Another take from my end on the continuation of this much-beloved story, this time solely focusing on Andrei & Mike as they meet the ill-fated Steven from the original series by @apushforfolly
Bodybuilding is a rather tight-knit global community. The people you competed back in Las Vegas would be your competitor again in Dubai, in London, yeah, you get the gist of it. So while the Prince is busy consolidating domestic power, what the Prince directed the rest of us to do is to basically get our grip within the bodybuilding community and the ever-growing and increasingly cocky finance bros as stealthy as possible. Sander handled the finance and all those podcast bros flocking to Dubai. Meanwhile, me and Mike are quite influential within the UK bodybuilding circles, and with us based in Dubai, we did leverage that to our benefit as we lured some of the aspiring talent and even several of our old friends for a free Dubai trip which would lead to the end of their life as freedom human entity. Take Rory over here, quite a rather close friend of Andrei before the Prince and then I took this British-Romanian hunk for a spin
Rory eagerly took the offer to rekindle the friendship that just severed out of a sudden as he based himself in Bali while Andrei got his mind fucked by me as I hyper-focused myself to serve the Master and enlarge his influence. I didn't like to waste my time so within the first day he landed, right after I showed him and his girlfriend around their apartment I said to be free of charge as it was still in the market anyway, I simply bitchslapped him until he passed out and then proceeded to infect his girl first, taking the delight of Andrei's fucked up mind that held grudges to Rory for stealing his first crush, her. She cried, obviously, and even harder when she could feel that something terrible is coming with my cock that somehow enlarged beyond her comprehension, because it almost doubled in length and clearly that's not normal and she knows that. As my contained sludgebros released like a damn broken faucet into her throat, her eyes rolled to the back as black sludge overflown her mouth. But she's quick to regain her consciousness and with her mind set to infect her passed out boyfriend, I simply put my sweatpants back on and left the two lovebirds to settle their business.
That's basically one example of our MO, but it's the most effective because these bodybuilders really trust each other, especially when they came from the same country. And when we reached more bodies, it means we have more field operatives to take care off potential puppets. For example, Nico, like Andrei, is Romanian, and he's been out from the spotlight for a while. But, his physique is still great and he's considered a legend among the younger bodybuilders. So, of course I utilized his eagerness to learn a thing or two to become relevant from Andrei as my entry into his tight straight cunt and basically turned him into a puppet.
The legend status he holds gives him easier access to reach the coaches and the more senior bodybuilders, not even a week and he's already turning Jerome Weeks into a puppet too, just look at that wide, slightly off-putting smile the two of them did, if people paid attention a bit more, clearly they can tell that something is a bit not right there
There's also this easily leveraged dynamic of leeching off each other or trying to be in the more influential person's good light, and Mike really milked the shit out of it. He's charismatic, he's also probably the most well-off among the others and you just don't want to mess with him as he can legitimately messed with your influencer career if you crossed him.
Olly and his older stepbrother Craig bumped to Rory and Mike in the middle of a gym, and of course they asked Mike and Rory for a quick pic. The two brothers already planned to utilize the picture for some clout but they are also legitimately looked up to Mike especially, hence the slightly tense pictures despite multiple takes.
