#I do hope people know that you are thirsting after a guy who literally threw people to zombie hordes to get what he wanted | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

werezmastarbucks · 4 years ago

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neighboring

enzo x reader

request! looks like we’re having a mini series on our hands.

word count: 2291

warnings: mentions of torture (probably not in this chapter, but then on will def do)

You were thrown into the cell, concrete floor meeting you with its hard substance. It didn’t hurt. What bothered you was the vervain in you which made you dizzy and slow. You thought you recovered pretty quick, jumping back up on all fours, but the walls swayed, and you only saw bleak, dirty golden of the weak lamp in the corridor ceiling.

Ever since you became a vampire, you’ve felt invincible. A fatal mistake, perhaps, but the feeling is so justified. As a human, you were considered feeble. All the more satisfaction was drawn when it turned out you didn’t need to sweat anymore to punch someone back.

Because you liked getting into fights.

Now, all your senses were deceived. The sound of the closing cage door was probably the most horrifying sound you’ve ever heard in your life. Clang. And you couldn’t even see properly, but every inch of your now agile and perceptive body knew what it meant. And it paralyzed you with fear.

For about twenty minutes.

You could feel someone in the next cage, feet from you, lying on the floor and prepped against the wall. But they were in the dark and did not speak. You could feel their eyes on you, like vampires always do, opaque black and unblinking. You didn’t pay attention at first. Slowly recovering from the burning sensation in your veins, you first sat up, keeping a mantra in your head. Do not lay down and die. You’re an invincible vampire, and iron bars are nothing for a creature like you.

After, you tried to stand up, your hand on the wall, skin irrtated by old harsh stone. Cold.

You went towards the bars and tried them, pulled and pushed, and as soon as your voice returned to you, you started yelling, calling names, kicking and shaking the cage, although it didn’t seem to notice you.

You refused to just allow that. That, the reality of where you were. You were a free person, and then you were an even freer vampire, and nobody had a right to just catch you like a rat and put you under the ground.

“Stop. Stop”, the voice said. He had to shout a little to outyell you. You twitched, remembering your quiet neighbor; his voice seemed weak, hungry. You’d never heard a voice of a starving vampire before, and now you felt little shivers crawling down your spine. You stepped to the side of your cage, swaying, still intoxicated. The darkness went bursting with green spots, and you sat yourself on the foor, holding on the bars.

“If you keep screaming, they’ll come to quiet you down, and from what I saw about you, you won’t like it even worse”, he said, with a thick English accent, so exquisite he sounded like a person from another time. You shifted, trying to see him better, but even with your vampire eyes, still vervained, all you saw were outlines of his body, spread on the floor, at the far wall.

“How long have you been here?” you asked, scared to death to hear what he says.

He took a minute to gather energy.

“Long enough to know how this place works”.

“No, tell me how long”, you pressed, your heart pumping in your temples. One thing you carried with you into the undeath was your high level of anxiety. Which, obviously, hightened so greatly sometimes you could feel your heart in your throat, literally.

“What year is it?” he asked, finally.

“Two thousand and nine”.

“Oh, doll”, he muttered, and then there was silence.

“Hey?”

It looked like he blacked out.

___________________________________________________________

He was out all night. You couldn’t see the skies, but your inner clock ticked well. Pretty soon, you became sleepy yourself, but hunger wouldn’t let you sleep.

You fidgeted and crawled about, then, when you were able to walk, you started walking around the cage like a jaguar.

First signs of captivity coping started showing themselves.

This is all a mistake. Yes, they have captured me and put me here because they have confused me with somebody else. Pretty soon they’ll realize that they made a mistake and let me go.

But your mind was sharper now. If you really believed that you would’ve called them. The sleeping silhouette at the far wall unnerved you. Being in enclosed space, in the matter of hours, has set a new dimension to your seeing of the world. You hated that guy. Smug, although he was almost dead. Thinking he knows what you are. Gathering information about you, almost smirking and refusing to answer questions. Grumpy old man.

You finally dozed off closer to the morning, when the natural gravitation of the sunlight demanded you to. Windows or no windows, you served the changes of day and night and the instincts were strong.

That’s when they came for you for the first time. Without a single word, they vervained you again, causing pain in all your body. Your mouth gaped open as you tried to keep your eyes open, feeling their hands dragging you on the floor.

“Mistake, mistake, mistake”, you heard yourself whisper.

“Be quiet”, the neighbor said. Or maybe you imagined that.

___________________________________________________________

“Hey, loud one”.

You were laying face down, trying to block everything out, pain swarming in your body in miriads of black worms. Your brain could not comprehend what’s just happened and how long it took. Just like that, the order of day was broken, and, being paralyzed with pain and indignation, you couldn’t tell what time it was anymore. You couldn’t understand how a bunch of mortals managed to stripe you down and mutilate you, and get you back together, in such a short time.

The darkness was pricky, full of thorns, as your body went aching, and your mind, it was bursting with blood.

“Hey”, it felt like he threw a pebble at you, or something small.

You growled, not getting your head up.

“You alive”, he noted. His voice sounded way better. Suddenly, there was a faint trace of blood, maybe carried by a draft from the corridor, or with his breathing, and your whole body convulsed, longing for nourishment. You twitched, painfully, and found yourself laying on your back now. You were in hell.

“Did they feed you?” he asked. You couldn’t move your mouth, fangs aching with hunger, tongue heavy and blue-ish.

“You’re a new vampire”, he said. It wasn’t a question this time. He was just making observations. You tried to move your head to take a look at him but all you saw was your own ceiling.

“The first couple of times are the worst, but you’ll get used to it. Learning to fight thirst is the more serious problem”.

He kept talking to you, saying something you couldn’t even grasp exactly. He said, when they inject you with poison, it’s useful to hold your breath, because that way it hurts just a wee bit less; he was talking like an old, old English gentleman, using all the old-fashined words, and for a moment there you thought, even if you stood up to look at him, you wouldn’t see a man, because he was merely a ghost.

His chatting put you to feverish, heavy sleep that lasted for many hours until you woke up again.

_____________________________________________________________

You did not realize you were crying in your sleep.

A bag of blood was thrown into your cell, and your weak limbs clutched it, last vigorous spring of exhausting young vampire, and started drinking.

Once you were done with the bag, you fought off the desire to lick the plastic to clean off all blood. Your eyes were seeing better now, you all of you felt almost okay. Having slept, with a healthy dose of warm blood in your veins, sending your mind in overdrive. You felt anxious, energetic, and before a new wave of horror kicked in, you crawled carefully to the bars separating your cage from your neighbor’s.

You could finally see him. He was not what you expected. A young man, not more than twenty-five, was looking back at you with pitch-black careful eyes. Not dusty, not faded with mist of years spent inside this prison, smelling like a vampire should smell; apparently, he’s just eaten, too. His slim arms were laying on his sides as he prepped himself against the far wall, sitting. There was something Italian about him, but that just might have been the dark hair and the way he cocked his head. Maybe not Italian, just... different. You haven’t seen faces like this except in the book illustrations. He had a strong forehead and a hidden plan inside of his gaze. And he was looking directly at you.

“Feeling better?” he asked in his eerie accent.

Your throat was still contracting, the taste of blood arousing all your senses in vain, because you weren’t going anywhere.

“What is this place?”

“They call it Augustine”, he said slowly, “it’s a place where vampires come to lose hope”.

“What century are you from?” you winced. It seemingly entertained him but he abstained from commenting on your face. You had no idea what you looked like and whether you had blood on your skin.

“Last one”.

“Beginning of it?”

He leaned on the wall, looking up, and yet another shock of despair stung your insides. He had the look. The look that people get, who are held captive for a long time. Sometimes you’re put away for such a long time you learn to live again, you learn to get used to the conditions and the place, and eventually you deal with the idea of staying forever.

It’s much worse for vampires than for humans because humans eventually grow old and die. But you can keep a vampire for eternity.

He was looking on the ceiling and imagining the sky. You could see it right through his dark eyes.

“Hey!”

He slowly lowered his face.

“How long have you been alone?” you asked quietly.

“For about sixty years”.

Breath got stuck in your throat. His snake-like smirk creeped onto his face, making him look like a textbook vampyr.

“And yes”.

“Yes to what?”

“To what you’re thinking. You’ll stay here, too”.

All kind of expression escaped him. He turned, facing the corridor and started looking at a fly circling the lamp in the ceiling. You could hear its ringing buzz and the sound it made when it hit the warm glass. You could feel and hear everything. The smell of dust in the lines on the floor. Water dripping somewhere above your heads, on the first floor. The vampire breathing very queitly, and his heart, beating with such fatigue as if he was a plant growing out of this concrete. You could smell people who left sweet traces of their bodies after they passed down the corridor. The inviting scent from your bag. You took it and threw outside, into the corridor, and your neighbor whistled musingly.

“You could use some time to get used to here”.

You couldn’t believe it was happening.

____________________________________________________________

The next time you saw him, looked at him, he was taking your place. The people - the mortals - one tall woman with dark-red hair and very sweaty armpits, and a short man with a face like a piece of wood - came and took him away. You still didn’t know his name. You were calling him Neighbor in your own thoughts, but he still didn’t ask you for yours, although it’s been... two days? Three days and a night? No idea.

He left with them on his own, walking between them, and they didn’t have to vervain him. You sat on the floor, asking yourself, why he let them do that to him. You couldn’t even think about what you had to go through in that laboratory; an obvious thought was scratching your mind, but you pushed it away. Leaning on the wall, you closed your eyes, trying not to listen to what was going on on the first floor. You were trying to think objectively. If Neighbor went to the lab on his own, shoulder to shoulder with those monsters, he has completely come to terms with it. You were dreading a state in which a being is completely at peace with being tortured. But he spent so many years here... his face looked like he was from another world. Pairing yourself with someone was the last thing you’d think about here, but you could see the features of his face, although worn out and blank, could be considered handsome. Interesting how little things were still as clear as big things.

The fly was still alive, circling the lamp for warmth pointlessly, almost blindly.

You still didn’t know Neighbor’s name.

Hunger came in waves and the blood they gave you was generally fresh and female, and you wondered who it came from.

You did not want companionship. You did not want to converse with him. Or listen to him share his wisdom of living here. All those things would mean you’re assimilating, and you had no intention to do so. You’d resist. You’d fight...

After they brought him back, exhausted and pale, you asked yourself if this vampire was telling himself those same things about not staying here, about the longevity of human spirit. You were young enough of a vampire to remember what a human spirit is. You looked at their faces, the tall woman with big brown eyes, and the scared, cautious coward. They were just like you, at the end of the day. You all came from the same species, and yet...

As if humans ever stop waging brutality on each other.

#enzo st. john #enzo st john imagine #enzo st john x reader #slowburn #vampire diaries imagine #enzo

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rxsie-the-demon · 4 years ago

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Brooklyn Baby | JJ Maybank

SERIES MASTERLIST | chapter one

chapter summary: Nikki goes out of her comfort zone and bonds with Kie, while still remaining curious about what happened last summer. At a party, Topper gets a little too touchy, and Nikki (surprisingly) befriends Rafe and Wheezie.

warnings: drinking, smoking, HARD DRUGS, swearing (oops), HARRASSMENT (topper gets VERY touchy) so if that makes u uncomfy just skim over that, and a conversation about addiction/rehab and therapy

word count: 5029

Chapter 2: Cinnamon Girl

If I had to choose, B Days would be my least favorite. On B days, I have no classes with anyone I know, except English with Kelce at the end of the day.

And no one to sit with at lunch.

On my second day of school, when I realized I had no one to sit with, I ate in the library. You’re allowed to, so long as you clean up after yourself and stuff.

Walking into the huge cafeteria, with clean white titles and those long foldable school tables, I decided to do the same thing today; just sit in the library by myself, and maybe read or shop online, The tall walls of the cafeteria were decorated with motivational quotes and the school’s athletic accomplishments.

But when I was walking towards the lunch line, I saw Kiara sitting by herself out of the corner of my eye, head down on the table. Which made me feel really, really sad for her.

I stood in line quietly, AirPods in my ears, scrolling through Instagram when I found Kiara’s page. I didn’t want to seem like a stalker, but my curiosity got the best of me and I clicked on it.

Her page reminded me of this social activist that I follow that of a social activist I follow, the difference being that Kiara’s page was mostly environment-focused, with the occasional selfie and pics of her friends.

Clicking on one of her them, a selfie with her and her four friends on a boat during sunset, I saw a slightly sunburned brunet with his arm wrapped around one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen. She’s probably a TikToker, I thought. Sunburn had a dark blue bandana wrapped around his neck and had his shirt unbuttoned. Major surfer boy vibes.

Next to Tiktok, was Kiara, with bright eyes and a bright smile. Completely different from the girl who sits behind me in APUSH. The boy next to Kiara had dark skin and curly hair. He was wearing a hat, like Sunburn and the other boy next to him. And judging from the way his arm was around her waist, Hat totally had a thing for Kiara.

But the last boy, holy shit, if I thought Sunburn was cute, Hot Blonde Boy was another level. He was the one taking the picture, with one arm stretched out to hold the phone and the other one, covered shiny rings, was posing with, like, the rock hand sign? I think that’s what it’s called: with his index and pink fingers up, and the rest like they’d be balled in a fist. His messy blonde hair was being held together by a red snapback, and he was shirtless except for his shark tooth necklace. His tan went well with his bright, energetic eyes and big smile but...oh my gosh. His hands. They were big, with long fingers, and his arms were a little veiny and-

I put my phone away. Nuh-uh, I’m not going to be thirsting over a random guy’s hands, especially when that guy could literally be dead, or worse, the crazy dude who tried to shoot Topper.

Not that I don’t understand why someone would want to shoot Topper.

I grabbed my tray, putting a Chicken Caesar salad bowl (yum), a bowl of grapes (double yum), and a water bottle onto my tray. Remembering that Kiara didn’t have any food with her, I grabbed a hamburger, too.

I paid for my food and walked towards the utensil holder, debating whether or not I should just go to the library or sit with Kiara. I mean, I should sit with her, she’s by herself and is going through a hard time, but then again, I hardly know her. Besides exchanging numbers with her yesterday and not even texting her, I never interacted with the girl. She’ll probably think I’m just talking to her to get tea for Topper and Scarlet.

But then again, I already bought her a hamburger.

I walked over to her table. She was wearing a similar outfit as she was yesterday, the only difference being she was wearing light blue jeans. So, yay? A bit of color?

I sat down across from her and put my tray down quietly, not wanting to scare her. “Hey.”

Her head shot up immediately. Her soft brown eyes looked so tired, her light brown skin looking ashy and dull. Her dark brown hair, with it’s nice, defined beach wave curls, was tied back in a bun in her hood. When she saw who it was, her face softened. “Oh, hi.”

“I hope it’s ok I’m sitting with you, I don’t know anyone else in this lunch and I thought it’d be good to discuss our project.” I waved my hands around a bit before opening the plastic lid of my salad.

She nodded, eyeing my food for a second.

My heart hurt. Of course, she has the money to buy food, that’s not the issue. She probably hasn’t been eating out of grief.

“So I’m Indian, duh,” I waved my hand in front of my face and she smiled softly, “and I thought this was a chicken burger, but it’s beef. And I can’t eat beef, because, ya know, Hindus don’t eat beef. So, like, could you do me a solid and eat this for me? I hate wasting food and I’d feel awful if I threw it out.” I slid the burger towards her.

She nodded, pulling it towards her and taking a small bite.

I poured my croutons into my salad and started quietly eating when I heard Kiara mumble, “Thank you.”

I glanced up at her for a second, only to look back down. “Don’t thank me. I bought that on accident.”

“I saw you staring at me in line. And...I haven’t eaten in the past two days.”

I looked back at Kiara, who was looking everywhere but me. I decided to just ask.

“It’s because of what happened to your friends, right? You’re mourning?”

She nodded, still not looking at me.

“I understand. Grief isn’t something that has, like, a definitive answer. You just gotta let it run its course,” I said, putting my hand in front of my mouth because I was chewing.

Kiara nodded again and took another bite, a bigger one this time. I mentally high-fived myself for getting her to eat. I didn’t think it’d work.

“So, what do you want to do for the project?” I asked.

Kiara shrugged. “We could do current events. Maybe something environment related?”

“Like, an advertisement? We make a video talking about pollution or something?”

“Yeah! Or maybe we could organize something and get a bunch of people to come together and, like, clean up the beach?”

“Or we could go out on boats and find trash in the ocean?”

“That too!” Kiara’s eyes were shining now, and she was smiling. Wide. Much like the girl whose Instagram I was stalking.

“Sweet. Ok, so, the environment is one thing, do we have any other ideas? Like, isn’t the Outer Banks also famous for shipwrecks or something? I heard The Royal Merchant sank here. Maybe we could do a project on that?”

Kiara stiffened up when I mentioned shipwrecks. Did I say something wrong?

Shit. Her friends died at sea, how could I be so stupid?

“That’s...not a bad idea, actually. I happen to know a lot about The Royal Merchant. More than I want to know, actually,” She chuckled. She looked down at her hands, and then looked back up. “John B, my friend who died at sea over the summer, he and his dad were obsessed with finding it. We actually-,” she leaned closer to me. “We actually found it. But, uh, the gold isn’t there.”

My eyes went wide. I leaned forward, too. “Well, where is the gold then? Do you know?”

Kiara nodded. “In the Bahamas.”

“How the f- How did it get there, if the shipwreck happened here and no one knew where it was until you and your Pogue friends found it?”

She sighed. “Long story. I’ll tell you another day.”

“Wait-”

The lunch bell rang. I sighed as we stood up and grabbed our bags, walking towards the doors to leave for class. I really want to know how the gold ended up in the Bahamas.

“Well, thanks for lunch, Nikki!”

“Of course, Kiara, that’s what friends are for,” I smiled.

Kiara beamed. “Call me Kie.”

I was overjoyed. A friend. A real, actual friend. “Kie. Fantastic. Hey, Kie, do you know anyone named Rafe by any chance?”

Kie narrowed her eyes. “Yea, why?”

“Oh, nothing, I was just invited to his birthday party this Saturday.”

Kie rolled her eyes. “Be careful around him, ok? Talk to you later!”

“Uh, bye!”

************************************************

Yellow, or blue?

I held both dresses up to myself, looking in the mirror.

Saturday came, and it was time for Rafe’s party.

The party starts at 9 and was gonna last all night, but Topper wanted to take me out to eat, so at 7:30, I’m still deciding which dress to wear.

Both dresses are sundresses, short, flowy with shirred backs and knotted straps. They are literally the same dress, down to the little polka dots, just in different colors. I could wear either one, because I kept my makeup simple: concealer, nude eye shadow, mascara, and clear lip gloss.

I texted Kiara, asking her to choose a color, to which she responded yellow. We managed to get really close in just three days, which made me happy, because I felt that she was my only real friend at school, and, well, I was her only friend there.

I slipped the dress on and matched it with my white Birkenstocks. I went over to my dresser table (yes I have two mirrors in my room, sue me) and put on my white tassel fringe earrings. I kept my ‘Om’ necklace on.

I admired myself. My light brown skin looks good with the yellow and white, and my jet black hair, which I decided to not straighten, had slight waves, and reached my shoulders. I look like a rich, beach girl. A Kook, I suppose.

I grabbed my phone, taking a quick mirror selfie and snapping it to Topper, captioned ‘i’m readyyy’. He opened it immediately.

‘Damnn u look hot,’ he typed out. Ew.

‘aw ty,’ I typed back. ‘where r u?’

‘I’m omw. U have ur bag? The party’s on a yacht and there’ll be a pool.’

‘swim suit’s packed’

‘Fantastic. I’ll be there soon.’

I locked my phone, putting it into my purple and black NYU drawstring bag that also held my black bikini and a towel. I grabbed the bag hopped down the stairs.

Mallory and Krish, my sister-in-law and brother, were sitting on the couch, watching TV.

“Hey losers. My friend’s gonna be here any minute to pick me up.”

Mallory turned to face me, smiling. “Aw, you look cute! Have fun, and be safe, ok?”

“If you’re gonna be coming in, like, super late,” Krish added, not taking his eyes off the TV, “try to be as quiet as possible. Diya is a really light sleeper.”

Diya, my 5-month-old niece, made baby sounds. I took a couple steps forward and saw she was spread out on the floor, in her fluffy pink blanket, chewing on her gloved hands. I waved at her.

“Don’t worry, if I wake her up, I’ll take care of her. I don’t plan on drinking or smoking or anything tonight. Well, maybe drinking, but that’s it.”

They laughed. “Ok, ok, just have fun,” Mal said.

I sat on the floor, playing with Diya, until 7:50, when the doorbell rang, revealing Topper, wearing a black button-down shirt that was rolled up to his elbows (bless), Air Force 1s, ripped jeans, and a Gucci belt.

He smiled. “Ready to go?”

I smiled back. “Yep.” I turned to face Krish and Mal. “Bye Mom, bye Dad!”

“Bye, hun!” Mallory called out. They smiled and Top, too, and waved.

I closed the door and left, and Topper grabbed my hand to lead me to the car. “Sorry, I’d have introduced you to my parents, but they were too busy, like, ogling at my baby sister,” I half lied.

Topper laughed, “No worries. I’ll have plenty of chances to meet them, I hope?”

I smiled. “Yep, I hope so too.”

A complete lie.

******************************************

Dinner with Topper was...interesting. Instead of taking me to some fancy restaurant or whatever, he took me to this cute little diner closer to the beach, but not close to The Cut, according to him. “There are a bunch of restaurants here in the Banks,” he had said. “But not a lot of people know about this one. That’s why it’s my favorite.” He winked, and I nearly vomited in my mouth.

The place was real old-timey, with the little booths and a jukebox. We had burgers and shared a plate of fries and a milkshake. And honestly? It would’ve been really romantic if I actually liked Topper like that.

Don’t get me wrong, Topper is hot. He’s sweet to me, like cotton candy sweet, and really affectionate. I love touchy boys (consensual, of course, or they get their shit rocked), but he’s always grabbing my hand and playing with my hair. Which would be fine, but I barely know him.

And ever since he admitted to drowning that John B kid, whatever potential feelings I had just...disappeared. That paired with his Holier-than-thou attitude and his blatant classism makes him everything I would hate in a person, let alone a potential boyfriend.

Besides, I know the real reason he’s flirting with me. The Kook King of High School needs a Queen, and with his ex gone, everyone wants me to step into that role. Any other time, I’d be happy to be That Girl. But something just feels wrong about this.

Lots of people have told me I remind them of Sarah, apparently because she, too, was a bit of a social activist and an environmental freak (no wonder her and Kie were friends) which just confirms the fact that I’m just a replacement.

But, besides Kie, I have no other friends at OBX High. I have no choice but to go with it.

Driving close to the dock, I could hear loud music playing from somewhere. Leaning forward, I saw the yachts, one of them in particular already pretty full of people and neon lights.

“Yeah, Rafe tends to go all out on parties,” Topper remarked, gesturing towards the boats as he parked. “But they’re always fun.”

I nodded, plastering on a smile. I grabbed his hand. “Fantastic. Lead the way.”

**********************************************

Ok, I have to hand it to OBX kids. They know how to get turnt.

At 9:30, the yacht left the dock and headed towards the sea. By 10, the party was in full form, with kids dancing, singing, swimming, smoking, drinking, everything!

It was a glorious mess.

Right now it’s 10:30, and I’d been dancing with Top when we decided to go get something to drink.

We went to the bar and I told Topper to just one of whatever he was drinking for me, so he got two Mai Tais. The bartender looked really worried, because, you know, more than half the kids at this party are underaged, so I slipped him a 50 for his troubles.

Top and I walked away, laughing at the bartender’s confused face. The familiar feeling of alcohol started to wash

We walked around and talked about life and the universe, and when we finished our drinks, we went to the deck.

I leaned onto the railing, staring into the ocean.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I asked softly. Growing up in Brooklyn Heights, I was never one for the ocean. I mean, sure, there were beaches an hour or two away from my old home that I visited often, but I was always a city girl. But this, this was something else entirely. The way the pale, white moonlight shined on the dark blue ocean, it was comforting, almost.

“Yeah,” Topper whispered back, wrapping his arm around my cold body, “really is beautiful.” I turned and saw him staring at me, smiling just a tiny bit. I shoved him lightly.

“You’re so corny,” I laughed.

“Maybe, but I made you smile, didn’t I?”

“...Shut up.”

We laughed, and he wrapped both arms around me and pulled me close to him. I stiffened a bit. Calm down, Nikki. It’s not that big a deal. But it is. I hate leading people on and I hated that he was always touching me.

I snuck my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest. I’m short, I’ll admit it, standing at a towering five foot four with my two-inch platforms. Topper, on the other hand, is six feet tall, so my head tucked in just underneath his.

We stayed like that for a bit, swaying softly to some pop song. I felt myself relaxing, but I knew it wouldn’t last long.

“Hey, Nikki?”

“Yeah?”

“I, uh, I really like you.”

I pulled back and looked at Topper, who was fidgeting with my hair, and I narrowed my eyes “Wait, actually?”.

I hope he’s joking. He’s known me for less than a week! I mean, sure, you can have an instinct attraction to someone, yadda yadda, and maybe he wants to get to know me better, or whatever. Fine.

Maybe it’s because I don’t like him that, but I find his declaration of feelings a little ridiculous.

“Yea, I do. I know we just met, but I really want to get to know you more. No, I’m not asking you out...unless you want to date, that is, but I feel insanely attracted to you.” He brushed his hair back nervously.

I could reject Topper, and risk my popularity and social standing. It could end up well, it could end up terribly. But if I say I like him back, which is a lie, I guarantee my place as the most popular girl in the Outer Banks.

I place my right hand on his shoulder and my left hand on his cheek. Standing on my toes, I gently guide his face to mine.

As I close my eyes, I imagine that I’m not about to kiss Topper, but Hot Blonde Boy from Kie’s Instagram.

His lips are soft, really soft, and Top’s hands drop to my waist to pull me closer to him.

After we pull away, he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear and gently kisses my forehead.

“I like you too, Top,” I lied, “but I don’t want to rush into anything. We just met, and I’ve rushed into things before, and they never ended well, and-”

“Hey, hey, I get it,” he takes his hand to my chin and lifts it up so that I’m looking at him instead of the floor. “We can go as slow as you like, all right?”

I smile and nod. Top cups my face in his hands, and right before he can kiss me, I pull away and say, “Let’s go swimming! I’m going to go change, ok?”

He nods, ruffling his hair. I turn, pulling my phone out from my duffel bag and sending a text to Kie.

‘sos i just kissed topper.’

I walk into one of the changing rooms and change into my bikini. As I’m stuffing my dress into my bag, I see I get a text back.

‘dumbass!!’

**********************************************

Apparently, when I said I wanted to go swimming, it translated to yeeting me into the pool and then jumping in after, and then us splashing each other, non-stop. I mean, I guess that is what you do at a pool party, but I have no idea. Usually, I just stand around and eat food and, you know, don’t actually go into the water.

It was fun and all, yea, but I was uncomfortable the entire time because he couldn’t- no, wouldn’t- keep his hands off of me.

After it became too much, I jumped out of the pool and sat down on one of the chairs, wrapped my towel around myself and feeling really uncomfortable. Topper climbed out after me and sat down at my feet. “Did I, uh, do something?”

Yeah, you won’t stop touching me, bro.

“No, no, it’s fine, I just got a bit claustrophobic, that’s all.” I checked the time on my phone. I had an idea. “Hey, I’m going to go find Kelce and Scarlet, ok?”

“Uh, sure, do you want me to come with you?”

Not really, no. “Uh, if you want, but I was just gonna have, like, a girl’s talk with Scarlet?”

Topper nodded and smiled. I stood up, shoved my towel into my bag, slipped my shoes on, and ran off.

I felt a little weird just walking around in a bikini, especially since I don’t know anyone here, but remembering that everyone else was just as scantily clad as I was made me feel a little better.

I went to the highest deck, where the eldest kids (and by kids I mean like seniors and 20-year-olds), hoping to find Kelce or Scarlet there because I hadn’t seen them anywhere else. But I couldn’t see them on the deck.

I walked around a bit and then decided to text Scarlet.

‘where are you?’

I got a text back immediately. ‘Top deck, near the front. I’m with the little kid.’

Little kid? I walked towards the front side of the ship and indeed saw Scarlet, wearing a dark red colored bikini, sitting in a lounging chair with a girl who looks like she’s in middle school. The kid was pale, with freckles, dark hair, and glasses. She was the only one at this point not wearing a bathing suit.

Why is there a kid here?

I sat down in the seat next to Scarlet and gave her a hug. “Hey!” I slipped my bag off my shoulders and leaned forward to face the young girl. “Hi. What’s your name?”

She smiled. “I’m Wheezie. My brother’s the birthday boy.”

“Wheezie?”

“It’s a nickname, my real name is- Oh, hey, Topper!”

I spun around. Topper was standing in front of me, arms angrily crossed over his bare chest. “Hey, Wheezie. Nikki, can I talk to you?”

“I’m enjoying the company of my new friend.” I gestured over to Wheezie.

“Yeah, well, I want to talk.” He roughly grabbed my wrist and yanked me up.

“Ok, jeez, lemme grab my bag.” I pulled myself from his grasp and turned around to grab my bag. Scarlet mouthed the words be careful, to me. I nodded.

“Bye, Nikki, it was nice to meet you!” Wheezie called out. I shouted pleasantries back. Topper grabbed my wrist again.

After dragging me halfway across the deck, he let go of me and turned around. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?! What’s wrong with you?! You’re the one who, one, won’t stop touching even though we’re not dating and we barely know each other, and two, literally dragged me away from my friends when I was having a conversation with them! Are you like this with all the girls you like? Huh? Maybe that’s why your girlfriend left you for some Pogue, not because Pogues steal things, but because you-” I stepped forward and shoved Topper, “-don’t know how to treat a girl, no, a person, with respect!”

I stopped talking and realized that a lot of people had gone quiet. My face flushed with embarrassment until I heard someone shout.

“WOO! You tell him, Nikki!”

I turned and saw Scarlet and Wheezie jumping up and down and clapping. Soon, all the girls (and some of the boys) around me were clapping and cheering for me, congratulating me and telling Topper that he’s a dick.

I stepped towards Topper. “You and me, whatever thing you think we had going on, it’s done.”

I turned around and beckoned Wheezie and Scarlet to sit back down with me on the deck. The partying resumed, and I went off chatting with the two girls, but I saw out of the corner of my eye that Topper was getting all huffy and puffy.

I pointed that out to the girls. “Should I be worried?”

Wheezie wheezed laughed. “He’s probably just going to call Rafe and get him to tell you off.”

“...He’s gonna get the host of the party, who I don’t know and never met, to yell at me? Fantastic. Good thing he’s your brother.”

“Technically half brother, but yes, a good thing. Oh look, there he is right now!”

I turned around and saw Topper marching towards me with another equally tall, equally blonde boy right behind him. The difference is, this boy didn’t have as much of a hostile aura as Topper has right now.

“So, which one of you embarrassed my boy Top?”

************************************************

The boy, who introduced himself as Rafe, the host, beckoned Scarlet, Topper, and I inside of his suite. He closed the door on Wheezie, though. Bummer. I liked her.

Inside his suite were a bunch of twenty-year-olds, drinking hard liquor, dancing, and sitting around this big table. Rafe took his seat in the middle, told everyone else around him to fuck off, and had us, except Topper, sit across from him. Topper took the seat to his right.

He offered us a bag of white powder, to which Scarlet and I declined. Topper took it, though, and started setting it up to use.

“You use coke?” I asked Topper in disgust. I have nothing against most drugs, like weed or psychedelics, which can be fun to use sparingly at parties or whatever, but not hard drugs like opioids.

Topper shrugged at my question. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal. What the fuck is wrong with y-?!”

“Ok, no fighting at my party, please?” Rafe sighed, rubbing his temples. “I brought you guys inside so that everyone else can enjoy the party while you guys have your little marital dispute-”

“WE’RE NOT DATING!” I shouted.

“Whatever,” Rafe sighed.

I stood up. “I’m gonna go hang with Wheezie. Scarlet, you coming?”

She was about to respond when Rafe stood up and said, “I’ll join you.”

I shot a confused look at Scarlet, who just shrugged.

I slipped my bag over my shoulder and walked towards the door, which Rafe held open for me, and we stepped outside, the air making me shiver.

Rafe pulled a pack of Dunhill cigarettes out of his pocket, put one to his mouth, and lights it. He gestured the box towards me and I take one, leaning forward a bit so that he could light it for me.

I rest my arms on the railing and close my eyes, breathing in the burning smoke and exhaling it slowly, being submerged in the light-headed haze of nicotine.

“How old are you?” Rafe’s voice interrupts my zen. I open my eyes and look at the boy, who’s very obviously checking out my bikini covered body.

I laughed and took another drag. “Sixteen,” I exhaled the smoke from my mouth.

Rafe’s eyes went wide, and he turned back to the sea. “Oh shit. My bad. Uh...how’re you liking the party?”

“It’s pretty good. Besides, you know, Topper being Topper, and you forcing me to talk to him.”

Rafe laughed. “Yea, I didn’t mean anything by it. I have a reputation of being a prick, and I’m trying to be better but, you know, not a lot of people respect you when you go from being a douche to a nice guy.”

I nodded, understanding what he meant by that. “Reputation with friends?”

He laughed. “Just,” he waved his hand free hand around, “Everyone. I wasn’t a good person. I’m trying to be better, but it’s hard when everyone already expects me to act a certain way and don’t give me a chance to change.”

