. Like the man in the oil painting that hung in Mats Werner's childhood home in Stockholm. The portrait made a strong impression on everyone who came to visit. It was painted in Stockholm in 1879 by Karin Bergöö, later Larsson after her marriage to the famous artist Carl Larsson, and depicts a man of color sitting reclining with his hands clasped over one knee in a mild, warm light. The man radiates both a peaceful calm and a dormant strength. The gaze is fixed on the distance. The image has an enigmatic atmosphere.

Mats Werner eventually inherited the painting from his parents. When he later cleaned out a basement storage room he found a folder with drawings. One of them depicted the same man as in the oil painting. Werner got curious: Who was this man? What was his story? Were there more portraits? Mats Werner began a dedicated detective work that led him to a large number of authorities, consulates, archives, libraries and so on in different countries. The dead ends were many. But the man must have made an impression in 19th century Stockholm? Very true. Werner came across various stories about the man's background and theories about how he ended up here. Eventually, the picture began to clear. The enigmatic man was Pierre Louis Alexandre, born in 1844 in Cayenne, French Guiana. He probably arrived in Stockholm in the mid 1870´s with an American ship. He escaped from the ship and earned his living as a dock worker. As the harbor closed in the wintertime due to heavy ice, he was lucky enough to find a new income as a model at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1878 and 1903. He acknowledged his first model fees "Louis Pettersson”. Alexandre was married twice and lived at several addresses on Södermalm in Stockholm. He died of tuberculosis in April 1905.

There are 43 known portraits of Alexandre by artists such as Karin Bergöö, Anders Zorn, Oskar Björk and Emil Österman. (source)

Read more:

The Artist’s Model: Pierre Louis Alexandre

Searching for Pierre Louis Alexandre

[theflagscene]

My Top 10 BL Kisses of 2024💋

It’s the end of the year, so what better than to look at some of my favourite smooches that happened throughout it, my own stipulation is that the majority of the series had to have aired this year. Meaning -

Any series that aired in it’s entirety in 2024

Any series that started in 2023 and ended in 2024

Any series that has started in 2024 but will end in 2025

1) Phaya & Tharn’s fantasy kiss - The Sign

2) Alan & Jeff’s face smush kiss - Pit Babe

3) Mut & Rak’s first beach kiss - Love Sea

4) Jack & Joker’s first kiss - Jack & Joker U Steal My Heart

5) Fadel & Style’s ‘I Miss you’ kiss - The Heart Killers

6) Karan & Achi’s first kiss - Cherry Magic TH

7) Myungha & Yeowoon’s finale kiss - Love For Love’s Sake

8) Wei Qian & Zhu Yuan’s first time - Unknown

9) Johan & North’s café kiss - Fourever You

10) Oab & Plawan’s dubcon bathroom kiss - This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans

[henk-heijmans]

Unknown, ca. 1955 - by Johan van der Keuken (1938 - 2001), Dutch

[gingiesworld]

The Scarlet Storm : Hydra Reborn

Chapter One

Taglist : @mothertoall2 @natashamaximoff-69 @canvascoloredin @wizardofstories @louxbloom @wandanats-goodgirl @the-ox-fan20 @ladyqueenxoxo @aemilia19 @wandaromamoff69 @mfd-101 @dorabledewdroop @marvelogic @dopeyouth @karsonromanoff @bimad @reginassweetheart @machyishere @gemz5 @pawiie @duckiekong (If you want to be added to my taglist, please DM me or comment)

After Thanos was finally defeated. The world lost some heroes. Tony sacrificed himself, leaving behind his 5 year old daughter Morgan and wife Pepper.

Clint was the one who sacrificed himself. He finally beat Natasha at her own game. Leaving behind his wife and children.

The there was Vision. The one who gave his life, scarificing himself to stop Thanos from retrieving the stone. Only to have Wanda watch him die once more.

The world was working hard on mending itself. Bucky and Sam had disappeared to work on some case. Leaving Natasha, Wanda, Steve and Scott at the Avengers compound. Yelena was travelling, in hopes in helping people adjust again.

