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daizymax · 5 months

Text

passionate | hhj (m)

summary: your greatest rival might actually be exactly right for you.

pairing: hyunjin x fem reader

genre: mafia!au, enemies to lovers, smut

word count: 6.2k

rating: mature (18+)

warnings & features: profanity; smoking; explicit violence; vague/brief mention of systemic corruption; bantering; graphic sexual content; fingering; face sitting; unprotected penetrative sex; creampie

author’s note: i’ve wanted to write red-haired hyunjin for soooo long. hope you enjoy!

( click here to read on AO3 instead )

---

The airplane has not left the hangar yet. Good.

The three men surrounding the plane are clearly not happy to see your black SUV pulling across their runway. Especially the tall redhead.

Good.

Chris rolls the car to a smooth stop. The passive-aggressive hostilities start as soon as you both step out of it.

“It must be really serious if you came all the way out here to see me personally, Y/N,” says Hwang Hyunjin, the red-headed ringleader of the little trio. If you didn’t know better, you would think he sounds more amused than wary.

You take one last drag off your cigarette, sigh the smoke into the breeze, crush the butt on the concrete with the toe of your shoe. Your bodyguard stands to the side, hands folded neatly in front of him, calm and silent.

“You’re the one flying out of the country in the middle of the night, Hwang,” you say, practically spitting his name from your mouth.

“I’m not—”

You cut off whatever bullshit he’s about to spew with a wave of your hand. “One of your idiots intercepted one of my shipments the other day,” you say, cutting to the chase.

The idiot in question — a dark-haired young man with soulless dark eyes — does not look to Hyunjin for his reaction. The third man — blond and freckled — does not take his eyes off you, either. They are not worried, which means their boss already knew about this. Maybe even ordered it himself.

Fucking jackass.

Hyunjin crosses his arms over his chest. “So it was an hour or two late, who gives a shit? You got it eventually, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, minus two cases of ammo. I’m going to need those back.”

His lips twitch. “Hm, now you’ve lost me. I don’t know anything about that.”

“Is that so?” You crack your neck on both sides. “I suggest you keep the fuck up, Hwang.”

Chris moves, grabbing and firing his gun with practiced speed and precision. The dark-haired man grunts and falls hard to his knees, courtesy of the new hole in his right leg.

The idiot blond reaches for his own gun to return fire, but he is too slow, and Hyunjin brings his arm up to stop him. His refusal to let his man retaliate tugs at something inside you. The look on his face, the murderous glare he gives his own man…

You shake your head, refusing to let those thoughts linger.

“You have until seven A.M. to give my shit back,” you say, slipping back into the passenger’s seat of your car, “or else Chris is blowing up your fucking plane.”

---

It is six fifty-six in the morning when the doorbell rings. Chris, already fully dressed, opens the door to reveal your one and only red-haired pain-in-the-ass.

“Where’s Y/N?” he asks straight away.

Chris answers with a question of his own: “Where’s her stolen ammo?”

Hyunjin scoffs, eyes crawling critically over the shorter man. “I’m not giving shit to a lackey. Move.”

“It’s fine, Chris, let him in,” you call out, tying your robe shut as you come hurrying down the staircase. The bottom of your silky robe sweeps across the floor.

Chris has barely stepped aside before Hyunjin is pushing past him, knocking his arm into the other man’s shoulder. Chris calmly shuts the door and puts himself between it and your unwanted yet expected guest.

Hyunjin is not paying him any attention anymore, however. His eyes are now raking over your slightly disheveled form, and there is an annoying smirk playing on his lips.

“Tell me something, Y/N,” he starts. “Do you still keep your gun strapped while you’re wearing that?”

You come to a stop a few feet in front of him and hug your arms under your cleavage. “I’ll show you my strap if you brought me my shit,” you tell him.

He tilts his head and lets his sly smile take full form on his plump lips. Then he looks to the side, combs his fingers through his dyed hair and says, “Felix is waiting in the car with your missing ammo.”

“Stolen ammo,” you correct. “Tell him to leave it in the driveway.”

“What, afraid I’ve rigged it or something?”

“Can’t ever be too careful with you, Hwang.”

He takes a step closer, then another. Behind him, you see Chris shift his weight. You look straight into Hyunjin’s green eyes and wait for him to speak.

He leans in close and says, “You’re the one who opened fire last night, sweetheart.”

You lean in closer, lips ghosting over the shell of his ear as you whisper, “That’s exactly why I’m expecting a trap.”

“Minho is fine, by the way,” he adds, as if you cared. When you say nothing, he continues, “All that for a couple cases of ammo? You’re something else, Y/N, you know that?”

“Wouldn’t have happened if you’d stayed on your side of the goddamn city.” Dropping your voice lower, you breathe, “Leave my shit in the driveway, then get the fuck out of my house, Hyunjin.”

He turns his face, and you swear you can feel his grin just from his breath. “Fucking love it when you say my name,” he whispers, practically moaning. His soft lips brush across your cheek, but it isn’t quite a proper kiss. Your breath hangs suspended in your chest.

He pulls away and gestures for Chris to move. When he steps outside, Chris watches from the doorway until you eventually see Felix back the familiar, vibrant blue sports car down the driveway and pull off.

Finally, you relax your tense muscles. “Son of a bitch,” you sigh under your breath.

Chris steps outside to retrieve your goods.

---

Sunday brunches with Jisung are a sacred thing. You know that. He does not have to remind you of it every time you’re late, but he does anyway.

“Well, well, well,” he tuts. “I was starting to wonder if little miss workaholic remembered where she carved out the couple hours for her bestie in between the other hundred and sixty-eight hours of the week.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry,” you mutter, yanking your sunglasses off your face and dropping them onto the table.

“What took you so long this time?” he asks. Three quarters of his mimosa is gone. “Wait, don’t tell me. Work, of course. Drinks are on you today.”

You gesture for him to hand you his menu. “I said I’m sorry.”

He sighs. “No, I’m sorry, it’s fine. Really.” He stares across the restaurant where Chris is negotiating with a family to give up their table so he can have it. “Why doesn’t he ever sit with us?” Jisung asks.

“He’s working,” you say flatly, scanning the menu quickly, even though you are ninety-nine percent sure you will order the same thing as always.

“He’s not a service dog,” Jisung says.

“Did I say that? Have you ordered already?”

“Just my drink— Oh, here comes the waiter.”

The two of you put in your usual orders — including another drink for Jisung on you — and the waiter whisks away again.

“So what was your super duper important work business?”

“I just had to oversee something across town. Hwang and I have been discussing some new borders.”

Jisung hums. “Does that mean you two have been getting along?”

You snort. “I wouldn’t go that far. He’s still as insufferable as ever.”

“Are you sure there isn’t a different kind of tension between you two? Like, of the sexual variety, maybe?”

You roll your eyes. “I’m not going to fuck him.”

“But there is tension?” Jisung presses, big brown eyes shining playfully.

“There’s tension alright, but not that kind.”

Jisung sighs. “Whatever you say, Y/N. Have you been dating anyone else lately? What about your broody friend over there? Ever hook up with him?”

You look over to Chris. Of course he was successful in securing the table with the best view of all the exits and all the people in the place. He always is.

You lean forward on the table and ask, “Why are you so interested in my love life today?”

“Because I get the feeling it’s in shambles,” Jisung states plainly.

“Wow, thanks.”

He gives you a tight smile. “Okay, maybe ‘shambles’ was harsh. What I should say is… nonexistent?”

“Wow. Thanks again, dick. You know what, I don’t think I have a couple hours to spare for you this week after all. I think I’d rather go back across town and argue with Hwang some more.”

Chris looks over at the sound of your harsh tone, but when he sees you and your friend smiling at each other, he goes back to surveying the rest of the building.

“Tell me I’m wrong!” Jisung says, laughing.

You roll your eyes and scratch at your wrist. “No, you’re not wrong,” you admit. “There’s just… no time for all that. Besides, you know getting involved with me isn’t the smartest thing in the world.”

“Safest thing, you mean,” he says, reaching across the table for your hand. “But it’s all right, babe. That’s exactly why someone like Hwang would be—”

“Don’t say it.”

He lets go of you, raising his hand innocently. “If you already know what I was going to say, maybe you’ve been thinking it, too.”

There’s really no point denying it and lying to your best friend. “Yeah, maybe,” you say, looking away.

“And that’s fine, Y/N. It’s okay to be attracted to him. It’s okay to act on that attraction. Even if your life is dangerous, you can still date someone. Especially someone with the same lifestyle who could end up being a good fit for you.”

He probably isn’t wrong about that, either. When Jisung is wise, he’s very wise.

You smile at him. “And give up Sunday brunches with you? No way.”

He snorts. “Did I say that? Although, if you did start dating someone — not gonna name names or anything, but hypothetically, maybe someone with red hair and a killer smile? — then maybe I’d be willing to cut back to every other Sunday. Just saying. I’d be willing to make that sacrifice for the sake of your love life.”

Sometimes you think you only have Jisung in this world, but with his support, maybe you could have more.

---

After hugging and bidding your dearest friend goodbye, Chris starts to steer you toward the car, but you decide the day is too nice to head straight home. After your little pep talk with Jisung, you’re in the mood to just enjoy.

But the enjoyment is over before it even begins.

Chris does not argue when you start walking down the sidewalk toward the shops, but he does hurry to shove you behind him when a white sedan with heavily tinted windows pulls up. The passenger window slides down just far enough to fit the barrel of a gun.

You hear the muted shot. Your bodyguard grunts at the impact but remains on his feet. There is not a second shot. The unfamiliar vehicle is already peeling down the street, illegally weaving through traffic to make its getaway and dodge any potential return-fire. You’re too worried about your dutiful bodyguard to even think of shooting back, though.

“Fuck,” you whisper, grabbing Chris to spin him around. The hole in his shoulder is leaking crimson through his shirt. “Keep some pressure on that. I’m driving.”

Again, he does not argue.

At the hospital, you pull some strings to get him seen immediately. The bullet is extracted, the wound is cleaned and dressed, and Chris’s arm is put in a sling.

Before the PA leaves to send a prescription for a pain med off to the pharmacy, you slip her some money to keep this incident from being reported to the authorities. She’s new, so she hesitates to take it, almost too righteous for her own good. Eventually she caves. They all learn sooner or later it is always better not to fight you on these things.

---

Across town, Hyunjin is trembling with rage.

“Who the fuck did this?”

Both the blond and the dark-haired men stare ahead, somewhere past their boss.

“So help me god, speak up!” Hyunjin shouts.

The dark-haired man still refuses to meet his eyes. The blond steps forward, only to immediately be met with a resounding backhand to his cheek. His head swivels far around his neck, but he does not stumble.

“You fucking idiot,” Hyunjin fumes. He grabs the shorter man’s face, digs his fingers hard into the freckled cheeks. “I ought to put a bullet through your fucking skull for this. You don’t fucking touch her—”

“We didn’t—” Minho starts.

Nostrils flaring, Hyunjin grits coldly, “Oh, now you want to explain? Keep your fucking mouth shut or I’m shooting you in your good leg.”

He takes Minho’s ensuing silence for understanding and submission.

He turns back to Felix, intensifies his crushing grip on his pretty face and continues, “Don’t you ever cross the border and presume to carry out my will. Ever. You don’t touch her, you don’t speak to her, you don’t fucking look at her. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir, but we didn’t even—”

“AM I CLEAR?!”

“Yes, sir,” Felix repeats through his forcibly puckered lips.

Hyunjin pats the man’s face none too gently, effectively shoving him away in the process. Then he looks to Minho and says, “You, too. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

The leader of the trio smiles most unkindly. Felix tenses when Hyunjin suddenly snatches his arm, then gasps sharply when his ulna cracks. If he wants to go around shooting people, he’ll have to practice with his off hand now.

“Good,” Hyunjin spits, satisfied for now. He drops the blond man’s broken arm, shoves his shoulder hard. “Now get the fuck out of my sight. Both of you.”

After they are gone, Hyunjin waits a moment, listens, then proceeds to falter. His shoulders bow inward and he sighs shakily. There is a layer of sweat between his back and his shirt, and his heart feels like it’s about to burst from his chest.

Those two actually went to your side of town on a mission to hurt you. They actually could have shot you. They actually could have killed—

“God damnit,” Hyunjin whispers. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

After a moment to compose himself and gather his thoughts, he heads out to cross the border himself.

---

Hyunjin expects someone different — someone new and probably temporary — to answer the door this time, but your minion is dutiful to a fault.

Even one-handed, even haggard-looking from a long day, Hyunjin knows the man will not hesitate to incapacitate him if he makes one wrong move.

Sure enough, bitter disdain hardens Chris’s eyes the moment he sees him.

Hyunjin raises his hands. “Listen, I’m sorry. I understand you want to maim me right now, but I’m here to apologize. I’m not even armed.” He opens his jacket, pats down his pockets, shows the other man his empty hands again. “Frisk me if you want. I’m just here to apologize.”

Chris regards him warily. After a long, tense pause, he steps aside to let the taller man in and close the door behind him. Hyunjin follows him into the kitchen and accepts the generous glass of wine he’s offered.

Once they both settle at the table, Hyunjin says, “First, I want you to know that I really am sorry for what happened today. I want you to know that attack was completely unauthorized. My men thought they were settling the score. I told them in no uncertain terms that they were not and their actions were totally unacceptable. Felix’s arm won’t be healing for a while.”

“You injured your own man?”

Both men look up at the sound of your voice.

Hyunjin gets to his feet. “Of course I did,” he says.

“For shooting a rival?” you ask, skeptical.