I noticed the rings on his hands, like that boy from Kie’s Instagram. But unlike Hot Blondie, Rafe’s too old for me.

Which leads me to wonder…

“Did you know Sarah Cameron, by any chance?” I asked.

Rafe’s eyes went wide, and then he started coughing up smoke.

“W-Why do you ask?” He stammers, still coughing.

I gave him a weird look and just shrugged. “Curious, I guess.” I looked back at the ocean. “I’m the new girl, and everyone keeps telling me about all this stuff, but won’t tell me what actually happened, and I dunno, I’m just so confused.”

I turned to face Rafe, who was looking away, and I think I saw tears forming in his eyes. “Yea, Sarah’s my sister.”

Now it was my turn to cough up smoke. “W-”-cough cough- “Wait”-cough cough- “a minute.” I gasp for air and continue coughing. And after I finally manage to get some oxygen into my lungs, I say, “Sarah Cameron’s your sister? Shit, I’m so sorry, Topper never told me.”

Rafe shrugged, fiddling around with his rings. “It’s alright, I was just...surprised. No one asks me about Sarah or the Pogues anymore. After I came back from rehab-” He stopped, probably because he didn’t mean to say that, but he continued, “After I came back from rehab, I just...stopped beefing with the Pogues, especially JJ, Kie, and Pope. You know them?”

I nodded. “I know Kie, we’re friends. But not JJ and Pope. Never met ‘em, don’t even know what they look like, yet I’ve heard so many things about them.”

Rafe nodded. “They’re not bad kids, really. My time away made me realize how much of a prick I’ve been to them. Like, I caused them a lot of pain, and for what? For nothing. Literally just because I thought that, because they were poorer than us, they weren’t as good as us.”

I nodded. Then I turned and smiled, and stretched out my hand. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Rafe Cameron.”

He smiled and shook back.

_______________________________

chapter three

#obx fic #obx #obx fanfic #outerbanks #jj maybank #jj fluff #jj angst #jj x reader #john b #john b x sarah #obx kiara #obx pope #rafe cameron #topper obx

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alonelytinywriter · 4 years ago

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Oh Hush You

touya-is-dabi said to alonelytinywriter:

Heyy if I send an ask for some Zeni x Dabi thirst is that allowed? Take it as far as you see fit. The thirstier the better . . . I need some Jealous dabi in my life. So maybe make shigiraki flirt with Zeni or something?

I got chu doll! I hope you like it as much as I liked writing it. Lots of love <3 <3

Warnings: There be soft smut here, Dabi being a soft guy, even if he is kinda a twat for a itty bitty, bitty bit . . . and then Dabi being a not so soft guy if you get the idea! Cursing, Jealousy, soft! Dabi . . . Enjoy!

Dabi / Zeni Devi ~ Lovely baby of @touya-is-dabi

Playlist - Love Songs, Drug Songs - X Ambassadors

Name: Zeni Devi ~ Birthday: December 6 ~ Age: 21 ~ Hair Color: White ~ Eye Color: Sea-foam Green ~ Gender: Female ~ Height: 5’4’’ ~ Quirk: Permafrost ~ Occupation: LOV Member

Appearance:

Zeni is five foot four, but everyone comments on the way she seems taller in the same way that ballerinas do, with a long neck and willowy limbs, although not many ballerina’s would have hundreds of freckles scattered across their body, nor piercings in places such as their tongue or belly button. She is slender with long legs and long bright white hair and deep azure roots - which grows blue naturally only a few inches away from her scalp - and large sea foam green eyes surrounded by thick lashes that curl and seem to brush against her cheeks when she blinks. If one were asked to describe her, they would say that she was bright and radiant, like her face was truly alive, despite the sour attitude she might show those around her. ~ She typically dresses in jeans and sweaters or coats, and always wears boots, in which she keeps small weapons hidden for when her quirk becomes to much to handle in battle. Due to the nature of her Quirk, Zeni commonly looks as if she is ready to take a trip into the snow - even during the middle of the summer - and her quirk causes the skin around her fingers, elbows, knees and ankles to constantly feel chapped. The band-aids she uses to cover the cracks and sores have steadily grown more and more ridiculous over the years and she currently goes out of her way to find the most brightly colored Hello Kitty band-aids whenever she can . . . if only to annoy Dabi, not that he needs to know that.

Quirk: Permafrost ~ Zeni’s Quirk allows her to replace her bodily fluids (spit, tears, sweat, etc.) with liquid nitrogen, allowing her to use it as both defence and weapon during attacks and missions with the LOV. The longer Zeni actively uses the power, the stronger the liquid nitrogen becomes. If Zeni over uses this Quirk, a layer of frostbite begins to seep across her skin and lungs, freezing any natural moister in its way, and due to the nature of the Quirk, her body is constantly freezing, and crying can become a horror for her as the liquid nitrogen will turn to dry ice and she’ll begin crying blood because dry ice blocks her tear glands. The only way Zeni is able to combat against the drawbacks of this Quirk is by warming up, though she finds it very hard to do so.

Power - 5/5 ~ Speed - 3/5 ~ Technique - 4/5 ~ Intelligence - 6/6 (S) ~ Cooperativeness - 1/5

Oh Hush You

~ “This isn’t right! You shouldn’t be winning! It isn’t fair! Isn’t fair! Isn’t fair!” Rolling her eyes, Zeni continued to skid her fingertips across the buttons to the controller of her Switch, even while Shigaraki tried to elbow her into messing up. “How are you winning?”

~ “I already told you that you should just do what I’m doing. It’s not like anyone actually knows how to use her yet. Everyone else is gonna be button mashing too.” Zeni laughed as she watched Shigariki’s character fly from the screen once again and snickered, racing after the dropped power-up.

~ “I am not mashing the buttons.”

~ The power up pushed Shiggy’s character from the platform once again and Zeni watched as the screen flashed GAME OVER again. “Well, then, you’re going to keep on loosing.”

~ “ . . . Shut . . . Up.”

~ And so it continued, and even though it was well past three in the morning, neither Zeni nor Shiggy were willing to set their game consoles down, and one game turned into five then thirty, and then they lost count and it became a challenge to see who would come out on top. Even though Zeni found Shigaraki annoying at the best of times, it was nice to relax and fight in a way that wouldn’t end in bloodshed but in laughter instead. And Dabi was away on a mission, so it wasn’t like she had anything better to do without him there. She knew it was getting late, but she wanted to wait for him to arrive, wanted to be there to greet him when he came through the doors. What she didn’t want to do was fall asleep with her head on Shigaraki’s lap. Specifically not long enough that she would still be in that position when Dabi came home.

~ That was the only explanation Zeni could come with with, eyes wide open as she stared around the empty room. Shiggy was still asleep up above her, his breath steady, completely unaffected by whatever it was that had woken Zeni from her sleep. Maybe it had been Twice, Zeni mused, as she forced Shigaraki awake and directed him to his bedroom so he wouldn’t bitch at anyone when they started coming into the room in the morning. Turning the television off, Zeni yawned and began to make her way to her room wondering if Dabi had made it to the base yet.

~ The question was answered for her as she walked past the hallway leading to Dabi’s door and she could hear him cursing and tossing things in his room. It seemed strange, that Dabi hadn’t woke her when he arrive home, that he hadn’t let her know how the mission had gone. And why was he locked in his room, clearly breaking one thing after another? He doesn’t even pause the first time she knocks, or the second or third. It’s not until she literally slams her hands against the door, rattling it in its frame, that Dabi’s rant inside the room seems to calm.

~ Red light filtered into the hallway when Dabi throws the door open, and his glowering stare is nearly enough to make Zeni shrink back. “What’s your problem? Why didn’t you tell me you where back?” Dabi continued to stare down at her for a moment before scoffing. “Why don’t you just go on, huh?”

~ . . . “What did you just say to me?” Zeni has never had problems laying hands on people to get her way, and when her hands land on his chest the steam the rises nearly creates a cloud that neither can see through. “What is your fucking problem Dabi?” “Not a fucking thing!” Rubbing her eyes, Zeni laughed. “Yeah, try again. You’re acting like a jerk. What did the mission not go well? Did you not get to show off or something?”

~ “Why don’t you just go to sleep, Ze.” “Because I’m not tired.” Breathing heavily, the two stare at each other for a long moment. His room wasn’t trashed, Zeni realized once she looked away. Sure, there was a broken lamp against the far wall, and she was pretty sure she could smell smoke, which meant something had been on fire at some point. “Fine, you’re not tired? Then why don’t you go talk to Shigaraki, since you’re such good friends?” He doesn’t even finish his sentence before he throws himself down onto his bed, mumbling into the pillows about how he was tired, so if she didn’t mind, he was going to be going to bed.

~ Zeni couldn’t believe it. How dare he? What an ass! Huffing, she slammed her way from the room. Who did he think he was, talking to her like that? He never talked like that before so why would he . . .

~ The door was still open and she was able to slip in soundlessly, the thick socks on her feet covering any sound of her footsteps when she moved to stand next to his bed, but Dabi does startle when she throws herself onto the bed. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Her lips were on his neck when she answered, but the words were soft and Dabi nearly didn’t hear her as she threw the question back at him instead of properly answering. He wasn’t happy about it, and he tried to show her by shoving her from the bed, away from him, but she straddles his waist and frowns down at him while her hair creates an snowy curtain around them.

~ “I figured it out, you know. What woke me up earlier. It was you, wasn’t it? You didn’t get jealous because I was asleep with Shiggy, did you?” His Quirk flaring to life at his fingertips was answer enough and Zeni laughed, quickly putting out the flames with her own Quirk. “You’re joking right? You’re jealous of crusty, musty Shiggy?” He denies it of course but Zeni can’t help herself - “You are so! You’re so jealous I can see your eyes turning green!”

~ Growling, Dabi flips them over and straddles her the same way she was him just a instant before, his voice gravel as he tells her over and over that she is his, and no one else could have her. To Zeni, it shouldn’t have even been a question, but to Dabi it seemed a mantra he needed to repeat again and again, even as they rolled and fought to be on top, lips and teeth marking necks and exposed collar bones, flames and frost flashing to counter one or the other. “You were jealous.” Zeni scoffed lightly, her breathing coming in short panting gasps as Dabi’s teeth continued to scrap across her skin. “You were mad that I was asleep with Shiggy -”

~ “You belong to me.” Dabi snarled. “Maybe if you weren’t getting so chummy with Shigaraki, this wouldn’t be a problem. I wouldn’t have gotten so fucking -” Zeni cuts him off with her lips, her fingers threaded through his hair as steam rises from their mouths, the heat so intense, Zeni wondered if kissing the sun would feel similar. Her shirt was gone between one breath and the next, and so was Dabi’s. Their hands were not soft as they felt each other, their teeth sharp against the others skin. “You know I only want you.”

~ Steam fogged the windows and mirror above the dresser, and their clothes were scattered around the room when Dabi finally entered Zeni in one sharp thrust, groaning her name like a payer. He’s not gentle by any means, and deep down Zeni knew that he wouldn’t be when she walked back into the room and instigated this. Moaning into his mouth, she felt her hips begin to rock against his, her fingers threading through his hair. The sounds of flesh slapping against flesh filled the air, bleeding into the steam throughout the room with the sweet scent of burnt sugar and caramel. “You’re mine, you know that. Mine and only mine, Ze.”

~ “I know. I know. I know.” Zeni threw her head back, nails scrambling for purchase against Dabi’s back, as she felt the coil within her tighten. Dabi’s growls softened to a hum when he moves to palm a handful of her ass, his hips jerking when she pulses around him in response. “Dabi, Dabi - please, Dabi -” Dabi groans, whispering quite words of nonsense into her ear as he finds his thrusts growing shorter, filled with purpose as he chased their high together. Zeni looked as if she were a goddess in the darkness of his room, and her tits, heavy and perfectly sized for her body, bounced with each rantic thrust.“Dabi, Dabi, Dabi -”

~ “Mine.” Dabi growled as he felt her fluttering around him, her back arching from the bed as he was thrown over the edge as well, his nails carving into the slope of her spine as he forced her closer. “You’re mine.”

#dabi #my hero academia #bnha #bnha dabi #my brain isn't working #I don't know how i feel about this #but ive been working on it so long #and it doesn't get better #please enjoy

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travllingbunny · 4 years ago

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The 100: 7x05 Welcome to Bardo

Here’s finally my belated review of 7x05. I was too busy last week (with actual work) so I couldn’t write it before 7x06 aired. Then I got a bit distracted with my Dark rewatch and Dark season 3 dropping. But I’m taking a break from it to finally post this review and then, hopefully, 7x06 not long after. It’s good that I did a couple of rewatches because I could notice more details. (The review was already halfway over a week ago, so I added some remarks in italics that are things I only think now after seeing 7x06.)

This was an episode I was looking forward to and I enjoyed it, because it finally brought us to Bardo, in the belly of the beast so to speak (note: I wrote this sentence before I saw 7x06, and now I want to keep it because it’s just too funny that 7x06 put Clarke and co. in the literal belly of the beast), where the main action is likely to be, advanced the main plot of season 7 quite a lot, tied a few storylines and showed us Octavia in the present for the first time this season, and - not gonna lie - the highlight of the episode, 1 minute appearance of Bellamy, the first one since the first scenes of the season premiere.

However, I have to say that I wasn’t really impressed with the part of the episode that should have been the most interesting - Octavia’s flashbacks showing what happened to her when she was first taken to Bardo. It served its purpose by filling in the blanks, or rather confirming what I had already figured out, but for one thing, I didn’t get too much character focus in this episode, except for a touching Octavia-Hope scene and Echo’s disturbing actions in the end, which made for a pretty strong scene. And this time I was really bothered by the sloppiness of the details: from just how inconsistent the time dilation rules (rules? what rules?) seem at this point (already a problem before, but this episode made it even worse, especially since it focused on the timeline so much) to the messy selection of flashbacks in the Memory Capture scenes (while the timeline is the writers’ fault, this was obviously a case of the editor being really lazy). Maybe this is just nitpicking, but I find it really annoying when I can’t analyze details to come up theories because I have no idea which detail is a part of the plan and which is just a screw-up.

:Like everyone have some theories, including those about what really happened to Bellamy after his “death”. (At least they’re not even trying to make us believe Bellamy is dead on social media and in Inside the Episode features, like they tried last season with Clarke.)

This is why it ended up being an episode I liked less on rewatch, and I rank it behind 7x02, 7x04 and 7x01, although ahead of 7x03 (and, it turns out, 7x06). Even though the Sanctum portion of the episode was really strong and interesting this time.

Prepare for a lot of nitpicking of plot holes, and me about to incur the wrath of many t100 fans by explaining why I really dislike like the idea of an Octavia/Levitt endgame romance (it’s mostly because of their interactions in this episode).

This was the second episode this season where Marie said “Previously on” (I’m curious how many different cast members do it this season) and I think it’s the first time we saw the opening titles that were released before the S7 trailer, the ones that start with the Bardo Stone Room.

Sanctum

The deluded brainwashed folks in Sanctum who still worship the Primes have a name they have given themselves - the Faithful. And it seems that they call the people who aren’t brainwashed ‘the Fallen’. Has the show ever had such an annoying character as Trey, their leader?

I must say I related to Murphy when he suggested that maybe they should just let them burn themselves if that’s what they want, instead of letting them exert control that way. Yes, I know it’s bad. But that’s one of the things Murphy is good for, to sometimes say things that we all kind of think but would feel ashamed of saying aloud - at least if it was real life. However, Murphy - and I’m sure everyone - changed his mind when he saw they were going to burn children. And the father of the child who was about to be sacrificed (who we now know is called Jeremiah) looked confused and terrified. Maybe it’s just Trey and a couple of other fanatical people influencing and manipulating the others. Unfortunately, real life examples of people doing horrible things - even to their own children - in the name of what they believe in, to make me hesitate to call this too extreme to be plausible. But what is going on in the heads of these people? At least before, when the people of Sanctum were sacrificing their children or other loved ones or themselves, they believed it meant living forever and being one with the gods, but this?

Nelson is becoming quite a likable character even though he has only had a brief scene or two here and there. (And then the show goes and does... whatever the hell they’re doing with him in 7x06.) Like this time, when he was the only one who tried to save the Faithful woman who set herself on fire, explaining that the people of Sanctum are still their people, even the Faithful. (Now this is a much nicer face of the Children of Gabriel. Where was he when CoG were killing Nightblood people/potential hosts, even though that’s not the most efficient way to stop the Primes - as opposed to killing the Primes and destroying their mind drives?)

Great little character moment for Emori when she asked Nelson: “Even though they cast you out?” He probably doesn’t even know how much that resonates with her. Is this foreshadowing her storyline this season? Will she have to interact with or do something for the Grounders - or even specifically her clan, Sangedakru (which also happens to be the clan where Sheidheda was from - and the most likely to follow him if/when they find out who he is, since they seem to consider him their “greatest champion’)? (The latter seems slightly less likely now that Indra seems to have made them respect her authority... but I doubt it’s going to be that easy...)

BTW, speaking of Emori. let me just address the speculation that she’s pregnant - apparently based on the fact she threw up?! She threw up because she got radiation poisoning, FFS. If she were pregnant, the fetus would at least be in huge danger of not surviving. Maybe the writers of The 100 didn’t know or didn’t expect the audience to know about the effects of radiation, but come on, they must be aware that everyone has seen Chernobyl.) And Jackson, a doctor, examined her right there.

Murphy being snarky: “I’m tired of being a hero”. Hmm... when was the last time, Murphy, you were a hero without someone roping you in first, or without you following Emori’s lead or making a last moment decision? However, while Murphy likes to claim he doesn’t want to be a hero, Bellamy told him in 5x01 that Murphy’s problem on the Ring was that he actually wanted to be a hero and felt useless because he didn’t have the opportunity. Still, he’s come a long way since season 1, when he wasn’t exactly that protective of children.... Granted, Charlotte was not an innocent, but she was still a child. And he was 17 at the time, now he’s an adult.

I’m enjoying watching Indra in her new leadership role and her stand-offs with RussHeda. It’s very fortunate that Adina is not busy with AHS anymore, and JR Bourne makes for a fantastic villain - in a completely different way than Russell was. Russell was soft and emotional while also pompous and hypocritical and seemed to believe his own BS, which made him all the more annoying. Sheidheda is much smarter and has no delusions about being a good guy. He’s scary and dark but he also knows how to turn the situation to his benefit and has very rational remarks about how ridiculous the Faithful are with their tactic. He clearly has nothing but contempt for them. “My, my, what foolish little lambs you are.” (Which ties into this season’s themes of Shepherd and the flock.)

We learn more about Indra’s backstory, and this is the most I’ve been interested in Grounder history since... ever?

It’s also quite dark how she manipulates Jackson with his desire for revenge, by keeping the truth from him that RussHeda is not Russell. But Jackson’s dark side of his thirst for revenge for Abby has made him the most interesting that he’s ever been as a character.

I think that this storyline will eventually somehow tie with the main storyline. If nothing else then because Sheidheda and Madi are connected to the knowledge from the Flame, which is connected to Becca and ALIE and events from the prequel. Especially since it increasingly seems like the “great war” that’s being talked about may have something to do with AIs...

Bardo

Timeline and time dilation

Let me get this off my chest first... The timeline of this episode was confusing for some viewers in terms of the sequence of events. That isn’t the case for me - the problem is that the amount of time that was supposed to pass makes the time dilation seem really inconsistent.

So, chronologically, things happened like this:

in 6x08 (some 4 or 5 Sanctum days ago): Diyoza goes into the Anomaly; ends up on Skyring

Octavia goes into the Anomaly 6 seconds later, ends up on Skyring, 3 months (Skyring time) after Diyoza arrived. she gives birth.

Octavia and Diyoza spend 10 years there raising Hope.

Octavia sends a message to Bellamy in a bottle, not realizing the bottle ended up on Bardo (apparently, the default setting of the Anomaly, is: you go from Sanctum to Skyring and from Skyring to Bardo). Disciples capture her and Diyoza and take them to Bardo.

While Hope spends 10 more years on Skyring with Dev, before jumping to Bardo, Octavia is taken to Bardo, tried to run away, then is taken to Memory Capture. This is 45 (Bardo) days ago. She resists at first, but 34 Bardo days ago, she allows Levitt access to her memories and he starts watching them in a more coherent and chronological manner. 31 Bardo days ago, after he’s seen her memories up to the season 3 finale, Hope comes to rescue her.

Levitt helps them and Octavia is sent back to Sanctum, losing her memories, and runs back into Gabriel’s arms (no, I don’t mean it like that and I don’t ship them) - 10 Sanctum seconds after she ran into the Anomaly! (This is still 6x08)

7 Bardo days ago (which is some 2 days ago on Sanctum) or 6x13, Hope (who had probably been immediately captured when trying to save her mother - I guess she and the Disciples spent 24 days waiting for Octavia to enter Hope’s mind code into the Anomaly Stone...) is sucked into Sanctum, stabs Octavia with the tag which pulls her to Bardo. Octavia is brought to MCap again, and apparently Levitt talks to her and then she is brought to the Stone Room to talk Bellamy down. Something happens to Bellamy and Octavia is made to believe he’s dead.

in the present, Hope, Echo and Gabriel (after spending 5 years on Skyring, which was somehow 2 days on Sanctum (?)) jump to Bardo, kill some people, pretend to be DIsciples and listen to Anders’ speech, find Octavia, and see the memory of whatever happened or did not happen to Bellamy.

Now this means that the time differentials between planets have been like this:

Sanctum: 6 seconds = Skyring: 3 months

Sanctum:10 seconds = Skyring: over 20 years (because Hope spent 20 years on Skying and at least a few hours on Bardo, all in those 10 Sanctum seconds)

Sanctum: a few seconds (under 10 seconds, probably a lot less) = Bardo: 14 days (from “45 days ago” to “31 days ago”)

Sanctum: about 2 or 3 days = Bardo: 24 days

Sanctum: 2 days = Bardo: 7 days

Sanctum: a little over 1 day = Skyring: 5 years

See the problem here?

@justbecauseyoubelievesomething pointed out before that the time differentials may vary a lot because of planets orbiting their suns (and Sanctum orbiting its planet and the suns) in elliptic orbits, so distances from the black hole change. However, the problem with this is that 1) they haven’t said that on the show and instead keep talking about the time differentials as if they are at least roughly the same or similar all the time, and 2) these fluctuations vary way too much for it to make any sense? If it was just 1:3 and then 1:7, for instance, OK - but how the heck does the time differential between Sanctum and Bardo go from 1:200,000 to 1:3?

How is this supposed to work? Do people on Bardo go:

“We’re sending a team to Sanctum!”

“Understood! We will need just an hour to retrieve the target!” “But Sir... they’ll return in 20 years! We have to wait till next week, then an hour will be just 7 hours here!”

“All right, we have to wait for the next week then!”

And do these fluctuations happen just between Sanctum and Bardo or Sanctum and Skyring, or also between Bardo and Skyring? The latter would make their prison system quite complicated and tricky!

A couple of other pieces of info -

Levitt put the “Trust Bellamy” note in Hope’s arm during his MCap session (because he knew what Bellamy was to Octavia), but Anders apparently did not realize why Hope was bleeding or that it had something to do with Levitt, though he was the only one who could’ve had any contact with her?

One thing I don’t get is the part where Anders says: “it’s why you’re a prisoner dressed like a savage so you can get close to Aunty O”. Why did they have to dress Hope in Grounder-like clothes, exactly?

We also see that Meredith’s team was told to go to Sanctum and find Clarke - though it’s unclear why they waited so long to send them. Or why Meredith’s team waited about a day and a half to contact Clarke. We see Anders telling Meredith: “Because of the time dilation, no one will come for you if you fail” - and I have no idea that’s supposed to mean, especially since I don’t know what time differential it was supposed to be at the time.

Octavia in Memory Capture

...And I’m gonna nitpick some more.

Maybe it’s not a big deal that many of the scenes we saw as Octavia’s memories didn’t make sense, because they were either scenes she wasn’t present for or scenes from the future (relative to the moment when she was on Bardo the first time), but I expected better, after the wonderful attention to detail in last season’s Nevermind and Matryoshka, where neither the prop masters nor editors and sound editors made any mistakes with what we saw and heard of Clarke’s memories.

So, 45 days ago, when Octavia was first brought to Bardo, and Anders and Levitt were seeing random memories against her will, the first thing she’s told is to imagine someone holding out a hand to her to help her, and we see brief flashes of various memories (aka scenes from the previous seasons) before her mind settles of many different images of Bellamy:

Aurora with baby Octavia

Lincoln, just before his death

Indra - when Octavia finds her and talks to Clarke and Lexa (3x05) - of course this is there because of Indra, but I don’t know if Clarke is also supposed to be one of the people O thinks of: we see her quite clearly as she’s saying she must talk to Bellamy to save their people

and then a bunch of images of Bellamy - which is where things start not making sense, because while we see him

in the Pilot on the dropship (that makes sense)

in season 5 when he argued with Octavia (also makes sense)

but we also see him dressed Gabriel’s cardigan, which he only wore after reuniting with Octavia in 6x10, after she came back from Bardo, and one of the images is definitely from 6x13 when Hope came from the Anomaly (future scenes!)l

we also see the scene where Bellamy was looking for Octavia and talked to Clarke in 1x06 (where Octavia was obviously not present for! It’s also the scene right after the Aurora flashback - the editor were obviously being super lazy)

and Bellamy in an anti-radiation suit in 4x13 when he had to leave Clarke (the only way Octavia could remember that is if she had a telepathic link to her brother!)

Other memories include Murphy in Pike’s class (clearly just as a cool transition from a Murphy scene in Sanctum), but it was really funny how horrified Octavia seemed when Levitt asked her if he was her lover. ;) Levitt clearly got a bunch of images of her friends - including Raven, Clarke (from the Pilot!) and Indra, whose images we see on screen in addition to Bellamy - and he finally sees a bunch of memories of Hope on Skyring, which is what she was trying to hide the most.

At this point, Octavia desperately tries to make a deal with Levitt - he doesn’t mention Hope in his report, and lets her go later, and she’ll let him into her memories. Just before Levitt starts watching her memories in the chronological order, we hear some more of Octavia’s memories in her head (they aren’t showing on the screen, where the same flashbacks as before are playing):

banishing Echo in 4x11

Bellamy deciding to leave her in 6x03 (“Are you out of your mind? You didn’t need to kill anyone!”)

Miller saying “Blodreina gave that honor to me!”

Octavia yelling “You’re dead to me!” to Bellamy (in that disturbing scene in 3x10) and...

Hallucination!Pike telling her she caused a world to be destroyed and herself yelling she wanted “REDEMPTION!” - which is another inconsistency, because comes from a red toxin hallucination that she’ll only have after she returns to Sanctum (in 6x09)! At least you could say this was already in her subconsciousness, but these were supposed to her memories!

When she starts cooperating, Levitt basically binges the first 3 seasons of The 100 - or rather, a version of it where Octavia is the main character and everything is only from her POV - ending with 3x16, which is probably pretty significant, as they showed several moments right before Clarke destroyed the City of Light and the moments after she came back. We see Bellamy telling everyone what to do as they were fighting chipped people to protect Clarke, Clarke on the throne in the City of Light, Pike fighting chipped!Jaha, Pike saving Octavia, and, and after the destruction of the COL, Murphy and Emori hugging, and finally - Octavia stabbing Pike.

This is where Levitt goes “Yes!” - which makes me (and Octavia) feel real tonal dissonance. He reveals himself to be a true Octavia stan, the kind who thinks their favorite character simply cannot go wrong and who doesn’t just defend her and have an understanding and empathy for her motives and emotional states (which is great), but cheers even the bad things she did (which is not great). Now, if Levitt is meant to be a representation of a typical stan, that’s great. The show has, this season in particular (and even in S6 to a point - through Jordan) been dealing with the idea of Clarke, Octavia and other main characters as living legends. And a lot of t100 fans - including every single YouTube reactor I’ve seen - always cheers and says they’re happy when she kills Pike. I didn’t feel that way, so there’s that. And sure, some of that is because I didn’t hate Pike. But what’s more important is: that moment was never portrayed as a triumphant one. (It it was meant to be, it would have been Octavia killing Pike in a battle, or something similar to the scene where Lincoln killed Cage Wallace in 2x16, not Octavia stabbing Pike when he didn’t expect it, after they had fought together and right after he had saved her life. It wouldn’t have shown Bellamy and Clarke worried about Octavia, or made it her ‘start of darkness’ moment that led to her becoming a murder-obsessed assassin in season 4. And 6x09 made a point that Octavia herself saw this act as a wrong one - that she thinks she didn’t have the right to murder someone in cold blood even though she had legitimate reasons to hate him. The show generally doesn’t portray revenge-murder as a good thing. And that is true in this scene, too: we see flashbacks of Pike at his most heroic (fighting chipped Jaha and Pike right after he saved Octavia’s life) before the scene of her stabbing him, and while Levitt is like “YES!”, Octavia seems upset to see that moment again and a tear is falling from her eyes.

So why, then, is the show apparently portraying Levitt’s uncritical stanning of everything Octavia does as a great thing, and why are so many fans and reviewers convinced that Levitt is a great new love interest for Octavia, possibly her endgame love interest, because of his adoration of her and the praise her gives her? (And 7x06 has made me think that, yes, the show is definitely portraying him as a potential love interest.) Yes, I agree that Octavia needs someone to help boost her self-esteem and tell her she’s not a monster, that she’s a good person at heart, that she’s worthy of love. But it would mean so much more if it came from someone who was able to relate to her as an equal and also acknowledge her dark side and be critical of the bad things she did. “I understand why you did this and it doesn’t make you a terrible person” is different from “Everything you did is right and awesome.” I liked what he said about her as a child, how she was even then being responsible and protecting her mother and brother and not just herself by hiding. But it’s absurd to tell someone “You’re not a killer, you’re a warrior” right after you’ve seen them murder someone out of revenge in what most definitely wasn’t a battle or a fight. The fact is that Octavia is both a warrior and a killer. They all are - she, Clarke, Bellamy, all of them. Having a good heart and understandable motives doesn’t change that fact.

If Levitt is supposed to just be a Disciple with a crush that makes him help Octavia, fine, but I can’t see a potential romance there - it would be like a relationship between a celebrity and an obsessive fan.

World-building

This episode was full of world-building info, probably what I liked about it the most:

Levitt seemed particularly interested in Clarke and the fact she was in the City of Light, which makes me think that the reason why she is ‘the key’ in the eyes of the Disciples has something to do with Becca’s tech and ALIE in particular, and that the enemy they’re afraid of may be some sort of an AI.

We finally saw Bardo. Not that it was surprising since we already knew from the opening titles and 7x04 that the compound was underground and that it was a dome with artificial atmosphere and that it included an arboretum, Stone Room, which is on the way to the cells, etc. I checked to see if it matched the layout drawn by Orlando. I had assumed that the numbers were levels in the structure, but while Orlando put Arboretum as 1, it is on level 2.

It seems that all the Disciples were either black or white clothes. (Fits with the black and white way of thinking.) From what we’ve seen so far, it seems that the military, so to speak (fighters/those who jump to other planets) wear black, while the Stone Conductors, people who do the Memory Capture, other scientists, as well as other personnel (like janitors or gardeners/groundskeepers) wear white. Anders himself, the First Disciple, wears white, so I suppose he is one of the “civilians’.

Anders claims that the Disciples have risen above “lesser emotions” and learned to value the collective rather than the individuals. But from what we’ve seen of other Disciples, that’s BS. That may be their ideology, but in fact, they’re just the same as anyone else and just as prone to developing feelings of love and bonds of friendship as anyone else.

Levitt is Level 11! Which makes you wonder how hard the Disciples really check how ‘devout’ the Disciples are. But maybe he’s just too important as an expert,

We see the MCap technology at work. But we also see that it’s not easy to extract memories from an unwilling subject. Levitt has apparently mostly done this to the Disciples themselves (you’d think most of them would be willing, but obviously some were not, since they sound like they already have experience with unwilling subjects.) Levitt tries to get Octavia to comply because he’s a Good Cop by telling her that they may get his colleague instead, who will “burn right through” her brain. (But as we see from the Diyoza flashback in 7x06, that’s not true - the other guy, Kirsch, doesn’t do that when Diyoza is uncooperative. I don’t think they are actually able to do that.)

The Disciples usually send teams every 30 minutes (but these 30 minutes are drastically different on Sanctum and on Skyring!)

More about how the Anomaly Stones work: while Dev told Hope that all you need to do Is think where you want to go and the helmet will do the rest, it’s not actually that magical - in fact, you actually need someone (normally the Conductor) to push the buttons on the Anomaly Stone.

According to Levitt, pulling someone from another planet through the Anomaly is “ safe 8 out of 10 times". What happens the other 20% of times? Is it really being “turned inside out” as Hope said in 7x02?

It’s also confirmed that people lose their memories if they travel without the helmets from a faster to a slower time dilated planet (which I had already figured out based on the fact that the danger only seemed to exist when travelling from Skyring/Bardo to Sanctum and from Skyring to Bardo, but not the other way round).

When Hope was about to leave to save her mother, Levitt tried to tell her: “They have helmets, too, that means that…” – what? That they can see her? Meredith’s team didn’t see Raven, so it can’t be that. But do they have some other way of communicating? Do you have to be actively thinking for them to detect you? Whatever it is, she should’ve listened as she quickly got caught.

Eyes are important as it’s through them that the biometric signature/mind code is made. And the Disciples have a very quick way of painting/tattooing the code on someone’s back.

