Taehyung Pescatore/Trivia

* Taehyung came from a redesign of an original character Carri "Uccelli" Osei. Both are heavily inspired by BTS's WINGS era.
	+ The basics of Uccelli and Taehyung are the only things similar about the two. Uccelli's own past is unknown, although implied to be similar to Taehyung's but references the future eras, while Taehyung mostly sticks with *WINGS*, *YNWA*, and *HYYH*.
* While there are 7 members in BTS, Taehyung is based on the member Kim Tae-hyung's role as "V" in the HYYH and WINGS eras.
	+ According to the eras, V is a troubled delinquent constantly in trouble with the law who is abused at home by his alcoholic father and apparently kills him after he attempted to abuse his sister further. However, the use of alternate universes and conflicts in the storyline show events where Taehyung was stopped, killed someone else, or never had the situation with his father. The actions and consequences led to the events of WINGS.
	+ In WINGS, V symbolizes the "fallen angel" who was born into unfortunate circumstances, one that specifically "seduces" Jin into creating a pact with evil in order for the latter to travel back in time and save his friends. Since the era is based on Hermann Hesse's *Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth*, V represents the role of Max Demian, the titular Emil Sinclair's friend that is considered to be his Daimon.
* Taehyung's clothing is based on the WINGS photo album photoshoot, which dresses the members in silk-like lounge wear and formal wear. His dress shirt is in reference to Jungkook's Wheel of Fortune shirt worn in the music video "BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS".
	+ The reason why Taehyung is backless is due to his Stand being able to rip his entire shirt off when activated as well as V being the member that shows off his back scars during the WINGS era.
* Taehyung's battlecry is 총 조준 발사 (Gun! Ready! Fire!), which is referenced in BTS's song "Not Today".

## Notes from the Author

I had in mind to use my OC, Carri Osei, as a member of the new Hitman Team but as a male instead of a female. When trying to figure out which member would suit Osei's revamped version best, my mind immediately went to Pesci; Beach Boys was a known boy band and BTS seemed to fit right in as a potential Stand ability that matches its predecessor. Seeing how Pesci is shown to be a shy, timid character who avoids confrontation, I thought about the WINGS era, the HYYH era, how it relates to that in terms of it being a story about trying to escape from something. I felt like I needed a character who's story is about escape. While other characters are confronting their issues, their past, their present, I needed a character who didn't want to do that, who is too scared, terrified, to grow up and take accountability, yet learns to do so. Taehyung Pescatore fit in as someone who can show that it can be scary to grow up and experience truth, even if it's uncomfortable or even dangerous, but it is necessary to do so in order to become your own person. In a way, it reflects Narancia's character too: he was a child who wanted to join the mafia world head on because he was inspired to grow by Bruno Bucciarati's, and in his final moments he vowed to be a better person after it was all over. So, in a way, Taehyung is representation of what Pesci could have been, a homage to the growth Narancia went through, and someone that Carri Osei could have been had she finally decided to find herself.

*WINGS* was the album that really got me into BTS, almost like it's my first love to the band. I admired them so much and wondered how I would be able to create a Stand using that album. Who would have thought it would be obvious in terms of the name itself? At the same time, BTS is known for using imagery regarding birds, wings, flight, in not just their *WINGS* album but in their *HYYH* series as well. So it was only natural that birds or flying needed to be incorporated, which fell back into how Narancia's Stand is also about flight via airplanes. BTS has a tone of imagery and references to works, such as the Greek mythology surrounding Icarus and the coming-of-age novel *Demian*, so I had to use that in both Taehyung's story and character. For names, I had a hard time to choose between seven BTS members names, but I chose Taehyung, given that it is a rather common Korean name but also the name of the member known for his known interest in art as well as his role as the "delinquent", "fallen angel", etc. in the *HYYH* and *WINGS* era. I kept seeing references to paint, especially paint pouring out of the members' eyes like rainbow watercolor, and thought I should encorporate it into Taehyung's abilities which led to "BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS" letting him transfer or relieve pain. That, feathers, and shatters, were prominent motifs in that music video, and I chose the former because it was the most unique. Do we need another mirror ability besides Illuso's?

Much of Taehyung Pescatore's backstory references BTS's V's side of the story in the series. The song "STIGMA" aligns with "BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS" in terms of the euphoric powers the Stand has, both in giving the user relief and transferring pain to the user so the other could be relieved. I think Taehyung himself, due to religous trauma and other abuses he had been through, led him to think that he really is a bad person, a sinner who deserved to suffer; we also see that with V's character too. Taehyung ultimately learns throughout the journey that everyone else feels the same in their own way, but everyone has their own way of dealing or addressing it; that I think, especially when he interacts with Giorno, led Taehyung to realize that he isn't alone but also that he can overcome and find closure with the suffering he had to endure. I think that's unfortunately what the youth are first structured to think; we're experiencing this feeling for the first time and think, or subconciously think, that we're the only ones that feel much of this burden at this level of pain. And then when we grow older, express and open ourselves more, we realize that we're not alone with what we're feeling but also that we can overcome this. Taehyung as a result becomes a metaphor of growth and change that we can unfortunately relate to.

The complicated memories and inability to properly recall them comes from how confusing the HYYH and WINGS era storylines are. It's a known fact in the BTS ARMY that these storylines are extremely complicated and arguably an ARG of its own making, with some information only available to some fans due to translations and copyright issues. To play into that, I made Taehyung Pescatore unable to properly explain his past or remember due to his Stand's ability tampering his memories and emotions as a consequence of constant use. At the same time, it does address the psycological effects that trauma does have in response to the mind attempting to cope with it. As obvious with Taehyung, he purposely forgets or alters facts about himself because he subconciously refuses to confront the reality of his past. It's like a mirror shattering inside his mind, warping everything, and I wanted to write how the characters also interact with this facet of Taehyung's character and how that is similar to a real world understanding. Is it annoying? Pretty much. But Taehyung's team understands this isn't necessarily his fault and they go out of the way to ensure that he doesn't feel like a burden because of it. Because Taehyung is a valuable player in the team, whether the reader sees it or not, and not just because he has a Stand.

In a way, Taehyung Pescatore was made to be a character that is both tragic but also bittersweet. A reminder of how precious and fragile life could be, and how the path to growth and knowing oneself is one of the beautiful things life can give. A perfect symbol of HYYH's theme.