“For shooting at you.” He takes a slow step toward you. “If he’d actually hit you, Y/N… if he’d actually hurt you, I— fuck, I would’ve thrown him out of a goddamn window.”

You meet his unwavering gaze. He takes another slow step closer.

“Chris,” you say, “you should get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

The man takes his cue. You meet his eyes, too, as he passes you. He gives you a small nod and leaves.

You take a breath and a step toward Hyunjin. “What would you have done if that bullet had killed me?” you ask.

Hyunjin visibly swallows, Adam’s apple bobbing hard. “I would’ve burned this stupid fucking city to the ground.”

Such a passionate statement. That’s what he is: passionate.

You wonder how much passion there would be if he kissed you right now.

He already knows what you’re going to do when you launch forward. He meets you with open arms and parted lips. You let out a tiny moan the instant your mouth crashes onto his, and he sighs as he pulls you flush against him by the small of your back.

The chair closest to you crashes to the floor when you kick it away. Hyunjin helps you onto the table, tongue fighting for dominance against yours, long fingers easily untying the sash on your robe. You have a similar goal in mind, shoving his jacket down his arms and hurrying to undo the buttons of his crisp white shirt to reveal the smooth muscles beneath. He opens the flaps of your robe just a second before you can do the same with his shirt.

His immediate reaction to your nearly-nude body is one of awe. His eyes rake up and down hungrily, his plush lips hang separated for a few seconds before he licks them slowly and clears his throat. “Hm. Unless there’s a knife hidden in those skimpy fucking panties, you’re not armed either,” he says.

“I’m going out on a limb here by thinking I’m not actually in danger with you.”

Hyunjin falters for a second at your vulnerability. His smile is much softer when he runs his hands up your bare thighs and says, “I’d never let anyone hurt you, Y/N. Least of all me. You have my word.”

You gulp and nod. “Take me. Please.”

The man does not tease you for sounding so soft and polite for once. He simply braces an arm against your back when you lift your hips off the table, then tugs your underwear down your legs with his other hand.

Once your pussy is exposed, Hyunjin sucks two fingers into his mouth, then brings them down to smear his spit against your folds. He does it again, sucks his fingers and brings them down, this time prodding those fingers into your opening to wet the inside, too. He curls his fingers a few times, too briefly connecting with that perfect spot before his fingers are gone again. The preparation is rushed, but you don’t mind, especially when he yanks his cock out of his pants and you see how hard it is for you already.

He tugs your bottom half closer to the edge of the table, then brings the ruddy head of his erection to your pussy and pushes in. The desperation and lack of foreplay is hot, but your body has yet to catch up to your brain, so the stretch stings more than it should, and you can’t help but hiss about when he tries to shove in another inch so soon.

After a few dry pushes and pulls, Hyunjin sighs and pulls all the way out.

“No, Hyunjin, what—” you whine, reaching for his hips.

“I know, but I’m tearing your pussy, sweetheart.”

“I don’t care, just want to feel you.”

Hyunjin swears under his breath and runs his thumbs back and forth across your spread knees. “Let’s slow down and do this right, hm? There’s no rush. I can stay all night, and I’ll still be here in the morning, if you want.”

As much as you hate to admit it, he’s right. There’s no need to hurry and let the sex be painful. Not when you have all the time in the world.

You nod. “Okay.”

He helps you off the table, stuffs his erection back into his pants as best he can and says, “Take me to the bedroom?”

Even as you oblige, taking his hand and leading him upstairs, you can’t help but tease, “This isn’t how I thought it would go. I really thought we’d hate-fuck in the kitchen for our first time.”

“Damn,” he laughs, “if only I wasn’t such a gentleman, huh.”

You laugh back. “Not my first choice of word to describe you, but I suppose you’re right.”

“Dare I ask what your first choice of word is?”

You pull him into your bedroom just to push his back against the nearest wall, fists balled into the flaps of his open shirt, eyes locked on his.

“Passionate,” you answer.

“Passionate,” he repeats, not exactly as a question, but testing the word. His hands rub your back through your robe, pressing you close to him again. “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

He tips you backward, arms wrapped tight to keep you from falling. He trails wet, open-mouthed kisses down your neck and between your breasts. He nudges your robe aside with his nose to get to your nipple and roll his tongue against it in slow, deliberate circles. His touch is already doing wonders for getting you wet enough, but you get the feeling it will be a little while before he tries penetrating you again.

“Come here,” Hyunjin murmurs. He trades places with you, cradling the back of your head to keep it from knocking against the wall when your back hits it. “Can we take this all the way off?” he asks, tugging at your robe.

“Be my guest,” you whisper. The silk is barely hanging on to your body at this point anyway.

He peels it off your shoulders, letting it crumple to a heap on the floor. He exhales hard at the sight before him, eyes roaming over every bit of your naked body as if he didn’t just see most of it in the kitchen a moment ago.

He reaches down and cups you between your legs. You gasp at the heat of his hand trapping the heat of your most sensitive flesh. One of his fingers dips shallowly inside your hole. It feels a little wetter than before, but not by much. His other hand takes you by the hip.

“Sit on my face,” Hyunjin whispers. “Please sit on my face, I’m going to worship this fucking pussy.”

You swear you have a mini orgasm just from his words from the way your cunt clenches.

You grin from ear to ear and give his shoulders a little shove to get him moving toward the bed. He stumbles back a couple steps, and you do it again. He sits with a huff when the backs of his knees bend against the edge of your mattress, then smirks at you, waiting for your next move.

You hike a foot onto the bed beside his hip and tell him to: “Kiss it.”

Hyunjin looks to your crotch and smiles wider. He pulls you closer with one hand on your ass and bends forward to kiss your pussy with an open, eager mouth. The simple feeling of his pretty lips on you has your eyes fluttering and head tipping backward already.

He grabs your other ass cheek and tilts his face firmer between your legs, adding his tongue to his kisses to get you to moan for him, and it works. You moan and whimper with every flick of his tongue through your folds and around the hood of your sensitive clit. He has taken kiss it to devour it, and you are by no means complaining.

Soon, your knees are too weak to maintain this standing position, so you get Hyunjin to lie back so you can climb onto his face just as he wanted. There is hardly a break in his actions; he gets right back to eating you with the hottest fervor any partner has ever given you. He clearly knows how to use that tongue of his. It feels long and wide, licking everywhere at once. It feels strong, stroking your inner walls firmly.

He groans and sighs and whimpers along with every sweet noise you make, clearly enjoying himself every bit as much as you are. To hear someone as cool and calculated and dangerous and gorgeous as Hyunjin actually whimper so sweetly between your legs while eating you out is not something you ever thought you would experience, but now you’re not sure how you ever lived without it.

He wraps his soft lips around your clit and sucks hard. The noise and the sensation shoot straight through your nerves and you tremble hard above him, barely managing to keep your wits about you to keep from crushing his nose under your weight.

“Jesus, Hyunjin,” you say, head hanging from your neck, eyes shut tight. You lick your lips and whimper as he suckles your swollen bud as if it was your nipple. “You’re so good at this,” you breathe.

You expect him to comment on your rare compliment, but he only chuckles and continues his work of unraveling you. He sharpens his tongue and flicks it rapidly over your clit. He does it so well and so quickly that it pushes you over the edge rather unexpectedly, almost forcing your orgasm to surge through you.

“Oh fuck!” You slap your hand over your mouth and shiver through your high, riding his tongue with jerky, ungraceful motions of your hips to bring yourself back down from the waves of satisfaction. After what feels like five whole minutes, you slump off of him to the side and swallow hard, gulping for breath.

Hyunjin turns on his side with his head in his palm and grins at you. The lower half of his pretty face is glistening in your juices.

“You’re fucking hot when you come, Y/N,” he says. “Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see your ‘O’ face.”

You laugh breathlessly and wipe your sweaty forehead. “Well, maybe I can come again on your cock.”

He rolls on top of you with a hum, still smiling. “Sweetheart, I would love for you to come again on my cock.”

His entry is much smoother now but still a tight, tight stretch. You gasp when his tip digs its way deep inside you, and he groans when he bottoms out to his aching balls.

“Holy shit, you just took it so well,” Hyunjin says, nuzzling his face into your neck rather sweetly. He holds his hips still against yours to give you a moment to adjust.

You exhale hard and will the walls of your cunt to relax around him just a little, but he still has you wound so tightly you almost feel like you could come just from a few thrusts of his long, thick cock.

It’s as if he can sense your thoughts. “Still so fucking tight from coming, aren’t you?” he whispers into your neck. His breath is hot and wet. So are his lips. “It’s alright, I’ll fuck you open nice and slow so you can feel every inch of what you do to me.”

He withdraws his hips until his heavy cock sits right at the edge of your hole, then pushes forward again. Your mouth falls open in a shuddering moan that he catches with a deep kiss. You clutch the back of his head, then the back of his neck, then his shoulders as he works up a rhythm with his gentle thrusts.

“Hyunjin,” you moan into his mouth.

He hums through another kiss, hand coming up to cup your chin so he can kiss you at the exact angles he wants. His other hand takes the back of your knee to hook your leg over his hip. His next thrust hits just a little deeper. It makes all the difference.

“God, that’s good,” Hyunjin groans lowly from his throat.

You wrap your other leg around him and hold on tight as he picks up the pace, composure cracking. He can’t help but seek more friction, and you smirk at the effect you have on him.

“Harder,” you urge him. “Hyunjin, harder, please.”

He lets out a tiny whimper, so much softer and sweeter than you ever imagined he could be capable of, especially paired with the way his hips buck harder and rougher into yours just as you asked.

He tilts his forehead against yours and stares at you with those hypnotic green eyes. His fiery hair falls into your eyes and onto your cheeks. His fingers dig into your cheeks for a second, then suddenly they are gone and in his mouth.

You watch in a daze as he brings those wet fingers down between your bodies to play with your swollen, sensitive clit. Your walls instantly clamp at the extra surge of pleasure, and he moans with you when he feels it. His other hand holds your hip to help steady you against his rough movements.

“Can’t… believe… I’m finally… fucking you,” he huffs between thrusts. His fingers draw clumsy circles against your clit, but it will be enough to get the job done so long as he keeps the pace.

You let a laugh slip. “Could’ve had this pussy sooner if you weren’t such an ass,” you say.

Hyunjin smirks down at you. He switches tactics with his fingers and presses his thumb to your clit instead. The figure-eights he draws into it are much smoother now.

“Don’t lie,” he says. “You liked the games.”

“Maybe a little,” you admit. “I liked seeing you in leather pants more, though.”

He swears under his breath and rotates his thumb faster against your slippery bud. His thrusts go from staggering to even and back again as his pleasure threshold approaches its limit.

“I’ll wear them every fucking day from now on if you want,” he says.

“Just to keep this pussy wrapped around you?”

“Mm—uh, fuck—whatever it takes to k-keep you on my arm.”

You shove your weight against him until he gives and rolls onto his back. He slips from you in the process, but you correct that by getting on top of him and sitting straight down on his wet cock. His eyes roll back in his pretty head over the rush of sensations in the span of a few seconds — surprise, disappointment, white hot bliss.

You lean down to press your lips to his ear. “Your dick is good, but I’m not a little trophy wife.”

Hyunjin grins up at you when you pull back. “Who said anything about being a wife?” he asks. He tries to thrust up into you. You press your hips down harder to keep him from moving too much. “I think you’re moving too fast for me, baby,” he says.

You bounce quickly on his lap, harder than you have ever ridden anyone, as if you have something to prove. His eyelids flutter again over the feeling of your velvety cunt sliding up and down and up and down along his throbbing length.

“Fast enough for you?” you ask, breathing hard through a smirk.

“Fucking— use it, Y/N,” Hyunjin pants, too lost in his pleasure now for any more smart ass remarks. “Use my dick to get yourself off. Fuck, you’re so fucking good.”

He tries to grab hold of your hips, but you take his wrists and guide them up above his head and press them into the pillow instead. You keep bouncing, swiveling your hips a little with every drop to make it extra good for both of you.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” you say, kissing his cheek rather tenderly, then licking the salt and tang of his sweat plus your lingering arousal off your lips. His face and neck and chest are flushed the lightest shade of pink from the sex.

You trail your lips down the side of his neck, shove your hand down to play with yourself while you ride him. Hyunjin looks down to watch you do it, biting his deliciously plump lip and moaning without shame. You love hearing him be so vocal for you rather than trying to suppress his noises.

You gift him with a moan of your own and lean back to get your feet under yourself to help with your movements. He moans louder at the change in view — your legs spread over his hips, pretty pussy on display for him as much as it can be with your hand in the way. Even without you pinning him down anymore, he keeps his hands right where they are on the pillow. Maybe you’ve fucked him boneless already.

“So fucking close,” you whimper, leaning your free hand on his leg behind you just to keep yourself upright. His hips rise to meet your drops and help your orgasm along. You can tell he’s not far off from his, either. His eyes have that glassy, fucked-out look in them.

“Me too,” he grunts. “You’re gonna have to **pull off f-fast after you come, sweetheart, unless you — mm, shit — w-want me to come inside you.”

“Yes,” you say, completely out of your mind with lust. The thought of not having him inside you is too insane to bear right now. “Come in me, Hyunjin, please, please, need you to come.”

You expect him to remark on that. Something about knocking you up and you carrying a miniature version of himself inside you and being connected to him forever by your child… but he doesn’t say any of that.

“Come on me and I’ll come in you,” Hyunjin promises, smirking rather cockily for someone so fucked out.