What the two humans failed to realize was the fact that both Rory and Mike licked their lips as they watched the siblings walked giddily to the locker room after the pic sesh. They grinned to each other and decided to join the two brothers in the locker room to have some "pep talk". While Rory handled Craig, Mike sauntered the impressionable 20 years old blondie. At first excited to see his idol and tried to respectfully stand up, Olly found himself taken aback as Mike instead pressed Olly back to the seat and then smirked
"I see the potential from you, dude. You can be a jacked piece of shit in no time and fucking popular too. All you neeed to do is open up that mouth, I know you blondie want a piece of this meat,"
Bewildered, Olly tried to fight back but Mike asserted his dominance in a split second as Olly found himself unable to even stand up as Mike held his shoulder and forced him to stay seated
"Don't force me to use my strength, noob. Now, as I said before, you have the potential, just open up that pretty mouth and let me show you how to get big," Mike said with a shit-eating grin so uncharacteristic of him. His crotch just inches away from Olly's quivering lips, and from Olly's POV, he meant every single words he said. Olly still resisted, he tried to scream for help but Mike's hand quickly muffled his mouth, blocking him to even let out a sound. He simply wished that anyone will walk in and caught Mike red-handed, but it seems like it's not goint to happen anytime soon. Unfortunately for him, as his eyes wandered looking for any good samaritan that can help him out of this predicament, his eyes caught a bizarre sight as his married stepbrother bobbed his head up and down Rory's dick like a cum whore! Mike gleefuly said with sinister undertone
"Yeah, even your older brother knows it's the right thing to do. Heck, it's the only way to get big nowadays. It's time for you to also start accepting that as the truth. Now, I won't repeat myself again, open,"
Seeing the tight-lipped Olly, Mike then take the liberty to simply fish out his cock out from his workout shorts, revealing a mean-looking 7.5 incher semi-hard uncut meat throbbing with excitement. He's been going commando since this morning, and the tough workout regiment clearly caused him to accumulate quite some sweat in his crotch. Mike just grazed the tip of his meat right to Olly's pink lips before the young sophomore jock relented to the pressure. His throat felt sticky and sore from all the thrusting, but he found out that he got no gag reflex whatsoever which caused Mike to grin in the first few seconds after the entirety of his cock lodged into Olly's throat
"Ohhh fffuuuckkk you really meant to be a cocksucker bro!"
The whole facefucking lasted for about 6 minutes before Mike started to get tight and exasperated. When Rory and Craig circled around Olly, that's when Olly realized that something is not right when his stepbrother's eyes looking a bit empty and glazed. But not long from both Rory and Craig sauntered the both of them, Mike shot his copious load into the trembling Olly, his body went on a full seizure as the slug takes over his bodily system. Olly eventually regained his consciousness and the first thing he do is to cough out the sticky mess that filled his mouth when he passed out and replaced by an alien slug. He then smiled a very wicked smile
"Now, can I infect other human on my own?"
"Hahahahahah, love the spirit, but not so quick bro, not so quick,"
----
So when Steven Barnett, a bodybuilder with Mining Engineering degree, arrived in Dubai for an all-inclusive honeymoon after marrying his girlfriend for 3 years which also happened to be the daughter of a US Army General, the gym junkie decided to squeeze in several workout session since he knows some of his favorite bodybuilders are based in Dubai. Unfortunately for him, the Prince intel already put a target behind his back the moment he booked a flight to Dubai with his now-wife.
The penthouse arranged by Andrei, the tour around town with Rory, the workout sesh with Mike and Olly, everything is simply part of the plan to ensure that Steven is well-monitored 24/7 throughout his stay. The Prince believed that it's time for him to make another move after consolidating the power in Dubai, and America sounded like a solid plan. So, when Steven walked into one of the last gym that has been recommended by a lot of his online followers, it's already a trap ready to capture him to become yet another puppet in the growing collection of the Master. He's just simply oblivious to the fact that he posed with puppets controlled by mere black slug that looked like a pitch black oil he found in his day job.