"Hey, are you ok?" Wanda asked Nat as she walked inside the meeting room. Seeing Nat looking for someone. Seeing a name on the screen. Y/N Romanoff. "I didn't know you had a daughter." Wanda stated only seeing the last picture that was ever took of Y/N. Back in Ohio

"Y/N is my sister." Nat said quietly. "Well she was. We were split up before Yelena and I were took into the Red Room. Y/N was taken somewhere else."

"So you want to try and find her?" Wanda asked her.

"I do." Nat said as she turned to face the witch. "But she hasn't surfaced since she disappeared. I hoped that with everyone being back, she may be one of them. She has this thing with her eye. Most of the kids used to call her a freak or a demon. She has this red line going through her left iris." 

"You don't think she could be, you know?" Wanda asked her sadly.

"That's what we were told when we were first taken in, but then Dreykov told me years ago that she was alive." Nat informed her. "He only said one name after that before he tried to escape. The Lightening Soldier."

"I remember that name." Wanda said as she used the computer. Typing in the name. A picture came up of a tall masked figure. The only name noted was the Alias they are known by. "Pietro used to tell me how they used to train him with his super speed and combat skills."

"They were experimented with an enhanced version of the super soldier serum. Also giving them super speed." Nat read from the file. "They have only been spotted a small amount of times."

"They get moved very often. Hydra didn't like to keep their most prized weapon stationary in the same place for too long." Wanda informed her. "Last known location, Russia. Five years ago." Wanda pointed at the screen.

"Do you think they could still be there?" Nat asked her. Wanda shrugged unsurely. "I just need to know for definite if my Y/N is still alive or not."

"We will." Wanda told her, the two coming up with a plan.

----------------------------------------------------

Y/N had been awoken from their cryofreeze slumber. Frozen in time for five years. Johan Schmitt's grandson, Alec Schmitt took over his plans with Hydra. Finding the unknown Hydra base in Russia. Coming across a chamber, the power was still surging through the base. Keeping the Cryochamber working. Keeping The Lightening Soldier in a frozen slumber.

He had read up on The Lightening Soldier. Knowing that she is the older sister of the Natasha Romanoff. Also that she doesn't remember a single thing about her life before Hydra. She doesn't remember her sisters.

He started the defrosting sequence. Hoping that The Lightening Soldier was still Hydra's property. Once the sequence was complete, the chamber hissed as the hydraulics to the door had finally been opened. After years of being locked.

Alec watched proudly as The Soldier opened her piercing blue eyes. Noticing their was a red line through her left iris.

"We have work to do." He told her with a smirk. "Hydra will be born again."

----------------------------------------------------

"So, let me get this straight." Steve started as the remaining Avengers stood in the briefing room. "You want to fly to Russia in hopes of finding your sister. Who may or may not be this Lightening Soldier."

"Yes. That is exactly what I want." Nat told him as she crossed her arms.

"And who is going with you to look for her?" Steve asked her.

"Me." Wanda said as she stood beside Nat. "I will go with her."

"Me too." Maria told him.

"Look, I understand that this is important to you." Steve started as Nat shook her head.

"Not just to me Steve. Yelena, Melina and Alexei." Nat told him. "We were all told that she died. Was killed during experimentation and now we have a real lead on her."

"So you think that this Lightening Soldier is Y/N?" He asked her.

"I do." Nat told him. "And I think she is in Russia but we will only find out if we go there ourselves."

"Ok. We'll leave at dawn." Steve told them all before walking out. The three girls glanced at each other.

"Did he just?" Nat asked as both Maria and Wanda nodded. "I can't believe it." Nat whispered. Looking at the two pictures. Her eyes staying on Y/N. The Y/N she remembers from when they were children.

"Are you going to tell Yelena?" Maria asked her as the three stood there.

"No." Nat told her. Turning around to face them both. "I think it's best to tell her after we find Y/N and bring her home."

The Avengers were coming up with a plan to find Y/N, while Alec was coming up with a new order. Bribing some SHIELD agents who were stationed in Russia. Using Y/N as a scare tactic to get them to fall in line.

Hydra was being reborn.

[iguessitsjustme]

These are off the top of my head. I only have so many spaces so I an bound to miss a favorite couple.