He brings his hands to your hips again, and you let him this time. His grip is warm and firm and possibly the only thing keeping you grounded as another orgasm quakes through you, every bit as hard and fast as the first. You tremble hard over Hyunjin’s body, rocking shakily on his lap with the head of his cock pressed as hard to your gummy spot as you can get it, fingers flying over your clit to ride out every bit of ecstasy you can manage.

Hyunjin swears at the sight of your sweaty body convulsing over him, your head tipped back and perfect mouth parted in the sweetest moan he’s ever heard, your pussy clenching him repeatedly to coax out his own orgasm. He releases a heavy load of warm cum into you with a rumbling groan and a few more thrusts into your spent cunt to milk out every drop.

He gathers you in his arms when you collapse onto his heaving chest. His heartbeat is loud and erratic in your ear. Your breathing is loud and erratic to match.

“Fucking hell,” he swears under his breath, then swallows hard through his dry throat. “That was—”

“A long time coming?”

“—incredible.”

You giggle. “Right. That too.”

You lift off his softening cock and slump to the side. Hyunjin turns with you, keeping his arms wrapped loosely around you. You reach out and tuck some of his sweaty hair behind his ear.

“Was that everything you imagined?” you ask, voice soft and a little hoarse.

He sighs happily with a smile. "Even better,” he says. “Was it good for you?”

You pluck his bottom lip with your thumb. “Couldn’t you tell how much I loved it?”

“Yeah, but I want to hear you say it.”

You peck his lips once, then twice, then say, “You’re right, it was incredible.”

Hyunjin breaks into a wide, dimpled grin. “Say it again.”

“It was incredible.”

“No, the first part.”

You laugh and roll your eyes. “You were right.”

“Thank you.”

He kisses you again, and the two of you settle into a comfortable, exhausted silence with his head tucked onto your chest and your chin resting on the top of his head. His breathing evens to the point where you think he must be asleep, but you speak up again anyway.

“Can’t believe you broke your man’s arm for me.”

Hyunjin takes a slow breath, inhaling deeply, exhaling quietly. “What can I say, sweetheart? I’m passionate like that.”

---

if you enjoyed, please consider re-blogging and/or leaving me some feedback. take care! ♡

#hyunjin smut #hwang hyunjin smut #stray kids smut #skz smut #hyunjin x reader #hwang hyunjin x reader #stray kids x reader #skz x reader #passionate #daizymax

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operafantomet · 6 months

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The Christmas of the Opera. Erik Claus. Happy holidays!

Peter Cousens, West End

James Gant and Killian Donnelly, West End revival

Ben Forster, West End

John Owen-Jones, West End

Josh Piterman and Kelly Mathieson, West End

Chris Mann, Restaged US Tour

Jeremy Stolle (?), Broadway

Chris Mann, Restaged US Tour

Geronimo Rauch, West End

Michael Lackey, Las Vegas

Ian Jon Bourgh, Stuttgart

Nicky Wuchinger, Oberhausen

Gary Mauer, US Tour

Ben Lewis and Kelly Mathieson, West End

Michael Crawford, West End or Broadway

#poto christmas #phantom of the opera #not tagging them all #christmas 2023

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ctitan98official · 4 months

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Alcina’s long lost child AU: Y/N is an emotionless soldier for B.S.A.A. part 2

Sorry this one took me so long to get out! I was having trouble deciding where I wanted to go with the story, but here’s what I got lol. Read the last part here! Let’s get into it!

You and Chris make your way up the mountain in relative silence, however, he can see that you’re clenching your jaw and repeatedly balling up your fists. You look incredibly tense.

“You okay, kid?” He asks.

You grit your teeth. Shit. Chris can tell you’re stressed. You don’t want him worrying about you, he’s got enough on his mind. “Fine,” You bite out, not wanting to draw any more attention to yourself.

Chris is skeptical, but decides not to press you. He truly thinks of you as his own child and it hurts that he doesn’t know what to say to make things better. “Alright. Let me know if you need to talk, yeah?” He asks.

You nod stiffly at him, not wanting to speak anymore. You just want to finish this mission and get the fuck out of this place.

You two finally make it to the castle’s grand doors and Chris knocks, hoping someone in this enormous building will be able to hear him.

Just when he is about to knock again, the doors creak open and a small women in an old-fashioned maid’s uniform greets you… Before gasping and shrinking back when she sees you and Chris.

It’s an intimidating sight, to be sure. Chris’s imposing stature combined with your intense, but hollow, stare… Not to mention the heavy weaponry your both carry. The little maid gulps nervously at both of your appearances. “C-can I help you?” She asks timidly.

Chris answers calmly, trying to put the young woman at ease. “We’re not here to cause any trouble. We just… Need to talk to whoever is in charge here,” He tries to explain.

The maid perks up at this. “Oh… Then you must be looking for Lady Dimitrescu,” She tells him.

You and Chris look at each other in confusion.

“The report we got never mentioned anyone named Lady Dimitrescu,” You say.

The maid inwardly shivers at your cold voice. She finds you much scarier than Chris.

Chris sighs and shrugs at you before turning to the maid. “I… Guess so?” He says, rather unsure of what the hell is going on in this village. Apparently, his intel isn’t very good. You two are pretty much on your own, it seems.

“Will you wait for me in the foyer while I inform her that you’re here?” She asks, gesturing to some plush seats just inside the doorway.

“Of course,” Chris says.

The maid nods gratefully at him before excusing herself.

You and Chris sit down.

You try to relax, but that warm thrumming feeling is now stronger than ever. There’s something about this castle that makes you… Want to stay.

Wait.

No! No, you don’t want to stay! You just made up your mind about it outside. You’re so frustrated. Your head is all fucked up and has been ever since you and Chris landed. You seriously think you might be about to lose your shit for the first time ever… Thankfully, though, the maid returns and asks you both to follow her. Alright. A distraction is just what you needed. You take a deep breath and trail closely behind Chris as the maid leads the way, staying vigilant for any signs of trouble. You haven’t forgotten your orders. This could all be an elaborate trap.

Finally, the maid brings you to an ornate room trimmed in gold. She shakily curtsies before leaving.

As you scan the room, you see the biggest chair you’ve ever laid your eyes on… And in it? The biggest woman you’ve ever seen too.

“Well, well… It seems outsiders have invaded my castle,” She says in a smooth and velvety voice. She stands and smirks, somewhat amused, at the unusual duo standing before her. A stupid manthing and his, admittedly adorable, lackey.

Suddenly, you feel a profound rush of heat engulfing your body, almost as if you have a fever. You also feel that now constant thrumming transforming into a peculiar tugging in your chest. Your heart stutters a few beats, making you feel dizzy for a second. You stumble a bit and Chris places a steadying hand on your shoulder.

He doesn’t want to say anything in the presence of this stranger, but you can see the worry in his eyes.

You take a deep breath and nod at him, silently telling him you’re okay. You realize that what’s making you want to stay in this damn village… Is this woman.

You’ve never met her before and yet… She’s all you can think about at the moment. The tugging in your chest… It’s trying to lead you to her. But, you stubbornly refuse. You’ve never needed anyone before and you don’t now either.

Chris clears his throat before answering the tall woman. “Um… Apologies for intruding, er, Lady Dimitrescu, was it?”

Alcina turns to him with a surprised look on her face. “A manthing with some actual manners? Will wonders ever cease,” She quips.

You and Chris share a puzzled look at her reaction before he responds. “Well… Actually, my lady, we’re here on behalf of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance. B.S.A.A. for short,” He explains.

Alcina’s eyebrows furrow at this. “And why, pray tell, is that any of my concern? Why are you pestering me?” She asks, patience wearing thin. She hates to be bothered for stupid reasons.

“We’re here to see if you’ll become a problem for us in the future,” You say in your usual monotone, your face stoney as ever.

Chris’s head immediately snaps to you. “C'mon, Y/N! Seriously?” He gripes, placing his hand over his face in disbelief. So much for being subtle. “I’m sorry, my lady. What Y/N means to say is-” Chris rambles on about ‘Strategic relationships’ and 'Alliances’ for a bit, however, Alcina’s ears perk up at what Chris called you.

Y/N…

She hasn’t heard that name since… She picked it out for her and Miranda’s baby shortly after they were conceived. Her heart hurts as she thinks about how she had to give them up. She just… Didn’t trust Miranda not to hurt them. She couldn’t take the risk. Her eyes flick over to you, studying you intently. You… Seem to be about the same age her child would be now.

Actually… Now that she’s taking a closer look at your appearance, she sees features of your face that are quite similar to hers and… Miranda’s too, if she’s being honest.

Meanwhile, Chris is still somehow droning on and on. It’s starting to get on Alcina’s nerves. “Would you shut your mouth for two seconds, you steroid-addled fool?” She growls and rolls her eyes.

Chris quickly freezes and shuts the hell up at Alcina’s admonishment. You swear his cheeks are red from embarrassment. “Sorry…” He murmurs.

Alcina looks back at you. “Now, what about you, little one? I want to hear what you have to say,” She prompts in a much gentler tone. It’s probably just wishful thinking, but… What if… You really are her child? The possibility exists… And she just wants to hold onto hope for a little while.

You’re silent for a moment, unsure of what she’s asking for. “What do you want me to say?” You ask.

“Well… Tell me anything you’d like to,” She says with a small smile… And then glares at Chris. “Why don’t you go ask my maids to make you something to eat, manthing? Leave the two of us alone to chat,” She dismisses and waves her hand at him.

Chris blanches. “I- But! I’m not leaving Y/N. We’re here on a mission-”

“I’ve got this, Redfield,” You say, now wanting to take the opportunity to learn more about this woman. You’ve become so curious about her…

Chris’s mouth hangs open. “A-are you sure, Y/N? I can stay if you want me to.”

“I’m good,” You reiterate.

Chris sighs. He can see you’re telling the truth. “Alright,” He agrees. “Just keep your radio on, okay?” He tells you.

You nod at Chris and watch him reluctantly leave.

Alcina goes over to close the door behind him and leads you to sit with her by the fire.

You cautiously sit down and watch her closely.

“Now… Tell me about yourself, little one,” She says.

Note: Talk about a cliffhanger! A very interesting conversation will happen in the next part… Hope you liked it!

Masterlist

#re8 #re8 village #alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu x reader #alcina dimitrescu x y/n #lady dimitrescu x reader #lady dimitrescu x y/n #resident evil village #resident evil 8 #resident evil imagines #mother miranda #chris redfield

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chrismcleaneatspants · 5 months

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General season 2 opinions. MASSIVE TDI 2023 season 2 spoilers ahead (as well as a huge wall of text.) You've been warned.

Ok, so here's everything I like about the season (I can count them on my fingers)

-There were some funny jokes

-MKulia was entertaining and it's now in my top 5 favorite ships, but it's not perfect, as I'll explain later

-Hockey dudes were a joy to watch I suppose

-Bowie stole the show as usual

-There are a lot of neat challenges (The canoe, slide, and dog challenges was a particular stand outs to me)

-MK herself was really funny

-MacArthur's cameo was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one, and she bounces off of Chris really well

-Duncney is still broken up lol

Honestly that's about it in terms of positives, cuz I have a million other negatives for this supposed sequel to (imo) the best written season of the show.

-The Relationships were the single worst aspect about this season full stop. Ripaxel and Praleb are probably the worst couples the show has ever subjected me to. For Ripaxel, they basically removed anything interesting Ripper had going on and Axel wasn't allowed to live up to any kind of hype she created because one lame ass poem turned her into Ripper's girlfriend for the remaining duration of her run, only for the both of them to be tossed aside in episode 7 in perhaps the worst double elimination in the entire show.

-Praleb started off ok. I thought it was gonna be a one-sided crush plot initially before Episode 6. They had a couple cute moments before episode 8, of which their screentime became suffocating because afterwards is was this painful back and forth where Caleb tried explaining himself and Priya would be mad at him, then ally with him, then be mad at him again like it was so tiresome. By the time they got together in the finale again, I was wishing they had just followed up on Pramien instead. Caleb by himself was funny in the first half of season 2 and Priya was great in season 1, but the two of them together were insufferable

-Speaking of Priya, she went from one of the best characters in season 1 to one of the worst in season 2. Why did she have to make it all the way to episode fucking 12 after winning season 1?? Just for some generic heterosexual romance? They also made her so dumb with shit like knowing Julia is manipulating her but then getting a surprise Pikachu face when Julia manipulated her??? You spent your entire life preparing for this show, how the fuck did you not see this coming???

-Segwayying into Julia, she's the worst antagonist full stop. I've never seen such an absolute downgrade of a character. She was a goat in season 1 who was aware of her situation and acted accordingly because the stakes were real. Here? Reality basically warps around her just to keep her in the game. She does things characters would never fall for in season 1 and they just go with it?? They insist on keeping her in the finale and do basically nothing interesting with her. She's not even as funny as Island Heather at the end of the day.

-I mentioned MKulia earlier, so I'll just get to it here: I like it in concept. Two evil sapphics causing chaos together is really fun. My main issue is that it was very sudden. They both were not fans of each other at the end of season 1 and now I'm supposed to just believe they became friends off screen? I mean, I guess, but it's kinda cheap. I would have really liked it if it was straight up enemies to lovers ngl. Also the fact MK had very little agency outside of being Julia's lackey doesn't help either. I want to point to the fake contract thing, for instance. Why did Julia do that? That sounds like an MK thing to do.

-Time to dive into other characters: Damien is an absolute fucking tragedy. At the end of season 1, Damien had one ambition: win next season. They kinda did that, sure, but they regressed Damien into being a complete coward to do so, not to mention he didn't even go all the way either. Damien didn't get a W until episode 6 and tbh that was his only W. By the end of his tenure, I was left confused on what the point of his run was. (I'll come back to this later.)

