dear lord this is exquisite. this is the first time ive seen a straight MC in a bl pulled off well: apollo struggled and still struggles with having sex with men, and yet despite that he's falling in love with (and is attracted to) phi. and the development of that was so organic, so respectful and true to their characters....UGH this is so fucking good. i need volume 4 nowwww
FUCK YES (healthy & consensual) dom/sub and masochist/sadist dynamics are my JAM. now hold it steady, hold it just right there! don't abandon it by the time they have sex a second time please for the love of god!!
AWWWWWW aside from that one moment where he went back in despite yeon's protests, this chapter was so goddamn cute. yeon being affectionate and sweet to daum... their relationship has already come so far. you love to see it!
the sheer amount of italics used for emphasis this chapter made me nearly burst a blood vessel. a few times is fine, but once, sometimes twice, almost every sentence?? hell nah you gotta find a different way to emphasize something
love their dynamic tho. pretty refreshing
the dreaded day has arrived… the chapters are getting shorter
love their evolving relationship tho, and i’m looking forward to the next few chapters based on the raws
i guess im in the minority, but i thought this chapter was less to be titillating and more to be intimidating. like that shot of hayden looking up at brett and seeing brett's completely dead-eyed stare, as if he's not even enjoying what he's doing, as if this is all just another calculated move, a purely logical plan to get what he wants and nothing short of it, is terrifying.
and this chapter has so much to do with this manwha's core concerns of control and fundamental desires: are we beholden to our primal urges that are deep-set in our nature, or are we able to maintain control over ourselves and act against these urges? this scene is yet another addition to brett's experiment of this question. hayden does not want to have sex, and verbally tells him to stop and that he doesn't want it. he even tries to push brett off of him. but, as brett says: "look. you keep thrusting." it is hayden's primal urge to chase pleasure and lust, and it has overruled his control over his body. brett demands that he cums, says, "don't hold back," as in, 'give into the urge and let go of your resistance, your desire for control'; as in, 'accept that this is what it means to be human.'
in brett's eyes, at least. it tracks with his world view. and it tracks with him being a calculated and hedonistic bastard. also, i realize that this manwha could be easily seen through a psychoanalytic/Freudian lens (id, ego, superego, all that) and thanks, i hate it lol
Why tf did you actually analyze ts. Waste of your time smh.
because it’s fun and engages my mind! thanks for caring about my time tho
You’re welcome bookie, I just don’t want anybody wasting their time on things not worth it
i love ur mind
why are you so angry about how someone else harmlessly uses their time…? id say your comment was really unnecessary and quite strange.
YESS 100% i agree with you about this scenario being intimidating and kind of off (even as i do think it is sexy haha) - i think that's exactly kind of how the author intended it like it feels hot but something is off and everything clicks when hayden sees those aloof, calculating eyes from brett. he's seeing the coldness in brett that the blondie (shooter) mentioned a few chapters back (about how brett always has a gaze where it seems like he's looking down on everyone around him and bored) bc things are ALWAYS within brett's control and calculations
and it's true that here brett is establishing his dominance after hayden "rejected" his terms of engagement. it's exactly as you said, he's imposing his worldview of animal necessity and transaction onto hayden even as hayden laid out his worldview previously (ie. rising above animal necessity to more "nobler" feelings like love). this is truly what alpha x alpha looks like beyond the sex - this is a fight for dominance and it's sooo damn delicious and intruiging <3
(the thing is that they're both right in some ways - i'm sooo impressed by this author's subtle storytelling and how she'll resolve this!! curious about this clashing of the id/superego and the ego formation that comes out of it hehehehee)
I’m not angry? Did my comment come off as angry? Cause I wrote it in a jokingly way.
yess, this is the first time that i'm seeing a creator include this aspect of dominance in an alpha x alpha relationship. normally they all focus on the sexual dominance but never the mental and instinctual part of naturally wanting to dominate someone who is a naturally dominant being
I love the way you put this together! I appreciate you taking the time to write it all out. Just wanted to add also, that this scene is a reminder of how much Hayden dislikes his alpha characteristics, his rut being one of them. Brett knows this, and this scene shows the lengths that he will go to provoke Hayden into accepting himself as an alpha.
