#Ivan Dorn

[moviemosaics]

Petrov’s Flu

directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, 2021

[sevendavisjr]

coming to a record store near you this March

[clouds-of-wings]

[ljones41]

"RANDOM HARVEST" (1942) Review

"RANDOM HARVEST" (1942) Review

Between 1936 and 1942, author James Hilton enjoyed a prolific period of successful collaborations with the Hollywood studios. Some of those collaborations included writing screenplays for a handful of movies. However, three of those collaborations featured the screen adaptions of a handful of his best-selling novels. One of tho latter proved to be his 1941 novel, "Random Harvest".

Like some of Hilton's previous novels, "Random Harvest" proved to a very popular piece of work that became a major best-selling hit. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) purchased the film rights to novel and set an adaptation of it in motion. Mervyn LeRoy served as the movie's director and both Ronald Colman and Greer Garson were cast in the leads.

Unlike Hilton's novel, screenwriters Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel and Claudine West abandoned the flashback narrative device for "RANDOM HARVEST". Because the novel had kept the duel identities of "Paula Ridgeway"/Margaret Hanson a secret until the very end, the screenwriters had decided to take a different approach, realizing it would have been difficult to maintain such a secret in this particular film, especially since the characters' faces - especially the leading lady's - must be seen. So . . . instead of treating the November 1918 sequence as a flashback, the screenwriters began the movie at that very moment with a British Army officer named "John Smith" confined to an asylum as an unidentified inmate.

On the day the war ends, the asylum's gatekeepers abandon their posts to join the celebration in the nearby Midlands town of Melbridge, and Smith follows him into town. There, he meets a music hall named Paula Ridgeway (stage name). Following a violent encounter with the leader of Paula's traveling theatrical group, she leads Smith away from Melbridge and they end up at a small Devon village. There, the couple fall in love, get married and conceive a son. Two years after they first met, Smith heads to Liverpool for a job interview at a newspaper. After a taxi hits him, while he was crossing the street, Smith regains his memories of his true self - Charles Rainier, the son of a wealthy Midlands businessman. Charles' return occurred on the day of his father's death and within a few years, assume control of the family's business. Unfortunately, Charles has lost his memories of his three years as "John Smith", including his relationship with Paula. The latter eventually discovers his whereabouts after a few years. When Paula - or Margaret Hanson - realizes that he does not remember her, she becomes his executive assistant in the hopes that her presence will jog his memories of those lost three years.

"RANDOM HARVEST" is not a perfect movie. What movie is? However, I can only think of one or two aspects about it that failed to impressed. It is quite clear that most of "RANDOM HARVEST" had been filmed inside a soundstage or on the MGM backlot. I have no general issues with this. In fact, I really admired Cedric Gibbons' art directions and Edwin B. Willis' set designs for the Melbridge street scenes. But there is one particular sequence - "Smith" and Paula's time in Devon - that looked particularly fake to me. I just did not find the Devon countryside featured in this movie convincing. But I really had a problem with the film's costume designs and hairstyles. "RANDOM HARVEST" was set during the years between 1918 and 1935. The movie had been shot and released in 1942. Robert Kalloch's costume designs did not reflect the movie's time period, as shown in the images below:

There was nothing about the dresses, suits, gowns, shoes and even the hairstyles that seemed to convey 1918-1919, the 1920s, or the early-to-mid 1930s.

But aside from these quibbles, I must be honest. I really enjoyed "RANDOM HARVEST". I have always enjoyed "RANDOM HARVEST". Between Mervyn LeRoy's direction and the screenplay written by Claudine West, George Froeschel and Arthur Wimperis; MGM released a movie that I believe proved to be one of the best romantic films I have ever seen. But the film's romance was enhanced by World War I's consequences upon Charles Ranier/John Smith's life and memories. "RANDOM HARVEST" not only struck me as a romantic film, but also a melancholic and sometimes, heartbreaking movie. Also, for a movie with a running time of 125 minutes, "RANDOM HARVEST" managed to maintain a steady pace, thanks to Mervyn LeRoy's direction. I found this mind boggling, considering I have found the pacing of many old movies from the 1930s and 1940s to be rather slow . . . almost to the point of dragging the movies to a stop. Thankfully, "RANDOM HARVEST" managed to convey a poignant and melancholy romance without putting me to sleep.

Certain aspects in the film's narrative managed rise "RANDOM HARVEST" above the usual tearjerker. The emotional impact of World War I upon Charles resulted in the creation of the melancholic and sad man struggling to deal with his amnesic state during the film's first half hour or so. Another scene featured Kitty Chilcet's - the stepdaughter of Charles' sister and his fiancee - discovery that he was not in love her. It proved to be one of the film's most haunting and emotionally devasting moments. One fabulous scene featured the revelation of Charles' secretary Margaret Hanson as Paula Ridgeway, the music hall entertainer he had married not long after the war. This revelation had led to a heartbreaking conversation between Margaret and Charles' former analyst and head of the Melridge asylum, Dr. Jonathan Benet, in which he advised her not to force her true identity upon Charles for the sake of his mental health. What made the film's second half even more poignant was Margaret's struggles to remain silent about hers and Charles' past, while stuck in what seemed like an arranged marriage between businessman and secretary.

"RANDOM HARVEST" managed to earn seven Academy Award nominations. Two of them were in the acting category - Best Actor for Ronald Colman and Best Supporting Actress for Susan Peters. For me, the two acting nominations served as a hint of the film's level of acting skills from the cast. There was not a performance that did not trouble me. The movie featured solid performances from Bramwell Fletcher, Rhys Williams, Melville Cooper, Jill Esmond, Alan Rapier, Ivan F. Simpson, Margaret Whycherly and Arthur Margetson. Una O'Connor and Reginald Owen both provided brief, yet entertaining performances as Melbridge citizens that Charles/"Smithy" had encountered on the night he had left the asylum. Henry Travers gave a poignant performance as doctor that the pair had befriended during their stay in Devon. Dutch actor Philip Dorn gave an intelligent, yet surprisingly emotional performance as Dr. Jonathan Benet, the gentle head doctor of the Melbridge asylum, who fell in love with Margaret/Paula years later.