-What was the point of Nichelle? Like seriously, what did she contribute to the season at all? They didn't do the ironic underdog story with her, and considering she was getting all egotistical and aggressive, i thought she was gonna be the antagonist for sure...until Julia got rid of her in episode 5 in a way that really shouldn't make sense cuz like Nichelle is an actual celebrity that stars in blockbuster movies, I'm pretty sure she could sniff a fake contract a mile away, right?

-Hockey dudes were great, but I felt like they were very dumbed down at times? Like they were just generic dumb dudes that just meandered around a lot of the time (Wayne in particular just straight up floated away from a challenge at one point)

-Bowie was alright too. His line delivery is great as usual, but let's not kid ourselves: In a well written season, he'd be going straight for Julia the next time his team lost. Bowraj was nice to see even if the season didn't really do a whole lot with it

-Am I the only one who thinks this season is a tad bit misogynistic? Like this is the shortest them phase the show as ever had (to the point where i'd argue teams don't really matter) and 4 of the 5 team phase boots were girls. Millie and Emma in particular were really bad. Like, you could make Millie a team phase boot without like shitting on her that hard. And Emma got like fuck all closure outside of breaking up with Chase off screen like wow, way to utilize such a high potential character, Fresh. And this is saying nothing about how the girls that did make it to the merge had plots basically dominated by romance and like nothing else. And then there's MKulia which is apparently intended to be a friendship but like is written like a romantic one at times. It gives me all-stars gwourtney vibes and (as a fan of gwourtney myself) not in a good way. At least MK and Julia were somewhat in character I guess, but they had their edges really sanded off and honestly as a friendship (situationship?) it's a complete downgrade from Millie and Priya in so many ways

-And another thing: who's the protagonist this season? Outside of Praleb, who am I supposed to care for? Who am I supposed to root for? By the halfway mark, the show doesn't really make any convincing arguments to root for like anyone there outside of maybe Damien? And he went gone in episode 10, so like, hockey dudes? No one has an interesting enough narrative for me to care.

-The immunity idol stinks as usual. Like, why did Damien do THE SAME FUCKING THING HEATHER DID IN ALL-STARS?? That actually pissed me off so much holy shit. The immunity idol as it stands in the show is basically a shitty plot device made to keep characters in as there's no real strategy revolved around it.

-Oh and another minor thing: Owen's cameo sucks, and that's entirely due to him not being physically aged up at all and just being a vehicle for the same dumb jokes they always make with him. so stupid

-Anyways, I spend an entire season with two shitass straight relationships taking up screentime, a whole multiude of potential plotlines from last season (pramien) and this season (scary girl's revenge, millie being the new ripper, damien's comeback, julia having internal conflict over her friendship (feelings?) for MK) being set up and just nothing being done with them, and characters in general just being nerfed or borderline out of character (Ripper) and what am I rewarded with?

-Soar Losers. The most boring nothing finale in the entire show. The choices for finalists suck, Wayne, while being the least bad option for a winner (and i do still like him a lot), is still a mid ass winner in the grand scheme of the entire show. And more praleb drama? fuck off I hate them so much. The challenge did not feel finale worthy at all, and honestly it was the worst challenge in the whole season. On top of being a bunch of nothing, the show decides to bring back the worst trope it ever had: losing hair as karma. I almost ragequit the episode on the spot that shit makes me so irrationally mad. I think it's even worse here because Julia still had hair after the fact, which makes it seem like they were aware it's not a popular TD trope but wanted to half commit to it anyways for the sake of tradition or something. Terrible finale to an already decently sized letdown of a season, but it has some ok MKulia moments I guess. The finale was just emblematic of the entire season, where things just happen and you're just expected to go along with everything. (Also side note how come Chase wasn't the one to jump off of the cart for pizza immediately?)

TL;DR reboot season 2 imo was a step down in every conceivable way from season 1 apart of i guess comedy and it's left a very sour taste in my mouth. I'm probably missing a few points that I'll add onto later but man it feels nice putting my opinion out there.

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buggie-hagen · 5 months

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Books I've read in 2023:

On First Principles by Origen. Translated by John Behr.

Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others (and Yourself) by David Zahl

Luther's Outlaw God, vol. 1: Hiddenness, Evil, and Predestination by Steven Paulson

Luther's Works, vol. 23: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Chapters 6-8

Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land by Taylor Brorby

Theology is for Proclamation by Gerhard O. Forde

Luther's Outlaw God, vol. 2: Hidden in the Cross by Steven Paulson

The Annotated Luther, vol. 4: Pastoral Writings ed. by Mary Jane Haemig

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and to Break Bad Ones by James Clear

Who is the Church?: An Ecclesiology for the Twenth-first Century by Cheryl M. Peterson

Messianic Exegesis: Christological Interpretation of the Old Testament in Early Christianity by Donald Juel

Luther's Outlaw God, vol. 3: Sacraments and God's Attack on the Promise by Steven Paulson

Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted by Gretchen Ronnevik

The Early Versions of the New Testament: their origin, transmission, and limitations by Bruce Metzger

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Confessing Jesus: The Heart of Being a Lutheran by Molly Lackey

Adamantius: Dialogue on the True Faith in God translated by Robert A. Pretty

The Annotated Luther, vol. 5: Christian Life in the World, edited by Hans Hillerbrand

The End is Music: A Companion to Robert W. Jenson's Theology by Chris E. W. Green

Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melodie Beattie

The Church Unknown: Reflections of a Millenial Pastor by Seth Green

Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley

A Guide to Pentecostal Movements for Lutherans by Sarah Hinlicky Wilson

Daily Grace: The Mockingbird Devotional, vol. 2

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

Not listed are some books that I chose not to finish and some books that I have yet to finish.

#books #reading #theology #fun #gay #serious #2023 #booklist

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egg-emperor · 7 months

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this might be too,, vague idk,, but a scenario i'm curious about; if someone were to be in emotional distress, would eggman provide any kind of comfort/advice? does it just depend on if it benefits him to do so? and on the person it is? or do they just get laughed at and teased regardless of the situation??

Because of Eggman's narcissism and low empathy, I don't see him genuinely being the most caring and comforting in such situations. He won't be able to relate to or understand other's feelings and he doesn't have the care in him to learn to do so, and he's just not equipped or interested in dealing with it all around. He will have a disconnected silent demeanor towards it that can make him seem quite cold, or an amused cruel rude mocking one, depending on the circumstances.

But yes, like everything else in life, I'd say that it's all dependent on whether it benefits him personally to attempt to do so and the best method with that in mind. This has been the case in the games, such as attempting to motivate Sonic to keep going after Tails was kidnapped in Lost World because he still needed him to help him get past the Zeti so he could betray him. But when Sonic turns around in anguish, he just shrugs, clearly not genuinely empathizing.

With this term in mind, I can see him attempting comfort and advice on those he's partnered up with for any reason, having a truce with because it helps his image and the trust, or his lackeys in the cases it works best- though depending on who it is, he could deliver it in a colder crueler way belittling their feelings which makes them pull themselves together because he's made them feel silly. He prefers this because it's faster and he doesn't have to perform more care lol

But again, it depends on who it is and the circumstances and what works best for the certain person. I feel he has multiple methods. One through belittling their struggle and barking at them to get up and keep going, another through offering some casual advice and knowledge, and another even through performing full on care and softness but that's his most dishonest manipulative method because he doesn't really care and has the most sinister reasonings behind it.

He's not the type to care about what the correct appropriate way to get someone back on their feet is either, it can come off as rude or cold even if he is supposed to be trying to perform it. While his methods can differ, he's absolutely the kind to tell someone to just stop crying, put their chin up, and man up. Because while it was in a slightly different context as it was towards silliness instead of sadness/fear/etc, he has actually said that and that sure is Eggman alright. XD

Yet that's actually what one can consider a "nicer" way that he could react to someone in distress, over how he could just judge and mock someone for being soft because we know that's something we know he sees as a weakness in Battle.

I feel most would prefer to hear the former from him if anything XD

The actual "nicest" he could be about it is just giving a few words of advice, mostly based on anecdotes of his experiences if he feels it will help the most on the terms of how it will benefit him as always. It may or may not work because he's self focused about it and uses it as an opportunity to brag about his strength to keep going when things get tough, and they might not be able to relate- but he can relate even less to them with his lack of empathy. And they're not the most conventional words at that but hey.

While not canon and I gotta emphasize since I talk about game Eggman specifically, I think the way he talked to Chris in episode 49 of X was a pretty accurate way for him to go about it, delivering harsh truths with a little anecdote from personal experiences thrown in, but could ultimately be helpful depending on how they take it and what they do with it. But he's not going to sugarcoat it, he keeps it brutally honest in cases he's not lying and manipulating.

Unless he's decided it's a case where high manipulation and deceit is the best method. Which brings us to the worst way he can attempt it- what's actually the sweetest, kindest, most caring he can seem. When he's read into them and realized only this would work and tries to perform it. With gentle seeming gestures of physical comfort and sweet words spoken with a soft voice but they're not real and it has very sinister intentions. This is when he's most dangerous.

He can just be cruel and rude and mocking but that's most often only towards his outright enemies when he's not in a truce with them and doesn't have to perform anything for the benefits. Then he'll look down on and scoff and belittle them as much as he pleases. Or he'll do this with some of his own lackeys and creations, as long as he knows that it will make them feel silly or weak and will lead to them calming down in obedience and fear instead of wanting to betray.

When it comes to my self insert stuff, when I'm down and feeling a need for comfort, I imagine Eggman letting me hug him but not returning it, he just lets it happen but looks detached because he can't be emotionally invested in it but it's just comforting to be in his presence and warmth and he's really cuddly, so it's enough hehe. Then I imagine him just quietly mumbling a few small words of advice and that's it. And it's on the terms of me being a useful servant to him.

It's not much but it can have it's positives if it's something that works for you. It personally would for me because I prefer that people don't make a huge fuss and coddle me but just keep it real and even just be there at all, maybe offering some helpful advice no matter how small, even if it's harsh. And Eggman does it all for disingenuous reasons but hey it can actually work! Plus I accept his narcissism and low empathy so his real terms behind it are fine by me too. XD

I have various scenario ideas for different situations with different people, circumstances, and different methods I listed here, ranging from the kind where he's cruel and mocking, to when he gives attempted advice and anecdotes with harsh truths, to the darkest most manipulative method where he performs much deeper care than he feels with sweet words and gestures. I might share some in time because it's interesting to me to explore his methods and his terms!

#I've thought about this a lot so have my rambling XD #dr eggman #dr. eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #asks #headcanons #my post #comfort

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october-writes · 5 months

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Albert Wesker stared back at her. If it wasn’t for the shifting images on the computer screens behind him, she’d have worried that the video call had frozen.

A sensation of mild panic began to nip at the back of her neck. She couldn’t have guessed wrong or else he’d have terminated the call already. Ada held herself still under his cool appraisal even as fresh sweat blossomed underneath her armpits.

‘You are right,’ he finally conceded, ‘But you are also a child, Ms Wong. And you are playing in an arena for adults.’

‘Maybe so,’ she glanced down at her lap before fixing him with a determined look, ‘But one thing children are good at is learning. I’m an incredibly fast learner, Wesker and I don’t plan on wasting my talents working for Jon Howe or any other Umbrella lackey. Now, do you want Delta or not? If the answer is no, then you’re wasting my time.’

Wesker sniffed at her impudence, ‘If I accept your offer, you must understand there will be consequences. You won’t have the luxury of turning your back on the arrangement once the novelty wears off. If you work for my organisation, you belong to me .’

Ada blinked and her fingernails curled into her palms. She wanted a ride out for herself and Delta, but Wesker was demanding a hefty price. In order to save his life, she was essentially selling Delta to the man who was at least partially responsible for him ending up in an Umbrella lab in the first place.

Working with Wesker would buy her the time she needed to track down Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, and find some way to call for their aid. But in the meantime, Delta would be at Wesker’s mercy, as would she. The irony wasn’t lost on her. As noble as her intentions were, it felt like a betrayal.

On the other hand, there was no clean and comfortable way to do this. Umbrella wasn’t going to hold the door open for her. If she back-pedalled, she’d lose Delta to Manning and he’d suffer and likely die at her hands. She couldn’t live with that.

Read the rest on AO3

#fic: pandora #ada wong #resident evil fanfiction #aeon #leon x ada #ada x leon #albert wesker #scientist ada x test subject leon

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submissivegayfrenchboy · 1 year

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Would you ever consider writing a story about beau mirchoff? He looks like such a stinky guy. Maybe him as one of his characters. Like the The Fosters, or Awkward

Hey thanks for your question! Beau Mirchoff is really hot. He is the definition of hotness. Whenever he appeared on screen, he has always been really handsome and sexy without trying to be. And of course his first name means "Handsome" in French (like "beauty" means "beauté" in French) 😍

His sexiness is natural. His face is perfect, his eyes are kind of small but really expressives, his lips are thin but it must be so good to be kissed by him.

He have really great hairs too, and his face is chiseled. So yeah he is a straight white alpha, a conservative alpha man who voted for Trump. That's why I made him appeared in a MAGA story where he humiliates faggots.

In this story Master CHRIS PRATT and Master Beau Mirchoff farts on faggots at a straight pride parade. Don't hesitate to read it, it's the only appearance of this alpha in any of my stories. I hope you will like it 😉

It's true that he is hot in Awkard, but I never saw it. On the other hand, I discovered him in Desperate Housewives where he played Dani Bolen. He doesn't appear a lot, but he is cool.