this week, the theme posed to the server was: ✨ a fic that surprised you (in a good way) ✨
a dream is a wish (your heart makes) by @cokehead-zeroed || marcheron || 1,003 words || reccer's notes: it's so cute it surprised me by making me go head over heels for a concept in just 1k words AND develop what felt like a very strong 'brad' voice in so few words as well, something i did not think was possible
and it was all orange by @blindbatalex || marcheron || 2,736 words || reccer's notes: i. laughing. i was laughing so hard at this, but at the same time it was actually lovely hurt/comfort
commitment ceremony by @sphesphe || marcheron || 1,577 words || reccer's notes: i was surprised/delighted with the way the woke-up-married trope interacted with the marcheron dynamic and then by the dynamic itself. just an absolute adorable fic all around
leave an imprint (on my skin) by @cokehead-zeroed || Marchy/Marner || 2,733 words || reccer's notes: I had never considered this pairing before but this fic made me fall in love, I walked into it skeptic and wary and walked out of it a believer
It's Not a Crush! by PartTimeMurderMuffin || Marchy/Sway || 5,818 words || reccer’s notes: I honestly didn't expect to see this pairing at first (yes even tho I ship Brad with basically anyone on the team) but yea it's so cute
Signs Point to Yes by @siterlas || Marchy/Bergy/Sid || 6,990 words || reccer's notes: when i first saw this i thought what is the polar bear doing in arlington texas but i was very pleasantly surprised and i loved the way the three of them just meshed with each other throughout the summer. 10/10 chef’s kiss
so i'll watch your life in pictures like i used to watch you sleep (and i'll feel you forget me like i used to feel you breathe) by @munch4march || marchy/segs (past) || 3,659 words || reccer's notes: i ended up in this story by accident and via not reading any of its tags but i was so glad that i did, because what a beautiful take on failed relationships and love that lingers and all the ways it is and isn't enough
Red Dust by Aaron_The_8th_Demon || marcheron || 69,350 words || reccer's notes: they did an amazing job of covering medical issues in this I was extraordinarily impressed by it and then even more impressed when they told me they weren't in the medical field they just did a shit ton of research for it (even came up with a reason for space pneumonia based on real pneumonia????!!!) and while the surprise of the fic was something they built up to beautifully I still didn't fully expect it because i was like there's no way they're actually gonna do that and then *they did it anyways*!
turn them inside out by insunshine || Gregory Campbell/Daniel Paille || 5,418 words || reccer's notes: I just wanted to peek into the soupy tag to see what was available for him, expecting pretty much nothing and I got a story that made me feel a type of emotional tenderness like my feelings had been put through a wash/dry cycle
What I Want and What You Give by waffles_007 || marcheron || 27,964 words || reccer's notes: the premise itself was so surprising and there's so many lil surprises for the characters throughout. it's QUITE a fire fic
What was your interpretation of Armand calling Louis "maitre"? I saw your tags on the post about Louis calling him Arun and that Armand called him "maitre" bc Louis in that moment taught him to choose for himself, and I was wondering.
I, personally, immediately thought of that one post that talked about how Armand tries to love Louis like a worshiper loves a god, how Armand tries to create this dynamic and becomes resentful when it doesn't really work. Like this scene really felt like a reflection of that. Of Armand defaulting to and manipulating the relationship into a dynamic he thinks will keep Louis around or make Louis love him/a dynamic that Armand thinks love looks like. And calling Louis "maitre" was just a part of Armand trying to create that dynamic.
Anyway, tdlr, I would love to hear what your interpretation was.
i'm still rotating all this in my head so i might have completely different ideas tomorrow but here's my current thoughts!
louis says: "and then you can decide if you want it back." "i want you." armand claims he already knows what he wants. but he told louis earlier how he's had these different names and isn't even sure his birth name actually is arun. that he doesn't know who he is. "you sure about that, arun?" how can you know what you want if you don't even know who you are? but armand is sure. in 2x02, he says maitre is a "coven endearment". he may not be ready to leave his old coven quite yet, but armand wants to start a coven of two with louis, and to confirm that, calls him by a term of coven endearment.
louis in that scene talking about being good at running things, is basically positioning himself as an equal to armand in terms of having management experience, and then goes on to give him advice as a peer. so i took armand calling him "maitre" as kind of acknowledging that; they're both masters in this new coven of two. they can take turns being in control, creating a shifting dynamic new to them both.
"intermingling, innovating, collapsing two art forms into one, coming up with new ones!"
BUT ALSO it reminded me of some book quotes. under the cut for length and marius cw
in iwtv 1976 armand has a human boy he keeps:
The boy filled his glass and held it up now in a salute. ‘My master,’ he said, his eyes flashing on me as he smiled; but the toast was to Armand.
“ ‘Your slave,’ Armand whispered with a deep intake of breath that was passionate.
armand calling himself the boy's slave is obviously not true at all. armand has all the power here, they're just playing pretend.
and then in the vampire armand we get some background on this little game he plays.
the first time marius drinks armand's blood:
“I hurt you!” he said.