Susan Peters reached the peak of her career in her portrayal of Kitty Chilcet, the step-daughter of Charles' sister. She gave an intelligent, yet lively performance as the charming, yet patient schoolgirl who managed to win Charles' heart. But in one scene in which Kitty realizes that Charles had memories of another love that would lead him to regard her as a stranger, Peters elevated her game and gave a subtle, yet skillful performance that led to an Oscar nomination for her. Of the three main leads, Greer Garson did not receive an acting nomination for her performance in "RANDOM HEART". Which seemed a pity to me, because I believe she really knocked it out of the ballpark as Margaret Hanson/"Paula Ridgeway", the music hall entertainer-turned-secretary who managed to win over Charles with her quiet wit, charm and warmth. Her rendition of the music hall song, "She's Ma Daisy", is something to behold. I believe Garson really shined in the film's second half, as her character struggled to nudge Charles into regaining his memories as "Smithy" and at the same time, keep her emotions and other identity in check during her "marriage of convenience" to him. In the end, Garson ended up being nominated for her performance in "MRS. MINIVER". She won in the end, but I cannot help wishing she had been nominated for her performance in "RANDOM HARVEST". For years, I have always pinpointed Ronald Colman as an actor known for his charm, dash and some pretty good acting skills. But in recent years, I have realized that I had underestimated just how skillful an actor he truly was. I thought he had given a phenomenon performance as a World War I amnesiac, who discovers he is a scion of a wealthy family. In scenes that featured "Smithy"'s confusion during the film's first thirty minutes, his confusion over his growing emotional dependence on Margaret and especially that one moment in which he regarded Kitty as a stranger, when his memories as Smithy returned briefly made me realize what a superb actor Colman truly was. It seemed a pity that he did not win the Best Actor award for that year.

It seems a miracle to me that Hollywood or anyone else has never considered making another serious adaptation of James Hilton's 1941 novel. Granted, that filmmaker or television producer would probably have great difficulty overcoming the ghost of the 1942 adaptation. I might as well say it . . . "RANDOM HARVEST" is excellent adaptation of Hilton's novel. Mervyn LeRoy did an excellent job in maintaining a strong pacing for such a melancholic story. Screenwriters Claudine West, George Froeschel and Arthur Wimperis had made some changes that proved to be very effective for the film's narrative. But without the excellent cast led by superb performances from Ronald Colman and Greer Garson, who knows if "RANDOM HARVEST" would have become the classic it now is.

[nelo0wesker]

Who is she? Part 2

Prequel Part 1

Armando x reader, enemies to lover.

@nobodygetsza @onlyrealjoy

————————-

Armando looks at Mike and Marcus holding you. You were in his lap doing your nails. He looks at your arm where a scar is. He remembered how that scar formed. He kisses the scar knowing what the scar was before it was burned was a tattoo. He looks up at his father and Marcus. “Y'all really want to know how we met?” He questions them. He ignored the footsteps coming their way knowing it’s Rita, Kelly and Dorn. He turns to them, seeing the popcorn. Armando raises his eyebrow at them and repeats his questions from earlier. “So y'all really want to know?” He questions.

“Yeah I want to know how you met her! She’s a badass” Marcus says, trying to compliment you. Mike looks at you really wanting to know how you and Armando met. “Yeah, how did you meet?” He questions them. “Fine we’ll tell you” you finally talk revealing you had a Spanish accent. “It’s a long story… you're not gonna like what you here” Armando tells them, holding your hand tightly. “We met in 2018…” he says and turns to you to see if you wanted him to talk about where you came from. She nods her head and he signs. “It was mafia vs. cartel. It was a war zone” he tells him going back to how exactly he met you.

——————

Spain, Tenerife Island

April 15, 2018

9:15 P.M.

The sound of your footsteps were loud in the warehouse. You walk past many members of the mafia going towards the ones that were on the floor. You look down at them and look up at the empty cases that were supposed to be filled with drugs. “Where is it?” She questions them. She already knew the answer to it though but she wanted them to confirm it. “T-the cartel stole it!” The man stutters looking at you backing away terrified.

You scoffed looking at these men knowing they were lying. It’s not really what happened. She could see the remains of cocaine on their faces. “Is that really what happens to amigo? Or did you sell it to the cartel?” She questions them kneeling down to their levels to meet them eye to eye. She watches the men's eyes widen when they realize they were caught.

“W-wait wait!” The men shout as you get back out pulling out your pistol and shooting them in the head. Both the men’s bodies fell to the ground dead. She turns to the other members and points at the dead men. “That’s a lesson! Whoever betrays the mafia dies!” She yells out at them as all the men and women nod their heads terrified of her.

Y/N is finally satisfied with their terrified expression. “Clean this shit up and find those drugs!” She yells walking past them as members scurried off away from her to clean off the bodies and find the location of the drugs.

You walk out the warehouse and stop and look to your right seeing your older brother. “Ivan…” you say lookin at him as he gets off the warehouse wall and walks to you and gives you a small smile. “Hola Y/N….”. Ivan ruffles her short hair and sighs seeing the look she had. “I know… but you had too…. If you didn’t you would be hurt more or worse death” he tells her thinking about their father. “I don’t want you to die at our fathers hands like our other siblings have” he tells her, moving her to walk with him away from the warehouse.

“Father owns Tererife island. He practically owns Spain…” he tells her. “You can’t anger him Y/N. Never go on his bad side”. Y/N turns to him and scuffs. “Don't you think I know that Ivan?! We grew up in the same place! I know the consequences if we disobey our father!” She tells him upset. “I remembered what happened to Gael…” she whispers, closing her eyes. His death was so long ago she shouldn’t be fazed anymore but she was. “I remember how father killed him” she tells him and Ivan's eyes soften at her words. He knew how Gael died as well. They witnessed it 15 years ago.

“Gaels death was a warning to us Y/N. Just… don’t mess up or piss father off. I don’t want you dead like the others” he tells her leaving to go into the warehouse. He stops at the door and turns to look at her. “We leave for Mexico in 2 hours… father gave us 3 days to get the cocaine back” he tells her watching her reaction. “If we don’t… who knows what he’ll do to us” Ivan says leaving her alone to check up on the members and the progress of where the exact location of the drugs are in Mexico.

————-

Y/N sits in her seat on the plane. She ignored her brother putting the luggage up. Ivan sits down ignoring other passengers as he goes on his phone to check if he got any notification. “Once this flight is done we’ll only have so much time to get those drugs back” he whispers to her so no other passenger hears them.

“Ivan… what if going here is a way to escape?” She questions him, making her brother pause on what she said. “If there was a way to escape the mafia Y/N. I would have already left” he tells her. Putting in his headphones watching her rest her head. He looked at his sister sadly knowing she never wanted to be part of the mafia. None of them did but they couldn’t say no to their father. If they did. It was death.

————-

New Mexico

April 16, 2018 3:30 P.M.

Y/N gets off the plane with Ivan following behind her. They get their bags later. When they got their bags they took a cab to a motel.

Y/N opens the door to her room seeing weapons laid out on the bed. She looks at them grabbing the knife and strapping herself. There wasn’t any time to sleep. She dissembles the sniper and puts the parts in a bag. She grabbed the two pistols and to her holsters that were on her. She pauses looking at her tattoo on her arm making her related to the mafia. She puts on her leather jacket to hide the weapons on her and leaves her room.

She turns her head seeing Ivan leave his room as well. “Come on. We do this silently” he tells her walking past her to get to the location of the drugs. You follow behind him not prepared what will happen. “If it doesn’t go as plan we use plan b” he tells her as they walked

————-

Y/N was on top of a roof not too far from where they tracked their supply of drugs that the cartel took. Ivan was right next to her looking through binoculars looking inside while you assembled your sniper.