On the other hand, I would feel really inspired by his character in Now Apocalypse, where is a straight white man secretly loved by his best friend. I could write a gay love story about it, or a love story between a straight man and a gay man, or show him as a himbo.

Who doesn't want to lick this body? He has never been as muscled as in this tv series, and also I'm not into hairy chest but I think he is hotter with a hairy chest (but not very hairy, just not a smooth hair). That makes him manlier. He already is such a hot alpha.

I want to be leashed at his pet, crawling behind him as a human dog, clean his sweaty body with my tongue, suck his crotch....

There is this scene where we can see his feet. I want to be at his feet, worshipping them. These two muscled men should be obeyed by a weak lackey bringing them drinks, massaging their feet while they ignore him. When they remember him, they decide to do a fart contest and trap him between they alpha white muscled butt 😍!

But even if I want to be his slave, that doesn't mean I haven't been really jealous (and excited) by the scene where he kisses his BFF (even if it's the BFF's imagination) : bering kissed by the alpha straight male I was in love with will be my biggest regret forever because it's all I ever dreamed of. And it's true that a story between the gay friend being shy and docile, the straight white male being a confident cocky farter could be hot.

I mean, if you aren't jealous of the man who was kissed by Beau Mirchoff, comment it. And if you are jealous, then like this post 😉

And it's true that he seems to have a really great ass and would be an amazing farter 🤤

https://twitter.com/bestofmirchoff

@leftprogrammingroadtripdean @tidodore2 @gayhopefullove @fartfagoutlet @fartfinder @emerldarchr @innerpiratefun @faginparis @rainykpoptravelcreator @lovefanfiction01

#Beau Mirchoff #MAGA #Straight white alpha man #Mâle blanc hétérosexuel #alpha #lécher les pieds #master #Humiliated by a celebrity #Humilié par une célébrité #Straight pride #Desperate Housewives #Série télévisée #Gay #Best friend #Meilleur ami #Ami

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wipbigbang · 1 year

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This is Round Two of the Artist Claims for the 2023 round of WIPBB. You may claim up to three fics this round. If you want only one fic, please fill out the form once with your top choices. If you want two fics, fill out the form twice with your first choice in the first form submission with one unique ID and the second choice in another submission with a different unique ID.

The synopses are located at https://wipbigbang.dreamwidth.org/172201.html

The form is located at https://forms.gle/ES2D3d2mTG1nU4Pk6.

Round two of the art claims will go on until July 1st.

Rules of Engagement/Teen Wolf

#098

Title: A Tale of Two Timmies

Pairing/Characters: Russell Dunbar/Timmy Patel, Laura Hale, Simran Patel, Alan Deaton, Scott McCall

Rating Mature | M

Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence, Major Character Death

abduction; unreality; memory alteration; toxic relationship; financial abuse; emotional abuse; gaslighting; arranged marriage; immigration authorities

Summary: Now that Timmy and Russell are married (to Timmy's eternal astonishment and dismay) it's time to move forward with extending his work permit. There's just one problem: he's been a citizen for a decade, which he already knew. As two versions of his reality collide, he needs the help of the Beacon Hills pack to set things right--and to locate the sister he forgot he had.

Teen Wolf

#137

Title: Currently workshopping several titles

Pairing/Characters: Stiles Stilinski/Jackson Whittemore

Rating Explicit | E

Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence, Underage, Non-con/Rape

Tags: Underage, explicit non-consensual sex, torture, victim blaming, trans!Stiles, angst, serial molestation, unambiguous rape, penis in vagina sex, fingering, oral sex, anal fingering, anal sex, unhealthy coping mechanisms, canon divergence, warning: gerard argent, warning: adrian harris, asphyxiation, pregnancy scare, more to come

Summary: Stiles gets nonconned and Jackson gets badtouched and maybe they should bond about it

Summary: When Stiles gets kidnapped from the lacrosse game, Gerard and his hunter lackeys get more information than they bargained for and far more than Stiles was ever willing to share. When Jackson’s shift is finally what it was supposed to be in the first place, he learns that what he’s been running from doesn’t have any less power over him – the hard way. Both boys are self-isolating and traumatized and maybe have far more in common than either of them were ever willing to admit.

#138

Title: Hands Off, He’s Mine!

Pairing/Characters: Stiles Stilinski/Peter Hale

Rating Teen | T

Warnings/Tags: No Warnings apply

Alternate Universe, the Hales didn't leave Beacon Hills, Found Family, Permanent Injury - that one applies to Peter, Magical Sheriff Stilinski, Hurt Sheriff Stilinski - But He'll Get Better, Werewolf Hunters, Kidnapping, Magical Stiles Stilinski, College Student Stiles Stilinski, Angst with a Happy Ending, Future Fic

Summary: In a world in which Laura and Derek never left Beacon Hills after the fire, the three surviving Hales have found a new home with the Stilinskis. A decade later, things would be perfect, if only an incident hadn’t just taken away their primary means of protection. With the sheriff needing surgery, an unknown amount of hunters in town, and Peter having gone missing, Stiles’ college break proves to be much more daunting than expected. But he’ll do anything to keep his loved one(s) safe.

#144

Title: working title - mayor peter

Pairing/Characters: Peter Hale/Chris Argent, young OFC Abigail Argent, appearances by John Stilinski, Stiles Stilinksi, Eli Stilinski-Hale, Derek Hale, Talia Hale

Rating Teen | T

Warnings/Tags: No Warnings apply

Allison dies pre-story.

Summary: Peter Hale runs into Chris Argent and his granddaughter Abigail at the coffee shop after they move to Beacon Hills. They become friends with the possibility of more. Things become awkward when Peter realizes that Chris is Gerard Argent's son, because he and Sheriff John Stilinski have been trying to find enough evidence to put Gerard in jail for years. But that doesn't stop them from going on some dates. And it turns out that Chris has his own issues with Gerard; he thinks that Gerard had something to do with Allison's death and now Gerard has set his sights on Abigail. Chris is determined that Gerard won't get his hands on her, but knows that Gerard won't let the law get in the way of taking what he wants. Luckily Chris has Peter (and the entire Hale-Stilinski families) on his side.

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legit9thlunaticwarrior · 1 year

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i decided to give reader new music. still the 'illusion' but the idea in my head is that's the heel song, yk? also there might be a little extra part with the full day in arcadia bay so stay tuned

|remember to leave feedback and i love all you heathens|

~Part I~

'The Very First Night: Part II' Angelo Parker (Jeff) x fem!reader

^secret love song by little mix is the only thing im gonna say^

- Wheeler Yuta (James) - there was nothing you could do to stop me from putting life is strange stuff in this, arcadia bay will be a common thing in my work just deal with me - im also aware of how dynamite and rampage are filmed but for the sake of this, im throwing it out the window - it got long, by accident

3rd Person POV

Sneaking around and dodging questions; that was what the days consisted of since the lipstick incident. When the sun fell and the moon rose, that was when they could see each other. Jeff would go to her hotel room and spend the night, only to be gone in the morning; but not without leaving a sweet note beside her.

Dynamite had come around to Y/N's home of Arcadia Bay, Oregon. It was also the show that everyone would hear from her. In all the years Bryan had known her, he's never seen her this excited. Since they got to the arena, the group saw sign after sign for their hometown hero. "Do you want any of us out there with you?" Claudio asked as she got ready to go to the ring, "No, but just be on standby. I have a feeling Jericho and his goons are upset about last week." She responded as it was time to go.

'For it is just an Illusion' playing before her new theme. She brought back 'Psychedelic Girl' by Twirl for her music, the Bay crowd knowing it well. Coming out of the face tunnel still felt strange to her, dressed in a BCC shirt, denim shorts, and her iconic creepers; giving fans highfives as she made her way to the ring. Once inside, she couldn't help but keep her signature; she took the belt off, held it up, and licked the main plate. "This title belongs to me." she always said. She put the belt back on and grabbed the mic. "Arcadia Bay, Oregon; I'm home!" The roar of her people had a few tears slipping. "It truly is so amazing to be back, standing here All Elite, as a member of the Blackpool Combat Club, as the Ring of Honor Women's World Champion, and as an Arcadian. For the time we're here in the Bay, just call me Y/N. I mean this is my home; why not use my real name at home?" Before she could continue, just as she thought, here came the goons. "Y/N, Y/N, no wonder you decided to join those guys; look where you're from. I mean, you say you bring honor to that title? Licking it like a harlot?" Chris started. They all made their way to the ring and the rest of her own gang came out. Jeff couldn't lie; he did flinch a little when Chris called her that; but he knew he had to play along. She'll understand. The ring was full and ready for a fight. "Chris, I wouldn't trash talk these people, we in AB love a good fight. And you wanna talk about honor? Let's talk about all the stunts you pulled when you had the title. I see you're still sore after the loss." "Oh no, we have an offer for you. See, the Jericho Appreciation Society's own Anna Jay A.S. has her eye on that title, so how about it?" Y/N scoffed and looked at Anna and Chris, "Oh? She wants the title? My women’s title? Because right now, it sounds like a little girl needing daddy to do the talking for her. But, who am I to turn down a quick win? I know Anna over there has a match tonight. If she wins with all your lackeys banned from ringside, see you at Rampage. If she doesn't," Y/N got closer to Anna, "Better luck next time, princess." Anna slapped Y/N but she bounced back to the other woman's surprise, "Jokes on you, I'm into that. I look forward to your match Anna." Just to mess with him, she shot a wink to Jeff, making him flush. "Now, get out of my ring." "I started my journey here all those years ago, and so many of you here tonight have stuck with me since. Thank you." That was all Jeff was able to hear while watching on the backstage screens over the nasty comments about Y/N.

And so it was, Y/N sat on commentary during Anna's match. Back and fourth banter with the men at the desk, "Y/N I have to ask, who did that wink go to?" "Oh Taz, who am I to give up secrets? They may not want to admit it, but I know those JASholes very well. I know some of them better than others." She said casually. "And the slap? That was quite an interesting response." Y/N smirked, "I like to mess with my opponents. Those who know, know." Anna had won with the Queen Slayer and the match was over, "Well gentlemen, I came back to the Bay as the champ, and I will leave as the champ. Goodnight."

The next morning, Jeff and Y/N met for breakfast at the diner she always went to growing up. Her friend's stepdad was nice enough to let her borrow the pickup for the time they were there. Two Whales she looked up at the sign and walked in, "Y/N!" Joyce, her childhood best friend's mom greeted as she walked around the counter to hug her. "Hey Joyce!" "It's so amazing to see you honey. Look at you all grown up." The diner held many memories for Y/N, "I've missed this place, Joy. That jukebox still messed up?" she laughed. "Ritchie just won't listen that it needs to be fixed; or thrown out at this point. Oh, Max and Chloe send their love. We wish we could be at your shows but they couldn't make it from Washington. I had it on the TV last night, all the bikers couldn't believe it was you." Joyce had briefly filled Y/N in about her high school best friends when she remembered, "I shouldn't be taking your time; there's a handsome young man waiting for you. What's this one's name?" Y/N turned her head to the booths to see Jeff sitting there with a grin on his face, having watched the entire encounter. "Jeff. We work together, kinda." "When he said he was waiting for you, I had to put him in your booth." The booth in question was the one she and her friends always sat in; littered with graffiti and carvings.

She made her way over and sat down, "Sorry. Joyce is just the type you can get lost in a conversation with. She was always like a mother to me." "Don't be sorry. I know how much this place means to you. I can tell you always loved wrestling by this;" he pointed to the carving clearly done by her hands 'Principal Wells can SUCK IT' "Yeah, Chloe and I had gotten suspended after a little brawl with some of the mean girls. I was always a DX kid." she reminisced as her finger traced the memory on the table. Jeff gently took her hand in his and they shared a look. It can't be, yet.

"Alright lovebirds, what do you want to eat?" Joyce asked. "I've been dying for your famous pancakes since the plane landed." The older woman looked over, "What about you, baby?" "I remember hearing about how good the french toast is here." Joyce wrote it down and left the two. "I can't believe you remember that." "I remember a lot, Dollface." The name made her blush, having not heard it in so long. "I remember that you, Chloe, and Max have matching tattoos; the one on the inside of your bicep. Let me see it again?" Y/N pulled her jacket off to show the smiling omelette, french toast, and pancake with the three girls' initials.

Some time had passed and Joyce came back, "Here you go, eat up kids." Y/N had to take a picture for her friends, "Smile." she told him. Jeff had a goofy smile and two peace signs up and then she took a picture of just the food. "You were right, this is amazing." He told her. "Joyce is a great cook. I miss sleepovers at the Price house and waking up to the smell of home-cooked breakfast and the sound of cartoons." They continued eating until, "Hey, how did you get here, by the way?" He looked up at her "Taxi? Why?" She laughed a little in shock. "I should have told you; public transportation here isn't the best. I'm driving for the rest of the day." "Oh come on, what kind of man would I be if I couldn't drive you around?" She smiled at the sentiment, he was always a perfect gentleman. "Unless you can drive an old pickup truck and navigate the Bay, I'm driving. We're in my hometown, I wanna show you around. You can plan the next." He felt all warm at the sound of 'the next'.