[maleyanderecafe]

The Nerd Turned Out to Be the Tyrant (Webcomic)

Created by: Hwanghween/TOFU

Genre: Isekai

I was actually pretty surprised how fast the male lead turned into a yandere, but I guess that should be expected from series like this. It seems to be setting up a good plot for later down the line, and Lev has already seemed to attach himself pretty hard towards to Lucette already. In total, there is about 30 chapters out right now.

The story starts out with Lucette gets isekaied into the story she's reading on her phone after being hit with a car. She's pretty happy that in the story she seems to be a side character very far away from the bloody plot of the story and lives out her life happily as a result. While out, Lucette views a boy being bullied by other kids because of his red eyes. Lucette is able to save him and he invites her back to his house accidentally finding the bottle of "medicine" that he has and giving her cookies as a thanks. Lucette even goes back to her house to gift him some of the stew her mom makes, with her mom even coming over to give Lev pie as well. The next day, Lev meets up with a magician revealing that he is actually a prince (or at least of royal blood) sent out here to live in hiding. After forcing the magician to leave, Lucette comes to meet Lev and asks him to join her in a competition during one of the festivals. Although he initially didn't want to, after hearing that she might go with someone else, he changes his mind to prevent this from happening. Back in the capital, the younger princ,, demands that he be able to see his older brother to the magician, to whom he agrees and gives him his cloak as a way to teleport to his location. Lucette and Lev have fun together at the fair at least until he hears his younger brother looking for him. Lev corners his brother in an alleyway as to not alert Lucette that he's part of the royal family, and forces him to leave, not wanting to see or really deal with the royal family again. The two of them end up going to a trivia competition after a while, with Lev doing extremely well and answering pretty much all the questions correctly, including the name of the magician in the last question, something is pretty much unknown information to all those but the royal family. They win a bunch of gold as a result, and because Lev did pretty much all of the heavy lifting during the quizzes, Lucette promises to give him three wishes as a result. For his first gift, he requests Lucette to accept a necklace from him to wear. Upon going back, we learn that Lucette's mother is going to open another store with her aunt, with Lucette helping there as a result. Here, we learn that another friend of Lucette, Dominic, is learning to become a blacksmith and Lucette starts to wonder what new goals she should be aiming towards. Meanwhile, Lev gets a surprise visit from the empress and afterwards promises to keep Lucette safe from harm. Lucette gets a stomach ache from eating too fast, but unfortunately, she learns that the village itself has a very shoddy pharmacy, which leads to her thinking about Lev's medicine and then later wanting to be a pharmacist herself.

After walking back, they are caught by Johan, one of the people who created the quiz that they won, offering to tutor them in whatever studies that they need, as they were able to answer the last question. With this, Lucette decides to study in pharmaceuticals with Lev deciding to do magical engineering and martial arts. However, upon returning home Lev passes out due to have forgotten taken his medicine earlier, so Lucette is forced to feed him the medicine mouth to mouth as it's too sticky to get into his mouth manually (apparently). Unfortunately this causes Lucette to pass out once Lev awakens, as the medicine is specifically made for Lev and can cause casualties to anyone else who ingests it. Luckily for Lev, Lucette wakes up pretty much fine afterwards. Lucette continues to learn more about pharmaceuticals (after a teacher who initially didn't teach well as to prevent Lucette from making the same mistakes she did, but ultimately was able to fully teach her). There's some jealousy between Lev and Dominic after Lev finds her talking to him, with Dominic even dragging her away from Lev while it rains. We learn about the magician that Lev talks about through Dominic as his older brother would often tell stories about it. Lev and Lucette later exchange gifts, with Lev gifting Lucette another necklace that allows the two to communicate (like a phone) and Lev getting a bunch of medicine that Lucette makes for him. While learning to fight with the knights, his teacher notices that Lev was likely trained by the royal members, and Lucette eventually meets with Dominic's older brother and learns more about the royal family and their stories. Meanwhile, the Empress attempts to separate and keep Lev's younger brother safe as he's the next in line for the heir, even making a deal with the magician to see what his future holds.