Once assembled she aims to look inside the warehouse. She was looking through the scope and paused seeing a Caramel skinned male. Ivan whistles seeing who she’s looking at. “Armando Aretas,” Ivan whispered, looking at the Latino male. “That’s who jacked us off our supply.” He tells her as Y/N looks at the male again. She stopped to admire his looks. She couldn’t stop thinking that he was actually hot.

Ivan turns to her seeing the way she didn’t have her finger on the trigger. You were just looking at the scope. “Y/N you better get over your crush on him.. well most likely have to kill him” he tells her. She looks at her brother and rolls her eyes. “Can’t I just admire?” She asks him and he chuckles. “No”. She chuckled at his answer, going back to admire Armando. Ivan smiled hearing your chuckles. It’s been awhile since he heard that from you.

———-

Night Time

11:15 P.M.

Y/N sneaks in the warehouse along with Ivan. She kills members of the cartel that were in her path. The place was heavily guarded. Y/N was slowly creeping up on another cartel member but was dragged away from them. She turns her head to see Armando and readies herself for a fight.

Armando looks at her up and down. “Aren’t you a beauty” he tells her dodging her attacks as she tries to get him with a knife. He grabs her wrist and immediately she moves her left arm to the inside of her jacket and pulls out a pistol to shoot him.

Armando moves the pistol away from him as she shoots. He tried to unarm her but she quickly kicked him, making him grunt. She tries to shoot him but he pushes her down making the gun come out of her hand from the impact of her being slammed to the floor. She kicks his stomach so he’s off of her and gets up. Her head turns, hearing gunfire.

She knew she needed to go so she booked it. Armando was chasing her but she got away. She pants once she got in a distance away from the warehouse.

Y/N waited till her brother came to the motel. She turns to hear footsteps and pauses seeing her brother all blooded up. “No my blood” he tells her, opening his door to his room to change. She gets up from her spot and stretches. “I’m going out. Don’t wait for me” she tells him ready to go down the stairs but Ivan grabbed her arm. She turns to him. “What I’m only getting is something to eat… nothing else”.

Ivan just stared at her feeling his phone buzz in his pocket. He reaches into his pocket reading the message their father sent him. He read the message and his heart dropped seeing what it holds. He looks at you and hugs you tightly making Y/N grunt in surprise of the hug not expecting it. Ivan hugged her tightly, not letting go. He lets go of her and ruffles her hair. “Get me something as well” he tells her. She gives him a confused look at the rare show of emotion from Ivan and nods leaving the motel.

Ivan looks at his phone and punches the wall seeing the message again. He dropped his phone and stomped on it. The cracked screen still has the message on it saying “Kill Y/N”. The screen turned off for good as Ivan felt his eyes water. He didn’t want to kill his baby sister but he had no choice. If he doesn’t he’ll most likely die and she will still die. There’s nothing he can do.

————-

12:30 A.M.

Y/N drives to a close restaurant walking in. She goes up to the employee. She texts Ivan to ask what he wants but gets nothing. She waited a couple minutes but still nothing. She raises her eyebrow because Ivan always answers her.

She grumbles and looks at the menu thinking of what Ivan would want. “Fuck it. I want 2 orders on number 11” she tells the worker. She hears someone walking behind her but ignores it, ready to pay for the food.

“Let me pay for that mami” Armando says, grabbing her wrist so she doesn't pay and turns her around so they’re facing each other. He gives the cashier money for the food and looks at Y/N up and down. Y/N glares at him knowing she can’t do shit to him now not wanting it bring attention to themselves.

Armando couldn’t stop thinking that she's so pretty. “Cariño you're beautiful” he tells her. He knows why she’s here. She was here to get back the supply of cocaine that he took. “You're far from home mami” he tells her. “What the fuck do you want?” She whispers, pulling her wrist out of his grip.

“Just your number mami” Armando tells her with a smirk and she couldn’t stop thinking that the smirk he did was hot. “Fuck no” she tells him turning away from him but she moves to be in front of her. “Come on mami. At least give me a chance” he asks her and she just glares at him. “No we are enemies” she tells him walking past him hearing her food is ready. She goes to grab it but Armando stops her.

“Okay at least allow me what I want to say” he tells her, grabbing the food and pauses, raising her eyebrow at him. “You're a very beautiful woman. I admire your strong will” he tells her and goes on and on about her good qualities he admires making her blush because no one had ever said that to her. “How the hell did you get all that information about me after only meeting me once?!” She asks so confused and Armando just gives her a small smile.

He didn’t answer her question and grabbed her chin seeing the blush. He so badly wanted to kiss her but knows he couldn’t because she was part of the mafia. “You don’t have to go back,” he whispers to her. His thumb grazed her bottom lip as he looked into her eyes. Her eyes were very beautiful. Honestly the first time he saw her it was love at first sight.

She moved her chin away out of his hand. She was still blushing but she tried to control it. “I don’t have a choice,” she tells him, grabbing the food from him ready to walk past him but he gets in her way again. “Please I can protect you from your father” he tells her and she pauses to look at him. “There’s no hiding from my father…” she tells him and leaves the restaurant and gets in the car.

Once she gets in and closes the door her head turns hearing a knock on the window. She rolled her window down seeing Armando. He hands her a piece of paper and she opens it to see what is inside of it. She sees a number. Y/N raises her eyebrow at him. “Call me or Text me. I’m not picky but I’ll love to hear your voice over the phone” he says in his deep voice flirting with her more making her blush.

He smirks seeing her blush and backs away from the car watching her not say a thing to her and drive away.

_______________

She gets back to the motel and knocks on Ivan's door. Ivan opens the door. His hair wet from the shower. “You didn’t text me back, Iv” she tells him, giving him his food. Ivan opens the container to see what it was and nods liking what she got him. “Sorry my phone broke” he tells her, taking a bite out of his food.

“You’ve been gone for a while. I know it wasn’t you just waiting for the food.” He tells her. He knew his sister well. She scolds him sitting down on a chair to eat her food. “Nothing happened,” she tells him while eating her food. Ivan looked at his baby sister and sighs. “Y/N come tell me. We’re siblings, we don't hide things from each other” he tells her trying to get her to open up to him. Today would be the last day he’ll be able to spend with his baby sister. He wants to make the most out of it.

“That Aretas guy was there… he gave me his number” she tells him. She didn’t give him the details on how Armando was flirting with her. Ivan's smile didn’t go away hearing that. “You should text him” he tells her, making her stop eating to look at him. “Que?” She questions completely confused about what her brother just said to her.

“I said talk to him Y/N” Ivan repeated himself eating his food. “You like him-“ he says but she tried to deny it but he kept going. “He obviously likes you back so talk to him”. Y/N looks at her brother in shock on why he’s acting like the way he is now. Something was off and she doesn’t know what. “Ivan, are you okay?” She questions him watching him set his food down and get up going up to her and hugs her tightly.