“No, no, not at all, sweet Master,” I answered. “But I hurt you! I have you, now!”
“Amadeo, you play the devil.”
“Don’t you want me to, Master? Didn’t you like it? You took my blood and it made you my slave!”
He laughed. “So that’s the twist you put on it, isn’t it?”
“Hmmm. Love me. What does it matter?” I asked.
“Never tell the others,” he said. There was no fear or weakness or shame in it.
I turned over and drew up on my elbows and looked at him, at his quiet profile turned away from me.
“What would they do?”
“Nothing,” he answered. “It’s what they would think and feel that matters. And I have no time or place for it.” He looked at me. “Be merciful and wise, Amadeo.”
For a long time I said nothing. I merely looked at him. Only gradually did I realize I was frightened. For one moment it seemed that fear would obliterate the warmth of the moment, the soft glory of the radiant light swelling in the curtains, of the polished planes of his ivory face, the sweetness of his smile. Then some higher graver concern overruled the fear.
“You’re not my slave at all, are you?” I whispered.
“Yes,” he said, almost laughing again. “I am, if you must know.”
for a moment, armand thinks he has something over marius now, that their relationship has turned around on its head. marius very clearly thinks this is ridiculous, but he indulges in this idea that his thirst for armand's blood gives armand power over him equal to the power he has over armand. marius knows this isn't true, and armand knows it deep down too. he has more power than other humans, sure, but only as much as marius is willing to give him. this equilibrium is nothing more than a comforting illusion.
louis and armand's power differential isn't as big as the one between marius and armand was of course; they're both adults, both already vampires, and neither legally owns the other. but armand is still much more powerful than louis and they both know it. armand wanting louis more than anything in the world gives louis a little bit of power over him. but only as much as armand allows him to have.
"yes maitre", he says. but they're just playing pretend, creating a comforting illusion of equilibrium.
march 25th. Owen and his girlfriend Izzy decide to order some good old doordash because why not, and the dasher rings the doorbell, drops off the food, and is about to get into the car when-
GASP
IS THAT NOAH?! OWEN'S CHILDHOOD FRIEND WHO MOVED AWAY!? AT HIS DOORSTEP?!
(ramshackle pilot refrence teehee, GO WATCH IT ITS ON YOUTUBE I LOVE IT)
anyway, Eva grabs the food, Owen stops the dasher/Noah from leaving and asks if it's really him, Noah says some sarcastic remark about how "no, i'm just a stranger with the exact same name, exact same hair, and exact same childhood best friend from 10 years ago," they reunite. but now Noah has to go do another order, so they exchange numbers and Izzy makes a group chat titled "team e-scope."
(nobody questions the group chat name because it's Izzy, she winks at the 4th wall /j)
and all the sudden, Owen starts ordering doordash more, and keeps asking for a certain employee. at this point Owen knows Noah's schedule better then Noah does because he wants to see his little buddy!
but what's this? this is a nowen AU? so why are Owen and Izzy still together?
WELL NOT ANYMORE *hits ozzy with the break up beam*
and during that period of time, between Izzy breaking up with him and his desire to be closer with his childhood best friend, Owen develops a litttttle crush. just a little.
and at the same time, Noah realizes just how much he loves Owen. his smile, his warmth, both physical and personality, the way his touch was slowly helping Noah out of the cold touch starved house he locked himself in. and the more he thinks about it, the emptier his apartment feels.
and Noah develops a littttttle crush. just a little.
they're both scared to love again. Owen doesn't want to build walls, but the other part of him wants that extra protection, even if the construction hurts more then not having them does. Noah doesn't want Owen to put walls up, because he knows from experience (how's Emma doing now?) it's not worth it. he doesn't want to lose him the same way he almost lost himself (does Owen wonder if Izzy's moved on by now the same way Noah wondered?)
but it's okay, because they're working on taking walls down together, one brick at a time.
but right now it's march 25th, so Owen's just going to plan another doordash order. he just reunited with his Noah! surely he works tomorrow too, right?