We get to see the original protagonist Aloise, who becomes one of the candidates to marry the king, however, very desperately doesn't want to stay, as it's likely she may die. As a result, her father tries to sneak her out by disguising her as a boy. In addition, Lucette's mother is revealed to be a former maid, and recieves a letter asking her to give up her child, which she refuses. Meanwhile the king finds out about Lev's existence and tries to get people to find him. Lucette has a presentation for her class, however after finds Aloise and her father roaming around the palace area. Lucette runs into the magician who gives her a warning about watching over the audience before he disappears. Just as the magician says, Lucette finds someone who is suspiciously eying the crowd. which leads to her protecting Aloise, as it turns out that man is an assassin. She is successfully able to save Aloise but gets stabbed in the process, causing Lev to hear the commotion and run to hold her. He gets angry at Aloise and her father for letting this happen, and stays by her side until she recovers, promising that he will not let this happen again. We also see that Lucette's mother is interrogated by a member of the royal family who has gone looking for her, and while going to Lev's house, Lucette ends up meeting Lev's younger brother. Lucette befriends Lev's little brother, while Lev is trained by the magician. The story ends with Lev trying to send his brother home to prevent Lucette from being dragged into everything only to be caught by the empress who demands he let his son go.

To be honest, when I first started reading this story My Sister Picked Up The Male Lead, which is similar in some aspects but generally pretty boring, but it actually surprised me with how nice the relationship between Lev and Lucette is. Lucette as a character is generally pretty plain, but one of the things I do like is her drive to become a pharmacist, which ties into not only her drive to help her community but also connects to Lev, wanting to help him with the medication that he has. Lev similarly wishes to protect Lucette from danger, training more physically as well as honing his magical skills as well. It's a nice way to showcase how much the two of them care about each other. I also like how Lucette's mom has more of a role in this story as well, having to run away with her daughter after the death of her husband and become a store owner instead, leading to more of her importance than just a bond with her daughter and keeping the relationship with Lev and Lucette alive. One of the things I'm generally more confused about in the story is Lev's side of the family. While we know he was sent away because of a prophecy, it doesn't really make sense why the magician keeps coming over and training him as well, especially since he's supposed to be living in secret from the rest of the family. And while it is noted that he has red eyes, which is a big indicator, and does hide it with his glasses, it's strange to me that it is only really mentioned about twice, and most importantly when Lucette and Lev first meet while he is being bulled. I do feel bad for Lev's brother, who wants to see Lev after he left, but I also don't really understand what is going on with the empress that much, as it seems like all she wants is to use Lev's brother to usurp the throne. I guess in the end, they are all looking to use Lev in one way or another (including the magician), but they really should stop coming into his house so often if he's supposed to be undercover.

Lev as a yandere shows signs pretty early on after the two of them meet. Lev is already pretty protective over Lucette, especially so when she gets into danger like with the assassin, promising that he won't let this happen again. He also gets jealous very easily, especially with other guys their age like Dominic, even asking Lucette to choose between the two of them if they had to save one of them. He does his best to keep Lucette away from his family business, forcing his younger brother to leave and later telling the magician to stay out of their business, even though eventually it will be inevitable that Lucette gets sucked in because of her mom's history. The necklace that he gives Lucette where they can both talk to each other also serves as kind of a wiretap (though in this case Lucette is aware of it), and as the title suggests, it seems that Lev will be fulfilling the prophecy later on and becoming a tyrant, thanks to Lucette. I'm not sure if this story will get dark at all or even how dark it might get, but I can imagine it both ways where when the timeskip occurs, Lev becomes much more possessive over Lucette or where Lucette is able to calm Lev down and be more as equals (as they are currently).

So overall, I think the story was a lot better than I thought it was going in. Lucette has a goal as a main character which is always nice to see, has a good relationship with Lev and it's fun to see Lev slowly develop more yandere like behaviors towards her while also being tied into his entire family drama.

[unhonestlymirror]

"The Prophet Johan", unknown Italian artist, 17th century.

[trancylovecraft]

I've been thinking about the blood of an unwilling covenant constantly since I first read it and just wanted to tell you, also saw you mention that you probably weren't going to explain the situation with F/Ns parents in fic and wanted you to know I am VERY curious as to what their deal is

EGEGHJIRUGHRHGUI IM HAPPY TO HEAR THAT YOU ENJOYED THE FIC SM!!! I'll be happy to answer, Mostly because if I do a one-shot or smth on it, it may be a while-

AND I KINDA REALLY WANNA RAMBLE.