He backs away and yawns. It was a fake one and he stretched. “I’m tired,” he tells her. He watches her get up to leave the room to go to her own. He gives a sad smile watching her leave.

——————-

Y/N walks into her room with her food in her hand. She was no longer hungry and put it in the fridge. She takes off her leather jacket and puts it on the chair. She grabs a towel and clothes to take a quick shower.

She walks in the shower after taking off all her clothes. She gets in putting shampoo in her hair thinking of how strange Ivan was acting towards her. She washes her hair and then washes her body.

She walks out the shower wrapping a towel over herself. She dries herself and puts on her pajamas. It was just a tank top and shorts. She walked out the bathroom to the bed grabbing her phone. She sighs looking at it and then looks at her leather jacket and grabs it. Her hand goes inside the pocket grabbing the paper with Armando's phone number on it

Y/N pauses looking at the phone number and types it in her phone and sends a quick message of saying hey. She didn’t even get it to sit down when she quickly got a hey back.

Armando was laying in his bed smiling when he got your text. He couldn’t actually believe you texted him back. He kept texting you back as you did the same with him. Messages go on in the night between the two. Certain things this man has said in these texts makes you blush cause you couldn’t believe how bold this man was.

Y/N chuckles lightly blushing how much this man has complimented her. He was a sweet talker. She’ll give him that. She couldn’t believe how well they hit it off.

_______________

April 17, 2018

9:51 A.M.

You quickly get up hearing a knock on your door. Y/N grumbles seeing her door open revealing Ramon. She quickly gets up seeing the oldest in the family here. She didn’t know he was coming. Ivan walks in going past Ramon to get to you.

Ramon looks around the room ignoring his two younger siblings. He didn’t look at you knowing you're gonna die today. He never had a relationship with you or Ivan. He gave up on that relationship a long time ago when Gael died. He remembers the look you had on your 6 year old face after seeing Gaels death. You had the look of hate and despair. It’s a look he could never forget. He knew you hated the family but you never showed it.

“Get dressed Y/N are leaving soon to get our drugs back” he tells her watching her get up and go to the bathroom to get dressed. He looks at her bed and sees her phone. It lights up and he goes and picks it up to see who messaged her. He didn’t get to see it because Ivan took it away from him. “It’s bad enough we have to kill her. Let her have this… she’s only 21.” Ivan says, his voice cracking a little. “She likes him. Don’t yell at her or anything” he tells him as you come back and Ivan hands her her phone back. They left the motel to plan on what to do

—————

The next time Armando and Y/N met it was night time. There was a whole fight between the mafia and cartel. The fight between the two was bloody.

Y/N pants looking at Armando. She was bloody from the fighting between them. So was he. Armando looks at her panting as well. He heard a shatter and turned his head seeing the floor engulfed in flames. Someone must have poured gasoline on the floor. He saw many bodies burn.

Y/N takes his distraction as a chance and hits him hard in the face making him back away from her. Armando's hand was on his face and he looked at her “that wasn’t nice Mami”. He dodges her punches and throws a punch at our stomach making her double over in pain. The fire quickly spreads around. The smoke thickened in the air making it become hard to breathe. She chokes and coughs at the lack of air. She was struggling to breath and he noticed that.

While they weren’t paying attention someone had aimed a gun at her and shot. Y/N coughs up blood and looks to her right to see who shot her and her heart drops seeing it was Ivan who shot Ramon watching them dragging Ivan away. His eyes were watery as he backs away and leaves the building. She yelled out in pain as the fire got to her arm and it started burning.

She was about to fall to the floor but Armando quickly goes to her and catches her from falling and taking out the fire. Holding her close. “I got you” he tells her, picking her up as she coughs up blood. Armando picks her up bridal style and leaves the burning warehouse.

————

Armando had saved Y/N from death. Bandaging her bullet wound that her brother created. He questioned why her siblings would betray her like that.

He sighs watching her sleep and gets up but pauses seeing the tattoo on her arm. He looked at the tattoo, noticing it’s a flower with a knife going through it. It was the mafia symbol. His eyes hardened looking at that tattoo. “I thought the mafia was about family?” He whispers out not noticing how she was awake.

“Not my family” she grunts out trying to sit up. Armando immediately pushes her back down not wanting her to get up. She looks at him and grumbles letting him put her down. “Why save me?” She questions him. He looked her in the eyes. “I don’t know.. I just couldn’t allow you to die. I just met you yesterday but I couldn’t bring myself to watch you die” he tells her honestly. He gives her a small charming smile that she couldn’t look away from. She blushes at his smile and grabs his collar with her uninjured hand. She pulls him down and kisses him.

Armando eyes and he kisses back. He wasn’t expecting you to kiss him so easily and early but he ain’t complaining. He backs away once the kiss is over and smiles seeing her blush and looks away.

—————-

Present day

“And that’s how we met” Armando tells them, holding you as all of them were in complete shock. “You know I expected you to meet her in a coffee shop. Not her being in the goddamn mafia!” Marcus tells him, looking at you in complete shock.

Mike looks at her. “It explains how well she can fight and defend herself with little to no help.” Mike says as Marcus whispers in Mike's ear. “Man, that's gonna be your daughter in law! Don’t piss her off” Marcus says and then turns or you see your dead ass stare at him making him gulp.

She smiles at him. A slow smile. “Armando, I don't like that smile. Mike!” Marcus says getting up and leaving the room, making you confused. Mike looks at her. “He’ll come around eventually” Mike tells her. He turns to her and starts asking her about herself. He might as well get used to the concept that you might be his daughter in law.

Rita, Kelly, and Dorn were still in complete shock. “I’m not gonna question it” Rita says watching Mike talk to you. She looks at Armando. “He likes her and she hasn’t done anything to us yet so I think we’re good” Rita tells them, getting up as the other two do the same. “Remind me to never piss her off” Dorn says walking out the building with the other two women following behind him.

Armando smiles seeing how well Mike is accepting you as his girlfriend. He loves how you seem to get along with his father. You didn’t have a problem talking to him.

[mariacallous]

When Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, annexing the Crimean Peninsula and bringing turmoil and destruction to Ukraine’s eastern regions, many people—both outside Ukraine and inside it—found it easier to ignore the violence unfolding in the country’s east than admit that war had returned to Europe. This included creative artists, who rarely mentioned the war in their works, not least because they feared scaring off the Russian fans who constituted much of their audience.

As Ukrainians all over the country woke up to explosions on Feb. 24, 2022, the truth could no longer be ignored: The “big war” had truly begun. Today, the country’s art is catching up to the truth of war.

Before 2022, few Ukrainian artists and entertainers openly mentioned the ongoing war in their works. In fact, many pop stars like Ivan Dorn or Luna continued to perform in Russia and created works aimed, first and foremost, at the Russian market and in the Russian language. When criticized for this by their Ukrainian fans, many dodged the subject, claimed to be “apolitical,” or explained their actions as “trying to build a bridge” between Russia and Ukraine.