Exactly! This chapter doesn't give the same air the other explicit ones gave. The once-present chemistry of them being able to embrace those animalistic doesn't exist here, instead, the air is thick with tension and control.
It reflects how Brett sees the world and by extension Hayden. Even with the ultimatum and Hayden's explicit words of saying what he wants, and now here him resisting and voicing how he doesn't want this, Brett hasn't changed. A part of me believes his ideology is too engraved in his mind to be altered, especially by emotions that he would see as above him.
I highly doubt the author wrote this chapter to be like the others. Instead of just being pure lust it is the battle of dominance that you and other commenters have said. There is no love here and the actual sex isn't something I think we should be gushing over.
What they did (and by they I mainly mean Brett here) wasn't sex - at least not in the ways they'd been doing it before. This is all an orchestrated way of, yet again, Brett proving himself. There is no love, or real lust and meaning to it.
It was a power move that Brett forced onto Hayden, and Hayden reluctantly allowed it because he either thinks of himself as above it or simply believes that resisting is futile, that it will further encourage Brett to make these rash decisions upon him.
Lovely description and analyzation of the scene. I love to see it!
I liked your perspective. In my view, Brett, unhappy with having his agreement broken by Hayden, tries to seduce him by force, taking advantage of his partner's heat. Hayden lets himself be carried away to a certain point, after all he likes Brett, but when he sees his cold eyes, he tries to resist. Basically, it's a battle of alphas, a fight to see who will win.
“I just don’t want anybody wasting their time on things not worth it” if you actually think this comes off as funny im afraid you need to go back to elementary school. you just seem passive aggressive and rude! anyways not engaging any further xx
????? I think you’re not reading what I said correctly but ok. Or maybe you just take things too seriously lmao.
I love y'all's comments, i could also feel something was off with this chapter and I felt uneasy about the whole situation bc it really looks like rape, but your whole analysis on their fight for power/domination makes so much sense! I love when there's a deeper meaning other than "AGHH I MUST MATE, SEX! FUCK! AHSHSJJA". Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ahhh i love all of your guys’ thoughts!!! this manhwa is ripe for analysis, and i was kinda confused that there were so little ppl taking advantage of that to look deeper at its themes and subtext, so its nice to see so many people chime in with their thoughts! makes me wanna just set up a group chat and analyze each chapter together lmfao
it’s exactly as you all say: it’s a power move by brett to exert dominance, not out of love or lust (xo.caffeine). both brett and hayden feel primal pleasure from the sex, but they aren’t really enjoying it apart from that. it is purely strategic conflict. it is the id (brett)—selfish, pleasure-driven—battling against the superego (hayden)—moral, conscientious—and, at least in brett’s eyes, winning. although whether he’s right or not will depend on what happens going forward.
i initially conceptualized the end of this scene as brett winning, but regis, i liked your point that hayden only really started to resist after seeing brett’s cold gaze, because it makes it clear that although his body has given into his primal urges, his mind is still protesting it. makes me think brett’s fight to change hayden’s worldview and make him seek pleasure and accept his natural dominance as an alpha is going to be contested by hayden himself quite a lot. speaking of, dulcedays, i love your thoughts on hayden’s worldview being rising above primal desires for “more ‘noble’ feelings like love”: it makes a lot of sense, and only further establishes him as the essence of the superego. (i usually hate psychoanalysis/Freudian theory but it fits so well with this manhwa lol)
fantastic analysis everyone :D
they read it correctly, i just don't think you phrased what you meant the way you wanted to
it got officials! still overall underdeveloped as hell, but michael's double life is interesting. would've liked to see more of it, and maybe also dominic finding out. ah well
lets fucking go, we are so back!!!