OK SO. Before I explain I suggest you read the translation of The Official Blue Exorcist Side Story: Bloody Fairytale. You can find a translation here done by @29rynoah which I have read sEVERAL times over. I highly recommend it as it's one of my favourite stories from AOEX.

However if you wanna skip that, Tis cool.

[F/N]'s mother is Maria LaMorte from Bloody Fairytale, Who had given birth to [F/N] during her imprisonment within The Vatican.

[F/N] herself is probably the oldest of the exwires, Her birthday being sometime within early January.

Now here's the million dollar question, Who is the father?

Shiro Fujimoto.

During the events of Bloody Fairy-tale- Maria is in the middle of completing her rather grandeur goal of trying to turn the town into naberius' and other adjacent creatures. Of course, This doesn't go to plan though, When Shiro and Johan show up unexpectedly within the invasion.

Maria of course, As the story goes, Plays the victim and pretends that she had no idea what's going on.

Shiro, Johan, Maria and the rest of the townspeople barricade in the church as normal. The story continues on however there's a switch in the story.

Shiro approaches Maria who is leaning over on the balcony. Of course, Shiro keeps up his demeanour, Already aware of Maria and her intentions. They get to talking and Maria herself is attracted to Shiro despite not recognising her own feelings.

Though, Maria herself DOES recognise seduction as a way of manipulating others.

So of course one thing leads to another and suddenly you have the both of them climbing out of the same makeshift bed. Maria came out of this with much more complicated feelings than she had thought she'd have.

But on the other hand?

Shiro himself is at the point in his life where he's much more dark and gritty than the one we see raising the twins. This is an average thing for him, He's a player, He sleeps with women left and right. He knew very well that this was an attempt to manipulate his feelings.

But to be honest? He doesn't care.

The story plays out like normal afterwards. Shiro exposes Maria's plan and she gets sent off to the Vatican for Life imprisonment. Shiro and Mephisto get in the car and they drive off as normal.

However this time, Maria comes out of it pregnant with [F/N].

She was born almost one year before The Blue Night within a holding cell in The Vatican. Her birth was completely unexpected from both the guards as well as Maria, Who was one of the rare cases of not showing at all during a pregnancy.

[F/N] was born fragile and weak, Both doctors and guards believing she would die soon after birth. And on records? That's how it went.

According to The Vatican, The baby died a few hours after being delivered. Shiro was told of the baby's existence while he was caring for the twins.

Of course, At this time he's a different person from who he was a year ago (Post-Blue Night) and now feels shocked and a bit of regret for not knowing of [F/N]'s existence.

However, There wasn't much he could do now.

The baby had died, He couldn't change that.

However despite what the records have said. Some of the staff that were employed to help deliver the child had sworn that they saw a tall man carrying away a baby in his arms. His identity unknown, Hidden by the darkness of the night.

[F/N] was left on the doorstep of the youth centre in Japan without a single note or any clue as to where she came from. The youth centre, After having no parents claim the child, Took her in and raised her within the adoption system.

It's still unclear where her penchant comes from, Though the leading theory is the mixture of demonic influence from both sides of her parents (Maria's being her association with undead demons, Specifically Kin of Astaroth. Shiro's being the fact that he's a clone as well as a bit of satanic influence lingering on him. So much so that in some aspects, You can consider [F/N] somewhat related to Satan in a sort of 3rd parent situation.)

Perhaps you can even consider her not entirely human. Though, That part is up for interpretation.

But as it stands? Her two birth parents are Maria LaMorte and Shiro Fujimoto.

-TML

[arendelle-archives]

Who's in the portrait from Frozen - The Broadway musical?

A quick recap: in the original Broadway production of Frozen, during "For the first time in forever", Anna is seen next to the portrait of some unknown gentleman. Who is he?

I initially thought (incorrectly) this was a portrait of a young King Karl XIV Johan who was the king of Sweden and Norway (where he was known as Karl III Johan) during the years 1818-1844, i.e. during the time Frozen takes place!

Portrait of crown prince Karl Johan by François Gérard 1811 (cropped).

It could have been a cool easter egg to have him appear in the musical but unfortunately (for me) it was not the case!