“My music isn’t about politics, it’s about healing souls,” Luna said in a lengthy interview with Russian opposition journalist Xenia Sobchak in 2021. “That’s why I don’t pay attention to the critics back home trying to make me feel guilty for giving concerts in Russia.” Similarly, Dorn claimed that by interacting with Russian listeners he was “trying to capture as many people as possible with my music so that they would never attack my own country.”

But the main reasons were pragmatic ones: The large and relatively rich Russian market has long been attractive to Ukrainian performers, much like the American market for the English-speaking world. Making films or music built around a Ukrainian context could scare off Russian fans, so the overwhelming majority of content made in the 2000s and 2010s was tailored to sound and look as neutral as possible, devoid of any references to local events or personalities. There were, of course, notable exceptions.

Musicians, such as singer and veteran military paramedic Anastasiia Shevchenko, better known by her pseudonym СТАСІK, wrote songs openly referencing the war in their lyrics and music videos. Indie rapper Stas Koroliov released an entire album in 2021 of tracks inspired by the war and society’s apathy toward it. It contained lyrics like “I now understand that to become a messiah you just need to state the obvious: My homeland is at war with Russia.”

While mainstream comedies that wanted both Ukrainian and Russian box office sales steered clear of any references to recent domestic events, independent movies were more willing to process the violence taking place in Ukraine’s eastern regions and the loss of Crimea. Wartime dramas such as Tymur Yashchenko’s U311 Cherkasy (named after the naval mine sweeper blocked by Russian forces during the capture of Crimea) and Maryna Er Gorbach’s Klondike addressed specific events of the Russo-Ukrainian war, while Nariman Aliev’s 2019 drama Homeward was a meditation on what the loss of Crimea meant for its indigenous Tatar population. Other films, such as Volodymyr Tykhyi’s dramedy Our Kitties, tried to find humor amid the heartbreak and horrors faced by the Ukrainian soldiers stationed on the frontlines.

Everything changed in early 2022, when war—previously treated as a niche subject that was likely to scare off people looking for light entertainment—quickly became the only topic most Ukrainians were interested in. As missiles rained down, entertainers suddenly realized that they could not remain apolitical bystanders any longer.

Almost every popular musician spoke out against the invasion, with several (such as Dasha Astafieva and Vitaly Kozlovskiy) apologizing for performing in Russia and platforming their Russian colleagues in recent years. “I felt like a zombie while performing in Russia. I’d arrive, smile mechanically at everyone, do the set and return home. Russia has a lot of money but it’s a soulless place,” Astafieva wrote in a social media post shortly after the start of the full-scale invasion. Many artists—such as Antytila leader Taras Tolopya, singer Yarmak, and most of the lineup of cult Kharkiv-based hip-hop group TNMK—took up arms and joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while others took to volunteering by raising funds and sourcing equipment for Ukrainian soldiers, performing on the frontlines, or training as medics.

Some of their personal stories exemplified Ukraine’s modern civic identity, which has little to do with ethnicity or where you were born. Instead, for many, it’s a choice. Take Yulia Yurina: The Russian-born musician first came to Ukraine as a 18-year-old student in 2012 and soon joined forces with Ukrainian-born Stas Koroliov to form critically acclaimed pop-folk duo Yuko. Today, Yurina—still formally a Russian citizen despite publicly renouncing her citizenship and applying for a Ukrainian passport—is not only a beloved performer, whose recent album encapsulates much of the anger and grief felt by the average Ukrainian, but also a volunteer working tirelessly to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with weapons and equipment. “I dance through the bullets as air raid sirens sing to me,” Yurina sings on one of the album’s tracks. “I am disgusted by what you’ve done here, you’re killing souls but you won’t be able to kill our dreams. We are not your friends, your family, or your lovers.”

During the first months of the war, a new subgenre of locally produced music arose. “Bayraktar-core” (the semi-ironic name came from how often these songs mentioned the Turkish drones used to great effect by Ukrainian forces in the early stages of the war) songs were simple, composed over a mere few weeks, catchy, and characterized by their aggressive optimism, constant references to recent events, local politicians, wartime memes, and foreign allies (Boris Johnson, then British prime minister, was mentioned often).

What these songs lacked in lyrical nuance and musical innovation they more than made up for by giving millions of Ukrainians a sense of unity and community amid the chaos and horror. “Occupiers came to Ukraine, wearing new uniforms and driving military vehicles,” go the lyrics of one of the most popular “Bayraktar-core” songs. “But their equipment was soon ruined by the Bayraktar!” Some, such as a viral mashup sampling a folk tune and a phrase spoken by Johnson, made the leap over to English-language social media.

While simple war-themed entertainment (or even anything vaguely patriotic and uplifting) might have been enough for listeners and viewers in the early months of the war, the artistic questions got sharper as the fight went on.

Did performers who left the country soon after the full-scale invasion have a right to make money off of songs mentioning the horrors others faced while staying in Ukraine? Could writers who hadn’t personally experienced life under Russian occupation use the devastation in say, Bucha or Mariupol, in their stories? And what if they conducted interviews with the people who had? Many of these questions lack definite answers, but the public response to various works inspired by the war have been noticeably different.

When writer Daria Gnatko announced in late 2022 that she would be publishing a novel set in Russian-occupied Bucha, many pointed out that not enough time had passed to properly process the events that had transpired in the town, and wondered whether writing a story like this without conducting in-depth interviews with the survivors of the occupation was a form of exploitation. The book, along with another upcoming work by Gnatko, a novel inspired by the destruction and occupation of Mariupol, was postponed indefinitely by the publisher after a wave of public criticism.

Likewise, popular writer Kateryna Babkina’s latest novel Mom, Do You Remember? was met with controversy after the author, who had spent much of the war abroad, announced that the plot would be inspired by the occupation of Bucha. Some reviewers were concerned that not enough time had passed since the liberation of Kyiv Oblast and that the subject was still too triggering for most readers, while others darkly suspected Babkina had only mentioned the tragically famous town when announcing the book to draw more attention to her work.

However, most of this criticism was limited to social media, while the reviews in local publications were much more enthusiastic about the novel—which is told from the perspective of a teenage girl narrowly escaping from Russian occupation with her infant half-sister and trying to build a life for them both abroad—and described it as a touching and delicate work full of compassion.

“If for some Ukrainians the book is therapeutic, for foreigners, in particular for Poles, who can already read Babkina’s story, it gives a more internal context about what war victims experience—who walk the same streets and visit the same shops as they do—actually go through. What challenges and problems they face, what they feel, why some do not learn the language and choose to return home despite the missile attacks, and what is happening in the hearts of millions of children who were forced to grow up one day when their world was destroyed by Russia,” wrote a reviewer for the Polish-Ukrainian outlet Sestry.