What exactly is the problem with the atmosphere on Bardo? There is a biohazard alert as Octavia is brought in and she’s checked for some sort of an infection (“she’s clean”). It seems that the problem is with some kind of a disease (especially with what we hear from Levitt in 7x06).

In the category of revelations that weren’t a surprise at all since the fandom has figured them out weeks ago, Gabriel realizes that there is a Stone on Earth (as we saw in 7x04 and in the opening titles - it’s the offline planet), by listening to Anders’ speech where he mentions that the Shepherd delivered them by a stone. (Confirming the theory that Disciples are Second Dawn even before that was technically confirmed in 7x06 and that Cadogan led them through the Anomaly some time after the Apocalypse and after burning Becca. I suppose they disconnected the Stone so unbelievers could not follow them.)

There’s a ton of new info about the history of Bardo. According to the Disciples, the compound was built by “Native Bardoans”, who went extinct before the Disciples got there. And they were supposedly giants, but were turned by something called “Gen9″ into “crystal giants”?! Levitt says that the whole min code could fit on a Bardoan’s arm? (How does he know that?) I call BS on that. The rooms and doors in the compound are tall, but wide enough just for a human-sized person to pass through. (And there are plenty of human buildings with very tall doors and ceilings.) The retinal scans are fitted to the human eye, all the technology is human-sized, and, most importantly, the keys on the Anomaly Stone are the size of a human finger. The whole thing reminds of many legends that various big ancient buildings were built by giants. I still think Eligius III people were the ones who built the compound. We still haven’t heard anything of them and where they fit. And with the time dilation, they could’ve been on Bardo for decades or centuries before Second Dawn arrived a few Earth years later.

What is Gen9? I assume it’s a disease (especially with all the mentions of the polluted atmosphere on the surface), but it’s also been suggested it may be a computer program, which would fit with the idea of the enemy being an AI or connected to AIs. I like the theory that it’s not short from “Generation 9″ but “Genesis 9″, which would fit with the religious themes (the Disciples mix and match a lot of pseudo-Christian and pseudo-Buddhist ideas). Genesis 9 is the chapter about God’s Covenant with Noah, where God tells him that humans should go and multiple and feed on plants and animals, but they mustn’t eat what has lifeblood in it still, and they mustn’t shed the blood of another human being. “I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.“

These are the transcripts of all the prayers and speeches of the Disciples from this episode, as much as I was able to hear them:

[prayer] “In the light of the Shepherd, for all mankind. He will save us from the war to end all wars”

[female speaker] "The Shepherd brings us wisdom. The Shepherd brings us love, for all mankind. (...) Humanity (...) (final days)… burned, (...) as bombs launched, your ancestors chose a different path. There will soon be time when we will be tested to a man, and we will be victorious. For all mankind!"

[male introducing Anders]“And now, it is my greatest honor to present the esteemed First Disciple, who will lead us through today’s lesson on the Book of Allness.”

Anders: “Thank you, Emilio. In the light of the Shepherd, for all mankind!

Let’s first take a moment to acknowledge our newest class of Level 9s. You’ve each demonstrated impressive devotion to the Shepherd. Our predecessors on this planet did not share that faith. Like our ancestors on Earth, they destroyed their world. Even before they were wiped out by Gen 9 and turned into crystal giants, their atmosphere was so polluted they were forced to build forests underground in order to breathe. Even the rain that should fall from the sky, falls instead by their technology. For that, we thank them. But where are they now? We know that by the time the Shepherd delivered us with the stone, the Bardoans were gone, extinct. Why is that? [Someone from the crowd: “They didn’t have the Shepherd!” Everyone laughs. Oh, Disciple humor... ] No, they didn’t, did they? They [unintelligible, Gabriel speaks over this part]… they lost their last great war. That same enemy is coming after us now. But, in the light of the Shepherd, we will not lose. [crowd cheers] We’re close now. We’ve located the key. After hundreds of years it has returned to us. Ours is the generation that will win the last war! Our Shepherd will rise [unintelligible] and we will win (?) this fight, for all mankind!”

Hi, Bellamy! Bye, Bellamy! See ya later!

And for the most important thing in this episode: yes, we were blessed with a rare and joyous moment,, a sighting of Bellamy Blake on screen (and not in MCap but in an actual new scene), as occurrence as rare this season as (probably) the Disciples seeing the Shepherd.

While absolutely no one is buying the fake-out death (about as convincing as Clarke’s in 6x04 or Octavia’s in 6x13, though I now wonder if leaving Bellamy out of the poster and Bob out of the Countdown was a part of the fake-out they committed to), there have been many different theories about what really happened there, if the whole scene was staged or if it even happened or was an implanted memory. (The glitch effects between scenes may have contributed to that theory, but the glitch effect occurred at random points, e.g. when Hope remembered her conversation with Anders, and I don’t see why that would be a false memory.)

For a moment, I even wondered if Levitt talking to Octavia was her hallucination (seeing a comforting figure) because it seemed quite implausible that Anders and the others had only then started to figure out that he got too close to her, and that they were still letting her come anywhere near her. But 7x06 proved I was wrong. Well, maybe Anders has realized Levitt had helped Octavia and Hope and it’s all some elaborate trap where he is using Levitt as an unwitting pawn, though that seems a bit convoluted... or maybe Anders just isn’t actually that smart as we assume he should be.

I’ve never believed in the ‘implanted memory’ theory, and people have since pointed out that there’s a sign of damage from the blast in the Stone Room.

The other prevalent theory is that the whole scene was staged by the Disciples and that Bellamy himself was in on it because he’s been brainwashed. The arguments are - it’s unlikely that Bellamy managed to overpower a few Disciples after being captured unconscious, and that there’s supposedly something “off” about him in that scene because he had been crying just before that. I don’t think there’s anything “off”, and he had learned that Octavia was alive, so why do people expect him to be crying rather than fighting to save her? As for it being unlikely that he killed a couple of Disciples immediately, overpowered another and captured the Conductor - I’m sorry, but have you seen the Disciples this season? They are being killed by pretty much every main character. And maybe some fans see Bellamy as a soft sweet teddy bear of a man and think that only women on t100 are allowed to be good fighters, but canon Bellamy is pretty damn badass and really good at fighting. What would be actually hard to believe is that Bellamy could get brainwashed over the course of a few hours. I’m sorry, but no.

People also said the fact that Bellamy asked what the heck Octavia was talking about when she used the opportunity to tell him that Disciples wanted Clarke (”I’ll tell them everything, even about Clarke”) was a sign he had lost his memories or been brainwashed and that he didn’t know who Clarke was - which is a really convoluted argument. The simplest and most obvious answer is that he was surprised and wanted to know what they wanted with Clarke.

There was actually something odd about that scene - but it was Anders’ behavior. after Octavia said that line about Clarke and after Bellamy reacted to it, he got a very strange look on his face, and the camera was focusing on him. The second odd thing is that the Conductor got very upset at that moment and started begging Anders: “Sir, please, no”, before Anders shut him up - which seemed like an overreaction to the possibility of... what? Letting a prisoner go? This makes me think that the Disciple on the floor detonating a grenade was a part of the ploy by Anders. He certainly was never going to send Bellamy to Sanctum - I have an idea where he actually sent him - but what if he was also signalling something to the Disciple - that he should detonate the grenade? Which would be a smoke screen so Octavia, Levitt and others wouldn’t know what really happened to Bellamy and would think he was dead.

But why would Anders want Octavia to think he was dead? It’s certainly not to make her cooperate, because that was only ever likely to have the opposite effect. But also - why would the Disciples focus on making Octavia tell them more about Clarke, when they could try to use Bellamy for the same purpose? From Octavia’s memories, they must have known how close Bellamy and Clarke are. (Or did Levitt tell Anders that? If he did not, that was an additional reason to suspect Levitt and hide information from him. If Anders was only starting to realize there’s a connection between Clarke and Bellamy, that could have changed his plans.) And they could do more with Bellamy than just try to get his memories. They could use him (his life, his safety) to draw in Clarke, the “key”. If Anders has sent Bellamy somewhere and wanted to hide his whereabouts and make people on Bardo think he’s dead for the time being, the blast could be a good distraction, before he plays that card. (All of this, of course, assuming Anders is actually smart.)

Now, where is Bellamy? He certainly wasn’t sent back to Sanctum, and Anders had no reason to send him to Skyring or Nakara (if he needs him alive and under his control, that would defeat the purpose), And there’s no indication that it’s possible for the Anomaly Stone to send a person to another location on the same planet. So, I believe Bellamy has been sent to Etherea. That would be the reason to finally go to the only planet of the 6 that we haven’t seen yet. I’ve also had the theory that Etherea is the slowest of all the planets - because, if you’re using time dilation as a plot point, why wouldn’t you milk it for its worth? And if that’s the case - good news is that Bellamy won’t get almost any older, but the bad news is that he’s lost all his memories. But not too bad of a news, since he’d get them back as soon as he gets to a faster planet.

This would open some juicy story possibilities...

An Echo of Finn (and Octavia?)

This episode continued the trend we’ve already seen in 7x04 - Hope is becoming more of a killer after her first kill on Skyring, Echo is reverting to her identity as as ruthless spy and killer (and occasionally murderer, as at the of this episode), in her 5-year single-minded mission to save Bellamy and now as a result of believing that Bellamy is dead and her mission was for nothing. And Gabriel is getting more and more frustrated with both of them, especially Echo, and constantly going “will you stop killing people, please?” (Well, not in those words.) (And I’m wondering how close he really got to the others, since they spent 5 years together and were preparing to jump to Bardo, but Hope never told Gabriel about Levitt?! )

There was some irony earlier in the episode when Hope seemed almost ready to attack Anders in front of hundreds of Disciples (she really hates him - I guess because she knew they were torturing her mother), and Echo told her to “pull herself together”, since it was Echo later that lost it, murdered Kirsch the memory capture guy in a particularly brutal way, and blew their chances of using him to get to Diyoza, which would’ve been a terrible blow to Hope if Diyoza hadn’t freed herself anyway, as we see in 7x06.

(Kudos to Tasya for being really good in that scene, she made Echo look genuinely scary. I’ve often criticized her acting, but this time she was really on point.)

So let’s talk about this moment and Echo’s arc this season.

Some people say that this is just a normal reaction to “losing the love of your life” and that everyone would react the same. But we’ve seen other characters lose people they deeply loved, and they did not react the same way. We’ve seen Bellamy react to Octavia’s “death” in S4 and Clarke’s “death” in S6. We’ve seen Clarke react to many of her loved ones’ deaths, most recently to her mother’s. Her grief over her mother was shown in detail over several episodes, and we saw her explode in the end, but while she beat up Russell, she stopped herself from killing him (and Russell was the actual person who murdered her mother and had previously tried to murder Clarke herself and stole her body for his daughter). In S6, Bellamy wanted to kill Russell (again, the actual person responsible for Clarke’s death) and burn the Sanctum down, but he stopped himself. In this very episode, we see Octavia react to her brother’s “death”. which she sees as very real, but she hasn’t started going around and killing anyone she gets her hands on.

Now, Octavia of the past, S3 Octavia, was different, far less mature, more violent, and she did react violently to Lincoln’s death, including becoming a murderer - now, the person she murdered was the one directly responsible for Lincoln’s death, but she also went on to become an assassin and became rather murder-happy, before stopping herself just as she was about to kill Ilian the same way Pike killed Lincoln.

Another obvious parallel is to Finn and the way he was losing control and becoming more violent, ruthless and selfish, from murdering a Grounder prisoner, to wanting to leave Mel literally hanging from a cliff because she was unimportant in his eyes compared to his goal of finding and “saving” Clarke (who, it turned out, didn’t even need saving and had saved herself), to completely losing it and killing a bunch of completely innocent people. The guy Echo killed here wasn’t really innocent, but he wasn’t responsible for Bellamy’s “death”, either, and Echo’s behavior on her quest to save Bellamy has been increasingly violent throughout the season. And, while we knew Clarke was alive and well, we don’t know where Bellamy is but he is still alive and will probably eventually meet Echo again, just like Clarke reunited with Finn.

(Mind you: I don’t think Echo’s killing spree is the reason why Becho will fall apart. The relationship was already disintegrating in S6, if you pay any attention. This is more about Echo herself and where she finds herself without that relationship. Finn’s killing spree wasn’t the reason why Flarke fell apart, either. Clarke still had feelings for Finn, but she had rejected him for other reasons, i.e. his earlier behavior. )

What do all these actions have in common? They weren’t romantic, they were f*cking unhealthy. When Finn told Clarke that he killed all those people for her, she was horrified, and I was really angry at him for telling her something that terrible.

In Finn’s case, he may have been suffering from PTSD, and his feelings for Clarke were turning into an obsession and made him look almost like a stalker. In Echo’s case, she has serious identity issues and her childhood trauma and conditioning by Queen Nia. But the show is, in this case, more open about the fact that, for Echo, it’s not all about romantic love. or love in general. She has lost her purpose. Bellamy is not just her boyfriend, he’s her King, like Nia and Roan before him. Echo’s own subconsciousness has been telling her that this is a problem, and that her relationship with Bellamy is very unbalanced. “Without Bellamy, who will you follow? Without someone to follow, who are you?” It also told her that she has remained the same as before she became a part of the Spacekru and his girlfriend: “Once a killer, always a killer.” ““The honorless spy who would do anything for her queen, even betray the man she now claims to love?” In S5 and S6, Bellamy was trying to not “make the same mistakes”, and “do better”, and was always rejecting Echo’s more ruthless suggestions of how to deal with any potential enemies, and she always fell in line as he was the leader/ Without him, she is reverting to her old patterns.

It’s not romantic or a sign of soulmate love to wrap your whole identity over one person. It’s really unhealthy. It was also unhealthy when Octavia said she didn’t have a home and didn’t belong anywhere after Lincoln’s death because he was “her home”. She had to grow out of that. Maybe she could offer some advice to Echo now. Will it work or not? I don’t know.

What I’m sure of is that Becho is doomed, but the writing on the wall has been there at least throughout season 6, if not already in season 5. What I don’t know is how Echo’s own arc this season will end. She will have to forge a new identity, but what will it be? Will she start following someone else? (That would be a pretty depressing arc.) Become independent, but still a ruthless killer? Will she start thinking about the morality of her actions as most other o the major characters do? Will she fail to find any solution and will die? Not every character on the show gets to have an uplifting arc where they solve their issues. Her arc is different from Finn’s because his dark arc was a completely new and shocking development, while Echo is reverting to who she used to be. But I think it’s more likely that she gets a more positive ending than Finn, because the show has been paralleling storylines in seasons 6-7 to storylines of early seasons (like Sanctum-Mount Weather) but with a more positive outcome.

Best moments/lines

While Bellamy’s 1-minute appearance was undoubtedly the highlight of the episode, my favorite scenes were Octavia’s reunion and goodbye with Hope (even with Hope being an adult now, Octavia talks to her as a surrogate aunt: “I love you, little one, don’t you ever forget it”), the scenes with Murphy and the kids and the battle of wills between Indra and Sheidheda.

The best line by far was Hope’s reply to Anders:

“This is what happens when you value individuals above the collective”

Hope: “It’s called love, you son of a bitch,”

Body count:

One Faithful burned herself.

another fanatical suicide: a Disciple who detonated the grenade (at Anders’ orders?) in the flashback scene with Bellamy

a bunch of Disciples killed, again. For a group that’s supposed to be so badass and scary, they really failing to be that, since they’re constantly getting their asses kicked. OK, they are not all Level 12, and Orlando was both Level 12 and a teacher of fighting skills. And yes, Echo and Hope (and Gabriel, who hasn’t killed anyone so far) have had almost 5 years of training by Orlando, while Octavia and Bellamy (and Diyoza, of course) are incredibly badass even without it. But you can’t keep them getting killed so easily and expect me to take them seriously. This time, Bellamy killed a couple in the flashback, and Hope and Echo killed a few, including a particularly sadistic murder of Kirsch the Memory Cap guy.

Rating: 7.5/10

#the 100 #the 100 season 7 #the 100 7x05 #welcome to bardo #octavia blake #bellamy blake #indra kom trikru #indra #sheidheda #john murphy #echo kom azgeda #hope diyoza #gabriel santiago #cadogan #the disciples #bardo #time dilation #the anomaly

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donteattheappleshook · 5 years ago

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Of Cars and Bars Chapter 6/13

After literally more than a year and a half, here is chapter 6. In a miraculous turn of events though, Chapter 7 is already written and will be posted next week. Chapter 8 is half done and will be posted the week after that. I promise I have not abandoned this fic.

As always, thank you @kmomof4 for fixing my terrible grammar and being so supportive of this fic <3

Summary:

When Emma Swan is offered the chance to go on tour as an opener for one of the most popular up and coming bands of the decade, the last thing she expects is to find that the lead guitarist is the stranger she had a one night stand with five years ago.

This started out as a smutty two shot about Emma Ruby and Mary Margaret going on a road trip and has evolved into a slow-burn mutual pining angst-fest.

Read it from the beginning on Ao3 and Ffn because tumblr eats all my italics.

Chapter 6 - Roll Away Your Stone

You told me that I would find a home / Within the fragile substance of my soul / And I have filled this void with things unreal / And all the while my character it steals

The first show had gone great, really great actually, better than she’d expected. She’d been so nervous. It had been so long since she’d been up on stage - a real stage, not just open mic night at a bar or a club but a real honest to god show where she got to sing more than one song, where the audience was there for her… well okay, technically they’d been there for Abandon Ship!, but she really felt like she’d won them over in the end. At least that’s the feeling she got from the standing ovation they’d given her.

And to play with Mary Margaret and Ruby, god she’d missed that. When Ruby had told Liam a few weeks ago that they were her band she hadn’t exactly been lying. They were her band, it had just been a very, very long time since they actually backed her up. More than anything, it had been a way for her friends to guarantee that she wouldn’t have to go on this tour alone. But the last time they’d played together they had been teenagers, Emma had just barely gotten her driver’s license; Ruby had braces. She’d missed it. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed that part of their friendship, how much it had meant to her - before he showed up and ripped it all away.

She’d honestly been really impressed with how quickly her friends had learned her new songs. She had a sneaking suspicion that they may have been secretly watching her little late night skeevy bar shows more often than they’d admitted to. There had been very little discussion about it really though, the songs that is. They couldn’t play most of her old songs for reasons that Emma didn’t like to think about. And well the other ones, the ones she wrote after everything happened, she couldn’t play those. Those hurt worse. And so, they were left with her new songs - well, newer. She hadn’t written much in the last couple of years. Work, life had gotten in the way. It was hard to come home at 5am after a stakeout and find the motivation to sit and write when her bed seemed like such a better option.

It was fun, really fun, to play with her friends, to have people enjoy her music, to see them dance and try to sing along to songs they hadn’t heard before and she got to share that with the most important people in her life.

Tonight was a good night. She was glad that they’d had this show. She’d been worried at first about having to perform only a few hours after they touched ground in LA but Belle knew what she was doing. She’d booked them a performance in some bar that was so non-mainstream that it had become incredibly mainstream but hadn’t put the word out until an hour before the show with a post to the band’s social media accounts. Within thirty minutes they were turning people away at the door. Nothing drew a crowd like exclusivity.

Despite the raging fans, she was happy the show had been in a small venue. It was almost like a dress rehearsal, a trial run to a show tomorrow that would change her life forever. They were playing the Hollywood Bowl, the fucking Hollywood Bowl, the seventeen-thousand-five-hundred seat Hollywood Bowl. The show was sold out.

Emma’s hands clammed up just thinking about it. She hadn’t realised when she’d agreed to go on tour with Abandon Ship! just how big they were. Yes, she knew a few of their songs, had heard them on the radio, had a few of them on her phone, saw their album promoted on Spotify, but somehow she’d failed to grasp just how popular, how famous the guys were rapidly becoming.

Their album was number one in the country - in most countries in fact - and there were rumors of Grammy nominations. The only reason they still managed to have some semblance of anonymity was the fact that their music was - thus far - more popular than their faces, but that was changing too. Emma had googled them… well, she’d googled him. It had started with the band really, but then she’d noticed a few fan sites and then stumbled on “Jones brothers thrist tweets” and then “Killian Jones thirst tweets”. It had been a rabbit hole from there.

She watched them now, playing the final few songs of their set. They looked so good up there, so natural. Liam had an incredible voice. Had he gotten better since she saw them play all those years ago? Or maybe it was just the songs they were playing, the ones everyone knew, the ones that made them famous, everyone was singing along. Every single one of their songs was fantastic, annoyingly so. The music was sometimes exciting and upbeat and lifted your heart up and sometimes it was heart wrenching but the lyrics made her feel like they had been written about specific moments in her own life. They brought back bittersweet memories and she wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She’d never quite connected to anyone else’s music like that. It was jarring.

She could hear Killian singing as well, it seemed they had decided to start sharing the lead singer role since Emma had last seen them play. She was sure he looked great up there too but she couldn’t know for certain since she was actively avoiding looking at him - had been for the last hour and a half - had been since they stepped out of the elevator six hours ago. She remembered though, remembered the last time she watched him play, watched him sing into the microphone like he was trying to seduce it - or at least trying to seduce every woman in the room. Her, she was reminded, he had been trying to seduce her.

She thought again about the show tomorrow, the size of the stadium and the number of people who would be watching and her palms started to sweat. She thought about playing there with Killian watching from backstage and her heart started racing. She stole a glance at him now. Big mistake. Suddenly she was back in the little bar in New York, she was back in the dressing room, and then she was back in the elevator this evening. She clenched her fists. Why had she agreed to this again?

“Hey! Why the long face?” Ruby demanded as she set their drinks down on the table and then threw herself into the booth beside them. “Mary Margaret! Why is she looking like she’s gonna pass out? You were on Emma duty. You’re supposed to be watching her and preventing grand escapes. Look at her! She’s about to bolt.”

Mary Margaret’s eyes snapped up to her friends and her face instantly flushed bright red. “I’m sorry!” she practically squeeked out, “she was fine a minute ago. I was watching the show and I got… distracted.” She was stealthy in her glance but not stealthy enough for Emma (and she suspected Ruby) to miss the way her eyes flickered to David before fluttering around as though she were actively trying to look anywhere else.

Ruby’s grin was enormous. “Mary Margaret, I’m shocked. Ignoring your Emma duties for a pair of pretty blue eyes?”

“I wasn’t -” she tried to defend herself but it fell flat.

Emma smiled despite herself as she watched her friends. Right. This was why she was here. They were why she was here. Wasn’t that always the case, her friends dragging her into insane situations and her left wondering how she’d managed to be dragged?

“If you could all stop talking about me in the third person that would be great,” she said but her annoyance also fell flat. “I can take care of myself,” she grinned, “so Mary Margaret can oggle drummers all she likes.” Her friend turned even redder.

“And what about you, then?” Ruby asked with her own shrewd smirk. “What’s got you in a cold sweat? Is it the show tomorrow or a certain guitarist with a penchant for eyeliner and an aversion to buttons?” Emma just glared at her, which only served to make Ruby laugh. “Thought so.”

They sat through the rest of the show, Emma sulking with her arms crossed over her chest, Mary Margaret actively looking everywhere except the stage, and Ruby throwing them shit-eating grins every chance she got. When the boys were on their last song of the night, Belle hurried over to their table to rush them backstage.

“They’re gonna do one encore, maybe two if they feel up to it, and then we’ll head out the side door where there’s a car waiting for you to take you back to the hotel. There will be people out there, they’re already lined up waiting to get autographs. You don’t have to say or do anything but a little ‘look how much they like their fans’ publicity is never a bad thing. Got it?” She said all this matter of factly, as though it wasn’t absolutely insane that there would be people outside hoping to get her autograph. They couldn’t possibly want hers, Belle must have meant they’d be wanting the boys’ autographs.

Ruby gave Belle a thumbs up and Belle nodded. “Great. I’ll get in the car with you guys and the boys will get in theirs and we’ll meet back at the hotel. There might be people there too although as far as we know word hasn’t leaked about where we’re staying.” Emma listened to all of this in a daze. This couldn’t be her life could it? This couldn’t all actually be happening.

By the time she had come back to the world around her she was being ushered out the side door behind the guy’s band and her own to a crowd of waiting fans all of whom were taking pictures and shouting “I love you’s”. She froze like a deer in the headlights, staring out at flashing lights and people who somehow knew her name and were shoving papers and pens at her. She froze, as though she’d lost control of her body. She knew she should be walking, that the gap between her and the others was growing wider but she couldn’t make her feet move.

Her heart was racing in her throat and she was just considering the fact that she might throw up when suddenly a hand grabbed her own. She recognized that hand, the warm, soft palm and the long, rough fingers that were wrapped around her own. She focused on the hand for a moment before focusing on it’s owner. Killian’s expression was soft though he was looking at her with some concern. He was always looking concerned around her, she realised. She felt bad about that.

He gave her a small nod and one side of his mouth quirked up when she met his eyes. “It’s okay, they don’t bite,” he said, giving her hand a little squeeze. “Usually.” He winked and it made her feet seem to suddenly remember they were connected to her brain. “Come on,” he coaxed. He led her through the crowd of people, through the shouts and the lights to the car where Belle was waiting holding the door open, Ruby and Mary Margaret already inside. He helped her into the car like she was some frightened Victorian damsel being helped into a carriage by some Austenian hero. He leaned in, checking that she was settled and turned to head to his own car without a word.

“Hey!” Emma called after him, speaking for the first time in what felt like hours. He looked back. “Thanks.”

He smiled, just a little thing. “It gets easier,” he promised.

“You know that’s going to be all over the internet tomorrow don’t you?” she heard Liam scold as Belle shut the door and jumped in the passenger seat. She saw Killian shrug, sign an autograph, and jump in his vehicle.

Once they were far enough away that she couldn’t see the boys or the venue anymore, she turned to her friends for the first time since getting in the car. They all looked nearly as amazed as she felt, though perhaps not quite as shellshocked.

“Holy fucking shit,” Ruby said and Emma laughed. She didn’t even know why she laughed, it was probably adrenaline or something but she couldn’t stop and soon all three of them were in hysterics, even Belle started giggling in the front seat. Holy fucking shit indeed.

***

They all ended up in Liam and Belle’s hotel room as they were all still riding the high of the show and Liam and Belle had the biggest room - which Killian gave his brother a hell of a lot of flack for. “Get yourself married and then you can have the big room,” Liam taunted his brother in retaliation.

They were finally winding down after what had been one of the longest days of Emma’s life. Between the flight and the soundcheck and the show she hadn’t had a minute to stop or to herself since yesterday afternoon. Usually, she would have found that incredibly draining, and she did on some level, but not in the way she expected. Part of the reason Emma had chosen her job was because it allowed her to work alone. That was how she liked it. Being around people all the time, having to be ‘on’, to have to interact and socialize with people exhausted her. People always expected something from her and when she didn’t live up to it they were disappointed. Ruby and Mary Margaret were, of course, the exception to that rule. But, for some reason, despite having spent the entire day surrounded by near strangers, Emma felt surprisingly… good.

It was strange how easy it was to be around Belle and the boys. Liam and Belle were adorably in love and, it turned out once they were out of the public eye, they were almost disgustingly affectionate. Still, she couldn’t help smiling at them, Belle curled in her husband’s lap, his arms wrapped around her as they sat on the carpeted floor, backs against the sofa.

David and Graham had instantly shifted into big brother mode - or what Emma imagined having big brothers would have been like. The two were one joke after the other while mercilessly teasing each other and occasionally Emma as well. She found she didn’t mind the teasing and had felt a sort of proud thrill at their excitement when she’d given it back just as hard.

And Killian, she didn’t know what it was about him but somehow just being in his presence made her feel relaxed, made her feel calm. It was like something that radiated from him, an openness and a gentleness that she’d been too distracted to really notice before. She could see that the others felt it too, even his brother, despite his constant put-on airs of indignation at Killian’s almost unshakable lightheartedness.

Calm, until he looked at her. When he looked at her, her heart suddenly started racing and her breath caught in her throat for a second before she composed herself and snapped out of it. This was new territory, feeling comfortable and on edge around someone at the same time. She didn’t know if she liked it. It scared her.

Only four of them were sat around on the floor now. Mary Margaret and David had disappeared into a corner somewhere where it looked like she was trying to teach him how to twirl a drumstick between his fingers. He was failing miserably, though Emma suspected he was exaggerating his incompetence so that Mary Margaret would keep scooting closer and readjusting his hand. He smiled everytime he dropped the stick and she laughed.

Killian’s phone had been plugged into a little portable speaker and music filled the room now. Ruby had somehow managed to convince Graham to dance. Well, she was dancing, he was kind of standing there, swaying awkwardly and letting her hold his hand and twirl while he watched her with a big dumb grin on his face.

The song switched and it took Emma a second before she recognized the guy’s first single. She smirked at Killian.

“You have your own song on your most played?” she teased. She’d meant it as a joke but Killian quickly reached for his phone to change songs. “You don’t have to change it,” Emma said, feeling bad now. “It’s a good song.”

“Put the song back on!” David demanded and Killian rolled his eyes but conceded when Graham, Mary Margaret and Ruby joined in the chant.

“A lot of your songs are good,” she said, addressing the group now. “I didn’t realise how many of them I actually knew until the show tonight.”

Killian laughed. “So nice to be recognised,” he teased and she felt better that he was laughing with her.

“I’m just saying, you guys are really good. Like yeah, your songs are catchy but they also have depth you know? Substance.” She felt herself get red at her awkward attempts at a compliment.

“That’s all Killian,” David called from the back of the room. “He’s the songwriter. The real poet of the gang. The bard of the band,” he singsonged and Emma laughed wondering how many drinks David had had tonight or if Mary Margaret had just met her match for the title for cheapest drunk.

“It’s not just me,” Killian insisted. “Liam writes too. We all do.” Modesty. Emma was shocked and she said so.

“Hardly,” Liam countered. He looked at Emma, “I dabble.”

“He wrote this one,” Killian countered, referring to the song still echoing through the speaker. Liam gave Killian a look that Emma couldn’t read but he didn’t say anything.

“You’re so lucky, Belle,” Ruby sighed from where she was now swaying along with Graham to the slower melody.

“How so?”

“To have a song about love at first sight written about you.” Oh boy, if Ruby was getting romantic it was definitely time to get her to bed.

“It’s not about love at first sight,” Killian said almost instantly and everyone turned to him. He looked up shocked, as if he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He looked to his brother.

Liam cleared his throat. “He’s right. It’s not just about that,” he agreed. Emma couldn’t make sense of whatever unspoken conversation was happening between the Joneses at the moment. She blamed it on the rum. “It’s also about allowing yourself to be open to love again, to believe you deserve it.” Killian stared at his brother and Liam looked back as though daring him to say something.

Finally, David broke the tension. “Heavy, man.” That was enough to make everyone laugh and the awkwardness seemed to pass. He and Mary Margaret retreated back into their little bubble as did Ruby and Graham as the song switched to something more bluesy and she did something incredibly intentional and incredibly captivating with her hair. Graham just stared, awestruck. Poor boy, Emma thought. He doesn’t stand a chance.

“Speaking of great music,” Liam said, drawing her back to the conversation they’d been having. “You guys were great up there.”

“Yeah?” Emma asked and then wished she could snatch the words back. That had sounded so pathetic. She’d been so nervous though, it was nice to hear that it had gone well from an outside point of view.

“Hell yeah!” Belle answered for her husband. “You’re already trending on twitter,” she said, pulling out her phone to show her a video someone had taken of the concert with captions like ‘Emma Swan out of nowhere’, and ‘the next big thing?’ written underneath. Emma just stared, slackjaw. She didn’t know how to react to that. This wasn’t even in her wheelhouse of possible situations to have possible, reasonable reactions to. She handed the phone back to Belle who turned to Killian.

“Killian, you hadn’t heard her yet right?” He gave a hesitant shake of his head. “What did you think?” she prodded.

“Yeah, it was good,” he said, noncommittally, not looking her in the eye. Emma felt it like a blow to her chest.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emma demanded.

“Nothing,” Killian insisted. “I said it was good.”

For some reason she didn’t understand, a part of her wanted him to like it. And was crushed that he didn’t. She wasn’t even aware of that want, that need until now. She was surprised by how much his rejection hurt, how much she had hoped for his praise. That feeling scared her. She’d never needed anybody’s praise, never needed anyone to make her feel valued, never needed to depend on anyone for anything and yet here she was, devastated because some guy had said ‘yeah, it was good’. It scared her, and when Emma got scared or hurt she got angry. And now she was both.

“If you don’t like my music you can just say so,” she snapped. “I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

“I don’t not like it,” he said hesitantly and she crossed her arms over her chest, daring him to elaborate. He sighed, like he didn’t want to say what he was about to say. “Look, do you want me to be honest?“

"No, I want you to lie to me,” she snapped sarcastically.

"The songs you played tonight are fun, they’re catchy, people like them and you play really well.”

“But?” She wasn’t letting him off.

He let out a heavy sigh. “But your lyrics… they’re not about anything.” She jumped back as though he’d slapped her.

“Killian!” Liam started, but he went on.

“I just mean that they don’t reveal anything about you or have any depth beyond -”

“Killian. Stop.” Liam was insistent now and Killian looked at him for a second then shut his mouth.

“No, it’s okay,” Emma said to Liam. She was furious - furious because of how hurtful, how cruel his words had been and how much it hurt that it had been him that spoke them. And a small, very small part of her was angry because she knew it was true. She hadn’t written anything real in a long time; she hadn’t written about herself. She wrote about other people, told their stories but there was no emotion tied to it. But she had her reasons. She had her reasons and he didn’t know anything about them and he’d just…

“Not every song has to be some soul bearing journal entry,” she said, her voice bitter and quiet. “Music can just be fun.”