Y/N led him to the counter but Joyce stopped them both from paying, "On the house. Hometown hero special." She tried to push back but Joyce stopped her, "No baby, keep that belt and keep representing this place. I'm proud of you." "Thanks Joyce. I'll probably be back before I leave. I just wanna see oonee thing." She spoke as she hugged the woman in front of her. Y/N just had to check out the jukebox; was it still there? Jeff leaned on the counter and watch Y/N mess with the machine when Joyce started talking to him, "Now I've not kept up with wrestling since the girls were teens but weren't you with the people against her last night?" He looked down, "Yeah. The people I'm with and the people she's with kinda, hate each other. I wish none of us interacted so her and I didn't have to sneak around." "Sneak around? Oh honey, the way you two look at each other? She was also so focused on making it in the industry that she never really dated, but the way she looks at you and how she told me your name; that girl loves you." Joyce saw the blush in his cheeks. "I hope she does, because I lo-" "Oh ho yes! It's still there!" Y/N exclaimed "Jeff, come here." He stood behind her and looked over her shoulder, "I guess the music in this thing hasn't changed because it still has 'To All of You'. Kinda makes me think of you these days." "That's sweet." They left the diner and he was genuinely shocked at the truck in front of him; a mustard-yellow, busted and rusty pickup truck with the most beautiful woman standing by the hood. "Our chariot awaits."

Rampage

"Ready to retain?" James asked as the two of them waited by the tunnel. She asked him to accompany her because they were the closest. "More than." "I have to ask: who were you with yesterday? At that diner?" Referring to the pictures on social media she posted. You could tell that she was with a guy, but who it was was a mystery. "Just a friend from high school. We were partners in, chemistry class." Good lie. She thought, because he bought it. "Let's go!" Anna was in the ring and she brought Jeff with her. Great. Y/N and James walked out of the tunnel to nothing but cheers and love. They got in the ring together and she showed her own love for the crowd. She leaned against the ringpost with James on the apron. Even sending a little kiss to Jeff as, what looked like, a taunt. "And from Arcadia Bay, Oregon, she is the Ring of Honor Women's World Champion, Y/R/N" She took the belt off as she stood in the middle of the ring, licking the title before handing it off to Bryce. He signaled for the bell and it was off to the races. "C'mon princess, show me what you got!" She yelled at Anna.

At some point, Y/N had taken a nasty hit that hurt her arm; but there was no stopping her from keeping this title around her waist. Anna must have learned her lesson because she somehow kicked out of the Hypnosis pumpkick. She thought Y/N was down and decided to gloat but the 'Illusion' had another trick up her sleeve. She got up without her noticing and put Anna in the Deep Sleep chokehold; it only took about ten seconds for her to go night-night. "Here is your winner and still the Ring of Honor Women's World Champion, Y/R/N" Bryce held her arm up but flinched at the pain a bit. Jeff had gotten in the ring at some point because when she turned around, he was there. 'What are you doing?!' she mouthed. Think fast. "You want some of this, Loverboy?" she got in his face and it took everything in the both of them not to say fuck it and kiss. He went to touch her hurt arm but James pulled her away. As they walked up the ramp, she tried to look pissed off but she just couldn't; but James saw how they both looked at each other.