The truth is that when it comes to describing experiences as traumatic as an ongoing war, there isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all perspective or approach. Some readers find works written about or vaguely inspired by something they or their loved ones went through therapeutic, while others find them triggering or even offensive.

When it comes to film, meanwhile, the pre-2022 offerings were earnest but often unwatched. Reviewers treated these movies as important pieces of cinema, but ones that described horrors most Ukrainians preferred not to dwell on for too long. After the full-scale invasion, however, a dark realization dawned: The wartime dramas were now reflections of our own collective experience, and no romantic comedy or workplace drama was going to stop you from thinking about shrapnel and blood.

That was supplemented by the belief that Ukrainians had to bear witness. At a time when many civilians felt abandoned by human rights organizations’ failure to document Russian war crimes (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally called out the International Red Cross over its inaction after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, while Amnesty International found itself in hot water after publishing a much-criticized report accusing Ukraine of endangering its own civilians), filmmakers took this challenge upon themselves. Documentaries shot during the siege of Mariupol, after the liberation of Bucha, and during the near-constant shelling of Kharkiv became a powerful tool for cultural diplomacy, encouraging non-Ukrainians to support Ukraine, and an instrument to counter Russian propaganda and war fatigue in the West. Perhaps the best-known example is the Oscar-nominated documentary film 20 Days in Mariupol, which garnered universally positive reviews at home and abroad and offered viewers a unique glimpse into the horrors faced by the residents and defenders of the besieged city.

One unexpected wartime challenge is creating entertainment aimed at children. How do you keep kids of vastly different ages entertained while sitting in cold, poorly-lit bomb shelters for hours on end? How do you teach them the rules of wartime safety in an accessible and easy-to-remember format? How do you help them process the heartbreak of losing loved ones, having parents on the frontlines, or living in constant fear of missiles and drones? And perhaps most importantly, how do you begin to broach the topic that there are people who want these kids and their entire families dead? This is when Patron—a real-life sapper dog who became an unexpected celebrity among both kids and adults alike—came in handy.

The wildly popular Jack Russell Terrier, who works as a detection dog and mascot for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine first caught the public’s eye in early 2022, when the dog was awarded a medal for locating and helping defuse unexploded mines left behind by Russian forces after they were driven out of Chernihiv. A video of the bulletproof vest-wearing puppy went viral, and the newly famous dog was soon making charity appearances, visiting kids harmed by the war in hospitals across the country, and even got his own animated web show and book series. Content starring Patron is produced in partnership with UNICEF and aims to teach Ukrainian kids the importance of staying away from abandoned landmines, avoiding suspicious objects left behind by the invading army, and staying brave under difficult circumstances.

Undoubtedly, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to a heightened interest toward local art both among Ukrainians and foreigners, as well as provided an entire generation of artists with stories of sacrifice, courage, and defiance—stories that, despite their complexity, simply must be told, and that may well become modern classics at an international scale. When Penguin Press bought the rights to Ukrainian writer and soldier Oleksandr Mykhed’s autobiographical novel The Language of War, publishing director Casiana Ionita described the book as “a war book that will be read 10, 20, 50 years from now.” But it’s unclear if enough foreign publishers are ready to break their long-standing tradition of viewing events in Ukraine solely through the eyes of their Moscow-educated authors and allow Ukrainians on the frontlines to speak for themselves, like Mykhed, before the war claims them too.

[low-budget-korra]

Aegon's Conquest - Fancast

So, I've already did realistic portraits of them but since House of the Dragon can become a anthology and we may have a chance of seeing Aegon's Conquest on screen, he is my fancast based mostly on looks, vibes and actor's range

Aegon Targaryen

-Bradley James // Alexander Skarsgard

Visenya Targaryen

-Katheryn Winnick // Charlize Theron

Rheanys Targaryen

-Elizabeth Lail // Elizabeth Olsen

Orys Baratheon

-Clive Standen // Tom Hardy

Argillac Durradon

Ed Harris // Viggo Mortensen

Argella Durradon

Emily Rossum // Kaya Scodelario

Harren The Black

Mark Strong //  Ivan Kaye

Torrhen Stark

-  Travis Van Winkle // Penn Badgley

Meria Martell

-Jennifer Beals // Rita Moreno

I know most of y'all won't agree with this one, or even hate this one, but I really like the idea of Bette Porter or Abuelita roasting the shit outta Rheanys once she came to Dorne

Loren I Lannister

Dan Stevens // Travis Fimmel

Mern IX Gardener

Aaron Taylor Johnson // Orlando Bloom

[sailorspica]

admitting that you like russian rap and artists when russia commits ongoing genocide and war against Ukraine is extremely bad, just saying

i hope you know not all russian speakers are russian and that you take an interest in russian imperialism prior to 2022. the language is lingua franca in eurasia for the same reason we two losers are typing in english. artists sing and rap in russian who are themselves minorities ethnically cleansed by tsarist, soviet and post-soviet regimes for centuries, including ukrainians

tatarka has written in russian, tatar and english in part because the tatar language was banned in clubs and from radio for years. even though her music is only in tatar and english these days, her promo is all in russian because she still has to fucking live there as tatarstan, formerly part of the khanate of kazan, was annexed in the 18th century. specifically, she is crimean tatar, which you should recognize from the crimean peninsula that was annexed by russia in 2014, the actual start of this war

ivan dorn is ukrainian, featured here on a track by a russian rapper. he's now blacklisted from performing in russia and withdrew his catalog from russian and belarusian streaming platforms in 2022 despite "pandering" to them for his whole career by singing in russian

viktor tsoi (choi) of kino was korean-russian, descended from refugees who fled japanese imperialism in the early 20th century only to be targeted in stalinist purges on suspicion of being spies for meiji

this is all on you for equating language to ethnonationalism when the post i "admit" this on (your word) is about orientalism and non-english music to begin with

[ryhmeow]

[dedmasya]

(Ivan Dorn - Unmannerly) He is not in demand by anyone No one has talked to him for a long time In the lack of dark gray matter 

[shisme]

Переписываюсь, чел в ответ на мое сбщ написал что-то вроде "нет, там было по другому"

Приходит мысль " раздражает"

Инстаграм закрывается

А "стыцамэн" играет на всю мощность

[sevendavisjr]

vinyl on the way….

[7ooo-ru]

Украинский певец Иван Дорн начал брать заказы на корпоративы для россиян

Украинский певец Иван Дорн начал брать заказы на корпоративы для россиян. Об этом сообщает Telegram-канал Shot.

Согласно источнику, Дорн готов выступить перед россиянами за 45 тысяч долларов (почти четыре миллиона рублей). При этом в райдере певец указал, что заказчикам желательно придерживаться нейтральной позиции в отношении специальной военной операции (СВО) или в крайнем случае не допускать «пророссийских провокаций» во время шоу.

Артист не приедет выступать в Россию из-за запрета на въезд в страну, но согласен рассмотреть концерты для русскоязычной публики в третьих странах, к примеру, в Казахстане. Длительность выступления составит 40-45 минут.