Killian looked at her for a long time, long enough to make her uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure what he was trying to get out of her. It felt like he knew something, something about her that he shouldn’t know and it had her on edge.

“You’re right,” he said finally. “I’m sorry.”

“Forget it.” Emma stood and made her way to the door. She didn’t want to stay here anymore, didn’t want to put up with anymore of his crap.

“Emma -” he started but she dismissed him.

As she left the room she could hear Ruby and Mary Margaret saying goodbye and rushing out after her and she could hear Liam speaking to his brother.

“You are an absolute dick.”

He sighed. “I know.”

She reached her room with her friends right on her tail. She didn’t have it in her. She couldn’t deal with the ‘it’s okays’ and the ‘he’s totally wrongs’ that they would have for her. Because the truth of it was that it wasn’t okay and he wasn’t totally wrong and having them try and defend her would just make her more upset about how deeply his words had cut her.

“Guys, listen, I just want to go to bed okay?” Her friends were hesitant to leave her alone. “Seriously, I’m tired and I’m pissed and I just… I just want to go to sleep and forget about it. Alright? We can talk tomorrow.” They hesitated for a minute longer but recognized her resolve and agreed. They each wrapped her in a giant bear hug before saying goodnight and promising to check on her in the morning.

She couldn’t sleep though. She tried. She roughly pulled on her pyjamas, fumed while she washed her face, and brushed her teeth with unnecessary aggression. She threw herself onto the mattress, pulling the comforter over her head in the hopes that she could block out all the thoughts in her head and silence the rage and hurt rushing through her veins. She lay there for exactly forty-five seconds.

Emma threw off her blankets, kicking her feet free before sitting on her bed, letting her head fall into her hands as she tried to calm down. When she looked up, having failed to stop picturing multiple ways she could murder Killian and not get caught, she saw her guitar sitting across the room. She stared at it for a long time, briefly considering if she could use it to murder Killian, before letting out a frustrated groan.

“Fucking damnit,” she snapped as she stood and snatched the instrument, falling back onto the mattress. She brought her fingers up to the frets but her hands were shaking too hard for her to play. No depth. Fuck him. She used to have depth, she used to have meaning - in her songs, in her life - but then he’d come along and ripped all of that away. Now all she was was empty. She could fill it sometimes with happy melodies and fun lyrics to try and patch up the hole left inside of her but whenever she tried, dug into the hole and tried to find something, there was nothing. Only pain, a pain so overwhelming that she would do anything to bury it again. Eventually she’d stopped digging.

She remembered the last time she’d tried, when she’d pushed through it long enough to find something worthwhile inside herself but it had been too much and she’d been overwhelmed by the memories - a hotel room, Nashville, playing with him, being with him, waiting for him… she let the guitar fall out of her hands to the floor. She just can’t.

Fuck you, Killian Jones.

#captain swan #cs fanfic #cs fanfiction #captain swan fanfic #captain swan fanfiction #cs smut #captain swan smut #killian jones #emma swan #liam x belle #cs #cs manip

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kuchenackerman · 6 years ago

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EREMIKA POLL RESULTS

The poll was opened on January 6th, 2019 and closed on January 13th, 2019. It got a total of 403 responses and the main focus was to explore the shipper’s thoughts and feelings, especially after Chapter 112.

It consisted of five sections:

General questions

On chapter 112 and current feels

On eremika content

Content creators

General demographics

I’ll present the results’ interpretation by section and in almost the same order the questions were asked to make all the information a bit easier to follow. This way if you aren’t interested in one of the sections you can just scroll down until you see the title of the next one. I recommend using the shortcut CTRL+F to look up for the section results you’re more eager to read or to just jump to general result key words faster.

I want to thank Selena and Heidi again for proofreading the poll back then and suggesting some questions. Big thanks to EVERYONE who participated and took their time to write their thoughts down ❤

Most of the respondents answers will be shared, and I mean “most” since I had to group up similar worded replies. For example, short answers like “chapter 50”, “ch 50”, “in manga chapter 50” got summed up. However, even if I tried to summarize things, there were too many answers that I’ll be sharing with you all anyway.

I apologize in advance for any grammar mistake or error in the presentation of the info. This turned out longer and required more time than I thought it would. Besides I’m tired and I don’t have as much free time as before.

I hope you enjoy digging in the results of the EM focused poll~

1. GENERAL QUESTIONS

1.1) Regarding when did the respondents started to ship Eren and Mikasa, over 65% of them does since 2013-2014 (35.2%) or 2017-2018 (30%), concurring with the years when we got Season 1 and Season 2 of the anime, respectively. Then, 24% of the respondents said to ship it since 2015-2016. About 11% of the respondents started liking the pairing before we even got the anime adaptation: 5.5% since 2011-2012 and 5.2% since 2009-2010.

1.2) Eremika is the main SnK ship of 66.5% of the total respondents. 12% (33 responses) of that 66.5% have other OTPs besides Eren and Mikasa. More than half of these shippers (19 of 33) support another hetero pairing as well.

1.3) When it comes to the people that don’t consider EM as their main ship, over 50% of them have another hetero ship as their main. Around 30% have a M/M ship as main, almost 10% a F/F ship and 6% an OT3 / trio.

1.4) Almost 70% of the respondents started shipping Eren and Mikasa while watching the anime. Besides the manga (27.3%), some of the shippers started liking the pairing because of fanart (including a “rather steamy NSFW” one, lol), fanfiction or because of some people in the fandom, like someone they follow that influenced their shipping feels or because of an enthusiastic friend.

1.5) 65% of the total respondents has NEVER stopped shipping eremika (y’all good), while 35% has stopped doing so at some point only to jump back on the ship again (I declare myself guilty of this, I’m a damn traitor), though a small part of that 35% never really jumped back on it and just drowned in the waters of their full betrayal.

1.6) On which character of the ship is their favorite, more than half of the respondents prefer Mikasa over Eren, who got 18.4% of the votes. 28.5% like both characters equally.

1.7) On canon looks of the characters:

The thirst for manbun Eren won this time and got a bit more than 37% of the votes. Our traditional short-haired Eren follows with 22%. There’s a tie between hobo Eren and middle-short haired (?) Eren at 12.4%. Almost 16% of the respondents don’t have a preferred look for our boy.

In Mikasa’s case, the responses were more even between all her looks. There’s a tie in first place with 22.6% of the votes between ponytail Mikasa and traditional bob Mikasa. Short-haired Mikasa and long-haired Mikasa got 21.3% and 20% respectively. 13% of the respondents couldn’t choose a specific look for her as their preferred one.

1.8) Now, time to share the shippers’ answers and the results about the specific moment of the manga or anime that sold eremika to them. There was a total of 289 written responses to the question. I tried to organize them in quantity of mentions of certain scenes or chapter/episodes. Some replies mentioned more than one moment.

The first place was taken by S2 Episode 12 / Chapter 50 from the Clash of Titans arc, since about a hundred people mentioned it as the moment where they started shipping Eren and Mikasa.

Trost Arc got second, third and fourth place: S1 Episode 6 / Chapter 6 got almost eighty mentions, while S1 Episode 8 got around fifty mentions and S1 Episode 7, with a bit more than twenty mentions.

Eight times people mentioned they started shipping EM since they were introduced in S1 Episode 1/ Chapter 1. Some don’t identify a specific moment but talk about their appreciation toward their general relationship, dynamic or scenes together.

S1 Episode 14 / Manga Chapter 19 trial scene got mentioned about seven times.

The final episode of season one got mentioned five times.

S1 Episode 12 / Manga Chapter 13 and Chapter 51 got both mentioned at least four times.

[ Answers to 1.8 ]

~ S1 Episode 1 / Manga Chapter 1

Literally the first scene Eren dreaming abt Mikasa with that scarf and asking why her hair got longer and when he gave the scarf to her

Her tossing his ass into the side of a building, spilling the firewood everywhere

When Mikasa threw Eren against the wall in episode 1 season 1

In the first op when they're surrounded by dead comrades and mikasa looks at eren. The shipping feels started. The scarf scene (entire backstory of Mikasa and Eren's meet strengthened my feels)

Mikasa taking care of him since day 1

~ Unspecified

No specific moment. I just knew they were meant to be together from everything they did!

I don't remember exactly. It just felt naturally that they have to be together.

The very first time their dynamic was truly shown. It's so rare and interesting to see a het pairing where the girl is the cool, stoic protector and the guy is the reckless but good-hearted damsel in distress!

It grew on me over time - they just seem to both really care for and look out for each other.

All eremika scenes 💕💕💕

Idk....it just kinda happened.

"Ereh"

No specific scene, it was just that her desperation wore me down over time

just their bond and dependence on each other through hard times and how resilient their unspoken trust and faith in one another is

Tbh I was originally an Ereannie shipper and don’t really pay too much attention to other characters at least in that aspect of going to ship them but after rewatching the anime series for who knows how many times I came to realize that Eren and Mikasa were just a ship that I can’t deny in which I think it’s only natural for them to be together.

I had watched all of season 1 without focusing on shipping. It wasn’t until I reflected later on and rewatched that I started shipping Eremika very much <3

~ S1 Episode 6 / Manga Chapter 6

When for the first time they slain evil, love at first kill.

The World the Girl Saw! I had this inkling feeling that I was going to ship them ever since the beginning, but this really did it for me.

Eren saving Mikasa from kidnappers / Mikasa losing her parents / Eren wrapping his scarf on Mikasa

I think it was the scene in the anime (as I watched the anime before reading the manga) when Eren wrapped his scarf around Mikasa and her face softens because of his kindness to her.

Episode 6 of the anime, when we got the backstory of Mikasa, but also, while reading the manga chapter 50 killed me.

Episode 6 of the anime; the scarf scene melted my heart

When Eren saved Mikasa from the thugs and told her to fight. Also the scarf scene really got me.

Episode 6 of the anime when Eren wrapped his scarf around Mikasa sealed the deal for me. ❤

The chapter/episode show Mikasa's past and especially when Eren pull Mikasa's hand while blushing, I knew that my whole life is for these two.

Their first meeting. It left an impression on me.

Mikasa's memory of Eren wrapping the scarf around her and grabbing her hand. Mikasa looked so grateful and happy in that moment.

Mikasa's tragic backstory and being saved by Eren who then gave her the scarf. And the moment she finds out he's still alive inside the attack titan and cries while hugging him.

Eren saving her when he didn't have to. (Kidnappers)

Episode 6 - when Eren wrapped the scarf around Mikasa when they were kids. It made me realize how strong Mikasa's feelings were for Eren, and how their bond was sealed the moment he gave her the scarf.

Mikasa's backstory episode earlier in Season 1. It only took that scene to validate me the fact that these two are meant to be always together. Call it string of fate or whatever. She is attached to the boy that saved her life. Chapter 50 of the manga also further validated my point.

The moment Eren gave Mikasa his scarf. It's a heartwarming moment as it gives Mikasa new hope to live and a home together with Eren.

I fell in love with Eremika the first moment I saw them when Mikasa was staring at sleeping Eren in the first episode, but I started shipping them when Eren wrapped the scarf around Mikasa and gave her a home. And one of my favorite scenes if not my favorite is when Mikasa started crying when she heard Eren’s heartbeat in S1E8 after he came out of his Titan form the first time. God that’s a lot to say :D

Since retrospection of their adventure in stabbin cabin

The moment I found out they are not blood related

Scarf scene (bet everyone's gonna put that though) but also their constant care and concern for each other throughout the series

I started watching the anime before fully reading the manga. I always thought Eren and Mikasa would be cute together from episode one. I didn’t really have a reason I felt that way, it was more of an instinct. However I didn’t fully ship them until Mikasa’s backstory in episode 6. I enjoy how their relationship is “tough love” instead of a in-your-face sap show. They just belong together. Their relationship matches the world they are in, and I always had a thing for ships that take a long time to come together. The end result is more satisfying.

Seeing their backstory of how they met because before reading/watching I saw people saying they were siblings. But that's not actually true so it expelled my worries about the ship.

When Eren wrapped his scarf to Mikasa and said "let's go home…"

When eren saved mikasa as kids and also the end scene of season 1 when eren picks up the scarf and says "that thing has seen it's best days, ill just get you a new one" and mikasa is like but it's special :c

“As long as you’re alive I can do anything” scene after her back story

~ S1 Episode 7 / Manga Chapter

Ep 7 of season 1 where Mikasa is about to get grabbed by a titan and in her last moments she thinks of Eren, and she's just like "If I die, I won't be able to remember your face". And decides if she goes down, she's gonna go down fighting, the way she knows Eren would want her too. ;_;

Scarf scene. Also when Mikasa remembers smiling down at a sleeping Eren and regains the will to fight, then Eren's titan shows up and protects her

First Attack Titan appearance and Eren saving Mikasa

when titan!eren came to smash the titan as mikasa was about to stand for herself after her pomegranate speech

When Mikasa thought Eren had died, and her reaction to that, that's when I REALLY started to ship them.

This is too difficult to answer lol. But if I choose one scene that charmed my heart with them it's would be that scene in ep.7 (s1) when Mikasa gave up to live. She remembered the words that Eren said to her in the past to keep fighting! TATAKAE! and the emotion that trigger in her the streght to protect the last memories that she had of him... MAN, I always get goosebumps at remember her speech! "If I die, your memories will die with me, that why I will fight! No matter what! I will live!"

Mikasa's being suicidal and hopeless after Eren's supposed death at the Battle of Trost District made me realize how much Eren means to Mikasa, and so I was sold on this ship.

ep 7, "I'll never give up again. If I died, I won't be able to remember you"

The episode where Eren dies and it flashes to Mikasa thinking about him, I knew I shipped them. I was a bit concerned because the anime wasn't clear on their relationship if they were brother or sister at that point, but the next episode was Mikasa's backstory and I knew it was safe to ship them!!

pomegranate scene was just too good :')

CH7, related to CH6, but seeing her find her resolve so quickly after losing him was sobering. I interpret this moment as a big precursor to CH50, but that's another moment

When Mikasa decides to live, because if she died she would not be able to remember Eren. And also when she sees that Eren is alive and runs to and embrace he.

~ S1 Episode 8 / Manga Chapter

In the anime when Eren emerged from the titan form and Mikasa ran to see it's Eren.

When mikasa cried holding eren after his first transformation as a titan

When Mikasa found out Eren was alive in trost

It wasn’t anyone thing. It was a lot of moments, but mostly the scene where Eren is revealed to be a titan shifter and Mikasa holds on to him and cries. That or the reveal of their backstory. Mikasa's clinginess suddenly made a lot of sense.

Mikasa being openly emotional for the first time while embracing Eren in ep 8

Definitely the scene where Eren comes out of the nape of his titan and Mikasa sees him.

The moment when Mikasa clutches Eren and tries to hear his heartbeat after they see him emerging from his Titan the first time. And when Eren defends Mikasa from the cannon and then at his trial, that's when it changed from one-sided to full-on Eremika for me.

Episode 8 of Season 1 when Mikasa found out Eren was still alive and started crying

Episode 8 Mikasa crying whilst hugging Eren after he comes out of his titan form. Chapter 50. Chapter 51 Eren worrying about Mikasa and apologising.

When Eren appeared for the first time out of his Titan form and Mikasa run to him, when she started crying while listening his heart beat I was sold.

EPISODE EIGHT "I CAN HEAR HIS HEARTBEAT" MOMENT

"I can hear his heartbeat"...I cried when Mikasa ran to hug him and heard his heart beat, and then cried and cried. Like...she's so strong and brave all the time - that really hit me. You could feel the amount of love she has for him. Either that one or the scarf scene where Eren wrapped his scarf around her and welcomed her into his family!

Hugging eren when he first emerged from the attack titan

when she found out he was alive again and started crying

when eren appeared out of the titan and mikasa hugged him

I first bit when Eren wrapped the scarf but they reeled me in when Mikasa finds out he wasn't really dead and first comes out of his titan

Cap 8 anime, Eren sale del titan y Mikasa corre hacia él y lo abraza y llora

The manga equivalent of episode 8. Forgive me I can’t remember chapter numbers for the life of me.

When Mikasa ran to Eren after he first emerged from his Titan corpse and cried as she embraced him.

I think I've always loved the idea of them being together romantically since Eren saved Mikasa as a kid. However, the scene of Eren first coming out of his titan and Mikasa holding him while crying will forever be a highlight from the show/manga that I won't forget.

when Eren comes back to life in season 1 & Mikasa sobs while clutching him hard against her chest, uncaring about everyone watching/hearing around.

When mikasa started crying after she found out that eren was alive, when she said “If i die, i won’t be able to remember you” and the scene from season 2 episode 12, “I’ll wrap that around you as many times as you want. Now and forever... as much as you want!” that line makes me cry every time.

The scene when Mikasa hugged Eren and cried in relief that he’s alive.

When mikasa hugged eren tightly after he came out of his titan form on episode 8

MIkasa crying into erens chest after she pulls eren out of his tian for the fist time in Trost, season 1, plus the last episode of second season had me bawling on the floor tbh it was such a great scene

When Mikasa realizes the person emerging from the Attack Titan is Eren, and she immediately goes to him, holds him, and cries.

~ S1 Episode 12 / Manga Chapter 13

When Ian pointed out Mikasa’s feelings about Eren during the Trost battle

When Ian called Eren Mikasa’s boyfriend - and she blushed.

Cliché haha but: when she blushed when Riko said that Eren is her boyfriend I was like ohhhHHHHH girl

~ S1 Episode 14 / Manga Chapter 19

When Eren defended Mikasa during his judgement

The court trail scene where Eren stood up for Mikasa

The scene in the anime in the courtroom where Eren defends Mikasa after the bystanders accuse her of being like him

It was when Eren was at the court house he said it was all his fault and not to blame Mikasa

Either it'd be the scene in chapter 51 or the moment Eren stood up for Mikasa during the court trial back in season 1

~ S2 Episode 12 / Manga Chapter 50

Chapter 50 10000%

the "I'll wrap this scarf around you as many time you need" scene

The anime scene at the end of season 2 where Eden unlocks the power of the coordinate to save mikasa

when she encouraged him right before meeting Dina.

Chapter 50 “I’ll wrap that around you now and forever, as much as you want”

When she confesses while they are surrounded by titans about to die, and then Eren declares “I’ll wrap it around you as many times as i need to-“

Season 2 when Mikasa says thank you.

Cuando Mikasa le da la gracias la Eren por enseñarle a vivir, y colocarle la bunfanda, y él señala que siempre lo hará.

Season 2 almost kiss scene - you know it bro, and her falling asleep by his bed

the scene... "I’ll wrap it around you again, again and again, forever" bruh...

When mikasa talked about how eren saved her and gave her the red scarf.

Had been there for a while but chapter 50 solidified it for me. Mikasa's heartfelt words giving a broken Eren the strength to fight.

Eren saying “ill wrap that scarf around you as many times as you want”

In the chapter 50 of the manga (scene from the SnK S2's finale) when Mikasa confessed her feelings to Eren

Season 2 episode 12, when mikasa confessed to eren, and him promising to her.

Chapter 50 had the best EreMika scene so far because Mikasa really went heart-to-heart about her feelings to Eren (in the anime, we see her leaning in)

When Eren activated the Coordinate for the first time when saving Mikasa.

There was a lot of stuff in the earlier chapters but chapter 50 took the cake

Although their relationship has always been meaningful to me, I first began shipping them romantically after I read the scene where they’re sitting in front of the smiling titan, and Eren promises to wrap her up in her scarf over and over again, before unlocking the power of the coordinate when he contacts the smiling titan.

The scene when Mikasa almost kissed Eren

La escena en la que Mikasa casi besa a Eren y el se levanta y dice: "Te la pondre las veces que quieras" siempre veo esa escena cuando hay tambaleo en el ship

There is too much but I would say chapter 50 (like a lot)

I think that the first one, was the one in chapter 50. I discovered Snk too late, and I fell in love for them since this chapter :)

Chapter 50, Mikasa worrying over the post-experiment Eren in Chapter 54.

Eren and Mikasa second confrontation with the Smiling Titan/Dina's Titan

I think it was THE eremika scene in the manga, aka the infamous chapter 50 scene, but idk anymore

The Eremika shipper's Bible, of course! Ch. 50. Specially when Eren basically says he's always gonna be there for her. Also, when Eren apologizes to her right after the whole thing and she's recovering from her injuries. And that panel when he's thinking about everything's he's lost during their journey to end this for good, but he looks back at her and says "No, not everything" or something along those lines. And when Mikasa is sitting next to him when he's unconcious and Armin leaves and he has this fucking little smile and he just k n o w s and Mikasa knows he does. Oh, and when Eren, Mikasa, Hanji and Levi finally get in the basement and they're both looking at the things down there together and when they open the book together, their hands barely touching. Oooh, and when Eren tells everyone they're special to him and Mikasa's blushing and looks up to him and kind of smiles and he looks away?? Gold. Oh and of course, Ch.112's cover! The soft and tender look in their eyes while looking at each other is just so painful !! And soft !!

~ Post time-skip. Chapter 101 onwards

I started to ship them when they both blushed at each other in ch. 108

Flashback of Mikasa Chapter 108

Manga 108 when Eren and Mikasa have their own panel and both of them were blushing at each other

I started shipping them a longggggg time ago, but i think it was chapter 108 in the manga, (i think) when Eren says that he cares about them all, but hajime gave Eren and Mikasa those two seperate panels of them blushi,g at eachother. That one really chained my heart to this ship, and i will stay with it whether it sails or sinks.

I started shipping them after post-time skip. There wasn't a specific scene, but rather, both matured and their relationship would be more balanced.

Eren talking to Mikasa in ch 112- it was so obviously a contradiction to their relationship that it actually proved (imo) mutual feelings

The moment in Marley Arc when Eren is looking at her before the WH comes to

I became interested in their romantic dynamic after Mikasa's, "Come home," line in the Marley arc. I'd always loved content with both of them, but I hadn't found their relationship very interesting, so I just hadn't thought about it much. The recent developments have changed that.

Nothing in particular. Maybe when Eren attack Marley and Mikasa looked at him tearful. It’s not romantic but I appreciate the heaping amounts of angst of the ship.

Liberio reunion

~ Other responses

Eren looking up at Mikasa and then transforming into Rogue Titan when fighting Female Titan.

When mikasa tries to save eren from annie

When Mikasa put a blanked over Eren in RTS

Anime episode 13

When mikasa picks up eren

When Mikasa announced that she'd join the scouts with Eren.

they breathed and i was like ‘otp’ joking— the moment eren was out here pushing her away using his forehead and mikasa said ‘please don’t die’ because that scene spoke to me and then the history of them (childhood, eren saving her you know the drill) kicked me and my feelings.

[After a dream]: “It was a straight up fanfic in my sleep. I woke and was like "I guess I ship them now?" I used to not be so into Eremika but since then I've been a bit more accepting of it.”

Either when Eren first turned into a titan and wounded her/left the scar on her cheek or the courtroom scene, most likely the first one

The last episode of season 1, Eren and Mikasa in the room, she holded his hands, I found this scene intense, and started to ship them even more.

The hand hold when Eren was lying on the bed

2. ON CHAPTER 112 AND CURRENT FEELS

2.1) The 403 respondents’ got multiple choices to check that could fit their first thoughts and feels about the alternative cover for Volume 27.

38.7% of them simply appreciated Mikasa, Armin and Eren being cute in it. 36% called Isayama a bitch, 34% reacted with Queen’s “IS THIS REAL LIFE? IS THIS JUST FANTASY???” because yeah, no one was expecting such a blessed cover, and 33.3% reacted with Backstreet Boys’ “Quit playing games with my heart~” because Isayama loves hurting us all and has probably been plotting to do so since the 90′s. 31.5% of the respondents saw the cover as a shippy exchange between EM, as they considered they’re staring at each other in a flirty way, and 31% checked the keysmash and cry choice... (I understand)

13.2% considered Eren was looking at both Armin and Mikasa, without anything explicitly eremika going on and a bit more than 7% are so dead inside they felt nothing with such a wonderful cover (RIP their miserable souls).

~ Added answers:

Lies

Let them have babies please ;^;

Ehh

I think this cover gave me the strongest dose of Eremika feels ever. I can't look at it without grinning from ear to ear~

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK

It's beautiful. Nothing to freak out about tho.

How dare I get taunted with this blessed image when I know shit's about to go down between the three! 😭

It's so peaceful and beautiful. I wish it happened in the manga.

I have a theory actually for this...

Armin is cute

THIS IS FUCKING CANON.

It is actually the first time I see this cover and it's very cute and nice but after the chapter I can't feel nothing about it. Only hate for Eren and his words.

I can see how it can be interpreted in both ways and if we lean towards eremika then: cute!!!!!!!! so sweet!! but it makes me cry!!

Both Eren and Mikasa sees each other as their most important person in the world

*DIES*

they just look happy and looks like eremika actually canon but isayama try to cover it.

NANI

Mikasa clearly looks super in love with Eren. Eren may be looking at either mikasa or both mikasa & armin. I’m not sure...

My soul left my body.

Id say they're all three looking at one anoth another tbh

I love the Eye to Eye contact of eremika

Must protect

crap i think eremika is dying, BUT I DON'T WANT IT TO DIE, so i hope that this scene was just a build-up for their relationship (otherwise i'm knocking on Isayama's doorstep at 3am)

The hurtful words will save Mikasa's spirit, so Eremika shippers should support Eren's efforts in freeing her.

Is this foreshadowing that Eremika will become canon?

ISAYAMA REALLY GONNA PLAY WITH MY HEART LIKE THAT HUH?

How cute and pure the way Eren look at his Mikasa XD

EREMIKA IS STRONG ON THIS ONE

Poor Armin gets ignored by the two lovey-doveys 😠

You trynna fuck

Armin: okaaay, I will be going...

Indifference

I knew by just seeing that cover that it was gonna hurt lol

I just liked that they were all together just like the old days

OMG are they finally canon? Please isayama sensei make them canon *.*

I thought it was nice but I knew it was ironic.

There’s a dagger hidden under the cover.

2.2) When it comes to analyze the cover in relation to future manga developments, most respondents (47%) see it as a glimpse on Eren's authentic feelings toward his friends, around 39% see it as a symbolic image, 36% see it as a trap meant to make us hurt more after what happened in chapter 112 (we know you, Isayama), 25.6% consider it foreshadowing, 20% a somewhat alternate reality / timeline, almost 19% see it as an utter lie or that Isayama is just trolling, 13.6% only see it as a blessed cute cover and 5.7% think it’s irrelevant story-wise.

~ Added answers:

Im torred between a foreshadow or just a cover…

What it could have been

This isn't teasing or trolling; its Isayama's way of telling us to have hope/showing Eren's feelings.

An ironic and nostalgic cover

A mix of possible 'alternate‘, maybe end-game, but for me mostly a CLUE to something...

Mikasa's hopes for the future

Honestly I don't know what to think after all that happened. But I hope it's foreshadowing toward his true feelings about Mikasa and Armin. Especially Mikasa. Maybe Isayama gave us a hint that Eren loves his friends and so we shouldn't buy all his words.

It's all Eren wants but it's something he'll never have again

how things could be if differences didn't stand in their way

Eren and Mikasa fucking

That was Eren's real feelings, but I believe he is partly hurt by believing that everything Mikasa has ever done for him is because of Ackerman's blood. Eren is also blinded by the idea that he is free and that he can make his own choices without being manipulated by his blood or the personality of someone in his head.

2.3) What was your initial reaction to Chapter 112 regarding all the things Eren said to Mikasa?

In this other multiple choice question, 55.6% of the respondents said they wanted to hug Mikasa so badly after what Eren said to her, 44.7% checked the “Eren: why the fuck you lying, why you always lying?” option, 40% wanted to punch Eren so hard and felt so proud when Armin did it, 37.7% were shocked, almost 29% called it bullshit / laughed / pfft-ed at Eren’s “I’ve always hated you”, around 25% just reacted with an “Eren, pls”, 22% were just as heartbroken as Mikasa and cried their eyeballs out, almost 13% have been crying ever since so not very “initial reaction” only, 11.4% checked the “Chapter 112? I don’t know her” option and 9.4% checked the “Uhh.. I didn't feel much because everything was too odd...” option.

~ Added answers:

I WAS SOMEHOW SATISFIED WITH IT BC I SUCKS FOR ANGST EREMIKA

I was kinda thrown off guard for a sec there when I first saw the conversation between them but then I think abt how this could actually leads to a better development in both Eren’s and Miaksa’s characters (romantically) I mean their feelings for each other have been a constant which I think this would hopefully trigger something between them.

Eren is lying

Shocked at first, but I think it's an interesting development.

I laughed

I actually felt encouraged! No way it was true, Eren was obviously lying/being controlled.

Immediately knew that Eren was only doing this to protect Mikasa

Carla, your son's gone rogue again...

Was angry and felt Mikasa should‘ve retorted back aggressively. But honestly, I‘m more intrigued by his words.

I want to go there and kidnap Mikasa immediately, then Eren gonna suffer til the rest of his life

Cried multiple times bc of it.

I tought that his words couldn't be true

the first real step between Mikasa's and Eren's romantic relationship

Eren is cancelled

Enjoyed the drama and didnt get sad over it. Since it happened so suddenly it took me by surprise and the conversation was nothing like what I expected it to be. Barely a glimpse of emotion from Eren and Armin being the one to start a fight? I was dumbfounded.

It feels like a huge giant misunderstanding and Eren sucks with words. I can't believe Isayama builded the deep of their relationship just to end into this bs. If everything is going to end badly for Eren and Mikasa then Isayama doesn't know how to write.

I feel all of that

Had a bad feeling something like this would happen so I wasn't horribly shocked

I actually love it, mainly for the angst. Love the drama, love the feels n im such a sucker for angst lol

Eren seems to at least partly mean what he said, but maybe not as strongly as he said it. I also think he’s being influenced by memories/zeke/wht so I’m not too concerned.

Sad

I already know that's not the same Eren so I was just shocked by his wording more or less but that's it.

It needed to be said

I enjoyed it

I was expecting Eren to have a moment like this, tbh. Not because I believe he really hates either of them, but because he is clearly spiraling and isolating himself.

fight between mikasa and eren similar to sasuke and Naruto

eren can do no wrong in my eyes so idk

Conflicted. What he said was hurtful but I also felt like it wasn’t completely untrue. Mikasa has been having major doubts recently and this thing in Eren she won’t face. The Ackerman instincts don’t have comelktely grip over her but they do contribute majorly to a lot of things. It’s awful but at the same time I feel like if it was all nonsense then why did it trigger those memories and why did Mikasa just keep shrinking into herself. Mikasa doesn’t shrink away from things.

OMG, Eremika has become so exciting, dramatic and awesome!

I think I kind of expected the outburst

There is no way he hates her really

I was glad Armin punched him and I hated Eren more than I ever have before.

2.4) "You only cling to me because of your instincts as an Ackerman." If he truly believes the information he got and said about the Ackermans, could Eren be hurt because he thinks his relationship with Mikasa was never authentic?

Around 69% ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) of the people think Eren is indeed hurt or that there’s a possibility of him being hurt because of what he nowadays thinks (?) is the true nature of his relationship with Mikasa. The rest of the respondents have really no idea what to think about it or just plainly discard Eren hurting because of Mikasa and her cursed Ackerinstincts.

2.5) From 1 being "influenced by the Ackerbond" to 5 being "of her own", how do you see Mikasa's feelings for Eren?

Most of the respondents (over 77%) think her feelings are mostly determined by her own person and not the Ackerbond. Only 6.7% consider Mikasa’s feelings are fully or very influenced by the Ackerbond and 16.1% think there’s a 50/50 situation.

2.6) Around 160 people decided to share their thoughts in relation to what happened in chapter 112, focusing on Eren and Mikasa of course:

Even if he won’t admit it, I think Eren still cares/loves Mikasa. His eyes seem tired and dead, but I noticed that they glimmered differently right before he told Mikasa he always hated her, and then they changed again when Armin asked if hurting Mikasa is the “freedom” he sought/had. If there is one thing that hasn’t changed about Eren, it’s his inability to hide what he truly feels. It’s obvious that he’s upset and perhaps feels betrayed, but i definitely think he still cares.

Yeah I believe the Ackerman stuff influences it *a little bit*. But her emotions are mainly real and she truly does care for Eren.

Eren deserves a good Ackerpunch to be honest.

Mikasa needs to realise that all her feelings are her own, and Eren needs to know, too.

His facial expression through the whole confrontation was CONFUSING like you can't tell if he is ANGRY or if he is HURT or if he really just have genuine hatred toward his old friends? Like I am confused about his facially expression when Armin told him "does freedom means hurting mikasa feelings" his expression was completely different than the rest of the panels. His expression had more emotion for some reason.

I hope that people didn’t forget abt the scene where Mikasa punched Eren in the face when he was being mean and venting off his anger towards Armin when the were at the refugee camp after the fall of Shiganshina.

Look at his face: this poor boy is as broken as us. There's a reason behind his actions.

I'm sure eren want mikasa to get away from him in order to keep her safe, this was the only way to broke the acker spell

I think Eren was rejecting Mikasa to free her from the ackerbond. I wrote an analysis about eremika due to ch.112 incidents here : https://nhamstory.tumblr.com/post/181741856688/eren-and-mikasa-relationship-from-now-onwards

I hope Mikasa leaves his ass

I don’t think she’ll give up on him easily, but I think she needs to let go, for her own well-being

Eren is only partly right. Mikasa's instinct to always be near him and protect him (incidentally the things that irritated him) come from the Ackerbond impulses. Her life and affection for him are her own. Eren obviously doesn't hate Mikasa and he wouldn't treat her this way without a very good reason. They both have genuine care for each other.