My friend @bigfrozenfan suggested (correctly) that the uniform of the man in the Frozen portrait was borrowed from a painting of the Russian prince and military commander Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky (1776-1852):

Portrait by English artist George Dawe circa 1823.

Unfortunately, this only gave us half the Broadway painting. We still needed the guy's face. Browsing image results on google, this painting of Russian politician and military commander Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov (1774-1817) popped up, and it was a perfect match!

Portrait by George Dawe from some time before 1825.

Once we mirrored the picture...

Broadway on the left and original to the right.

Now, why Pavel decided to borrow his countryman Pyotr's uniform in the Frozenverse we can only speculate. What we do know is that they were both long dead when Frozen takes place.

Why were these portraits chosen by the set designers? Why not just use one portrait and call it a day? Why mane an edit? Probably just for fun. Maybe to confuse see if someone would figure out what it was based off of! 😄

It should also be mentioned that something strange is going on with the left epaulette. Compared to the original (right below), some elements of it has been copied and pasted in the Broadway version (left below). I have no idea why. maybe to save space in the picture. Other than that, the uniform appears to be completely unaltered.

I hope you learned something! 😁

Summary:

[pigs-in-art]

Credited to Johan 'Mari' Henri ten Kate

[coolcatatajazzclub]

Johans Murder Of Richard Braun

Monster Analysis

I’ve been wanting to write this for a long time, but didn’t have the energy to start it until now. This analysis might be obvious to some and unknown to others regardless, I want to get this all out and share it with you guys.

When Richard first meets Johan, he sees what everyone else sees when they look at Johan. They see a young college student who is more than happy to help out his community. But Richard trusts his intuition most likely to do with his experience of being a past investigator. Not paying attention to what other people say or what is on the surface but always focusing on what they feel is right, using that intuition to lead them to the answers they’re looking for.

Remind you of someone?

Although Mr. Jonesis has a usually keen eye for a person's nature, his emotions clouded his judgment, much like Richard's emotions about Jost clouded his judgment. Richard just beloving Jost to be a monster when he is a human being. and Mr. Jonesis believing his son a good moral man when he is a murderer.

I’d like to point out before I continue that both Johan and Richard have surface personas. What I mean by that is both characters have an outward disposition that they show to the world, an image that they want the world to see. This fault image hides who they really are, for Johan it’s him being a nihilistic serial killer, and for Richard it’s him being a murderer to someone who didn’t deserve to get murdered (Jost). I think this is the reason that Richard was so suspicious of Johan, since Richard knew not to trust appearances, and to go beyond the surface and find out someone’s real character. As Richard knows what people are capable of hiding, what he’s capable of hiding.

On The Outside Both Seem Like Everyday Men, but this is a Lie....

Unfortunately for Richard though Johan is instantly able to pick up on this suspicion from Richard and thus the meat of their interactions begins!

Johan makes it all the way to Richard’s apartment. I believe Johan had not called beforehand, instead wanting to catch Richard by surprise. If this is true then Johans plan worked great, as he was able to listen to Richard and his daughter phone call, and save that information for later. Richard is obviously stunned by Johans appearance at his door but decides to go for drinks at a bar with him to find out more on his plan with Schwald. (No doubt Johan choosing the “hangout” spot for them).

Almost as soon as they reach the bar the conversation inevitably shifts to Richard’s past, and the mistakes that followed as a result of Richard’s poor decisions. Of course, Johan jumps on this change of topics to passive aggressively torment Richard on his murder of Jost. Johan knows Richard is very defensive of his murder stemming from his guilt of conscience on what he’s done. Knowing Richard’s guilt is what caused him to lie to everyone (and himself) about being Drunk on the night he shot Jost. Johan uses this knowledge on Richard to further decay his resolve on the “Good Cop” image Richard has in his mind; by repeatedly reminding Richard of all the reasons he was unjust in his Murder. Notably mentioning Jost was a juvenile at the time of death, something Johan wouldn’t miss as he is (at least in his mind) a child advocate.