Дорн родился в Челябинске в 1988 году. В 1990 году в связи с работой отца семья переехала в город Славутич Киевской области.

Ранее исполнитель хита «Бигуди» рассказал, что не приезжает на Украину из-за страха мобилизации. При этом Дорн подчеркнул, что позиционирует себя как украинского артиста.

Подробнее https://7ooo.ru/group/2024/08/07/931-ukrainskiy-pevec-ivan-dorn-nachal-brat-zakazy-na-korporativy-dlya-rossiyan-grss-330805969.html

[eurosevenn]

Я, блять, обожаю Дорна

[nelo0wesker]

Who is she? Part 3

Part 1, part 2

Armando x reader

@violetmuses @nobodygetsza @onlyrealjoy @yeahnohoneybye

—————-

Y/N smiles watching kids play at the cookout. She was watching Mike and Marcus argue with each other about being on the grill. She turns her head seeing team AMMO talking with her now fiancé Armando Aretas. Reggie was also in their conversation talking about who knows what. She wasn’t close enough to hear but she could guess what they were talking about.

She turns her head seeing Theresa, Megan, and Christine setting the table and talking to each other. Y/N eyes move past them to look in the distance and her heart drops seeing a figure getting out of the car. She recognized the man. The man just happened to be her father's best friend. She watches the man pull out a baggy and put it in the trash looking her dead in the eyes. The man after putting the baggy in the trash goes back into the car and gets in driving away.

Y/N's breathing picks up watching the car drive away but her focus is on the trash can. She gulps trying to regulate her breathing but nothing is working. Her hands grip onto the wooden table she sits at. She could hear her heart pounding as she kept looking at that trash can. Her ears are ringing. She felt herself becoming dizzy and nauseous.

Armando chuckles hearing Dorn talk about his latest case he and Kelly did together when he turns to you and stops smiling seeing you. He immediately goes to you, seeing you struggling. “Y/N,” he says getting to you. “Cariño, qué pasa?” He questions and then pauses seeing you having a panic attack. “Breath in and breathe out,” Armando tells her watching as her eyes start to focus on the surroundings.

“Dime lo que ves?” He tells her watching as her breathing calms down as she looks around. “Hierba, mesas, Mike, Marcus,… Tú” she says, calming down and leans into him. He kisses her forehead wondering what the fuck happened when he wasn’t paying attention to you. He looks at your face and pauses seeing you're not looking at him but at the trash can at the edge of the park.

“I’ll be right back mami,” he tells her and goes to his father and uncle. “Y/N just had a panic attack… I don’t know why she had it but something or someone triggered it.” Armando tells them side eyeing you to make sure you don’t go into a panic attack again but all he sees is you looking at that trash can. Mike turns to look at his soon-to-be daughter-in-law. He looks over to where your gaze is. His eyes furrow seeing the trash can. “Distract her Armando I’ll go see what’s in that trash can,” he told his son walking towards it.

Armando goes back to you to distract you from what Mike is doing or to look away from the trash can. He grabs water and gives it to you so you can drink it. He kisses your forehead watching his father pull out a bag. He looks at the bag closely and his eyes widen seeing a symbol on the bag. When Y/N tried to look in the direction of the trash can, Armando immediately took her attention away from where she was about to look.

Mike, seeing Armando look quickly, hid the bag so Y/N didn’t see him holding it. Mike went behind Armando grabbing his son's leather jacket that he set on the table and hid the bag under it making sure Y/N didn’t see. “Y/N go help Theresa, Megan, and Christine,” Armando tells her kissing her forehead as she gets up and leaves the father-and-son duo.

“What’s that symbol on that bag? And why does it have Y/N freaked out?” Mike questions his son. Armando looks at his father and then moves his leather jacket up to reveal just the symbol after making sure you couldn’t see it. “It’s the mafia symbol,” he tells him, and Mike curses. “Thought the mafia didn’t want anything to do with her anymore,” Mike tells him. “True… but it’s cause they thought she was dead this whole time. When Ivan shot her while we were in that burning warehouse. It was made to believe I left her there and she died in the fire. The mafia must have figured out she was alive when she got kidnapped” Armando tells him.

Mike looks at his son and then his soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “They could have known she was alive. Maybe just waiting for the right moment. Could have known when you were arrested.” Mike told him. “Impossible I made sure Y/N wasn’t retractable. She wasn’t even part of the plan. Didn’t even meet my mother yet…” he whispers. “The only person that could of known Y/N was alive is Ivan”

Mike pauses hearing that. “Ivan?! Isn’t Ivan the same one that shot her?”. Armando nods his head “Ivan was ordered to kill her but he didn’t. Ivan has a better aim than that. If he wanted her dead Y/N would be dead. Most likely her other siblings want her dead but we don’t talk about them. It’s the fact that her father wanted her dead. Who knows how many he killed that were his kids? Y/N hasn’t told me how some of her siblings died but I believe it was by that man. It isn’t a coincidence that a girl accidentally put herself on fire. Especially in the mafia…” Armando revealed to his father.

“What do you mean put herself on fire?” Mike questioned. “That’s what I mean.. Carmen put herself on fire. Y/N sister. Well, that’s how everyone heard but people know that isn’t true. of that bastard kids are dead. Y/N was next… thank god I was able to save her in time” he whispers and looks at the bag.

Armando goes and opens the bag. He stops just seeing a phone. He grabs it and turns it over to look at the screen. The wallpaper of the phone was two little kids and a teen. One of the kids looked like a younger version of Y/N. The other kid looked like Ivan. Mike looks at the screen as well wondering who the teen was. “Who’s the teen?” Mike questions. Armando shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. I think one of Y/N siblings” he tells his father and Mike nods his head.

Armando goes to open it but it needs a password. “Fuck” he curses and looks over in your direction seeing you distracted by Christine, Theresa, and Megan. He turns his head to hear footsteps coming towards them and sees Dorn, Kelly, and Rita. Reggie had gone to go to his wife and help out. “What y'all got there?” Dorn questions seeing the bag and a phone. Rita raises her eyebrow as Mike looks behind him, seeing you laughing at what Christine said. He turns back to the group and whispers “Mafia”. Kelly’s eyes widened hearing what he said and looked at the contents. “How do you know?” Rita asks him.

“The symbol is a dead giveaway of the Spanish mob,” Armando tells her. “The wallpaper of this phone relates to Y/N. Has a picture of her younger ". Rita looks at the phone screen and sees the similarities of the young girl to Y/N. She looked at the other boy and the teen. “Who’s the other two?” She questions. “The teen I’m not sure but the child is definitely Ivan. He’s the only one in her family that’s close to age and looks alike.”