Eren is a bitch and Mikasa didn’t deserve that bullshit

I think Eren is genuinely mad (his morals and arguments consistent with his character from the very start) and, if anything, is deeply wounded. I wouldn’t be surprised if those emotions inspired him to act out, even though it’s wrong. He also has 3 titans inside of him, so I’m sure his brain is super jumbled and loud.

Its interesting how Eren never hurt Armin until the Yaegerists entered the room...

I think the Ackerbond brought them together but they stayed together for love

Mikasa deserves the world. Eren

I really don't believe a happy ending is in store for them, but I want to be wrong so badly. My biggest fear is that Mikasa will have to be the one to bring Eren down, or that the Ackerbond is exactly as Eren says.

i really hope that when he said that he hated mikasa that it was all a lie

It is just really confusing.

Eren still cares about Mikasa. It wouldn't be like Isayama to just pull a complete 180 out of the blue like that and not have a reason for it. I remember he said a while back that the thought of Mikasa having nothing else to cling to but Eren was sad and that she'll have to grow apart from him in order to get development, which I believe will happen soon. That doesn't mean that she can't still be happy with him though, so I'm sure this conflict will be resolved in some way near the end.

I think that Eren doesn't hate her but wants to make her free from her ackerbond. He would like to see her real self.

It's weird, but I think the extra attention Isa gave to Eren and Mikasa's relationship is actually a good thing, despite the negative context. As readers we're supposed to obviously know that Eren allegedly hating her is a white lie. Could he harbor resentment for a particular aspect of her character? Maybe. But it's already been blatant that he truly cared about her. I don't know if we're headed towards a tragic or satisfying ending from a shippers perspective, but I do believe that it indicates that we will get some sort of mutual acknowledgement of their real relationship. For starters though, we really need Isa to tell us what the hell's going on inside Eren's head.

I believe we need to get more info about Eren’s thoughts and intentions before assuming anything either good or bad about Eremika for now

We just need to wait for more chapters everyone. I still have faith💜✨💕 No one should go berserk or riot, not even later.💖✨🌅

"Only know you love her when you let her go", Eren gonna suffer because of this, one day.

THEY BETTER FIX THIS

I pity Eren for not being able to tell the truth about his feelings. It must hurt him to hurt Mikasa.

I hoping that the theory about eren being controlled by the will of the attack Titan is true and chapter 112 eren wasn't really "our" eren. Also, eren never hated Mikasa. The will of the attackTitan hates Mikasa. It even tried to kill her way back in season 1 while eren's consciousness was trapped in some fantasy where his parents were alive and he even saw Mikasa in it. If Mikasa can be so dear to him that she becomes an element of fantasy of security and family, then I'm sure our Eren never hated mikasa. So yeah. I'm hoping our Eren is still in there somewhere and will regain control of his consciousness and thus EMA will be a family again. Hoping. Fingers crossed.

There's a river called the Nile, I am in denial! (About what happened in chapter 112)

Eren doesn't hate Mikasa at all. Look at the court scene in chapter 19 when Eren defends her when they accuse her of being a monster and threatened to dissect her. Chapter 50 when he promises to wrap her up in her scarf again and again forever. As well as chapter 51 when Eren looks concerned as Mikasa lies down with broken ribs.

fuck you eren fuck youeren

That scene just hurt too much

Their relationship didn't ruined

I hate Eren now, though I really liked him very much before time skip. I don't know what I want more now: all of it to be a mistake/some cunning plan of Eren to save friends or I want Mikasa to be free from the feelings for this bastard and be happy on her own, without need to always protect and care about this stupid child Eren. Maybe still I like the first option more.

Yeah I have a thought. IM A MASOCHISTIC IDIOT TO STILL FOLLOW THIS MANGA.

Sinceramente no creo que esto sea el final entre ellos, sino que es un preludio para que en un futuro cercano Eren se de cuenta de lo importante y de lo que tanto ama a Mikasa.

Mikasa will realize that she truly love Eren in a romantic way

I honestly think that their relationship is not going to end like this. I have a strong feeling that Isayama is going to make everything work out in the end for Eren and Mikasa, slowly but surely.

Chapter was powerful, yes, it hurt my shipper emotion, but powerful hands down. Isayama is genius.

Eren is cancelled

I think Eren has a goal in alienating his friends like this, he isn't just 100% apathetic toward them all of a sudden. He might be trying to keep them out of something BIG that's going to happen soon. Maybe his entire plan with Zeke is doomed to failure but for a greater goal, and he wants to keep them away from the losing side?

eren and mikasa’s bond is the only beautiful thing in this cruel world sO PLS STOP YOU GUYS DONT BE LIKE THIS 😭

Not need, but Eren is such a hoe. But I love him.. But he's still a bitch.. But I lo-

Eren is controlled by others so I believe he is kinda lying. He love Mikasa and Armin so much but now he has to hide it

Mikasa should move on

Et tu Isayama

PLEASE ISAYAMA! AT LEAST DONT MAKE MY BABIES HATE EACH OTHER, EVEN IF EREMIKA NEVER BECOME CANON, LET THEM BE HAPPY WITH EACH OTHER, DON'T MAKE THEM ENEMIES!

"stop being a bitch, eren." -- armin.

I mean what else would I have expected from this depressing af series

They still love each other regardless of what Eren says and how hurt Mikasa is. They're bond is too strong to be broken and thrown under the rug after 1 chapter.

Bless Armin for standing up for my girl.

2019 is our year, guys. Just wait.

Wouldn't be satisfied if they reconcile without Eren heavily kissing Mikasa ass tbh.

He seems hurt by the thought of hurting her.

The attack titan "always pushes forward" plus he's probably seen things via the paths hense Krugers whopping out the EMA

why you can't just be honest with each other guys? honesty is one of the important things in realationship

I have no idea what Eren's true objective is and I really want to know WHY he'd do that to his best friends. I mean I'm hella biased so I'll still be on his side even if it turns out he had no real excuse but...

I just wonder if he said that for mikasas own good,so she could have a life apart from him.

When Eren said that he hated Mikasa and was 'bullying' Armin around, I think he was really just lying to keep them away from him and not hurt them as a consequence of his future actions. I remember in a chapter where the new Levi Squad were building train tracks and Eren saying he cared about all of them. I bring this up because I truly believe that he still sticks to his words from that day, and is trying to push them away including Mikasa so they don't get killed like Sasha did.

Eren is playing 4D chess. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though.

we need another eren flashback okay

It was a (good) highly emotional chapter

Mikasa’s ackergene may have activated because of Eren, but she fell in love when he wrapped the scarf around her and extended friendship to her. Her love is true. Eren is just cray cray right now because he is influenced by memories/has spotty information.

I just want Eren to get hurt back by Mikasa herself

Eren truly is shocked from hurting Mikasa, he doesn't enjoy what he is doing.

Still wondering what is really going on in Eren's mind and his plan

Eren just want to keep safe her

per question above: Mikasa had protective feelings for him before he was a Titan which would still influence her feelings in the present, so I feel they have a genuine bond that's developed.

Isayama is just trying to make us hate Eren, and he knew this would hurt like a bitch! I have faith in our boi

It's pretty clear the truth isn't being spoken by Eren

It was both shocked and saddened to see them falling apart.

Mikasa is a strong character with potential. At this point I only want her to develop into the best strong girl boss she can be. As her own person with or without Eren.

I want to punch eren in the fucking face i want to dress him up like a cabbage and feed him to the snails

"Eren don’t you ever make my baby cry ever again or else

Mikasa is a little bit obsessed with Eren, so I understand why Eren used such cruel words, because they would get through her tick skull.

I think he lied to them (or at least told them half-truths), for what purpose I do not know. But if he really meant it he wouldn't look so hurt in that panel where Armin called him on his bullshit. Plus, I believe that if really believed in what he said, it would make his character irredeemable, and I don't think Isayama would ever do that (but that's just a guess though).

Sad babes

I feel like in this chapter that Eren is protecting Mikasa so she doesn't have to get hurt and Eren have to do that and I feel that Eren doesn't really mean all of that.

he’s definitely doing this to protect his friends

Fuck Eren in this chapter, but fuck Zeke more.

At this point Mikasa deserves better

I no longer ship them because Mikasa deserves so much better after everything she’s done to care for him. His words were too horrible, and therefore, they can never be a dignified ship again :(

Please wake up, Mikasa.

I await for a good Mikasa development arc and a tender Eremika and EMA reunion.

I want them to be back together again

They have'nt chemistry and common things.

It was cute and predictable

"just kiss already you two!" lol 1/2 jk

Eren is acting way too controversial recently. What he said isn't really what he truly feels, in my opinion.

I think, even though there was still emotional devastation on my part because of Mikasa and Armin’s reactions, it took a long time for me to evaluate the possibility that these were actually Eren’s words, since the whole thing was so bizarre and the degree to which he’s being controlled still hasn’t been clarified. I still believe that Zeke or Kruger may be influencing him, just because this is so antithetical to the Eren we know.

I think what Eren said is Isayama's way of setting up the inevitable confession of Eren's true romantic feelings for Mikasa somewhere along the way. I think Eren's pushing Mikasa (and the others) away so they won't get involved and be hurt on his future decisions, lest something bad happen to them. I've seen this thing happen before in other shonen stories, where the protagonist pushes away their potential romantic interest only to come back to them to apologize and confess. Idk I could be wrong though. I could never know what Isayama's really planning lmao

It's rewind time

it will give mikasa good character development

The ship is dead

If they were to mend back their bond, it wouldn't be the same as before. This is not a playground where they will all be happy. This is reality and they are bound to hurt each other whether they like it or not.

Eren is pulling the oldest trick in the trope book to try and force his friends away to protect them from his own fate

La ignorancia de Eren y el apego de Mikasa

Ok first of all Isayama himself said the Ackerbond is a CHOICE. Also even for Eren, that was an impressive amount of bullshit that came out of his mouth.

Eren looks so affected for Armin saying he made Mikasa suffer and we can appreciate he is truly hurt when he proves true that Mikasa is under influence of the Ackerbond while pushing Armin against the table. Plus, his reaction when Mikasa cries because she is disappointed of him in Liberio... thus it’s pretty obvious he DOESN’t HATE HER in my humble opinion.

💔💔💔💔💔

I need to see the story through Eren's eyes again for me to have a solid opinion.

I think that deep down Eren is doing everything to make him see Mikasa as a woman and not as a second mother. Deep down I think he loves her as she loves her

Well, someone previously mentioned before the contradiction found between Eren declaring that Armin is becoming soft and the fact that Armin suggested to have a titan devour and inherit Eren's powers back at chapter 108 which i totally agree with. Thus, i believe that the full truth has not yet surfaced and that it is still too early to judge on things that happened in chapter 112.

I really want to what he has in mind currently.

Mikasa's bond to Eren seems way stronger than Levi's to Erwin or Kenny's to Uri, so I feel that it's half Ackerbond and half lust

Eren lied to protect his friends

I think it's funny how a whole fandom can just totally overlook every moment between the pairing because of one chapter🤷‍♀️

EREN IS BUTTHURT THAT MIKASA MAY HAVE NOT REALLY LOVED HIM AND ARMIN IS DADDY AF

The chances for EreMika to become canon has increased and we might get a kiss and a sex scene between the two

I believe Eren is lying and Mikasa is really love Eren not because her ackerbond

I didn't expect this development so I still feel confused. I have a small hope Eren at least admits to himself he loves Mikasa.

I think Eren is brainwashed by Zeke. Also clearly hurt by the thought of his relationship/friendship with Mikasa being fabricated by her Ackerman genes since IMO he confessed back to her when he said he’d wrap her scarf as many times as she wants.. when she was about to kiss him cause she thought it was the end of both of their lives. Furthermore, whatever his plan is I think he wanted to keep Mikasa & Armin out of it to protect them cause i do not believe he could just start to hate them overnight. I hope this situation is temporary.

He doesn't hate her. How could he? I only hope her not to forgive him too soon (for herself, I mean). And I hope her to express her feelings just to, maybe, feel better.

@ eren why you gotta hurt her like that, MAMA DIDN’T RAISE YOU LIKE THIS!

Eren is obviously hurt for hurting his friends

I'll just wait for future chapters. Don't wanna make early conclusion

Lmao Yams is trolling

I have faith in eremika

I know mikasa won't end up with eren, but I just wish eren has same feeling like her.

I REALLY FUCKING HOPE eren is going to feel sorry for what he said to her, and that they‘re going to make up!

Eren is so blantantly obviously lying. Maybe Mikasas Ackerman genes have a bit to do with her protective nature, but not her feelings for Eren. There may have been times where Eren was frustrated with Mikasa, but he never has hated her. There is so much canon evidence he cares about her. For example him showing concern about her widget loss, the blushing scene, and him standing by her when she was injured. Much more where that came from. Maybe he said he hated her because he thought her Ackerman genes have control over all her feelings (which I don’t believe to be true, but perhaps he does.) Thus, sets her free because he cares about her that much.

it hurts eren to hurt his friends but he's got limited options here.

Eren better apologize to mikasa

I honestly think Eren's lying. We all know he's never been a good bullshitter, and he's transparent as HELL im 112, so tbh, i think he's partially being controlled be zeke who probably forced Eren to do what he did, and that he didn't mean what he said to Armin and Mikasa, and that he's doing it to keep them out of danger. Relationships like that don't just break off because someone said something hurtful. There's history behind the EMA friendship, and considering the type of person Eren is, he wouldn't just backstab them like that and tell them all those things, especially if he knew they'd cut deep. Eren's just a really, REALLLLYYYY terrible ass liar. (Wow i wrote a book here)

Something is up with Eren. While I think what he said seems harsh and unfair, I think what he’s expressing is true but the reasoning is off. I dunno how to explain its like... Eren isn’t the kind of person to say something like this for dramatic effect or do I see how pointless drama serves this kind of story at all. That and Mikasa’s reaction to what he said and her own doubts I can’t ignore that as much as I want to. Something is up but I think there’s is some truth in there

As much as I like Eremika I want Mikasa to get rid of Eren.

BRUHHHHHHHHH IAM HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABT THIS

Eren you bastard... why are you like this

It hurt Eren when Armin said that, his face says it all .. just that Eren got mad because he got a reaction out of it

Fuck u eren

The points he makes are quite logical, but the bond between them and the strong development of their relationship throughout the years just make every harsh thing he said sound really really odd and although sounding like a truth - give the feeling of an utter lie

bitch i was ready to swing this edgy hobo boi is on some dumb shit obviously lying out of his ass to keep them safe or make them hate him for their own well being but he went too far with mikasa >:c

I believe Eren is simply way too aware of his and everyone's on the island deadly position/situation (Sarah's death definitely triggered him,too) hence his harsh words towards Mikasa and Armin in order to push them away and making whatever Eren has to do in order to safe them easier (i strongly believe Eren will die by the end of the series)

I wanna see more pain. (I’m sorry, I like the angst)

WHERE IS ALL THE ANGSTY FAN FICTION, I'VE BEEN REFRESHING AO3 LIKE A MADWOMAN

Just makes me sad that their relationship has always & seemingly will always be based around tragedy

Im scared and excited at the same time

Zeke's a liar and must die for giving Eren this bogus intel. Also, this scene is really similar to that anime only one from EP2, isn't it? It's the scene where Mikasa punches Eren after he implies Armin is a parasite, has to be canon now that Isayama is approving changes. If there's anything to call a smoking gun over disproving supposed genetic influences, this would be it.

Mikasa is most likely a key character in understanding Eren's behavior and general goal. For me this dark turn clearly paves the way to some juicy development in the future.

He might just be pushing her away so that when he dies she can more easily move on.

Maybe he purposely wanted to hurt her because he thought it was best for her for some reason. Maybe he’ll do something dangerous and he didn’t want her to be involved so he tried to push her away (don’t know, I’m just hoping so much that this will turn out to be positive)

I'm so sad y'all

Bull *wait for it* shit

I'm more confused, baffled and kind of amused at Eren than sad or even angry. It's just... what the fuck? Like, yeah, he's been all mysterious and shady for a while now, but this??? wth

Eren and Mikasa forever ! Seriously 112 was tough but we all know that Eren never hated Mikasa , what he did was because he had to .

There will be world war against eldians and eren tries to break his bond with mikasa cuz she should go to hiruzu far away from war. She is no eldian and eren thinks it's not her war.

Feel like Eren thought the only way to make mikasa free was to try and cut the “ackerbond”

chapter 50 exists and shows Eren's real feelings!! all's good!!

Eren might have memories from previous titans overlapping with his own memories and feelings - hence the change of attitude

Eren doesn’t hate Mikasa and doesn’t hate the fact that she’s an Ackerman. He was and always will be her family before anything, I know that he wants to set her free from her ackerbond and I know that he’s hurt from the inside cause he’s causing so much pain to his only family left but I know deep down that he still loves her and cares for her. I was never affected by the whole ‘Eren hates mikasa she should forget him he’s ungrateful and blah blah’ cause eventually he’s doing everything for his friends just like what he told them in CH108 I know I’m not the only one who believes this. In the end it’s up to isayama to decide everything and I hope that Eremika will end up together due to many factors that I can’t explain but clear in both the manga and the anime <3

I think Eren’s just going through some shit right now/is being manipulated by Zeile and hopefully Mikasa will help him come to his senses soon.

She deserves better

Eren is trying to cut off the ties he has to people important in his life.

bless Armin for saying: this is what you wanted??: the "frEed0m" to hurt Mikasa? fuck Eren, ackerbond or not what the motherfucking fuck are you thinking??

Pues creo q Eren solo dijo eso para proteger a sus amigos

There has to be a plan up his sleeves. A plan that temporarily had to sacrifice his relationship with the closest two people in his life but in turn it will protect them and they will one day realise this fact. I am just petrified that by then Eren could be dead. Isayama will finish me off if this turns out to be his plan all along.

2.7) Did Chapter 112 affect the shippers’ feels for eremika?

A bit less than 8% of the respondents are thinking about stopping shipping Eren and Mikasa or they don’t ship them anymore (74% of the people that checked this option have another hetero ship as their OTP and around 19% have a male/male ship as their OTP. None of the pickers of this option has eremika as their main ship, they either dropped it already or they never actually had it as a main)

Chapter 112 didn’t actually affect the feels for the pairing for 33% of the shippers, while it made 21.3% of the respondents to ship eremika even harder.

There’s also the people (27%) that got affected by what happened in 112 but are trying to remain positive about the future of the ship and, on the other hand, less than 11% of the respondents are feeling down about it.

2.8) Despite everything going on in the manga, 53.4% of the respondents still have high to very high feelings toward the ship, while 19.9% have very low to low feels toward it. The remaining 26.8% are in some sort of shipping limbo, they don’t ship them too hard nor too little.

2.9) "I'll wrap you up in it again... Again and again. Forever." Will Eren's promise be ever brought up again?

The majority of the respondents (70.2%) consider Eren’s promise to Mikasa has to be addressed again in the manga, while 24.3% are not so sure about it happening and 5.5% think it won’t be brought up again.

2.10) Considering everything that's going on in the manga, do you think Eren and Mikasa will become a canon couple at the end?

47.1% of the respondents think there’s a high chance for the ship to become canon by the end of the manga - almost 9% of them claim to have always been sure about it happening. 23.6% don’t know what to think anymore due to confusion or other reasons (Ereh, pls) and almost 14% don’t mind if the ship become canon or not.

15.4% don’t think the ship will become canon or that it sunk already. From this percentage of people, about 76% of them don’t have eremika as their main ship. Something similar happens with the ones that don’t mind the ship becoming canon or not.

Regarding the last four questions of this section, and to no one’s surprise, the more you ship a pairing the more positive you are about thinking it may become an official thing one day, meaning you consider the characters can overcome the obstacles or see these obstacles as chances.

The less you ship a pairing, the less you care about it becoming canon or you are more prone to interprete any obstacle between the characters as a signal of a doomed ship. This doesn’t surprise anyone either.

3. ON EREMIKA CONTENT

3.1) Around 46% of the respondents look for eremika content often to very often while 32% never or almost never does. 22% do it sometimes.

3.2) The favorite type of content that the shippers look for is Fanart with 47.6% of the preferences, followed by Fanfiction (24.6%) and written analysis or discussions about the ship (21.6%). Edits or memes and videos only got 4% and 2.2% of the preferences, respectively. No one chose cosplay as their favorite type of content.

3.3) With 399 responses, the frequency that the shippers reblog, retweet or like fanarts / edits 41.4% often to very often, 34.5% almost never or never do it and sometimes 24.1% of them do.

3.4) With 371 responses, around 44% of the shippers say they never (29.4%) or almost never give some sort of feedback to EM Fanfiction writers… which, sadly, isn’t unforeseen. A bit more than 17% claim to do it very often and about 39% do it sometimes or often.

3.5) 39% of the respondents have at least once made content for eremika and 31% still create content for the ship.

4. CONTENT CREATORS

This section was optional and 73 content creators responded to it.

4.1) Around 60% of them are Fanfiction writers, 37% are fanartists, 20.5% are graphic makers and/or analysis writers, 8% of them make videos and almost 3% do cosplay. Other responses included writing headcanons, EM Facebook page and group admin, sewing EM plushies plus photographing and editing the pictures to add dialogue and effects, animations and someone will try their best at fanart.

4.2) Their favorite kind of content to create is Angst with 20.5% of the preferences, followed by Fluff (13.7%) and Smut (8.2%). 35.6% of the respondents stated to like all the types of content listed: Fluff, Angst, Smut and Humorous. A bit more than 12% claim to not really have a favorite kind of content. Other responses included “Fluffy and Humorous”, “a mix of angst yet powerful”, “canon compliant stuff”, “angsty, fluff”, “[...] all eremika content is GOOD FOR THE SOUL” and “I like to write rated M stories that don't just focus on the smut factor of the rating.”

4.3) On how often they create and publish their content, about 29% rarely do, over 27% do it once every a couple of months, 15% do it monthly and less than 10% do it at least once a week. Other responses included whenever they feel like it or are inspired and have time to do so, someone “create a fair bit but rarely publish anything”, someone else tries everyday to do something even if it’s not EM related, a writer used to update their fanfic monthly but nowadays barely writes, someone never publishes what they make but gives it to their close friends, a fanartist draw eremika all the time but never publishes it because they “know no one will like it”, someone else talk about EM with a friend everyday and they theorize together, and a writer used to write often but they rarely do anymore and it seems it’s been more than a year since they did.

4.4) Most of the respondents rate the support of the eremika fandom toward their content as regular (31.5%), a bit more than 23% rate it as very high, almost 25% as high and 20.6% as very low or low.

4.5) 42.5% of the respondents consider they help circulate other people’s creations very often while around 58% do it sometimes or often. Less than 3% said they never help to do so.

5. GENERAL DEMOGRAPHICS

5.1) This section was optional, except for the fandom and social media question, in which 72.3% of the respondents said to participate on Tumblr, almost 35% of them on Reddit, around 23% on Twitter and 17.7% on Discord. There are mentions of other social medias like Instagram (less than 8%), Facebook (a bit more than 2%), Youtube (1%) and Amino, Pinterest, a French forum, 4chan, DeviantArt, Fanfiction.net, Archiveofourown, Wattpad and real life. 5.5% of the respondents stated they don’t participate in Fandom.

5.2) In terms of geographical location, 47.5% of the 398 respondents to this question are from the American continent, almost 35% are from Europe, 13.6% from Asia, 2.3% from Oceania and 2% from Africa.

5.3) The native language of the respondents, considering 390 responses:

English 43.8%

Spanish 13.8%

French 5.1%

Italian 4.4%

German 4.1%

Russian 3.6%

Arabic 3.1%

Filipino / Tagalog 2.5%

Portuguese 2.3%

1.8% Hindi, Indonesian

1.5% Greek, Polish

1.3% Mandarin Chinese

1% Dutch

0.8% Swedish (one of them also speaks Thai),

0.5% Thai, Malay / Malayalam, Finnish, Romanian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Serbian, Bulgarian,

At least one of the respondents speaks either Hebrew, Tamil, Welsh, Ukrainian, Urdu, Danish, Hungarian, Cebuano, Turkish, Bengali, Cantonese, Bisaya and Sami.

5.4) When it comes to age ranges, almost 62% of the 398 EM shippers that responded to this question are between 18 and 24 years-old, 21.6% are between 13 and 17 years-old, 15.1% are between 25 and 34 years-old and only 1.5% are between 35 and 44 years-old.

5.5) 396 people responded to the gender question and the majority of them identify themselves as Female (70.5%), 24.5% as Male and 3.8% as Non-binary. One person identified themselves as demi-girl and someone else stated they didn’t want to say it.

5.6) Finally, regarding the sexual orientation of the 388 respondents to this question, 64.2% are Heterosexual / Straight while 35.8% are among the LGBTQ+ spectrum: 13.7% are Bisexual, 9% don’t know or aren’t sure about their sexuality, almost 4% are Asexual, 3.4% are Pansexual, 2.3% are Demisexual, almost 2% are Gay / Lesbian and less than 1% are Queer. Other replies include Pan-Demiromantic and Lesbian/Asexual.

#eremika #eremika poll #mikasa ackerman #eren jaeger #snk poll #snk #eren #mikasa #mypoll #myeremika

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robinrunsfiction · 6 years ago

Text

We Own The Night

Pairing: Frank Iero x Female Reader Rating: General Requested By: @icantemo Word Count: ~2,000 Author’s Note: I had a request from @icantemo for a Frank fic inspired by his song Blood Infections, I hope I accurately captured the mood you were looking for! I’ve been in such a Frank mood lately, so this was fun to write, it’s kinda fluffy, so enjoy!

I wanna try I wanna live all night And burn out bright I want you to know What I can't show the outside It's why I hide But your friends say I'm no good for you What do they know? Please don't listen to a goddamn thing they say Frank watched as (YN) crossed the street with her friends. He was on a smoke break between sets playing at a small dive bar, leaning against the exterior of the old brick building. His heart rate shot up as he saw (YN) look his way, smile and wave.

Frank had been desperately in love with (YN) for ages, but he still hadn't worked up the courage to say anything. He was completely certain she was way out his league and even though he flirted with her, he didn’t really believe she was flirting back at him. He had convinced himself she was just being nice.

He watched as (YN) stopped her friends before they went into the loud, bustling bar a few doors down and motioned toward where he was. The others shook their heads and tried to pull her inside, but he could see her shake her head back and held up a finger, as if to say ‘just one second’.

"Hey," she said with a smile as she hurried down the street to him.

"Hey back, are you gonna come in and catch the rest of my set?"

She glanced back at the other bar where her friends went, as people stumbled in and out the door.

"Don't worry about them," he said, sensing her hesitation. "I'll take care of you," he said as he reached out and rubbed her arm.

(YN) smiled. "I don't doubt you could."

"Please come in. I guarantee the beer is gonna be cheaper here, and a lot less gross dudes are gonna try to flirt with you."

"But you're still gonna flirt with me, aren't you?"

Frank blushed a little and tried to hide it by putting on a look of offense. "Are you calling me gross?" He laughed.

"Definitely not," she laughed back.

He put out his cigarette under his shoe and threw his arm around her shoulder guiding her into the grungy bar. Tonight's our night Just don't hurt me, don't hurt me I'll give you my heart Tonight's our night Just don't hate me, don't hate me For taking your light (YN) found a spot at the bar and ordered a beer as Frank made his way back to the stage. Frank had invited her to this performance after she had already made plans with her friends. She suggested they all go to his show, but no one was interested. When she saw him outside the bar, she knew she couldn’t let him down. Frank was who she wanted to spend her night with. If she was being completely honest with herself, Frank was who she wanted to spend all her nights with.

"Ok, the next one is for a girl who I hope will maybe one day take a chance with a guy like me. It's by ABBA," the crowd groaned and booed, and Frank laughed. "I'm just fuckin with you, it's called 'Blood Infections'."

As he started playing the song, his words reverberated around (YN)'s mind. She and Frank had been friends for a while and flirted less than subtly with each other, but whenever she thought about maybe asking him out, she wondered what her friends would think of the punk that she had feelings for. They'd never give him a chance, they'd never look past the tattoos and get to know the sweet, dog loving musician she knew.

Then she heard the words to the song. The desperation. The longing. The vulnerability. When the song was over, she was on her feet cheering for Frank. His eyes met hers and she grinned at him again, her heart fluttering. It was time to make a change. I need a love I want enough to keep my thirst satisfied I wanna take your hand Make you understand my side Our kind But I know it’s hard for you to let go of the world that you knew Please just close your eyes We’re better off this way When he finished his last song of the night and came off stage, Frank found (YN) at the bar.

"So, what did you think?"

"Frank, you're incredible, your music, the lyrics, all of it."

"What did you think of 'Blood Infections'?" He asked apprehensively

Before (YN) could answer, the door of the bar banged open and a couple of her very intoxicated friends tumbled in.

"(YN), oh my God there you are! We thought that dude you were talking to kidnapped you or something!"

"You mean my friend Frank, who is literally right here?" She snapped back.

One of them came up to (YN) and pulled her away from Frank and whispered loudly in her ear "He's all greasy and gross, you don't like him, do you? Like just wink and I'll lie and say there's an emergency to get you out."

"No," (YN) said shaking her head. "I don't want to go back out with you guys. You're a mess and I like Frank. Just go away, leave me alone."

"But (YN)," her other friend whined. "We wanted to get drunk with you! And see if we could find some cute guys!"

"I found one, good luck to you guys," (YN) replied turning her back on her friends and facing Frank. The scorned women left the bar, whining and huffing the whole way about how lame and weird (YN) had become lately.

"You think I'm cute?" Frank asked with a smirk.

(YN) tried to look casual, but she was blushing. "I mean, that’s what I said, didn’t I? So, umm, since I told my friends to get lost, can you help me get home safe?"

"Are you sure you wanna go home now? Because I think the night has only just begun," he replied looking at (YN) hopefully.

"What do you have in mind, Iero?" Tonight's our night So don't hate me, trust in me I'll show you my world Tonight's our night So don't hurt me, don't hurt me I'm so scared of what's to come Frank put his guitar in his car and then offered (YN) his hand. "Our next stop awaits."

(YN) took his hand and he led the way up the street. "And where exactly is the next stop?"

"You'll see."

After a few blocks, they arrived outside a tattoo parlor.

"I already had an appointment tonight, you don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," she said intrigued as she followed him into the shop. The tattoo artist named Aaron greeted Frank warmly and asked what he wanted to get done.

"I dunno, I was jonesing to get something done, but I dunno what.” He paused and thought for a moment. “(YN), what's your favorite flower?"

"Oh, umm, I don't even know what they're called. Hang on," she replied as she started searching online. "These," she said holding up her phone. "White anemone, with the black in the middle."

"There we go," Frank said to Aaron.

"Alright, I'll sketch it out and be right back."

"Wait," (YN) said. Both men turned to look at her. "I want it too."

"Sure, I got time," Aaron said. "I'll be right back."

Frank turned to (YN), eyes lit up. "You want to get matching tattoos?"

"Yea, I do. Let’s do this.” In the dark, in the dark, no one hides but me In the dark, in the dark, no one gets away We own the night

Frank went first, finding a small space on his arm for the flower. It was quick and easy, and he didn’t even flinch. (YN) had been considering her own tattoo since she set her eyes on Frank’s, but when she got in the chair, Frank could tell she was nervous. Frank took her hand and kept her distracted.

“Oh wow, its beautiful,” she murmured softly when it was complete.

“You guys are all set.” Aaron said and you went back up to the front of the store. (YN) reached for her purse.

“Don’t worry, I got them both,” Frank said.

“No, you don’t have to, it was my idea-"

“Nope,” he insisted taking out his wallet.

(YN) decided to stop arguing and let him pay. They walked out of the tattoo parlor, hand in hand.and Frank suggested getting a midnight snack.

“Ok, but I’m buying,” (YN) insisted.

Frank lead the way to a late-night food truck that was parked nearby and they each got a burrito and sat down on the edge of a fountain that was lit up as the water bubbled through it, a pale glow cast across them as they ate.

“Frank, I just want you to know how much fun I’m having tonight. Like this is so much better than watching my friends get wasted in an awful bar with awful music again.”

“I’m glad,” he said with a warm, genuine smile. “so uh, you never told me what you thought of Blood Infections',” he replied distracting himself with his food.

“It was great. The passion and the desire, it was incredible. And any girl who you write a song for is incredibly lucky and should realize what’s been in front of her all along,” she said looking up at Frank.

“(YN), I-” he started quietly.

“Frank I really like you. Like a lot. And I was too scared what others might say before and now I’m not. I’d pick you over anyone, any day, Frank. I hope you feel the same way.”

“Yea, yea I really do,” he said nodding emphatically, almost feeling like he could cry tears of joy. He reached out and ran his hand over her cheek and she leaned in. He met her halfway as their lips pressed together.

Everything else melted away, nothing and no one else mattered. All either of them cared about was the other and they didn’t care who knew. When they pulled apart, they were both grinning and blushing like kids. They finished their food and then headed hand in hand back to Frank’s car.

Every night's our night So stay with me, be with me 'Til the end of this world Every night's our night So stay with me, be with me Until the end of this world

Frank parked in front of (YN)’s building and turned to face her. “I’m really glad you decided to come to my show tonight.”

“I’m really glad too, probably the best decision I’ve made in a long time. You wanna come up?” She asked, motioning to her apartment.