What the fuck is going on with her? he thought about his best friend.

~~~~~~~

lovely taglist babes (comment to be added) @josiewrites @slut4kennyomega @wwenhlimagines @plentyoffandoms @auburnwrites @sunshinevirus @im-just-a-mississippi-girl

#donna writes #‘the very first night’; series #aew #angelo parker #jeff parker #angelo parker x reader #angelo parker fanfiction #angelo parker imagine #aew fanfiction #aew x reader #wrestling fluff #life is strange

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consumeroflemoans · 1 year

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I posted Isaac in white space earlier, but I actually have some ideas about the others. Isaac is Omori, obviously.

I feel like Chris would be a good Mari because he generally gets along with the whole cast also angst.

Nevin could be Hero for his ties to cooking and the Chrevinstoph potential. He’s also generally shown as the ‘big brother’ figure when it comes to Drew.

Drew would then slot into the role of Kel, but I feel like he could also work as Basil. He has ties to plants with his powers, he gets along with everyone, and he’s sort of the baby of the group. Not to mention having an Isaac/Drew friendship dynamic could be very interesting.

Even though he’s not great friends with the rest of them, Edward would make a great Aubrey based on his personality and the fact that they both have lackeys when they’re older. They both seem to have the classic bully anger problems and have some more depth aside from that.

Anyway ramble over I’ll probably make more art of this idea

#ibvs #nevin jovel #chris jackson #isaac beamer #drew jovel #edward quinton #Omori #Omori AU

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superman86to99 · 1 year

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Action Comics #698 (April 1994)

Superman vs. an army of muscular, exploding Lex Luthors! And also... himself, because his newly enhanced powers are so out of control that he’s officially more dangerous to Metropolis than any clone army.

Last issue ended with LexCorp being attacked by monsters and Lex Luthor Jr. blaming Project Cadmus for it. In truth, this is the work of rogue geneticist Dabney Donovan, one of the scientists who helped clone Luthor a younger, sexier, cancer-free body. Luthor once tried to kill Dabney to leave no evidence that he’s faking being his own Australian son, so Dabney returns the favor by invading LexCorp tower with his genetically-engineered abominations. Dabney’s remote-controlled monsters finally reach Lex at the top of the tower, but... it’s not Lex, it’s a dummy with a wig on. Which is rigged to explode. All CEOs have one.

Meanwhile, despite his various problems with Luthor in the past, Superman is doing his best to defend LexCorp tower from the monsters (after all, Lex isn’t the only one who works there) but he’s hampered by his erratic powers and the fact the his body seems to be growing for no reason, which is always disorienting. Superman is able to knock down one of the monsters and, upon removing his luchador-like mask, is confused to see that it looks just like Luthor. In fact, all the big monsters do, because Dabney has a special sense of humor (and access to Lex’s DNA).

Superman puts down the rest of these mindless Lex-trocities, which spontaneously combust upon being defeated, and he has to turn on his heat vision to stop the last one. Unfortunately, now he’s unable to turn it off -- in fact, Superman’s heat vision is suddenly so potent that he can’t even close his eyes or he’ll burn his super-eyelids off. After accidentally causing some more property damage to the street in front of LexCorp, Superman has to fly into the ocean and cool off underwater for an hour before regaining his ability to blink. But at least his power troubles seem to be over!

NEXT: Superman’s power troubles get even worse.

Plotline-Watch:

The smaller monsters attacking LexCorp are the same “P-Bak” critters that Dabney and Cadmus’ Director Westfield sent after Superboy in Adventures #506. Presumably Dabney was in a rush and didn’t have time to redesign them so they’d have Lex’s face, too.

Lex checks in on poor Dr. Happersen, still recuperating from his Bizarro attack, not because he’s worried about him but to tell him to stop whining and keep working on the Supergirl project (as seen in the Supergirl miniseries). Luthor’s lackeys really need to unionize and get some better health benefits.

Superman’s power woes are actually making him feel nostalgic for the days of Lex Luthor Sr., back when all he had to do to solve his problems was show up at Lex’s office and find out what gizmo to punch (like the last time his powers went out of whack, in Superman #10).

Lois Lane finally finishes the exposé on Lex Luthor “Jr.” she’s been working on for months, but just as she electronically mails it to the Daily Planet, Lex hacks into the system using the secret backdoor included in all LexCorp PCs and rewrites the entire article so that “there won’t be a soul alive who will ever again believe Lois Lane!” See, this is why is “e-mail” thing will never catch on. Anyway, we’ll find out next issue just how good Lex’s creative writing skills are.

Patreon-Watch:

This post was made possible by our patrons Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, and Bol, who got to read half of it a whole week ago (yes, Don finished his section way before me again). Obligatory link to see if we can trick more people into joining us: https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99

And now, Don Sparrow’s section, at last liberated for all the world to see!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We begin with the cover, and it’s a good one, by Jackson Guice. It puts me in the mind of old “X-Ray Specs” ads from inside comics, though I couldn’t find one that was a specific pose match. Still, a good use of colour to have the bones of Superman’s hand “inked” in solid red.

Inside the issue, we are first greeted by not one full page splash, but three—Superman outpacing the Whiz Wagon, by land and by air. While I think Cadmus/Kirby stuff can tend to overwhelm the Superman mythology at times, I will never tire of seeing that car! [Max: Same!]

There’s an interesting juxtaposition early on, with Director Westfield observing goings-on from his situation room, followed immediately by Dabney Donovan’s similar, but lower-tech observation station, from which he spies on basically everyone.

We’re given another double page spread on pages 12-13, as Superman decks some of the giant creatures sent by Donovan. Denis Rodier’s chunky ink brush lines resemble Kirby at the best of times, but with all these Cadmus creations about, the connection is made all the more visible.

A little later in the story, both Guardian and Jimmy comment that it appears that Superman is growing, but there’s really no context clues in the artwork to sell this idea. He isn’t really placed next to anything for a convincing sense of scale, which feels like a missed opportunity. [Max: Agreed, he looked taller in exactly one panel in which he’s looking down on Guardian, then goes back to looking normal in the next.]

Jackson Guice has always excelled at drawing a realistic and beautiful Lois Lane, and his version of casual around-the-apartment Lois is no exception. Lastly, his depiction of a wizened and ageing Luthor is very well done, and a precursor to the (much later) return of a thin Lex Luthor, which we haven’t seen since the Byrne reboot.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

My issue has a colouring error on the second page, where Superman’s normally yellow/gold belt buckle appears to be white or silver. [Max: Same in my Spanish reprint!]

I’m sure Dabney’s cameras are well hidden, but it appears as though Guardian is looking straight at it, as Donovan monitors the Whiz-cam. Also: thank God that’s the only Whiz-cam we’re shown, that could have been much worse. [Max: I think Dabney is just hacking into the feed seen in the previous page. Also, I’m guessing Lex is the only one with the other type of “whiz-cams” in these comics, considering his habit of spying on women’s dressing rooms...]

Groan: yet another addition to the “since Doomsday” file, where Inspector Henderson thinks to himself that he hasn’t “heard such an edge in his voice…since he went up against Doomsday.” It is an unfortunate (and understandable) habit of this era to liken everything back to Doomsday, in order to elevate whatever is happening in the present story. [Max: We really dropped the ball not having a “Since Doomsday-Watch” section.]

This issue is structured a bit oddly, especially for a comic called “Action”. The action in this issue all takes place early on, with the rest of the issue making up a very long denouement.

Love the care with which Superman speaks on the telephone, not trusting the line not to be observed.

Interesting that burgeoning internet technology is a major plot point here. Nowadays we’re used to stories involving hacking or digital trespass, but in 1993, this was incredibly novel. [Max: Lex was the original Zero Cool.]

#superman #roger stern #jackson guice #denis rodier #project cadmus #guardian #paul westfield #dabney donovan #sydney happersen #muscular exploding lex luthor jrs #whiz cam #not that type of whiz cam sorry tumblr

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idealisticrealism · 2 years

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TCL 2x04 recap

Well, I definitely didn’t lie when I said this one was going to be long. Help.

(To anyone who actually makes it through this entire thing, I salute you. I swear I’m going to try to tone it down next week haha).

Ok I’m gonna try and be relatively short and to the point (heh, good f*ckin luck) about all the non-Armony stuff, because oh boy do I have a lot to say about those scenes. Lord.

I would have paid to see Thony and Fi manage to get Mr Motel Moustache (MMM) into that laundry thing lol. Maybe they tipped it on its side and kind of just shoved him in??

Well at least the show is actually continuing to demonstrate Chris experiencing the effects of trauma rather than just brushing it off the way so many shows do, so that’s something?

Lol no Maya, Garrett and Thony are not sleeping together (never ever gonna happen lol, hallelujah), but she is romantically entangled with a mob boss, so you guys do have that in common haha. But oh ok so it was Robert (or one of his lackeys) who hurt Maya?? Also if they have eyes on her 'at all times' how the hell did she manage to come to a FBI agent’s house in broad daylight?

Sigh. Fi. Thony didn’t answer her phone because she was being blackmailed by Garrett, and had to do what he wanted to protect you… though lbr Thony just needs to start telling Fi everything, bc it would solve a lot of problems. Also I’m so stoked that MMM is alive after all, since dealing with a live threat is so much more interesting than dealing with disposing of a body lol

I honestly wonder how many people Arman has killed. The ones we’ve seen– Jimmy in 1x03, the bald guy in 1x07, and Hayak– were all situations where he didn’t really have a choice; Jimmy stole from Hayak, so killing him was the expected action (plus, it indirectly protected Thony by satisfying Hayak of her loyalty). Then the bald guy was to save his own life, considering he’d have been dead if Hayak found out about him selling the guns, and killing Hayak was obviously self defense. I think those killings he could make peace with (well… maybe not Hayak so much; I desperately want him to break down to Thony about that one at some point, though I doubt the show will give that to us). But anyhow, he’s never going to be able to be okay with taking a life for Robert. Especially not the life of one of Robert's debtors, someone whose situation is not so different from his own, now.

Oooh Nadia is pushing for the street drugs– is my prediction gonna come true?? I love that last ep, Arman was telling Thony that they needed to consider Nadia’s idea of selling more lucrative drugs, but now he’s defending Thony’s refusal to Nadia and telling Nadia that they’re not drug dealers. Sounds like someone took Thony’s words to heart… also omg writers please stop dropping hints about Sin Cara killing Bosco!! Don’t you know he’s my boy???

Nadia is all pleased by Arman’s jealousy towards Robert– but is that really what it is? Like okay sure maybe a little (it would be weird to have to deal with your wife’s first love) but I wonder if Arman’s disgust is more about the way Robert looks at her like a prize he wants to win; like an object, which firstly Arman hates because she’s so much more than that, but also because it reminds him that both of them are just objects in Robert’s eyes; not people who came from nothing and made something of themselves, but just playthings for his amusement. I do appreciate that she has a similar reaction to his suggestion that he collect debts for Robert– reminding him he’s more than that, more than just a tool to be used. And lol gotta love Arman’s very half-hearted response to her hug haha, like yesss if I’m gonna have to see physical affection between these two, I want it to be as reluctant as possible on his part lol.

(Btw Arman must have gotten some excellent quality bruise cream bc his swelling and bruising has settled down a hell of a lot in the last like 12 hours lol)

Damn Thony that’s some good tying– “The harder you pull, the tighter they get”?? Where did you learn that one, huh?? Also love that she thought ahead enough to bring a sedative haha– like what other interesting things are in that big bag?? Clearly not rope tho lol

Oh Chris. Poor sad boy. Much trauma. That mirror shot was cool tho

Lol Fi bouncing around like a ping pong ball while Thony just stands there. At least Thony has seen the truth of it– the video is not the real problem here, the problem is the guy who can use what he knows against them– and she has already seen what the end result will have to be. And of course she knows exactly who can help save them from this problem. Also excuse me “He’s not family”– um correction, Fi, he’s not family yet. But give him and Thony a little more time and soon you’ll be calling him your sort-of-brother-in-law lol

I am surprised to admit this, but I kind of enjoy the dynamic between Garrett and new agent guy? Garrett is like a puppy who desperately wants to come play with the other agent dog and his toys lol, it’s almost (almost) endearing. And agent guy has a great voice.

Oh god Thony. Could you maybe put some gloves on rather than just touching everything with your bare hands??? Also this searching is so inefficient lol, lbr it must be that she’s already decided deep down that she’s gonna call Arman and so she’s just doing this cursory effort at a search so she doesn’t feel like she lied to Fi haha. Also damn this is another good song, if anyone finds out what it is let me know! I’m still bummed that Savage from last ep isn’t on Spotify

Okay can I just point out that if there are outstanding debts that Arman could collect for Robert that he hadn’t ever expected to get back… then he’s a pretty forgiving loan shark?? Also I highly doubt he has a shortage of people on staff to go and make those collections for him… but I guess the whole appeal of the deal is that he gets to feel like he owns Arman (aka the man that Nadia chose) specifically, and is able to make him do his bidding. I have to say I am starting to get Robert’s casting a little more; they needed someone older than Arman and with a bit of gravitas, because no way would Arman be able to deal with taking orders from someone younger and less polished. And Naveen is doing a good job of making Robert a little more nuanced; there’s a surprising edge of vulnerability to him when he talks about Nadia, which actually seems sincere (and she certainly seems to take it as such)-- well, either that, or it’s some very impressive manipulation. I love Arman literally turning away as he thinks through the offer, which is interesting symbolism as it leaves Nadia and Robert looking at each other behind his back. He wants to protect her– he doesn’t want her to be subjected to being a plaything for Robert, like he already is– but he also sees the value in taking the offer (it could get them free of him so much faster) and he respects her ability to decide for herself. But lol “You’re both mine” I think Robert’s over here planning to start a harem haha

You know I was literally wondering like a day before the ep aired who looks after Luca when the kids are at school and Thony and Fi are at work?? This woman seems lovely but there is NO reason for a character to be that pregnant unless they’re going to pop out a baby in like the IMMEDIATE future. Is Chris going to have to deliver this kid????? Also ugh Fi and Chris, these two are nailing these emotional scenes

Arman I am very much enjoying your costume change from suave businessman to hired-muscle-slash-runway-model lol. As much as I enjoy the suits, I vote the black tshirt/jeans/leather jacket combo stays forever. But omg the whole jockey thing? Like ngl I enjoyed it, but man it treaded close to the line of being a little too comedic/slapstick for this show’s vibe– thankfully it didn’t cross the line, but it was close. Maybe the point of choosing this kind of setting /character was to highlight how far Arman has been dragged down from his cool and untouchable mob boss persona of S1, that he is now subjected to the indignity of having to physically chase a debtor like a farmer trying to catch a chicken– not to mention getting his ass handed to him by a guy half his size. Been a long time since you’ve had to do this kind of grunt work, hey buddy?

God, when he answers her call he doesn't even look at the screen, just hits the button and says her name– how the hell did he know it was her?? Does he have a special vibration alert for her specifically or???? (Most likely it was just to do with the editing of the shots, but I choose to believe that he does have different vibration tones– one for her, one for Nadia, and then one for all other calls. That way he can know immediately if it’s a call he needs to take). But ugh are you kidding me with this?? The look on his face when she says she needs his help? Like his whole day just completely turned around lol. (Definitely makes me think back to Nadia calling him out– “You love the way she looks at you when you do these things for her. You’re her hero.”). Also he can probably tell instantly from her tone that she’s not distressed, which means he can skip being worried and instead just be pleased that he’s going to get to see her and help her out and make her happy ugh. Of course he probably immediately asked if everything was okay, and sigh I really wish we got to hear that conversation and see his reaction as she told him the whole story about Marco’s death, bc oh man the face journey would have been beautiful. Sigh, just another to add to my list of things to fic, I guess.

Ngl I want to know how these two managed to program keycards for this specific door, since it would have had to be done through the computer system, but I’ll just let that slide lol. Also Fi’s “I wish I knew how to get through to him”-- just let him talk to Arman!! Who better to support a young man who has been through something traumatic and is struggling with having done something terrible?? They can go do something manly together, like idk smash things or Arman can teach him to drive or something, and Chris can talk to someone who is super freakin cool and who Gets It, and also Arman can bond with his future nephew and score points with both Thony and Fi at the same time??? Win win for everybody??

I love the way Thony tells Fi that she called Arman. She says it in a quick little burst, her body tense but expression determined, because even though she hates going against Fiona’s express wishes, she knows it was the right option– their only option. The whole situation is overwhelming, and Fi needs Thony’s strength and support to get her through it– but Thony can’t carry that kind of weight alone. She, in turn, needs Arman’s strength and support to get her through it. And honestly to her it would seem so clear cut; it’s not just that Arman has ~experience~ with this kind of thing (even though yes, that’s definitely part of it), but it’s also just that– aside from Fi of course– Arman has become her Person?? Some things are too big to be handled alone, and whenever that happens, Arman is the one she turns to, because she knows he will always be there for her, just like she knows she would do whatever she could to be there for him as well. Fi doesn’t get that yet; she sees Thony running off at all hours to do things for Arman, and thinks that it’s because he has power over her or that Thony feels she is indebted to him for helping Luca. She has this caricature in her head of him, this ruthless mobster type who has Thony firmly under his control (likely influenced by whatever shit Marco spouted about him), and so that’s why she reacts to seeing him the way that she does. Well, okay, she also reacts to the fact that he looks like a goddamn movie star, but a big part of her response is the fact that she was expecting some cold-blooded criminal to stride in with his gun drawn and shoot their unarmed captive in the head/violently torture the password out of him before walking out again with some vague threat about how Thony will owe him big for this. (Just roll with me here; I maintain that this is legit and that Fi has as much of an imagination as I do lol). So that’s what she’s fearing when Arman turns up at the door, but instead she gets faced with this leather-jacketed Adonis who immediately looks her in the eye and introduces himself to her, then quietly and compassionately swears to her that he’s going to help her. Honestly her reaction was so perfect (ngl, I let out an embarrassingly high-pitched shriek of laughter at “call me whatever you want”, bc same, girl, same) and it was just so goddamn relatable omg???

In fact, I guess now is a good time for me to admit something… that I have actually personally been subjected to the fun game of ‘Surviving In The Presence Of Adan Canto’ irl. He was on the same flight to Albuquerque as my friend and I when we visited in July, and I ended up having to stand literally right in front of his seat for probably a solid minute waiting for other passengers in the aisle to store their bags and move out of the way (god, I am forever grateful to them for taking their sweet time haha). To be fair, he's maybe slightly less potent in a tshirt/jeans/ball cap combo than in the fancy Arman suits or the leather jacket, but still, holy shit. My friend said that when I turned around to stare at her after first spotting him, it was the most genuinely alarmed she's seen me look in 11 years of friendship lol– thank god that having a mask on gave me a chance to control my face pretty quickly haha! Sadly our seats were at the totally opposite end of the plane to his though, so by the time we disembarked, he was long gone. Not that I would have approached him anyway of course (it was like 11pm, dude was probably just wanting to get home asap) but ngl another glimpse would have been more than welcome haha. (Oh and @enigmaticfox can absolutely attest to the truth of all of this, since I literally immediately paid for in-flight wifi just to be able to scream at her over whatsapp lol.)