Hey, do you remember that really homoerotic scene from Skyfall? No? That's okay, here's a Vettonso version of it :)
- explanation & w/o text:
Hi hello, finally my weird psychosexual relationship with Casino Royale has come to fruition. Yeah this is directly based off a scene from Skyfall, but I def envision the vibe as being more like Casino Royale hehe. I can't believe I made that inspo board for this AU almost 4 weeks ago, and then ended up drawing a four panel "comic" about it. Ahhhh proud of myself, a bit, a tad. I think this took 20+ hours across the span of a week? God. Anyways I digress! The AU!!
First of all, their Bond song would be "My Way of Life" by Frank Sinatra. It's so toxic, codependent and obsessive, I'm in love with it. And it really suits Fernando and his motivations and outlook in this AU. Basically, MI6(in the context of James Bond) in this AU is an analog for Ferrari. It picks theses guys up, tells them that they're Ferrari MI6's most special boy, chews them up, and then spits them out when they're finished extracting all their talent and skill and life force.
Much like with Ferrari, Seb in this AU replaces Fernando after Fernando loses favor and becomes undesirable. Now Seb is the new golden boy, and Fernando has turned to a life of crime! Fernando resents Seb for this of course, but also becomes obsessed with him and the idea of him , and how they are connected. It's weird to watch someone else basically go down your exact same path and unknowingly make all the same mistakes(buying into the mysticism of it all too much, being overly cocky, having naive beliefs and goals, etc.) He is caught between wanting to doom Seb even more but also wanting to "save" him, by corrupting him and convincing him to work together.
Basically: He's both a Bond girl and Bond villain.
Fernando is in such a weird place in this AU. I think he's just very dramatic. Seb is just casually living his best 007(005?) life, and Nando is watching him with binoculars, whispering to himself: "DOESN'T HE UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE NARRATIVE FOILS!?" Yeah he hates Seb, but like the song lyrics say, their lives and dreams are inherently tied up together. He would feel lost without Seb, because Seb basically, unknowingly, destroyed and then took over his life. Maybe he'll feel satisifed if he manipulates Seb into going down the exact same path a bit better.
About the drawings themselves. Still can't believe this scene is a real thing that actually happened, insane to me. But in this AU, after the events of these drawings, Fernando definitely kicked all his henchman out of the room, and fucked Seb in the chair. And then against the wall. And then on the floor. Hey man, Seb is already looking mighty delicious with his unbuttoned attire and being tied up.
I think the general plot would be that Fernando keeps trying to seduce him to the dark side, and Seb keeps making him think it worked, only to escape at the end of the encounter. Leading Fernando to just come up with increasingly more violent and kinky traps. Seb goes along with it(read: enjoys it), leaving Fernando satisifed, only to somehow escape and wink and make kissy faces at Fernando in the process. (Fernando smoking cigarette in bed: "How do I make him stay. Sigh.")
I like to think though that Fernando does win in the end, by realizing, ah wait shit I do need to actually explain my motivations to Seb. And Seb is so worn down by his job, not Fernando, and how he's being treated, that he listens, really actually listens, and realizes Fernando does really have valid reasons. And then they become evil crime husbands yayyyy. Wow you thought this was a espionage AU? Well it is, but just not the outcome you'd expect.