Frank stammered for a moment, wondering how to respond. “Yea, sure,” finally escaped his mouth.

They made their way up to her apartment and she let them in. She had was glad she had cleaned up recently, as she had not foreseen bringing Frank over when she left for the night.

She sat down on the couch and pulled her shoes off her aching feet as Frank sat down next to her. They fell back into their conversation about bands they wanted to see live and restaurants that they recommended to each other, and how soon (YN) could get her next tattoo. The conversation only interrupted by moments of making out with each other.

(YN) couldn’t believe that this night had changed her whole life for the better, but she was ecstatic. Frank couldn’t believe his luck, that he took a chance inviting her to his show, in writing that song, and performing it and now she was his.

As the sun began to rise, they were asleep on the couch, wrapped in each other’s arms, exactly where they each wanted to be.

We own the night

Masterlist

#we own the night #frank iero x reader #frank iero fanfic #frank iero fan fic #frank iero imagine #my chemical romance fan fic #my chemical romance fan fiction #frank iero fan fiction

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talesfromtheindigoghost · 6 years ago

Text

Good Intentions: Entry 2

I found myself thinking back to all of the others times I’ve had to do this. Confronted, quite literally, with the horrors of reality and its sickeningly grey malice.

I was only eight years old the first time I had made this trip and had to deal with the unfortunate thing with my nametag on it in the luggage carousel. I can still remember feeling as if I could never feel any worse, any hungrier, than at that exact moment.

I can still remember taking just a moment too long to process who the drowned boy limping from the bathroom towards my room was. I was so scared, so worried over who this poor little boy was, what could have happened to him, I cried to myself. The moment had faded as quickly as it had appeared as soon as I noticed he was wearing my favorite pajamas and I began to remember being told I was too young to handle what was waiting for me by a man in red.

My despair and sorrow had turned to hunger and the overwhelmingly human urge to survive.

I tell myself what I told myself then.

Whatever this is, it’s not human anymore. I stumble out of bed with all of the finesse and grace of someone who has had ample time to practice but convinced themselves there’s always something better to do. My heart is beating with the rhythm of my unspeakable impulses towards this demon that’s finding its own identity as it looks less and less like me.

This must be what happens to children when they’ve been rejected from every home they’ve ever known.

It twists them. It twists their dead, lifeless arms into rigid clubs of meat and bone. It ruins their heart, and spoils their guts until they all simply slough out of the body like leftovers poured right into a paper bag and onto the tarp I’m so glad I remembered this time.

The crying little boy couldn’t help but notice the boy in his favorite pajamas smelled like black licorice, even when he lost his heart to the brand new carpet.

The thing in front of me smells the same way.

I’m so hungry.

I thought about that little boy trying his hardest to talk to the shambling thing in his favorite pajamas as if it were a little boy like him, a scared child going through something unspeakable and unfair like so many other children do. Even when that thing lunged for his neck, he screamed that he was sorry as he stabbed it with the hunting knife he had be given for his birthday that he left proudly on his dresser.

I remember an older child doing the same thing with a katana he had bought at the mall, apologizing as he broke the blade inside of its ribs.

I don’t apologize this time. I drive that same broken piece of mall junk into the side of the thing that looked like me’s skull and twist its face away from mine as I lunged for its neck before it can get mine.

It’s always so quiet in this moment. That moment where I fail to understand anything that I’m doing as I feel it gnashing and gnawing into the air, desperate to feast on me yet denied at the very last possible inch from using its dangerous cavern of jagged chunks of bone and teeth to, well, something I don’t want to imagine how it feels.

I’m thinking clearly, but coldly. I don’t feel human. Not yet.

Something inside of me tells me I’m imagining it but the hunger speaks over it, encouraging me to bite into its neck, this hunk of drained, greying flesh at the side of its neck. I don’t apologize as I bite and tear through the flavorless meat to find what I’m looking for. I can feel it resisting, somehow becoming as tough as vinyl that began to hang loosely from the bone as if it weren’t even attached to the chattering skull trying to win this struggle.

The older child had just learned that it was called the carotid artery just a few days earlier in school. He hadn’t realized why that information had stuck out as so fascinating, but he was glad to know it all the same.

I didn’t care what it was called, I was sputtering out violent grunts as I fought this thing to stay on the tarp, a burst of awkward laughter erupted through the thick black blood that was filling my mouth. It was the kind of sudden, strong laugh that makes everyone in the room feel uneasy simply because it was louder than anyone, most likely including themselves, had anticipated.

I couldn’t help my excitement, I had just felt it catch gently along my teeth.

It feels just like biting into a black licorice vine but with the satisfying sensation of some sour, tasty fruit flavored liquid filling pouring from its hollowed center.

The quiet fades away as the volume on the sleep machine inside of my head is steadily cranked up. The crashing of waves, the gentle hiss of white noise static, thunder, rain, a pod of distant whales. My mind was aggressively playing every relaxing sleep aid CD it could find at once, hoping its combined efforts would force me to sleep through the next few minutes.

I was thankful that I had gotten back before this thing broke out of the noose. I had hoped it would keep it in place this time.

My brief sense of gratitude slipped away from me just like the rest of the world.

I tore more and more of its sweetly scented flesh away to let its blood spray unnaturally into my mouth that drooled out hateful growls like an angry stray dog that had found its very own steak and had strong opinions on anyone entertaining the idea of taking it from him.

I found myself thinking back to all of the others times I’ve had to do this.

I used to feel guilty. This was a human person, I would tell myself.

I remind myself that’s not true, drinking through the pang of sadness and quenching it with a mouthful of what I can only think of as black licorice syrup. Whatever this thing is, it’s not human anymore. It used to be me. It was the thing I used to live in until I had to go through all of this again.

It took a couple minutes of violent, yet controlled resistance to bring it to its knees and finish my feast with the thing splayed out onto the tarp I was so thankful to have remembered this time. I pull my broken mall sword, and myself, away from the now motionless demon I had just had my fill of. My knees were killing me, this was such an uncomfortable position to lean back into but I couldn’t help but scream in furious victory as I fell onto my knees and threw my head back in a roar.

I feel ridiculous as I suddenly remember having the engraving kiosk at the same mall engrave what I had unfortunately assumed was the japanese symbol for life. It wasn’t great, but it was something I could laugh at, at least. I tried to tell myself yelling like that was embarrassing, nothing is this dramatic. Then I remembered what I was doing and laughed.

I closed my eyes and felt content. I could feel the taste burning brightly inside of me, reminding me that I’m alive.

I am alive.

I opened my eyes and it was all gone.

The only evidence anything had even happened dangled from the rafters above me and crinkled under my feet as I stood up and wiped the back of the hand holding the trinket my teenage angst phase had left for me to defend myself with across my mouth. Nothing there, either.

I tend to forget how much I hate this part of it all. I tend to forget that I absolutely despise the entire situation until I remember everything and it all comes crashing in like an avalanche of razor sharp and icy cold snow and hail. I remember, clearly, consuming myself. I remember being thrust from hell, and heaven before it. I remember tying the noose.

I remember why I tie the noose.

The only person I’ve ever tried telling about any of this told me it’s healthy to cry. I trust them.

I cry.

Why shouldn’t I? I’m in mourning. I feel a part of myself die, figuratively and literally, every time this happens. I don’t understand why I’m being forced to decide between this or whatever I face if I ever let one of these things get me first. I’m too afraid to find out what happens when it wins. I never get answers any time I make the trip.

Peter can be nice, in his own way, but I can see him fighting the urge to vomit from sheer anxiety any time I bring it up. The other guy, whatever the hell his name is, he just giggles like an asshole because he knows something that I don’t. Of course, it’s not like the things that used to be me say anything.

I mourn the thing that used to be, and I mourn the death that spawned it.

I remember that the broken dangerous toy in my hand has the japanese word for “big tits” written on it and start laughing again.

I truly am alive.

The cool midnight breeze hits me like a much needed breath of fresh air as I open the sliding glass window that leads from my bedroom and out onto the second floor patio. Even after something like this I love to come out here. I can see trees as far as the eye can see off to one side, and the comforting glow of the city in the distance to the other.

The air has the gentle kind of chilled moisture to it, the kind that let you know rain was going or coming. The pleasant scent lets me remember how to smile, while the subtle wetness of my patio armchair that I never remember to throw the tarp over reminds me how to scowl the way one scowls when their ass gets unexpectedly wet.

I used to pray, surprisingly. I prayed for a lot of things. For people to be safe, for people to be happy.

For people to come back.

I pat around blindly on the small table next to my chair and find what feels like an unopened can of cherry cola and just as clumsily pull the tab, my hands shaking gently from the tremors of thirst and hunger, real normal people thirst and hunger while my eyes focus on nothing in particular in the cloudy night sky, the moon shining its dull, stolen light through a curtain of thinned raincloud.

Even when it isn’t cold, and just a little chilled, it still tastes great. I take another hesitant sip, praying I won’t taste blood. A relieved sigh sneaks out of it as I enjoy the sweet taste of something bad for me. My free hand pats around the other side of the chair’s arm, pulling a chocolatey protein bar from one of those things you see in the impulse buy section at the check out of most big stores. You know the ones, those pockets you can drape over the arm of an armchair that has pockets on the sides?

It’s hard not to feel a little silly using my teeth to open the package after what I had used them for earlier, but I’m grateful all the same as I take a large, satisfying bite out of the bar that had become a little too tough in the cold.

I smell black licorice in the air.

#Good Intentions #Horror #Spooky #Body Horror #cw: suicide mention

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jungkookienoona · 7 years ago

Text

The Meme and His Tutor

Part 44: The Comeback

Co-written with @jiminieblush

Recommended Song: Euphoria by Jungkook

|Masterlist|

Summary:

It’s the moment you and the rest of ARMY had been waiting for.

Genre: Fluff, comedy

Pairing: Jungkook X Reader (Y/N)

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 4536

Length: 44/?

The day had finally arrived. The comeback. Jungkook was with his members preparing to do the Vlive comeback show while you curled up on your sofa, laptop hooked up to your tv. Miri was to your left, head propped on your knee, and a bowl of popcorn was on your right. In your hands was your phone that you were furiously typing on. Both you and Chubs were absolutely buzzing with excitement. It was finally happening after literal months of waiting.

You were fully prepared to stay up as late as necessary to get the full experience. Chubs had even made sure she wasn't working so she could experience it all in real time with you. It was a matter of minutes until the hour long live show would begin. Your phone buzzed with a new message and you were surprised to see Jungkook's name flash on the screen. Tapping on the message, you couldn't help but giggle like the fangirl you are.

'Hope you enjoy the new album, Jagi...especially track five... ;) I'll message you after the show!'

Track 5? What was special about track 5? You shrugged, you'd find out soon enough.

'Have fun, BunBun!'

You opened up the chat with Chubs and refreshed the BTS vlive homepage.

'I hope that vlive doesn't crash again like it has done the past few years...'

There was still about another 5 minutes until the show began.

'I wouldn't be surprised. ARMY keeps growing and growing.'

It got you thinking about BTS' growth, and how many fans would flock to them with this comeback, how much it meant to each member. Yoongi was never shy in vocalising his desires to win awards and top charts. This album could do that. Could be all they've ever wanted. You wondered what antics would happen during the show. You reckon you'd die of embarrassment if you were mentioned.

Another message caught your attention:

'ONE MINUTE! ONE MINUTE Y/N! REFRESH!!'

'Holy shit!'

You refreshed the page, being greeted by Jungkook in a suit and glasses sat behind a desk.

"Hello and welcome to Bangtan News. I'm your anchor, Jeon Jeongguk. But you can call me Nochu."

The fucker winked.

"Here is our first story of the day: BTS have dropped their new album."

There were cheers from the other members who were sat out of shot, a hand even shoved Jungkook's shoulder making him grin.

"The music video and album are said to be released at 12.30am Korean Standard Time."

More cheers from the members.

"Many people are excited for its release. I know my wife is."

He tapped his cue cards on the table as writing appeared saying 'Jungkook is not actually married'.

You were dying. An inhuman squeal left your lips. Your phone wouldn't stop buzzing but you didn't want to tear your eyes away from the screen.

"Let me introduce you to some very important guests, 6 out of the 7 Bangtan members! Sadly, the maknae, Jungkook is going to be late."

The camera cut to Namjoon who was beaming, shuffling a stack of cue cards.

"Hello, I'm the leader of BTS, RM."

There were more whoops from around him and then the camera cut to Jin.

"I'm the most handsome member, Jin." He sent his signature flying kiss to the camera.

The camera panned to Yoongi, "Hi, I'm Suga. Nice to see you again."

The poor guy looked so tired yet hyper at the same time with his gummy smile. He must have been up late giving the tracks one final listen then downed a fuck ton of coffee. Hoseok was his usual cheery self introducing himself as 'ARMY's hope and sunshine'. Jimin came next, looking extra tiny in a huge knitted sweater. And then there was Taehyung who was dressed as though ready for bed in a pair of plaid wide leg pants. You really questioned his fashion choices sometimes.

After the introductions, the camera cut back to Jungkook who asked the members to talk about the album and its concept.

Namjoon took the lead, explaining how they transitioned from the success of WINGS to the new album and what they, as a group, wanted to communicate through their music.

"Our Kookie even wrote a song that made it onto the album. Try to guess which one when it's released." Taehyung said, pride clear in his voice.

Jungkook smirked, "Oh really? I bet my wife will love that song, he's her bias after all."

The other members laughed. You, on the other hand, were stunned to silence. Wife?! Why did he keep referring to you, well you hoped it was you, as his wife?! What if people got the wrong impression?

"Your wife might be disappointed Mr Jeon. Our Kookie wrote it for ARMY and his girlfriend."

You hid your face in your hands. This was exactly what you didn't want happening.

Jungkook pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

"I don't mind a little bit of healthy competition."

You groaned. He was so silly. Really.

"I think it's time to cut to the Jacket Shooting behind the scenes. It was nice meeting you Mr Jeon but our Jungkook will be joining us after this."

There were more whoops as the camera zoomed out to show all members before cutting to the video. You took a quick second to unlock your phone and scan the spam of messages from Chubs, keeping an eye on the screen. She had been losing her shit over Jungkook referring to you as his wife.

'I fucking hope someone had told him to act like a married news anchor otherwise he us dropping some major hints!'

You tutted.

'HE IS NOT PROPOSING TO ME ANYTIME SOON!'

Her response was instant, 'You sure? Cause he had everything prepared for you to live and study in Korea after you had known each other for 6 months.'

There was too much for you to process to think about a proposal right now.

'Not happening...Jimin is looking rather dapper...focus on him.'

'He looks too fluffy for me to thirst over right now. Bet you're needing to take a dive in the ocean though ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

You narrowed your eyes at the screen where Jungkook was striking a pose in a bright yellow t-shirt, hair parted just the way you liked.

'Fuck you, Chubs'

A smile spread across your face at the boys having fun. The clip cut to Hoseok who was giggling to himself.

"Hoseok-ah, what's so funny?" Came from behind the camera.

Hoseok grinned, "Jungkookie messages he noona whenever he gets a break. You can tell from his goofy smile. See."

The camera panned over to Jungkook who went from smiling to posing to take a selca.

With your phone still unlocked, you opened your camera roll and found the exact picture he had taken. Woah. It wasn't very often you got to see the behind the scenes of a selca and the album jacket shooting.

'He's so whipped for you.’

You rolled your eyes at the message and focused on the screen. The members were taking pictures of each other, filling the time between shoots. They were so happy. As a friend, and a fan, it made you also happy to see them just messing around and being themselves while also working hard.

You were surprised with the amount of concepts one album could have. The volume of thought and planning behind it all was incomprehensible to a casual outsider. Even with the behind the scenes, so many pieces of the puzzle were missing.

Another couple of minutes later and the footage cut back to the live show. Jungkook was dressed in more casual clothing, glasses gone and bangs no longer parted. They moved onto talking about the jacket shooting and how it fit with the whole album concept. When saying which style of clothing they preferred, Jungkook didn't surprise you by saying he favoured the more casual sportswear as it was 'super comfy'.

"Jungkook-ah loves baggy clothes. Didn't he wear the outfit the day before so it would smell like her?" Taehyung teased, nudging the bashful maknae.

Jungkook's cheeks turned positively pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't say anything, but you knew Taehyung was right.

Jungkook was such a cutie.

Namjoon directed the conversation to the songs, getting the members to discuss each song and what it means. Jimin went first since he had sung the intro solo (the first time for a vocalist to do so) which prompted a series of texts from Chubs who was gushing with pride.

You saw this as an opportunity to get back at her, 'I wonder who he wanted to touch and love him...'

You knew that Namjoon had written the song but he had to have chosen Jimin to sing it for more than just his voice. She sent back an emoji rolling its eyes. You wouldn't let her get off easily.

'What if none of this is a coincidence? What if you being my best friend and Jimin being Jungkook's is destiny?'

A second.

'You're being ridiculous.'

'The Busan boys and the British gals.'

'STOP IT!'

You giggled. 'WHY?! WHAT IF IT'S TRUE? WHAT IF THE SONG IS ABOUT YOU?'

A minute passed.

'If you were actually listening you would have heard Namjoon say he wrote the song months ago, dumbass.'

Ah, shit. You should have assumed he'd tell the audience that.

Your attention turned back to the show as they continued talking about the songs on the album. Yoongi happily explained the message behind the title song. Jin's cheeks dusted pink when he had to talk about the fifth track, Pied Piper, seemingly catching Jungkook's not so innocent smile.

"Uh..." the eldest glanced down at his cue cards then down the line towards the youngest members. "Jungkookie, why don't you tell us a little something about the track you've dubbed your favourite."

Jungkook's smile grew, "Of course, hyung! When you see the song credits, you'll see I'm credited with the chorus-" As he always was. "But the song is about ARMY and how we feel about them."

Hoseok perked up, "Kookie-ah, why don't you give them a sneak peek?"

He nodded.

"It’s bad so it’s better. You know on the inside. You can’t stop it now. So be honest with me~"

The other members whooped and clapped in the background while Jungkook threw a quick wink to the camera. You could feel a heat rising to your cheeks.

"Jungkook wrote the outro song, Euphoria. I believed he described it as 'inspired' by his noona."

Taehyung jumped in, retelling a short story on how he had found Jungkook slumped over his desk one morning having been up most of the night writing. The members 'aw'ed, Jimin reaching over to pinch the maknae's cheek.

"So what about her is inspiring?"

Jungkook knocked Jimin’s hand away and gave an awkward chuckle.

"Everything...?"

Heat filled your cheeks as you broke out into a smile. He was so sweet.

'What does he mean by everything? Has he seen you naked?!'

'NO!'

There was a clearing of a throat and the camera quickly zoomed out, allowing you to see Taehyung and Jimin collapse against each other in laughter, before focusing on a grimacing Yoongi.

"Let's move onto the games, shall we? Since ARMY loved it when we played Twister, Vlive had a bigger mat made for us to use. Try not to sit on Jin's head again Jungkook."

You saw Jungkook's lips move as he mumbled something. Sadly, you only heard muffled gibberish. But if the playful smack Jin gave him was anything to go by, you guessed it was inappropriate. When the mat was bought out you could practically see the competitive fire light up in his eyes. A very attractive look.

The seven of them played rock, paper, scissors to decide the order in which they took turns. Yoongi stepped up first, having been the first to win. Hoseok spun the needle and the rapper took his turn. Next was Namjoon followed by Jungkook, Jin, Hoseok, Taehyung and finally Jimin.

'I think Jimin is going to be the first out. He's tiny like you Chubs.'

She told you to 'fuck off' before defending her idol by saying how being small made him nimble. Though you both knew how clumsy he was.

'Namjoon has long legs but Jungkook has long arms and a willingness to crush people.'

In perfect timing, Jungkook 'accidentally' knocked into Taehyung, making him lose his balance, as he manoeuvred his leg across the mat.

'YOUR BOY IS CHEATING!'

'NO HE JUST HAD A CLUMSY MOMENT!'

'HE'S A CHEATER AND YOU KNOW IT!'

A similar debate was happening on the screen where Taehyung was pouting and shouting accusations. Taehyung was getting the filming staff involved, demanding a replay. But since it was a live show, that wasn't possible.

The incident was quickly dissolved by the staff allowing Taehyung back into the game and was allowed to flick Jungkook's forehead once the game was over. Jungkook pouted and you couldn't help want to cuddle him. He looked like such a baby.

You sighed. You missed him already...maybe you could FaceTime him tonight. No doubt that by the end of the vlive you would have plenty more questions needing answers.

Surprisingly your prediction about Jimin being out first came true. Unsurprisingly Jungkook won. You and Chubs bickered over the results while the members sulked back to their seats in the wake of Jungkook's victory dance. Your breath caught when Jungkook effortlessly went into the splits. Chubs sending you a message of:

'I bet you're gonna enjoy that flexibility ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

Oh god... don't think those thoughts! So impure!

'Get your virginal mind out of the gutter.'

'Get your mind in the gutter! Don't pretend you haven't been thirsting over him since you first saw him in the Dope MV!'

You flushed.

'I'm not pretending! And you can't talk! I know you we're drooling over the Jibooty while he played Twister!'

'You were drooling over the Jungbooty!'

'SO?!'

'JUNGKOOK IS OFFERING YOU THAT BOOTY ON A SILVER PLATTER!'

'STOP!'

'HAVE YOU SPANKED IT YET? IS IT AS FIRM AS IT LOOKS?!'

'STOP! THIRST OVER YOUR OWN BAE!!’

'IS.IT.FIRM?!?!?!?!'

You cursed Chubs as your hand started to tingle with the need to feel and find out.

'...I'll have to get back to you on that.'

Not even a second.

'YOU DON'T KNOW? HOW MANY TIMES HAS BE SMACKED YOUR BUTT YET YOU HAVEN'T HAD A GO AT HIS?! Y/N! THIS IS ABOUT EQUALITY! YOU GOTTA GET THAT BOOTY!'

Namjoon's voice turned your attention away from your bickering with Chubs, "Time for us to end the show! We hope you enjoy the album. Thank you for supporting us."

Ah! No! That wasn't very long at all! Time had passed too quickly.

They all stood up as one of their new tracks started to play. It was a snippet of the title song that was used for the teaser which was released a week prior. They all began doing their own little dance. Hoseok teasing a small section of the choreography earning a yell from Yoongi who shoved him in order to make him stop. Jungkook was sending hearts, both big and small. The vlive ended soon after.

Almost immediately you got a YouTube notification, the MV had been released. In a flash, you had loaded it up onto your laptop. Drawing your knees to your chest, you watched on eagerly. You had a hard time containing your squeals. Months. You had been waiting months to witness the fruits of Bangtan's efforts.

Your foot began to move to the beat of the music, lips splitting into a grin as Jungkook began to sing. You would always love how he sounded. Though your thoughts were interrupted when there was a close up of Jungkook winking.

That...fucker. That little fucker...

You were tickle him until he cried just for that rudeness alone. Putting thoughts of torture out of your mind, you focused on the music video. The beat was groovy; definitely a change of tune for Bangtan's sound. Yet as always there was still something uniquely 'Bangtan' about it. It amazed you that no matter what style they experimented with, they always made it their own.

The song came to an end, all seven of them striking their finishing pose with their backs to the camera. You immediately picked up your phone.

'Holy shit! All the unnecessary hip thrusts! I'm gonna sue the choreographer!'

'I'll back you the fuck up! I need Jimin in ripped jeans more often. Fuck.'

'DID YOU SEE HOW THE DENIM CLUNG TO THEIR THIGHS! I'M DYING!'

'Save your freaking out for the album stream!'

'AH SHIT! SPOTIFY. NOW.'

The desktop app was expecting you, the new album featured on the home page just waiting to be clicked on. You were tempted to go track 5, the one Jungkook seemed most excited about. But that wouldn't be fair to the other tracks... even if one of them was a collab with The CockSocks... Eehem...The CumSoakers- The ChainSmokers... yes, The ChainSmokers.

So you listened in order.

As to be expected, Chubs once again lost her shit at Jimin's vocals for the intro. Then came the song from the music video. You listened again, falling in love with it further. The next song you listened to with a grimace. Those two bastards didn't deserve to work with BTS. Thank god it was just the one track they had collaborated on. They hadn't even had an influence on the lyrics either. But it seemed like the kind on song that needed to grow on you... or it was your bias getting in the way. You'd have to give it another listen again some time. But for now, you must listen to the next track.

It appeared to be a vocal line song. You loved the fact it was about dimples, knowing that your own were showing. Hearing Jungkook's vocals during the bridge had you ascending to another plain of existence. Especially with how the the note he held wasn't faded. It left you with even higher expectations for the next track. Track number 5. You were almost nervous as the opening beat kicked in, but that soon disappeared as the first syllable was sung.

You didn't expect it to sound so funky yet seductive. And the sneak peak from before didn't do the opening verse justice. Jungkook's vocals with that beat made you think that he was referring to something... not so innocent. But you couldn't be sure yet...

Namjoon's voice began reciting lyrics that made you laugh. He was basically telling you off for not studying. Well, that was one way to use your celebrity influence.

Your eyes bulged when Jin and V came in. Chubs wouldn't know right off the bat but you were thrown into a coughing fit at the lyrics. 'You're not being punished. Come here, I'm your paradise'? This sounded too kinky to you. How did they get away with it? But there was something about the beat that made you want to move your hips.

'Not gonna lie... I would do the do to this song...'

Chubs reply was instant.

'Oh really? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

'If you understood the lyrics, you would too.'

Jungkook's lines in the chorus were accurate. He both saved and ruined you. He had wanted you to listen to this song, to hear those words and understand what he meant... that little shit!

Speak of the devil, your phone buzzed with a message from him. Two in fact. You opened it to find a screenshot of yours and Chubs' conversation followed by:

'Do the do ey? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

You felt your stomach drop.

'Chubs is dead to me.'

'Don't say that Jagi~ Now I know how to set the mood.'

A high pitched screech left your lips before you could stop it. Sorry, Miri.

You left Jungkook hanging and skipped to Chubs' messages.

'YOU BITCH! YOU'RE DEAD TO ME!'

'HE TOLD YOU?! DAMMIT!'

'OF COURSE HE DID! HE SAID THAT HE'S GONNA PLAY IT TO SET THE MOOD!'

You were so caught up, you didn't notice the song beginning to come to a close.

'AHA! I SCORED YOU DICK! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME!'

'I WAS GONNA GET DICK ANYWAY! YOU SCORED ME COCKY DICK!'

The sound of Logan Paul's annoying voice had you frowning. What the fuck? You indulged in your confusion, ignoring a follow-up text from Jungkook to see what the track was. Oh, it was a Skit. That made sense. Luckily the asshole's voice was gone quickly being followed up by Namjoon's voice as he made a speech for Bangtan.

Your attention went back to your vibrating phone.

'Kitten~ are you mad? Did you like the song???'

'You and your chorus writing ways. The rapline were trying to convey a message of "We'll always be here so focus on the important things in life" and then there's you with your repressed sexual urges!'

He took a moment to respond.

'Song writing is how I express myself. You have your stories. I have my lyrics.'

Still... the sexual undertones weren't missed on you...

'I guess... why did you write lyrics like that?'

'They just came to me one day.'

The next song coming on distracted you. It felt like a matured version of Bangtan's original sound. You found yourself quickly picking up the lyrics, singing along to the prechorus and chorus. But you couldn't help questioning the grammar of the few English lyrics...

You would have to ask about that later. For now, Chubs was spamming you with messages alternating in apologies and degdegs.

'The damage is done... what do you think of Mic Drop?'

'I hope it has choreo cause I can imagine it goes HARD.'

'Hell yeah!'

The song was super catchy.

Obviously wondering why you weren't replying, Jungkook shot you another message.

'Noona~ what do you think of the album did I sing well??'

'Shh~ I'm listening to it now. I'll tell you when I'm finished.'

'Yes, Noona.'

Soon enough the next song came on. It was upbeat and gave you cheeky vibes. You found your body moving to the beat and sang along to the chorus as the words weren't too difficult to pick up as the chorus was predominantly in English. You felt yourself inwardly cringe every time the word 'Yolo' left your lips. But it was a fun song with a message of throwing away one's worries for a night. If it was one of the songs to have choreo, you could imagine it being a bright and vibrant stage. Some fun energy to contrast the deeper tones of the album.

Probably memey too.

But what came next was a rapline song that was more... mellow than you were used too. Off the bat, you assumed Yoongi had been the one to compose it if the piano intro was anything to go by. When you first heard it the hook, you thought they were saying 'I call you her, cause you're my dear, dear'. The whole song put a smile on your face. It was peaceful. The kind of song you'd put on while enjoying a lovely bubble bath or taking a nap.

So the EDM song that followed had you jumping in fright. You were all relaxed then suddenly Jimin comes in with 'DON'T LEAVE ME'. It almost felt like he came bursting through your front door. There was a sudden bark, frightening you further. But it was just Miri making sure you were fine having let out a small shocked scream.

Chubs had your phone buzzing with message after message: 'HeLP ME!', 'I'VE BEEN ATTACKED!', 'I'M SHOOKETH!'

Ah, seems like she was on the same track.

'...Don't Leave Me?' You asked, just to be sure.

'BITCH! THEY BETTER BE GLAD IM AT HOME LISTENING TO THIS OR THERE WOULD BE TROUBLE!'

You had your fun laughing at her until you heard Jungkook's adlib and once again ascended to heaven. Is this what an eargasm was? Because, fuck...

You now knew how Chubs had felt moments ago. If you knew where Bangtan were right then, you would be attacking Jungkook. You enjoyed the rest of the song, a mix of emotions bubbling up inside of you that you'd been feeling a lot more often recently. It was like you didn't quite know whether you wanted to kick Jungkook's ass or offer to suck his dick as a thank you for the heavenly vocals.

Jungkook must have gotten bored of waiting.

'Have you reached the end yet?'

'No. Crystal Snow has just begun.’

Not even a split second later.

'I think you'll like that one.'

Truth be told, it sounded like it could be an anime opening. Which wasn't a bad thing since you fucking love anime. And the lyrics....the lyrics... no wonder he thought you would like it; they were bringing tears to your eyes. It was so full of emotion. But you made it through, even if your sleeves were wet with tears. You were glad you weren't wearing make-up otherwise it would be all smudged.

The album went on. There were so many tracks. Bangtan had really out done themselves. Only 2 tracks left. Let Go was just as emotional as Crystal Snow, you wondered what the choreo would be like.

Checking the track list, you were both relieved and disappointed that there was only the outro left. They tended to be shorter than the average song so you sat back, ready for this journey to be over. Due to the comeback show, you weren't surprised to hear Jungkook's voice. But you were surprised by how upbeat the song was. Normally outros were mellow.

It felt very...optimistic. Especially compared to the lyrics of the last few songs. It counterbalanced them. Serendipity and Euphoria. The bookends to the album.

"You are the cause of my euphoria."

You broke out into a smile because this was the song Jungkook had written. This was the song dedicated to you.

“I hear the ocean from far away. I walk across the dream, over the forest, and go towards there as it gets clearer.”

Was he...was he singing about the distance that had once been between you?

You wanted to hug him. You're sweet Kookie just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter.

Picking up your abandoned phone, you sent him a text.

'Okay, I'm finally done.'

A second later there was a knock at your door, making you jump up in surprise. There was another knock. Who ever was knocking was impatient.

"I'm coming!"

You sniffed as you pulled open the door, a small gasp leaving your lips as a body suddenly crashed into yours.

Jungkook.

"Fucking finally. I've been waiting out here for ages."

You chuckled, still in shock.

"You were out there all that time?"

"Doesn't matter." He pulled back but kept his arms around your waist. "So...what did you think?"

"Come inside properly and I'll tell you."

He smirked, "I'll play Pied Piper to set the mood."

"No!"

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This work of fiction is copyright © JungkookieNoona and protected under UK and international law. All rights reserved. Any unauthorised broadcasting, copying or reposting will constitute an infringement of copyright.

#jungkooknet #gguknet #networkbangtan #jjks.net #armiesnet #bangtanarmynet #tmaht #boop #jungkook #jeon jungkook #BTS jungkook #jeongguk #jeon jeongguk #jungkook scenario #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fluff #bangtan #bangtan scenario

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wingletblackbird · 7 years ago

Text

The Life and Times of the Diabetic

Okay, I’ve just been made aware that November is Diabetes Awareness Month. I feel like I have a sacred duty. For all of you possibly pre-diabetic folk out there here are the warning signs that you might have just joined the Diabetes Club:

Blurred Vision

Drowsiness/Lack of Energy

Frequent Urination-Especially at Night

Increased Thirst

Increased Hunger (Although sometimes it can manifest as diminished appetite)

Weight Change

Tingling in Hand and Feet

Frequent or Recurring Infections

Cuts and Bruises That are Slow to Heal

If you are a new diabetic, you may not get all of the above symptoms, but if you have enough you should start to go: Hey, maybe I’m diabetic?! Don’t do what I did, folks. I was studying an intense summer accelrated calculus course, so I thought: blurred vision? I’m studying too much. Tired? I’m studying to much. Frequent urination? It’s because I always have a glass of water with me since I once passed a kidney stone! It never even occured to me to, you know, go to the doctor and get myself checked out. It’s even more stupid in my case because my paternal grandmother was Type I. I just figured, heck, I’m 19, average age of onset is 14, if I haven’t gotten it by now… Well, no. Listen guys, YOU’RE NOT INVINCIBLE!!!

What if You Ignore the Symptoms?