But anyway, the point of all that was to say: Fiona, I get you, girl.

Okay back to the motel room. I freakin love Arman’s surprised little smile at Fi’s response to him; I’m sure he’s had many people have all kinds of ~reactions~ to his hotness, but Fiona is different– because aside from Luca, she’s the most important person in Thony’s life, and boy is he desperate for her approval. Like ugh that pleased little face practically shouts "yes! I'm gonna get a good grade in Impressing My Future Sister In Law, which is both normal to want and possible to achieve!" (...actually, I guess it kind of is? lol). And then ughhhh in addition to the Arman Hotness™ he turns on the full powers of the Arman Compassion™ all while standing right there at Thony’s side like it’s where he belongs. And THEN it gets worse????? He goes to check out what he’s going to be dealing with, and lord I can absolutely picture him seeing the guy’s bound hands and literally stopping in his tracks, eyebrows shooting sky high. I am honestly grateful there was no one to witness the look on my face when he stepped back out of the bathroom and asked her in that I’m trying so hard to be cool and casual about this right now tone whether she was the one that tied him up, and she clearly can’t quite figure why he’s asking– did she not do it right? Did he disapprove for some reason?-- and then when she confirms it (with just the tiniest hint of defensiveness) he immediately morphs from that wide-eyed blushing emoji to the fucking smiling devil emoji omg. “I see you’ve learned a few things” EXCUSE ME MR MORALES WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THAT WITH YOUR FACE AND YOUR VOICE AND YOUR EVERYTHING??? I would personally like to sue this scene for emotional damages because I am absolutely a victim here lol. I think Fi might feel the same, based on the way she looks at Thony; I honestly can’t decide if it’s more “What the hell kind of criminal shit have you been getting up to with this guy??” or “What the hell kind of kinky shit have you been getting up to with this guy??” (Maybe both?? Let’s go with both haha.) And lollllll forever at Thony just closing her eyes– what a super awkward time to be suddenly very turned on, hey Thony??????

Phew okay honestly I almost appreciate the scene switch to Nadia and Robert purely for some recovery time haha. I like that Nadia isn’t so much ‘working’ for Robert as just getting to do something she enjoys– which is the act of influencing people (especially men) into doing what she wants them to do. It’s a fascinating character trait and I really enjoy seeing the way she uses it on both Arman and Robert in slightly different ways. It’s also very interesting to consider the contrast between how she gets Arman to do what she wants vs how Thony does; Nadia is clever with her words and with her emotions, always knowing which buttons to push and in what order, partly due to her natural talent and partly due to knowing him so long. (Of course, he knows her, too, which means he knows that at any time he might be being deliberately manipulated). Whereas Thony just comes to him with such earnest openness– there’s no manipulation or guile to her interactions with him (the one time she tried, in 1x05, it was under significant duress and she still couldn’t go through with it because she cared too much about what would happen to him ugh) and god, that must be so damn refreshing for him. Conversely, I think Robert actually loves being manipulated by Nadia. He’s so powerful and untouchable that no one dares to challenge him at all anymore, but Nadia is different; she’s known him since the start, and she’s not scared of him, so there is a kind of teasingly adversarial nature to their interactions that he clearly can’t get enough of.

Arman, staring at the cord tightly binding the guy’s wrists: “don’t fantasize about it, don’t fantasize about it, don’t– shit too late” lolllll. Got a little bit of a thing for bondage, huh Arman?? Don’t worry, I’m sure Thony will be very willing to demonstrate her technique for you someday not too far from now. (Seriously, this ep killed me with the sexual tension. It’s like the intensity of the situation made these two forget that they’re supposed to be keeping their distance, and I LOVE IT). But anyhow I love that they both take the opportunity to have a little catch up while standing over an unconscious dude in a bathtub lol. Ugh Thony’s concern for him and his situation with Robert– firstly because of the debt hanging over him, but also bc thanks to Maya, she knows Robert is both a) into some criminal shit and b) likely to be a person of interest to the FBI, meaning Arman’s connection to him will put him at risk from the FBI again. Arman is all too willing to answer any questions she has, and ugh at that open body language and the way he moves a little closer to her while they talk; meanwhile she’s got her arms folded again, just like I mentioned in my last recap– given we know how much she trusts him and feels safe with him, crossing her arms isn’t a sign of discomfort, but having to hold herself back from connecting with him physically the way she wants to. And ok yes, she’s fishing for info rn, but I have no doubt she’s going to tell him her concerns about Robert very soon. Now’s just not quite the time for that conversation haha (like I said, unconscious guy right there). But oh man I held my breath when he mentioned her meeting Robert– I assume it was Robert himself that mentioned Thony at some point, because I think it’s unlikely Thony would have brought it up and we already know Nadia is sticking with the story that she did all the work getting Arman out of jail. It makes sense to me that Thony didn’t tell Arman about the stripping down part, especially right now (again, unconscious guy), and tbh I’m glad, bc while I so desperately want him to know, I want him to find out from Robert himself, because I want him to go completely feral and attack him over it haha. (yes, I also have a WIP about this lol, and I know @chartreuseblueandyellow has already posted a fic which I can’t wait to read once I’m done with mine!).

Poor Nadia. She talked all tough in front of Robert but honestly she’s perceptive enough to know how precarious their position is, that at any time Robert could tire of the game he’s playing with them and demand what he’s owed. She’s over here being deliberately sexy and charming and pushing Robert’s buttons– aka, playing her part– and where’s Arman? Skipping out on the job that he asked to do so he could go be with Thony (again, points to him for not lying about it tho). Honestly Nadia has every right to be pissed with him, and I’m happy she is, because it will lead to her pushing Arman away– which, conveniently, will allow him to continue on his path towards Thony. (I have an Ask to answer about the Nadia/Arman/Robert situation so I won’t go into it here). But anyway ugh this phone call is amazing because it makes it clear to both Thony and Fi that Arman is choosing to be here helping her even though it is causing issues in his marriage. Thony is clearly contrite about it– she knows the difficult position that their connection puts him in, the way it divides his loyalties, but she still can’t keep herself from repeatedly reaching out to him– but ugh “it’s never a problem for you to call” (translation: please please call me more, I will take any excuse I can get to see you, I will always be there for you) and then that eye contact??? Rude. I’m sad the shot ends a bit abruptly because I wanted to see more of Fi being like HELLO I AM STILL HERE AND SO IS THE UNCONSCIOUS GUY CAN THE EYE LOVE-MAKING WAIT UNTIL THIS SHITSHOW IS OVER PLEASE– and then the two of them do some awkward throat clearing and be all like “uh right so the unconscious guy…” lol

Speaking of MMM, he’s still zonked, and ugh I love the shot of the little trio standing over him. Absolutely fantastic choice to have Fi standing between Arman and Thony– firstly it shows she’s getting just a fraction more comfortable with him, and secondly it means we are blessed with her looking back and forth between them like she’s watching a very slow and emotionally charged tennis match lol. Forever crying about how he’s so matter of fact about it– “you two can go, i’ll take it from here”-- bc lbr from the moment he heard on the phone that the guy had been a witness to Thony being present at Marco’s death, he knew he was going to kill him. I’m glad though that Thony tells him no and tries to find another solution, because it shows him that she didn’t just blithely assume he would come kill for her, and also that she is trying to protect him too by finding some other way to neutralise the guy without Arman having to get blood on his hands. I love his little smile as he gently explains Crime 101 to them (all witnesses gotta go)-- and then ugh she calls him out on the very notable exception, and omg THE NERVE OF THIS BOY to look at her with so much fucking softness and say “that’s because you’re different’. He doesn’t say ‘that’ was different, he says ‘YOU’RE’ different. Even from the start, he saw something in her, a similarity between them, a connection. He would never want to kill any innocent woman, but with her, taking her life would have felt like killing off something deep within himself, so instead he did the only thing he could do– he pulled her into his world, bringing her close, keeping her safe. So of course she’s different; she’s his, just like he is hers, each of them balancing out the other. Honestly this line was reminiscent of the ‘I’m in too deep now’ from 1x07 (but dialled up even further, ugh), and tbh I don’t know how Fiona was even able to stand being in that room with them right then lol, let alone literally in between them. Probably lucky she was, though, or they might have started making out right then and there, and the problem of MMM would never get solved lol

Uggghhh anyhow gotta move on. I love that Arman immediately relents when Thony insists on trying to scare MMM into silence first; he knows it won’t work, but he knows it’s important to her to try (and lbr, he’s already totally planning to come back and arrange an ‘accident’ for the guy later), so he helps her do what she needs to do. Not that he’s complaining; lbr he absolutely enjoyed showing off his sexy tough guy act for Thony, though not nearly as much as he enjoyed Thony’s quietly unhinged red market organ harvester act. The way his eyes go from her– from her calm expression, her cool and collected movements– to MMM’s face, seeing the fear that she is able to inspire with just her words, it’s clear that he is INTO this. You can even see him swallow hard at one point when she’s laying her hand over MMM’s liver, and honestly this scene is just Too Goddamn Much for me ugh. It’s not only the sexual tension (tho ngl I am getting some strong roleplay kink vibes here, y’all, particularly with a little light dom/sub flavour, lord help me) but it’s also the new level of understanding between them, the perfectly cohesive partnership, and what it means for both of them– for Thony, it’s knowing she can take charge and do something both risky and unfamiliar, and that she will be completely supported by him; for Arman, it’s seeing that Thony is not afraid to step deeper into the shadowy world he inhabits, that she can accept the darker side of him and all the terrible things he has done out of necessity, because she understands. I also love that their knees are just touching as she threatens MMM, a tiny physical reminder of that connection and support. The only shot I couldn’t quite figure out was Arman’s expression when she says that she’ll take the guy’s heart too, and that it sells for $1M– but I decided that it was him mentally being like ‘wait is that actually true???’ lol. Too bad you already gave your heart to Thony for free, huh Arman? :P But ugh the way he looks up at her for her decision after the guy tells them where to find the file, and the smooth command in her voice as she tells him to stay there while she goes and checks it out-- like I said, the dom/sub vibes are REAL here kids (if you hear some kind of distant screeching/wailing sound, don’t worry, that’s just me not being able to deal with this in the slightest)

Ugh thank god, watching Fi be devastated by the video is actually easier to watch than any of that previous scene lol. I love Thony being savvy enough to wipe the drive, though I wish she’d been equally savvy in wearing some goddamn gloves so they didn’t now have to clean every inch of this room. But oooh the way Fiona is starting to see Thony more clearly now and realising that there is more to her connection to Arman than she’d previously assumed. I was worried when she said Thony was different with Arman; worried she meant it in a negative way, that she might judge what Thony had done, or act like her connection with Arman had tainted her somehow. But then instead she brought up Thony’s trust in him, and it was like ohhhhhhhhhh. Because in that bathroom Fi saw the side of Thony she used to see way back in her surgeon days– the decisiveness and the proficiency, the confidence and the self-assurance of someone feeling completely secure in the situation she was in. Of course, that side of her hadn’t completely disappeared in the time since she’d left work to have Luca, but it was rarer now, tempered by the constant strain she was under and the complete lack of support she received from anyone (other than the limited kind that Fi herself could provide). But with Arman, she is able to become that person again, because she knows she can trust him to be there, to support her in whatever way she needs. Fi knows it even before Thony confirms it (we’ve already heard her explicitly say that she trusts him, and have seen evidence of it countless times, but still, I died at the conviction in that ‘yes') and then ugh the “because he always shows up when I need him”. Honestly, the Backstreet Boys really captured it with “I don’t care who you are/ Where you’re from/ What you did/ As long as you love me” lol; Thony doesn’t care about Arman’s past, or that he sometimes has to do bad things– not only does she know the world is far more complicated than simply being split into Good and Bad (she’s even said as much, when detained with Garrett in 1x09), but Arman has also proven himself to her, proven that he’ll always be there when she needs him, that she matters to him in a way Marco never showed her. I often noticed the contrast between Marco and Arman in S1 in relation to Thony, how one of them would always only add to her burden while the other would always try to lighten it in any way he could. (Even in death, Marco added to that burden, but here Arman is, taking care of her yet again). But anyway ugh Thony swearing to Fi that she would do anything for their family but that sometimes that way is not going to be the way they want definitely ties back to Arman’s line in 1x01 about doing things ‘any way you can’. And idk maybe it’s just me but “sometimes things just happen the way they happen” sure sounds a lot like “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall in love with a mob boss while still married to your brother, but here we are” lol. In which case, Fi’s acceptance with ‘Bahala Na’ could have a whole other level to it– whatever happens with Thony and Arman, happens…

Well, those USBs were a lucky find lol. But ugh Arman’s concern when they come back into the room looking upset, and the freakin predatory glint he gets in his eyes when he says ‘he lied to us’ (idk why the us has me so affected lol, it’s the logical word choice, but damn if it doesn’t make me feel like he’s a member of the family now). Poor Thony is so rattled tho– tbh she’d known right from the start that MMM was a problem that would need to be eliminated, and what that would likely mean, but then the apparent success of their little roleplay had really had her believing that silencing him could be achieved without bloodshed. But now she knows the truth, sees that Arman knew it all along. And I love that he knows she understands now, so he just lets her process and focuses on Fiona instead, all gentle and calm and reassuring with “You don’t have to. I promised to protect your family. I’ll take care of it.” Which, firstly, (*muffled screaming*) and secondly, according to Wiki, one of the meanings for Bahala Na– other than whatever happens, happens– is “I’ll take care of things”. Which kinda seems slightly contradictory, but still, I love that through this other meaning, Arman is part of their Bahala Na pact with them. (Ngl I’m totally gonna adopt this concept in my own life, I love it.) Anyway I feel like the stunned look in her eyes is not just about the fact that MMM is going to have to die, but also that Arman is so prepared to do it for them. She still hasn’t clicked to the fact that Arman would do anything for Thony, which I guess is fair, considering this is the first time she’s even seen them together– but I think after this, the image she had in her head of the ruthless mob boss keeping Thony trapped in his grip is certainly going to be gone, replaced by that of a man with a complicated past who truly cares about (loves) her best friend. But anyway ugh the way Thony reached for Arman, holding on for that brief moment as she accepted what was about to happen– the touch both a request and an acknowledgement; she knows what needs to happen, and what will happen no matter what, but she still gives Fiona agency in that choice, just like Arman did for her earlier when he agreed to her plan. And the fact that she acknowledges that Chris is Fi’s son and so the decision is up to her shows that she is really listening to her and respecting her position in this situation, especially considering how Fi told her earlier in the ep that calling Arman wasn’t her decision to make. God this show is just freakin incredible with the nuance in its character interactions, I honestly can’t. (Also damn, Martha knocked this scene out of the fucking park, omg. What a queen.)

I also just cannot deal with Arman’s entire everything as he leans there against the counter (so goddamn rude, sir) or the small nod he gives Fi. But ugh then when Thony’s eyes lift to his, clearly pained, and he gently reassures her that it’s okay– he knows her hesitation is partly about the fact that she’s literally condemning a man to death, but lbr he also knows it’s more about the fact that he is going to have to be the one to carry that weight on his shoulders. He knows it, just like he knew in 2x02 that when she said she felt like she’d failed everyone, she wasn’t talking about Marco. And so when he says it’s okay, it’s not just ‘it’s okay, you had no choice, the guy had to die’, but ‘it’s okay. I choose to do this, and you don’t need to regret it, because I won’t.’ Ugggggghhhhhh. Honestly i cannot wait for their next scene together, because the way they look at each other after being even more deeply connected in this way is going to be A Lot. (And considering how intensely they already look at each other, I’m probably not going to survive this. Ah well, at least I'll die happy lol)

Ok gotta say I’m definitely noticing a change in Garrett this season. I think it’s partly bc his dog-with-a-bone attitude isn’t being directed at Arman so much anymore, now that he’s caught up with getting Maya free of Cortez– he really does seem to care about Maya, and though he was blowing up thony’s phone with calls, he was begging for her to hand over the cloned phone rather than threatening her. I think he resorted to the threats last ep because he had to, but never had the intention of following through or continuing to make her work for him; it’s clear he has a soft spot for Thony and wants to help her when he can, and I liked that he actually showed genuine appreciation for her help, and that he agreed that it was a one-time thing– that she had done her part and he wouldn’t demand any more of her. At this stage it probably seems to him there's nothing else she could do anyway, though if he finds out she's connected to RK, that will almost certainly change… I also appreciated that when Fi called for Thony to help with the pregnant lady, he immediately checked if they needed extra help. And oh man I think I'm actually developing a weird grudging almost-fondness for him a little bit?? Like he's still an absolute jackass, but he's our jackass?? Tbh this must be how Russo feels lol

Wow Robert is clearly really enjoying having Nadia around haha. Can’t say I blame him, and tbh the ‘why are you asking me, I’m not your boss’ line was actually pretty good lol. (I feel like I need to add in a permanent disclaimer here: I still hate him and tbh hope he dies by the end of the season kill him Thony but his scenes with Nadia so far are not bad to watch). I can’t be bothered to say anything more about this scene– this is already so long, and I’m gonna talk more about these two in an Ask shortly– but basically I’m glad to see them getting closer, because it’s exactly what the season needs.

Ugh I have listened to this song (Mother, by Byland) so many times, and the vibes it gives about this show are so good. I liked the juxtaposition of Thony bringing a life into the world at the same time Arman was taking one out of it– it shows how they complement each other, how they fit together, ying-yang wise. (Though dude it has to have been at least ten years since Thony delivered a baby, which is about the same as it has been for me, so damn I respect her doing that on her own without freaking out lol). Also I had a little giggle at Chris holding the baby– like oh ok sure, poor traumatised boy experiences the miracle of life and suddenly feels better. Congrats. I do hope the show won’t just have him be totally fine now– what he went through was huge and seeing the wrinkly little face of a fresh human is definitely not enough to erase that. But I guess we’ll see.

But anyway, I gotta say I respect MMM for just accepting his fate and not trying to yell or run. Sorry it had to be this way buddy, but you really did fuck up in threatening these two women specifically. Arman hesitating to shoot broke my heart a little; he really is a good man, and killing someone in self defense (eg Hayak, bald guy) is very different from an execution-style murder. I think it’s especially hard for him now because since knowing Thony, he has become more and more aware of that darker side of himself, and how much he hates it and wants to be better. But tonight at least, it’s that darkness that will keep Thony safe; left alive, this man will always be a threat to her, which is something Arman simply cannot allow. And it’s because of that– because of her– that he has the strength to pull the trigger.

Okay jesus there we go. Almost 7k words later and I’m free of this episode haha. Like I said at the start (if any of you can even remember back that far) I am going to try and tone these down again from now on, but if y’all decide not to continue subjecting yourselves to these, I completely understand haha. But for any of you crazy masochists out there who want to continue– I’ll see you next week lol

#The Cleaning Lady #Armony #I have lost all control of my life.

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