I love kabru like he’s established as this manipulative and shady person with ulterior motives who could be a major threat to laios’s party, but he also is one of the most empathetic and kind characters in the series and does his best to try and help everyone bc he is one of the people who understands the situation the best. and I think ppl are too focused on the first part they forget the second part. (Anime onlies are ok bc you guys haven’t gotten his character development yet ^^)
Also his party getting wiped out constantly in the beginning was funny as fuck
ok yknow what else. I am so glad they're acknowledging the 180. I haven't really voiced this cuz I was otherwise so excited for this season but I really was on the verge of indignation about them just deciding to make gabriel a goofy sidekick after he was literally the biggest villain of season 1. it really felt like they weren't willing to acknowledge just how much pain he's actually caused aziraphale and crowley and, to be honest, it seemed a little out of the blue that aziraphale would try to help him. but no. they're actually talking about it. it's a central point of conflict for them that crowley rightfully wants nothing to do with this because it's GABRIEL, he tried to kill aziraphale, he's still understandably terrified that heaven will try to hurt him again, and now he wants this guy nowhere near either of them, and cannot understand why aziraphale would have him in his bookship after what he's done. and as for why aziraphale wants to help him, that seems like it's actually going to be explored rather than just accepted for the sake of the plot moving forward. not only have they not forgotten just what gabriel did or tried to do last season, they're placing that lasting fear and apprehension towards him front and centre and are going to have aziraphale and crowley conflict over whether or not he deserves their help. I'm honestly so relieved because I had always been staunchly anti-gabriel and never really enjoyed the fandom's overly jovial attitude towards him, and was genuinely really skeptical when it seemed they were going to make him a sympathetic character in the new season, especially since the trailer played the comedic angle for all it was worth. but it's not just absurdity for absurdity's sake. it's actually something for our main couple to work through. the writing knows this is a difficult shift in dynamic to contend with. and they're directly employing it as an obstacle for aziraphale and crowley. it's really good and it's put a lot of my worries about the overall tone and messaging of this season to rest
when people ship shusumi do they gravitate to the bubbly "kasumi" front during the 1st/2nd semester or do they not count that and portray sumire's character for who she is during the last few hours of the game. do they have both coexisting at the same time but then what's the middle sweet-spot for it? their entire dynamic changes fundamentally as a result of the third semester.
and wouldnt joker feel a bit lied to since the girl he met in the beginning who was so, so nice to him essentially a fake? would this girl still approach him with kindness if she was her true self? how does he want her? is it cruel to miss the "her" when she was parading as a corpse? because after the third semester nothing will ever be the same between them. we as a shusumi society should entertain the idea of their divorce more. in this essay i will
remembering on my circa 2017 booklr I used to tell people to read Gemma Doyle by describing it as trc but with an all girls boarding school / all girl group in a historical setting… I was trying to do the lord’s work she deserved tumblr fame
i have to say, though, as much as i like reading about the astarion romance and absorbing it passively via tumblr posts, as of yet i'm far more intrigued by the dynamic astarion and my durge character have going on when they don't romance astarion and when they thought he was a nuisance (derogatory) up until late act 2/early act 3. it adds such good layers imo...
because, well, they aren't doing it for any benefit, they don't love him more or differently than the others—quite the opposite, actually. he's probably the least favourite party member for quite some time, and yet they do all these things for him. they put up with him despite disagreeing all the fucking time; they don't mind his...clumsy vampire reveal; they protect him from (i.e. don't rat him out to) the monster hunter; they let him feed on them—and don't chase him away after he accidentally kills them the first time—repeatedly, even when that means they're woozy for the day; they walk him through the whole raphael quest, only sometimes stepping in to be a guiding hand but otherwise letting astarion make his own decisions; they promise to come along to fight cazador; they promise to try and steer the ritual in astarion's favour; ...
they do all of that, again, not because they love astarion in a more significant way (though i don't think romantic relationships are by default more significant than platonic ones but i digress), not because he's somehow special to them. and, again, he only became a nuisance (affectionate) after late act 2, early act 3. their relationship was at a whopping 0 or -1 for a LONG time. so them doing all these things for him still, despite the bumpy relationship they have, feels so significant to me.
and from what i passively absorb about astarion's charatcer, it must be utter whiplash to experience! imagine the guy who can't stand a single opinion you have, who you also can't be fucked to care about beyond your alliance of convenience, repeatedly risks their own skin for you and goes out of their way to help you in various ways, asking for nothing in return—when you fully expect someone who doesn't even like you to ask for something, literally just anything in return. who does that??? are they mad??? of course, you begrudgingly also risk your skin for them once in a while, but usually only in immediate battle—where you obviously have to mind your allies. but they keep defending you in dialogue and refusing to rat you out when they have every reason to do so.
after 200 years with cazador, it seems such far away a notion, so utterly impossible that someone does something for/with him just because they respect his autonomy and personhood. not because they value him as an asset but simply because he exists. what the hell