If you are like me though, too dense, or unlucky, or whatever to get your diagnosis in a sensible length of time. The consequences will be DKA which could lead to your diagnosis in the ER, like me, or death, which fortunately did not happen to me-but it almost did!

DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis is when you have excessive sugar in your blood, since you have little to no insulin to break it down, and as a result your blood gets filled up with ketones which turn your blood acidic. It’s highly painful, very dangerous, and if not treated: You will slip into a coma and die! To avoid this, if you have been late figuring things out, these are your Red-Alert-go-to-the-ER warning signs

Vomiting

Chest Pain

Rapid Breathing

Abdominal Pain

Extreme Fatigue-you can barely bring yourself to move

Extreme Difficulty Concentrating

Unbelievable thirst

Flushed Face

Breath That Smells “Fruity”

Headache

If you receive these symptoms GO TO THE ER. Please, dear reader, do NOT do what I did, and assume that the rapid breathing, and chest pain is because you are having an asthma attack, and go home to sleep it off. YOU MIGHT NOT WAKE UP!!! Fortunately, I didn’t fall asleep, as I suddenly threw up, that was my first clue, (I am such an idiot), that something was wrong. If this happens to you, do not wait until morning to call your grandparents to drive you to the ER. CALL 911. I know. I know. It’s strange to think of calling an ambulance for yourself, but trust me: Better safe than sorry, and you are far from safe if you have the above symptoms.

I walked into the ER under my own power, and was told I was a medical miracle. My blood sugar was 32.4 and my ABG, (blood pH basically, no pun intended), was 6.38. For those of you who are not in the medical field, a blood sugar level of 30 is basically give up and die, you’re dead, territory, and a blood pH of 7.3-7.4 is normal, with 7.2 being already an emergency, and 6.38 being the lowest a comatose patient has ever been known to survive, (or so the medical community has told me at any rate). I let myself pass out in the ER, after I got my diagnosis; I was unconscious for sixteen hours. I had three nurses working on me the whole time; I was on so many IVs, my forearms were bruises, and I was in ICU for three days, which was actually rather short for how bad I was when I came in. DO NOT DO WHAT I DID. Be safe, and sensible. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or several pounds really, or dollars: You’ll be paying for insulin now, but, hey, at least you’re alive!

What to Know if You Have a Diabetic Acquaintance

Alright, for those of you lucky ones who do not have diabetes, here’s a really nice do not: DO NOT TELL THEM YOLO, at least not in the context of “have that cookie.” You see, we are already struggling with the temptation; we don’t need that kind of encouragement. These one time moments build up, and if you don’t take proper care of yourself as a diabetic here’s what’ll happen:

Kidney Failure

Blindness

Nerve Damage

Amputation of Limbs

A Slow Painful Death

Please don’t be like my step-grandmother who tells me to live my best life now, and eat whatever the h*ll I like, because if I do that, I won’t have a best life to live! I will be on kidney dialysis, best case scenario. I’ll be honest, guys, it sucks to be diabetic, and we need people in our life to say, are you sure about that cookie? Or just to accept that we can’t eat as much of your birthday cake as we would like to, that we can’t eat ice cream, and we may have to turn down that beer. It sucks, but that’s life: and we want to have it even if it’s sucky.

For those of you who are diabetic though: Look at the one bright side!!! I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s gone to a friends house, seen something truly vomit-inducing on the menu, and said, “I’m so sorry; I’ll have to pass on that; I’m not sure how many carbs are in it..” It’s our one perk, we can’t eat junk food like we want, but at least we don’t have to eat other people’s gross food!!! (Oh no, I made you non-diabetics wise to us! lol ;)

Here’s another thing to be aware of. As dangerous as hyperglycemia (high blood sugar is) the opposite hypoglycemia can be just as deadly. Lows are often taken care of by getting some quick sugar. (Yes! I can finally drink that glass of Apple Juice!!!) However, sometimes we diabetics can get “hypoglycemia unawareness.” This is very rare, but happens when our body doesn’t catch the signs of low blood sugar; we don’t realise we have it, and we pass out. If you have a diabetic friend who has slurred speech, shaking extremities, sudden mood swings, is acting a bit high or drunk, ask them to check their blood sugar: You may save their life. If they do pass out though, call 911, and get some sugar into them if you can. Something viscous like honey can be placed in their mouth, so that they don’t choke on it, and may help bring them around. Check their bags first though, they may have sugar gel, or a glucagon injection (the opposite of insulin, it raises blood sugar) in their bag for emergencies like hypoglycemia unawareness. Trust me, they will have a bag or a briefcase with them. We need to to carry all our junk: Insulin pens, needle tips, lancets, a glucometer, test strips, sugar tablets, etc.

If You’re Actually Quite Close to a Diabetic

We may try to hide it from you, and oftentimes we are so used to it ourselves that we don’t even think of it, but it really is hard to live with a chronic illness. We will have a bad day sometimes. That day where our blood sugar just won’t cooperate and we feel awful, and we remember that we are literally staving off death everyday. If we don’t check our blood sugar, if we don’t take our injections, drink our juice when needed, we don’t get to live. We die: Plain and simple. I know we can make it look easy, and you can get used to anything. Sometimes I can’t remember what it’s like not to be diabetic, but, boy, is it hard when I do remember. I’m a few missed injections away from a coma. I have cried over it. It’s a tough pill to swallow sometimes.

Sometimes we’re going to envy you. Most of us won’t bring it up; we don’t want to ruin your joy, but it can be hard to go to a movie, and everyone buys pop, and you remember the glory days when you could have drunk a bottle, and not risked your life. It’s tough. It’s human. We want what we can’t have. Don’t take this the wrong way: we want you to enjoy your bottle of pop, da*nit, if we can’t enjoy it, you’d better enjoy it double! but there are days when it is hard for us. So if you don’t have diabetes, next time you drink some juice, or eat anything, take a moment to savour the fact that you don’t have to worry about how your body will cope with it. It is a blessing you will take for granted until you’ve lost it.

For those of us who are diabetic. Be proud. We fight death everyday. We defy it. Look into the mirror and know that you are a survivor. We all are. We are our own pancreas, and that takes grit. We savour life in a way that most don’t, because they don’t live everyday with the knowledge of how fragile it is. Remember that when you have to jab yourself with that needle. You survived. You still survive: You go live on your borrowed time to the fullest!

Government Policy

For those of you against tax credits for diabetics, or better health care, you know, that sort of thing. Please remember that I am in no way responsible for my health condition, and that it isn’t preventable. Please remember that I am a struggling student, and I have to pay for my test strips, needle tips, lancets, batteries, insulin etc. out of pocket, as I don’t receive full coverage. Please be aware that I have to worry about my future career, because I am unlikely to get coverage, and I need to be sure I can make enough to keep myself alive. It isn’t my fault, but I suffer for it enough without that kind of added pressure. Kindly understand that if I cannot afford to buy my medication, and equipment my disease will go from chronic to terminal. Without my insulin, I will be dead in a month. Just something for you to consider…

And on that happy note: Happy Diabetic Awareness Month. I hope this was helpful to you! :D

#Diabetes

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kaepop-trash · 7 years ago

Text

Of Snakes and Lions Ch-8

Rated: Smut

Pairing: JaehyunxReaderxTaeyong

Summary: Your new term at Hogwarts starts with more drama then you intended. You didn’t expect your oldest friend to have feelings for you, but you didn’t expect to have feelings for a Gryffindor jock either.

Mini Masterlist

She sat between Yuta and Jaehyun in a room high up in the Gryffindor Tower. They were all clearly waiting for something, and she just went along with it. Bringing her cat like she had promised so Jaehyun could meet her.

“Look at how pretty her eyes are!” Jaehyun cooed as he tried to pick her up the fourth time and she snarled at him. (Y/N)’s laugh only grew as nightshade buried further into her lap and Jaehyun pouted.

“I named you, you know? You should love me too!” He scolded nightshade, and she just looked up at him with bored eyes before facing away and resting.

“Snitch is so much better.” He muttered to himself and (Y/N) turned up to him with confusion.

“Snitch is my dog,” He clarified. “He lives back home. He’s actually very nice to everyone.” He explained and she nodded thoughtfully.

“Dogs are easily trusting.” She spoke, stroking nightshade’s head with a little bit of pride.

“They just see the best in everyone.” He smiled and she turned to him. Finding something else in his eyes.

“Okay kids gather around.” A voice pulled them both out of their trance. She turned to find Yuta standing beside Johnny, a little surprised because she hadn’t even noticed him leave. Johnny pointed at two boys who each bought in trays and laid them down between everyone. She saw the small glasses on the tray, already groaning. She saw one boy pour water into the glasses on one tray.

“Alright let’s begin. We’ll play this new, amazing game called truth and dare.” Johnny said with a grin, all the muggle kids in the room collectively groaned.

“For dare we have..” Johnny picked up his hand, showing everyone a bottle of firewhiskey, passing it onto someone who poured it into the glasses.

“And for truth some Veritaserum.” The small group voiced their eager fascination while she stared in a little horror. Johnny himself added a drop each to the water glasses, after which he sat down.

“This is a terrible idea.” She told Yuta as he came and sat down, he just shrugged.

“Maybe some truth and courage is needed around here.” He said secretively.

She was a little nervous, especially because of the person she was sitting beside. She was explaining to Yuta how truth and dare worked when her eye caught someone sit across from her, Jisoo. She offered her a smile which (Y/N) returned.

“Do you know her?” Jaehyun spoke close to her ear, making her shiver a little. Her gaze was fixed on her and she nodded.

“That’s his ex.” Sicheng said, making her turn behind and laugh a little at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Of course she is. I need a drink.” She sighed, “Where did you come from?” She asked Sicheng who just shrugged.

“I promise that at the next Gryffindor and Slytherin game..” Yuta’s voice trailed off as he tried to think of something, “The winning Captain gets to kiss (Y/N)!” Everyone cheered at his words. (Y/N) who wasn’t paying attention, looked up and threw a pillow at him when his words registered.

“You’re literally pimping me out.” She said with heavy disbelief and everyone laughed around her.

“Not if I’m the one winning.” He grinned as he sat down, earning a few vocal expression of disapproval. Everyone else in the room was a Gryffindor, what did he expect.

It was her turn next and Johnny stared at her thoughtfully.

“You can just kiss our Captain now and get it over it.” He said confidently and she blushed, her hand on her cat tightening enough for nightshade to chew on her hand lightly to pry it off.

“You guys are so immature.” She snorted.

“Wow this is the first time I’ve seen (Y/N) this nervous, do you have something to hide.” Yuta laughed and she shot him a warning gaze.

“If not then Jaehyun can kiss Jisoo.” Yuta sat back smugly and the people around giggled.

She hated Yuta, she hated how well Yuta knew people and how was she was being willingly manipulated.

She groaned loudly and mumbled the promise of revenge to Yuta. She drank down a glass of firewhiskey, already feeling herself fill with irrational confidence and then turned and grabbed Jaehyun’s robe.

“Let me make this easier.” She smiled, already breathless and grabbed his neck.

Almost as soon as the kiss had started, she had lost control. Jaehyun’s hands gripped her waist and pulled her into his chest. Anyone watching them would think they do this everyday, the way their bodies harmonised with each other.

A keener eye could tell that this wasn’t the first time, and that they were more eager for this than was initially led on. Jaehyun groaned into her lips and tried to pull her closer than was possible and her mind blanked out with a familiar sense of need for the person in front of her.

Breathing was forgotten for the sake of quenching the thirst inside both of them. The room that had started with juvenile cheers was now silent, some confused and even uncomfortable at the sight in front of them. No one ever guessed this pair as a remote possibility, no one even thought about it, but Yuta caught Sicheng’s knowing eyes, grinning to him in a way that send the message. Sicheng smiled and looked away.

Yuta had just struck on his friend’s behalf.

Yuta coughed intrusively a moment later and she pulled away, like her mind was working again. Both of them were breathing rapidly, still caught in each other’s presence and forgetting about the others in the room.

“I can’t do that again.” Jaehyun said, licking his lips in a way that took her attention and distracted her from registering his words for a moment. When she realised what he said, her blush of embarrassment was prominent.

“Now Jaehyun’s going to try much harder to win.” Yuta said and everyone laughed, attention shifting from the both of them.

After that moment, her mind still burned with his words. She wasn’t really paying attention to everything around her, and just repeating his words in her mind over and over. It got to a point where she couldn’t sit in the room anymore that suddenly felt smaller with far too many people.

“I have to go.” She said getting up suddenly, interrupting something she wasn’t listening to. Everyone nodded but Yuta and Jaehyun looked at her unsure. She looked to Yuta’s lap, where her cat was fast asleep.

“I’ll take her back.” He said with furrowed brows.

Once she got up and left without another word, everyone went back to conversation at hand and Jaehyun followed her after a moment’s thought.

She was walking through the empty corridors at an eager pace. Just wanting to get back to the security of her room where she couldn’t embarrass herself any further.

As she turned a corner, she almost toppled over when she noticed Doyoung walking down the hall. She was shocked by his presence but didn’t want to stop.

“Hey.” Doyoung said, his eyebrows lifting in a way that was typical of him. His resting face was a frown. She just dipped her head politely and hoped to make an escape.

“Hey what’s wrong?” He asked, grabbing her arm before she could get out of his reach.

“Nothing. Everything is fine.” She tried to keep her voice neutral.

“That bad huh?” He almost cracked a smile and she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to laugh or shove his hand off and run. She just stood there instead.

“It’s nothing that I won’t get over.” She shrugged and he stared at her thoughtfully.

“You’re shaking the way you do when you’re angry or embarrassed, which is it?” He pressed further.

“Both?” She laughed this time. She thought he’d let her go after getting an answer, but instead he pulled her into an embrace. Shocking her enough to elevate her heartbeat.

He didn’t say anything or do anything beyond holding her tight and despite herself, she wrapped her arms around him in return, needed the comfort more than she cared to admit. He kissed the top of her head like it was a natural move.

He smiled at her initially stiff posture melting into him, turning his head to hold her a little more securely only to notice a shadow from the corner of his eye. His smile faded when he realised it was Jaehyun, his face was drained of blood as he watched Doyoung embrace (Y/N) with a clenched jaw. It didn’t take long for Doyoung to make the link between his presence and her mood.

“Come on.” He said, pulling back and grabbing her hand to drag her away.

“Where are we going?” She asked with confusion but he didn’t respond.

“What happened?” He asked again.

“I just embarrassed myself.” She offered a weak smile while continuing to be pulled by Doyoung. She didn’t know why she agreed to him, but she didn’t want to fight right now.

He stopped walking and turned around, lips pursed as he looked at her properly before sighing. He knew she hated that, he knew she couldn’t stand anything hurting her image and her pride.

She realised then that they were standing at the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower.

“What are you doing?” She asked him and he smiled.

“Your distrust in me almost hurts sometimes. I’m just trying to be a friend to you.” He said and gave the password. He nodded at someone sitting in the common room, who she recognised as Doyoung’s roommate. He reminded her to keep quiet as they walked up the stairs. She couldn’t help the bitter smile on her face and when he stopped to open his door he noticed.

“What is it?” He asked with a confused smile as he ushered her in.

“I’m getting déjà vu.” She allowed a small laugh and Doyoung echoed it too.

“I saw Jisoo today.” She said as she sat back on his bed.

“In the Gryffindor dorm?” He asked and she nodded. He didn’t know what to say after that, he heard no accusation in her voice so he didn’t show any guilt in his.

“Do you want some chocolate?” He asked and she nodded. He picked up a box on his study table and handed it to her. He walked around his room for a moment before sighing.

“I don’t really know what to do or say.” He admitted, tugging on his hair with frustration.

“I know.” She said as she popped a chocolate in her mouth.

“You’re terrible.” He laughed as he sat on the floor beside her. She grinned at lifted herself up on the bed to lay back with her head off the edge. She put a chocolate in his mouth and looked up at the ceiling.

“I’m always afraid I’ll say the wrong thing.” Doyoung spoke up after a long silence, “But I always had my foot in my mouth.” He chuckled to himself.

“I understand that.” She nodded.

“No you don’t.” He sighed, making her turn to him face curiously, “You always know what to say, you always think before you speak and never have a sentence out of order. I always admired that about you.” She was rendered silent, a little overwhelmed by his confession.

“Wow I didn’t-” She looked for the right words.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to tell you this. I don’t know what happened today, but I know you don’t do anything unless it’s something you really want to.”

There was a long silence after that but both of them were used to that, it was comfortable. Doyoung was playing with her hair when he spoke up again.

“I forgot what this felt like.” He admitted and she turned her head to look at him with nervous eyes, waiting for him to continue, “I guess I didn’t really realise how important comfort was then. I didn’t value our comfortable silences enough.” He spoke and it slowly hit her, he was apologising.

“I guess I always thought that if I waited for the right time you and I could end up back together. But I was too arrogant.” She watched his face as he spoke, when he turned to her he smiled weakly, shifting a little closer to her.

“The next time I bring it up will either be when the time is right or when I’ve lost it completely.” He said as he pushed a strand of hair back and cupped her cheek. Leaning in to connect their lips.

His kiss was soft and hesitant. This was the first time she must have felt him in a kiss and not just his lips. She lifted her hand slowly and placed it on his neck making him smile into the kiss a little. His lips were soft and he didn’t impose, instead letting her explore patiently. She felt a distinct lump in her throat at the sudden intimate action as he slowly pulled away, smiling a little brighter this time and placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

Doyoung woke up first the next day, his face heating up almost immediately when he realised that he was tangled together with her on his bed. He didn’t remember falling asleep and he didn’t know why he was suddenly so shy. They had sex plenty of times, but waking up beside her after an innocent night made his face heat up? She slowly shifted under him, curled up against him as she huffed slowly, her warm breath landing on his shoulder. He lifted his head to check if she was still asleep but his movements woke her up.

She stared up at him with big confused eyes that somehow made his heart erupt into erratic beats.

“Hi.” She said with a sleep laced voice and he hummed in response. Almost immediately resisting the urge to smack his own head because what kind of a response was a hum? And why was he suddenly acting like a 10 year old who had never met a girl before.

“You kind of need to move your hand from under my head Doyoung. I can’t move.” She said with the same face and his eyes went wide. In the moment of panic, trying to move his hand made him only push her further into his chest as she was pushed into the crook of his neck with a loud huff. He froze in panic, waiting without moving. But he heard her muffled laugh and blushed hard this time when her hands lifted to embrace him. He was still too shocked to wrap his arms around her and felt a pang of regret when she pushed away.

“You’re cute when you’re nervous.” She chuckled as she slid off the bed, oblivious to the effect her words had on him.

“Can you lend me a t-shirt? I don’t want to go to breakfast in last night’s clothes.” She asked him and he nodded, still uncharacteristically quiet.

As was the case in the weekends, everyone just sat wherever they wished, most still in their pajamas. She looked around and tugged on Doyoung’s sleeve when she spotted Yuta and Taeyong at the Hufflepuff table. Her steps faltered a little when she noticed Jaehyun but she walked up to the table and greeted everyone politely. She could feel Jaehyun’s gaze boring holes into her side as she sat down, leaving a place for Doyoung beside her.

“I’ll go sit somewhere else.” Doyoung said uncomfortably, sensing the heavy air of unasked questions of them walking in together. He was not a welcomed guest here.

“No, sit with us.” She said with a finality in her voice, when he was about to refute, she asked again and he sighed and nodded.

“Did you two-” Yuta spoke into her ear and she shook her head quickly. Turning to him with a incredulous grin at his dramatic sigh.

“That t-shirt isn’t yours.” Yuta pointed and she clenched her jaw with disbelief. She smiled at his curtly which showed the opposite of friendliness towards him.

“Where’s my cat?” She asked Yuta as a decent attempt to change the topic.

“I left her at Jaehyun’s room. Your cat is in love with him. Refused to leave.” He said pointed at Jaehyun as he didn’t even hide his smirk.

“You can come take her anytime.” He said with a rather detached voice that made her heart sink.

“Is it okay if I come after I wash up? I need a change to clothes as well.” She said with politeness and his gaze lingered down to her tshirt and then to Doyoung briefly before back to her. He shrugged with a bored expression as he slipped his fork between his lips. She bit her tongue and nodded, focusing on her food and talking only when spoken to.

“Do you want to go to Hogsmeade today?” Taeyong asked after a while. She looked up and nodded at her friend who hadn’t spoken much of this time.

“If you want.” She said as a smile grew on her lips. She was happy to see her friend slowly getting back to his life.

Once the three reached the Slytherin common room, Yuta asked Taeyong to go ahead and get ready and that he’d be up in a while. Once he left he turned to her with a rather serious face.

“We need to talk about whatever is going on with you.” He said to her.

“There’s nothing going on. Nothing happened between Doyoung and I last night. I just fell asleep in his room.” She frowned as she spoke.

“That’s not what I was asking, but that’s good to know. I’m glad you’re above sleeping with him just because you got a little horny.” He said and she bit her lip guiltily making him stop his words.

“(Y/N).” He groaned and she winced.

“I know, I know. But it didn’t mean anything.” She sighed with defeat and sat down on a chair in the far corner.

“We’ll talk about this later.” He warned, “And what about Jaehyun?” He asked as he sat down opposite her. She furrowed her brows and looked up, temporarily at a loss of words.

“What about Jaehyun?” She asked and Yuta laughed with disbelief, “He didn’t want to do that last night okay. I’m still so embarrassed.” She mumbled.

“You sound hurt.” He cocked his head to one side with a ghost of a grin.

“I’m just embarrassed.” She shut him down.

“It didn’t look like he didn’t want to do it though, if anything he looked very eager.” Yuta said making her turn to him but then shaking her head to drop the thought.

“Did you see him in the morning? He didn’t even speak to me properly. It was awkward the last time too.” She stopped when she realised what she said but Yuta had already caught on.

“Last time?” He asked like he hadn’t heard her right.

“This is a long story.” She sighed.

“I’ll get some tea, we can delay Hogsmeade for a bit.” His tone didn’t leave room for an argument.

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singingunderthecurtain · 7 years ago

Text

DIAMOND (CEO AU Baekhyun Series) Part 4

Also on AFF

Picture not mine, found everything on Google

Author: @julietsoddeye AU: CEO!Baekhyun Genre: Angst | Smut | Romance Pairing: Baekhyun x Lee Soojin (You/OC) Trigger Warning: SMUT in this chapter!!! Mentions of a car accident. Mentions of being blind. Baekhyun being an a-hole. Word Count: 2,743

Plot: After 10 years of exile to another country, you are finally back home and you were surprised to find out that you are engaged to the son of your father's long-time friend and business partner.

Diamond Mini Masterlist

For the last 2 days, you’ve managed to completely ignore Baekhyun. When he once tried talking to you but you fail to recognize his existence, he ignores you just as much you do now. But you both know that when you get back home, you’ll have to start talking again. At least just as long as you’re in front of your parents or other important people, during meetings or parties and get-togethers.

For now, you try to relax your mind while you’re still here in The Bahamas. Not to mention a 681-acre private island owned by your father-in-law. Only you and your current buddies are on this side of the island with a complete line of service crew from Chefs to chambermaids and even massage therapists.

You, Hisako and Yanmei are all sprawled on beach towels on the pure and white sand, basking in the nice sun, wearing your swimwear. Mia, on the other hand, is concentrating and typing on her laptop, hiding away from the sun under the huge umbrellas of the many beach lounge chairs. At least she’s not wearing her usual corporate attire, not in this tropical heat thankfully. She’s currently wearing a cute and flowy yellow dress that she picked out hesitantly at the LAX duty-free when you told her you will take her shopping no matter what. Her choice fits her really perfect as it was modest and pretty, exactly just like her.

“Yo, watch this…” Yanmei smiles mischievously as she reached for the spray-on sunblock from your beach bag. The boys are only a few meters away from you, playing volleyball on the sand. All of them plays quite noisily, and not to mention dirty. They keep distracting and harassing each other so the other team won’t score.

“What are you gonna do?” Hisako asks, propping herself up using one arm as she removes her round sunglasses away from her eyes. You saw that Mia stopped her activity and are now watching whatever your best friend will do.

“I’m going to seduce Jongdae so we can have a spy on their group. Also, he’s really cute, have you seen that kitty cat face of him?” Yanmei purred lewdly, she bit her lower lip to stop herself from giggling too hard. Mia cackled lightly after Yanmei mentioned her plans and gave her a big thumb’s up and a slight wink of approval. Yanmei grinned proudly and literally gave herself a pat on her back.

“Wow, you’re finally using your promiscuity to good use. I’m really proud of you this time, Mei-mei!” Hisako ribbed with a teasing snicker.

“Shut up, you cobwebbed cunt, at least I’m not a prude like you. When was the last time you got laid again?” Yanmei jeered back and she kicks sand on Hisako’s leg.

“Whatever you say, you soggy bowl of cereal. Unlike you, I won’t die without sex.” Hisako hissed teasingly and laughed her response, dusting aside the sand off of her leg and beach towel.

“Penises are amazing, especially a good one. I bet Jongdae have a really pretty-looking dick as handsome as his face in front of that set of juicy butt. Mmm…” Yanmei puckers her lips as she thirsted over Jongdae and Mia’s jaw drops in shock. She’s still not used to Yanmei’s nasty ass sewage system of a mouth.

“Eww shut up Yanmei; it’s too early for that! We just ate breakfast and you’re hungry again.” Hisako’s face soured up at the mention of penises so early in the morning.

You roll your eyes at their bantering as you insert a bookmark on the page of the book you’re reading. You threw the book inside your bag and flipped yourself on your back so you can now slightly toast the other side of your body.

Yanmei sat up from her beach towel and adjusted her almost sheer orange bikini top so her boobs pop out more, making them look bigger than usual. She grabbed the sunscreen again before calling out to her poor, poor and unsuspecting victim.

“Jongdae, Jongdae!” Yanmei calls out with her signature sweet but perilous voice. Almost too immediately, Jongdae twists his neck to look at our general direction. He smiled instantly when he saw Yanmei waving and motioning for him to come closer. Without hesitation, Jongdae carelessly threw the beach volleyball behind him and it hit Chanyeol’s head making him fall on the sand in all fours, the ever so clumsy gentle giant.

“You’re weak bro!” Baekhyun vexed at his friend when he saw where Jongdae was suddenly heading to.

“Fuck right off, Baekkie boy!” Jongdae calls out and gave all his friends the middle finger.

“He’s thinking with his dick again, Hyung.” Jongin shakes his head with an amused smile on his face.

“When did he ever think without his dick, anyway?” Sehun remarked causing all of them to laugh.

__________

“Hey, what’s up?” Jongdae beamed at all of the girls but mainly focuses on the one who called for him, Yanmei.

“I’m having a really big problem right now,” Yanmei started, her face scrunched convincingly and Jongdae furrowed his forehead in retaliation.

“What is it, can I help you?” Jongdae asks as he kneels in front of Yanmei on the sand.

“Yeah, you can!” Yanmei gleamed, Jongdae smiles back and gave her a hand gesture for her to continue.

“You see these girls here won’t help me put sunscreen and I can’t reach my back.” Yanmei pushes the aerosol can of sunscreen at Jongdae as she explains her dilemma. And he gulped down the saliva that suddenly gathered inside his mouth. She looks at his tightening jaw and his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallows his spit.

“Y—you want me to s—spray this on your back.” Jongdae stumbles his words a little bit as he examines the can of liquid lotion on his meagerly shaky hand. Soojin chortled lightly as she witnesses Jongdae crumble slowly inside Yanmei’s hand. She’s called Venus by a lot of people, guys especially, for a reason.

“Oh no baby boy, don’t just spray it on my back. I encourage you to rub it in really hard… You know, so my skin can absorb the SPF well.” Yanmei cooed to Jongdae with a risqué emphasis in her voice. She strokes his legs in a flirty manner before she lies face down on the beach towel. She makes sure her ass jiggled when she dropped on the sand beneath her.

“I suggest you massage it strongly, she likes it rough.” Soojin winks, flashing Jongdae a suggestive smirk. Hisako just rolls her eyes at how languid men get when it comes to titillating matters.

“So Jongdae, I heard from Sehun that you have an amazing singing voice…” Yanmei finally stood up after Jongdae finished rubbing her back with the sunblock. He then proceeded to rub what was left of the lotion in his hand on the chest of his thin and wrinkled linen button shirt.

“Yeah, just one of my many talents.” He wiggled his brows up and down, his lips curling up in a Cheshire cat wide grin. Hisako wanted to do a back flip and roll her eyes, but she stopped herself because her eyes might pop out from rolling it too much.

“Well I sing too and I cover songs in my free time. Do you wanna hear them?” Yanmei towers over Jongdae as she stood up completely, dusting her legs free of sand that sticks on her skin.

“Yeah sure,” Jongdae looks up at Yanmei as she stood up.

“Come with me, I left my laptop inside the house.” Yanmei reaches her hand out to Jongdae and he gladly held her as she pulls him up. She then proceeded to tow him to the direction of the house, looking back to her friends seeing their bawdy smiles.

“Be careful in there Jongdae-ssi. Mei-mei’s a very dangerou—!” Hisako tried warning Jongdae playfully, but Soojin abruptly pins her down and stops her mid sentence.

“What?” Jongdae attempts to look behind him, but Yanmei tug on his hand so he won’t have to listen to them.

“Ignore them, they’re weird.” Yanmei smiles sweetly and Jongdae responded with a nervous chuckle under his breath as he was being trawled by the irresistible woman in front of him.

The twosome then entered the wide open back door of the house and before they even reached the end of the kitchen, Yanmei pushed Jongdae on the counter and roughly assault his lips with her own. Jongdae was taken aback a little bit but then kisses her back with the same force she’s giving him.

Yanmei’s right-hand slides up the nape of Jongdae's neck and wrap her fingers around so she can deepen their already keen kissing. Her other hand then snake up inside his shirt to feel up his somewhat toned belly. She pushes herself to him and Jongdae moaned when his growing need rubbed on her. Yanmei pulls away from the kiss all of a sudden and Jongdae grunted at the loss of her sweet lips.

“Your bedroom, now let’s go!” Yanmei demanded and it’s now Jongdae’s turn to pull her hand to the direction of his bedroom.

When they got it, Jongdae hastily pushes the door shut, locking it in the process. Yanmei jumped up on the bed and Jongdae followed closely to have a taste of her mouth again. She flipped the eager man on his back, straddling him and pushes his chest to start unbuttoning his shirt open. She pauses halfway to grind her thinly clothed middle on his ever growing bulge, in a painfully slow movement. Jongdae groused impatiently and proceeded to rip his shirt off; some buttons flew in all directions. He swiftly slides the garment off his shoulder and he buried his face in between her chest.

“Mmm, you smell so lovely, Yanmei-ssi.” Jongdae’s words are being muffled by her skin.

“Drop the formality Jongdae, we’re here right now about to fuck.” She giggles as she gingerly twirls her fingers on Jongdae’s soft permed hair.

“Can I comfortably call you Mei-mei then?” Jongdae looks up at her face with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes. She smiles at him and offers him an enthusiastic nod.

“Do you have a condom?” She asks quickly before they can move on any further.

“Do I have a condom? Baby, I bring a box of condom wherever I go, just in case. I’m a boy scout!” Yanmei bit her lower lip at Jongdae’s response.

“Have I told you I like boy scouts? They’re always ready.” Yanmei giggles like a teenage schoolgirl as the sides of her lips marginally curl up.

Jongdae promptly twirls Yanmei, her back hitting the softness of the mattress, evoking a surprised squeal from her. Jongdae then reaches out to the bedside table drawer where he stashes his box of condom in. He grabbed a handful of packets and dropped all on the table top and pushes the drawer to close it.

Yanmei props herself up with one hand and pulls the string of her bikini top with the other. Jongdae hooks his pointer finger on the string in between her chest and weeds out the tiny piece of clothing, finally unveiling her breasts to him. His head slowly rolls on one side of his neck as his eyes admires her glamour.

Without wasting any more time, Jongdae’s lips latched on one of Yanmei’s nipples, sucking on while his tongue flicks and swirls on the bud, making her wail in pleasure. Both of his hands slither down to her sides and he tugs on the strings of Yanmei’s bikini bottoms. She bolsters her butt up a little bit to help Jongdae completely yank the underwear off.

Jongdae softly and delicately trails kisses from her chest to her stomach and down to her navel. His nimble finger gently starts caressing her already soaked sex, focusing on her clit. He lightly dips two fingers in her entrance and pulls out immediately to sloppily dunk them inside his mouth for a quick taste. He grumbles and rolls his eyes at the back of his head as he savors the heavenly taste of her.

“Jongdae please, just fuck me already,” Yanmei begs as she writhes beneath Jongdae’s agonizing touch. He smiled maniacally at the imploring of her neediness.

Since Jongdae is as stirred up as she is, he rapidly flings his shorts and underwear off himself. Yanmei watches as Jongdae’s thick cock springs and bounces up and down in front of her. Without looking away from Jongdae’s God-like body, Yanmei clumsily slaps her hand on the table top to grab a packet of condom, biting the end of the foil and tearing it open with her teeth. She grabs and pumps his meat before enveloping it with the rubber with his help.

“Ready,” He says to her and it’s not even a question anymore.

She ardently and heartily nods her head in acknowledgment. Jongdae then moves and lines up his cock to her entrance. Slowly, he pushes himself inside her and she uncontrollably let out a sigh of pure bliss.

“Oh my God, you’re so big Jongdae.” Yanmei dug her nails on the wrists of Jongdae’s hands that was gripping her hips as he burrows himself inside of her.