The End Is Near…

The final part of Johan and Richard’s interactions is the Rooftop scene. One of many rooftop scenes in Monster, albeit a more remembered one, due to Johans manipulation of Richard. This would be the meat of the essay as there’s so many different things to discuss. The first portion of the conversation between Johan and Richard I’d like to talk about is the line that Johan says to Richard “How weak mind when it wants to forget. Maybe you didn’t forget, maybe you’re lying”. To me this line is something Johan says with malice, as Johan doesn’t like people denying their nature. We see this with Johan’s interactions with Tenma, trying to get Tenma to accept the darkness in himself and the darkness around the world, clearly upset at Tenmas “denial” of the truth. I believe Johan would want Richard to accept what he’s done and accept his monstrous crimes. “You’re guilty of murder. Do you think your lies can free you.” “That boys blood is on your hands. How are you going to look Rosemary in the eyes tomorrow? Isn’t her daddy a coward and a murderer, hiding behind an empty bottle.”

These lines really struck me as so similar to Johan’s own story. Johan was a murder from a young age and always his that gruesome fact from Anna by lying about what he had done to all the couples he had murdered, framing their death as something nondescript or accidental. In the end though Johan’s lies couldn’t free him from his crimes, as the Liebert’s blood was right outside the closet. And in the end Johan knows Richard won’t be able to look Rosemary in the eyes because Johan wasn’t able to look Anna in the eyes when she confronted him about his crimes. On the night Johan got shot he believed himself to be nothing but a murderer and a coward himself as he wasn’t brave enough to be honest with Anna about what he thought was his nature. The Nature Of A Monster Capable Of Murder. So Johans words to Richard ring true for Johan knowing he too was once in the same predicament as Richard all those years ago. And Richard just like Johan will have to face the inevitable rejection of the ones who matter most to him, or he can end it right now to flare himself the pain. A pessimistic outlook and fear Johan plants in Richard’s mind. An outlook sprung by Johans own experiences.

Notice how Johan can't look Anna in the eyes believing himself a monster worthy of death, something Johan wants Richard to accept aswell.

If you made it this far thank you for reading! Please credit and I hope you Enjoyed! PS: I think I might need a drink from Johan after writing this much....

Thank you to princessgarnetxvi on Tumbler and YouTube and to Leovoid on YouTube for both of your support in the Monster fandom! I got a lot of great insights into the Monster fandom from them! Insights that helped make this analysis possible!

[artandthebible]

The Adoration of the Child

Artist: Antonio da Correggio (Italian, 1489–1534)

Date: 1518-1520

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Description

Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio, named after his birth town, can be considered the leading figure of the renewal of early 16th century Emilian painting. Having started out in the Mantuan scene, where he had the opportunity to study illusionism based on perspective and the recovery of Mantegna’s classicism, he enhanced his expertise by learning Da Vinci’s sfumato and the Venetian tonalismo techniques. The result was a fresh, vibrant style of painting, focused on expressing the tenderness of personal relationships, and capable of winning the beholder over with its likeable spontaneous characters and precious, delicate colours.

The provenance of this painting is unknown, but we do know that the Duke of Mantua, Ferdinando Gonzaga, chose it as a gift for the Grand Duke Cosimo II de’Medici so it was definitely considered one of the painter’s masterpieces. The work came to the Uffizi in 1617 and was located in the Tribuna, where it remained until 1848. In the famous view of the ‘Tribuna of the Uffizi’ painted in 1772 by English artist Johan Zoffany, the work occupies a prominent position alongside Raphael’s ‘Madonna of the Chair’.

The subject of the painting had been quite popular in the 15th century through the works of Filippo and Filippino Lippi, who had painted several versions of it. The iconography is inspired by the vision of the birth of Christ experienced by St Bridget of Sweden in Bethlehem in 1372. In her Revelations, the saint relates that” the Virgin then took off her shoes […] knelt with great reverence as if in prayer, with her hands stretched out in front of her and, then and there, in a moment and the twinkling of an eye, she gave birth to a Son. The newborn child suddenly appeared on the ground radiating an ineffable light. When the Virgin realised that she had given birth, she said to the Child: “Welcome, my God, my Lord, and my Son!” In the clear, esoteric dawn atmosphere, a beautiful, sweet Virgin kneels in front of the newborn Child, gazing at him with tenderness. The Child is returning his mother’s gaze, reaching out his tiny hand, as babies do, as he tries to grab her robe. The intimate bond between mother and child is emphasised by the fact that the baby has been set down on a piece of his mother’s robe.