Dorn looks at the screen. “Can you open it?” He questions. “No, it's locked. Need a password and Y/N most likely knows it” the Latino male says, closing the phone and putting it in his pocket. “I can unlock it,” Dorn tells him and Armando nods his head at him. “We'll do it later. Something is on this phone”

————-

It is now night. Y/N stayed over at Mike and Christine's house while Mike and Armando went over to Dorn and Kelly’s place. In the company of Marcus. The three walk into the place as Armando hands Dorn the phone. Dorn takes the phone and hooks it up to his computer and starts typing to figure out the password.

It didn’t take long but he got the password but it ended up triggering a video to pop up. Multiple of them. “Hey guys… you might wanna look at this” he tells everyone.

Armando, Mike, Marcus, Kelly, and Rita looked at the screen as the video played revealing a little girl and a boy. Younger versions of Y/N and Ivan. The video was outdated because of how old it was but it was fine. They could still make out what was happening in the video.

Armando's eyes widen seeing how your father was revealed to have shot the teenager later known as Gael in the head for arguing with his father. Another video pops up of a teenage version of Carmen. Gasoline was poured on her while she screamed at her father in Spanish.

“¡Papá, papá, por favor, perdóname! ¡Por favor, no lo hagas!-“ she screams as her father lights a match and burns her ablaze. The background of the room revealed a young you watching with little to no emotion. Ivan also has the same look. You two have the most emotionless stare.

“This guy is an asshole,” Marcus says, getting pissed off. “That’s her father,” Armando tells them. “That’s her daddy?!” Marcus says shocked. “If I ever see him I’m beating his ass,” Marcus tells him watching the video and hearing the screams of Carmen still going off. “Joining you on that,” Mike says watching your father turn to you. Couldn’t make out what he was saying but it had you scared so it was clearly a threat.

More videos were played. The training, the abuse, the manipulation. It showed it all. “Father of the year,” Dorn says sarcastically. Watching the videos play and then come to a stop. “These videos can be used against him,” Rita tells them. “Even if we used these videos. Spain wouldn’t be arresting him… he practically owns Spain” Armando tells them. “His influence is everywhere in Spain. He’ll get out immediately”. “Great,” Mike says. “No matter what he does or says in Spain. He’s a hero to the people… like Benito in Mexico” Armando whispers.

Mike sighs hearing that. “Asshole” and looks at the phone. “Why leave the phone for Y/N?” Mike questions. He thinks for a minute until Armando speaks. “Her father wants her to talk to him”. Dorn looks at them and then looks at the call list. “There’s no number,” he tells them. “Doesn’t matter. She knows his number so he expects to talk to her,” Armando tells them. His head turns around hearing a noise and stops seeing you.

“Y/N nena, ¿por qué estás aquí?” He asks her confused getting up and goes to her as Dorn quickly removes the videos so you don’t see them. Y/N watches her fiance come up to her. She gives a small smile. “I know what y'all been doing,” she tells them. Mike and Marcus wince upon hearing that and look away. Armando winces he knew he shouldn’t have hid what he was doing from you.

Y/N sighs going up to the computer as Armando follows her. She grabs the phone and immediately unlocks it knowing the code. She pauses seeing the background of her, Ivan, and Gael. “This is Gael,” she says referring to the teen. “He was the first to be killed. Me and my father never had a good relationship” she whispers and goes to call him. She puts in her father's number which she knows by heart.

She hears the phone ring and then the call starts. “Papa…” she says as there’s a silence. “Hija..” her father says over the phone. “¿Por qué?” She questions him. Her father took a minute to answer. “Eras indómito, rebelde, frío. No podía controlarte a ti ni a Iván. Así que elegí deshacerme de uno. Se suponía que México iba a ser tu último viaje... pero ese chico te salvó. Se suponía que ibas a morir.” He tells her and Armando's eyes harden hearing your father's words. “Te entrené para ser un asesino. Para no desobedecerme, pero lo hiciste.”

Y/N looks at the phone. “No, me has entrenado. Dejaste que las demás hicieran eso. Lo hice todo por ti. ¡¿Hice lo que me dijeron y luego tratas de que me maten?! Era leal. ¡Hice las incursiones, los asesinatos, el trato, maté a todos los que estaban en esa lista de éxitos!” She says angrily. “No mataste a todos por mí. Ese prometido tuyo que quería muerto. Quería a Armando Aretas muerto”

Mike took the phone. “You ain’t killing my son! I am glad that she is no longer in your control. I can’t say anything else about your other children but I feel bad for them being raised by a monster like you.” A laugh comes from the phone. “Mike Lowrey. You think you can save your son and my daughter from me?!” He says in his Spanish accent. “I can ruin Y/N's life by sending what she’s done to your government”. Mike looks at the phone hard. “You’ll really try and ruin your daughter's life. Your crimes are worse than hers!” Mike tells him pissed. He’ll make sure that your father won’t touch you or Armando.

“I will do it. I can have every gang come and try to kill her. Putting a bounty on her head isn’t hard Detective. A lot of people want her dead. The Italians, Russians, etc. she done them wrong. May be from my orders but she still assassinates members of our rivals. Once they figure out the mafia wants her dead and put a bounty over her head. It’s over” he reveals to Mike. Mike's hand tightens over the phone. “You wouldn’t dare,” Mike tells him. “I already have” The call ended making Mike curse.

“Uh, guys!” Dorn says typing on his computer. A bounty of you shows. The bounty has a time limit. Worth 20 million right now but once that timer is gone the bounty would go up to 40 million. “DAMN!” Marcus says, looking at the screen and seeing the bounty. “I thought the bounty of us was crazy! But no, your daddy wants you dead Y/N.” Marcus says now looking at her.

Armando's fists tighten seeing the bounty that was placed on your head. His soon-to-be wife now life is in danger again. Y/N looks at the bounty with little to no emotion. “I need to get out of Miami,” she says about to leave but Mike gets in front of her. “No no, you're not leaving. We’ll get this sorted” he tells her and she just looks at him like he is crazy. “I need to leave before anyone gets killed! It’ll be a war zone if I stay.” Y/N tried to move to the side to leave but Armando grabbed her wrist. “I am not leaving you to fend for yourself. We are doing this together” he tells her and hugs her tightly.

She allows the hug closely her eyes breathing in Armando’s scent. Her eyes water as her hug tightens. She didn’t want to put anyone in danger. “Thank you” she whispers.

—————-

Translation

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“Tell me what you see”

“Grass, table, Mike, Marcus,…You.”

“Father father please forgive me! Please don’t!-“

“Y/N baby why are you here?”

“Father”

“Daughter”

“Why”

“You were untamed, Rebellious, cold. I couldn't control you or Ivan. So l chose to get rid of one.Mexico was supposed to be your last trip... but that boy saved you. You were supposed to die.”

“I trained you to be a killer. To not disobey me but you did.”

“You didn't train me. You left the others to do that. I did everything for you. I did what I was told and then you try and get me killed?! I was loyal. I did the raids, the kills, the dealing, killed everyone on that hit list!”

“You didn't kill everyone for me. That fiancé of yours I wanted dead. I wanted Armando Aretas dead”