“And you’re very tight, baby girl.” Jongdae halted to let Yanmei adjust to his size when he was completely doused inside her. After a while, he started to gyrate his hips to rub his skin on Yanmei’s sensitive clit and she purses her lips together to cease herself from moaning out loud.

“Jongdae please,” Yanmei begs and without another word, he pulls himself and ram his dick back in. The act made her lose what’s left of her containment and she cries out a gratifying growl that’s music to Jongdae’s ears.

“Oh God Yanmei you feel so fucking good around my dick.” Jongdae moans as he continues his desolation of Yanmei’s tight cunt.

“Harder… Faster… Jongdae… Faster, I’m almost there!” Yanmei is now screaming as she squirms like a helpless worm that’s been sprinkled with salt under Jongdae’s performance.

Jongdae picks up his pace as she demanded. He can also feel himself getting close to his release. His grip on her hips tightens and Yanmei knows that her skin will be bruised sooner, but she doesn’t care about that part right now. She just wanted to concentrate on the current joyride they are both experiencing.

A couple of thrusts later, both of them are moaning and climaxing together. Yanmei pulls herself up to Jongdae’s level and her mouth immediately attached to his, her teeth digging on his lower lip as they ride out their high.

After a while, Yanmei pushes Jongdae off so she can see how much seed she managed to pump out of him. She tugs a big smile on her lips with the amount of milt the rubber collected.

“What are you thinking about?” Jongdae asks as he removes the condom, tying it at the end to close it and expertly shoot the used item in the bin. He grabs the box of Kleenex on top of the table and kindly cleans up Yanmei’s dripping core.

“You.” She answered without a hitch as she pulls out a few pieces of soft napkins to wipe Jongdae clean as well.

“Look at us, cleaning each other up,” Jongdae says as he let out a heartfelt laugh.

“Yeah.” Yanmei’s cheeks flushes and she giggles gleefully.

“Do you really sing, or was that a lie for you to get into my pants?” Jongdae teases and Yanmei slaps his chest jokingly, her jaws dropping slightly at his boldness.

“I really sing, I swear. Wait here I’ll grab my laptop quickly from my room.” Yanmei sat up, wrapping Jongdae’s blanket around her nakedness. But before she can even stand, Jongdae grabs her wrist to twirl her around and gives her lips a quick peck. Making her blush slightly.

#Baekhyun #Byun Baekhyun #CEO Baekhyun #CEO Byun Baekhyun #Smut #Angst #Romance #EXO #EXO-M #EXO-K

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bazzaya · 7 years ago

Text

the underground

Minerza AU. Erza is a grad student who is trying to be responsible after her chaotic undergrad days. Minerva is a street dancer and the frontman of her group that performs in competitions with other b-boys.

Summary: Erza just wants to get an early night’s rest for once, but Bacchus and Cana are insistent on reliving the glory days of their undergrad years by dragging Erza out for a night. The last thing she expects is to become immediately captivated by the hot dancer who can work absolute magic with her hips.

A/N: This is... entirely self-indulgent. I imagined Minerva in a hot outfit on accident and my brain told me to write an entire AU just as an excuse to put Minerva in such an outfit. It also has Erza reaching unfathomable levels of thirst for Minerva, and honestly same. This got away from me. Have fun looking into my elaborate fantasies that keep me up at night. I didn’t proofread it at all. I’m too tired and I’m desperate to post. Also, @gsut, you said you wanted tagged. Here you go.

Word Count: ~6.6k. FUCK.

[Ao3 Link/FFNet Link]

Sorry! I mean... Enjoy!

Erza turned out the light to her bedroom with a content sigh, piling into bed shortly after. She plugged her phone in to let it charge, and there she saw the time- 10:23. That was an early night for her compared to most other nights, where she stayed up until ungodly hours in the morning with grad school work. She was going to savor a night of full sleep.

Just when Erza was close to curing her exhaustion with sleep, her phone buzzed on her nightstand. She was jolted from her calm state by the sudden noise, but she forced herself to forget about it and go back to sleep. Her phone kept buzzing however, at least once every thirty seconds or so, and soon enough Erza got fed up with the noise and threw the blanket off of her, reaching out for her phone and nearly tearing it off the charger.

[Bacchus:] hey

[Bacchus:] hey Erza

[Bacchus:] are you asleep already?

[Bacchus:] HEY ERZA WAKE UP

[Cana:] dammit erza wake up we're tryna reach you

[Cana:] what LOSER sleeps at 10:30 anyways?

[Cana:] has grad school turned you into a grandma

[Bacchus:] did grad school fuckin kill you

That was ridiculous. She was getting bombarded with messages as if she hadn't just spent time with her friends five days ago. They knew that grad school hadn't killed her. They were just being annoying now. Begrudgingly, Erza typed out her reply to Bacchus only (she figured he was with Cana), her fingers loudly clashing against the screen of her phone. She was mad. Why can't she sleep in peace.

[Erza:] If someone important hasn't just died, I don't want to hear it. I finally have one night where I can get an early night's rest. Let me sleep in peace!

[Bacchus:] :(

[Bacchus:] loosen up sis! we were lookin to invite you out for a wild night

[Erza:] I'm sleeping. Maybe some other time.

[Bacchus:] come on! it'll be fun! cana's here with me it'll be like old times back from the undergrad days. unless you already forgot about your fun undergrad days bc of your fancy grad school

[Erza:] We literally hung out five days ago. We went clubbing.

[Bacchus:] it'll be like old times back from five days ago!

[Bacchus:] Cmon Erza. We really mean it this time. We even found something new and WILD to do

Before Erza could reply, she got a text from Cana.

[Cana:] before you say no you should know we are literally outside of your apartment building rn

[Cana:] and we did not just waste a trip and taxi fare over here for nothing

Erza sighed, climbing out of bed and heading to her window. She pulled back her curtain and looked down at the street, spotting Bacchus and Cana, who waved to her. Letting out another sigh, Erza typed back her response.

[Erza:] Give me ten minutes.

[Bacchus:] aight but there ain't no need to doll yourself up too much. it'll be dark and looking too refined'll make you stick out like an idiot

[Erza:] Good lord then.

It took her all of two minutes to throw on some torn jeans and some sort of shirt. She didn't turn the light back on so she hoped that it matched somewhat. Erza grabbed a jacket as she left since it was nighttime and a bit drafty, and to hopefully tie the outfit together. She strolled outside the apartment building soon enough, watching as Cana and Bacchus nearly cheered at the sight.

"She lives!" Cana exclaimed loudly, face lighting up with a wide smile.

Bacchus crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't wearing a shirt, just a leather jacket. Erza wondered how he wasn't freezing. "You're rockin' the rugged look, sis! You'll fit right in!"

"Thanks." Erza replied, voice dry and affected by her exhaustion, "What have I been dragged out of bed for?"

"Follow me! I'll explain on the way." Bacchus spun around cleanly on his heels and pointed in front of him, "Yo, so you know how I had to bail on you guys two weeks or so ago because the boys pulled me away for a night?"

"Erza and I still had fun on our own even if you couldn't make it." Cana looked at Erza with a smirk, laughing under her breath.

Erza just stared ahead of her, "Go on."

"So, Nobarly got invited to go to this underground music spot because he knows a guy, and he invited me and the boys out with him. Now lemme just tell ya' this, it was the WILDEST thing I've ever seen, yo! And your man just got an invite for tonight's gathering." He glanced over his shoulder at Erza and Cana, a sly look on his face, "I thought I'd bring the two wildest girls I know with me! You'll love it!"

Cana flicked at Erza's shoulder with her wrist, clearly unable to contain her excitement, "You ready for something incredible?"

"I'm ready for bed…" Erza's shoulders sagged and she let out a sigh, eyes falling shut.

Cana frowned at that, regarding Erza with a concerned look, "Y'know… If you really don't wanna join us, there's always next time. We can walk ya' back to your apartment."

Bacchus looked over his shoulder again, an eyebrow raised, "She's right, sis. We wouldn't know how ballbusting grad school is. We didn't mean'ta overstep if you're really that beat."

Shaking her head, Erza tried to force a smile, resting her hands on her hips, "Nah… I'm good. I could use the break. Don't pay me and my complaining any heed. I'll wake up soon."

"Now that's wild!" Bacchus regained that excited swagger to his step, "I guarantee ya', one second of action here will keep you up all night!"

"But I have an 8am class in the morning.." Erza began though she cut herself off shortly enough. She wasn't going to sour the mood any longer. "Right. Show the way, Bacchus."

Bacchus nodded gleefully, "Got it, sister!"

A little while later, Bacchus led them to a rundown parking garage. The whole thing was sketchy as Bacchus showed them to the lower levels of the lot, and Erza got a bad feeling in her stomach. She wondered if she could hold her own if she got jumped. Then she remembered she once punched a guy in the face for saddling up to Cana one night while she was particularly drunk and the guy wouldn't take no for an answer. The guy was knocked out immediately. The memory made Erza feel slightly safer. Besides, she had a muscly guy on her side in Bacchus plus an utterly ruthless, dirty fighter in Cana. They could probably take a robber.

On the lowest level of the lot, a lot practically empty and covered entirely in graffiti, Erza was able to hear the sound of hip-hop music clearly, and there were a lot of people crowded together. There were two tables set up, one with alcohol and the other with a mixtable and a laptop. Speakers were on either side of the table with the music equipment, and a guy was manning the table, eyes on the laptop and hand toying with the disc of the mixtable.

As Erza walked around and took in the sights, there was only one thought in her mind. "Did we just join a gang?"

"Nah." Bacchus shook his head, he and Cana both making a beeline to the table with alcohol, "It's a dance battle, yo! And we gonna watch!"

"I was really afraid it was gonna be a rap battle." Cana said, snatching up a red cup of beer, "A dance battle is better. Hey Erza, you want some?" She turned to Erza and pointed with her thumb at the table.

Erza shook her head, "I really shouldn't. I can't show up to classes hungover anymore."

"You can limit yourself to one!" Cana pointed out.

Letting out a laugh, Erza just shook her head again, "And you should know that's all it takes to get me hammered."

Cana just nodded at that, flashing a smile, "You got me there."

"Think fast!" Bacchus suddenly shouted. Erza turned towards him and saw something flying at her, and she was able to react quickly enough to catch it. It was a can of soda. "Y'know, since you ain't gonna drink." He paused for a moment, "...You might not wanna open that for a few seconds. I didn't think that through."

"Yeah, I don't want to get soaked before this starts. But thanks though." Erza grinned his way.

Bacchus slung his arm around Erza then, pulling her closer to the action, "Do ya' know how this stuff works?"

Erza shook her head. Cana slid into the conversation, "This is our first time, man." She pointed out, speaking into her cup of beer.

"Fair 'nough. Alright, so I hope you brought some cash with ya', because how this is judged is that teams go up against each other and dance to a song they picked beforehand, but they also have to dance to a song the other team decides! The winner is judged by audience reaction, so whoever gets the loudest screams, wins. The cash is to show your support. They like it when they get paid."

"So… like a stripper?" Cana asked. Her expression was entirely serious.

"Not that far off!" Bacchus laughed, "But for real, it's like, polite or somethin'. You should really shove some money their way. They get like a guitar case or somethin' out for it once it's underway. You'll see."

Erza nodded along, crossing her arms, "Alright, I think I got it. I'll keep it in mind." Her eyes drifted across the people amongst the crowd. The crowd was pretty organized, gathered in a huge circle to allow room for the dancers, though no dancer was out yet. Erza was trying to scan the people for who she thought the dancers would be. One thing she noticed was how she and Cana were practically the only women there. Her cheeks puffed out at that; she didn't mind, but it was a little disappointing. She couldn't resonate with anyone so far. She didn't know who she'd fork her money over to.

"Ah, man…" Bacchus stretched an arm over his head, getting himself psyched up for the show, "I hope that trio from last time is here… God, the hell were they called again? The… Pussycat… Dolls? Wait, no, that ain't it… Damn, I must've been more wasted than I thought.."

"Not surprising…" Cana again spoke into her cup.

"Pot, meet kettle." Erza laughed under her breath, shaking her head.

Before Bacchus or Cana could protest, everyone was silenced by a loud, screeching mic. The crowd all looked to the DJ station, where the DJ was holding the mic.

"LET'S GET THIS SHOW STARTED!" The DJ, whose name was actually DJ, shouted into the mic, earning him excited shouts from the crowd and applause. Erza clapped her hands together, feeling a little out of place with these energetic, wild fans. Cana and Bacchus fit right in.

"TONIGHT'S FEUD IS THE BIGGEST AND BADDEST! WE GOT A LONG-STANDING RIVALRY HERE! OUR FIRST TEAM IS NONE OTHER THAN THE DEVILS IN THE DARK!" DJ motioned towards a quartet of men who stepped out into the circle, causing the audience to shout in excitement.

Erza only raised a brow curiously and looked at Bacchus, nudging him with her elbow, "Is this the bunch you were talking about that were super good?"

Bacchus shook his head, "Nah, ain't them. It was a trio."

"I dunno about you two, but this bunch looks super good…" Cana nodded in approvement, raising her glass.

"AND THEN WE GOT THE SABERTOOTH TIGERS! AND GET THIS, FOLKS! THEIR FRONTMAN, RIGORA, USED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE DEVILS IN THE DARK! IT'S SOME REAL BEEF IN HERE TONIGHT! OOOOHHH!" DJ cheered, and the audience joined in out of surprise.

"The Sabertooth Tigers! There we go!" Bacchus snapped his fingers proudly.

"How the hell did you get The Pussycat Dolls from that?" Cana huffed, furrowing her eyebrows.

Bacchus shrugged with a laugh, "I told ya'! I was wasted as hell!"

Erza's focus, however, was on the dance group itself. Immediately two guys entered the circle. One of the guys was blond and had his hair spiked up, and he was dressed in a lot of fur and tight-fitting clothes. He seemed to be the more energetic of the bunch, and he dragged his thumb across his neck at the Devils in the Dark as light from the parking garage reflected off his single earring. The other guy was a stark contrast, with black hair and baggy, dark clothes. His expression was entirely stoic, almost bothered and angered, and he stared down the Devils as well. That was two of the tigers, but… didn't Bacchus say they were a trio? Or did Bacchus drunkenly mix up the details again? Whatever it was, Erza's answers came shortly enough, and they sure floored her.

The light and dark tiger were standing side by side, but they were shoved away by someone behind them, and that someone stepped out in front of them both. They had long black hair underneath their "OBEY" hat, and some of the hair was done in braids on either side of their head. They were wearing baggy black pants, a purple crop top that read "HUSTLER," and a grey sweatshirt was tied around their waist. A blue tattoo was situated right above their left hipbone, and their exposed stomach was incredibly toned… Erza found herself biting her lip at the sight, and then the figure had lifted up the visor of their hat, revealing a very feminine face done to the nines in makeup. She was the only other girl there besides Cana and Erza, and she was the frontman of The Sabertooth Tigers. Where was that money bin Bacchus was talking about before? Erza was ready to throw her entire life savings into that bin for this dancer…

Cana looked at Erza then back to Bacchus, "Something tells me she found a team she likes…" She mused in a teasing voice.

Bacchus smirked at the sight of Erza practically drooling, "Keep an eye on the sis, yeah? We don't want her to throw away all of her money just because she's thirstin'."

Pursing her lips, Cana waved her hand in front of Erza. "I think she's so far gone she can't even move to reach her purse!" She said, laughing.

"AFTER LOSING THE COIN TOSS, THE TEAM DUKING IT OUT FIRST WILL BE THE DEVILS IN THE DARK!" DJ doubletapped on the trackpad of his laptop, starting the music, "LET'S GO!"

The start of The Devils In the Dark's song sounded damn near satanic, but Erza drowned it out as best as she could. Her focus couldn't be on them if she tried. She was spellbound by that tigress just by her strolling out into the circle. If she was that taken back by that tigress merely walking, she was going to be destroyed by the time the tigress actually danced, if Bacchus's word was of any merit. Erza watched as the tigress talked with the two males on either side of her, whispering between themselves. She tried to read their lips since their words were drowned out by the music. There was something the blond one said that she couldn't quite make out with his lips due to it not exactly matching up with what he was saying prior. Could he have said the tigress's name? Off of the blond's mouth, it seemed as if he was saying 'Minerva'... Well, Erza would just assume she was named Minerva then.

Soon the song faded out, and Erza was jolted from reality at that point. She had caught absolutely none of the Devils' performance. Not that she really cared; all four of those men were pretty ugly and unappealing. No wonder Minerva seemingly defected from them. They were pathetic.

Minerva lifted her hand closest to DJ and snapped her fingers. DJ didn't even give them an introduction; that action of Minerva's alone was enough. It was obvious who was really in charge here.

Before Erza could stare for too long, Bacchus nudged her with his elbow, "I know ya' got a clear fave already, but keep an eye out on those two fellas by her sides. They were the Twin Dragons before the tigress came along. They were legendary in their own right, but now they're even bigger and badder with that sister by their side!"

Erza only nodded, and both of them knew that Erza wasn't actually going to take her eyes off Minerva. It was worth a shot, though.

A clear distinction between the Tigers and the Devils was that while the Devils focused on hard, heavy moves and techniques, the Tigers were more fluid with their movements, the in-betweens of wow moves just as captivating as the wow moves themselves. Everything was so expertly linked together, flowing with ease, and it oozed mastery. When the chorus came, suddenly the Tigers' movements exploded into something far faster and harder, but their synchronization and fluidity remained even with the change of pace. Minerva moved with grace, every move executed with precision and purpose, and there was no mistake or stumble in sight. The icing on the cake was when the end of the chorus came and there was a slower break, which led to the body waves in the choreography. Erza watched how Minerva's hips and body rolled with ease, how Minerva drew in her bottom lip and smirked as she moved, how Minerva far outclassed the word sexy with her confidence and swagger. The body waves drew out raucous cheers from the audience, Cana included probably in support of the Twin Dragons, but Erza was the opposite, stunned into sheer silence as she stared. The breath had been knocked out from her body, her mouth agape. She was taken entirely.

Even when the song ended, Erza wasn't freed from her captivation. She was fixated on the rise and fall of Minerva's chest from being out of breath. She couldn't help but notice the added glow on Minerva's skin from the sweat of all the fast and constant movement. It was around that point where Erza finally opened that can of soda she got from Bacchus. She was getting pretty thirsty. Even she was seeing that now.

She forced herself to focus on the Devils when their challenge song rolled around. The Tigers gave them a pretty difficult song to dance to on the spot seeing as it wasn't hip-hop, as the lot of underground dancers were typically used to. It was a simple song, almost slow with its groovy instrumentals. For a group accustomed to hard and heavy moves, being forced into a song where there were no explosive instrumentals was a severe disadvantage to the Devils. The Tigers picked well. Somehow, however, the Devils were able to incorporate some hard, rigid moves into the song by matching the drum beat, and it appealed greatly to the audience. They were earning loud cheers, but Erza couldn't see the appeal at all. Then again, she was heavily biased at this point. There was no looking at the Devils objectively anymore.

Even if the Devils sucked, Erza had to applaud their tactics in choosing a song for the Tigers to dance to, for many reasons too. Seeing as the frontman and visual of the Tigers was female, the Devils chose a song that was sexy but in a very masculine and aggressive way in an attempt to trip up Minerva. The Twin Dragons were able to fall in line with the music and atmosphere easily, moving smoothly to the beat and taking up at the front of the formation. It was smart, being at the front and nearly shielding Minerva from sight at first. Their moves were appeasing the crowd as is; Cana was losing it over those two. However, it seemed like they were just out front in order to stall, since Minerva returned to the front when the chorus hit, reinvigorated after feeling the music for some while. She was able to plan out some moves to the song while she let the Twin Dragons take up the front, so it made for an explosive return when she hopped back in front. She fully immersed herself in the atmosphere of the music, juggling between quick, sharp movements and slow, flowing ones. Every move had a scandalous flair to it, matching the tone of the song, and Minerva's body flowed so perfectly to the music. It was as if she were floating with every movement, gliding easily across the pavement and moving as if she were weightless. The sex appeal wasn't lost on Erza as well. She was even more entranced than in the last song, if that were even possible. Minerva's expressions as she danced, biting her lip, letting her eyes fall half-lidded, every quirk of her brow… Erza was gone. She was ready to throw all her money at the Tigers. She was completely fine with that.

It seemed as if the Devils weren't expecting the Tigers to adapt so easily to their song, so already their confidence in winning was fading. Their expressions turned sour and they shook their heads, grunting in anger and irritation as they turned away and stormed off. They tried to salvage their reputation by rebelling, calling the whole thing rigged. That was a forfeit if Erza's ever seen one. She wanted the Devils to be crushed.

"LOOKS LIKE THE SABERTOOTH TIGERS WIN THIS ONE BY DEFAULT! LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR THE VICTOOOOOOOORS!" DJ shouted, throwing his hands in the air. He blasted some music to celebrate too.

"WILD!" Bacchus crushed his empty red cup in his hands from the energy flowing through him.

Cana was shimmying to the music that was playing, sure to keep her drink safe so it wouldn't spill, "This music ain't half bad… I could probably join one of these dance battles at this rate, eh?"

"We'd make the wildest dance team! Ain't that right, Erza?" Bacchus looked to his side in search for some sort of agreement, but Erza had vanished. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Bacchus looked around and spotted her following the lead of some of the other guests, tossing some bills into a case. Bacchus could only flash a sly expression at the sight, "To think the sis was tryna bail on us tonight! Bet she enjoyed it more than we did!"

"I dunno, man.. Those guys were some nice eye candy…" Cana lifted her cup to that, starting off after Erza, "I got a thirst deposit to make too!"

Bacchus hurled his crushed cup towards a far-off trash can with perfect accuracy from tons of practice before following the two girls, "Ain't nothing wrong with some good ol' physical appreciation, I guess!"

When Erza finally got to that cash case, she noticed how the Tigers were standing there and chatting amongst themselves, with Minerva's back to the case for the most part. Erza got out the money she wanted to leave before walking up and throwing it in, and there she saw Minerva glance over her shoulder and look Erza over before flashing a sly grin. Erza's expression looked blank for a moment in response, but she hurriedly spun on her heel and turned away, dragging Cana off with her with widened eyes.

"Wha- hey! Let me be thirsty too! What the hell?!" Cana shouted, trying to fight against Erza's grip.

"She smiled at me." Erza said in a hushed voice, "I've been noticed."

"Oh my god, you are so pathetic!" Cana growled with a shake of her head, "So what?!"

"Ladies, ladies…" Bacchus slid into the conversation and slowly but surely guided the two of them away from each other, "Remember the rules! No fighting unless it's certain each person has had an equal amount to drink! And you, sister, are sober!" He turned his attention to Erza in that moment.

Rolling her eyes, Erza glanced over to the Tigers again. The Twin Dragons were walking the opposite way, and there was Minerva, looking right at Erza, beckoning her forward with her two fingers. Erza just watched as Minerva spun away after that, almost certain Erza would follow eventually. "Hey guys…"

"What now?" Cana crossed her arms.

"Remember that Halloween where I drank so much that I let you guys convince me to crash that one party dressed as a fairy?"

"That night was wild! No one ever let ya' live that one down and they all just kept calling you Fairy Queen!" Bacchus smiled at the memory, "But, uh… why the sudden trip down memory lane, sis?"

"We all know that ain't you anymore." Cana pursed her lips, glancing Erza over.

Erza shook her head, "Bad Decision Titania's not dead." She ran after Minerva once she said that, not even sparing Bacchus and Cana a second glance.

Bacchus pointed after Erza as she ran off, looking over at Cana, "Now that's wild."

"Welp." Cana smacked her lips and just strolled right back over to the money case, "At least now I can give my money over in peace…" And she set her cash down on the pile with a flourish.

Meanwhile, Erza had followed Minerva into a deeper portion of the lot, situated underneath the ramp that led to the upper levels. Erza slowed down from her near sprint, looking to level her breathing before reaching Minerva so she didn't look too desperate, and her heels clicked on the floor and echoed throughout the garage as she approached the hideout under the ramp.

"So…" Minerva spoke, not even facing Erza but her voice still able to carry to the other, "I take it this is your first time around here?" She asked with a knowing tone, gaze fixated on something she was working through on the table in the little hideout.

The fact that Minerva wasn't actively looking made Erza react normally, instead of trying to be composed. She smiled nervously, shoulders sagging, "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, I had hoped you weren't a regular that made a habit of dropping that much money every time. That would be a sure fire way to run anyone broke." Minerva laughed to herself, turning around and leaning against the table, "Besides, girls aren't too common around these parts, and I surely would've remembered one with such vibrant red hair showing up before."

Erza ducked her head to keep her face out of view, brushing some hair behind her ear out of embarrassment. Minerva was onto her, that was for sure. "Heh… You're right. My friends dragged me here for a night out. They're the partying type."

Minerva tilted her head, an amused and intrigued look on her face, "Sounds like you weren't exactly a willing party out there tonight." Yet she did not falter in the slightest.

"I was looking forward to a nice night of sleep before my 8am class tomorrow. That never happens." Erza tried to laugh to soften the blow. It came out very forced and awkward. "Though… my 'unwilling' mind changed once I got here."

Letting out a satisfied hum, Minerva pulled off her hat and ran a hand through her hair to fix it. Her face was much more clear to Erza now that the visor wasn't blocking most of it, and Erza drew in her bottom lip between her teeth at the sight. That was not lost on Minerva in the slightest, and Minerva pushed herself off the table and started walking closer. "That's good to hear. It really is refreshing to see more women around here… Sometimes all the men around becomes a bit of a drag, you know?"

"I would imagine." Erza noticed how Minerva was moving closer, and she wound up taking a few slow steps back. Her heel hit something however, and she realized how she had walked her way towards a large support column. She was only a few inches away from having her back pressed against it, and she glanced back to Minerva who wasn't deterred in the slightest. "Uh…" Erza stammered, struggling to find something to say. Her eyes wandered Minerva's body- brilliant move, eyes -and Erza remembered how Minerva was only wearing a sleeveless crop top. "Aren't you… cold?"

Minerva shrugged indifferently, placing a hand on her hip. "Doesn't bother me." She had backed Erza up against that support column, and there she rested the flat of her arm against the concrete above Erza's head, barely any space between them. There was still room for Erza to slip out if she so wished, but Erza again biting her lip and letting her eyes wander more told Minerva that that probably wasn't happening. "Care to give a lady your name?"

"Erza." She had managed to cough out. Restraining herself was growing damn near impossible.

Minerva grinned at that, "They call me Rigora around these parts, but… for you, I think you can call me Minerva."

Erza managed to smile in response, letting out a laugh, "What an honor.."

"What can I say? I like you already." Minerva tilted her head, speaking in a coquettish voice.

Hearing Minerva's tone so seductive and smooth was Erza's breaking point in holding herself back, and suddenly her hand slipped around to the back of Minerva's neck. "Thank god…" She whispered, voice laced with desire as she pulled Minerva towards her and joined their lips together at last. Minerva half expected for Erza to have jumped on her the second the conversation started, so she wasn't surprised in the slightest and merely closed her eyes and jumped in when Erza forced their bodies together.

Erza's back was fully pressed against the support column now with Minerva's weight against her, though she couldn't bring herself to care about being so caught within Minerva's trap. The only thing she could think about was how Minerva wedged her leg between Erza's own, and how Erza had somehow come to wrap her leg around Minerva's waist. Minerva's free hand came to grip Erza's thigh, her nails digging in enough that Erza could feel the pinch through the fabric of her pants. It brought out a moan from Erza during the kiss, and that caused Minerva to let out a low laugh when she pulled away for air. Instead of diving back in for Erza's lips, Minerva instead trailed down Erza's jawline until her lips definitively settled on the base of Erza's neck and attacked fully. Erza threw her head back, biting down on her lip with a soft moan at the sheer intoxication sensation brought on by Minerva sucking on and toying with the skin of Erza's neck with her teeth. Gradually Erza's hands wandered Minerva's body, and soon Erza was reaching up underneath the loose fabric of Minerva's top until Minerva seized both of Erza's wrists in her grasp.

Minerva guided Erza's hands off of her as Erza only got a fleeting touch of her chest, and her fingers fumbled with Erza's own while Minerva pulled away from Erza's neck. "Let's not forget about that 8am class now… You wouldn't sleep a wink tonight if I let this go any further." Minerva laughed under her breath, voice still carrying that salacious tone even if she were the one to break things off. What a tease.

Erza pursed her lips together and let out a heavy exhale, still out of breath from what had happened. She damn near let out a whimper of protest in response too, but she followed Minerva's lead and slowly lowered her leg from around Minerva's waist as well as freed her hands from Minerva's own. "...Right. I should go."

"Oh, come on. Don't sound so disappointed, Erza." Minerva leaned in closer, a smirk on her lips, "I fully intend on finishing what I started. I just know that if I kept you up any later, you'd feel like hell in the morning. That's why you were so apprehensive about coming out here tonight, right?"

Letting out a sigh, Erza crossed her arms and leaned against the column. Judging by how intense that got in a few moments, Erza figured if she let it go all the way, she would never be able to fight the exhaustion during class. She hated how Minerva had a point there. "Uh-huh. And just how are we going to get around to finishing this?" There was a hint of bite to her words as she spoke.

Minerva only raised an eyebrow, impressed by such bite. She reached down to the jacket wrapped around her waist and started to untie it, and it was like a smack to the face for Erza, watching Minerva take it off but for no purpose. "Easy, now. I'm here every week with Sting and Rogue. I have a feeling we'll run across each other far before then, though." She teased, throwing her jacket on and adjusting it before stepping back to pick up some of the things she had stashed in that little hideout.

"If you say so." Erza pushed herself off the column, arms still crossed.

"Enough with the glum look." Minerva walked back towards Erza after grabbing her hat and bag, slinging the latter over her shoulder. She took Erza's chin between her index finger and thumb, "I always follow through on what I say and do. I'll make sure we get what we both want."

Erza couldn't fight that, and instead she loosened up some and let her arms fall to her sides. It brought a playful grin to Minerva's lips.

"Better." Minerva said, walking past and waving halfheartedly behind her, "Catch you around, Erza. I'm sure I'll see you soon…" And her last note was a low snicker.

Erza could only watch as Minerva walked off, letting out a heavy sigh. She couldn't believe she just got led on by the underground dancing tiger.

Her hopes and dreams of a long good night's sleep were squashed the second Erza left her apartment to join Bacchus and Cana, and she only got a few hours in by the time she returned home. It felt like hell to roll out of bed in the morning and get herself ready for class, but she made enough coffee to power through it.

Erza was one of the first to arrive to the lecture hall, and she slid into one of the seats in the back. She didn't want to risk accidentally falling asleep in class in a front row seat, so she took the safe route in taking a seat far away from the professor. That way, if she passed out in class, it wouldn't be that noticeable. She took a long drink of coffee from her mug to try and get herself attentive enough to focus, but as she expected, it wasn't working very well. It seemed as if she would just have to suffer through the day.

Suddenly, while Erza had admittedly half-lulled herself back to sleep, she heard a voice nearby.

"Is this seat taken?" The female asked in a droll.

Erza rolled her eyes and sighed. The lecture hall was near empty and this person wanted to take a seat right next to Erza. She still cleared up some of her sprawled up belongings, clearing up a seat to her left. "No, go ahead." She spared a quick glance at the evil female who was pulling this stunt on her, catching a glimpse of how her black hair was cleanly pulled back into a tight, high ponytail without a single strand out of place.

The female smoothly slid into the seat next to Erza, setting her bag down and leaning back in her chair. "My, my… Here I thought you would be happier to see me, Erza. I told you we'd be running into each other soon."

Erza groggily looked over at the female, a raised eyebrow distinguishing itself from a blank, exhausted expression. She didn't say anything. She was just confused and annoyed.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten…" She spun some of the fabric of the bottom of her sweater around her finger before lifting it up, flashing a blue tattoo right above her left hipbone.

The realization hit Erza like a brick to the face, and she suddenly blinked a few times as her eyes shot wide. "Minerva?!" It was easy for her to miss; Minerva looked completely different than she had the night prior. She was in a grey sweater and black leather pants, and her makeup was less colorful than the warpaint-esque look she had before. The flawless ponytail threw her off as well, but Erza realized that the stark red of Minerva's lips was the exact same. She had spent enough time staring to know.

Minerva only smiled slyly as a result, lowering her sweater over her stomach again, "I knew that red hair was familiar from the second I saw you at the lot. Hearing you complain about your morning class only solidified things. The world's smaller than one might expect, no? Looks like we're classmates."

"And you're the one who always shows up to class looking so perfect and stylish that it puts the rest of us dead-inside students to shame…" Erza commented, eyes taking in Minerva unabashedly, "I would have never envisioned you and her being the same after last night…"

"What can I say? I do have a bit of a wild side…" Minerva teased, that coquettish voice from the night before returning. She leaned closer so that her lips were right by Erza's ear, and she rested her hand on Erza's thigh as she did so, "Once this class is over, I say we have some unfinished business to get to, don't we? I'm not through with you yet, Erza.."

Minerva's seductive whisper sent chills down Erza's spine, causing her to close her eyes and shudder in anticipation. It felt as if her cheeks were burning and up in flames, but even so, there was a ghost of a smile on her lips.

Erza didn't pay attention to a single word of her professor's lecture. She could only think of what paradise awaited her once class was over.

It was everything she expected and then some.

#writing misadventures #minerza #fairy tail #minerva orland #erza scarlet #dove sings #uhhhhh ooops #this escaped me #hope you enjoyed reading my wildest fantasies #i want minerva to be the best and hottest dancer #im imagining her with them hips #and im officially stopping myself here bye

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